Bear Witness
I was born…
just like you,
not knowing right from wrong
lies from what is true.
Given the gift of sight
and the ability to hear
touch, feel and sense:
what is far ?
what is near?
What do you fear?
All artists have a story to tell
until it haunts
and obsesses,
a flame
truncated and strangled
inflaming the imagination
until inevitably it ensues
a cacophony
so loud and confused
its shadow is mute
pied piper
without a flute
my mental lacks equanimity
a story lacking sonorous literary
before it was what it was
what it is
was just my life
to which
I bear witness.
Disabled, immobilized
constantly crippled
I once walked softly
and dreamed in Spring
with a sunny dis
position
but then some thing
every thing
no thing
happened.
Conversations became
spittle and sound
knees upon ground
silence became sustenance
no discernment between
nourishment and hunger
ideas and ideals
I romanticized rebellion
from a life of
quiet desperation.
melancholy soaked my skin
mourning in the morning
lamenting…
I bear witness.
Bunny Wailer wailed
how heavy burdens lay
he who knows it feels it
still holds true
this day.
All parts cannot be pulled
together
wheat & chaff
cannot return to
one grain.
Even after you protest
ask me why not?
over and over
again.
The why’s grew less important
as the sighs grew more persistent
ITs venom spread with a diligence
Napolean would’ve respected
until it met its waterloo
and discovered what his memory knew
the rule of three works
assiduously
derisive laughter banishes
impunity
and no less dangerously
I write, I risk
I bear witness.
Be better, try harder
mind over matter
righteous in your doctrine
to condemn the mad hatter
this is not Wonderland
its a no-Wonder land
to conform you must swallow a pill
you are what you choose to be
supremacy of will,
is that so,
I choose to be ill?
But
that pill is hard to swallow
it gives me a dry mouth
what you call my wallow
I call my god damn due south
the chemicals in your brain
ebb and flow just in time
you are reading me my rights
while I try to connect the dotted line
Not just the bottom line
you skipped to the part where
I’ll be just fine
right past the first time
i saw my face register fright
an aged insomniac’s self-loathing
without a wrinkle of light
in the mirror I sought
instant recognition
but the medication dulled and lulled
blurred my weary vision
what I saw was broken,
torn and worn,
the shake of a wretched sob
the ugly of your scorn.
The will you profess to have
to maintain your good spirit,
is the will I need to face your intolerance
even though I fear it.
I have no pink ribbon to decorate
no survival baldness to
uncover proudly
no heart monitor to register the
beat down loudly.
This disease
if you please,
is pain and all disdain,
huge losses and
small gain,
a fleeting smile,
waste and rot,
survival that my smile
forgot.
The righteous are not always right
just because they fight,
is there ever a righteous right
that does not end in a fight?
My healing swaggers
like hip hop
jumps back like hop scotch
it scratches,
it jumps
it circles quickly
sometimes
the volume is low
the hook
pierces slow
and light shines through a small hole
with a warm muted punch of a glow.
My natural african hair
at times
springs slowly
its height searingly pressed upon
so it can sit lowly
but when midnight meets silence
my curls creep and climb
to meet
high-ness
with a royal
finesse.
Your happiness
you attribute
to your will,
mine,
a pill
and still
you must
I must
bear witness.
Random Tutorial – How to Break out of a Trunk
REPUBLISHED FROM
BY JASON TORCHINSKY
FOLLOW LIFEHACKER
How To Break Out Of A Car’s Trunk
Let’s face it: sooner or later, you’re going to get abducted. It’s a down economy, there’s lots of increasingly desperate unemployed folks, and it’s a more dignified way to meet new people than, say, Craigslist personals. So, yes, you’ll probably get abducted, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it.
One of the most tried-and-true methods of grabbing and kidnapping someone is the classic throw-them-into-the-car-trunk method. It’s fast, cheap, and disorients, restrains, and secures for transport all in one stroke. As a kidnapper, why wouldn’t you do it that way?
