Change, change, change, that’s what we’re talking about today. We believe in change here at East Jesus, we embrace change daily as we take the discarded detritus that finds its’ way here and transform it into something amazing. We see the positive benefits of change every time we comb through the new gardens and bring in a harvest of vegetables to the kitchen. And we can’t help but notice there are new smiles around the fire each night.
Let’s start with the reason you haven’t read a missive from us in the last 2 months. We moved the website to a new server hosted by a friend who is also keeping the Chasterus.com site alive. This involved several people in different states who are part of our wide spread IT department, and a flight to South America that had nothing to do with it all. But we persevered and finally got all the technical problems solved, loaded up the pictures and promptly found what we had done wrong. Then the holiday fun started and we got distracted so blame Santa. He was the one who dropped off a truckload of soft pellet guns and had to know that we would drop everything and begin playing our very real version of our favorite video games. So a big thanks to Dan and Flip and everyone for their patience and work but be warned we still have 9000+ pellets and our aim is getting better.
The next big change we need to talk about is management. Now those of you who were department heads are still in charge of your sections and those of you who want to start new divisions can still do that but the curator stick and carrot are being handed over on May 1 to Jenn and Caddy. If you’ve cared enough to stop by and see us this season or if you are lucky enough to have made their acquaintance outside of our environs then you know how perfect they are for East Jesus at this time and place in our growth. If you haven’t met them yet then let me put this blessing on them, when Frank announced his plans to leave this summer the desert took less than a week to find them and arrange circumstances to propel them into our arms. Jenn brings a wealth of working knowledge with solar, electrical, and all aspects of organic farming. That she can paint, create costumes and make-up and likes to repair lights when bored probably won’t get much use here but good to have. On the other hand she will have plenty of time to use her skills as a teacher and administrator. Her husband Caddy has discovered that the kitchen is worthy of his culinary training in authentic Japanese cuisine and that the music room has been lacking a percussionist, a role he already had all the equipment to fill. Could be a good thing he’s qualified as a fitness instructor since we’ve been hearing some complaints around the table about how full everyone is after dinner. But the epoxy on the deal was that they are Burning Man faithful and always seem to find a way to smile when the universe throws a punch. That would have made Charlie happy.
What other changes to talk about? Have you walked through the Sculpture Garden lately? I just did and I’m still discovering new things, and I live here. When you’re done ogling the sculptures out there try and get an invite to walk back to the geodesic dome. There are green things growing everywhere with space planned out for more and on those green things are FOOD. Keep looking around the place and you will see more color, more lights, more art, more work being done to improve the setting. If you spend a bit of time you’ll discover even more amazing is the artists that find their way here. We’ve heard opera singers from Amsterdam and spoken word performances from published poets in the music room. We’ve started the East Jesus Marina to house ‘The Dusty Junk’, an art car in the form of a boat, and built the East Jesus Helipad to welcome our friends who visit by air. We’ve had a few more structures being built on the back campus with several sites being staked for future consideration. Hell, we have a huge tower being erected right in front of the Garden with four sides that will be begging for art.
Lastly we have change occurring in the Slabs proper. Due to increased attention brought to the area in the last years it seems that someone in the State bureaucracy has noticed the oversight and according to third hand testimony has made an offer of the land to Salvation Mountain. When the Board of the Mountain deferred the offer it was suggested that if there was a Slab City organization that could represent the people living here, they could take the gift. This has led to an election of people from the Slabs to look into the offer, and if found true, to further investigate what advantages and liabilities that would have for the residents of the land. We are quite proud that Jenn, a relative newcomer, was elected to this new board and will be supporting her and following developments as they occur.
Post script: forgot about future changes… nothing will happen until it happens so you’ll be needed to make it happen. Art Slam at the end of March, to coincide with the Slab City Prom. Things to be planted, places to be built, stuff to be made into art, fun to be had, friends to make laugh, etc.