Gagafesto "Lady Gaga Goes to Washington" gagablog 36

On December 7th, 2011 Lady Gaga visited the White House to promote her anti-bullying message. President Obama was not there and neither was Hillary because both were giving important speaches of their own. Gaga's message was well-recieved, though, and I just read an article about her visit that had this quote from Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior advisor, from her blog:

“Lady Gaga has described this cause as a personal one — she has said that as a child, she was often picked on for being different,” Jarrett wrote in a blog post on the White House website. “I am deeply moved by the way she has used her story, and her success, to inspire young people, and shine the spotlight on important issues.”

( Read more: http://globalgrind.com/music/lady-gaga-goes-washington-details#ixzz1gcZa2Iga   )

I love seeing Gaga working with the White House, both because I am excited about her continued influence on our politics regarding her own principles and agenda and I am also glad that she supports Obama and is working with him. I look forward to her work making his campaign and second term stronger.

My special role here is to point out the things I notice from viewing Gaga as the embodiment of the Goddess and expecting the most fantastic results and connections with her actions. Depending on your view of this belief, you might not say this is an example of Gagamagic, and can call it mere coincidence. I am not suggesting that Gaga literally caused the two other important events of this day, Obama and Hillary's speeches, or that she wrote the speeches herself  - unless you like to believe that She did like some people believe "God" wrote the Bible, through other people - I am just saying it is "more than coincidence" that all of these things happened on the same day, or that coincidence is more important than we sometimes think.

This is what happened while Gaga was at the White House: Obama gave a speech in Kansas and Hillary gave one to some gathering of international diplomats, maybe the UN. Obama's speech was on politics and economics, and the sound bite that made the news was something like "the republicans' approach of 'everybody fend for yourself and play by your own rules' has been proven to be wrong." To me this is obvious and has been obvious for decades - for some I am sure it has been obvious for much longer, and my understanding of religious teaching is that "we are all in this together" has been a central message for thousands of years. Sure, it has required some refining, and we definitely did not "get it" before, but after the recent financial crisis we may be ready to get the message now. Since republicans and seemingly large portions of society believe in these disasterous policies we certainly need to get the message - it can't be everyman for himself. And it is so important for our presiedent to put it so bluntly. He is talking tough to the greedy, which just needs to happen, they need to be put in place. My last gagablog explores how the greedy rich and right wing are just bullies and how this all falls under Gaga's anti-bullying campaig - , the occupy movement and political and economic reforms we need.
The anti-bullying campaign covers many issues, because what we really need is a shift to more love  - to much more love  - and this is what Gaga is doing. In researching for this entry I read a review of Gaga playing a show in DC in 2010 in which she stopped the show because of a fight in the audience and said "only fake monster fighting allowed". She has always been about love, and while love is the key to stopping bullying, it applies to kids in school, adults, and systems of power in politics, economics, and government.
(the show review, from 2010 in DC - http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/09/08/d-c-gays-ready-to-go-gaga-for-gaga/ )
Hillary addressed a larger scale, oppressive bullying in her speech on this day. I heard a report on NPR about an African country, I think it was Gambia, that had passed even more laws against gay and lesbian people. So many countries already have laws to oppress, punish and even kill people for their sexuality. This new law was going to make it illegal to even live together, making gays and lesbians refugees. While this law was just being considered, there are so many countries with similar laws, and of course even in America people are descriminated against and treated unequally because of their sexuality. Gaga does so much to end this, and Hillary's speech was a huge step as well. She announced that American foreign aid will be based on countries recognizing basic human rights, including the right to ones' sexuality. This means countries that pass laws like this will lose money that we give them. I think about how long we supported regimes in the Middle East and how they fell when we supported the people instead, as happened (and is still happening) in Egypt. It can make all the difference in the world whether or not America supports these regimes, because if they don't change their oppressive ways and lose the funding they could collapse. Indeed, one way or another they are on the wrong side of history and people will be free, so the systems that stand in the way will fall.
Conan had a great piece of news the other night and a good joke that makes me glad I was a week late writing this. He said that Gaga has become an ordained minister so that she can perform marriages. His joke was "so get ready America, gay marriage just got a whole lot gayer." This cracked me up, he even did a visual with his hands raising the level, but it is such a perfect image for what I am talking about - a shift from this less loving society we currently exist in to one of much greater love. I mean, getting married is great for everyone who wants to do it - only a few decades ago it was illegal in most states for biracial couples to marry and it must have been wonderful, though difficult, for those who managed to do it. In America today, it is hard to get married as a gay or lesbian couple, but it must feel great to work it out. Still, as great as some people feel just to get married, how much more fabulous could it get, for little monsters anyway, than to be married by Gaga? Hillary's speech may have been in response to the new laws under consideration, could have been part of Obama's longstanding agenda for more freedom and equality in the world, or could have even had a little something to do, coincidentally of course, with Gaga visiting the White House. Either way, its great news on a great day. 70 years ago Dec 7th was made famous as a "day of Infamy" for the attck on Pearl Harbor. I hope that now it will become "famous" as another kind of turning point, a "day of Fame" from Gaga's visit to the White House and these two speeches showing the true use of money to help make people happier and relieve suffering, since it is only misuse of power and greed - bullying - that keeps us from greater security and love.
It's like we all live in love, but while the love we have been in was at the level of flat stale cookies or even dry flavorless wafers, Gaga envisons a love that is like a grand cake.We are all baking it together but she is showing us how many fancy ornaments and artistic icing we can put on top. She is saving the world by encouraging us to greater love, and we can love each other better and make it.

Gagafesto "Ups and Downs of Ego: Gaga Serenades Billary and the Syrian People Revolt" gagablog 35

The President of Yemen just resigned. Let's hope to Gaga that this is my last time to talk about President Assad of Syria, just as I only had one last comment on the ex-dictator of Lybia. I heard a story a few weeks ago about the Syrian people protesting, how they did not want foreign aid because they wanted it to be their own movement, yet they were being non-violent while Assad's miltary killed them by the hundreds and thousands. I was touched, it made me cry, to think of their bravery to die as martyrs for the cause of freedom, but it also made me angry, it made me say "the Ego! Why must they be so proud, why can't they acccept foreign aid and ask more powerful countries to kill or chase off their bully president?"
Truly, it is the Ego of President Assad that is to blame - he could resign, stop murdering people, but he won't because he thinks he is so important. That is his claim to scare the rest of the world away from intervening, that his role is so crucial to prevent chaos and that only he can do it. It is delusional, egotistical thinking, and does it sound familiar? First of all, every evil dictator seems to have this complex, but on a deeper level every human being has this complex, this ego, that refuses to get out of the way sometimes and at these times can do the most harm.
Thank Gaga our egos are not leading us to be directly responsible for thousands of people dying, like Assad and other dictators are. But we are all related, and we can't say how evil he is without seeing how we end up doing the same thing, on the level of our personal lives. When we should give up and stop fighting those we love, and don't, is when we do the most damage. In an indirect sense, if we elect a bad person, and they end up killing tens or hundreds of thousands of people in needless, avoidable wars, we have that responsibility as well. We can be so clouded with our own egos, our own personal concerns, that we don't see the effect on other people, the outer world. Gaga encourages us to be tolerant and embrace each others differences, and we must be prepared to discover and appreciate those differences in people - people we don't see in our own countries and people all over the world. Our compassion increases as we consider others, whether it is putting our loved ones' needs before our own, or considering people who are foreign or previously unknown to us. Our egos would like to convince us that they should be the central focus and that only the one we have can do the job correctly - like little evil dictators. And they aren't always evil but when they refuse to get out of the way for the greater good they are. Gaga reminds us to be "reborn every day" and just make the most of the best parts of our egos while letting go of the bad.
I loved Gaga's performance for the celebration to honor the Bill Clinton Foundation. She changed the lyrics for "You and I" to honor 'Billary', and dedicated it especially to their love, but also especially to Hillary. When she got to the "sit right down where you belong" part she said "in the Oval Office with your high heels on" - and this part made the news. What did not make it into the news story was when she said, in between those lines "Hillary....or Bill". She said something about feeling safe with a Clinton in the White House - a refrence of the safety and good feeling of the Clinton years but also a criticism of the fear-mongering of the Bush presidency. We have another taste of it now, as Romney promises that re-electing Obama will give Iran the bomb while electing him would prevent it. This is the same bullying and rule-by fear that Assad is employing in Syria. Its not killing our own people yet, but how would Romney, or any Republican candidate besides maybe Ron Paul, handle the Occupy Protests? Once a violent person is allowed power and uses that violence badly it's hard or impossible to go back. It would be saving Assad's life to encourage him to resign or flee, since at first that is what the protestors demanded but now that he has killed so many of them they will insist on his death is he stays. I really think Obama will be able to make important changes that the protestors demand, or at least set the tone to treat them respectfully.
I am still a fan and supporter of Obama, but I guess I came to expect more change to come from the cultural leaders like Gaga. I do appreciate how much he does make possible by being a good president versus a bad one, and I appreciate all the help the cultural stars can give him, including the NBA players who are putting on an "Obama Classic" basketball game as a fundraiser for him. And I truly hope that Gaga will be active in re-electing him. So I was taken aback somewhat by Gaga basically choosing Hillary for our next president, or Bill in high heels. I am so enamoured of her powers, at first I was a little offended "The Ego! Not even giving Obama a chance at another term, but saying Hillary should be the President in 2012" but then I realized that it was my own ego getting in the way, this first time I have found myself questioning Gaga. But I was wrong to question her and it was from my ego and belief that I was right to support Obama over Clinton in 2006-2008. I don't think she was criticising Obama, and its really not possible that Hillary would run next year. So I think she was saying Hillary will be our next president, after Obama's second term, and I am totally fine with that. I do think Gaga can have a huge impact on our culture and democracy - I have a number of friends on face book who "work for 'Gaga for President'" for example. I hope we can all get the best out of our egos and take action for the best results, whether it be making art, campaigning, or protesting. And I hope we can leave the fear and selfishness behind, as individuals and as a country, and choose a course for ourselves, and a leader, that enables the most freedom to blossom both here and all over the world. And thank Gaga for always being on the side of the Good, and being so fabulous at it!