Now, in cars built after 2002, there is a nice, glowing handle inside the trunk, so exit is easy, but you can be sure anyone in the abducting business won’t be using a car so equipped. This guide will show you how to get out of most car trunks you may find yourself crammed into. I’ve done this on a variety of cars, and shown many folks how to do it, as well, adults and kids. You can do it, and, I suggest you actually try it, with a pal around to let you out, just in case. Or, if you have folding rear seats, lower those so you have an escape route. It’s fun!
The first thing to keep in mind when you’re flung into a trunk is that you’re not going to suffocate in there. No cars are built tight enough for that. Next, you’ll want to orient yourself so your face and hands are facing the rear of the car. It’s okay if you can’t see, or have a burlap sack over your head— you mostly need to be able to do a bit of grabbing. It’s also good to remember that car trunks are made to be secure from the outside in— no car company is wasting money making a Houdini-proof trunk lid, especially from the inside.
How Trunk Locks Work
Most cars have an internal trunk release, and this is the key to a rapid exit. Almost all of these systems work the same, since there’s no real advantage for a car maker to have a totally proprietary trunk latch system. That kind of detail just doesn’t sell cars. The locks work on a simple hook-and-post principle. There’s a post or rod on the on the trunk lid, and a hook mechanism on the body catches it to keep the lid shut (the post or latch may be on the body or lid — either way works the same). When the trunk release is pulled, or the key is rotated in the lock, what happens is the hook is rotated so it is no longer engaging the post, and the trunk lid can be raised. The inside trunk release simply pulls a long cable connected to the hook so it’s free from the post — power systems do basically the same thing, but with a solenoid.
Get Your Bearings and Get Out
What you’ll want to do is feel around the inside of the trunk — by the rear hinges is a good place to start — for a stiff cable. This is actually a sheath for the inner cable, but very often tugging the whole thing back to the front of the car will pop the release. You may have to move carpet or pop off cardboard panels, but that release cable will be there, snaking from the hinge area, along the sides the trunk on the driver’s side, to the lock mechanism at the center of the rear face of the trunk lid. You may be able to get a better grip on it near the center of the lid where it connects to the lock assembly. It’ll be inside the trunk lid itself, between the outer skin and the inner metal structure. If you can grab it here, pull towards the driver side. In most cases, this will pop the release, then you can simply push up on the lid (after the release pops — otherwise, it’ll stick) and open the trunk.
Or, try this way out
If, somehow, this doesn’t work, or the kidnappers are such cheapskates they found a car with no internal release, you can still open the latch by finding the lock cylinder. It will be on the rear face of the trunk lid, on either side or in the center. The lock cylinder (again, it should be accessible through open areas of the sheet metal lid) will have a rod or similar connecting device to the latch mechanism. Grab this and pull side to side to see which way the lock pulls the rod to pop the latch.
Free at last!
That’s really all there is to it. Since many cars have a dash light to indicate an open trunk, I suggest feeling out the various parts first, and actually doing the deed only when you feel the car has stopped. Once the trunk is open, just get the hell out. Run, get off the road. If you’re quick and quiet, you can close the trunk and maybe even sneak away before they get to the organ farm or sex dungeon or wherever and realize you’re gone.
So there you go — now that you can get out of a car trunk, you’re that much closer to making your city’s kidnappers your own personal cab service. Enjoy.
Quadron – Ex-factor (Lauryn Hill cover)
Mr Wrong – Mary J
This lady can do no wrong in my books:
Alice Smith – Fool for You (Ceelo Cover)
DIY Christmas Bangle Ornaments
A great idea for making your own Christmas ornaments that double as family mementos comes from Jamie of http://thecraftingchicks.com.
What you need:
- bangle bracelets (try the thrift store or upcycle some that you never wear)
- wooden circles (you can find at most craft stores in their unfinished wood section)
- lace ribbon, thread, floss, fishing wire (anything to tie the wooden circle to the bangle)
- glue- to fasten three bangles together
These wood circles are 2″ x 3/16″ 
Here are the steps to make these:
Drill a hole in the wood circles (any size)
Print off circle photos – choose custom sizes, above photos are sized to 2.1 inches. You can also take a regular photo and trace the circle, cut it out and use that.
