Say Cheeseeee
yummo….. had some most delightful cheese fondue on Saturday. Can’t even begin to describe the delight. Ate at a grotto (http://www.grottomulino.com) with Jesus and our friendly host Manfred, where they had a special room for fondue and raclette, which is another incredibly yummy treat, and which I also got to sample that night.
Apart from that, lots of reading-thinking-writing this weekend…
The Power of the Word
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1
It has been said that all that is, is vibration. Vision brought forth the will to create, and through vibration, through sound, will created the world. Then came things and at some point the “I”, the consciousness that we claim and with it the perception of reality.
It is further claimed that we were created in the image of the creator, and indeed, sound is the primary instrument of humans. Using our voice is the one creative act that requires no additional materials or instruments. The sound of the human voice is the most pure expression we have available. Every sound we utter, every word we speak, and even every thought we speak silently with our inner voice or repress in dark corners of our consciousness, is a creative act.
Surfing the Quake
When I tell people that I live in Los Angeles, one of the questions I am typically asked is, whether I am afraid of Earthquakes. Well, not really. Actually, I love them (given that there is a destructive aspect to them and it’s never a particularly great thing when people die in the context of one). When the earth suddenly shakes, all preconceptions suddenly go out the door, the body is confused, the senses are alarmed, and man-made structures are put to the test…
Last night, around midnight, I was having wine with Jesus and Marcello, another delightful sculptor who we went to visit in Milan a couple of weeks ago. Suddenly the room started shaking, the old heater rattling loudly, the floor moving and threatening to give in. My two artist friends – properly alarmed – were headed toward the door, while I was standing in the middle of the room, giggling and trying to surf the quake. Guess, one does not have to be in Los Angeles for earthquakes… It was not super strong one – a 5.3 on the Richter scale with its center at Lake Garda. It appears that Lake Garda is also a tectonic cesspool, so there might be more 
Grande!
For more detail information on the quake read on…
Si non sei ebbro, non sei vivo
Found out the name of the god who I mentioned in the prior post (here is a the info for the picture). His name is Silenus, a son of Pan, and he was the teacher of Bacchus, god of wine. It is not surprising that Bacchus turned out to be the god of wine, considering that Silenus reportedly was drunk most of the time as well.
My friend Ginger also just sent me a lovely poem on wine by Pablo Neruda which you can find if you read on.
Have been rediscovering wine myself. Used to drink white wine a lot when I grew up in Germany, but then switched to beer living in the U.S. (Californian wines are too heavy for me, too much Sulfur and it was hard to find simple French/Italian wines for cheap until I found Trader Joe’s).
Since coming to Switzerland, I have rekindled with red wine. Apart from the purple lips and mouth one gets after a bottle or so, it’s a rather delightful thing…
Bunny and Wine
Had lots of opportunity to practice cognitive flexibility this weekend…. Christian and Raffaela, two scultptors from France who live in Carrara (famous for it’s marble) came to visit Jesus this weekend. Did not get to see any of Raffaela’s work, but Christian showed me some tiny little sculptures he had carved from an African Black Wood. They were utterly gorgeous, precious (and I don’t use this work lightly), about 2″ long on white marble beds (will have to get a better camera as my phone camera pictures really don’t do justice to the beauty I am trying to capture). Nearly bought one, but then remembered that I am trying to avoid having things for a while
What was great about hanging with them was that neither of them spoke any English or German, only French and Italian. Speaking a mixture of German/English/Italian with Jesus and a mixture of French/Italian/Pseudo-English/Hand-Foot with them left me all mixed up in my head…. Have been studying Italian since I got here with a neat online course (www.rosettastone.com – un cavallo sta mangiando una carota), and know a bit of French (mostly through Fleur du Mal), but there were great stretches when I was just listening to the three of them talk in French/Italian feeling like a child trying to make sense of adults talking.
At the same time, we were able to have some interesting conversations. They told me about having heard about an old Abbey in France that was sold for 1Euro. Of course with the stipulation to renovate, but that would be no problem for a bunc
h of artists who got to live there for free in exchange. Would also be neat to build it out with eco-technologies rather than traditional ones… Hmmmm…. Creative Centers in Abbeys Love it… Artists and Monks
Also on a gastronomical level, it was yet again a pleasure. Had some pasta cooked in a sauce of leek, dry sherry, white vine, spiced with curry and pepper, and smoothened with a bit of milk. And then also some delightful pork and bunny (yummy bunny) with really wild mushrooms. All in the presence of Bacchus’ teacher (to the right) whose name got washed away with the different Italian wines we drank in his honor… dolce vita indeed
Monkjuice in Mendrisio
So I thought I was going to go hiking, but plans changed. Instead, Jesus and I went to a neighbouring town called Mendrisio to look for monkjuice (beer brewed by monks – my favorite is Chimay, which is brewed by Trappist monks – ora et labora, silence and beer brewing).
The place we went to did not have Chimay, but a jolly man named Luca, who ran the place, immediately turned into a most gracious host, selecting special and sacred beers for us and feeding us with salami, prosciuto, pâté. Luca was excited about the idea of my taking the bottles home to LA. They are nice Steins (see to the right next to a piece of art my mother made – she is quite an artist as well and at some point I will have to put together a site for her). Maybe I will take some Olive Oil or Vinegar home in those bottles
The only thing I regret is drinking the grappas Luca offered us toward the end of the evening. Really could have done without those…
Living, Dying and the Physics of the Soul
An essay inspired by a class I took on the Physics of the Soul by Amit Goswami (highly recommend it). Had some major synchronicities around this class, e.g. I saw “What the Bleep?” shortly after starting to take the class and realized that Dr. Goswami was one of the people interviewed in the movie. Then, my friend Kate interviewed Wiliam Arntz who was the original driver behind the movie. And before I knew it, out of the blue I ended up meeting Mark Vicente, the director shortly thereafter (a most delightful man).
Among others it inspired me to go on Sabbatical in Switzerland. Celebrated day of the dead and engaged in some death yoga as I left my life in LA for a few months.
Good Morning Switzerland!
So there I was, 6am having lovely dreams of some other worlds, when ‘jamming’ starts playing in the background, and slowly but surely fading into the foreground, I realize, I am not in that wonderful astral space any longer, but am returning to a bed in Switzerland with my phone ringing next to me.
Next I know I am talking to some of the lovely people I left behind in LALAland, together in the little house celebrating, and so I had to get up, put my robe on, and be an early-monk this morning (the sun is just rising in that picture – please keep in mind the 9 hour time difference – am usually up 9am-3am Swiss time – see clock to the right).
One of the lovely news is that I received mail from the Department of Homeland Security confirming my Green Card status! Yeah! After 9 years of Visa crap… Only thing is that I might have to interrupt my sabbatical to go have fingerprints taken… hmmm….. fun
Will keep you posted…
more art
Another piece of art – poetry this time – from my new friend here (who is appropriately nicknamed Jesus) – he says it was inspired by our conversations… This time I got to partake in helping with the English translation a bit:
Meditation
By Andrea Cometti (Jesus)Ask solitude
To teach you about silence
Ask silence
To tell you about suffering
Ask suffering
To show you how to observe
Ask yourself
To learn to live together
Ask yourself
To learn to share
Allow yourself
To be astonished
Know the inebriation
And the sensuality of life
Conscious and mindful of the experience of your limits.
art in Switzerland
it did not take long… it seems that I am just naturally attracted to artists. It took only a few days of being in Switzerland until I got to spend time with a lovely artist here, who has already given me my first piece of artwork… (the photo I took of it is not that great, but oh well)
Enjoy!
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