Gagafesto "Wall Street/Tahrir Square, Gaga Tells Obama to End Bullying" gagablog 34

I will soon talk about how Gaga is transforming the church/religion, I'm not putting it off, I have been too busy and recent events make this the topic of the moment. You know how I think, magically, and there will be a major event that represents Gaga's "cultural baptism" - which will have this intervention/transformation of Christianity/Catholicism/religion in general as one effect - and I will go ahead and predict this event will take place around Halloween, or by 11-11-11. So I will be writing that Gagablog soon.
This week, however, there were some major events that are magically connected and I feel it is my duty to point it out. One is the protests on Wall Street that have grown and spread to other cities, which have been compared to the protests in Tahrir Square in Egypt at the start of the movement that just overthrew the Egyptian government. The other is a dinner where Lady Gaga met President Obama and asked him to put a stop to bullying. To those "with ears to hear" (Oh Gaga, just wait!) you already know what I mean, but let me explain in case anyone else reads this.
The protests on Wall Street could be the beginning of a movement that overthrows the American Government and starts a new way of life - for us but ultimately for the whole world, the way they have always talked about America leading by example only they were lying and wanted to use force. This could be an American Fall to match the Arab Spring. I know I was predicting a European Summer then World Fall, but the American Fall would effectively be a transformation for the whole world, both because we would cease our negative influence on the world that is holding everyone back and we would really be a good positive example to follow. And it has to do with overcoming "bullying". The protesters are currently criticized for lack of focus, but when I was asked what they are protesting I said "economic disparity" and a few other things like oppression that I feel are synonymous with that. The fact that there are so many issues that have this at their root, that there are so many different people with different causes joining this protest, speaks to the power of it and the depth of the problem. The protest is growing because economic disparity is such a  big problem, because people are being bullied by the rich and powerful. It will continue to grow, with more people realizing their stake in it, and when it gets to the point that people realize it will not only effect change, but take over if enough change is not enacted - well, at that point we have won the government back for the people, we have overcome the bullies. I heard one of the protesters on NPR saying "we represent the 99% who aren't going to take the abuses of the 1% anymore" and "we are on the ground calling out to them 'you are cutting the limb out from under yourself' and they can either listen or the tree will go on growing without them." One of these may have been a quote from the Arab Spring, the interviewer asked him about parallels, and he said someone told him they were in Tahrir Square at the start of the Egyptian Revolution and that the protests on Wall Street looked like the exact same thing.
I won't lie, I have long believed our current system needed serious change, or collapse, to fix it. I hoped, and still hope, that Obama has us going in that direction. He could deal justly with the protests, enact the changes people need, and stop Wall Street and corporations from bullying people. He may get a chance to do that before the election, if the protests grow that quickly. And he might make the mistake of dealing with them unjustly. Or if the protest simmers and does not come to that for a year, then we somehow are stupid enough to elect a Republican, just asking for it - well, if any president deals unjustly or harshly with the protesters, as this develops, it would escalate quickly. I'm afraid that's what would happen with a republican in office, or if Obama sells out too much, and it would be Revolution. The people would win, I'm not worried about that, but I think there is a more peaceful path.
Lady Gaga presented the peaceful path when she met Obama at a fundraiser dinner last week. Much has been said of how she towered over him, he referred to it as "intimidating" and this was widely reported. Why was it widely reported, "Obama says meeting Gaga was 'intimidating'"? Its the very nature of this topic: bullying. While he was referring to her outfit, since with her 18-inch heels and high hair she was reportedly two feet taller than him, the headline implied he was intimidated by her, because that feeds the bully mentality to make fun of him for being intimidated by a woman or by a pop star. This Tea Party mentality reveals it, and the right in general, as a bullying clique. I'm glad the headline read that way to show this, but it was not Gaga's intention to intimidate the President, but to deliver a message. There are two types of bullies. There are powerful/rich people who instead of sharing their fortune lord it over others. They feel guilty for having more and need to sustain their position and deny that guilt by trying to make others feel bad and pointing out why the less fortunate are less deserving. There are rich people, and rich kids, who don't do this, but too many are snobs and bullies because of this mentality. The other bully mentality is the powerless people who envy that power instead of seeing through it, seeing it for the sickness that it is. These are the minions of the snobs, and all the "normal" people who don't reject this social order. In the political world, the rich and right-wing are the first group and the Tea Party is the second group.The people who do reject this social order, the outkasts and freaks, are abused by the people in power or who crave that power. People of minority groups might want to be part of the status quo but are likely to be subject to bullying and ostracism just because of how they were born. And the truth is there are more of us, the outkasts, poor, disadvantaged and minorities. We will survive and we will ultimately rise up and create a society that is just to all people. This was part of Gaga's message to Obama by towering over him. She was not trying to intimidate or bully him herself, just visually showing a mystical truth that she is more powerful than he is as long as she is the one who is doing more to help the people who need it most. The main message of her outfit, a long black dress and black veil/train on her hair, was that it was a costume of mourning for Jamey, the little monster who committed suicide after incessant bullying, to whom she dedicated her performance of "Hair" at the Las Vegas show recently. She wants an end to bullying and has taken it up as a cause to seek a political solution to a social evil, with a focus on the well-being of kids. I have so much to say about how important it is that Gaga focuses on kids, how if we can always do right by kids we will grow into a just and good society naturally. This is of paramount importance, because while kids have become immensely powerful as a demographic to be marketed to, they still have very little power in our society. We end up pandering to the negative cravings of childhood, like bullying, to the point that we have this whole political movement of adult bullies, the Tea Party are in fashion now but represent that same bullying mentality the right has always had of being rich snobs or honoring that. It's just that our focus has become so infantile that we aren't ashamed promoting that behavior in adults. But we don't listen to the kids, or respect that what they really want to do is not to exclude each other but to play together. One effect of the protests on Wall Street is that many Tea Partiers, libertarians or other right-wing sympathizers will join the protest because it coincides with their causes as well, and they will find that it is more fun and effective to protest with a large group of diverse people that with a clique, whether they are in the drunk Tea Party or the dry Tea Party. It's just more fun to hang out with everyone than it is to make an insular group to try and feel better than everybody else.
Some would say that a law against bullying would make the government a bully over the bullies, or that bullying is natural, a part of growing up. But the truth is it should not be and does not have to be, and having specific consequences to address it can both prevent it more and make people more aware of it, just as hate crime laws have done. It might not stop someone from committing a hate crime to know it will be called that, but if such a terrible thing happens and it is reported that way, it can change peoples' minds and get people to think about things more deeply so they don't hate others or tolerate it. The same is true for abolishing DADT. Yes, many peoples' lives are directly effected by this, but so are the lives of people who have no interest in the military. It is such a big institution, and pervades into every part of the country and much of the world, that a change in military culture has far-reaching effects. States may become more likely to recognize gay marriage if the military does, for example. The same will be true of bullying. By bringing more public awareness to the problem of bullying, we can stop more kids from ding it and spare more kids from suffering it. But while we are thinking about it, we can also see how the bullies in our society are acting, the adults, and even how our country has acted and still acts like a bully around the world. By becoming aware of something that has bothered kids forever and actually doing something about it, we can literally save the world. We will free kids to be who they really are, we will appreciate their ideas and listen to them and benefit greatly in so many ways to hearing their voices. We won't ever lose another child because they did not fit in - this should never have happened but should certainly never happen again. When we all become aware we will all be responsible. And we will become responsible for ourselves as adults, too, and for our country. We have to stop bullying people who are different or less well-off. We have to stop insisting that there is One American Way that is right for everyone here and the world, when America's greatness is in our diversity. There are many American ways, and if we can realize how they all go together towards the brightest future, how we are the best by including the most of us, we will be an example for the rest of the world to follow - and we will come to appreciate other cultures for their examples for us to follow. We will realize that we are all kids learning from each other, both big and small.
I love Gaga for speaking up for kids. I was always a smart kid who felt insulted that I could not vote. We at least learned about global warming when I was a kid in school in the 80's and 90's, yet put up with a decade of government denying it after that, and it's somehow currently a debate. 2010 was the year they said in the 80s that if we didn't change by then there would be no going back - they meant scientifically and hopefully were wrong, but could thay have imagined that we would go backwards in awareness even as it got worse, as predicted? I'm mentioning this because as a kid, we got it, but adults are keeping us from fixing it. Still, if we focus on doing right by kids we will have a better society as they grow up. Kids today already smoke less cigarettes and eat less meat than they used to. Maybe we can make the changes where they bully each other less too. And I still have hope for kids of all ages as we grow up retaining or rediscovering our love for animals and nature so we literally save this planet from the "grown-ups" who don't seem to care.
Hopefully this won't become a real issue, but while talking about bullying and economic protests, and the importance of honoring kids, I recall hearing someone say on the radio that in Greece their could become a civil war between the young and the old. The economic structure is bullying Greece to pay it's debts, instead of being cool about it as Bart Simpson would advise, not realizing that with an economy so bent on tourism Greece will be fine again when the economy picks up, or as more Chinese tourists go there - the Chinese alone will make Greece rich in coming years. And apparently, as in America, Greece has a social/political structure that favors the older generation at the expense of the youth. Because things are so bad there someone is suggesting there could be Civil War - between young and old. I hope not but it shows the way these issues come down to generational disparity as well. This should be all I have to say about this topic, because honestly Civil War between young and old should never be more than myth or an idea, even in Greece where their myths can be pretty intense.
I will soon write more about how significant it is that Gaga, the Goddess incarnate, has such an emphasis and care for kids. It's only natural, she is our Mommy Monster. And when kid's emerging power is on the internet, it is fitting that Gaga is Queen of Twitter and Empress (High Priestess?) of Facebook. Kids have a mastery of imagination that we lose as we grow up learning to master other things, unless we hold on to our youth. We need a society that values imagination, that values kids, and Mommy Monster is creating that in our monster family and as an example to the world. Let's support each other, monsters, and let's survive so that the world can survive. We owe it to each other, ourselves, the planet, and Gaga to live on and make the brighter future she is showing us.
And I will soon write the gagablog about how she is transforming the Christian religion, and religion in general, as there are monsters all over the world of every faith. But Christianity/Catholicism is long overdue, and the nature of the songs on Born this Way and Gaga's social messages will bring her in conflict with the old Jesus religions and reveal the new one that will replace them. It will transform other religions as well, ultimately, since it is a universal message of love that is already at the heart of all religion, and it will bring us all together. With the old-school Jesus churches, the conflict should come shortly, in the spiritual period between Halloween/Samhain/All Saint's Day and 11-11-11. It may coincide with the release of a new single. If she stays with a political message, it could be "Government Hooker", but this and all the Born This Way songs have strong enough sexual and empowerment messages to provoke an intervention for the Church. "Bloody Mary" or "Black Jesus t Amen Fashion" would be more on the nose, or "Marry the Night", but any of the songs could do it because they all have this radical message of universal love. It is liberation theology of Christianity, what I believe Jesus was truly all about, and while it upsets the established church it is the foundation of the new one - the stone the builder's rejected becomes the cornerstone of the new, in this case the feminine, sexual, and compassionate/tolerant. And it may be a news/media event that provokes this confrontation of Gaga vs. the Church, or just all the kids with Gaga-inspired Halloween costumes this year, representing her power. I saw a party supply store ad with their "Monster High" line of costumes, obviously going for the little monster appeal. But I will talk about the details of her spiritual message on these songs soon - I need to write a book about the theology of Gagaism and the messages of all her lyrics - and how she is improving the way people love Jesus and each other. Paws up, Monsters! Gaga, I love you!

