The Synergistic Pen

this is a piece of performance art created by a friend of mine... check out some more of his art at Screven Gallery

This guy is someone I have been cooresponding with in a faith and religion forum for several years. He's been in and out of Iraq now 2 or 3 times... hopefully, this will be his last tour. He's the coolest person and is deserving of all our prayers and love....

He and all the others stationed in the Middle East need our support, our love and our full attention.

Drop him a comment on the youtube page. Tell him "doc" sent ya!

and that's all I have to say about it...

Baby Faced Boy Fathers Child

On one level, I suppose he thought he was protecting them. We'll never know. He was a man who was trying to do the right thing. He was married, raising his family, feeding them, clothing them, kept a roof over their heads. Then the bottom fell out from under him. Or as far as he was concerned, it had. Read his note.


I wanted to attempt to see this from the point of a man in America. A BLACK man in America.
So I asked my husband why he thinks Mr. Lupeo did it.

My husband's life mirrors his. After a moment's thought, he spoke quietly.

It is the job of the man to provide for his family. Its a hard job, even when things are going well. When something goes wrong, we panic. Some handle it betters than others. Some don't handle it at all. I know I wouldn't hurt my family tho. I think maybe he was afraid they they'd be separated or people would think less of him. Being unemployed makes one feel impotent.

As a woman, I could see that. My husband has been unemployed once since we've been married. It was the worst 6 weeks of his life. We fussed, he was angry and bored. He hated that I was struggling to pay the bills and he couldn't support or help me, which is what he promised my father, before God that he would always do. He was taught to be the provider, and couldn't be. That has to be the worse feeling in the world.

Mr. President said it would get bad. This tragedy is the human example of what happens in a recession. Its not the same as the selfish act of suicide after losing millions of dollars in the stock market; its the selfish, yet, somehow, unselfish act of trying to find a way to make the pain that all will suffer because of the loss of income just go away.

I'm not suggesting in any way, shape or form that what Mr. Lupeo did was right. Killing of self or others isn't the way to solve any life problem. We'll never know what exactly was going on in that household, with those people, with the dynamic of that family, that brought them to this place.

All we can do is pray for their souls. All we should do is reflect on what may happen to US in the next few months or years, and make sure we "do the right thing" for ourselves and those we love.

Rest In Peace Lupeo Family

I intentionally waited 24 hours before posting this one... I needed time to reflect... and to consider the words heard by our new president AND the people I encountered along the way....

I've seen some wonderful things in my life. I've experienced some amazing happenings. I've witnessed some awesome situations...

This was better than all of that; indescribeably better. It was as if I was standing there with all of my ancestors; they were watching this event through my eyes, my heart, my spirit...

We were happy, excited, laughing with total strangers and playing with little children. We had conversations with Kenyans, Nigerian, British, Canadians, Australians, Germans, Brazilians, Swedes and people from almost every state in the union.

When the oath was taken, the place became silent. Eerily silent. And then we cheered. One, perfect cheer. We danced and hugged and cried.

When President Obama began his speech, it became silent again. If a blind person had stepped onto the mall, they would have never known anyone was there. I took pictures of people simply in awe, mentally analyzing every movement he made, watching his face, digesting his every word.

And then it was over. I hugged people whose name I never learned. I was kissed by people I'll never see again. I screamed with people that will go home new, different, changed.

There were not arguments, no fights, a few snags in the exit from the mall, more snags on the Metro, but we had FUN!!! It was worth it.

We spent a few minutes just sitting, in the cold, watching and listening to the people. The college students from Princeton climbed trees; people handed their cameras up to them so they could take pictures of the crowds. The fundamental religious groups shouted scripture from megafones to us, their captive audience. People commented on the First Amendment rights of those who shout through megafones and we asked them to be quiet. They stopped, for a few minutes. The park service policeman told me it was ok to lean on his car to rest my legs.

The group of school children from Alaska had on bright blue hats, the ones from California had on bright red. The large, extended family from Florida all had on green. I was interviewd by Cyberpress/Montreal and the BBC Radio Network (still looking for my words out there) We blew kisses at the National Guardsmen who wouldn't let us cross the street. My friend who was a volunteer at the parade called to tell me how much he hated cold weather.

I smiled at the text message from my son (I HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT MA!! WOO HOO) I dozed off in the booth at Burger King. We had a really meaningful conversation with a guy with a fabulous Jamaican accent who "worked for the government". We called 911 when an older gentleman tripped and fell on a loose grate on the sidewalk and hit his head.

The student council from the elementary school in Dallas all had on yellow and black and most of them fell asleep on the train. The young people on their way to the Youth Ball sitting behind us were dressed to the 9s. We cheered again as a woman in a ball gown came running down the escalator and stopped, pulled off her heels and raced to catch the train about to pull off (she made it) There were women in ball gowns and men in tuxes at our train stop. It was cold. It was amazing. I slept like a baby....

It had been a long time since I'd been to Washington. Its very different from the what I remember. Yet, somehow, its the same. Or is it? History was made this day, and I got to see it. I'll have a DVD of all the pictures taken by me and my "correspondents" in time for Black History Month... I hope...

Man I'm tired. Good.