tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.comments2022-03-24T19:27:51.098-03:00One Human JourneyDennis Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15768594614249854053noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-50769036401812364172017-02-25T00:04:39.832-04:002017-02-25T00:04:39.832-04:00Thank you Dennis one more time. I find this articl...Thank you Dennis one more time. I find this article very inspiring. <br />Love the way you put things into right perspective. <br />Namaste. <br />Bruce Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03237874990830828504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-70846142643541985312017-02-24T13:58:11.824-04:002017-02-24T13:58:11.824-04:00Whoa..man.
I don't think that I have ever hea...Whoa..man. <br />I don't think that I have ever heard/read anything so liberating and down to earth. <br />Thank you Dennis. <br />Namaste. <br />Bruce Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03237874990830828504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-30367350282143278352016-09-26T10:01:57.936-03:002016-09-26T10:01:57.936-03:00Hey Brother
I truly appreciated the first blog of ...Hey Brother<br />I truly appreciated the first blog of yours I read about separation and heartbreak. It was truly powerful and very well written. <br />I get that you have a lot of feeling and powerful insight derived from your knowledge of the tech world, yet somehow I feel that your blog here could have gone on to drive a point. A conclusion that saw a deeper perspective to life. <br />An integration of some sorts. Particularly since we are able to find wisdom such as what you are sharing through your blog thanks to the wonderful miracles of technology. <br />Thank you for your writing, keep it up.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14911292232285661944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-53844200999626640522016-02-19T13:07:43.870-04:002016-02-19T13:07:43.870-04:00Pretty awesome account of your trip😃Pretty awesome account of your trip😃Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210305609968031204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-36021864455756985282016-01-22T16:45:09.365-04:002016-01-22T16:45:09.365-04:00Nicely written. Never knew you were a Bowie fan......Nicely written. Never knew you were a Bowie fan...quick, what's the correct answer to "Beatles or Stones?".<br /><br />Of course, it's Lou Reed.Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12259464959108174101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-8614706043977317282016-01-22T11:20:19.413-04:002016-01-22T11:20:19.413-04:00Just a detail: but what Okri means, I think, is th...Just a detail: but what Okri means, I think, is that the effect of the stories works itself out below the level of consciousness. We are not aware of that happening. The stories themselves can be stories you read or tell yourself at any point during the day, indeed not only at night. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-1826521041326398202016-01-16T12:54:44.570-04:002016-01-16T12:54:44.570-04:00Well though-out essay, Dennis! — MooneyhamWell though-out essay, Dennis! — MooneyhamUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01943553935235352618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-19685009962999040732016-01-14T21:30:03.617-04:002016-01-14T21:30:03.617-04:00For a time, when I was a teenager, “Changes” was e...For a time, when I was a teenager, “Changes” was everywhere to be heard. I didn’t know who sang it, but you could hear it everywhere. I had a radio beside my bed that I’d listen to a lot. It must have been on that, though I have no concrete memories of hearing it there. I remember this, though: it was in the car too. The tinny radio in that old, decrepit wasted-looking red VW bug I had back then played it. So it’s driving around with me in Houston and I can almost feel myself changing and it describing that changing as it’s happening. That’s a feat. And still, I’m hearing the song without really knowing, or caring, who made it. Or who’s changing. You just kind of sing along, y’know? Then, a couple of years later (and years are eons when you’re a teenager, remember?), I get the LP and delight finally to know the name, Bowie, and to own the song on that LP, and to love the LP which is uneven yet fabulous in its threadbare coherence. (It’s that coherence that for me makes Hunky Dory his first real album rather than an assemblage of singles.) The music was always more important than the words or the names or the authors. That’s how I experienced it. — It takes so long to catch up to yourself, to know you’ve been what you are before now, even if you couldn’t acknowledge it. Queer, buddhist or postbuddhist, middle-class, poetry geek, vagabond, whatever. Seeing the suppressed affinities, and catching this song, this LP, that vibe alone in my room with the radio, and seeing this all now, I know, “Yes, that’s what I am, for the time being at least.” That’s what this music does, what it recognizes. It’s older than me and I’ve been born into it. Its familiarity is as familiar as its unfamiliarity. That’s all I’ve got to go on, it’s the closest I’ll come to knowing before I die. “Knowledge comes with death’s release,” he sings on “Quicksand.”