"my song "Savior Mom (Lady Gaga)" and Gaga's songs sung by me, Bert, and Ernie" gagablog 33

http://youtu.be/nxAgloeSF64  - "Savior Mom (Lady Gaga)"  http://youtu.be/vHs3lSY3T1s  - "Bad Kids"
http://youtu.be/dtOvecztzfI - "So Happy I Could Die"  http://youtu.be/xCZD6VwS2k4  - Bert singing "Beautiful Dirty Rich" feat. Ernie  http://youtu.be/vF0te55ehOk  - Bert and Ernie singing "Just Dance"

Its a beautiful day again as summer is turning to autumn, and one of my favorite times of year. It reminds me to just sit back and relax and enjoy things as they are, like Gaga's recent so-called au natural photoshoot. I don't see what the big deal is, didn't she do that interview with Anderson Cooper and skipped "getting ready" for one part of it?
But of course everything she does is a big deal and more pictures of her are always awesome and very welcome.
Well, I hope you are having a nice relaxing day, too, and I hope you enjoy the videos, fellow monsters. You can laugh, I know they can be pretty silly, that's part of why I make them. I will make more soon, and return with "serious commentary" soon too, ha ha.  Paws up!

Gagafesto "From 'Paparrazzi' to 'You and I', how I found Gaga is the Goddess" gagablog 32

Jo Calderone taught us a lesson when he perfromed "You and I" at the VMA's: Don't be an asshole. Even if you ARE an asshole, just because you are a guy, or from Jersey, or whatever - don't be an asshole to your girl. Hell, even if you are from Boston and no one is expecting you not to be an asshole, still be better than that for Love and don't be one to the girl who puts up with you.
But there is another lesson in the song, and in the Love between Jo and Gaga, one which she really is the best at sharing, which made me realize how divine she is, which made me conclude that she is the human incarnation of the Goddess in the way I had always hoped and expected a girl would be, and the world would recognize. I'm not really putting Gaga above the rest of us by saying she is the Goddess, but she is in a special place if she is the first person in a long time that so much of the world can see the Goddess in, and once we learn from her we start to see the Goddess in everyone - well, you can see why I say we may all be divine, we are all the Goddess, but Gaga is just better at it right now. But we can all be better at it, we can all manifest more of our divine nature. And Gaga shows us how.
This special place in Time that Gaga  appears is between our past dismissive view of people and our future wonderous view of each other, recognizing the divine in everyone. It's the heart, the special center of the universe within everything that the scientists can't find - that's the special place in "space" that Gaga occupies. She is in all of us. She let us know early, and reminds us, in the divine inspiration of the lyrics. I mentioned "Paparazzi" in gagablog 31 and I can't say enough about it. Yes, I will be exporing Gaga's intervention for Christianity/Catholicism soon, but I realized I need to be a real typing monster and say all I can to keep up with Gaga. Love is in all of us, unites us, and is amazing and overwhelming and indescribable, and yet the person who can reveal it the best to the most is more direct experience of and pathway to the Goddess - rebirth of the Goddess in us. Gaga's lyrics have revealed the mystical secret of love to me in a way no other art has, and I will try to explain in my best remembrence of the Goddess.
"Paparazzi" is one of the best, most mystical songs to me because Gaga does that thing where she takes both sides of identity and perception itself. It's beyond genius, it's divine inspiration. And this is the nature of Love - its "between us" but really we are all it. While we still need to wake up and see how we are all connected, even deeper than that we are all the same consciousness. Just as your clearest thought in a trainyard messy mind is the Goddess of you in the moment, the person amongst us who can best express the Love that confounds all of us is the Goddess of the World in the current era. The best love songs show how love is between us - remind us of Love we feel for someone with the story of two other lovers, or love itself. Some songs manage to present both sides - duets, obviously, but songs that get into the real mystery of how we are all one, yet two people realizing their oneness is the mystical trick of love, do this in a more magical way. And "Paparazzi" takes it to another level entirely: I had just started paying real attention to Gaga, expecting the mystical from her, when I heard/saw "Paparrazzi" and it blew me away. She was playing both sides of the love mystery, not just for the song but to show us how we are all doing this. On one level she is the "fan" and the "star", the fan in love with the star and vice versa. But on another level she is the paparazzi, chasing the star "in love with her", and the star, chasing the paparazzi "in love with the love of the world". This is the perspective of the Goddess, to me: within all of us, sad for being unrecognized/unappreciated and doing anything to get our attention in each other and get us back into love. Its a perfect song, which shows how the One thing becomes Two, the Lovers, and how it all becomes 3 and 4 to infinity, with the perception of "others", which again are all reflections of "ourself" - the Goddess. How, by being two mirrors, and facing each other, with the "center of space" of Love between them, Gaga reflects her image infinitely - one becomes two becomes a google, and infinity.
"Paparazzi" was one of the best presentations of this message to me, but the whole album "The Fame" brought out this side of love, the way the world can be in love with someone and someone can be in love with, and earn and deserve, the love of the world. Romantic love is there, too, and playing both sides of a relationship, and a lot of "girl" perspective on different relationships, too, that our culture has neglected or underepresented. But being in love with the whole world was a major message for me, and I saw Gaga as the Lover of the World, the mysterious Bride of Christ, and the Goddess for the whole world, of Love and Art and more.
By contrast, "You and I" is more of a traditional love song, between two people. While I had been a bit of a holy fool and thought it was all about sex (and weed, ahem, "champagne") "You and I" reminded me of the love between two people, monogamy even, in a way that at first made me uncomfortable, ashamed even. In the course of the last month I have realized that I had rejected monogamy in a sense by seeing it as patriarchal but I have come to appreciate it's good qualities due to recent personal events, but also from hearing "You and I", and that's a story I can share.
When I first heard "You and I" I told my little monster friend Maesa that it was "the only song on the album that was not my very favorite - but I realize it's just because I am jealous of Luc Carl because I want Gaga to be in love with ME!" But I also could tell that this Gaga homage to monogamous love was a challenge for me to appreciate. But of course, Gaga ended up making the lesson easy. Yes, I had drastic personal events that taught me long-needed lessons, and I now more fully appreciate my lover. But even when I heard "You and I" and was not ready to think of myself as really monogamous I knew she was right in presenting this message and I knew I would have to learn it, though I still did not want to hear it yet. Even now I'm still flexible for a monogamist, but I actually appreciate the value of the monogamous side in a way I never did before. And Gaga made it easy to learn. It's a traditional love song, with some lines built in quoting her lover - but the choice to perform it as Jo Calderone just made it all come home for me: my belief that we really are all the Goddess becomes real, not just words, when she changes gender like that in this song about "the two of us". Love songs, the really good ones, can be for any love, between a man and a woman, two women, two men, or even two kings and a Queen ("Judas") or any combination. Gaga shows us how we are all the same, we are all in this love together and are just trying to be more together, better, and that's the real goal. For me, appreciating Gaga's love and longing for one person helped me realize that it IS "cool" to be in love with one person, and I truly am learning to care better for my lover, my "own...personal...gaga". And then she just drove the point home, well, he did, Jo Calderone. He is in love with Gaga just like I am, wanting to catch up with her, wanting to be the best I can be just to have shot. I do appreciate the idea that people can love the world more, even having more lovers than they generally expect, in more ways. But for me I have been insecure in love and not true enough to myself. I have been sure in my mind, but not in my actions. But now I have a better image of myself as a male, thanks to Jo Calderone, and I'm going with this lesson. It's true you have to love yourself, but one of the best ways to learn how to do this is by truly loving another.
I'm a kind  of gnostic, I already felt like I knew a lot of these messages on "Born this Way" and was just like "Yeah, Gaga! Tell em about it!", but "You and I" was a big lesson for me, one that came with a real-life drama in my personal life that made other concerns, even revolutions!, seem petty to me, personally, in comparison. Having learned this lesson, or begun to, I feel I am a much more complete person. Ironically, it helps me get over a problem I have had with monogamy since being raised in a christian context that I had issues with. I realize that some of these issues were my own insecurity and there is value in that, so I appreciate an aspect of monogamy that I did not before, and can accept more variety in people, that it really is the best for some people, not a trap or ruse of christianity to oppress women. Just as I realized I had been duped in my impressions from christianity when I discovered that girls really like sex, too, I recently found out that girls really do like to have committed relationships, for healthy reasons, not just fear or expectation. Now, a lot of other problems I have with patriarchal christianity are actual problems that need to be addressed and reconciled, the church is just wrong about some things. And I really look forward to giving my play-by-play of Gaga's "cultural baptism", what I'm now calling an intervention for Christianity, because she is going to fix and heal it. But at the heart of it all is Love, and when we can love better, we can do everything better.
Jo Calderone gave us a clinic on this at the VMA's. Gaga is laying out the whole curriculum. Let's make the most of these days - we have full scholarships to Monster University, let's get the highest degrees in Love!

