Wouldn’t it be cool if animals could transfer to plants and plants to animals? For instance, you would be born from, let’s say, a tree. You feed from the tree, you live in the tree, you are the tree and the tree is you. You grow older, now you can walk, use tools, and communicate. Then comes the part of your life that you wonder about. The part where you leave the existence you know and go to one that is frightening and new. You are planted in the ground and roots and leaves sprout up from your spinal column and appendages. You become a tree, a plant, retaining the memories from your previous life. Your brothers and sisters (literally and figuratively) can communicate with you and you with them. You have gone from plant, to animal, back to plant. You have always been one with the earth and will always be one with the earth. Not only that, you are able to connect with future generations because they will seek you for guidance. You willingly provide them with tools and shelter by shedding limbs and trunk. You are honored and revered. Yeah, I thought it was cool, too.
Just got back from a trip to visit our friend Robbie in Houston. We hung out poolside with refugees from New Orleans, two dogs, and a couple of other guys that live in the apartment complex. There was drinking and smoking and throwing the ball into the pool so the little Jack Russell would dive into the pool and retrieve it. We ate chips and various dips made by Latent and his boyfriend Robert; we listened to music and learned about where people came from and how they ended up there. We went to a microbrewery called Saint Arnold’s. Robbie’s friend Lindsey met up with us there and we listened to the owner tell bad jokes and retell the history of beer with some changes that I am sure are owner’s prerogative. We then were let in to a large area with picnic tables and two bars for the tasting. I had the root beer while the rest tried the various beers on tap. We got to talk to the owner for a few minutes about how he came up with the ideas for a few beers. Some people brought their own steins and mugs and even chairs so they could sit and enjoy their beer. A lot of people made lunch out of the affair and brought in bags of food, chips, and salsa. It was cool to see the different containers that the beer is processed in. They even had bags of barley and nuts and other things they use in the beer out and encouraged people to touch, smell and even taste them. We left there and ate at a Greek restaurant for lunch and went back poolside to hangout. Lindsey’s husband Jack joined us later and we rocked out on some Guitar Hero since he had never played. The next day we saw Thank You for Smoking. It was very good. It is rare you find good satire, especially in the film form. It was funny and realistic and absurd and a really good film. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching I Heart Huckabees, which I had never seen. That movie was funny and also absurd, but good. That evening we went to the Museum of Natural Science and saw the Body Worlds 3 exhibit that was there. The exhibit was composed of dead people. These people gave their bodies to science and through a new process of preservation called plastination were put on display with various organs, bones, and muscle still in their bodies. They were posed playing poker, swinging on a trapeze like thing, riding a horse (that was also dead and preserved with muscle and bone showing), thinking, talking on a cell phone, praying and there was one that was holding his own skin. It was kind of creepy. There were also various cross sections of organs and bone in cases to look at. For instance a heart that had experienced a heart attack, a brain that had a stroke, a broken leg, lungs with cancer and emphysema, liver with cirrhosis, tumors, enlarged hearts, reproductive organs, the whole lot. It was incredible. It showed just how fragile the human body really is.