<br />But it isn’t the song or the songs, it isn’t the scenes or the new looks, it isn’t who you are fucking or what you stand for or whether you have heard the latest Bowie release. It is the passing. It is passing on to someone you thought just might get it, now or somewhere down the line when you’re just a faint memory. Passing on isn’t an achievement or a product, it’s a communal activity grounded in a kind of love. Passing on is how we weave who we are becoming, together.<br /><br />Thanks, Dennis, for the inspiration to write. The length is all on me. As the master says, Love on ya!<br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07948464174053072044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-291263970044298042016-01-14T21:28:57.677-04:002016-01-14T21:28:57.677-04:00The last Bowie LP I even listened to with care was...The last Bowie LP I even listened to with care was Heroes. Lodger and Scary Monsters and Super Creeps never caught me, though I caught them in the sense that I didn’t miss their release. By the time they’d appeared, I’d been hitchhiking throughout Europe, East and West (there was a wall then), and had sold my record collection to subsidize that journey. So I’d in a way given up on sedentary music listening and just went with whatever came my way for several years. I don’t know Heathens, or Tin Machine, or Outsider, or anything really since the last brief flirtation with Scary Monsters, listening to which I experienced more as bending to peer pressure: “You’re a Bowie fan. You just gotta listen to Scary Monsters. Now he’s singing that Major Tom is a junky. Trip, man.” So I don’t feel like a good Bowie fan. And I can’t honestly relate, though I want to at some level, to the many testimonies I’ve been reading that liking Bowie has to be a lifelong obsession, some no-holds-barred teeth grinding obsession that expresses itself in listening to Blackstar all weekend. I don’t make the grade on that count, and I’m okay with that.<br />Which complicates my mourning, frankly. I spent all of Monday reading stuff—starting at 3:15ish a.m. EST after my lesbian partner Y woke me up to tell me the bad news, and starting again at about 9:30 a.m. when I woke up for the day. All day reading articles, blogs, tweets by celebrities, whatever I could find online. I watched a couple of great interviews (Iggy and Bowie on Dinah Shore) and performances (Bowie and Ava Cherry—hoot man, that’s a lesson in groove!—on Dick Cavett) that I’d never seen. (Youtube ’em, you’ll be happy you did.) I’d like to see more and listen to albums. Just not now. I’m writing now. <br />Now that I’m writing, writing my thesis, writing this, I see that the issue isn’t so much Bowie as that I’ve loosened up on that aspect of my past. And I hold a curious and skeptical stance toward idols. I don’t need to read others’ tributes or hero build-ups. I’m not a member of the club. Anyway, Heroes was really about disestablishing external heroes (romantic, political, parental, whatever) and becoming your own person—maybe not even a hero. Maybe just a person, another in the ranks—or hosts—of all the young dudes yearning for snappy street love and trying to turn a dollar. Like one of the many I’s in Whitman, the one that belonged, for a spell, to you and you alone; and then it didn’t any more. In that project of disestablishing heroes (and phoney heroic locales: remember, Heroes was recorded in a divided Berlin still occupied by U.S., British, French, and Soviet troops), Heroes aimed at what psychoanalysis aims at: scrutinizing the identifications that are useful at a certain point in one’s life and dismantling others, especially the ones that are no longer useful, definitely the ones that are doing harm. It’s about recognizing change and unplugging idolatry. In a weird way, it’s about radically cultivating the plastic-elastic attitude of childhood in order to grow up—if that makes any sense. 2/3<br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07948464174053072044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-20260200011214973522016-01-14T21:28:02.320-04:002016-01-14T21:28:02.320-04:00I really appreciated this thoughtful writing on Bo...I really appreciated this thoughtful writing on Bowie. Thanks. It's inspired a rather long series of reminiscences. Maybe they'll do something for some folks.