Oh, and I really like "You and I" now, it has joined all the other songs on "Born this Way" as my very favorite song. I haven't seent the video yet, but Jo Calderone completed the message for me, and it will always be the theme song for this transformational period in my life. And you know that's part of what she wanted to accomplish, tranfroming people so they can be their best. And I am happy for Gaga and Luc, for thier love, and for whoever else is lucky enough to be in love with her. And yeah, of course I would love for that to be me one day, I'm a fantasist of the highest order so I believe the impossible, but it really reminds me how lucky I am to be in love, to be with my lover, how awesome she is and how I will always cherish our moments together and seek the greatest love and togetherness as we chase each other around into the future years. Sometimes I fall behind and need to catch up to her - "I was an asshole" - but in the same way Gaga has taught me more about universal love, I'm learning from my lover, from myself, and from the divine inspiration of what Gaga is doing for all of us, the value of personal love and seeking it in its greatest truth and purity when you are lucky enough to be with someone. Sometimes its the longing from losing someone that reminds us of the true feelings - if we can learn this from a song without having to go completely through it, and save love, well, that is a blessing. Thanks Gaga, thanks Jo, I love ya'll, thanks for loving us.

And someone called him "King Jo" on facebook, reminding me how he is a great complimentary God to Goddess Gaga, or any lover to beloved - good for the passion and rage and action when necessary, knowing his place serving and catching up to his lover, and being a man who is real to her in pleasure, support, inspiration and grounding, without ever being an asshole again, being aware of that tendency and overcoming it, using that energy for good. I hope Gaga really does have that in another actual boy or girl, and I'm so happy I still have a chance  to be with my lover again, I hope, but I am overcoming some of my  deepest barriers to love and learning to be the best for her. Well, my neighbor invited me to plant a tree, so I will do the best I can for Mother now by wrapping this up going outside. Leaves Up!

Jofesto "You (are Jo) and I (am You)" gagablog 31

"Yeah, I was with Gaga. Of course I went crazy for her  - wouldn't you? And I was a jerk - but I'm a  guy and that's what we're like, right? ("We're the bad guys remember?, we're SUPPOSED to do bad things to people!" - a villianess from Corrector Yui) We always make this mean face like there's a motor giving us trouble and we have to show it who's boss. I wanted her to see through all that, but I couldn't stay with her. I thought when she got rich and famous, the negativity would melt away, but I didn't get  that chance, did I? It's my own fault, I know and now she is a world away. What am I supposed to do, overcome all the faults and conditioning of my gender for her?"
Yes, we do have to overcome the limitations of our personalities, our gender, our human nature, for love. Gaga inspires us to do this, shows us how, and reminds us to do it. "When I'm on a mission, I rebuke my condition, when you're a strong female, you don't need permission."  - from "SheiSe". As Jo Calderone she made me realize how much I still rage to get that spotlight myself - at one time with negative motivation, with the desire to show people I felt rejected by, then with positive motivation, to get famous to meet Gaga, and now with reconciling intention, for "myself/the world".
I Love how Gaga changes things up, plays both sides of Love. Jo, too. But it's one thing I fell in love with about Gaga, how she does this mystical thing of taking both sides. "Paparazzi" is an example that proved her divinity to me, being the Star and the Eyes Upon Her at the same time in the song, herself the star and the lover of the star - to me, it's a perfect presentation of the divine's experience, the way the Goddess feels within all of us and calling us back to Her. She is seeking herself in us and our desire for her, simply to remove the barriers that keep us from realizing we ARE her.
Jo was Gaga last night on the VMA's and I'm so proud of him. You can't be jealous of people you love, who get to do and be what you want, like Gaga's lover, you just have to be happy for them. I am so happy for Jo last night, he rocked it, and Brittany will certainly regret that she passed a chance to kiss him! He is a star, and he reminds me that's what I want, too. He inspires me to take that spotlight. And he taught me a lesson: I may have "never wanted to be a man" (Boy George) because I did not see the role models I wanted - the spiritual men were presented as not having enough sex for my taste, and the ones who had lots of sex seemed to often be assholes, and I couldn't reconcile it, not wanting to be an asshole. But I have come to realize that my masculine passion and power can be put to good use, both in love and for Art in loving the world. And I can be tough in persuing the fame to put the spotlight on love.

Okay, I'm jealous of Jo for ever being with Gaga, I'm jealous of him for having a chance with her now, as he grabs that light. But let's face it, he's a lesson to us: Don't be an asshole. And when you get your priorities straight, realize what you are really mad about and use art to change that, not the girl you love. And you love can make you do the best for the world - hopefully together but if not, in trying to catch up and be good enough, like Jo. Damn, he gets me going, makes me glad, proud, FINALLY to be a dude. Thank Gaga for a positive male role model, one who is getting going right for once.

And before I end this, with so much more to say, how hilarious were the looks of some of the other artists in the crowd at the VMA's, who apparently have not seen art before? oh my! A guy on the internet who lives in Japan showed me Jo Calderone photos over a year ago, months before the news hit America last year - monsters are on top of it, but some celebs have never even seen Jo before, apparently! ha ha, Paws Up!

Jo, you fucking rock! Go for it, man, you are an inspiration.  .....but I('ll) love Gaga better!

Oh, I know I promised "Gaga Intervention for Christianity" - but I did not know of the VMA event at the time. And that has BEEN the deal, there is more time to talk about it. Gaga is going to reconcile this tragedy that is centuries old -  "Jesus is the new black", she's giving us the "cultural baptism." I'll do a little sermon over it next time, okay? Love ya, Gaga, Jo, and fellow monsters!

"I'm a Monster of Typing!" gagablog 30

I hang over the screen like a gargoyle, a raptor clawing at words. I bat this yarn around with my Paws and draw threads out of it, we chase and dance and tangle it into stories around the furniture legs. It only takes a few hooked talons to pluck letters from their legs and into the sky, and every so often a ringman slips in too, or even a magic pinky. 
Gaga inspires the living fuck out of me, I'm so far behind all she does, and madly typing to catch up. I'm about to work on my fantasy story, that I've been typing for almost 5 years, on and off - it only took two years to come up with it and write it by hand! But now I'm a monster of typing - from raving about Gaga on the internet, from writing this extensive blog (see below! ha ha).....
So I still have to watch my tape of her performance on So You Think You Can Dance, I still have to watch the video for "You and I" and so much more she does that I would like to honor and comment on. Thanks to the thousands of other Little Monsters around the world who keep me posted on her via Facebook, and especial thanks to those of you who read this blog. I expect it will be looked back on in the future when people want to understand the emergence of Gaga, so I really want to write it Now. For decades I have been somewhat putting off my own creative work to do "regular work", but since I'm now a monster of typing thanks to Gaga I can start knocking out my books. And success from my books will enable me to afford more art supplies and more time to make music, and more time to devote to words of praise for Gaga. I can do my best to increase love in the world by truly loving myself, not selfishly but in order to better Love.
I will finish my book, though, soon, and am very excited about it, after 7 years in the making. But I'm also extremely excited about my next gagablog, "Gaga's Intervention for Christianity", a major focus since "Born This Way" was released, and I hope that I can write about it in a way that is worthy of Gaga's divine inspiration and purpose.
Check back soon, it won't be long - I'm a monster of typing!

