Chapel of Jimmy Ray

Anado McLauchlin and Richard Schultz: Living the Life.....

...Richard and I have been very fortunate to have so much attention directed at our house and the work that has happened here.  This past week a blog entry about our house appeared in the LA Times...we feel blessed and honored to be able to create this folly.  The inspiration comes from every which way and most of all...the source that harnesses the intimacy that we feel with our dear friends and the critters that we get to live with....the dogs, cats, and burros.  What joy it is to communicate the gratitude that we feel.  My last entry dealt with a friend who passed on...may his being be free of suffering...I learned a lot from him and it was only this past week that I have been able to know that...thank you David Wojnarowicz, I raise a toast to your creative Spirit...here is a link to the LA Times blog and one of the photos that Ann Summa from the Times took of us...That's Richard and I with Barbarella and Lolita...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2009/07/home-tour-casa-las-ranas-is-the-happiest-house-in-san-miguel-de-allende.html

For a Friend Who Passed Along the Way...

...his name was David Wojnarowicz and I knew him back in New York during the 1970's. I remember him as this gangly quiet guy (this was before nurds)...with a dark edgy insight and a way with sketching the absurd and the dangerous. At that time Art had to have a sense of Danger for me to turn my head. David was living in an apartment in downtown Brooklyn on Court Street. The railroad flat was in the name of Dennis Deforge...a gifted fellow poet from Ohio. David was living there with his boyfriend of the time...Michael Morais. Michael was a friend of mine from my poetry excursions.  Michael is a whole other story, but it is David I am remembering. I recognized David's somewhat bent intelligence and I felt a kindred longing in both of our hearts for the Truth...I feel now that this longing was cloaked in his flirtations with the grit and grime of the gruesome gangway streets of not so pretty New York City. Some would say that David had his hand on the pulse of that urban corpse and he was dragging it through a spent rainbow of grays and blacks. My particular vision and yearning for something a bit more ultimate and glorious, weathered my enthusiam for this fading and temporary street life and it was time for me to split.  Through the grace of Existence I washed ashore at the feet of Bhagwan, my teacher in India. The last time I saw David was after I returned from the East in 1980, I believe. I was walking down 7th Ave in my orange sannyasin clothes...Long hair and beard...I noticed David loping toward me in his way. I happened to have a book of Bhagwan's (The Book of the Secrets). I never  tried to bring people to meet my Teacher...that was not my thing... My yearning had led me to India and I wanted to share that with David and not lay a "ya gotta find god" trip on him like a Hari Krishna, so I gave him the book. I told him it was his to read or throw away...we parted ways at that point...David continued on his path...over the years , I would hear things about his rise in the New York Art Scene...by that time I was working as a gardener in Marin County...reconnecting with the Earth...A friend gave me one of David's books to read one year...I probably read two pages and put it aside. I could not go there...I felt his longing had been replaced by anger...Anger at his situation...David had AIDS...what a drag for him and yet I can relate to his anger with the Government and Society...in his situation, Silence did equal Death...however, there was a part of me that knew a young man many years ago who could have transformed that anger...maybe he did...but the public David did not...I wish that his soul has met renewal and that his longing is causing sparks somewhere deep in a new heartland beyond the darkness and the grit and that his inner eye has reconnected with the Big Picture and that he brought his sketch pad and journal...and now that being can tell us all anew...refreshed in the Longing.  Richard and I wish his soul the rest it longed for....

I Have to Admit...

...that I am really sick of this Michael Jackson frenzy.  Popular Culture is basically a cartoon...so welcome to the cartoon!  Everyone was ready to cut off poor Jackson's testicles and now that he has died...the whole cartoon is marching on their knees to the Staple Center for his memorial service.  Enuf already...I guess I can't say, "Get a Life"...how about "change the channel"...as Aretha would say, rescue me from this onslaught....Am I just a fuddy duddy curmudgeon?  An aging hipster with an ax to grind cuz of LSD brain cell deficiency?  Probably all of the above...but can we add some more depth to this cartoon?  I promise to be nice tonight when I am at the auctioneer at this charity event...I will be nice to all the aging gringos like myself and not point the finger at the glaring out of balance expat cartoon culture...I'll just breath deep...
 