<br /><br />I'm going to risk blasphemy in this comment, blasphemy to the hallowed hosts of Bowie fandom. I've been following—assiduously, passionately following—others' writing in the aftermath of the announcement of Bowie's death. Newspapers, blogposts, Facebook (yes, I came out of a pleasant and productive (!) winter FB-hibernation to snoop around again), all the usual media conduits that connect us all these days. So I engaged, maybe in some sense I even had to engage. But I didn’t really feel sad, and I didn’t really feel a loss, and I didn’t really feel like Bowie is forever, that he’d never be forgotten. Hell, I’ve forgotten almost everyone I’ve lost in this life, or more precisely, I’ve allowed, sometimes actively allowed, their memory to wither or to morph beyond recognition. The micro infidelities of having my own ego to maintain, I suppose. I have my little rituals of commemoration, but ultimately little to no control over memory, so I won’t make that claim. What I have experienced in all this reading is a vague sense of camaraderie. Vague, because I don’t feel “connected” to Rob Sheffield or Hilton Als in the same way I feel connected to you, Dennis, or to my long-ago friend Lane in Austin or to my little sisters, whom I shamelessly initiated into the queer worlds of Bowie when they were too young to know better. Bowie, once I knew his name, was someone whose songs you passed around to people you trusted, like passing a talking stick or a joint or a bottle of faux-sanctified wine round a camp fire in Crete. So Bowie’s death for me isn’t about Bowie very much at all—though I think of his daughter Lexie a lot these days. Lexie knows loss right now. It’s about the tendrils of filiation, call it friendship if you need a name for it, that his music was occasion to foster. So I guess it’s in honor of those human connections that I’m coming out now to write. <br />What’s become clear to me in the three days since I heard of Bowie’s death is that I’m not much sad. Such sadness as I am experiencing is muted, a distant plaintive near-vocalization—not even a moan, nowhere near a howl or keen. More like a heart murmur. I’d fallen out of touch with Bowie, I’d long since ceased to see his personae as a model for living my life, for anything other than transformability. Yes, mutation/adaptation is a model, a profound one, for living, and it’s good it has its champion in Bowie. But not one that says, Be a lawyer, be a plumber, be an academic, don’t be a high-brow, be an activist, be a glam queen, be a Buddhist monk, be an artist. It wasn’t the model of sustained mentorship. And yet he did sustain me, he has been there in a sustained way throughout my life, and there was never any shame in looking back to the time he loomed larger in my life than he seems to now. (Though frankly, quite frankly, these words belie that fadeout effect; they testify to the subtlety of the changes my relationship to him have undertaken.) At some point, I wanted to get on with life, such as it was, and I left that sheltered world of music, of my white, middle-class, U.S. teenage indulgence in listening to music all day long to the exclusion of actually accomplishing or learning anything, regardless of its use value. I took to the road, then, reluctantly, went to college. I’m a bad Bowie fan. 1/3Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07948464174053072044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-2325780004556778832015-11-04T08:22:03.834-04:002015-11-04T08:22:03.834-04:00Thank you Dennis, for this series. Very clear and ...Thank you Dennis, for this series. Very clear and recognizable for my western mind. Anouk Brackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15072670480804480646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-65047377941785499242015-08-20T15:43:05.089-03:002015-08-20T15:43:05.089-03:00"You yourself, as much as anybody in the enti..."You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection" Tanner Jesselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13644366131982126898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-41539938980520603672014-09-20T13:20:33.639-03:002014-09-20T13:20:33.639-03:00I have used this meditation for only two weeks and...I have used this meditation for only two weeks and it has changed my life. That's all I can say. Try it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11990877571192797748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-14698527905304046032014-08-27T10:36:49.722-03:002014-08-27T10:36:49.722-03:00Beautifully articulated! Thanks for sharing.Beautifully articulated! Thanks for sharing.GBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16673747044623033198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-27263536131566820092014-07-28T15:22:19.579-03:002014-07-28T15:22:19.579-03:00Hi Dennis,
