May Wrap-Up : : June What’s Up

May May May! She was here a minute ago, wasn’t she? And now it’s June? So what’s up? A quick blog wrap-up, true, but first some June what’s ups including astronomy, astrology, arts, activism, and more!

I’m most excited about the Summer Solstice Santacon this Friday June 5. So many people have told me they want to join us! We’re gonna have a ton of Santas on bikes riding all over town and leaving from the Artists Union Gallery at 6pm and ending up at Bell Arts Factory for a fun afterparty with food, beer donated by Anacapa Brewery, and music too. For more on that, read June 5 Santacon after party set for Bell Arts Factory!!

On Saturday, I’ll be heading up to Ojai to hear Wanda Coleman at the Ojai Poetry Festival, and we may try to make the rawspiritfest.com My friend Eric W says Fantuzzi is playing which is always a good time; it’s a weekend of camping at the beautiful Live Oak behind Santa Barbara where Lightning in the Bottle was held last year. Your pass entitles you to entrance to listen to our leading edge dynamic speakers, phenomenal musicians, educational sessions on natural health, sacred exercise, meditation, poetry, dancing, creative children’s program, raw demos (all day long!) and so much more!

The following weekend is the internationally famous Ojai Music Festival; I’ve been invited to attend on Friday night as a member of the “blogging” press. I hear from poet Robert Peake they will have wifi on site there in Libby Bowl under the oak trees. I get to go to the after party as well and meet the artists.

It’s also the next permaculture workshop at the ArtBarn led by Devin Slavin: ALL CHALLENGES ARE GIFTS: An Introduction to Permaculture Design, Sunday, June 13 – 11AM-5PM – Ventura, CA – $20

Devin asks: Have you been searching for tools to create a world in which we thrive in the face of all challenges, now and in the future? Permaculture is an integrative design system that weaves all aspects of living into a synergistic web of relationship – energy, economy, ecology, agriculture, buildings, community, culture and so on. It calls upon patterns of nature, wisdom of the ancestors, and the cutting edge of science & technology to arrive at solutions for any problem that we face. Join us and step into the Designer’s Mind to create the world you want to live in.

COURSE TOPICS: Permaculture Vision, Ethics & Principles, Design Process,  Permaculture in Action

INSTRUCTOR: Devin Slavin, Permaculture Designer, Mentor & Co-Founder of the Grow Food Party Crew, has been working with the Regenerative Design Institute for years designing and leading permaculture projects.

LOCATION: The ArtBarn Oasis, 856 Thompson Blvd., Ventura, CA.

Rumour has it I’ll be reading some of my poetry at Broken Word Th. June 25 at the Farmer and the Cook in Meiners Oaks. This is a wonderful venue to enjoy poetry and they make the best chai I’ve ever had that I didn’t make! The best place to find out about the socal poetry scene is from poetix. net or Poetry Flash.

That weekend, Macbeth opens at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks for a three weekend run; I will be making one of those shows I know!

There’s more I’m sure and I’m sure I will add those important events I neglected! If you know of something I should include or blog about, please leave details and links in the comments!

After consulting my Tidelog from Pacific Publishers, I see that the moon is full this Sunday which means we’ll have a nice bright moon for the Summer Solstice Santacon–the moon rises that night at 636pm around here and the sunset’s at 8pm!! Yippee for summer’s long days! The first day of summer is Sat. June 20 when the sun rises at 543am and sets at 806pm. The moon is new on Monday June 22 and we’ll have super deep low tides for all you tide poolers out there. The tides will be extra high too, which means we’ll be able to hear the ocean roar when we go to bed that week. Not too much else to speak of in the sky department that I know of.

Astrologically speaking, Mercury just came out of retrograde (whew!) and, according to  astrology.com it’s time to

It’s June, the month of leaves and roses! Let’s take a look at what’s happening astrologically in the coming days. The month begins with a healthy reality check as Saturn squares the curious Gemini Sun on June 5. Then love planet Venus enters Taurus on June 6, stabilizing your relationships and turning your attention to money and values issues. And the full Moon in restless Sagittarius on June 7 reminds you to expand your vision beyond what you already know. This is followed by a week of intense communications as Mercury makes multiple aspects, starting with Mercury sextile Uranus and square Neptune on June 9, followed by Mercury square Jupiter on June 10. Then, on June 13, Mercury happily heads into its own sign of Gemini, and an information bonanza prevails! Jupiter, the planet of expansion and benevolence, turns retrograde on June 15. When Jupiter turns retrograde, its action is reversed, and inner awareness and inner growth are emphasized. Momentum is slowed during this retrograde period, which will last until October 12. However, do not worry about plans and projects that are delayed. This is an important cycle where, in the end, whatever was held back will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. In general, this is a time of cutting back and curtailing excesses. June 20 officially ushers in summer in the northern hemisphere, when the Sun enters the cardinal sign of Cancer and we experience the longest day of the year. In the southern hemisphere, the reverse is true, making this is the shortest day of the year. Cancer is concerned with family and home, and is all about compassion and nurturance, so this is a wonderful time to remember the importance of family, hearth and home. As the planets move through the cosmos, they form special relationships with the planets in our individual birth charts. These celestial movements are known as ‘transits’ and are one of the main techniques used by astrologers to predict and understand your unique life path.

So what has been going on in around the Art Predator site?

You may have noticed I went to WordCamp and blogged about it. Just a little. Like 10 posts. But who’s counting? Do numbers have meaning as Paul Squires so famously asks. Last month I also provided lots of news about Burning Man as well as pictures and stories about First Friday ArtRides, the Prom Ride and the upcoming Santacon.

Some overall stats: I’m closing in on 90,000 page views since Nov. 2007 and this is lucky post number 622. I know! What should I do when I hit 100,000 page views sometime next month?? And before I know it I will have 1,000 posts! OK, that won’t be next month. But sometime before the year is out at this rate! OK, be real, by this time next year.

I put up at least one new post every day except one day for a total of 43 new posts; the following 26 posts had more than 50 page views during the previous 30 days, and as usual, it’s quite the eclectic hodge-podge:

2009-05-02 to Today

Which you can compare with the following 6 Top Posts of all time which have over 1000 page views:

All Time