I was listening to a 1970 bootleg tape of the Allman Brothers at Winterland when a friend stopped by for a visit. He walked in on Whipping Post, sat mesmerized through In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, and by the time Statesboro Blues was half way through asked in complete and utter astonishment - My god, who is that playing guitar?! Duane Allman, I replied. The inimitable Duane Allman.
April 2, 2012
Staying with the musical theme, and on the opposite end of the guitar spectrum, I offer this piece of heaven:
April 3, 2012
I have all these splendid ideas that just aren't in vogue. I'm not part of the zeitgeist, never have been really. The climate of today and the world according to Keith are a good half step out from each other. So even though my popularity with the masses is forever in doubt, don't cry for me Argentina, I kinda like it that way.
April 4, 2012
Our egos run so much of our lives. You know all that internal self-talk where you either beat yourself up or praise yourself lavishly? That's the ego. It helps us to stay focused in this physical reality, but it also screens, second guesses or fears internal perception (intuition, clairvoyance, etc.). If someone says they have a healthy ego, I wonder, does that mean they are full of themselves, or they have mastered the art of being open to all things?
I was at a grocery store where a mother was admonishing her child to remove a bag of cookies the kid has just chucked into the shopping cart. The child argued with her, got mad, grabbed the cookies and threw them at her mother. The bag bounced off and broke open when it hit the floor. The child dropped to her knees and started shovelling the spilled cookies into her mouth as fast as she could grab them. Her mother yanked the kid up by her arms and starting digging into her mouth pulling out cookie pieces and yelling about what a horrible little brat she was. Then the kid started coughing and choking. The mother backed off. When the child appeared to be seriously choking, the mother pulled from the cart a liter bottle of Coke, opened it and gave it to the little girl. She took swig after swig and when her throat was clear, hurled the open bottle at her mother before running away. The mother, wearing Coke and standing amid all the broken cookies, started crying. Three aisles later I saw the kid in the meat section, tearing the plastic wrap off of steak packages. Whew, other people's lives.
April 8, 2012
I'm doing taxes today. This does not make me pleased as punch or anything like it. I don't mind paying them, I just hate all the adding and seeing where all the money went. I would prefer not to know this. When you live in the moment, going over the past is pure rubbish.
When Marvin found out he couldn't afford a Bentley, he had to downsize his dreams. Though his boat is slower and more unstable on land than a Bentley, it's easier to park, gets better gas mileage and is a convertible, though Marvin admits he hasn't yet found a use for the anchor.
April 10, 2012
Just talked with a gal who informed me that she has decided to do a nude cruise - with her mother. I asked her if that wouldn't be a bit awkward. She said, Why? I said, Oh, I don't know...
April 11, 2012
I waited for this guy for two hours. When he finally showed up he had no extraordinary excuse like he had been run over by a bus and killed, instead, he acted like nothing was amiss. I asked him if he had been hit by a bus. He said no. I asked if maybe he had been attacked by girl scouts on LSD. Negative. So why are you two hours late? Am I? he said nonchalantly. Right then I knew that he had been home having sex with his wife and by default, decided that I could wait until he was done. Sigh.
April 12, 2012
I am getting ready to fly out of the country. I will not be back until Wednesday of next week. In my absence, e-mail will go unanswered, book orders unfulfilled and KeithSpeak will not be updated. If my trip is wild or weird in any way, I shall tell you about it upon my return. In the meantime, a lovely pic. Ta.
Jeez, I return home to find Vancouver down 3-0 in their playoff series with LA, the bears have come out of hibernation and are visiting our house regularly (never a good thing), and our tax accountant called and "needs to speak with me" (never, ever a good thing). Welcome back, Keith, indeed.
April 19, 2012
What is the difference between you and I? After all, we're made of the same stuff, our bodies operate in much the same fashion and we need the same things to survive. But it's not a competition (I'm not trying to better you or win anything), it's about the experiences you create for yourself and the personal development that results from them. That's the difference between you and I.
April 20, 2012
Our lives are replete with choices, ours to do with what we please: A woman I have known for 20 years just came out as a lesbian. She has a husband, two kids and a high profile job. I asked her why she decided to go public now. She said that she met the most adorable woman and though she didn't want a divorce or to lose her family, she did want this woman and felt that she needed to be up front about it. Evidentially her husband is ok with it and her kids, teenagers wrapped up in their own awesomeness, couldn't care less. And your employer? Yeah, they're not so keen, she admitted. Choices, I smiled. Yup, she said.
I guess I last wore a watch when I was about 12. The moment I took the timepiece off, the artifice of time slipped from my focus and allowed me to discover the natural rhythms of my being. I was living an unregimented life and saw no reason to revert. Today I am still timeless, punctual as hell and super well adjusted. Am too.
April 24, 2012
After some consideration, I've decided to pretend that something that's happening isn't really happening because if I didn't pretend I'd have to do something about it and I don't feel like it. I have no idea if this thing will work itself out or if at some point I'll have to stop pretending and you know, do something, but right now I'm convinced it's not really happening, even though it is, but not for me. Haw. Did that make sense?
April 25, 2012
I want to build a zero sum house, one that produces more electricity than it consumes. Wouldn't that be swell? That should be the norm. That should be the future of residential building. Just yesterday, B.C. Hydro came out and installed smart meters on our house and office. Today I want energy independence. Coincidence? I think not.
April 27, 2012
I had a very confusing dream last night. There is no point in recounting it because the symbols were personal, not universal. But suffice it to say it had a long lost friend in it, some Ethiopians, lots of girls, a social cause, drugs and Betty White. Sure, it was damned exciting. But what does it mean?
April 28, 2012
Hey, now that's something you don't see every day.
On a recent trip, my sister visited the house we grew up in and sent some pictures. It looked much smaller than I remember, but worse, was in such a state of disrepair that it made me sad to think that the building which contained so many of my childhood memories had been neglected and mistreated. Melancholy and anthropomorphic though it may be, houses are people too.
April 30, 2012
Had some buds over for an evening of Stanley Cup hockey on the big screen. We talked, laughed, joked and ribbed. We drank cold beer, ate soft pretzels, and watched playoff hockey. When it was over we sang Kum Ba Ya and exchanged tote bags. Haw.
