Are we afraid of our mortality? 

Recent comments on various blogs of the God and the Problem of Evil topic have led to my thoughts on human mortality. 

Are you afraid of your ability to cease to exist?  That is one possibility in our undecided end.  There have been debates on whether we are lifted to the heavens, the celestial, or the underworld of Hades regardless of what good deeds we appear to exalt. 

Forget for one second about the possibility of a God, or gods.  For a moment, think instead of your ability to create the "Greater Common Good" for the better of your life and the life of others.  Start first with yourself.  This is not conceded, or arrogant.  It is a matter of self preservation.  Self Awareness.  You cannot help a good cause, if you are not ready to help yourself.

We all know what GOOD means by definition:

good. (gd) adj. bet·ter (btr), best (bst)

Less driving and consumption of oil based products has forced a decrease in prices!  This will not take effect immediatly.  It may not take effect at all if offshore oil rigs continue to be attacked.

America has become so dependent on their vehicles, make-up, plastics and more.  Most Americans thought the fall of computerized networking would lead to "old school" methods and ultimately we would see the demise of the new technological era.  Myspace is still here, so we are all ok.  Appearently, American vanity, sloth, and greed has won the bet on that premise.  Our demise of culture, if you call bling culture, has led to the end of the superficial era. That is, unless prices fall overnight.  While price sore we have an opportunity to realize that superficial ways of life were leading to a stressful headache of a psychologist driven zombie world.  But, even if prices are reduced will we continue to leave the engine off?  Let the grass grow, follow the bike path, wear less make-up, recycle. 

Will we take this time to enjoy being alive instead of worrying about what we need "did" next.  Right now we are suffering from hard times.  It's hard not getting your nails and hair done.  It's hard not having the five bucks for the combo deal and having to cook actual food.  It actually <em>is</em> hard finding the funds for gas to make it to work and to various places for necessities.  But, what are necessities?  Should women let the hair on their legs grow right along with the lawn?  Walk the path instead of ride a bike you can't afford?  Wear no make-up at all?!  At least most Americans already recycle.  Right? 

I guess, when it comes down to it time will tell if America will be "getting did."

For more visit my blog at myspace.com/trish661

Thugs On The Block by Terminal has a rock element to it with sound of The Stroke by Billy Squire.  Locura Terminal, which translates as Terminal Madness, is strictly raggaeton.   Terminal Hip Hop out of Oxnard, CA. hit the Nile on Saturday for the Cinco de Mayo bomb.   Performances by MC MAGIC from NB RIDAZ, SOPHIA MARIA, AND LA LA hit the stage along with Terminal for an unforgettable show.

CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATION Cinco De Mayo concert mAY 3, 8pm at Club Nile, 1721 19th st. CELEBRATE LATIN HIP HOP. Performing live, Down aka Kilo, La La, Terminal Madness, and other acts TBA. This concert is a celebration of Latin music and how it has emerged in the field of Hip Hop. Music is becoming culturally centered in the lives of many Latinos who do not see Cinco De Mayo as just a day of recognizing their independance, but as a day to celebrate the beauty of their culture and heritage.

From Twinkie's comment on MAS http://www.masbakersfield.c...

If you like Raggaeton, or if you just like Terminal Hip Hop music myspace.com/terminalhiphop  REQUEST on your local Radio station!  These guys deserve exposure!!  They bring Raggaeton to a whole new level. 

Bakersfield, CA Radio Hip Hop Request Lines:

PLAY 103.9:   661-396-PLAY (661-396-7529)

HOT 94.1:    661-842-5477

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I will be there tomorrow at Chuy's around 8pm.  Wish I could be there sooner!  See you all there!  I hope.  lol.  Some of you missed me at the Gallery showing. 

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Just a reminder!  I will be downtown this evening from 5-8pm for First Friday.  Go to www.mystrishimpressions.com for more.  Lisa Small will be displaying her Expressions Paintings!  We will both be in front of The Underground Gallery and Studio!! 

1525 19th street for The Underground Gallery and Studio.  Tammy and Mike have spaces for all styles of art.  

Also:  Jenn Williams is showing her wonderful paintings and artwork at The Underground Gallery and Studio tonight!!

1604 19th street for the Metro Galleries and 1612 19th st. for the City Lofts!   www. 1612citylofts. com

Don't miss this event!!

I experienced a few personal fears at play in the novel Lords: Part One.  It tugged at my psyche in moments that hit close to home.  In Lords, you will be taken on a journey from the streets of Hollywood to the streets of Bakersfield.  An endemic array of the troubles of youth.

Like many others, I ran away from home to get away from parents who weren't much of what they seemed.    Never providing a stable home, my parents forced me to lived here and there around Bakersfield.  I stayed with friends and with Aunts and Uncles, from the projects near Martin Luther King Park, to the South West near Grissom Park, and in the Oleander area a few houses down from the "Spiritual" book store where I filled my mind with the occult at that time.  I got my share of culture from Bakersfield, to Compton, to San Antonio in Texas.  I've traveled a long road blind to my surroundings.   Most of the time filling my head with the fantasy world my Mother taught me so well to achieve when she would laugh, a loud cackling sound just a room away with her drugs of choice and "boyfriend" of the evening .  Men who would look at me and say, "Wow, you look just like your Mom!"  To which she would reply, "She's too young for that."   Thankfully, my Grandparents took me in more than once.  

