Aharonium

Long ago I planted my heart in a field, the soil of which had long been fertilized with the dung of lumbering, magic creatures. I walked away with faith that upon returning years later, I’d find a heart tree, and live long succored by its precious fruit, and be nourished by a knowledge rooted deep in musty forgotten sediments. Later, I returned, and found a horde of convivial rioting youth, narcissists the lot of them, and ignorant of the old ways. All the precious hearts had been plucked. In some past summer, they were eaten up on a whim (and what a juicy engorged picnic that was). But those heart seeds were shat out everywhere in this overgrown orchard, and if I could only convince those kids to leave then, the saplings could finally grow unmolested. Bitter, grumbling old man, I wandered about the dancers, made a hut in the corner of the field, waiting at first for them to grow weary and leave, or to expire from their indulgences. I fell asleep, woke up, became bored, closed my eyes and meditated for a thousand years or more. Awakening, I found my hut perched in the sky, surrounded by heart trees, upon whose branches dangled the youths, gleaming like gemstones, shining each from suns captured deep within their eyes and breasts, and inspiring a constant breeze that pushed and pulled them, and made them whistle like pinecones in a blizzard. The sound pierced me, tore the flesh from my bones and sent me plunging to the earth where monsters waited to devour me, and begin the entire horrid story of my birth, resurrection, and death anew.

I am in Baton Rouge now, having been hired by a global megacorporation whose humble beginnings, I have learned, were in the plumbing trade, specifically, pipe manufacturing. Connections to urban and environmental planning interests, follow directly from the assimilation of firms specializing in engineering pumps, those laying labyrinthine pipeworks, and those mapping the guts and detritus of civilization’s artifice.

After work, you can usually find me in DC, in Dupont Circle by the
fountain. If it’s a nice day, you might even see me passing by on my
bicycle. I practice meditation in the Circle but I also carry a game of
chess with me. I’m there hoping to meet people somehow so stop by
around 6pm if you’re in the area.

I’ve been a dilletante but I’m
getting more serious about my work (ecology and community planning).
Nowadays, I’m looking at workshops and fellowships that can help me
become more grounded and knowledgeable about the planning and
implementation of green design principles.

I like to cook
cream of mushroom soup and spicy hot apple cider. I’m a vegetarian who
likes cats and books. And I’m Jewish too. What’s not to love?

(posted November 20, 2005)

i will survive this winter. i will help others survive. i need the help of others to survive this winter. on the surface i might look dead, but underneath I’m sweating, waiting, whispering. my roots touch yours, share precious energy, communicate blindly, naked, desperate.

(originally posted in response to a post my friend wrote at his blog on tribe.net here. i am not normally a tree, but lately i’m not feeling like i’m functioning very well as a mammal. maybe if i just plant myself in the right soil, i’ll grow wiser naturally.)

I am sitting in a room. The room is next to your room. There is a tall ginko tree swaying slightly above me, outside this room, and construction workers nearby are calling to each other and laughing while huge trucks hurdle past belching. It is a cool autumn day and I am relieved. There are a thousand rooms here laid out in rows, a thousand cars laid out like the dissected segments of a caterpillar. I am in one room, I can see out, I can see the street. but you’re next to me and I have to imagine so, because there’s no way I can see you. No way I can see any of you. In the rooms next to mine. Maybe when I go outside you’ll walk past me and smile?  I will too!

I used to live in Philadelphia. I don’t visit there often enough. I have two cats from Philly: Dot and Ivan. I have one cat from Israel - Katziel. You can see pictures of them. I have no cat from DC. I am full enough with cats from other places.

Do you want to know something more about me? I am an environmentalist, I love animals, I’m a vegetarian, and work to save natural open spaces. I am a panentheist, skeptical, and romantic. I am Jewish. I like nothing more than to share things I learn and find with friends. aharon AT simpletone.com

(Friendster profile posted October 10-November 7, 2005)

Below is my "About Me" update from late in August 2005, after my sublet expired and I was offered a place to live in a house my friend and former boss, was trying to sell. I helped to paint it and make it look habitable.

On my tongue there is plaster dust and on my fingers, white latex.
Beside me, a stereo is playing a recording of an exposition on
celestial mechanics as interpreted by an Arp and Moog synthesizer. I’m
sweating in a room full of wood and watching two butterflies battle
through a perfectly square window above a lush garden in Arlington. One
butterfly is yellow, the other is black. Who has ever seen such a
thing? Are they fighting or mating? I lose track of them. My sweat
falls over my brow and burns my eyes. The yellow butterfly flutters
past in victory.

Above me is a room full of paint canisters. I have emptied most of
them. Above that room is another one, an attic. I’m taking a break just
now from painting it. This house is empty except for my stuff and
possibly a squirrel or raccoon. One day the squirrel or raccoon
meandered in here and became trapped. Now I live here, but I’ll be
leaving soon. I hope the squirrel or raccoon made it back outside ok.

Some days I take the train into DC. I like to see free films and
performances at the Freer Gallery. I like to read a book in the
National Building Museum. I like to bicycle at night. I like to pretend
the underground Metrorail stations are the giant rooms of an enormous
spaceship. On cloudy days, I take the train to Dupont Circle and sit by
the fountain and drink ginger beer.

I used to live in Philadelphia. Sometimes I visit friends there. I have
two cats from Philly: Dot and Ivan. I have one cat from Israel -
Katziel. You can see pictures of them. I have no cat from DC. I am full
enough with cats from other places.

I am Jewish. I have to say this in case someone is looking through
Friendster for Jews hanging around DC. Do you want to know something
more about me? I am an environmentalist, I love animals, I’m a
vegetarian, and work to save natural open spaces. I am a panentheist,
skeptical, and romantic. I like nothing more than to share things I
learn and find with friends. aharon AT simpletone.com

This blog is an archive of the evolving description of myself and my surroundings appearing in the "About Me" section of my Friendster profile. I don’t update the profile too often (well, we’ll see) but I will when I change apartments and cities or some big change in my life needs to be shared  with you. There are other blogs I’m keeping at other social networking sites, namely Audioscrobbler. I currently am not keeping an open diary online, journal, chronicle of my life or ideas on things, anywhere on the web. But if I do in the future, I’ll also publicize a link here.