This week's world wide visitors

Greetings to:

Bogota, Colombia!
Florianopolis (possibly?), Brazil!
Genoa (or somewhere roughly in NWern), Italy!
Seoul, South Korea!
Budapest, Hungary!
Brisbane, Australia!

And it seems I've passed the 10 hits mark from San Diego, CA and picked up a visit from Arkansas!

Let's see if in the next month or two I can wrack up visits from anywhere in Africa and more places in Asia and South America.


P.S. I realize my posts have been kind of boring of late. Many apologies to those of you who actually have some interest in this blog. I have been catching up on and trying to stay up on school, which basically entails reading, sleeping in the reading room, more reading, some last minute writing, more sleeping, and sometimes eating, interrupted by the occasional cigarette break... however, now that the weather has turned frigid and windy, I find myself making less of an effort to consume said poison. When I am not pretending to be studious, I am busy taking pictures of inanimate objects, my drunk friends, and my feet, which I will begin to post in about a week's time once I acquire the requisite piece of technology to transfer them from my camera to my computer. Thanks to all of you for your patience, and I remain befuddled by the fact that while I have been writing less, I have been receiving more hits per day.

Now, for your enjoyment:

rewards

So, it might not be news to many of you that smoking weed diminishes one's ability to recall dreams. Indeed, this is not news to me, either. However, this summer after I significantly cut back on smoking (for the first time in four or more years), I began to recognize that I gain much more through dreaming than getting stoned. I also accomplish much more in my waking life. Still, when school started again, I fell back into my old routine of smoking all day every day. This had negative repercussion both for my internal condition and my scholastic obligations. About a week to a week and a half ago, I voluntarily cut back on smoking. Okay, it was partially involuntary, since weed costs money and I can't afford it right now, but some of you can verify that I have started turning down offers to smoke with those who can, in fact, afford it. Anyway, the point is, my dreams are returning in their fullness. They usually come to me right before I wake in the morning, but sometimes they draw me out of my sleep in the dead of night.

encounter #2

Ah,

I see you glancing,

Out of the corner of your eye.

You
are
filling someone else's
space
while your eyes,
your eyes
trace my contours

Up, down,
up, down.

I see you.

I'm watching as well.

The trees, the trees! They are screaming! Do you hear? Do you hear?! Who will save them?

Well...

It has been a while since I've posted anything substantial, no?

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I had what can only be called a psychedelic/enlightening/transformative/world-altering experience. I didn't quite realize how deeply the effects lingered with me until last week when I finally gained enough perspective on the event to understand that I had been completely shattered by it. I was neglecting all my homework, grossly indulging my social inclinations, and shirking all personal responsibility not confined to basic hygeine. I really lost track of myself there for a number of weeks. Finally, last Thursday I suddenly, without prompting, emerged from my haze and recognized how seriously I had been jeopardizing myself in my obligations to school and others.

Today was the first day since that experience I managed to finish my homework for class. I am miserably behind in two of my four courses (a total of seven overdue reading responses and one overdue project proposal... yeah. No good). However, it is too late for could have, should have, would have. I am thankful that despite myself I have recognized the issue in time before it deteriorated further, and is still manageable. I am now in the process of playing catch up and pulling the loose threads back together. However, in no way do I regret the experience or the timing of it. Surely it was inconvenient as regards my academic life, but as regards my spiritual health it could not have been more beneficial. I still profess that I am no longer the same person I felt myself to be going into it. Change is neither simple nor without consequence.

catalog of recent visitors

In the past week or two many new dots have appeared on my map, including, at the most distant, Beijing; following with closer vicinities to NY are (what generally appear to be, after consulting a political map of North America) Salt Lake City, UT; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Birmingham, AL; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, WA; somewhere in Nebraska; somewhere in Missouri; and it appears that what used to be a dot on Tasmania has relocated to Melbourne, Australia. Greetings to all new visitors!