haiku
05.23.07
I have a firepit now. So I'm writing haiku about it.

The taming of fire
We are all turned to ashes
in the hot center

In other news, I'm going to Europe for my cousin's wedding. Germany. I'll be playing piano at the reception in Stuttgart.

I will also be doing some performances at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market this year, making the big bucks (I just found out today).

a poem written in Mae Sot
04.01.07

I found this today in a notebook I had with me over Christmas.
This was written the morning after I spent my first night in Mae Sot (Thailand).

A dog barks at the morning prayer
and the sky remembers everything

the smoke-filled houses
leaned against each other
the wild green hand of nature
clutching at humanity. Go ahead
and die, says the world
we will not find you
in your toothpick temples
eating rice and leaves. Your children
are not lucky enough to feel
the breath of medicine.
There is no love to spare.

December, 2006

The pictures from Thailand and Burma are
now here. This link will open a new window.

The story:

Last year in December, both Lavinia and I traveled to Thailand to visit her mother Selia who has volunteered for almost a year now as a teacher's teacher for an organization called The Curriculum Project. We spent most of our time in Mae Sot, which is an important border town between Thailand and Burma.
Many of the Burmese refugee camps are in this area. Most Burmese refugees are of Karen descent, and are the only remaining freedom fighters against the heavy-handed Burmese government - since the Buddhist Karenni faction sold out to the Burmese military regime just a few years ago. There is always hope that these kind-hearted Burmese peasants will find peace and prosperity some day soon. Click the contact link above left if you would like to donate directly to the orphans in the photos depicted here.

While we were there, General Bo Mya passed away in his late seventies, who was easily the most important spokesperson for the Christian Karen faction. Bo Mya was quite literally a folk hero and military legend. Attending his funeral in Burma (Myanmar) was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Lavinia, her brother John, her mother Selia and I.

more info

I'm working on a few things right now - radio promotion, media, and a photo essay on my travels to Thailand.

For now, I leave you with this photo, of Karen refugees at their stronghold in Burma -