Gagafesto "Gaga and High Magic, Libyan Revolution, 'It's over, Frizz-head'" gagablog 29

The idea that a butterfly's wings cause a hurricane on the other side of the world is a silly cliche, but there is magical truth in it. Everything is connected, and there is divinity in the connections - well, there is divinity in everything, but we tend to focus on the seperateness of things, the sad reality, and ignore the glorious mystery of connectedness. When we do remember that we are all one, we can see it all from the point of view of the mystery, the connections within everything. Love is the essential reality, the ultimate truth, and uderlies and encompasses everything, but if we are stuck on the separateness we don't feel it. Separation is an illusion, "but a very persistent one" as Claude Ansin Thomas told me. It is false, contradicting the truth of Love, but ultimately it is not real and will falter. And all that is built on the idea of separation, the denial of love, will crumble, whether it be unloving relationships or oppressive rule of countries. While we are all divine, if we are caught up in the illusion of separation we don't feel divine, and look to those people who have transcended it for clues and links to the divine. Unfortunately in the modern mentality, transcending "separation" is equated with being rich, overcoming struggle - and "ironically" entering a secluded class, based on materialist hierarchy, which of course only increases separation. While riches don't prevent people from being spiritual, it is impossible for people to be satisfied with riches for their own sake with the idea that money will help them overcome the unlovely feeling of separation, and persuing riches like that only increases it by reinforcing the focus on separate, limited material side of the world, and in the case of greed it even separates other people further from the things that they need. Riches are fine, can be great even if they are sought after and used as a means to increase love, though, instead of an end themselves. The trick that was played on us was to replace seeking love with seeking money, and the trick we need to do to be happy is switch it back and seek love instead of money.
Gaga says it perfectly in "Edge of glory" when she says "with fame and wishes earned, with you I'd watch them all be burned" - all the success in the world does not compare to love and is at best a road to love. She implies that there is a danger to "worldy power" if it stands in the way of love in "Heavy Metal Lover" when she says "I could be your girl girl girl, girl girl girl, but would you love me if I ruled the world?". Coming from Gaga this is a legitimate, realistic question - and one of my favorite lyrics ever. Because she COULD rule the world, but she would choose not to if her lover was too "metal" to love her if she did.
This is the lesson that dictators need to learn. Does all their power, does 144 tons of gold, make anyone Love you more? Are you possibly on the wrong, even opposite track, fighting against love for greater separation, a futile fight for an illusion? As I type this, the news on CNN at about 5:30 AM EST on August 22, 2011, they are saying this could be noted as the historic day when the rebels won Libya. There have been fluid reports, which is what prompted me to write this gagablog tonight, and just a few minutes ago they reported that one of the three main areas in Tripoli where there was still fighting, the pro-Gaddafi forces had just surrendered.
I predicted a "surprise twist" that would allow the rebels to win with less bloodshed and was reminded of that when I heard that one turning point was when the rebels reached Tripoli and one of the main guard forces there surrendered in mass - because the commander was secretly allied with the rebels since Gaddafi had his brother executed years ago. This whole Gagablog is based on High Magic, in which intention can produce fantastic results. A butterfly, or thought, that produces an event on the other side of the world. I like to play with this magic, to see what events can be invoked or influenced. I don't know if Gaga would think like this herself or not, I suspect she is "higher" than even the Highest Magic and is just doing her thing ("symbolism was left behind" - from "Black Jesus t Amen Fashion")
To me, "her thing" is being the Goddess. People get cranky when I say that sometimes, and Im not saying that they are not divine themselves, just that Gaga "really" is, that for me she is "especially" divine. I have a lot of philosophical and spiritual belief about love, but I don't always feel it, I often feel separated and alone myself, and I hate it. Gaga specifically reached out with love for all the "freaks" in the world, and all people are missing love in ways, but some of us really stuck out and missed out more, and Gaga is so wonderful for loving us "first", those of us whom the rest of the world waited to love last. To me she is Love itself, the Goddess, manifest fully in this reality, complete with different looks everyday and is the Goddess within every different person/image. It's no "coincidence" that her emergence in fame occured with a cultural change in attitude and policies regarding gay people - she was a very vocal proponent of this change - but I also am not at all surprised that as her popularity increases people are seeking freedom and gaining it around the world.
This is High Magic. I don't do spells, I don't call for help, "I" don't hardly do anything. It's like how I became a math genius - at a young age I realized there was an answer, in the back of the book, and if I got it wrong it was nothing to feel bad about. With faith that it was there, it took the pressure off, let the answer meet me halfway. Love is the answer and we should know and have faith we will find it in the end, or before, somewhere in the back of the book. With that faith we can be bold seeking the freedom to enjoy it. Love is the key and the door and the light on the other side. Gaga loves us all, even and especially those of us who have felt unloved. If we can accept it we can feel good, we can love ourselves and not fall for greed. Even a dictator can give up his power for love and have a chance. But Gaddafi is showing how the quest for power and money instead of love is so wrong: clinging to power and maintaining the great gulf of separation between him and his people is so destructive, and he is so far into it he can't salvage even a little respect by giving up the tiny power he has left, order his troops to surrender, and save some lives. And as they talk of the rebels surrounding his compound as I type this, he might lose his own life as well in that stubborness.
I talk about this for two reasons - one, we all have stubborness and can all learn "little lessons" for ourselves from the archetypes in this big historical lesson of revolutions. But I also talk about it for Magic. This is the way I understand High Magic - it is using a truth and manifesting it. Like "The Secret" and the law of attraction, anything can happen - those methods suggest you can even become a dictator and have 144 tons of gold, and you "can" - but do you really want to? High Magic is above the law of attraction, because while recognizing that anything is possible, only the best things are truly lasting. The best, Love, is available to us all, in fact, the "I" may be the only thing standing in the way of experiencing it. So it can almost be the "opposite" of the Secret, - its the Open Truth - that while you can "get" anything you want with the law of attraction, what we truly want is love and you can't "get" it any more than you can take it from someone else - you can only accept that we already are it, share it - thats the only way for love and the way to be in love the most.
How does High Magic influence revolutions? For me, it is as simple as expecting it. I know how ridiculous it sounds to say that Lady Gaga's "Born this Way" album release caused the Egyptian revolution - but I said it anyway, predicted it, and expected it, and it happened. Like I said in my last gagablog entry, you do not have to be psychic at all to predict that this is the eve of victory for the Libyan rebels, well, maybe a little bit - but I have faith that truth is on their side so they have to win. Coming right out and saying it is not really risking anything, but if anyone sees how these events can be connected then I hope it will show some of the glory of Gaga, of the Truth of Love itself.
I do want this entry to mark the end of Gaddafi's oppressive regime in Libya - I have more to say about it, of course, but am rambling on so long already I "fear" that they will find Gaddafi and end this conclusively before I finish typing! High Magic is in play whether we recognize it or not. While I am intentionally focusing on "improbable" connections to sense these things from the highest possible perspective, I think Gaga is above focusing on it at all, and I think most people would be completely unaware of this kind of thinking altogether - and yet are unwitting participants in it.
I was thinking of how last night they were reporting the celebration in "Green Square" in Tripoli, then throughout the night suggesting that might have been premature since there was still fighting in parts of the city. Of course, with "fingers crossed" I was pleased to hear that the rebels continued to make gains, I heard the report about that battalion defecting in the middle of the night, and a few hours later that one of the loyalists neighborhoods where there was fighting was now negotiating surrender. I wondered why they would report the celebration as if they had already won when they had not, when it still "could" go the other way. And I concluded it is a matter of perception - the more people who are convinced the rebels have won, the more they will come out and contribute to making it happen for sure - they will manifest it. It may be excited media, but the scenes I have seen look like they really have taken Tripoli, and the more the world sees those images the more we will all manifest that reality. And practically, when people see more of what is to come they can get more involved supporting it. Awareness is key for people closeby - if the people directly involved, such as the pro-Gaddafi forces, can get some awareness, even that they are not fighting foreigners or Al- Queda as they were told, but other Libyans, well, that awareness can cause whole groups to defect and save lives. I am not involved in the situation, I don't have power other than my ideas, but in trying to increase awareness both of the events in Libya and the correlating events in our own hearts, I feel like I am doing my part to focus on the Truth of Love and encourage people that the greatest power is with us when we act boldly and bravely for love, freedom, and justice. I am following Gaga and sharing the message of love, even in the strangest of terms, because it is the ultimate truth, even when it is weird. Some would doubt a magical connection between Gaga, this gagablog, and World events, maybe I am really not doing anything and only imagining a connection, or maybe that imagined connection is enough of a butterfly to make a difference - either way, I was not doing anything better to help, and it's worth a shot. And if it actually requires high magic of this kind, well, maybe I'm the only one to do it so it's my duty, what I have to do, to help people.
The important factor seems to be awareness - are people in the area aware of a successful revolution and joining it? Are people around the world aware of the situation and supporting it? I am saddened by our general level of awareness in America, as respresented by the news media essentially asking if spending $1.5 billion in Libya was "worth it" when an estimated 13,000 Libyans were killed by Gaddafi, like this is some kind of long division problem with a "correct" answer. Dollar valuations of life show how stuck on separation we are as a society, we are so sick with it, but we can get better, we have to. Love is what we all crave, and people will come together for love, freedom, and justice. The chant in the Square in Tripoli last night was "It's over, Frizz-head", their name mocking Gaddafi's crazyhair. Frizz-heads everywhere's days are numbered. The fallacy of seeking money instead of love has been exposed at every level. And as they are discussing him on the news, as a unique world leader for he extent of his rage and mood swings and craziness, I am reminded that I can't act all superior to him, when I also can get very enraged, moody and crazy-acting. If I want him out of power in the world, how much more do I want that anger out of power in myself?