Did you ever watch the "Up" ...Hi Dennis,<br /><br />Did you ever watch the "Up" series? Starting with 7 Up (the children were seven years old) in 1964, the lives of 14 children are followed every seven years until the present day. The most recent installment is 56 Up. It's pretty fascinating. It's on Netflix and probably other media services. <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series<br /><br />Hugs,<br />Stephen<br />Stephen Metz-Lagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08620103846921644320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-25305399521828890542014-05-12T21:04:31.864-03:002014-05-12T21:04:31.864-03:00Wonderful!Wonderful!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453619278616797400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-27553533411856694422014-02-17T13:44:25.198-04:002014-02-17T13:44:25.198-04:00Thank you for your comments. It's quite intere...Thank you for your comments. It's quite interesting to see how a film with such strong content polarizes people in their opinions and reactions. There are, of course, no right answers. It's very individual, and it all depends on the mind that you bring into the viewing.Dennis Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15768594614249854053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-87934390412274663932014-01-21T03:13:55.894-04:002014-01-21T03:13:55.894-04:00Oh No! Pointless? Really? I walked away from that ...Oh No! Pointless? Really? I walked away from that movie feeling very much reflected in the content. I cant be the only person who comes from that level of dysfunction! How great was it to see that my story, and I suspect a few other peoplesvwas being told. Heck, I had the opportunity to turn my experiences in my own life inside out by watching that movie; to get inside, by watching from the outside. There is SO SO much to be gained from a movie like this. But I guess you have to be open or maybe seeking. It was an awesome movie, full of depth. Pointed! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16344974965676319912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-2890070693184657802014-01-20T17:04:05.968-04:002014-01-20T17:04:05.968-04:00That's a very insightful analysis. I took my w...That's a very insightful analysis. I took my wife to see it three weeks ago, and couldn't sit through it. My feeling was that it was overwhelmingly pointless - which was a shame, because there was a lot of talent involved in making it. But, I thought, why make it? There are a small number of movies I regret seeing, and that was one of them.wayfarerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04102461128980478006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-3816066860147842602014-01-15T13:41:41.115-04:002014-01-15T13:41:41.115-04:00I played with your heart, got lost in the game...I played with your heart, got lost in the game...Alex Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381829856796477443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-21270865054691358662013-12-02T07:22:33.240-04:002013-12-02T07:22:33.240-04:00It's great that so many people are waking up t...It's great that so many people are waking up to the benefits of meditation on all levels of us - Body, Mind and Spirit. I know this is going to continue and we are on the brink of something larges as people now understand what us mystics have been saying for years and year and were ignored. The truth always reveals itself eh!<br />Rajesh Ananda - Guru & Spiritual Leader<br />FISU Meditation www.fisu.orgRajesh Anandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11778676890628663035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-17124178341256916492013-10-14T03:35:32.865-03:002013-10-14T03:35:32.865-03:00And, you know, the Material Girl is now one of the...And, you know, the Material Girl is now one of the richest people in showbiz.<br /><br />Figures, eh?wayfarerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04102461128980478006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-74931045250508402032013-10-10T10:46:36.624-03:002013-10-10T10:46:36.624-03:00Hello, I've only just begun listening to audio...Hello, I've only just begun listening to audio teachings and I would like to recommend Robina Courtin. She can be blunt at times but I think that just makes her seem real.<br /><br />http://www.robinacourtin.com/teachings.php<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06667745550762449871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-45758511135010214932013-07-19T15:36:03.696-03:002013-07-19T15:36:03.696-03:00Thank you for the important message. I don't ...Thank you for the important message. I don't want to EVER forget where I have come from and why I am going where I am going! The Gift of Desperation is a true blessing which God has put upon my life!! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10944483516189116680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911194092037701909.post-54753087179002986382013-05-23T17:42:21.072-03:002013-05-23T17:42:21.072-03:00Hi Sebastian, thanks for your kind words. I'm ...Hi Sebastian, thanks for your kind words. I'm very glad to hear you are working with these things and living a life that is true to yourself! Dennis Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15768594614249854053noreply@blogger.com