JOHNNY RAMBLES ON...

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

America

Allen Ginsberg

America I've given you all and now I'm nothing. America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956. I can't stand my own mind. America when will we end the human war? Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb I don't feel good don't bother me. I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind. America when will you be angelic? When will you take off your clothes? When will you look at yourself through the grave? When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites? America why are your libraries full of tears? America when will you send your eggs to India? I'm sick of your insane demands. When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks? America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world. Your machinery is too much for me. You made me want to be a saint. There must be some other way to settle this argument. Burroughs is in Tangiers I don't think he'll come back it's sinister. Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke? I'm trying to come to the point. I refuse to give up my obsession. America stop pushing I know what I'm doing. America the plum blossoms are falling. I haven't read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for murder. America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies. America I used to be a communist when I was a kid and I'm not sorry. I smoke marijuana every chance I get. I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet. When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid. My mind is made up there's going to be trouble. You should have seen me reading Marx. My psychoanalyst thinks I'm perfectly right. I won't say the Lord's Prayer. I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations. America I still haven't told you what you did to Uncle Max after he came over from Russia.

I'm addressing you. Are you going to let our emotional life be run by Time Magazine? I'm obsessed by Time Magazine. I read it every week. Its cover stares at me every time I slink past the corner candystore. I read it in the basement of the Berkeley Public Library. It's always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie producers are serious. Everybody's serious but me. It occurs to me that I am America. I am talking to myself again.

Asia is rising against me. I haven't got a chinaman's chance. I'd better consider my national resources. My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals an unpublishable private literature that goes 1400 miles and hour and twentyfivethousand mental institutions. I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underpriviliged who live in my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns. I have abolished the whorehouses of France, Tangiers is the next to go. My ambition is to be President despite the fact that I'm a Catholic.

America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood? I will continue like Henry Ford my strophes are as individual as his automobiles more so they're all different sexes America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe America free Tom Mooney America save the Spanish Loyalists America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die America I am the Scottsboro boys. America when I was seven momma took me to Communist Cell meetings they sold us garbanzos a handful per ticket a ticket costs a nickel and the speeches were free everybody was angelic and sentimental about the workers it was all so sincere you have no idea what a good thing the party was in 1835 Scott Nearing was a grand old man a real mensch Mother Bloor made me cry I once saw Israel Amter plain. Everybody must have been a spy. America you don't really want to go to war. America it's them bad Russians. Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians. The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take our cars from out our garages. Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader's Digest. her wants our auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations. That no good. Ugh. Him makes Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers. Hah. Her make us all work sixteen hours a day. Help. America this is quite serious. America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set. America is this correct? I'd better get right down to the job. It's true I don't want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts factories, I'm nearsighted and psychopathic anyway. America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

Let's look at the facts: Bernie Sanders didn't give up in July last year when he was down 60pts. A lot of people might've. But he dug his heels down deep and beamed his brightest beam and fought on. And he clearly isn't ready to give up now.

The last thing any movement needs is doubt. There aren't any magic pills or sudden overnight miracles. What we shouldn't assume is that Anonymous or any other entity or organization is going to come and suddenly save us. The FBI isn't going to raid the Clintons one night and drag them to jail and end this thing in one fell swoop.

It IS safe to assume, however, that we likely will have to endure MUCH deeper blows than this before we see the kind of tide change I know is possible. But we can't do it if we don't support each other. We have to give up our need to see the future play out like we've imagined it. Our world won't survive if we can't accept what's right in front of us, if we resist the truth of the present moment. All the most annoying cliches are ringing true for me right now - because they're always true: the night is always darkest just before the dawn. Our commitment is simply being put to the test. Let's move forward with more confidence now than ever.

In solidarity, Johnny

PS - The time is RIPE to rethink our goals and refigure what it's gonna take to to reach them. The forward momentum we have in our favor is SO STRONG. The strength of it - our ability to TRUST it - is all we need to keep this all alive. It has so much power to affect the change we need. We definitely don't need to hold Clinton's feet to the fire. Her feet are already burning. We focus BEYOND her, BEYOND this election cycle, we don't stop to smell the flowers or pick out the splinters - there's no time. ONWARD!!!