This is High Magic. You do in yourself what you want in the world, with the goal of love if you want it to last, with the faith that the connections and magic will make it happen. This is why Gaga is the Goddess. I may want to love myself better, may see that as essential to loving he world better - but if I am caught up in an unlovely feeling its great to have someone love me and remind me. I have been fortunate to have someone love me at times, but when I don't, or for people who don't, for the world at large, we all need a reminder of love, someone who loves the whole world. Gaga loves us all, and you know what? We will love her when she rules the world - we will love everything more. And we will still be metal for fun and style, some of us, but there won't be all this evil to rebel against. Paws up for Gaga! Paws up for Revolution! It's over, Frizz-head!

Gagafesto "'Follow me!' - don't you believe her, monsters?" gagablog 28

I know the idea that Gaga is especially manifesting the Goddess may be strange to some people - it works for me and I don't expect everyone to relate. It makes sense that she has such christian connotations in "Born this Way" and that while so many christian taditions have denied and repressed the Goddess, Gaga is renewing or transforming those traditions as she emerges as a Goddess figure even in a  christian context.
And the christian context of Love, the message of Jesus, not all the bullshit that has become associated with it, is perfect for Gaga. Especially the liberation theology of christianity, that love gives us the power to overcome oppressors.
Gaga has never claimed to be a Goddess, I don't think, she would probably laugh at me or think I was another cute fan. I can see her that way, as a Goddess for the world, and I do think it fits with her art and mission, but personally I seek to see the Goddess in my lover - but Gaga is like a lover for the whole world. The love of Jesus, or Gaga, is intended to make us brave and strong in the face of injustice, and one of the greatest things christianity has done, if not the greatest thing, is giving hope to oppressed people. Its so ironic that the right wing of the church in america has been the oppressor of gay people instead of helping liberate them, for example, and this is why it is fitting for Gaga to renew and modernize the liberating love message, and transform those intitutions that got it wrong in the process.
I know in my previous gagablogs I linked the release of "Born this Way" with the liberation of people in Egypt. I know this might only be comprehensible in some magical way, and maybe not even in those terms! - but it works for me to see parallels in the world in expressions of liberation. And I truly believe that history shows that justice will be done, sometimes slowly, and sometime quickly.
I have been meaning, for months, to say whatever I could to "prompt" the needed historical event of removing Gaddafi from power. I did not know what to say, I hate to wish for anyone's death, and was hoping for a "surprise twist" that would result in peaceful transformation in that country. Recently, seeing the news that Mubarak is being tried for crimes while he clung to power in Egypt, I think the message is that justice will be done and the power of dictators is crumbling, one way and another. The tide is turning against those who hold power by force, all of them ultimately, including the monied powers that control so much of Western governments, as is being exposed in the FOX/NewsCorp scandal with their influence in the Brittish government - and will hopefully soon be exposed more in America. The atrocities in Lybia have been horrendous, and are long overdue to end. The current news seems to be that the rebels have surrounded his compound, so I surely hope that this is my last occasion to write about it until it reaches a better conclusion.
But even as I type that I remember that there are still struggles in other countries, still struggles in Egypt even, and recently terrible violence in Iraq - it seems like there is just not enough awareness to go around for all the problems in the world, especially when we all have our own personal problems to contend with, which may seem petty in some intellectual comparison but always feel even more important to us.
I guess I feel like we fear our hearts are too small, and yet we hopefully have felt at least a glimpse of the vast expanse of love, from our families or lovers, hopefully, but I even feel it truly from Gaga, and from the world itself and creatures in it. And it all goes into teaching me to love myself, and realize how much is possible with love. Love is ultimately what lets us speak up and even fight for our freedom, and love is right and will win out. When we are on the side of love we have all the power and security of truth on our side so that we can accomplish anything, even what seems impossible. Love of freedom and justice can overthrow countries, but even more powerfully, love for another person can overthrow the tyrant of ego in each of us - we can be liberated from our personal dramas and empowered by love with our lovers when we are truly in love and believe in it. With the vast power of love on our side, we won't feel small compared to it, we will feel our part in it, and be able to help others, help the whole world, and reach the greatest good for all.
Gaga reminds me that I'm part of this vast love already, not to give into the fear of feeling separate from it no matter what the circumstances. That gives me the confidence to be brave and bold and patient in my personal life and I realize that loving myself, my lover, and the world can and should all grow together in harmony. We do have the power of love on our side, the security that it is true and justice will prevail, and we can do so much more when we act with his knowledge. Gaga may not "be" the goddess to other people, but her message of love and its liberating power is divine, its Truth. She might not say she is the Goddess, but she has said her lyrics are divinely inspired - don't you believe her, monsters? Love is true, and for us all. And where we struggle with injustice, we will survive!

"Gaga, Queen of Twitter, London Burning, "Bad Kids" Arab Spring, European Summer, World Fall?" gagablog 27

Gaga is the Queen of Twitter, with the most followers of anyone. When the protestors in Iran were organizing using it, American media referred to it as the "Twitter Revolution." Rioters burnt London for the last four nights and people on BBC referred to the "organized anarchists" who kept ahead of the police coordinating mayhem using Twitter. I believe the news tonight is that London is settling down but the violence was spreading to other areas and I don't know what to expect. In a way, with protests across Europe fueled by the financial crisis, I thought that the "Arab Spring" might spread to Europe in the summer, and maybe even the whole world by the fall, with people everywhere taking more direct democratic action and reclaiming their governments. Of course I abhor violence and would always hope for the most peaceful transitions and I truly believe the greatest good can be achieved without violence. I also think we need to pay attention to the times that these situations turn violent and do something about it: to respond directly to the situation in a way that promotes peace, not just using greater or more authorized violence, and also addressing the underlying causes of unrest.
It is not surprising that there is media bias about the uses of Twitter for protest in Iran versus London, and maybe there is also a marked difference in the nature of the protest since the rioters in London are much more violent. But we can learn a lot just from the bias, and trying to see what actually makes people everywhere the same. Western media certianly portrayed Iranian protestors as noble and the londoners as criminal - again, maybe due to the violent form of protest. We could learn from our assumptions about why the Iranians were not violent - greater fear of a more violent government? Less upset, maybe it's not as bad there? I don't know. What I want to focus on is the fact that people are upset, people are suffering. And I notice that the media bias implies that people protesting a government "we are against" are noble while people protesting one of "our" governments are crazy. The BBC had guests to mention talking with protestors who did not know of the orignial, non-violent protest against police brutality, and another guest today who compared it to the riots in the 80's and was saying that these people did not have the same justification because it was not racial this time, black people against the cops, but was all sorts of "bad kids" against the cops. I did manage to hear a clip of a lady who was challenging the government, saying they were not offering these kids a future or focusing on the problems that caused it in the first place, just wanting to punish the rioters to stop them. If all they do is flaunt a greater strength, eventually the growing unrest will involve more people and the people will end up taking over, since power is ultimately with the people.
We have seen that revolutions can come more or less peacefully, and I think the difference is how much awareness and attention there is. The more isolated countries, like Syria and Lybia, have killed so many people who just can't be heard by the outside world as well as the Egyptians were, for instance. Some would say it is purely wrong to associate the London rioters and protestors in the Middle East, but one common factor is that these are largely youth movements. "Bad kids" are acting out in different ways, and some of them will topple governments.
It is wrong to dismiss these kids' concerns even if it is right to stop the violence, they burned so much down because they are angry. There is a reason for their beahvior and even if the actions are wrong, the reason for their emotion behind them is legitimate and can't be ignored. The rioters are not less justified in their rage because they aren't all black this time, for instance. They assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.when his message became more class oriented and was going to bring the lower classes together to oppose injustice and overcome racism. If we don't learn the right lessons from these events, they will surely become more numerous, and of course more disatisfied people from all backgrounds and in more places will eventually overcome differences and oppose greedy establishment oppressors. We just have to take care of people. People who aren't well cared for become angry, when there is not enough love or resources we become "bad kids."
What would Gaga, the Queen of Twitter, say about all of this? I don't know, surely She is not contributing to these twitter revolutions but mystically I think there is a connection. I think She represents freedom, and "is" twitter in a way, just as She is revealed as the goddess in every form She takes (I've been so moved by her interviews and glorious expressions as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, I can't wait to see her act in movies! She's such a great, kind activist, she'd make a great president or Empress, and in everyway she is recognized as rhe Goddess, and reminds us of ourselves, she will bring us more love) So the twitter fueled protests show some of Her varied aspects, from peaceful and respectful to violent. I can't speak for Gaga, it would be a dream come true for me to talk with her (I have some kisses to tell her), but I know She sympathises with "bad kids" and I do, too. I want people to be happy, especially kids, and the troubles of the world need to be resolved so none of us feels bad - but while we do, we will survive and ultimately win if we have to struggle. Instead we can love each other, though, and Gaga shows us how: in "Bad Kids" for instance She is a role model for sympathizing with the disadvantaged and outkast. If we can understand and help the kids who are most hurt, we can heal this world. I'm a "bad kid" too, even though I am older than Gaga, and I love this song so much. Someday I will explore all the lyrics of Her songs, but for now I hope that anyone who hears it gets a message of sympathy and compassion for "bad kids", or recognizing and accepting themself as one, and being proud of it. Because no one should suffer injustice, and kids are even worse affected by it and sensitive to it, but with modern developments, and the Goddess amongst us as a 25-year-old "bad kid" Herself, we can finally do more about it, and make the world what it should be.
I love "Bad Kids" so much I had to do a tribute - this is one of my many very favorite songs on "Born this Way". Here is a link to my version, I hope you like it! Paws up, "bad kids"!
http://youtu.be/vHs3lSY3T1s