Punch a mini hole in your photo (Hold it against the wooden circle and hole to find the right place to punch the hole in your picture).
I painted the edge of the circles metallic gold, glue on the photo.
Decorate it how you want. Jamie added kids milestones, family highlights, etc. 
Assembling the ornaments
Lace your fishing wire through the wood hole and then tie it around the bangles so that the circle is hanging in the center of the bangles.
Lace more wire around the top of the bangle and tie a knot at the top (for the ornament to hang on the tree).
You can add different ribbons to each ornament at the top of the bangle (around the fishing wire).
Kitchen Tips
1. For cleaning smelly hands after chopping onions or garlic, just rub them on a stainless steel spoon. The steel is supposed to absorb the odor.
2. Fresh coffee beans can also absorb nasty odors from your hands.
3. If you happen to over-salt a pot of soup, just drop in a peeled potato. The potato will absorb the excess salt.
4. When boiling eggs, add a pinch of salt to keep the shells from cracking.
5. Never put citrus fruits or tomatoes in the fridge. The low temperatures degrade the aroma and flavour.
6. To clean cast iron cookwear, don’t use detergents. Just scrub them with salt and a clean, dry paper towel.
7. Will milk curdle if it is allowed to boil? It turns out that this age-old piece of wisdom isn’t true, after all. Milk that has been boiled is perfectly safe to consume.
8. To clean an electric kettle with calcium buildup on the heating element, boil a mixture of half white vinegar and half water, then empty.
9. When storing empty airtight containers, throw in a pinch of salt to keep them from getting stinky.
10. If you are making gravy and accidentally burn it, just pour it into a clean pan and continue cooking it. Add sugar a little at a time, tasting as you go to avoid over-sugaring it. The sugar will cancel out the burned taste.
11. Burned a pot of rice? Just place a piece of white bread on top of the rice for 5-10 minutes to draw out the burned flavor. Be careful not to scrape the burned pieces off of the bottom of the pan when serving the rice.
12. Before you chop chili peppers, rub a little vegetable oil into your hands and your skin won’t absorb the spicy chili oil.
13. If you aren’t sure how fresh your eggs are, place them in about four inches of water. Eggs that stay on the bottom are fresh. If only one end tips up, the egg is less fresh and should be used soon. If it floats, it’s past the fresh stage.
14. To banish ants from the kitchen, find out where they are coming in and cover the hole with petroleum jelly. Ants won’t trek through the jelly. If they are coming under a door, draw a line on the floor with chalk. The little bugs also won’t cross a line of chalk.
15. Before making popcorn on the stove or in an air popper, soak the kernels in water for 10 minutes. Drain the water, then pop as normal. The additional moisture helps the popcorn pop up quicker and fluffier with fewer “old maids.”
16. Don’t store your bananas in a bunch or in a fruit bowl with other fruits. Separate your bananas and place each in a different location. Bananas release gases which cause fruits (including other bananas) to ripen quickly. Separating them will keep them fresh longer.
17. To keep potatoes from budding in the bag, put an apple in with them.
18. If you manage to have some leftover wine at the end of the evening, freeze it in ice cube trays for easy addition to soups and sauces in the future.
19. To clean crevices and corners in vases and pitchers, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets. The bubbles will do the scrubbing.
20. After boiling pasta or potatoes, cool the water and use it to water your house plants. The water contains nutrients that your plants will love.
21. When you clean your fish tank, the water you drain can also be used to water your house plants. The nitrogen and phosphorus in fish droppings make aquarium water a great fertilizer.
22. When defrosting meat from the freezer, pour some vinegar over it. Not only does it tenderize the meat; it will also bring down the freezing temperature of the meat and cause it to thaw quicker.
23. The substance in onions that causes your eyes to water is located in the root cluster of the onion. Cut this part out in a cone shape, with the largest part of the cone around the exterior root section.