Three Blog Day

One million years ago, back in 1969, I was part owner of a Hippie Head Shop in Oklahoma City.
The store was the hippest thing between Chicago and Santa Fe, or at least, that was our impression.  (The world is a small place when viewed through untraveled rose colored glasses and a few tokes of old school Mexican weed....).  We lived amidst a red white and blue wasteland where the corn grew higher than a Mastedon's eye.  That summer I was arrested in front of the store by undercover cops for selling Zap Comic Books...they let me go for some mysterious reason.  Our store was the hub for the Hippie Scene that was crisscrossing Amerika at the time.  Because of our lofty status in the Hippie community,we had the job of meeting the different rock bands who came to OKC at the airport and taking them to their hotels.  One evening I picked up some of the members of Three Dog Night in my lil' MG with my St. Bernard in toe....where did they sit?  I don't remember:  It was the 60's...a photo of that event appeared in the local newspaper...so you are wondering why I called this particular entry "Three Blog Day"?  Well...this is the third entry today in my blog and this third lil' ditty was inspired by a photo that Lovee sent me of Suburban Hell...I just have to post this...I know the kids are having fun...but I am delighted that they are there and I am here....Gracias Dios!

Has Anyone Noticed That Anado McLauchlin is Totally Self Absorbed?

...got any good ideas how to get him out of this messy pool of interior addiction to thinking and writing about himself in this blog...and for that matter...pretty much all the time.....he is sitting here at the desk waiting for a call from New York from a writer who is writing about a friend of his that he last saw 30 years ago...this friend has since died...Anado is still alive and breathing...but we need to help him change the subject matter in this blog to more pertinent and timely events...

"Who Am I?" or "The Stations of the Groove"

...sometimes I think I may know the answer to that question...but not always.  Answering that would be to live it.  And I guess that is what I am trying to do...but the catch is:  Live it...but without hooks....so that leads me to remind myself that this entity  that this  "I" inhabits, is just passing through on this mobile travel log through all of this.  And it is no big deal 'cuz everyone else is doing it and will continue to do it..No Hooks Allowed!....
Today is special...for the longest time I have been contemplating a Body of Work (outdoor installation) known as the Stations of the Groove.  Well, today, I made a breakthrough and now I know in which direction to proceed...So I congratulate myself without hooks or dramatic pause...it feels good!

Divinity and All That Other Good Stuff...

...the above title for this lil' blog entry is a big bundle of sweet organic carrots hovering above my nose...drawing me into the mix where time and time again I have to agree to start anew even though I have broken all the promises to myself that this time it is for real...but in this game....the only rule is to begin again and again in each freshly established unfolding occurrence of light reflected on a brand new evolving moment in time...just like now in this gobblygook effortless (yet a bit wordy)  awakening to a new day in Mexico and the freshness of the morning breeze reminding me to let go of the tension of needing to know....nowhere to go...no one to be...nothing to get hung about....

One of Many Suppers

...our divine friend Lulu Torbet took this photo yesterday out on the Patio Chichimeca at our totally groovy and evolutionary house....these phenomenally honed visionary friends gathered with Richard and I for some down-but-no-longer-my- home Oklahoma Chili...we sat for this Quasi Last Supper Pose...I got to be jesus 'cuz of my long hair...his fate is not something that I aspire to...as Bhagwan once said:  "jesus was the Last Christian"...ain't it the truth!  By the way, that's Porn, I mean Childstar, playing Judas who is being the stool pigeon and pointing out jesus to the Romans.....or was it the Phillistines?

Anado McLauchlin Wants to Get to the Heart of the Matter...

...but doesn't that take the fun out of the hunt?  I reckon what I really wish is to be alive and alert in the day to day...the immersion into the ordinary wonderfulness of all of this....Somewhere along the  way in this journey, I heard someone sing or say, "This...this is all there is"....I want to be awake in this Thisness....here in this....the glory of friendship and growing with others, the intimacy of life with Richard, the joy of this crazy Art Life with all the critters and what they bring and take from the table...I guess I just want to put a big exclamation point on the Gift of this Mystery....Gracias por todo!!!!!!!!