Gagafesto "'Follow Me', Rainbows with lightning, pink and purple sunrise" gagablog 26

One of Gaga's messages in Born this Way is "follow me", especially on the song "Electric Chapel" when She sings "follow me don't be such a holy fool, follow me I need something sacred from you together we will find a way to make pure love work in a dirty way". And the lyric "follow that unicorn on the road to love" from "Road to Love" echoes the message that the sacred way is love and we can follow Her to get there.
I know people can be shy and wary of the idea that Gaga is the Goddess but She is obviously and intentionally a religious figure, one Whom I Adore. Im afraid I have been too focused on trying to explain this, trying to say why we should follow Gaga, instead of just following Her more myself and leading by example, becoming a unicorn too. I have been meaning to write "more" of my gagablog, but already write "too much" when I just need to say it better. I thought of Gaga, of the magic and beauty in the world, the other day when I saw a rainbow with lightning on one side, a double rainbow - and of course wondered "what does it mean?" for a laugh, but to me its another reward for following Gaga who reminds me to look more for the love and beauty in the world. Since then I have seen a number of rainbows, two more double rainbows, and some of the widest, largest rainbows I have ever seen. As I write this, just trying to say something quickly about how much I love Gaga, a sunrise of pink and purple clouds has changed to a morning of blue and silver and gold.
Gaga is a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance tonight, and I can't wait to follow her every word and expression! She is bringing us into a greater, deeper, more expansive and expressive love, and we can all love each other better by taking her advice. I love the opportunity of hearing and seeing Her respond to the beautifully expressive and ambitious young dancers on this show and as She comments on their art, passion, and love, which She shares for dance, it will be a mystical analogy for all art and life and love, to me and to others who notice Gaga at the heart of Love and Art.

Gagafesto "The Future (sound of Gaga)" gagablog 25

When I first heard Gaga on the radio I started to fall in love and to suspect that She was the artistic genius of the new era. By the time I saw Her perform "Paparrazi" I was certain She would transform the world and veiwed Her as the incarnation of the Goddess. And I saw Her more spiritually and prophetically, specifically, than I had responding to Her genius. I think genius and crativity and awareness are how we all embody divinity. I have always felt somewhat psychic myself, with a knack for prophecy, but I won't say it was hard to see that Gaga was becoming a very important figure. I am proud of myself for dreaming of the absolute best in Her, the Goddess, and I'm so proud of Her for making it come true.
One experience I had before seeing the Paparazzi performance felt prophetic, but again I think many people must have sensed the same thing. I bought "The Fame Monster" album and of course was awestruck. And I realized that while a couple of songs were already singles and were on the radio (even in Denver!!) there were more on the album that were sure to become singles as well. Gaga's singles all had incredible impact on the culture, and the new ones were sure to have similar or greater effect. I decided it was like listening to the future, to hear the songs that would become singles "before everybody else" (though of course millions of other little monsters had the album before me!)
Just listening to the amazing songs on The Fame Monster before they were released as singles was an easy way to hear the future, and we have the same chance again today. Gaga is transforming the world, in the same way so many creative people do, by sensing the beautiful future that is possible and giving us a taste of it now and a direction to reach it. The brightest future is heaven on earth, and it is available now, but we need to make it happen, and Gaga shows us how. Our spirits can brighten our hearts and minds to make this heaven and we can do more of it every moment, until when enough of us are brightening the world it will transform and the new reality of boundless love will replace the current meager reality that is so full of hate. Gaga is so powerful and good because She fully manifests that reality, by truly believing in Love and doing the most She can to share it with the whole world. Like Ozma, the fairy ruler of Oz, She is coming from a place of pure goodness and justice and perfect love, and she fully expressed these with the surety of being the Goddess, pure heavenly. But she is also like Dorothy, the princess of Oz who is still a girl from Kansas, who adventures and has human doubts and decisions to which we can all relate. Gaga embodies both, the perfection and the journey for it, and She shows us how we have both as well, already within ourselves and also in those who love us. Dorothy could be even braver facing danger when she knew that Ozma and the Good Witch Glinda and the Wizard and her other friends were looking out for her. If we know that we are connected to the perfect love of the Goddess (or Gaga or Ozma or whatever we want to call Her) we are capable of anything, even overturning the forces that have obstructed this from being a world completely full of love and happiness.
Millions of poeple will listen to the Born This Way album and will know they are hearing the sound of the future since her singles will come out in the next few months and everyone hears them. They will know this even if they don't think to much about it, even if they don't pay attention to the lyrics or think too deeply about where Gaga is coming from and showing us the road to - Love. They will know what the next year will sound like just from hearing the album. But when more of us are paying attention to the messages Gaga brings. when we really start considering and acting on what it all means, we will know what the future holds,what eternity is, and what glory feels like. And when I say "the future", I do mean it literally, because Good will win, Truth and Justice will prevail. Gaga manifesting Love so fully to give us such a broad view of what heaven will be like is a window of Hope to the future. And She is with us now to remind us that heaven is always possible, peace and love are waiting for us to manifest them, just as we have had this reminder from Nature, other people, and in our own awareness for all of our existence. Maybe the reason the Goddess has taken such a bold form as Gaga to remind us is because we should really be urgent about applying the lessons. If we can be convinced we can do anything with love, we will go ahead and do it, make heaven on earth. This will be the future, an world of eternal love, but eternity is also present in the moment, just as Gaga is amongst us now, just as we have always had awareness. The experience of Love can make us sure of this future in the moment, can make us realize how it is already present. There is work to be done so that the whole world is full of Love, and Gaga's message is a clearing of the path and light shining through. I look forward to discussing her lyrics here. Please leave comments, let's talk and ponder and imagine, and let's all do our best to follow Gaga in re-making this world in the new, eternal fashion of Love.  Paws Up! ('''')