24. Taking the top layer off of a onion can also reduce the amount of eye-watering misery.
25. Toothpaste is a great silver cleaner.
26. Baking soda isn’t as effective a deodorizer for the fridge as that baking soda company would like you to believe. Activated charcoal is much better at absorbing fridge and freezer odors.
27. Baking soda is an extremely effective cleaner, though. Use it with vinegar to deodorize drains and clean stovetops and sinks.
28. When you nick your finger while cutting veggies, wait until the bleeding stops and paint on a layer of clear nail polish. It will keep juices out of the wound and won’t fall off into the spaghetti sauce like a bandage.
29. The jury is still out on what to put in the bag of brown sugar to keep it from going hard: a slice of apple, a piece of bread, and a shard of a terra cotta pot have all been used.
30. Got a nasty invisible splinter from your kitchen tools? Put a piece of adhesive tape on the area and then pull it off to remove the splinter.
31. When you burn yourself in the kitchen, just spread mustard on the affected area. Leave it for a while and it will ease the pain and prevent blistering.
32. For aluminum pans that are looking dull, just boil some apple peels in them. This will brighten up the aluminum and make your house smell yummy.
33. To keep cookies fresh, savvy grannies like to put some crumpled-up tissue paper in the bottom of the cookie jar.
34. If your salt is clumping up, put a few grains of rice in with it to absorb excess moisture.
35. To clean fruit stains off of your fingers, rub them with a fresh, peeled potato. White vinegar can also do the trick.
36. Keep iceberg lettuce fresh in the fridge by wrapping it in a clean, dry paper towel and storing lettuce and paper towel in a sealed baggie in the fridge.
37. If your loaf of bread is starting to go stale, just put a piece of fresh celery in the bag and close it back up. For some reason, this restores a fresh taste and texture to the bread.
38. Always keep an aloe vera plant in your kitchen. It’s invaluable when you scrape your arm or burn your finger. Just break off a leaf and rub the gel from the inside on the injury.
39. When making a soup, sauce, or casserole that ends up too fatty or greasy, drop in an ice cube. The ice will attract the fat, which you can then scoop out.
40. To reuse cooking oil without tasting whatever was cooked in the oil previously, cook a 1/4″ piece of ginger in the oil. It will remove any remaining flavors and odors.
41. If your milk always goes bad before you can finish it, try adding a pinch of salt to the carton when you first open it. It will stay fresh days longer.
42. Water that has been boiled and allowed to cool will freeze faster than water from the tap. This comes in handy when you’re having a party and need ice pronto.
43. Remove tea or coffee stains from your fine china by mixing up a paste of baking soda, lemon juice, and cream of tartar. Rub it over the stains and they’ll come off easily.
44. If two drinking glasses become stuck together after stacking, it’s not impossible to unstick them. Just put ice in the inner glass and dunk the outer glass in warm water. The warm glass will expand and the cold glass will contract, making the glasses separate easily.
45. For splinters under the fingernail, soaking the affected finger in a bowl of milk with a piece of bread in it is said to draw out the splinter.
46. The sugar and carbonation of cola can soothe many tummy problems – but it can also exacerbate others.
47. Putting salty bacon on a boil is said to “draw the poison out” of boils.
48. To help old wooden drawers (without runners) open and close smoothly, rub a candle on the tracks.
49. A cotton ball soaked in white vinegar and applied to a fresh bruise will reduce the darkness of the bruise and help it disappear sooner.
50. Drinking cranberry juice and eating blueberries regularly will help stave off urinary tract infections.
Remove Excess Fat from Soups & Casseroles
If the sauce, soup, or casserole you’re making has a bit too much grease or fat, drop an ice cube into it. Tips and tricks weblog Life Hackery reports that the ice cube will attract the fat, which you can then easily scoop out with a spoon.
Be ready to scoop the ice and fat quickly, as the water won’t stay frozen for long.
Cat Power – Kings Ride By
A great Christm…
A great Christmas gift idea:
DIY Leather Necklace
