"Minutea, Patterns, and 911 - Taking Back my Birthday"

PLEASE EXCUSE THE CONCEIT OF THIS POST. IT IS A GIFT TO MY SELF.

For years, I have studied contemporary culture and its impact on formats of thinking.
I have come to the conclusion that while we long to have original thoughts, we seek (most often) to capture those thoughts, rather than coax them into actuality. It takes effort to recognize that no moment is entirely isolated. Moments unfold from the compost we call the past and catch hold of the trajectory we refer to as the future.
"It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."

Excerpt from "The Gremlins" by Roald Dahl, 1943
Read complete text here. Fascinating!

As an RAF pilot during World War II, Roald Dahl suffered a plane crash near Alexandria, Egypt. This is where the greatest library of ancient times was "accidentally" burned by Julius Caesar. Performance artist Laurie Anderson wrote in her song "World Without End", that "when her father died, it was like an entire library burned down". Roald Dahl married actress Patricia Neal. She had a stroke. My father had a series of strokes. Roald Dahl wrote a children's book for Disney called, "The Gremlins". Many pilots blamed Gremlins for damage to their aircraft.
Dahl is associated with the OSS, as were many of the initial officers of MOMA .
The OSS was the precursor to the CIA. Initials.

Still Image from "Russian Rhapsody" 1944
Notice Gremlins in the upper right hand corner.
Watch entire cartoon here: fascinating!

When I was a kid, I watched an episode of "Twilight Zone". It involved a Troubled Man. I knew that Troubled Man. Years later, his Library would burn to the ground. Then, I watched the television show in the "Den" that the Troubled Man had constructed. It was the same room where the Shadowed Adults gathered to witness reports of the burning to the ground of the library that was President John Kennedy. That was the Thanksgiving that occurred in a Parallel Universe. Rumors had it that there were Gremlins at work.

Abridged version of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"
(Directed by Richard Donner, 1963)

I was haunted by this imagery, and had nightmares about the sudden appearance of horrific things. This never changed, as my perceived future shot forth into this time that I call now. I was only able to rid myself of the bad dreams by summoning my friends into my unconscious state. Together we could roll the Gremlin into a ball and bounce him around and laugh. That strategy has held me in good stead over the years.
Yet, still, I refused to heed the Warning.

Golden Earring 1982 Twilight Zone

"My beacon's been moved under moon and star
Where am I to go
Now that I've gone too far"

Time Tripping: I was teaching my first class of the semester on my birthday - September 11, 2001. Critical Thinking. I was so prepared. For the One Thing and not The Other. The Administrator pulled me aside and told me of the one plane. Less than an hour later, I was pulled aside again and told of the second plane. Then the third and the fourth. Class dismissed. Thousands of Libraries burned to the ground. Gremlins at work.


a.) Behold the Wood / 2.) And the Fire 2006 ©
water media on paper

On September 11, 2001 at 8 O'clock in the morning, My sister (Mary de Wit) registered the domain name of Empathinc. Right before the shit hit the fan.
Beyond my imagination, this made Empathinc. REAL. Empathy Incorporated,
Today, September 11, 2010, I - Tom Schulz - take back my birthday
from the Gremlins.
Today, Empathinc. secures its stand to act in compassion, to not respond to hate with hate. To pause when confronted, and consider what is really going on. Today, Empathinc. will avail itself to the power of acultural thinking. We will consider, ponder, consult. We will imagine and create and even act the Fool. We will follow the trails that you have blazed, and not expect an overarching agency to fulfill our needs.
We will pray when necessary, and dialogue constantly.
And while Libraries shall continue to burn to the ground,
we. We will not have matches in hand.

World without end.

Amen.

I love you too.