* no more lost & found

"we're soooo sorry, ma'am, but that department's been shut down.

at this point in time, there is no more lost & found." 

* people changing roles

people changing roles
in this gigantic Play
people changing roles
there's not much more to say...

when you're changing roles 

b113 (2.25-3.2023): one foot out the door

one foot out the door [i]
by joal
 
she came into the house
she came unto the night
she came into the living room, but something wasn’t right*
 
and as we talked (it’s obvious): there’s something wrong (for sure)
she came into my house…
with one foot out the door
____________________________
 
it is all soooo much more obvious, now:
·       no overnight bag,
·       no food,
·       no beer,
·       no passion.
    o   …only passive-aggressive anger.
 
she came in with a pre-fabricated plan (complete with an assist from her mal-informed therapist) to exit.  righteously.  victim-mindedly.
 
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.25-3.2023). one foot out the door. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino.

* to be honest, her curt, cryptic texts (prior to arrival) were a precursor of what transpired.  textbook, actually.

https://joalmartino.blogspot.com/2023/02/b113-217-12023-something-isnt-right.html

b113 (2.25-2.2023): blessings

blessings [i]

by brian less
 
they say to count your blessings
it’s easy if you try
they say to count your blessings
and there’s a reason why
 
they say this whole game is just a dance of people, guessing
there’s no reason to try
they say to count your blessings
____________________________ 

• scientists and mathematicians say that you & i have a 1 in 4 trillion chance of being exactly who we are.  in a multiverse of parallel/alternate universes, it’s probably a tad more than that. 

• ...but even if it was only one-in-a-million, or even 1 percent… 

• that’s still significant enough to re-Cognize that (if we can read this) wIe are very lucky, indeed.

_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.25-1.2023). blessings. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino. 

* i pay a lot in taxes

one, simple glance at the coveted "take home pay" versus "gross income" is gross.

then, take that income... and subtract another 6-8% every time you purchase anything!

the real-i-zation... is that the average average joe works until may-june (every year) until he actually is earning money for him/herself.

meanwhile (back at the ranch), the super-rich can't even spell tax -- because taxes don't apply to them.

there is something wrong with this picture.

 

b113 (2.21-1.2023): "you can unsubscribe"

"you can unsubscribe" [i]
by a. scribe
 
"you can unsubscribe"
though you never scribed
we just took your data (from behind the scenes) and lied
 
we just sold your data
now you jump through hoops
we just made the unsubscribing process hard for you
____________________________
 
their data-theft process:
1.     you play a game or use some kind of fun app on a site like facebook.
2.     they (behind the scenes) attach a “subscription” that you never actively asked for.
3.     they attempt to hide the fact that you are actually subscribed, and
4.     if you are one of the few to find out that you are subscribed, you find that 

5.   the “unsubscribing” process is a maze of smoke & mirrors.
 
it really doesn’t matter, anyway.  they’ve already got your data.  they already know your “likes”. 
 
if they had a fork, they’d stick it in you… because you (my friend) are done.
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.21-1.2023). you can unsubscribe. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino.

* we are done.

* relatively quantum

relatively quantum
cosmic bowl of stew
imaginary/real, yet 

misunderstood:
who knew? 

--------------------------

(this thoem is in process as of 2.20.2023)

b113 (2.17-1.2023): something isn't right

something isn’t right [i]
by way off

alternative title: relationship aikido

something isn’t right
something isn’t right
something isn’t right
something isn’t right
 
something isn’t right if something keeps you up at night
if something isn’t ease-y…
something isn’t right
______________________________
 
·        in relationships, people miss the obvious: if something doesn’t feel right, something is wrong.
 
trust your intuition.  ask questions.  analyze, without judgment.  see the situation through others’ glasses.  put yourself in someone else’s shoes.  
 
…and then… if something still doesn’t feel right… avoid.  put time/space in-between you and that which doesn’t feel right.
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.17-1.2023). something isn’t right. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino. 

b107 (2.16-5.2022): mi and hue

mi and hue [1]
by mi tone & hue colors
 
mi & hue (in concert); lovingly in tune
danced and sang (and pondered)
hue & mi in (Une)
__________________________________
 
·       and the two shall become One.[2]
__________________________________
[1] martino, j. (2.16-5.22). me/y/h/ue. book 107: “make it white.” © 2022 by joal martino.

[2] genesis; matthew; mark; ephesians.  heck, let’s all Une.  “it’s in the bible!” 😊 

b113 (2.16-1.2023): dream house

dream house [i]
by a. dreamer
 
i dreamed i had a house
but more than house, a home
a place where you would never, ever, ever feel alone
it didn’t come with ball or chain or dog or cat or spouse
i dreamed i had a happy home
i dreamed i had
 
dream house

______________________________

 
·        in the dream, the spouse came later…
·        …and she brought her dog.
 
