Blog No. 294: Poem

I have two upcoming shows in the San Francisco Bay Area between August 8th and 17th. If you are interested in attending or would like a private appointment or to host a small gathering of friends to see my work in the comfort of your own home, please email or text me and I can give you details.

Poem by Kate Forster

I think it’s a deep consolation,
to know that spiders dream
that monkeys tease predators
that dolphins have accents
that lions can be scared silly
by a lone mongoose,
that otters hold hands,
and ants bury their dead.

that there isn’t their life and our life
nor your life and my life.
that it’s just one teetering
and endless thread
and all of us, all of us
are entangled with it
as deep as
entanglement goes.

Kate Forster

Ted Lasso

Season 4 just began streaming of one of my all time favorite shows: Ted Lasso. I haven't seen it yet--I plan on starting from the very beginning of Season 1 and making my way through all the previous episodes before I indulge (and I mean "indulge') in Season 4. In the meantime, this is a repeat entry I posted in June of 2023 on the same subject:

Maria Shriver is very active on social media and I admire her compassion. I found this recent post of hers and it corresponded with my sentiments exactly as she commented on one of my all time favorite TV shows: "As Ted Lasso comes to an end, I want to thank this beautiful show and everyone involved. Not just for the joy I got from each episode, but for the lessons it taught me (and hopefully you too!). I hope you carry the spirit of Ted Lasso with you, and as Jason Sudeikis says, "Be like Teflon toward people's negativity or sarcasm." We don't need to walk in this world believing it is all bad. We don't need to succumb to the negativity. We can rise above all the noise. We can look for the positives, we can look for the light, and we can carry that light and we can carry that light forward. I'd rather view the world as Ted Lasso. Wouldn't you?" "Ted is our modern day Mr. Rogers!"

Ana Breytenbach Revisited

I always thought if we humans are so smart, how come we don't know what the birds are saying? I have been very interested in the subject of animal intelligence and animal communication ever since I was a kid and I read my first book on the subject called "How Smart Are Animals." From then on, I knew that common knowledge that humans were the only ones with superior intelligence, self reflection and the ability to use tools was not true. I think discoveries in the field of interspecies communication will lead us to the next big frontier--an art that the ancients and indigenous peoples across the globe knew very well intuitively but which most of us have totally lost touch with today. South African Anna Breytenbach is a leader and powerhouse in this field. This short video will blow your mind: watch Breytenbach "talk" to a rare beautiful black leopard and get answers back. If you are interested in learning more and you don't think I am totally crazy (I'm not), an hour long, fascinating interview with Anna and her American animal tracker mentor Jon Young is well worth a listen. For those of you with kids, Anna has even written a children's book about this black leopard entitled How Diablo Became Spirit (in collaboration with Andrew Newman).

Photo of the Week

Charity of the Week:
Doctor's Without Borders

Book of the Week

About The Author
New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.