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There is no other way to describe the No-Talent Show of Friday night as anything other than a total surprise and funny as hell. A few employees of the camp stayed for the show and said it was better than Vegas! It was, I had a hard time not peeing my pants and literally did have to leave to visit the restroom, I was laughing so hard. I will post a link to the show once I upload it.

There was a Night Lodge and like other events and people, I cannot get too detailed about it except to say that it was over by 4 AM and was a great experience for everybody who participated.

Have uploaded one of the funniest things I've ever seen, a song called "Prison Bitch" and Joey and Albert were hilarious.

The spiritual aspect of the gathering was such an integral and surprising part of it for me. I had not realized how seriously everyone else had taken their role in their families and communities to be a conduit, a spiritual being by choice and act. What a beginning. No way to know if I can ever be at this stage, but somehow, I wait for a dream.

Had the opportunity to talk with a young lesbian yesterday and at twenty five, she had lots of opinions, but knew what I was talking about when I told her to waste no time getting after what she wants in life. There is no time to waste, especially with the world we had the nerve to leave to her and to all our children. We will have a lot to answer for, but we can still contribute and help out where we can. As well as beginning to understand ourselves and be willing to work to make our struggles worthwhile and the world a peaceful one for all of us. The gathering made this talk with this young woman possible, as if I had refreshed my own hope for my own goals and dreams.

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The Pink Ladies are getting thrown out of the Petraeus hearing. Great to see that someone cares enough to put themselves on the line like that.

Camp Seeley is a dream, beautiful lake amid blackened forests, but the cabins are intact and comfortable. Someone told me that they keep coming back here because the staff is also very open minded and kind. I make a point of telling them thanks and complimenting their camp. They seemed efficient and the place was great for the Gathering. I did a little exploring and went down to the dock. The first thing to do during a free moment is get out on that clear water. Even with the wind making waves and clouds in the sky, I wanted to get out on that water.

As people were waking up and others were arriving, I was struck by the joy that each person seemed to feel every time someone would walk up or pull up in cars. It was heartening to witness people coming together and teasing each other and be genuinely pleased to see each other again. Gave you a sense that people got close over the length of this gathering. Eventually, the opening prayer was called in the pavilion.

Native people together have a certain sense of always living a way of belief, not preaching it nor pushing it. We started the weekend as a prayer and with Matt D. leading us, we started off a weekend of prayer in all that we did. Right after, we had a talking circle and connected up with each other through our stories, which were amazing and confidential.

Dinner was ribs, wow. Thought we'd get hot dogs on a stick, only hoping for a bun. The food for the weekend ended up being fantastic and was well appreciated by all of us. Then after a interlude which allowed Brian and I to grab kayaks and cross the lake. What a rush to be on rough waters and toiling to pull a little boat towards a point that seems a mile away. We got over and marveled at how beautiful it was.

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I was able to describe hearing a song while at Seattle Pride in Volunteer Park and the women singing were my family already on the other side telling me to hang on. My thing is, this was the third time I had felt this tingly certainty and it was another time that teachings were instilled in me from just living within my fully Native family (until Penguin and I had the mixed bloods, ayy!). The big difference with me is that I had this whole sexuality question to answer, and while I avoided it until my 16th year, I was able to find a place to be happy within an accepting family.

Getting into the van for the nine hour drive to Seeley Lake, Montana, I felt expectant, but there is no way to anticipate anything, since it's been a while since I've been to a Gathering and then it was mainly because I was teaching stickgame. The trip itself was fun because of my fellow passengers and the fact that I did not have to drive. We arrived at 5 AM Mountain Time (I love that designation, almost as much as Pacific Standard Time).

It was too dark to know how beautiful the place was, so I just claimed a couch and drifted off.

Betray Us aka Petraeus is a murderer, or is he simply the "muscle" behind Bushes tiny brain?

So I wake up and know immediately why I'm here when I see Raven and Kaleena already up and sitting at the breakfast table--the chance to turn a camera on and record my People.