Anado McLauchlin Forgets to Reflect on the Legacy of Michael Jackson...

...well I tried to a bit a few entries back, but I just can't go there...ok, I will try...just plain strange this human condition can be sometimes...the poor guy...but it is sad to think about the children that he left behind...that is where my best wishes go....and all that is eternal that passed through the being known as Michael Jackson...well...that will continue...The Eternal Mystery Welcomes us all......

3:20 am.....

........yes, I am wide awake...sugar and alcohol and I am paying the price.  We had some nice folks for dinner and I had a few glasses of Richard's divine white sangria and some ice cream and I knew it was not a smart idea...and here I am...WIDE AWAKE.... So, I am reminded that yesterday was a sad day for those 70's icons Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson...sad for their fans, but Farrah and Michael at least are free of suffering.  Our lives are so tenuous and such an amazing gift from the Creative Source of All Things...I may be wrong on calling it a source,,,maybe it is a limitless abyss of nothingness that this whole dream bubbles forth in such a magical way...hey...it's late and I am typing whatever comes to mind...Lucky Richard could sleep through a hurricane....back to limitless nothingness...I could use a bit of that to fall into and drift back to sleep without attachment to this waking and thinking....wish me luck....Blessing to All Beings...thanks to Farrah and Michael for their creativity!

I Have Water Stuck in my Ear.....

.....oh don't mind me...I just write this blog to myself and occasionally some soul stumbles upon it and I get a comment or two....But maybe I am doing this just to improve my typing skills.  Ya never know, which brings me to these visitors we had yesterday....An architectural group from the Oakland Museum.  Talk about no response...I could not find a connection with them...There was no inner kid connection.  I felt like they were so bored but later a friend advised me that they were a very non effusive group...they were either holding back, heavily sedated, or they were full blown minimalists and the chaos here must have really struck a chord with their inner seconal....I shall not take it personally...but this water in my ear is another matter!

Jimmy Ray Sighting?

Well folks...there have been some new sightings of Jimmy Ray, my "former" muse.  He had agreed to be a bit less visible and stay close to home.  However, I received this photo today from some artist friends from Louisiana who are staying in San Miguel.  So if you see him on the street...As Dionne Warwick would do..."Walk on by", he is so full of "foolish pride."  You know he did say once, "Be a Fool unto Thyself."  At least he walks his walk...  I must apologize for not reporting in the blog for a long time....'cuz, as Lolita Groove implied, I have been having an affair with Flickr (Anadogroove)...so I am back...forgive me...anyone seen Porn, I mean Child Star or Wee Wee?  We are having a big day here at the house...a tour of architects from Berkeley, so we had to get prepared...I promise to be more loyal to this blog......

Time Will Tell...

...that is if you believe in time.  I guess we all do.  The concept does somehow manage the chaos in a bit more orderly fashion.  I would assume that time as I know it only applies to this solar system that I inhabit...But what about light years?  This whole time thing is beyond poor Anado...and the problem is:  according to this time thing I am getting older and at the same time....time is running out...what am I going to do this time?  It all appears to be so timely...can I call time out?  Will time stand still?  This time...am I right?  Are we on a timer? Sometimes it is all apparent...this time?  Time will tell...

Despite it all...

...things seem to be ok.  Work continues.  Beloved Richard returns tomorrow...it is hotter than Haities outside...the obscure sound of that god forsaken leaf blower in the distance...this garden karma will be following me around for the rest of my life.  If I am learning one thing in this life:  Don't Cut Corners! Finish projects with integrity and total abandon...get in there and make sure that the screws are tight and the wind will only embrace and not destroy.  I am loving this moment in time...I am loving this imprint that Richard and I are co-creating along with Carlos and all the critters and the love of our friends and extended Groove Family....Now...let's have some rain......

Uh....Like......

