...Of the tattoos I will soon be getting, several are just lettering. As I mentioned in my previous entry, “Vindico” is one of those words that has great significance to me. “Chaos” too is a word of great significance to me, and one for which I will soon have upon my flesh.

Chaos is a word that resonates within my daily existence as though a dream. I was birthed by Chaos and nurtured in its womb. It's energy flows through my veins. The third hexagram in the Chinese I-Ching signifies that of Chaos. There is this whole little poem which tells how "Out of Chaos, brilliant stars are born.":

“Before a great vision can become reality there may be difficulty. Before a person begins a great endeavor, they may encounter chaos. As a new plant breaks the ground with difficulty, foreshadowing the huge tree, so must we sometimes push against difficulty in bringing forth our dreams.”--"Out of Chaos, Brilliant Stars are Born"

Also, the symbol that stands for Chaos is actually the mating of two symbols, that of crisis and that of opportunity.--That alone is intriguing to me. ...Perhaps to some extent I am a Creatrix of Pathways UN- walked (meaning you have to tear it down before you can re-build it). I have no desire to master Chaos. I see Chaos as something that must be allowed to flow into the cracks to too-stagnant order so new patterns can arise. So I try to stir up those around me - put a bit of new ooze into the mix here and there. I don't really mean to do this - it just sort of happens around me, and I welcome it. I suppose if I had awakened on January first 2000 and I saw Vishnu trying to plant the lotus and Kali dancing on it, I may be asking her how to dance before I would be asking him how to garden. ...There are those who have been blessed with a more lawful mind, (as well as those with a more chaotic), and I admire and respect them as a necessary part of the cycle.

I find it somewhat of a paradox that I feel as though I was birthed by Chaos, and thus am familiar with it, yet I try to utilize its power for good. But let me digress....

As for the artwork, as you may well have acknowledged by now, not only am I an artist myself, but I love great artwork of differing styles; ...whether it be oils and acrylics, such as Luis Royo, Jeff Easly, Kieth Parkinson, Larry Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, Fields and Brom; ...mixed mediums including airbrush and CGI, such as Shiro Masamune; ...Comic Book art, such as Todd McFarlane; ...CGI artwork done by so many now and often used in video games; ...or pencil drawings done by all the aforementioned artists. ...I figure for all of my philosophical and related entries I will use artwork from various artists whom I like and of differing styles. The piece I used for this entry was by Luis Royo who is one of my favorites of the medium for which he works in. (If the piece itself offends anyone, well, for that I am sorry.--It is not my intent to offend. ...Granted, I am not sorry enough to omit it from the entry.) :) ...I have many facets. :)

While on the subject of art, ...I am pretty critical of art. Too oft a time have I strolled through the art stores lining most the streets in Carmel and am sort of appalled by seeing a large print, “#1,274 out of 3,000” selling for $2,500.00 dollars (or ten times that amount!!!) and resembling a sloppy interpretive expressionistic water color like oil-&-acrylic image of a lawn chair and some still life laying around the backyard in a quality that you would see in any elementary school after-school project by any 4'th grader. ...I don’t understand it. I think it’s shit. ...But, alas, ...who am *I* to judge? :) ...Perhaps I shouldn’t be so critical as most all of the artists whom I appreciate are much more gifted than I and likely would see many a flaw within my work. Yah, ...I really should digress on this one....

Jason