Voodoo Passage - New Orleans 2008

I am way too busy ! As noted in my last entry my previously planned visit to New Orleans was postponed by Hurricane Gustav. Meanwhile I have kept busy with other projects and plans as well as responding to and participating in a variety of unscheduled or unexpected events.

In early September a great friend and teacher died and there is a page with a brief memorial here. There is also a Wikipedia page here about Taktser Tulku Rinpoche AKA Thubten_Jigme_Norbu . I called and spoke to his widow and I was able to visit the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. There I was able to offer my photography services to the family and to attend the public viewing on September 10th and the private family ceremonies which included the cremation on September 11th and the gathering of relics on September 18th. I will be going there this Thursday, October 23rd for the Tsok (feast) and ceremonies marking the end of the 49 Days of Prayer.

The next day, October 24th, I will be on my way back to New Orleans to look at properties and I am planning a number of shoots while there. Since things are always in flux and can change in an instant I will wait to see what I can accomplish and post about it after I return. For me, the most important things to keep in mind are to be open and adaptable to the flow of spontaneous events and understand that even if I lived in New Orleans full time there is no way I can plan with certainty or do it all.

I won't have much of a rest when I get back. Soon after the presidential election I am planning to visit Appalachia to document some direct actions and civil disobedience against Dominion Resources aimed at stopping their new coal fired power plant and their devastating mountaintop mining practices.

I have been working on circulating the SIGNS OF LIFE exhibit and been laying the groundwork for a number of new and upcoming projects. These will carry over into and through 2009 and will include work with representatives of the Tibetan Independence Movement and more work with environmental activists working to stop Global Warming. Additionally the next few months will see the startup of some ongoing projects relating to the rights, status and needs of various Native American groups and groups representing other Indigenous Peoples.

There are a couple of other trips which may be added to my schedule including short visits to Chicago and NYC. Florida and Puerto Rico in December look likely. And, of course I will be returning to New Orleans for extended visits during Carnival and through Mardi Gras. Right now it looks like I will be mainly at home for about five months from April through early September 2009. It will be good to rest and get caught up a bit.

I am also involved in preliminary discussions and planning regarding a land co-op likely to be located in or adjacent to the State or National Forests near Bloomington, Indiana. Details are still sketchy at this time but we are talking about building a self sustaining community drawing on the principles of deep ecology, permaculture, native plants and plant medicines. We will be screening individual applicants and looking for appropriate land and at various ways of pooling money, resources and skills to make such a thing possible. We hope we can roll out this plan so that it will unfold over a 5+ year time frame beginning sometime in the Fall of 2009. I will post more about this when appropriate and as more details are known.

If any of you are interested in going along and/or participating in any of these things please contact me here.

Have a Great HALLOWEEN ! and, Don't forget to vote ! and if you can help others to vote !

Later ...