...should I tell everything?  Should I reveal the cheese?  Yes, I watched all five seasons of"the wire" in a month along with one season of "Madmen"...you could say I have been distracted...Went to San Francisco...saw lots of friends...avoided others...spent too much money...missed saw and still miss Richard...had the runs...thought I was depressed...made necklaces, fed dogs, cats, and burros, made art...designed mosaics..collaborated on a piece with Masako...felt unworthy...felt at my wits end...loved the moment...ran from responsibility...gave anti biotics to three dogs...ate a pizza...went online...watched part of one movie...learned more about Joni Mitchell...cried tears for a generation that got old...that was my generation...my gen..er a...shun...that kind of thing.....just wanted to catch up...no... I am not depressed...if anything, I have shed some baggage and moved on...I am grateful for this life ...these days with Richard and all the critters...this ongoing project here at Casa de Las Ranas...what a gift!

With Love in My Heart...

...I am heading back to Mexico early on May 27.  My heart is filled with the love of my dear friends in California...I cherish this bond that goes back so far and so deep.  Richard gets back on the 13th of June.  I have lots of work ahead of me...let it roll!

 

It's Monday and I am in Love.....

..Tuesdays could get so windy
and Wednesdays were so Trendy
Thursdays were on the Mark
like Fridays on a lark
and Saturdays when the wind was missed
on Sundays with a lingering kiss
I loved all of the above
and it's Monday and I am still in Love....

When I'm 62...

...somebody please remind me not to take this life for granted.  And so be it...'cuz today I am 62.  I am sitting here in the apartment with Richard on this foggy day.  We are going out to Marin today to celebrate with friends...it is going to be a long day.  Being that it is my birthday...I have turned over a new leaf and this new leaf tells me to watch my tongue...I am feeling a bit weird about this gathering today.  Last friday night we went out to dinner with a group...Anado had a martini and two beers...quite out of the blue, one of my friend starts a conversation about how Anado had forgotten her birthday and had not acknowledged her at the wedding of Anado and Richard....to be quite honest I just forgot...I know I can be selfish...but this was an honest slip of forgetfulness....so I need to take a step back and acknowledge her pain and move on...this too shall pass... as they say!  So what happened last Friday was a lesson...remember thyself, Anado...as Gurjieff would say...but while I am reminding myself of myself....Remember those friends that surround me...

Citizens Alert!!!!!

Who is this person?  If anyone has a clue...clue me in....

Todo el Mundo...

...it certainly is a big thing we have going here.  Moving across the planet like I did last evening in the airplane gives  amorphous definition to that which is mystical and mysterious.  When I looked down from above to the cities all lit with traffic movement...houses aglow...neon...halogen...everything lit up like a new kind of jewelry...then the absolute spaces of darkness...the occasional sentinel of light...there was no perspective for me because there was nothing to focus on...it just was...and you know it continues to be...it just is...and it is always changing...I marvel at how much San Francisco has changed since I first came here years ago...I found myself today standing in front of huge cooler or freezer filled with what seemed like hundreds of shrimp ready to be eaten...and gazing at aisle upon aisle of the best food one could imagine and the store was filled with young mothers or professionals and all of us were surrounded by a parking lot filled to the brim with really REALLY big SUV's...I though there was a recession going on?  Well maybe not in Mill Valley....  This all confuses me...this world view...because from where is this viewing of the world taking place?  Is it similar to that non focal point last night in the airplane?  Do I sound confused or just out of focus...like the whole world viewed by millions of different focal points and the only relation is the difference and the absolute inability to define the Mystery in words?
...whew!!!!!

Departing Mexico for US Visit Has its Moments...

...I just had to include this photo of me in the Mexico City Airport...Patrice gave me this mask for my birthday.  Richard just had to calm my "high maintenance ass" down because I could not access the wifi...Goddess Be Blessed for bringing Richard into my life...so I am on my way North...a bit cooled down already in this air-conditioning...Love to All!

The Sublime Funk of the Eternal Groove...

...winds its way through my veins and lubricates this bone and skin and feeds my awareness with gobbles of groove juice as I embrace this Life.  Tomorrow I head for the States for two weeks.  It will be divine to see Richard and spend time with friends.  I look forward to a walk on the beach and to nestle in with the green hills that defined my existence for all those years with my leaf blower, lawn mower, pruning shears, and lust for Living.  I am so utterly grateful for this Life...this gift of land and funkiness that Richard and I have created here in La Cieneguita is such grand treat.  Gracias, Dios, por todo!  I will miss all of our critters, but Carlos, Martina, and Transito will look after things.  Viva Mexico!  Viva la Vida!  Gracias a la Vida!
 

