looky here...

Last post June 22... thats 230 days since my last post... where to begin.

First off, I missed you.  Its true.  This life of Dynamic Quality, of seasonal travel and abandoned expectations leaves a fella craving what little he has in the way of Static Quality - and that has been my friends.  As much as my personal feeling is that most of today's technology is making us LESS social, I have begun the slow process of embracing how it can keep us connected.  It will never be a replacement for a pint at the corner bar, or a coffee date with a loved one, or being able to place a hand on the shoulder of a friend in celebration, commiseration or empathy, but being able to quickly share a picture, a note, a kind uplifting word, or a story has relieved me during a tough transition.

The summer, as you all know was a bit of a disaster - with choices on my part being not very well thought out, definitely selfishly motivated, and with consequences that had me weary of the people that would have otherwise probably been good friends.  I left alaska with hope in my eyes, but knowing it would be a short spell of peace before ratcheting myself towards the unfamiliar facing the challenge to once again adapt and build something new.

We love what we are good at and are good at what we love.

Enter Boone North Carolina.  A small college town nestled in the high country of the Appalachian Mountains, bisected by the Blue Ridge, surrounded by The Pisgah, and full of interesting and kind southern folk.  Its been a tough transition worrying about finding work, staying warm, being mobile by bike in the winter, and making new friends as a single dude who is a bit out of the typical age profile of the general body politik.  Being a truer, kinder, more humble and open version of my typical presenting face has lent me the return ears and kindness of a bunch of solid folks and in no time I have procured immediate friends, future employment, a borrowed bike to shred, a freakin car to go explore and stay warm, an empathetic ear, hearts with stories to share, doggies to pet, and even a regular adult date or two.

Essentially, and in a very short time here I have found what I have been hoping for - Community.

And I want to share it with those who have been critical in helping me stay positive and happily loved as I have made my way here.  You know who you are (cause this blog is still invite only!  wink wink) and its with a very heartfelt toast, a pint or something stronger in the air, I salute my friends and loved ones and pledge to try to share as much of this as I can once again.  My journey is by no means slowing down, nor is my conviction to keep going becoming weakened.

I have been working on some art again, and its a daily event for me to sip my coffee and draw, confined within a circle, my personal Mandala for the day.  Its a type of ancient way of organizing your own personal cosmos, and Im sure there are art-therapists a-plenty out there that would have a field day with how many phallic and yonic symbols touch the pages in my little experiment, but suffice to say that this morning, after a particularly amorous St. Valentard's weekend and 5 days off to get into the usual trouble, I sat wishing that I could simply write the names of all my favorite people in that circle.

It would be a circle too grand to grace any notebook - and that makes me so happy!!

Its you who keep me going, and its going to be fun to add to that list as I go.  Maybe someday our circles will all overlap on some astral plane and we can toast the stories we share.  Until then, keep living, keep smiling, keep loving your ballz off, and feel free to shoot me a note, or ring me up with a story or heartache.

I love you.
Scotito Del Nord (Nord Carolina that is...)

bacio bacio!