😊

_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.16-1.2023). dream house. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino. 

b113 (2-15-1.2023): apollonius

apollonius [i]
by a. follower
 
2000-something years ago
born in remote town
of a virgin mother
under roman crown
 
this was no mere mortal: a child with special gifts
grew into a man who walked on water (healed the sick)
grew into a preacher who could raise you from the dead
grew into a deity (and, with disciples, led)
 
gathered a large following (the local rulers frowned)
they couldn’t kill his Spirit (he ascended, looking down)
 
now (living up in Heaven)
a God we can discuss
you might not know his name:
 
Appollonius
______________________________
 
·        bart ehrman, in “how Jesus became God” (history channel documentary, amazon video) describes how Jesus wasn’t the only God who was born of a virgin, miracle-maker, persecuted, and spirit-man.
·        biblical scholars and his-story-ans have learned of several Gods who became men and men who became Gods.
·        since the Jesus narrative is the single, most important story in the history of mankind, it is worth researching in detail.
 
i was raised catholic, and was never exposed to any such his-story, which certainly would have been considered “blasphemy.”  i can’t help but want to learn more, and i need unbiased sources of information.
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.15-1.2023). apollonius. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino.
 
* inspired by ehrman, b.  “how Jesus became God.” episode II. history channel; amazon prime. 

* perimeter of knowledge

 "as your perimeter of knowledge grows, so to does your perimeter of ignorance."

-neil degrasse tyson

* Love is like no-thing else

 so... what is Love, really?

it is definitely a connection, a mutuality, a closeness.  the ego-side of it has a need that needs to be met.  the Spirit-side of it has a selfless, burning desire for the lover's well-being and life-happiness.

it is a Oneness.

kind-of like pornography, you'll know it when you see feel it.  

Love... can be projected, it can be received, and it can be shared.  it is hard to put your finger on it... until your finger is on it.  it can be a fleeting feeling.  it can be a "forever" feeling.

love/Love can be soooooo dichotomous as to render lovers helpless -- yet hopeful & energized.   

it is a Power.  
it is a vulnerability.

Love is like no-thing else...
...even as it is (simultaneously) One -- with everything else.

 

* happy (alien) valentine's day

aliens (sometimes) have a challenge with days like valentine's.

we love the Love and Connection that is experienced by humans on these holidays.  heck, i was probably conceived with the holiday spirit in mind.

on the other hand, aliens see beyond the veil and through the marketing.  we can't help but notice that it's just another man-made story (similar to "diamonds are forever") that result in billion$ of dollar$ in $ale$ (and $ale$ tax).  capital wins... again and again.

it may seem a tad bipolar, but aliens can have a love/hate relationship with valentine's day.  part of us wants you-mans to "be mine."  another part of us wants you (irrespective of man) to experience your best life.

my hope, on this day, is a little bit of both.

Love, 

joal 

__________________ 

*drawings by j. m.

see how valentines was conceived:  https://joalmartino.blogspot.com/2023/02/b107-27-12022-tiny-val-tine.html

**the experience of love is certainly the most addictive of any experience.  my feeling is that it is a positive addiction.

b113 (2.12-1.2023): i don't care (if it's super)

i don’t care if it’s super [i]
by ida ratha b. e. bowling
 
i don’t care (if it’s super)
if the truth be told
come and be my trooper (not my duper):
super bowl
______________________________
 
·        when i am with you, it’s super when you are a trooper.

·        the super-bowl-game, of course, is often more hype than reality… unlike red-room-rainy-days with you: my super-duper-trooper.
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.12-1.2023). super-duper-trooper. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino. 

* the super bowl, for most people, is just a drinking-event that is more about commercials than having a dog-in-the-fight. 

    ...but... 

if you throw in a little red-room play-calling, 

the real action can be the real reason why 

those boys are playing a game with an odd-shaped ball in the first place! 

:)

-----------------------------------------------------

now, seriously...

how can it be called football... 

if only one person (out of the 22 on the field) 

actually puts his foot on the ball ...

...and even that... 

happens only one in every 10-20 plays or so?

* randumb thoughts & questions

• if there is a south america and a north america and a central america, why do u.s.a. citizens view only themselves as "americans"? 

• the native americans aren't "indians," because the european settlers didn't "discover" india.  they just thought they did.

• what is the real reason behind the legalization of alcohol and the criminalization of marijuana?

• how was the bible composed, and how did jesus become god? *

• why can food manufacturers label a product as "zero percent" trans fat... if the product has trans fat in it?

• why is there an electoral college?  is it elementary?