Attention: Richard Groove!

Some of you may know that there is a Silent Observer that rides this blog...this Observer has left one comment in the last two years.  However, this Observer is an integral part of this whole Groove Thing that we have going here and I want to present an award to yes....Him.  His name is Richard Groove...you probably read about him in the New York Times....This Huichol beaded creature is for Richard...My gift to him...we boughtt the beadless aztec dog a few years ago in La Manzanilla...I had Lil' Max (The Huichol Maestro) bead it and it is quite cosmic in the grooviest sense of the word...similar to Richard Groove and his deeply Silent and Luminous Way....Richard Groove!  My Husband!

Into My Life....

...I find the same old struggles and I still work on them.  The joys are still to be found and celebrated.  I am going up North on Wednesday to join Richard in San Francisco...that is good.  It is the hot season here in Mexico, so the cool ocean breezes (try hurricane force winds at the top of Castro Street) will be a welcome change.  I got to thinking today why I never visit my sisters in Oklahoma.  Am I selfish?  I realize that I just don't want to go there.  The remains of my early life there still fester in a sense.  One of my sisters said that she did not believe a thing that I say.  Do I need that?  Her world is colored by Fox News and the fact that she has never left the United States.  Do I owe them something?  The past is best served in my healing of my roots and not to swim in waters that threaten and conjure the legacy of pain that we learned as children...Somewhere deep inside I honor the love between us.  Maybe one day they will come visit me here in Mexico...I send them love from the center where we all evolved.  May all beings be free of suffering...may all beings be at peace...may all beings know their True Nature...

Anado McLauchlin Found Himself in a Rebellious Mood...

...yesterday.  Is rebellious the correct term?  Lazy and stuck?  Whatever it was...I did absolutely no work...I just vegged and watched 10 installments of "The Wire Season 2"...I felt guilty and submerged in a lethargic milieu of constant sighing and energy drain...So...today...I am back at it.  Reassigned to the Groove...letting it go and promising not to get Season Three of The Wire.  I even put on a Che tee-shirt and posed in a confused state for the photo.  I do recommend The Wire for some really good writing...so this Paisley Cowboy wishes Good Tidings to all!

Laxmi Wants to Help You...

...to get that cash flow coming your way!  I got one of those chain emails today telling me if I sent this to twelve people...then I will get real rich.  So my idea is to post it on this blog and not cause all this electronic get rich data to fill our air with hopes and wishes.  The hopes and wishes are what gets us in trouble...I propose that we just open up those channels and let the Universe continue to support our separate journeys in this Mystery...as I heard Bhagwan say:  "Life is not a problem to be solved but a Mystery to be lived"...I know that I have quoted this before...but I will continue to remind myself of this great Mystery...this glorious road called Life!!!!

I Have Been Pigging Out...

...despite all the best intentions, I have been eating way too much over the last three days.  I was invited to three different meals...and I ait way way way too much....It is the dessert that gets me.  I feel bloated and tired...so...I will just be eating grapefruit during the day today....I am writing this to tell myself to get back on track...get real, Anado...I am what I eat...and right now I am tired and wish to wake up...When reading what I have written so far, I realize that I am pulling the "Woe is Me" card...so I need to shuffle the cards and get on with it.  I include a photo of a recent piece that I designed and hung in the Living Room.  This all came to fore to get some bones out of my studio which were taking up a bit too much room...I send love to all.....

Addressing The Internet...

