Bad Ass?
Really?

This thing is ruining my life:
Mirena IUD

The side effects are insane but so are the life altering affects of having a baby.
I’m scared to death of not having a guarantee.
I can’t make a life altering decision for someone else, but at some point this thing is going to have to be removed… for my own well being and sanity.

A warning to women who are considering this method, please do a lot of research and make sure that you understand the side effects. It has worked great with no side effects for several of my friends but for me and 2 others it has been hell. I am the only one out of the 3 that has stubbornly kept it in, for almost 2 years now, due mainly to my current goals and past fears. I have migraines that last for days and I never had even as much of simple headache in my life before I got this thing. That’s the tip of my physical pain and it’s really effected my life in countless ways. Logically any woman would have decided to have this removed but like I said I have accepted the side effects as a trade off for a guarantee. It’s ridiculous that women have to suffer in this way to just to assure themselves of effective birth control. But I guess we are too busy spending money to find water on mars rather than the safety and healthcare of women. We can split an atom but I can’t get birth control that is effective, safe and free of life altering side effects.
That’s just infuriating!

And don’t even preach that abstinence crap, I’m a grown woman, don’t be ridiculous!

Apparently there is a class action law suit being filed against the Mirena IUD. I am having this removed asap and will figure out a better way that’s healthier for my mind and body.
I don’t recommend the Mirena IUD for anyone!!!

Emptiness of emptiness.

In The Art of Living (2001) the 14th Dalai Lama says, “As your insight into the ultimate nature of reality is deepened and enhanced, you will develop a perception of reality from which you will perceive phenomena and events as sort of illusory, illusion-like, and this mode of perceiving reality will permeate all your interactions with reality. [...] Even emptiness itself, which is seen as the ultimate nature of reality, is not absolute, nor does it exist independently. We cannot conceive of emptiness as independent of a basis of phenomena, because when we examine the nature of reality, we find that it is empty of inherent existence. Then if we are to take that emptiness itself is an object and look for its essence, again we will find that it is empty of inherent existence. Therefore the Buddha taught the emptiness of emptiness.”

The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.

To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

There is a path to the end of suffering – a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely “wandering on the wheel of becoming”, because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.

om mane padme hum … om neeah padme keehia rengee … om mane padme hum …

The human being is given over to the cruelty of the world. Hence, the necessity of a compromise, obtained through the mobilization of the myth to find supernatural comforts, through the mobilization of the imaginary to shelter the soul and through the mobilization of aesthetics and poetry to live reality plainly.
E. Morin, French philosopher and sociologist, Method V

A man is always a storyteller; he tries to see his life as if he were telling it. But one has to choose: to live or to tell”
Jean Paul Sartre, 1905-1980, French philosopher and writer, The nausea

We should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace. From my own limited experience, I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquillity comes from the development of love and compassion.
Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual and political leader, Voices from the Heart

Maybe I just didn’t want it
Maybe people suffer because the don’t want to succeed
right?
Maybe we’re not focused enough
Maybe we’re lazy
Maybe we make bad choices
Maybe we don’t do what we’re told
Maybe we don’t play nice
Maybe we don’t believe everything we read
Maybe we see this for what it is
Maybe what it is
is nothing
Is this it?
I’m sure you’ve got something better than that
right?
Is this all you got?
Money and words and thoughts and noise and the base level of existence of every single person trying to make it something its not. Trying to make it count.
In the end
nothing matters
and it ends
So what’s it worth to you
What’s the point

What is the purpose of life? I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want to suffer. From the very core of our being we simply desire contentment.
Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual and political leader, Voices from the Heart

Quantum Jumping

What On Earth Is Quantum Jumping?

Quantum Jumping is the process of “jumping” into parallel dimensions, and gaining creativity, knowledge, wisdom and inspiration from alternate versions of yourself.

…Are you still with me? Did that sound crazy? It did to me at first – and that’s precisely why I’ve been holding on to it until the right time, a time when someone like you would would intuitively know that right now is the time to open your mind to it.

And that time is now. Why? Because some of the finest minds on the planet are starting to discover evidence supporting my claims. Creative and scientific geniuses like Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku and Neil Turok, all of whom are responsible for unbelievable breakthroughs in the field of quantum physics.

But just as important as the acknowledgement of experts is what I’ve seen and experienced for myself. After sharing Quantum Jumping with selected students in my seminars, I’ve seen them achieve incredible results. Stories of incredible coincidences, stories of rags to riches, the kind of stories you’d usually only find in those feel good Hollywood blockbusters.

And now it’s time for you to have your own story – which is why I’ve compiled a sample 6-module Quantum Jumping Introduction Course, so that you, and as many people as possible can gain an understanding of this remarkable phenomenon, tap into your subconscious mind, and change your life for the better.

Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

We finally lost ACE Junkyard to the ravages of an unreasonable San Francisco landlord. She won only on a technicality, after a long expensive battle by Bill Kennedy, proprietor extraordinaire of ACE Junkyard.

I hope many of you know the wonders of San Francisco’s ACE Junkyard.  If not let me clue you in to the significance of what we are losing.  Bill who is also known to some of as Billy the Junkman, Junkman or even Belinda, has been the purveyor of fine junk in San Francisco for over 25 years and ACE has been THE resource for playa artmaking in Bay Area for over 15 years.  Let it be known Bill has provided an incalculable about amount of funding for playa art in the last 15 years, in the form of JUNK – wondrous, glorious, re-usable, transformable, JUNK!

Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Over the years this junk has evolved into many ground-breaking forms of art.   Junk from ACE has been transformed into SRL’s machines, SEEMEN’s interactive work and Cyclecide’s pedal-powered carnival.  The list of artists doesn’t stop there. The following incomplete list of artists can all thank Bill for his uncanny ability to find that essential widget or for donating his  Junkyard venue to events like the famous Power Tool Drag Races: Flaming Lotus Girls, Rich Humphrey, Jarico Reese, Laird Rickard, Paul the Plumber, Big Daddy, John Law, Jim Mason, Michael Michael, Simone Davalos, Kimric Smythe, Shannon O’Hare, Sue Glover, Dan Das Man, Karen Cusolito, Scott Gasparian, Charles Gadeken, Kal Spelletich, Mark Perez, and Chicken John.

Come celebrate and say Goodbye to our favorite Junkyard on Saturday October 31st, Halloween at Cellspace 5020 Bryant Street. The Junkyard will be gone, but Bill remains and I’m sure he will figure out other ways to enrich us.

“The other side of it is…. well it was and is worth ever penny of it. The people, events, art, and most importantly to me the parts of myself that I found, and the person that I have become. A large part of who am now is because of the love and support on my family of friends I have made from this place.” -Bill The Junkman

Do you have a favorite ACE or Bill memory?