Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: cloves, Chinese star anise - illicium verum in pho Sight: the lawn at night lit by living room light; matching underwear; iodine orange; long ribbons of green and red light waver down three blocks of when the rain has pooled upon the road - driving through the city on a wet winter night Sound: whirring; wheezing Touch: pat, pat, pat; a trembling dog Smell: pumpkin pie Extra: a white goat; a drowning dog; a red scarred face a wounded eye; “If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.” ―  Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke "His goal attracts him, because he doesn't let anything enter his goal which might oppose the goal." —  Siddhartha , Hermann Hesse "Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast." — Siddhartha , Hermann Hesse Grateful for:...

TED (Technology, Engineering, Design) x (independent) Rainier (Seattle), McCaw Hall "Who are we? Why are we here?," I thought on arrival at TEDxRainier. After a long week and some family medical emergencies, a drive to Seattle and the prospect of sitting for a Saturday felt dubious at best. It did not help that I'd recently read, "The Machine Stops," by E.M. Forster and Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse both books which call into question the value of questing after ideas and the wisdom to be gained from lectures and teachers. Everyone I spoke to said they were here, "to be inspired," and not by any particular speaker. We were curious, open-minded, somewhat ambivalent explorers. I'd attended TEDxRainier once before, awhile after earning my MFA, for a creative boost. It had given me enough to ponder that I hadn't felt the need to return for some time (in fact, I last went in 2010 — some boost!). This time, I was particularly interested in...

Taste:  green tea; oily noodles Sight: steaming tea and soup;  a sea star melts into a gruesome death; rolling calving icebergs ; Mother for You I Made This ; The Storyteller, 2013 , blown and sand carved glass by Preston Singletary Sound: Ka Ka Win Chealth, Bjork and Stevie Wonder influenced Shaprece ; Native American soul funk , A Little Big Band Touch:  hot tea; cool water Smell: coffee, of course Extra:  robot fish; the man who climbed Rainier 200 times and Everest seven—where every step is 15 breaths Grateful for:  the giant octopus—fascinating, charismatic, intelligent animals; curiosity, caring, a sense of urgency; humanity—kindness, caring, empathy

Being a compilation of all the "grateful for" thoughts in the Sensorium this past year... I begin being grateful on clear January days/nights; with sleep, good sleep; and dreams, dreams, dreams. Thank goodness there are stories. Books. Early nights in and books written so well the sentences make you swoon — Books!; And words, reading, thinking, bursts of creativity — and, at last, inspiration.  I head out for the globe, walking, walking;  O! So thankful for my feet; Into adventures - small and large, in hometowns and far flung. There's socializing, dancing, anticipating concerts; Imagine solar sails for space - the Sunjammer Project; I am grateful for endurance. And, then, I am grateful for my home; hugging my purring cat, a comic book box; Sam. In spring, there's the fruit stand and farmers' markets. Flowers! I take out the kitchen tools: blender, juicer; and there's The Happy Cow Cookbook: Recipes from Top-Rated Vegan Restaurants Ar...

Taste: Granny Smith; pumpkin pie Sight: the orange glow of a clear November morning just before sunrise between the Olympics and the Cascades Sound: business shoes, businesslike on pavement Touch: a warm pocket Smell: rosemary and cabernet; pancakes and pizza; smoke and laundry soap Extra: apatheia - freedom or release from emotion or excitement Grateful for: words

Taste: cinnamon and cloves Sight: muddy shoes; a cloche hat; words typed upon a scarf worn around one's neck Sound: snapping pumpkin seeds, cracking knuckles Touch: sliding in the mud, sinking in the muck Smell:  Himalayan cedar Extra: a profound sentiment; a bizarrely specific timeline; "Let us love this distance, which is thoroughly woven with friendship, since those who do not love each other are not separated." — Simone Weil "We have to be kind to each other in here...We're all we have left." — "Torching the Dusties," Stone Mattress, Margaret Atwood Grateful for: reading, thinking, bursts of creativity, inspiration

Taste: caloric, creamy comfort food - vegan pumpkin cheesecake, vegan corn dogs-light and crisp, almond milk holiday nog Sight: Gary Numan - face, jaw, hands, lips, waist, movement; the Neptune Theatre; the moon over the pumpkin patch Sound: alchemy bowls, Tibetan healing gong, singing bowls, a bowl made of rose quartz - Sound Healing Touch: fingers between the toes - massaging one's own feet Smell: roasted pumpkin seeds Extra: hedonistic adaptation; fascination; a display of charisma and self-confidence; katabatic wind, fall wind, to flow downhill; shul: the impression of something that used to be there Grateful for: my feet