...well, I did meet Richard on the Internet.  I get business through my website.  I get to post this blog.  I get to add my photos to Flickr.  I have spent way too much time on Facebook.  I realize the immense garbage on some of the News sites....I dig Skype 'cuz I get to see Richard when he is up North.  All in all...the internet serves me.  But I do realize the emptiness of constant email, Facebook, and Flickr checking...it is such a fleeting whisper of the void that passes through me and feeds me like a mind numbing drug...so....what to do?  It is a bit of a thread to the out world...a thread is all...the elaborate tapestry of a goddess fueled real life and the texture of the creative act that ultimately enfolds me.  So I thank the people at Apple for providing this magic tool and I bow down to the Universe for the life thread that keeps me movin' and groovin',,,,,

Anado McLauchlin Observes That It Is 8:04 am...

...in doing so I ask the Universe to conspire with me to break down the barriers that we impose upon ourselves...Outside and inside...all the stuff that we create for our protection and so called security....I am the same as the rest...we are all involved.  I remember Bhagwan once saying:  "I am no different than you except I accept myself and you don't".  Right on bearded dude...and what we don't accept in ourselves we do double duty on others.  So...I will be going down stairs in a few minutes...I will remember the Beauty Way...make something beautiful...that is the order for the day...time to keep movin' and groovin' to the light of the magnificent fantastical Groove that winds through us all....

Come On, People, Now.....

...get hip to the new tip.  Swine are getting a lot of press  coverage these days...Especially in Mexico.  The world media is going to town in it's hysterical fashion and our Beloved Mexico is suffering more because of it.  Sure...this is a serious situation, this thing called Swine Flu.  But hey now!  200,000 people die of the flu every year world wide ...something disturbing about this picture?  They are cautioning people not to travel to Mexico...this is going to kill the tourist industry...fuck up the fragile economy.  I don't expect to be making many sales these days...so be it.  But I am slightly outraged at the news coverge...The American Entertainment...I mean...News media just really sucks.  I heard that a man here in our village died last night...he had a very high fever and such...already our paranoid neighbors are saying it is Swine Flu....Wake up!  Pobre Mexico....

In His Funky Way...

...Manchas Groove, the weirdest dog alive, arrived on our doorstep a week after our Beloved Kali disappeared.  Later I found out that Kali had been killed by a car and Carlos buried her near the gallery site.  Manchas had appeared at Carlos' house so I payed to get him neutered and have his shots.  That meant that he was the newest part of our Groove Scene.  That was almost two years ago....Slowly he has found his way into our hearts despite  his unruly ways...pissing, gnawing, jumping, barking, fighting with Simba...His photo appeared twice in the New York Times article about our house...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/garden/23mexico.html?_r=1

He is our Beloved in his funky way.  Even though the Pet of the Week Award has been suspended, I think it is important that Manchas Groove get his recognition as a true Groover.  Here is a photo of Manchas in action......

It's 8:29 am Here In Mexico.....

....there is Swine Flu down in Mexico City.  I just called my friend Patrice who is in a hotel there.  I told her to come home...she had already decided to.  Our friends Maggie and Alice Sperling are down there...I hope they come home soon.  Poor Mexico...this delightful place is really carrying a big load these days.  Keep Mexico in your hearts today...she needs some big love sent her way.  So, Richard, if you read this....me and all the critters here at the house are doing ok....for once it is cool to be over 50, cuz most of the fatalities are young adults...I remember when I was a young adult... we have to carry this gift of life and hold it precious....this flu thing is such a wake up call for the planet...forgive us, Goddess, for we know nothing.....

There are Certain Patterns.....

...that we seem to be able to assume. 

Gut reaction...habits...safety...bondage...religion...lust...you may think I am taking you down into depths that serve psychologists and bolster victims...nope...sorry.  I am talking about the underlying magnificent patterns that draw our life force.  The genius that goes into this gift of breathing and the creative will that allows one to report back and bring a rhythm to the rock and roll and liquid face of the the Mystery...that is the gig...that is the catalyst...the spark...the hankering for wisdom amidst  the Unknown...I want that...I'm in the mix...

The Lone Groover...