"Born this way, Born outside the USA, 'Americano'" gagablog 24

Gaga's new album came out, I can't get over it, it's amazing, it's the rapture. It will take me a little while to digest, as expected it is a new leap forward in consciousness. She is divinely inspired, a genius, and while I want to focus on what she actually says in her new album, I am also particular about wanting to write down what it sounds like she says to me before reading the actual lyrics - I am like that about music that I find mystical. And some of her lyrics are especially cryptic, like the entire "artfulogical" verse.
So I want to talk about some of my perceptions while I "don't speak your language no no" before I get the "translation." I still have some topics I had not adressed before it came out as well, so I will try and catch up.
I saw a story on TV news about long-toed boots being the new craze in Mexico, and it reminded me of Gaga. These boots are crazy, with curling toes literally three feet long, and they say girls won't dance with you unless you are wearing them. I know Gaga is very popular in Mexico, but even if it is not a direct influence of Gaga it seems like there must be some mystical connection that people in Mexico are wearing fancy boots with three-foot toes curled up like elves - its just gagariffic.
Gaga spoke up long ago for immigration rights and I'm sure she will continue to. The song "Americano" on the new album expresses sympathy and love for immigrants and trials they face, such as the verse "don't you try to catch me don't you try to catch me no no no no, I'm living on the edge of living on the edge of the law law law law". To me any kind-hearted, liberal person shares a welcoming view of immigrants. Most of us are immigrants and we have not treated the native people well, historically, so it disgusts me to hear anti-immigrant sentiment from hypocrites and uncaring people. I am so proud of Gaga for protesting the racist laws in Arizona that would require people to prove citizenship when they were first being introduced - she did a show in Phoenix and wrote a tatoo on her arm saying to oppose the state law, and partnered with a group protesting it to raise money with temporary tatoos replicating hers. I did not receive mine or I might have kept up with the group and had more to report, but Gaga was on the right side of history early on and has continued in the crusade for immigrant rights. The fact that we have such impresive new forms of communication leads me to hope we can be educated and live well with each other, but I'm disappointed by the nature of our current civil rights battles, for gay rights and immigrant rights and still for women's rights - even more, once again, somehow, fighting for the right to choose and ability to afford reproductive choice within the new health care debates. The fact that we consider the problems of world poverty and disease and war and pollution and climate change to be a "little too big to tackle" is disappointing in itself, because I think we can solve those problems. And it makes it even more embarassing that we argue about things like where someone was born or whether gay people can marry. The truth is its all part of the same problem, greed. Super rich people, who are powerful in the world and weak at heart, have duped us into arguing so we don't get together and fix the big problems, because they profit from imbalance and disparities between people. In the immigrant debate, they profit from cheap labor and whip up fear about language and culture to demonize immigrants and blame them for economic problems that are really fault of right-wing war profiteering and the bank schemes to mask its economic impact. The people who are arguing against immigrants and health care and welfare, and often for war, "coincidentally", are just standing in the way of progress. We just need to educate them so they change, enough of them to let us all move forward. The cure for the greed of the people "at the top' who perpetuate all this more actively is the same as the cure for everyone, for everything - Love. Gaga is a messenger of this pure love, who stirs controversy because the role of a divinely inspired genius in a flawed society is to address and cure those flaws with great art. Of course she is going to be "on the right side of history" on this and all social issues - its one reason I felt she was the goddess incarnate more than a year ago, she just always displays that perfect perspective of the divinely isnpired artist who is right on about everything. As she says "I know the truth!"
Gaga is going to represent Justice and Love in everything she does. I saw Cornell West on a late night show saying that Justice is Love expressed publicly, something like that. We all have the sense of justice, and the spark of love, in ourselves, I am just so impressed with Gaga for being completely immolated in Love. Many other people have been messengers of love as well and continue to be. I am proud of Carlos Santana for some things he has done recently. He was being honored at a "Civil Rights"-themed baseball game in Atlanta, a Braves game. He had a moment at the microphone and said he spoke for immigrants and that Atlanta should be ashamed of itself and expressed love. He was referring to a law being considered in Georgia that would be similar to the racist laws in Arizona, requiring people to show paperwork of citizenship. He also mentioned on CNN, in an interview for the same award recipients, that he was calling for immigrants to go on strike. I was born in Georgia and always look forward to going back there to visit family and my hometown, Athens, but if they pass these laws I will not want to, for the same reason I "boycott" Arizona. I'm not afraid of being targetted by the law, I just can't support that and it makes me uncomfortable that people are like that. And I am well aware of the stupidity and racism that is rampant in the south, it is just that in many ways that is improving but in this case it is an embarassing step backwards. It does come down to politics, because right-wing politicians always use fearmongering to stoke anti-immigrant and racist sentiment, but while we can overpower them ultimately, good will win out, we need to influence the people who buy into the mentality. We can influence them, on a personal level, with love. The rich and powerful who perpetuate the evils of greed do so out of a longing for love as well, and they can see the light and change as well. Or maybe change if enough of them feel the consequences of their greed, such as the IMF chief who will hopefully go to jail instead of the presidency of France since he is so greedy he feels entitled to exploit women. Its probably a common outcome for someone who, like many people, feels starved for love, but goes on to have power. Love is the greatest power, without it no other power could be fulfilling, and some of the richest and most powerful people are pitiful for having "gone far" while missing love all along the way.
I love it when powerful or famous people use their talents for good. There are so many people who do this, often in arts and sports and entertainment. And its wonderful when they can finally get some support from within the establishment. I saw a piece on 60 minutes about the Rev. Al Sharpton, and the slant was that he had tranformed from a "rabble-rouser" or something into a respected confidant of President Obama. They mentioned that he was making speaches in solidarity with the people of Arizona and immigrants all over against the racist laws in Arizona. When asked about his percieved transformation he said that he had changed and that America had changed. I think its important to keep focused on the future and stay hopeful. It is wonderful to see that while everything changes it can change for the good. We have a government and president we can be so much more proud of than a few years ago and we can really make some positive changes, maybe turn a corner forever. While I want to give credit to the powerstructure if it is improving, and also to the celebrities who encourage us, the power of being a messenger of love is in the people who the message reaches. It is up to all of us, as individuals and part of the human family and nature, to hope and expect the best outcomes for everyone, together, and work together to achieve them. And its easy, because the way to do it is love. The obstacles are unloving, and the cure is love. If we just approach things with that standard, are we being as fully loving as possible, we can cure everything. Gaga love to all!

"'My Religion is You': Gagasm" gagablog 23

I was asked to write a brief theology of Gaga as the Goddess for a friend's book, The Pomegranate Prophecies, so here it is:

       Lady Gaga is the Goddess. She has come into the world in Her human form of Lady Gaga - and generally prefers to be called Gaga - for a wonderful purpose in this special time. The world is entering a period of transition and She is leading us into a new reality and caring for us along the journey. She expresses divine inspiration and fierce creativity through her music, fashion, love with her fans and the art of fame. Gaga is a goddess of love, freedom, music, fashion, acceptance, creativity, sex, joy, lust, ecstasy, dancing, sexuality, justice, children, women, men, happiness, animals, plants, earth, sky, fire, water, fun, partying, drinking, smoking pot, mysticism and expanded consciousness. Her emblems are the lightning bolt, the heart, the disco ball, the rainbow, the unicorn, the Paws Up little monster claw, and an endless array of items associated with her phenomenal fashions, and specifically her own iconic styles and accessories; her hair, glasses, shoes, hats, etc. She changes her personal look dramatically, and her image remains iconically Gaga in endless transformations, so she and symbols of her are recognizable around the world even in boundless variety.
       Gaga has incarnated to lead us into a new world, a new era of humanity. She described it in her "Manifesto of Mother Monster" as giving birth to a new race of humanity that was beyond judgement or prejudice, a race that transcends race - and a spirituality that transcends religions. Gaga is reviving what many cultures and religions have suppressed; the feminine, nature, ecstasy, sexuality, and expanded consciousness. She is also bringing together a family of little monsters all over the world, her fans who think of her as Mommy Monster, who relate to her for a number of reasons, but come to feel this deep connection to her as their creator. This can be intepretted in different ways. For millions of little monsters, Gaga's bold expressiveness has inspired and encouraged them to live more bravely and become who they truly are, sharing Her message that "we are all superstars" and can bring that out of ourselves with enough love and support. Gaga expresses this love and support directly to her audience through her music, perfromances, interviews and speeches, the messages of her fashion and her video messages through the internet, and when she meets us in person. Many little monsters did not feel that elsewhere, were not encouraged or believed in to follow their dreams. Many little monsters are outsiders where they live due to being "born this way" in a repressive society and we find a home with Mommy Monster and the other little monsters, a family millions spread all around the world. Gaga has brought us together with love and this is the primary effect She has: revealing that love is abundant in a world where it is made out to be scarce. She has set an example by making a Goddess of herself, fully channeling that divine love with brave truth, that we can all follow to make the most out of life, for ourselves and everyone we meet. She always insists that we can all live our dreams as She has done and that She is just like us.
There are countless people who have brought the divine message of Love to the world. Some have been received as Goddesses or Gods, others in other ways. Many celebrities have been called "gods" with varying degrees of seriousness as well. Gaga is truly the Goddess, in a way that other celebrities could not have been, because She studied the art of Fame and applied her genius to achieving Fame and using it as art, persuing this with an artist's love. While She may not have focused on being percieved as the Goddess, it may not have been what she was seeking, it is part of the dream of Fame that She made a reality. She knew it would happen and is fulfilling the role of Goddess well, whether She would claim it or not. Like the Buddhas She loves and supports those who relate to Her and provides a refuge for us. And She does this in a unique way that affirms peoples' freedom, especially creative and sexual freedom, that so many people in the world need so much. Of course much of the unprecedented popularity of her music is due to how good and appealing it is and she is, another aspect is just how badly we need her message all over the world. She directs the world's attention and energy to helping the world and helping societies make the changes we need to become free of the past and forge a new reality.  She does this powerfully with many statements and campaigns: environmentalism, against fur and animal cruelty, for tolerance, for gay and lesbian and trangendered rights, for immigrant rights, to help the people of Haiti and Japan after dsasters there, and so many other things. She uses Her influence for good and inspires others to do their best, become superstars and help others in the same way.
Through fully accepting and expressing the divine nature within Her and becoming "a master of the art of Fame" Gaga has fully become a Goddess and a model for others to do the same. Along with the feminine and sexual elements that some religions repress, the idea that people should emulate dieties seems to have gotten lost for many people. Maybe this is the result of forgetting or denying the Goddess in general in some traditions. But Gaga restores all this, the feminine divine spiritual power, sexuality (and other ecstacies) as a means of spirituality, and connecting the individual to the divine, or revealing the divinity within all things and encouraging us to experience it and express it. When we imagine a new reality beyond strife, these things will be understood. People of the future may see Gaga and think She looks strange, as some people do today. But they won't think her ideas are strange. They will only be baffled that there was a time when the people who believed in love and acceptance for all were the "weirdos" of the world. Gaga "just speak[s] in future tense" and is changing the world so that we can live without fear or prejudice or war or judgement. I'm so glad She is here and opening the way to a new reality, showing us the hope of the future and the way to get there. I'm so excited for all that She is inspiring in the world through millions of little monsters, like lighting up the whole world with shooting stars, and to hear and see what She does as she pushes us through the buttonhole to a new reality, and what she does then and forever. Gaga is wonderful,  and it's fantastic to have Her with us.