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

FACT: the media has steered this campaign more than any other person or force. I'm not even sure they realize it because they're blindsided by a goal that serves to boost ratings over the urgent need to distribute real truths. They are part of the construction of a metaphorical tower of greed, tied with Wall Street, tied with big pharma, tied with privatized education, that is reaching heights that aren't sustainable. We are literally witnessing the early crumblings of it in every aspect of our lives. Everything suffers from it, everything is connected. Look at our suffering culture, with its various barometers: nightlife atmospheres barely have a pulse - on a micro level they suffer - more than they'd let on - with the top-billed party hosts making obscene amounts more than their co-hosts who make fractions of the money brought in from their efforts to pack the club. We have also nearly totally obliterated the independent musician, who, in lieu of being able to sell albums, has been replaced by near pulseless folks who produce songs for the sole purpose of being bought by car commercials. We have artists making art purely to impress the next "it" curator, the coolest collector, the gallerist they admire the most. NONE of them creating anything that matters TO THEM. We've allowed systems to be set in place that don't value self expression. We have allowed a culture to emerge that glorifies the almighty dollar above all else, at the expense of our very souls. But this structure is very clearly collapsing. You don't have to look hard to see it. Look at what's trending: yoga, meditation, juicing, detoxifying ourselves. We are creating literal, physical, figurative space for the expansion of our consciousness. It's connected to the movement associated with the Sanders campaign. This isn't a far stretch. It's what happens when people wake UP. The movement is in full swing. The building is teetering from the top to the bottom. It could get really really messy but it doesn't have to. Let's do what urban engineers know needs to be done when bringing down a massive structure: let's do it right. Let's create space for the right momentum, let's set hypothetical explosives in strategic places creating the bare minimum of damage. We've allowed too much damage to go down as it is. Let's rally together to make this as effortless a process of transition as we can. No matter what happens with all these silly elections, which I increasingly see as trivial in the grand scheme of this larger revolution, let's beam our brightest beams. Let's unite. Now is as good a time as ever.

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

Millions of people are finally starting to believe that they can be a driving force in their country. That is what it means when we say "Not Me, Us."...

So fresh, so sincere. This is what this campaign is all about. Thank you Erica Lee, Yesenia Vergara and Peter O’Learly for this beautiful video. 

New York, we CAN take this state. If the over 50k of you that showed up to rallies and marches in the last few weeks all come out to vote in tomorrow’s primaries, we can TAKE THIS STATE. And produce the NEW biggest "upset" in modern political history. (We already hold the title for the current biggest "upset" ie Michigan).

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

Revolt is of two kinds; there is violent revolt, which is mere reaction, without understanding, against the existing order; and there is the deep psychological revolt of intelligence. There are many who revolt against the established orthodoxies only to fall into new orthodoxies, further illusions and concealed self-indulgences. What generally happens is that we break away from one group or set of ideals and join another group, take up other ideals, thus creating a new pattern of thought against which we will again have to revolt. Reaction only breeds opposition, and reform needs further reform. But there is an intelligent revolt which is not reaction, and which comes with self-knowledge through the awareness of one's own thought and feeling. It is only when we face experience as it comes and do not avoid disturbance that we keep intelligence highly awakened; and intelligence highly awakened is intuition, which is the only true guide in life.

K Krishnamurti

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

Michigan: way to go ya crazy animals! Who woulda thought, right? What a major upset, right? WRONG. This isn't an upset. It's what's happening. It's real, pals. Let's stop operating on our reactions to the relentless misinformation doled out by the media. Let's operate on the AWARENESS OF OUR INEVITABLE WIN. I'm talking about the White House. I know a few pollsters including Nate Silver who need to pick a different day job. We were down 25 points according to all sorts of pundits and dorkwads. We've long been in unchartered, unprecedented territory. GET USED TO IT. It's only gonna get better, or worse, or more along the lines of what we were expecting, depending on how you're livin la vida loca (insert wink emoticon)

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

WORK TO DO

I hate to break it to you but there is no magic pill for winning this. No formula for coming out on top over night suddenly against a strong and defiant establishment. Nope. We have work to do. All of us. Lots of it. I'm happy to help put you to work if you're wondering what there is to do. Let me know. We begin to win the fight only when we first eradicate our fears about losing it. That is the number one thing to do. This is serious business. Take stock of what you're fearing and then move on. You can't be productive when you're concerned about what is out of your control. Which leads me to fact number two. The only thing you have control over is leading a healthy, clear minded and strong life. Live by example. Be the change you want to see in the world. That's one way to start a revolution. Get a bunch of focused and determined individuals who have committed to taking charge of their lives to rally together with a shared vision and make the powers that be accountable for their actions. We’re rocking this in a big way. Coming up against such a formidable opponent from such far fetched odds - DON'T FORGET HOW IMPOSSIBLE THIS WAS SEEMING EVEN TWO MONTHS AGO - is a monumental victory. We should congratulate ourselves for lifting it up, supporting it. We will stay determined and focused and not let fear overwhelm us. Take one challenge at a time. Give each moment your most concerted effort. Ask for help when you need it and offer it wherever you can. Come together!!! Right now!!!

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

WHAT TO DO NOW?

New Yorkers: So many people have asked how they can be involved for Bernie in the state. The truth is, our primaries there are too far out to staff anyone there YET. It'll happen soon. So what to do in the mean time? Phone bank from home. Go HERE to learn more. Then, REMAIN CALM. Help dispel the fear and contrariness the media and your work colleagues are drowning you with. HEADS UP: The ACTUAL delegate count as of this moment is Bernie 459/Clinton 663. Superdelegates DON'T COUNT and any SD's pledging before their state has officially voted are acting undemocratically... Any media that is reporting 12,000,000 Clinton delegates to Bernie's 45 are LYING TO YOU. You know what you can do? Ban those media outlets. Don't turn them on. They're part of the problem. Let's not let their ratings that soar with their sensationalist BS spike any longer. Turn it off. Turn on your conscience. Spread love, commit to random acts of kindness throughout the day. The whole idea of a "random act of kindness" is that it is spontaneous. If someone drops something in line at the grocery store, go ahead and grab it for them. If someone you know is having a rough spot in their lives, call them up and tell them a joke. Do it spontaneously and selflessly and then do it some more. This is a small part of the way we win this. The small parts add up. Love, Johnny

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

Christy Turlington Burns: From Supermodel to Activist

Supermodel Christy Turlington Burns has put her wanderlust in service to fellow mothers through Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit organization she founded in 2010, advocating for women’s health issues spanning the globe.