...while Richard is up North it is up to me to keep this Groove Scene in some kind of working order.  That is why there are therapists...you think I may be joking...I'm not.  Sometimes a project like this with the house, Art, animals, cooking, feeding, and Mexico itself can be a bit overwhelming for such a borderline little groover like me...But somehow, the Universe continues to provide and the Mystery keeps me engaged.  I love it!  So I better un-glue myself from this typing device and get back to work and re-greet the day which was baptized last evening with a sizable chunk of rain!  Life is not a problem to be solved...but a Mystery to be lived....Bhagwan stole that somewhere along the line from some other Mystic...but every good Mystic will steal your heart too...he stole and retooled mine...Gracias, Bhagwan!

The Long Haul...

....Well it is that time of the year.  Easter has passed.  The last of the big music festivals takes place in our little pueblo tonight.  Richard is up in the States for the two month-ish long haul.  I will be going up to SF in twenty-five days to join him for two weeks. This is my time alone.  I know I will get a lot of work done.....  I remember Osho/Bhagwan speaking about the Flight from the Alone to the Alone...no matter how we fill our time with people, places, and things...we are ultimately Alone....My lesson is to ease into this space and just be...forgive me, Lovely Lolitaji for forgetting your B-day...I send love and warmth to all my friends.  We are blessed in this time to be alive...Love

Because the Sky is Blue....

...it turns me on.....And so does the fact that we have gotten Gallery Groove...once known as the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...to the degree of completion as of the last few weeks...We may have to take a break for awhile...cuz I need to make money...The reality is this:  it is more than I ever expected when I first started get the idea for the gallery about three or four years ago...so I am including some photos for one to see and I send best wishes to all and everyone who should stumble on to this funky lil' blog that could....

Abloom.....

...that is the nature of "isness" right now in this life that I share with Richard and millions upon millions of beings, souls, personas, animals, rocks, elephants, gardens, trust fundees, artists, tourists, cable guys, Fortune 500 members, school teachers, ants, viscounts, prisoners of war, rape victims, homos, lesbians, three legged dogs, family men, auctioneers, punks, violinists, Chinese orphans, and of course there is so much more to share...so much more to give and take back with any and all of all kinds and description. And heal and turn this World righteous again, and forget George Bush and really be in shock and awe at the Wonder of the Universe...and move beyond capitalism and fascism and get the boat right in the water and sail through what is and embrace all that is abloom and alive and get funky and groovy and know our True Nature....yes...

Art in America with Anado McLauchlin as...

...your non-host.  Anado McLauchlin is so not your host because Anado McLauchlin resides in back water La Cieneguita....far far away from any scenes past or present.  I read art magazines while I am eating (non-meditative) when Richard is out of town.  These "zines" keep me company.  I see all this great and not so great art that is happening all over the world in these pages, galleries, museums, and wall spaces.  There is this huge World of Art revolving in Space and Time, and as far as I am concerned...it might as well be a World of Burros.  This Art World has passed me by...what they call the Art Scene here in San Miguel is ultimately very lame...small town, if you will, and La Cieneguita is really small indeed.  But I love my little contribution to our Pueblo...every now and then someone "discovers" us out here...I came home the other day and there were people in my studio who had read about us. How did they get in my studio?  Well,Carlos had let them in...He is so innocent...they turned out to be really nice folks...but as your non- host...there are limits to this space and I enjoy my privacy and my non-position on the Art Map.....

Camera Chords, Fountains, Dogs, Cats, Burros, Feeding etc.....

I have lost my camera chord to upload photos of the happening down at our gallery space.  All the floor, ceiling,walls, steps and such are in place.  The guys are working on the fountain.  I am plugging away in this Life Dance...taking care of the animals, working in the studio, vegging on line...I have to finish these doors!  One is 80% finished.  For my dear, Lovee Groove, we hope to have photos up on this blog to report all the happenings and you must keep me abreast of all the action at the Dog Park...I am riveted to my seat...waiting to hear what Maya is up to.  I had a talk with all of our animals and we have decided to end the much missed Pet of the Week Awards...I can not take favorites with this brood....We love them all...Love to all and hurry home, Richard!

There's a Light...

...but I can't reveal it to you right now.  The chord from my Canon to my Mac has disappeared and I can not upload the photo of said Light.  So I guess you have to go inside yourself and let the Light reveal itself to you.  I know that you can do it.  It takes time...believe me.  So with that note...we all take a deep breath...forget about the drug cartels, Lindsay Lohan, and the Octuplet mom...and just go inside to visit the Light...the True Nature that illuminates us all....Happy Day!

