My New Hair Style by Wendy Simone of Sebastopol!

My New Office Sign! 

Mark & Nemea During Our Wedding Ceremony 

Occidental Fools Parade!

The day started early, with a distinct lack of proper sleep. I got up and started to put the finishing touches on my hair. Mark made me a cup of Maté. All of a sudden Ed was there, in his space suit with a cape, and it was time to get dressed and go! I tied on the beautiful yarn falls I had made and did a sort of slap-dash makeup job, which looked pretty good considering. I will post a picture soon! As Ed & Mark sped to Occidental, I went into Sebastopol to pick up Ted, who emerged from his house with one of his large copper sculptures tied to his head and holding aloft his fantastic copper staffs.
We arrived in Occidental just as the parade was beginning, led by a troop of morris dancers in very silly get-ups. We joined Mark & Ed.
Mark was wearing his precious loud plaid jacket and marvellously clashing accessories, and swim trunks. He had on his head a curly rainbow wig and bowler hat crammed on top. Proffering a bouquet of pink flowers he lunged down the parade route, surrounded at times by groups of appreciative women. He received a citation for being too mushy when he kneeled, presented me with the flowers, and I gave him a bunch of kisses. For some reason I was not cited. ???
So many great fools were there, it is hard to describe them all. The clown who started Silly Day many years ago was there, in a beautiful vintage hippie patchwork clown suit, impeccable clown makeup, playing his accordion. Our gang gravitated to the dulcet tones and we joined in with the silly singing! Later he was apparently crowned King of the Fools!
I enjoyed playing with the fool who was on the phone to tech support, we gave her all kinds of silly advice, like, open your computer case and fill it with jelly! I didn't really say that exactly, but it was in that vein.
Really enjoyed Brino Ism and his pals, but he made my camera battery run down when I took his picture. Briiiino! O no!!!
Jeff looked amazing in his mirrored mask covered with broken mirror bits and the silver ram's horns. My favorite part of his outfit was the tight pink hologram pants. aaaaOOOOga! He was later crowned the Duke of Debauchery. I wonder why?
So we marched up one side of the long parking lot that runs the length of Occidental (about three blocks). When we reached the end, we milled about in the middle of the intersection for a while. I really enjoyed the milling! Then the Apple Tree Morris group, (our pals!) lined up behind a big arch of flowers, and created an archway with their long green foam tubes (water worms) that we all danced under. It was hard to see and hear the crowning of the royalty, but I did some more milling about and picture posing.
Kim Atkinson and his group of samba drummers got a rhythm going later and many fools danced about. Some big video cameras were set up, and the manyt natural hams present gravitated to the front of them. I especially applaud the beautiful stilt-walker who stayed aloft for hours! Ted went wild with his swivel-hips dance!
Later Ted, Ed, Mark & I went to get a bit to eat at Howards Station Café. We were forced to sit outside as our head gear was too large for indoors. It was very jolly, with many fools and near-fools stopping by! It is so great to bring big smiles to peoples faces. I bet most of the regular people there that day didn't know what hit them, but they seemed to really enjoy it, whatever it was!
Later, back at home, I put on some very silly music and we all danced around in the sun like fools!
If anyone has any pictures, please send them to me and I will add some pix to this blog!
And a hearty Thank You to Katryn Price for her vision and hard work in creating the Fools Parade! And thanks to all the other folks who helped out. You are appreciated!
As I always say: Silliness is Next to Godliness!!!

Silly Blessings to all!

Dream: Road Trip With Spinner

Dear Spinneroo,

This is the dream as I presented it to my dream group on tribe.net. I
thought you might enjoy reading about our crazy adventures in my
subconscious!

Love,
~Nemea

I dreamed that my friend Spinner invites me to go on a road trip
with her and we end up in Texas. I realize that I have to buy a new
pair of pants as my old pants are filthy! I think she invites me also
to platonically share her bed or something. In the dream it happens
kind of off-stage, but it is still very nice and intimate and
nurturing even though as an experience it is kind of not. Soon we
arrived in Texas, after some somewhat harrowing driving experiences.
We watch a big SUV driving along the top of a big dropoff to just
barely merge into traffic ahead of a whole bunch of people, including
us, who are all stopped in traffic. We find a parking spot in Texas,
which is a tree-lined suburban sort of place. Spinner has a meeting
and I go to the bathroom in the same building. When I emerge I hear
the sound of a crowd of Texans jeering at a man who lives in a small
cooler, very similar to the little brother in 'Basket Case'. As I
emerge under the trees I notice the wizened arm reaching out from
inside the cooler. A crowd of folks are sitting around in this little
arena-like city park area. Some have brought with them lawn chairs and
towels & blankets to sit on. I find an empty spot and sit down. I
guess I feel rather like a tourist in some barbaric land who doesn't
want to interfere with the native customs, like the Prime Directive in
Star Trek. Eventually Spinner emerges from the building and I join her
there. Then I wake up.

So to me this dream is a bit abstruse, however I think the part of me
that is portrayed by Spinner exemplifies power in the world that still
honors it's roots as a spiritual being, as she is a leader in the
eclectic spiritual community I am part of, and also seems to be
effective in the mundane world as well. This week I am launching my
business as a hypnotherapist, and I am having some trouble with
motivation. I don't have much. But I am doing it anyway, and later I
will deal with those feelings. Otherwise I will get nothing
accomplished. Maybe my feelings are the kid in the cooler and the
jeering Texans are oh heck I dunno....

