Alex Kinnan (P): October 2007 Archives

Now that Unloosen Awareness Month, also known as "October," is well underway, I thought I would put this one up. It isn't much, but what it IS is a little something I was able to make with magnetic letters I found amidst the debris in the back yard that the chair picture was taken in.

Some might think that it was just a lucky find, the right letters to make an Unloosen out of, but it was more than that: I went into the backyard fully and intentionally "Unloosen Aware."

Now, some folks think being Unloosen Aware is a trick, but I assure you that it is not. It's a way of being that anyone can achieve via a simple set of deep breathing exercises and a conscious desire to find the inner Unloosenness of several, if not many, common situations. I entered that yard thinking: "There will most surely be a goodly nugget for one who goes into this Unloosen Aware." And there was!

This technique doesn't only work in back yards, it can also be tried in other common places and venues: Men's rooms, Chanel boutiques, racetracks, grease pits, and amphitheatres. The places this can work are only limited by their number and, in some cases, operating hours and guard dogs.

So, I urge you to embrace the challenge of this Month for Unloosen Awareness, or whatever it's called, and to use it to the fullest. I know I might.

It's the 17th, a very special day for Unloosen "dot" com, and to mark the occasion I have dug deep into my digital image files ("pictures" in the local parlance) to find a suitable photo.

What this photo is actually suitable for is anyone's guess.

I suppose it serves as a good example of how busy the sidewalks in Los Angeles are. It's why we seldom look up, there's so much to read and learn. I know I originally took the picture thinking that one of the coming months was bound to have a 17th day in it and that it might be fun to make a big deal and all about it.

Not only has it happened but, by George, it's a big one! And by "by George" I mean literally BY George. Whatever the 17th is about (and only Chris can tell you, because it's his website, after all) it is because of George being somewhere ("here," according to the sidewalk) that we can even have the courage to address these meaty issues.

If this sounds vague, it's because I never really new this George. This apparently entitles me to try and "ki" his "fss." Now "fss" is obviously just that, I won't insult the regulars here with an unnecessary explanation of that.

The real mystery here is "ki." Is he suggesting we "key" his "fss?" I hope not, because that would be rude. This means the only other thing it could be is a regional spelling of "chi." This doesn't make a whole lot of sense until one remembers that much from the distant East is not only cool, but very mysterious.

And then there's all those other symbols! I have no idea what those are supposed to be about, man, not even a feather-dusting of a clue. But then, that's what our big city sidewalks are like -- one big pedestrian Da Vinci Code.

In the back yard of a house I was cleaning, there was this chair. It was an empty chair.

There, amidst the rubble and cat food, my hands sweated inside my rubber gloves as I wondered who had sat in that chair. It was a pretty good chair, which got me to thinking that another thing to ponder would be: who would later sit in that chair?

Sitting is oft enjoyed by all or most and the idea that any number of folk both grand and base might have sat there, or might sit there, lent a kind of solemnity to the place.

Might this be the place of rest for a king? Or perhaps a fashion designer? It might even provide rest for the other, less relevant, members of our society.

I apologise for the misleading title... The chair wasn't so empty after all.