I Wish...

...that Americans would do something about their gun laws...
...that Israel would leave Gaza alone...
...that Sarah Palin would go sit on the lip of that volcano that is erupting...
...that the Beatles were going to have a reunion...
...others planets would intervene in the Violence on Earth...
...that Jupiter was always aligned with Mars...
...that Mercury could figure out how not to go in retrograde...
...that the Lion and the Lamb would lay down there arms in Jerusalem...

The Extra-ordinay and Extremely Groovy Man Named Richard...

...graces my life in his subtle glowing way.  Now would one not want to have this dude teaching you Art History?  He is up in the States now for three weeks and this is what he wears to school.  The Goddess loves him....and I loves him too.  Should I start singing "wind for my wings"?  Or better yet...he is my wind AND my wings.  I would not be the man that I am today if I had not invited him out to Lagunitas all those years ago.  Casa De Las Ranas would never have risen from those weeds that once surrounded our Magic Home.  We have created an interesting and colorful oasis...and we ain't finished yet!

Lovee is Leaving....

....sigh...sniff...sniff...we will miss her chortle.  We love her so...lots of laughs interspersed with imaginative wisdom and folly...she lights up our lives when she is here...

I Have Lots of Excuses...

...for not attending to this blog...Busy working, celebrating, hosting, entertaining, loving, returning, and a host of one thousand other things....Lovee is here...she leaves tomorrow.  I will post pics from the last few weeks plus get you up to date on the celebration that we had here last Tuesday: celebrating our marriage with San Miguel friends....I am enclosing a photo of some of the work on a new door that I am working on...Love to all!  Especially Whitley!

Something Happened...To Me.....

...I grew older and as of this writing I am getting even older.  A woman in Oklahoma that I knew as a child sent me this photo of myself at age 17.  I was a full fledged wanna-be...notice the madras shirt...that was the style...the Beatles had appeared on my horizon the year before...so the hair of this young man was an important issue.  it is all really quite something...this age thing...I thought it happened to others...I actually enjoy reconnecting at times with my past...thank Goddess that I don't have to live there.....

Grooving is Easy...

...it has been a lazy quietly eventful week at the beach.  We are leaving in a few hours to climb back up to the high desert of San Miguel.  We have sprouted wings!!!!!!  We thank Divine Miss Sugar Power for this collage!

Gearing Up and Making Preparations....

....before the arrival of Lovee Groove, our next house guest.  But before we really get into it...we have to enjoy our vacation here in Troncones.  We have had a splendid time, once we escaped from Barra de Potosi.  We are just being very very lazy.....doing absolutely just what we want.  Every morning Richard and I have been collecting oyster shells and shell remnants with a coral and purplish tint...we used them before on the walls at Casa Kali and on a mirror that I completed recently....I find myself having flashes of guilt for not "working"...but ultimately I am...I am absorbing the beach....getting ready to return home to our life at Casa Las Ranas...love to all!

Troncones

Hi...we left for Troncones sooner than later.  Barra de Potosi was not a good fit.  Kirsten has joined us and we have a small bungalow for two nights and then we will go to Eden for two nights.  It is like night and day when you compare the two different beaches that we have been on in the last week.  I have been absolutely lazy for the last few days and tomorrow I need to do some work.  I have to replace the two upstairs doors that I sold recently...so some prep work came with me and I will go for it in the morning.  So...Richard and I are having a great rest and it is well deserved!!!!

Life is Not Always This Beach...

...some of you may know that we have come to a new beach destination this winter.  We chose the wrong destination...so we are leaving later in the week for Troncones.  The whole scene here in barra de Potosi is a bit much and not to our liking....So as you can tell by the enclosed photo...we are taking a deep breath and moving on.  We would never have had room for Lovee Groove 'cuz we had to rent a smaller car.  We found out that our power steering in the Ford was gone the day before we left....So Dear Lovee....we have this tiny Chevy and we do not have your regular U-Haul trailer hitch....Sending Love from Mexico to all!!