This woman is a power house of awesomeness. A selfless, tireless advocate of women's rights. Proud to call her a friend. Even prouder to have been able to support Every Mother Counts throughout the years. Thanks to Clancy McCarty for getting me involved in the first place!!!

[johnnyrambleson-blog]

Making Waves

Before I get into what I wrote, I thought this quote from MIT physicist and author of "Einstein's Dreams" would help kick off the right tone:

" ... I believe that [Einstein] meant a sense of awe, a sense that there are things larger than us, that we do not have all the answers at this moment. A sense that we can stand right at the edge between known and unknown and gaze into that cavern and be exhilarated rather than frightened… I have experienced that beautiful mystery both as a physicist and as a novelist. As a physicist, in the infinite mystery of physical nature. As a novelist, in the infinite mystery of human nature and the power of words to portray some of that mystery."

- Alan Lightman

Can't stop thinking about these documented gravitational waves. It's bigger than you may realize. If you're thinking "I do realize it", save room in your brain for the fact that it's bigger than that. Like, it's yuuuuuge. So the news is: two separate 2.5mile long antennas have intercepted a gravitational wave - a literal ripple, traveling along the fabric of time and space... and they recorded it in the form of a sound wave, or at least that's how the machines translated it. What they recorded - the story the ripple carried as it traveled along on its trajectory, is the story of two black holes colliding, an event that occurred so long ago you'd need a lot of numbers and brain elasticity not many of us have to properly process it. And now it exists in the form of a sound wave - google it. It's kind of adorable sounding.

Now I'm not gonna pretend to know all the scientific specifics here but the gist is this: Picture it all (literally everything: cars, you, me, sweaters, the air between us, the oceans, a toothpick, gravity, love, ALL OF IT) being part of this fabric. Everything that happens - including those two black holes colliding quadrillions of years ago, including a sneeze, including the formation of a thought - creates a ripple on this fabric. The ingredients of these ripples? Of this fabric? Of literally everything you can imagine, including your imagination? It's all made of subatomic particles. Trillions of them rising and passing with each second, racing around in mind bendingly erratic and never repeating patterns, like snowflakes, like humans. These subatomic particles are what everything is comprised of. Nothing ISN'T made of this stuff. It's the connecting element to all things. Some people call it God. If you want to get down to the absolute truth of the universe, it's found in these subatomic particles and it goes a little something like this: the only thing you can rely on is that nothing is reliable. Take this fact to heart, pragmatically, neither condemning or justifying it, with equanimity, and you can eradicate fear. But I digress... if only very very slightly.

So Einstein's theory is now a fact, almost a hundred years after he theorized it. Astronomers are now LISTENING to space. The possibilities are INFINITE. How cool is it to be alive right now? Like, in general?? Consciousness IS expanding. Look at what's trending. Yoga, clean living through meditation and the radical nourishing of our bodies. All of this inherently leads to clarity. All of this leads to clearer, quicker, more instinctual decision making; creating systems for ourselves and our environment that are more sustainable. By keeping a practice of cleaner living, we become better advocates for ourselves, and find creating space for self-love effortless. We create stores of resilience that spread out over all aspects of our lives. Fearlessness pervades. Our minds open to previously challenging concepts. We understand that in order for change to come about in the world around us, we need to BE that change in ourselves first. It requires work. Diligence. But I digress... oooonnnnly slightly.

You may have previously defaulted into full dismissal of most of the new age-y mumbo jumbo about how we're all connected and I can't blame you. But what this discovery proves is that we indeed ARE all connected. And with this new discovery, it's a full blown fact now. Through the fabric of space and time. It's the MOST foundational primary concept to the whole shebang. It's WHY we trend collectively on stuff like yoga and healthy eating and fitness together. It's why we see concepts popping up seemingly simultaneously within subcultures and beyond. I used to get so discouraged about that. I'd have an idea, say, something pertaining to my profession, and see someone else carry it out before I could, and immediately my ego - some primal fear deep within me - would step in and get territorial, my whole system all twisted up and distorted, collapsing, taking me far outside of the moment, away from my truth. I could NOT appreciate the fact that we are - all of us, being affected - whether we realize it or not, by the actual, physical thought vibrations of the world around us. Ripples of thought. These thought vibrations are comprised of the same exact ingredients as the gravitational waves we discovered the other day, and their effects are just as solid, provable. It really is a wild time to be alive. I'm gonna live it as fully as I fuckin can. ‪#‎newagedontcare‬