These are not happy moments to remember.  Not sparked by reading the novel.  It simply never left me.  I only hope that the corruption that has a hold on this town, on this world can be overturned someday by raising our children, other than turning the cheek against what is painfully obvious. 

Surely everyone has heard of the Lords of Bakersfield novel, Lords: Part One by N.L. Belardes by now.  If you haven't, you should grab a copy at Russo's in the Market Place, or at Noveltown.net.  You will learn more about Kern County than you already thought you knew.  Fiction?  Yes, the novel is fiction.  But, if you read it you will start to question fiction from facts.  You will question much of what you thought was not possible and must not be true, but possibly is truth.  Our daily lives are filled with little white lies that we tell to each other and even to ourselves.  Who are we to judge what is fact, or fiction?  Does anyone ever really know truth?  

Lords of Bakersfield on Myspace:  www.myspace.com/lordsofbakersfield

MAS Book Club Discussion:  www.masbakersfield.com/home/ViewPost/55868

Or, go to www.nlbelardes.com for more information. 

Look out for Lords: Part Two

Hi everyone!  I will be displaying some of my photo artistic pieces at First Friday on May 2nd along the side of the awesome Lisa Small!!  We will be there from 5 to 8 pm.  Lisa with her paintings and I with a few of my photo creations!  Come check out the Metro Galleries at 1604 19th Street.  Meet us, mingle with other local artists, and just have a good time in the clutches of the local art scene!! 

Hope to see you there :)

I haven’t been around my family much in the past 10 years.  Since getting married, it seemed that my husband and my kids were my first priority.  I know this is true.  But, my family is just as important to me!  While I was very close to my family growing up, I began to feel that I don’t know some of my more distant aunts, uncles, and cousins anymore.  My sister made it clear to me in one simple sentence.  "You may feel like you don’t know them anymore, but they know you!"  She said this to me last night on the phone after telling me that my cousin had just passed away. 

I care about everyone.  Family, friends, and aquaintences are all uniquely special to me.  I would also like to spend time and meet with everyone I have come to know through Bakotopia, Flickr, and Myspace.  I’m tired of making excuses that are not excuses, but honesty in reason.  I hope that those who have asked me to spend a simple hello-how-are-you meet, or asked me to attend a production, or concert will understand that I WANT to be there.  Right now, it is simply a matter of money and time.  My husband is unemployed.  We are waiting on his license to be a nurse to be validated.  He took the test last month! :)  This is my last year to be a stay at home mom, per say.  My youngest starts Kindergarten next school year.  Then what will I do? lol   If anything, I will have more time.

How do you make time for family, friends, and your spouse and children without neglecting those who are dear to you? 

Hostility...

...is like a psychic boomerang."  -Waitress (Howard the Duck)

My friend Always said to me, "I try to keep good people around me.  People who have heart.  I like your heart." 

I try to keep in mind that there are psychic vampires out there.  They want your happiness.  They want to take away your good thoughts and fill your mind with negativity.  Transference.  They want to transfer their angst upon you, and in turn, receive the happiness that you are working to achieve.  Or worse, hope that you are as miserable as they are and no one wins. 

I am not saying that everyone is this way, or that they even do this on purpose.  Thanks to those who are aware enough to say, "I just need someone to talk to."  I will listen and be there for you.  As you are for me.  That’s what friends are for. 

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Have you ever been out to Union Cemetery? 

The cemetery is beautiful!  Not a very great neighborhood, but there is a definite awe about the place.  It pulls you into the past lives of those laid to rest beneath the placid head stones. 

My Great-Grandmother resides there amongst the many.  I have no clue as to where and this left me feeling ashamed of my lack of family history.  When my Grandmother came over for my daughter's fifth birthday party recently, I asked her where her mother was buried at Union Cemetery.  She didn't know.  She knew the general area, but couldn't tell me how to get to there.  So, in the event of my trip, I have found myself doing a family history of the seven I have in my family who have been laid to rest in Union Cemetery. 

Not only my family has drawn me to find out more.  I was pulled toward one small head stone by the name of Robert Jacomini.  Apparently, he was a WWI veteran from NV.  I found this by a simple search on Google in a listing of drafted men during that time.  It was all I could find about this man.  To be honest, I felt I was going too far to find out more.  Sometimes, they may choose to be left at peace.  

Interestingly enough, I was unaware that Bakersfield has a vast history of Freemasonry.  There are four Masonic Lodges in Bakersfield to date.  www.freemason.org/index.php   I think a town history lesson is over-due, for me. 

It's interesting to visit the dead.  More interesting is the story beneath the grave.  Though, keeping their memory alive is what is most important.