I take the “three R’s” to heart, almost part of a personal religion, certainly part of my life practice that gives me hope, cause, and simply a reason for doing things.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; the simplicity of the trinity has a concrete material order for the extension and efficient use of stuff. The first rule of efficiency is do more with less; Reduce.

The vision granted to the Neo-materialist is that to see beyond the objectness of a thing and into its true material nature. With this vision the Reuse of an object is more simply available to the user. The jelly jar can now carry water as well.

The third and final R is Recycle. We can deconstruct an object, put its various pieces into the correct bins, tear it up and melt it down, roll it out and cut new widgets from the recycled material.  This final R is unfortunately the first go to, in our modern plastic life, and unfortunately, is the most energy intensive of the 3R’s (and few materials have a long recycled life, (their second coming is rarely as good as their first.))

Then there is the art of the Upcycle; it is a reuse of an object with an artistic spin. It takes the eye of a neo-materialist and the heart and hands of an artist to do this trick well. When this trick is done well, the object gets to speak honestly of its material nature, now, in its second coming ,as art or ornament that the 3R’s could only hold a candle to.

Lift your candle, love animals and ride your bicycle, and enjoy the art of the Upcycle!

Peace,

-ert

I was listening to Brian Lehrer on WNYC (Jami Floyd is filling in) and the talk was on harassment, (it seems like some BK boys are making for grabs as they ride away on bicycles… I’m all for a nice ride, but what is the need to be such a dick?!?)

A Muslim man called in; and was very proud of his practice of looking to the ground as he walks from here to there on theses NYC streets, and it made me feel somewhere between mad, sad, and scared…

Scared to think that there are men out there that cannot see a beautiful woman and have control of his emotions?!?  Sad to think men like these cannot/ have not looked upon a beautiful woman and maintain a heart of peace, and love, and respect the space between!?! and mad, that this is the best thing that this man, and his ilk can come up with to find peace in our society; but to keep his eyes to the ground…

Hold your head up high and light on your shoulders, broad across your chest, and let your love light shine! Smile, and speak the kind and simple truth…

Good luck out there sisters…Hollaback!

The glow of oranges and fading blue dusk of dawn
The impending sun rises on my back
The smoky haze of the last quarter shines on my left and follows 
As I ride my mechanical steed to Shambhala

A cop car at the corner of Marcy
Emergency blue lights flashing and a steady red light hangs over the intersection,
I gave a good morning to our sleepy peace officer,
And with no other traffic in sight I felt slightly stupid standing there,
And so I asked if I blew through his red light
Was he going to give me hassle?
With laugh and a wave of authority, I was on my way…

When I arrive and begin to hitch my black beauty to my stop sign
Robert steps to me and introduces himself;
With a loaf of bread in one hand, and his other outstretched
I took his empty hand, and shook it, and said good morning…
He then shared the abridged version of his plight,
Offering what food I had, not interested, I then lied to him
And told him I had left all my monies at home…
(I don't believe he believed me)
We exchanged a few more words; I wished him luck with his trials,
(He is currently working with a lawyer)
As he walked on, I turned my back, and unlocked Shambhala’s gate
And continued to move through space with all the grace I’ve been given…

Earlier in the week I reached out to my Peregrine's Parents and the forecast was for rain… but you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows… This morning as I rolled KONA Blackburn to the studio I watched robins egg blue in the west and sherbet orange glow in the east just before the sun rise, and hardly a cloud in the sky… absolutely beautiful day! And Frisbee?!? Sweet!!!

This afternoon is the first ULTIMATE frisbee practice for the Prospect Park Peregrines spring 2015 season...
I am very excited to begin where we left off with some of our falcons, and looking forward to meeting a flock of new birds too… Here is to the beginning to another great season, thanks to all of you that make it possible!

Please feel free to share or reach out…
www.bkyouthfrisbee.com

Thanks again!
Peace,
-ert

The digital alarm by the side of the bed bleats
The radioactive glow, of the clock radio, lets me know its time to go…
Face washed, pants on, bag packed, and soft, sweet, sleeping and smiling cheek pecked...

Then, in the early morning, late March light; the twinkle of sky fallen, icy snow, 
Stings my face, left exposed by my face-mask, on my ride to the studio…
My wheels nearly wet, roll on the street-light-shinny street ice/snow of the late March early morning 
The end of another schizophrenic March that doesn’t seem to know, which way to go…
Onward into spring? Or maybe fuck it… and fall back into winter’s dark slumber…

Dawn claws at the early morning dusk.
Streets are quiet and starting to stir.
The earth spins seemingly slowly
And inevitably the side of her face
(That includes my borough) turns to the sun
And our star that has never slept
Shares its light and warmth with us.

We spin and slide in space around our star at a tilt to our elliptic
(23 degrees and change)

This tilt gives us our seasons, and as our gradual swing around the sun shows us every day the directions of our seasons. Days lengthen into summer and shorten, as they grow colder into winter. It can allow us as earthlings to have a greater sense of where we stand in the cosmos.

Or our government can throw a wrench in the works twice a year, they call it daylight savings time, and springing forward and falling back is in my humble opinion is a totally useless cosmic jerk-around…

Good luck out there…
Be good to each other.
Peace,
-ert