2/1/17

© words and pictures by Dan DeMarle 2017

“Someday men will learn to irrigate and spread fertilizer instead of praying for fertility.”
― Warren Eyster, The Goblins of Eros

2/1/17

© words and pictures by Dan DeMarle 2017

There is something in the symmetry of two spiral staircases – side by side that says, we are separate and go separate ways.  Like two strands of DNA, but a sequence that never combines.  Separate lives, separate stairs.

Back ally, Montreal  Canada

11-26-16

© words and pictures by Dan DeMarle 2016

© words and pictures by Dan DeMarle 2017

2/25/14

© words by Dan DeMarle 2014

Just a short note to say Thank you! Life is hard, good friends make it easier. So Thanks to everyone out there who is fighting the good fight. Whether that be a daily internal struggle to stay sober, keep yourself clean, stay off the streets, keep you suicidal inner voice at bay, battle your own depression, your OCD, or all the other daily battles we can all fight. Keep fighting! The world, my world, is a better place because you are in it. Every day, yes every day.  Whether you are fighting a constant physical battle of pain due to migraines, cancer, arthritis, or all the other ways our bodies can hurt and be injured, Thank you for persevering. Your continued light makes my world better and brighter. Whether you are fighting the system to get you or yours what you or they have been promised, are entitled to by law, or by basic common sense, Thank you! My world is better for your hard work to change the system. Whether you are fighting to make life better for others, to light a light in darkness, to help others achieve independence, racial justice, rights, freedom, citizenship, Thank you! My world, my community, my city, my neighborhood is better due to your hard work. Whether you are fighting for the environment, fighting pollution, global warming, and/or increased antibiotic resistance, Thank you.  Sometimes these are the hardest battles to fight, but our future as a world and a species depend on you.  Whether you are fighting to bring light into the world through art, through games, through literature, through the news media, Thank you! You make my world more beautiful, fun, and informed every day I breathe. Whether you are fighting political injustices, world injustices, fascism, totalitarianism, or all other things we are threatened with, Thank you.  You protect my world and all of our world today and in the future.  Lastly thank you for all of you who serve and protect our country every day, and thank you to your families who worry about you and support you.  We would not be free if not for the brave men and women who do this work, every hour of every day.

We are all in this together and we all have a part to play in this great dance of life. I am here for you, just let me know how I can help.

© words by Dan DeMarle 2017

When you have to move snow, or change the world, it is often good to work with a friend.

In the outdoor sculpture park at the Memorial Art Gallery.

2/14/17

© words and pictures by Dan DeMarle 2017

How did we get to this point that we are in?  You see there is truth and there are lies. There is truth in some lies, and there are lies in some truths. Some people believe the lie to be the truth and others the truth to be the lie. We have a Country formed on the pinnacles of two ideas, Democracy and Religion. For the first 150 years of our country our Democracy was a lie.  It stated that all men were created equal and all men could vote, but that was a lie. Only white privileged men could vote, and then only white men. When others were allowed to vote, we stated that all men and women were equal, but that was a lie. Because we have systemically continued to privilege white men, like myself, over everyone else. The call for Black lives Matter is simply an attempt to make that truth a reality, because the reality is that in today’s world they don’t.  Saying they do is a lie, but a lie that should be a truth.  Our other pinnacle is that of Religion.  Despite all the scientific proof many people still believe that God created the entire universe in seven days, and that woman was made from man’s rib.  They believe that evolution is a lie.  They believe that if God could create the universe in 7 days that he could fabricate the lie of evolution. But why would God create some Watergate type reality?  If he/she/zhe did then where are the tapes?  So why do people believe what the orange haired so called President says?  Its because we have never dealt with the underlying lies that have shaped our country.  We are like an equation where 2+2 = 6.  Everyone knows that that is not the truth. When the whole foundation is crooked, what is one more lie?  What we need is a truth and reconciliation committee.  A group that can go into every fabric of our country and clean out the lies that we have built our country on.  While President Obama was a great President when he had the chance to call out the lie of our country’s financial and banking system, he backed  away.  Instead he just propped it up. He was worried that pulling out the lie would collapse the whole system. Maybe it would have. Maybe we must confront the adversity caused by our history of lies, before we can again be one republic under God.

Long car rides go faster if you sing together.

There is always one sibling who remembers all the words.

There is always one sibling who messes up the words on purpose.

We learned who the pipes were calling for,

how to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative,

what to do if we lost the girl we loved on one of those thousand islands,

and what to do if we ever went across the sea to Ireland.

All because if the air pilot said it, we had to give him credit.

We knew that Alice the camel had two humps, but really wasn’t a camel,

that it takes a lot of effort to get to the end of 100 bottles of beer,

and that John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt is a great car song,

no matter if you sing it loud or soft.

We also learned that whether you were three little angels or three little devils,

whether you tried to get to heaven on a thread or a kite string,

that at the end of the long car ride, you would all be safely tucked in bed.

© words by Dan DeMarle 2017

Liver goes better with bacon.

Bedtime goes better with stories.

Powdered milk is necessary sometimes,  but real milk tastes better.

Boo boos heal faster with kisses.

London bridge may go falling down, but your family is there to catch you.

© words by Dan DeMarle 2017