• when did it become acceptable & common for people to "walk" dogs... and allow them to poop and pee on others' lawns?

• how can a huge skyscraper turn into dust (before our very eyes), yet millions of people go about our daily activities without questioning this?

• who (really) determines the united states' dietary guidelines, and why (really) is dairy included?

* "how jesus became god" by bart ehrman (renowned biblical scholar) is one of the most eye-opening discourses that you might ever, ever listen to.  hint: watch it through episode 2, at least.

b113 (2.10-1.2023): bouquet

 
bouquet [i]
by rose a. rose 

alternative title: red flags

see beyond the roses
seize the coming day
sea (the waves of future/past)
“c” (a red bouquet)

______________________________
 
·        there may be times when the red flags are right there, in front of our eyes.

on valentines day, bring your "a" game.  

_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.10-1.2023). red bouquet of flags. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino.
 
·        as valentines-proposals might go either way… on y/our conception day.

* my drawing is a rendition of a hilarious graphic, from the web.

a more realistic version might be...

* who (really) cares...

 ...if the decorative bath-towels match the shower curtain?

the type of person who really cares if my "decorative" dish-towels match my "good" china is not the type of person who i care about what they care about.

_______________________ 

disclaimer: this is not to say that those who like to have matching stuff in their house are (in any way) being criticized in this post.  it's when they criticize/judge others' homes.  

b113 (2.9-4.2023): comfortably numb

comfortably numb [i]
by u.s… a. society
 

alternative title: divide and conquer

 
here’s something that you won’t hear every day:
 
the average u.s.a. american, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and political persuasion, wants the same things:
 
·       clean/healthy/affordable food
·       clean/healthy/affordable water
·       clean air
·       clean environment

·       the truth, in news reporting
 
why then, do usa law-makers consistently vote against these unanimous wants and desires?
 
because: when a population is moderately diseased & drugged & confused, the law-makers (who are owned by the lobbyists’ money-trail) can laugh all the way to the bank (and the lifetime-pension, and the lawmaker-only health care system)…
 

...while we argue among ourselves.  

_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.9-4.2023). comfortably numb. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino. 

* https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/pinkfloyd/comfortablynumb.html

* why?

why do people confuse the legal, religious, cult-like construct of matrimony ...with the connected, sensational, mutual-bondedness of Love?

while both can be in play simultaneously, they are (obviously) not the same thing. 

b113 (2.9-3.2023): duplexity

duplexity [i]
by myspace.com
 
let’s make it forever
what will be, will be
friends might say “oh never!  oh, what’s next?”:  duplexity
__________________________________
 
·       i’ve always thought that the best cohabitation agreement would be the duplex:
   o   you get your side, and your stuff, and your bed, and
   o   s/he gets he/r side, and he/r stuff, and he/r pets.
 
why, you ask?
 
·       you both get to decide what you’d like to hang on the walls.
·       you both decide when to go to bed, and when you’d like to sleep.
·       you both decide how to wash and fold clothes before you both decide where and how the clothes are hung -- or not.
 
the romance can still be there:
 
·       you can still seduce each other.  

"dinner at my place, baby?"

·       you can still do what other cohabitants already do (sleep in separate beds), but it will be because you live in separate sides of the duplex.  you’ll sleep together when you want to! 
·       you can be “the odd couple” …yet not have to have each-others’ oddness in your face on a daily basis.
·       you don’t have to have the same tv or media habits.

…and on, and on, and on…
 
truth be told… separate houses might be an even better solution to the cohabitation challenge.  after all, who decided that people who love each other have to live together and sleep together?  the person who decided that... must have been in a honeymoon phase.
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.9-3.2023). duplexity. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino.
 
* the key to “duplexity” is that you are both inter-independent: making each-others’ lives better while not needing your beloved to behave in a way that suits your own, egoic needs. 

b113 (2.9-2.2023): close shave

close shave [i]
by s[h]aving f. ace

alternative title: face-off in the corner

faceoff in the corner
smooth as ice: the rave
i think i’m a goner (better warn her): a close shave
__________________________________
 
·       several years ago, a person who i know let a friend of his convince him of a technology that would remove all of the hair follicles from his face, thereby allowing him to never have to shave again.
 
·       fasting-forward (about a year) from the debacle, the technology didn’t work as planned.  dude ended-up with a deformed face… and several pesky whiskers that didn’t get the techno-memo.
 
·       nowadays, he still shaves… probably wishing that he’d saved face in the first place.  
 
learning point: if a new technology wants to use your face as an experiment, let a few other willing souls try-the-procedure-out (first), and get their opinion… one or two or 30-to-40 years later.  then, if you must, allow some flunky to use your face as his experiment.
 
conclusion: if something sounds too-good-to-be-true and the least-bit hard-to-believe, let someone else be the believer. 
_______________________________
[i] martino, j. (2.9-2.2023). face-off in the corner. book 113: close shave. © 2023 by joal martino. 

