Since the mid oughts when I created my first Cafe Press store and brought the Ojai Face into existence, the desire to print, publish, fold, spindle and mutilate the word OJAI has driven me to the edges of prurient folly.

Recently, I’ve been taking iconic images from pop culture and esoteric symbology then skewing, warping, pasting, blurring and sharpening the Ojai Face onto them. Perhaps you saw the GONZOJAI tribute to Hunter S. Thompson.

I present to you the PSYCHOJAI. I love this. The whole concept of merging and recreating recognizable art from a themed word that in itself is unusual enough to form a recognizable face shape that can be plastered all over things. Obsessed much?

so then there’s the next one.

It’s a little corny to me to call this Baphomet Ojai or BAPHOJAI. It harkens to my love of the mysteries, the arcane, the magickal, occult and esoteric. This spirit is alive and simmering in Ojai, I’m sure. Betwixt the Theosophists and some of the more eccentric yogis, I’m sure there’s tens of people who’d smile at this design.

I’m putting them in the store.

My upper Ojai neighbor Rain Perry swings by the barn to folk things up a bit. We shoot it about family, songwriting, and Keanu Reeves. I heard Rain perform last year at the Ojai Art Center Jammin’ series. And its one of the few times in my life when live music actually got me misty eyed. It was something about her warm inviting accessible sound and then these simple poetic emotionally layered lyrical melodies. Truly amazing.

It’s good to get to know her better. I wash Rain’s windows and I’d like to wash yours too. Learn more about Rain on her website. And send her some dopamine bursts by retweeting her @rainperry and liking her facebook statuses. Here’s a link to her reverbnation.com page. You can hear all the songs that I play on the podcast here. I believe her version of Let’s Get It On is the best cover of that song EVER.

Enjoy the show.

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Hello, I’m happy to have Quin Shakra as my guest today on Don’t Look At Me podcast. Quin runs Mano Farm and All Good Things Organic Seed company. We have an interesting visit that touches on local geography, dreamers vs. business people, growing food by hand, how to deal with peach leaf curl, WWOOFing, cover crops, tillers, communes, the seed business and Uncle Monsanto.

Most important things are to be aware of the seed swap on Feb. 23, 2013 at Chaparral Auditorium in Ojai, save 15% on your purchases at agtoseeds.com with the code “christwilson” at checkout and please rate and review the podcast in itunes.

That is all, enjoy.

Oh, one other thing. Donate a portable digital recorder like the Zoom H4N or the Tascam DR-40 to the Don’t Look At Me podcast. Do it anonymously. And stuff.

See you at the Seed Swap.

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Founder of the Ojai Post blog and digital nomad Tyler Suchman joins me in the barn for episode 006 of the podcast. We talk about his travels to Central America and Europe in 2012 and how he’s finding balance caring for his digital media web consulting clients while on the road.

This episode I’ve added Tyler’s Speak Sheets travel language cheat sheets to my growing list of affiliate links. Be sure and check that out.

And remember that All Good Things Organic Seeds is offering my podcast listeners a 15% discount on purchases at their website. 

Thanks so much for all your continued support. All donations are going directly to my past due child support. Be bold and give as I have given this archive of entertainment for you. Thank you Ojai. You make me smile.

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My former boss and the fellow who accepts responsibility for bringing me to Ojai joins me for a conversation in the barn. Bret Bradigan publishes the Ojai Quarterly magazine and monthly real estate magazine for Ojai. He’s been writing about the town’s eccentric people and social culture since 2000.

As publisher of the local newspaper for 9 years, Bret has had a big impact on Ojai, plus his dedication and participation in local organizations and service groups has been a key to this urbane small town journalist corralling some of the best local writers, photographers and creative media artists into his herd.

I have learned a lot from Bret over the years. And he continues to be a source of inspiration to me and the community. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

And I have a conversation with my son Elijah Wilson that deteriorates into a giggle fest pretty quickly.

Be sure to visit our first local sponsor’s website: All Good Things Organic seeds. While you’re there, fill up a cart with some seeds, some herbs, and gift certificates for your friends and at check out enter the coupon code “christwilson” for 15% off your purchase. This is a limited time offer, so buy your seeds today and GROJAI.

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What a gift to know Skip Schuckmann. This man’s ability to rap has challenged my ability to apprehend for nearly a dozen years now. He was one of my earliest friends and mentors in Ojai; providing me with a place to live, a car to drive and words of wisdom that dwell within me to this day.

We laugh at the outset of the conversation realizing that we’ve been visiting for the first 20 minutes or so without recording. Still we pick up and have a wonderful talk that I hope you enjoy and learn from. I’m enlightened further.

From the Kiva’s he’s built at the Ojai Foundation, Full Circle Farm and creek side hovels at Casa Barranca to the fire heated soaking tub and free form art he created on the back patio of the art gallery experiment he co-created in downtown Ojai in 2001, Skip has been a dynamic aspect of what is the fringe creative element that has been swirling in the Ojai Valley since long before it was given that name. That means a lot to me even if it is hard to put into words. I like how it feels to try and practically apply his wisdom to my own life and there-in find my own wisdom.

Check out the new sponsors links. Click the link and sign up for an Audible audio book trial membership. When you sign up for the trial, you can download a free audio book of your choice and they send me $15 for each new trial membership I refer. Audio books are a great way to pass the time on a long commute, a Shelf Road stroll or any job or hobby where you have the time and liberty to listen to a wonderful voice actor or author share their creative work. Cool service, check it out.

Thanks for all the amazon.com purchases you’ve been making through the affiliate banner. Please keep it up. I’m currently in negotiation for my first local sponsor that should be up and running by episode 5 next week.

I’m looking forward to my next few guests. I think you’ll like them too. Have fun out there. Thanks for listening, talking about it, sharing with your friends and supporting this hand made media with your donations and attention. Until next week. Enjoy!

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