Hey Nemea-babe,

Thank you for sending this!  I always like reading dreams, especially when I
show up in them.  Thanks for coming along on the road trip; sounds like it
was quite an adventure....  My thoughts or questions, if it were my dream,
would run along the lines of "what part of me is stuck in a box, on ice, in
the cooler, that is starting to come out?"  "what part of me is jeering at
the part of myself that is reaching for freedom?"  "what part of me is
riding on the edge to get ahead?"  stuff like that...

Anyhow, all is well here.  I got in from Denmark last night, and head out to
Boston to see my family this evening, zoomzoom.  Never boring, I'll tell you
that.

Sending you love...


Spinsister,  



  Wow! Hope your travel goes well, and your time with your family is
heart-full! Don't forget to breathe!



   Yup, those are pretty much the questions that come to mind. Right
now I am focusing a lot of energy on the launch of my Hypnotherapy
practice as I have begun to share an office with a wonderful woman
named Maya Bailey, who has generously offered to give me free coaching
as part of my rental agreement. How sweet is that! In addition I am
participating in a class called "Conscious Bookkeeping" that's all
about developing a positive relationship with money & finance.
Also, I am going to be getting involved in Toastmasters, and two local
networking groups. Whew! So I am kind of giving myself an intensive.
This is all about going in the direction of most resistance, so it's
not surprising that I would have such a dream. 



  I think what is in the cooler is the part of me that is assertive in
the world, is visible in the communities I am part of, is a Mover and a
Shaker (where have I heard that phrase before), but who feels very
embryonic, not-yet-formed, and very disconnected (gestating in a
cooler, for crying out loud), but in order to achieve a distinct shape,
must first emerge as he is now. The jeering mob is the complacent part
of me that has internalized the opression I experienced as a child from
my peers. Or perhaps it is a past life memory of the experience I might
have had just before being burned at the stake. Whatever it was, that's
how it feels. So I can shift this by enlisting this group of people to
appreciate and support this new emerging form, so that he can feel
welcomed into the world.



   I love the idea of hypnotherapy so much, and I think I am pretty
good at it, and I also have a longing to work with groups as a teacher,
but the whole thing about using words to create extemporaneously
terrifies me. I feel embarassed and sure to be ridiculed, as this was
my early experience in the collective. I was always sticking my foot in
my mouth and getting zapped for it. 



   The thing about the kid in the cooler is that he is not very verbal,
to say the least, but he is very embryonic. Who knows what he could
become? As a massage therapist I worked masterfully to facilitate
healing through touch. I didn't have to talk much. I could just give
presence and hold that space even during client catharsis. This was
practically effortless for me, mentally, emotionally, but my body let
me know it was time for a change. 

  In a session I received in Hypnotherapy school, I very strongly
linked that body feeling of giving a really great massage into the
experience of giving Hypnotherapy. It is really very similar work
through a different medium. I am still a healer! 



   So now a new adventure!  Thanks so much for coming along!



Love & Hugs,

~Nemea

My web site is back up:

http://home.comcast.net/~nemea/



http://www.drmayabailey.com/



http://www.consciousbookkeeping.com/

Apple Blossom Time!

Today as I was driving home through the orchards that line the road to my home I was treated to the incredible smell of all the apple trees in new bloom! Sigh!

This afternoon I met with Maya Bailey, my "guardian angel" and new office mate, a professional life and career coach, and in half an hour she straightened me out on dealing with the launching of this new phase of my hypnotherapy business. She said it didn't really matter what name I use. I just need to decide. Nemea Laessig it is! And more... It helps so much to have someone who knows what it's like take an interest in me and be able to help me so well. She & I really click! So for the first time in quite awhile I actually feel good about this new venture. The Conscious Bookkeeping class is also going to help a lot.

I stayed up all night last night beginning the process of updating my old web page which has disappeared off the servers of evoe.com, so here you will find the updated site. The Poetry Chapbook and extensive 'Links' pages are in place! Many of my friends will find their sites listed on the 'Links' page, so check it out and let me know if you like it or not. The 'Links' page is graphic heavy, so I am contemplating a less bandwidth hungry version. Stay tuned!

Tomorrow is the Occidental Fools Parade! News and pictures to follow.

I am having a bit of a 'Traffic' fest at the moment, 'Low Spark' & 'John Barleycorn'.

Art of long ago... 

Pajamas

Most days I am in my pajamas. I cant seem to get dressed until the last (or after the last) minute. Eating is also a challenge. So here I sit in my pajamas, 'with extremely low blood sugar at 1:11 pm, having not dressed or eaten all day. What is up with that???

Pictures!

I just figured out how to add them. Whee!!!

Four Scarves 

This Just In...!

I just found out that the Conscious Bookeeping class I just signed up for is taking place in my new office waiting room! Fate is conspiring...

On it goes!

Well, at last I am blogging again!

This week I am setting up my new office that I am sharing with a wonderful woman named Maya Baily, who does personal & career coaching. She has offered me some coaching in addition to the office share, so it seems I have not only an office but sort of a mentor as well! I am terrified and excited about all of it. Yesterday I delivered my rent check to Dr. Halpern, the chiropractor that owns the building and has his offices downstairs. The building is a beautiful Victorian on the corner of Main Street (116) and Calder in Sebastopol. I also will have a sign added to the front as soon as I figure out what name to use! Aaaak! Shall I be Diane Nemea Laessig? Nemea Laessig? Nemea Arborvitae? Baak! Waaa!

In other news, after Mark & I spent a romantic weekend in Mendocino staying at Sweetwater, the hot-tub place, I came home with a new hobby, smoking crack!!! Errr...Knitting!!! I have already knitted five scarves and am starting on my sixth. I also passed on this dread disease to my friend Ted.

More later!

Nina in Action!

Nina Hagen @ DNA Lounge