* new book

we closed book 112: happy new year and began book 113: close shave at 12 noon on 2/9/2003. 

b112 (2.9-1.2023): ten zillion universes

ten zillion universes [i]

by itsa cell & ima universe

ten zillion universes

if eye could only see

that they all reside

here (inside of me)

__________________________________

·       actually, there are 100 trillion cells, each of which contains 100 trillion atoms.

·       for reference, scientists estimate that there are 200 billion-trillion stars in our universe.

·       other estimates say that there are a million times more atoms in the body than stars in the observable universe… which would make each of us… a Megaverse.

·       is y/our head spinning on its collective axis yet? 

conclusion: there is a lot going on, right here/right now, inside of each of our bodies. 

while we might not be able to save the planet (or the universe, for that matter), we do have quite a say – when it comes to how we treat our host.

_______________________________[

i] martino, j. (2.9-2.2023). ten zillion universes. book 112: happy new year. © 2023 by joal martino.

* "you've got to make it work"

as a part-time bartender and a part-time human, i get to engage-in and listen-to conversations by people... and about relationships.

in the u.s.a., many have this unreasonable notion that it takes effort to "make a relationship work."

most can't even define what "working" means... but they will be more than ready to share their insights in a new york-relationship minute.  

since i'm not from this planet, i'm amazed to learn that the average american believes that, for a relationship to "work"...

• it must last "forever" (even though none do), or
• it must at least last a lifetime (which very, very few do), and
• it must be between a monogamous couple (when almost none are), or at least
• it must be "monogamy right now" (which is quite loosely defined), and 
• it takes work to make it work.

i'll have none of that kind of nonsense.  i believe that relationships cannot not work, and here's why:

1. you live, you relate, you learn. 
2. even if the nature of the relationship changes, you have memories.
3. relationships provide an opportunity for growth.
4. if, for a moment, "happily ever after" can give way to the truth (which is right now), then people might see that one can't have a long-est term relationship without its multitude of short-term mo[m]e-nts!
5. the moment is Now.  the truth is in the Now.  the reality is in the Now.
6. most importantly, the future is pre-paved and created ...Now.

naturally, when people label how a relationship must be (for it to "work"), they can gossip about how others' relationships didn't.  even those who married & lived together & died around the same time as each other experienced relationship turmoil at some point or another. 

can we, for just a moment, 
admit that our unrealistic expectations (of "the relationship") 
suck the life and energy and love out of it?

lifelong friendships are different, for some reason.  when the expectations are lessened, we can really love another and want our beloved to experience his/her best life (whether it is with us, or not).

friendships aren't as possessive as u.s.a. "relationships."  friendships don't have to "work" -- because friends don't need a contract, or a vow, a ring, or a lawyer or a minister or a government to tell them what they have to do -- to be friends.

friends, after All, just IS.

:)  

* no news (really is) good news

ignoring the news won't make the bad stuff go away... but it does allow for the possibility of re-cognizing the good stuff that we aren't paying attention to.

the bodymind can tap-into illness and/or wellness.

which direction would you like to go, in this Now moment?

graphic with permission by wellnessducation.us

* if...

"if you can figure out what a person's incentives are,

you have a good chance of guessing how they are going to behave."

*one of the first lines in the documentary: freakonomics.

* why?

 why do (otherwise) intelligent people believe such incredibly ridiculous things?

b112 (2.1-1.2023): why do couples argue?

why do couples argue? [i]

by anna r. guer

 
why do couples argue?
why do couples fight?
why do couples change (the things that keep us up at night)?
_____________________
 
·       during the initial phase, we stayed-up at night to kiss, to touch, to talk, to connect, and learn about each other.

·       nowadays, we stay up at night due to worry, anger, disagreement, and frustration.

 

what happened?

what can we do, today, to become partners/friends again? 
______________________
[i] martino, j. (2.1-1.23). why do couples argue? book 112: happy new year. ©2023 by joal martino.

why do couples argue

why do couples argue? [i]
by anna r. guer
 
why do couples argue?
why do couples fight?
why do couples change (the things that keep us up at night)?
_____________________
 
·       during the initial phase, we stayed-up at night to kiss, to touch, to talk, to connect, and learn about each other.
·       nowadays, we stay up at night due to worry, anger, disagreement, and frustration.
 
what happened?

what can we do, today, to become partners/friends again? 
______________________
[i] martino, j. (2.1-1.23). why do couples argue? book 112: happy new year. ©2023 by wellnesseducation.us