| Am I Alone in This? Bill Bottrell in the January 2001 New Settler |
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made where people have their hands up in the air being counted, the headcount grows. . . . But lead to what? Where do you want to lead people's lives to? To a place, to a certain action, to a distinct awareness? Where are you leading? . . . BILL: It's a package, I think. It's not one issue. It's a group of issues that add up, basically, to a return to humanity: individual responsibility for one's self, community, localism, decentralization - dancing. And what we call "stokin'". What is stokin? BILL: It's said on a fortune cookie I got: "Constantly enjoying what life offers." Stokin' is just a word for believing in yourself. In a room of seven or eight people, someone will stand out and everyone's eyes will turn to them. |
Because they are not self-conscious, they believe in themself. They be. It's the opposite of the waiter, who is pronouncing and playing a role. People are increasingly playing a role because they have been bombarded by these roles in the media, and they have forgotten how to just stoke. Tell me of the night, or the day, or the morning, the dawn-where you were and what the weather was when you put together The Stokemen-your cabaret group persona. BILL:
It came together on a beautiful, summer, July 5th.
My friend Button's daughter, Manu was having a baby
and she called me up and said:
"I'm having it at your house."
- which was both very aggressive of her and very generous, because she
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