The Hun visited Hollis and here's what she says:

Okay, so Hollis isn't quite up to saying "hello" out loud: her talking phase only lasted a few days. But damn if she didn't laugh her ass off today! She looks great, and is progressing by leaps and bounds here in Tennessee. Kevin and Not-It made bad jokes at that girl until she laughed out loud--the first time she'd laughed aloud since her injury. We kept her laughing for hours with the help of kazoos, stories and DPW news.

Plus, today marked the first time she got completely vertical, with lots of help from the badass physical therapists here. Her right side is starting to move a little, and she's working hard to hold her head up. She can now answer yes/no questions by lifting her left arm for a yes answer. There is absolutely no doubt about it: Hollis is in there, and she's fighting hard to get her muscles back under control. The therapists say her background as a dancer is making a big difference.

Lots of work still to do, but the improvement since I saw her 5 months ago is absolutely astounding. We'll be dancing in the desert again in no time. We all left with a lot of joy and hope about her progress.

So anyway, Hollis is spending a lot of time listening to music these days. Her ipod is hooked up, and Diane puts it on random. You know what that means: SEND MUSIC! Anybody with good tunes that you think Hollis will like, make a little mix and send it down to Diane Allison, 600 Sue Dr., Antioch TN 37013. You can send presents, letters, donations, art and sock puppets there too... but music, comedy and audiobooks will really do the trick right now.

xo
Hun

WSMV TV news clip about Hollis

http://www.wsmv.com/video/20831362/index.html

Hollis is in Nashville now:

If you would like to visit her:
431 Larkin Springs Rd.
Madison Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center
Room 30.

Many people on the playa sent their best wishes to Hollis as she flew over our heads and the man burned. I will miss her, but am happy that she is finally in a stable place to start stage 3 of her recovery.

I love you Hollis, my wifey, and inspiration.
Thank you for introducing me to so many people when I was a young duckling in the bay area.
You were hiding in my shadow the whole time I traced the dusty earth of the playa.
Your personality unfolded ten times in each direction of the stinging wind.
It is no surprise that the burner community was the glue that held you together.
Everyone is at their best, most giving, and able to receive out there.
You have always been such a provider and collaborator. No wonder.
The playa crews are some of the most inspired and motivated givers I have met.
And you knew those are the people I need to be around.
You have no idea how many souls you have connected me with post-accident.
It has jumpstarted my creativity, a dark sludgy muck this year.
I hope you read this soon.
Thank you, Darling, and get to work.
We would like to see you out and about like a buzzing bee ruffling the petals of newly formed flowers.

Potential Departure Date: Sept. 5th

Talked to Diane today.
Tomorrow Hollis will get her Tracheotomy removed.
They will monitor her for 5 days.
Plans to leave are being confirmed for the 5th.
So soon.

I am leaving for Burning Man.
Through what has been facilitated through this website, I have been thanked for my efforts with a free ticket. I will go into the alkaline desert and give my cares to the wind, polishing my soul in the sandy sun. She would want me to go and it is her fault I am going in the first place. She was the one who introduced me to all those wacky kids with orange and red targets on their backs. DPWers have been my welcoming comittee to the bay area and now I get to see their homeland. OH boy.

I had this guilty fantasy of filming this one long shot of Hollis in her chair going down the hall to the elevator. There is a constant shoulder to shoulder smile from each of her friends on the way out.
Out the elevator there is the same two blockades of smiling people until she and Diane gets into the Ariport Transport.
Oh well, I will just have to imagine it.
Homecoming is a comforting thing.

The countdown is beginning..

The world turned a little and things are sorting themselves out.
This post is disjointed. Hopefully you get the idea of what I am saying.

Diane's Husband, Doug, will be here on saturday to celebrate his and her birthdays this weekend. **(Diane's birthday is Sept. 1st, so start shopping for that special something)** She is as wide eyed to see him as a done up teenager in front of the mirror for prom, waiting for the doorbell. It has been so long since their reality of "together." This should be a great weekend of comfort for Diane.
Then, as an earth shattering relief to Diane, a facility in Tennessee gave word yesterday that they have been accepted.

The timeline is not exact, but it will be approximately 2 weeks until their take-off.
The doctoral team will take out the traech tube and wait to see how happy she is for 5 days. Then she is off on phase three of this great journey.

So this weekend I get to fulfill my desire that has been postponed all year.
The desire to continue on our permanent sleepover posse formed by Hollis, Jamie Bond, and I in 2007. I already promised not to give Hollis any alcohol. Haha. I never would anyway , but it is a proper precaution. The other day I went and got a fresh coconut from the new stand on mission and 24th. Hollis was practically chugging this primordial liquid. She was able to tell us she wanted more by lifting her left hand. Communication progress!

For the first time this year, I will be able to take that place on the cot this weekend, letting Diane clock out for some well needed relaxation. For the next few weeks I can get closer to Hollis before she takes flight to the East. I am looking forward to it, but also am sad to see her leave, off into the great unknown. I know that we have all been putting in good work and
hopefully her next step is rapid and powerful.

When I walked into the room and was greeted with this information, Hollis was so happy. She was smiling big and bright. She is going home, moving from the St. Luke's view of ticky tacky houses on the hillside, to a new adventure. I told her to memorize this view, because it is about to change.

Thanks to our true and constant ally, change.

I snuck a peek..

Went in to see Hollis on Wednesday and she was pretty chill. Seemed to be thinking about something.
Then I saw a note on the bed in place of Diane. It was from Harrison with some good news.
Said he was talking silly stuff and got her to smile ear to ear.
While I did not see it myself, it was written in Harrison's writing, dated just a few moments before I arrived.

Thought you should know this visual.

Yin Yangin' it.

It's HAPPENING!!!

I will try to recount this tale as accurately as possible. I may mix up the order, but the details are what's important.

As you may have heard, Hollis spoke the words, "I love you, Mom." two days ago.
Everywhere I went people were telling me they heard the great news and started crying.
I was so amazed at how many people in my immediate day had connections to Hollis. I was also blown away by the quickness that spread by word of telephone. Mine was shut off, and within hours I was getting facebook messages and people in the streets already knew. Wow!?!

I had to see what all the commotion was about.

I go into the room and it is very bare. All the decorations have been sent home for her transition. But spirits are high and Karen and Diane are catching up.
I'll just get straight to the point.
I get up in her face, show her some photos J.Crush had brought, of us performing at the Roller Derby halftime. I described each scene and what part of the dance we were doing. Sometimes I would count it out the way we do at practice so she would know exactly where in the song the picture was taken. I showed her some of the new Derailleurs. I told her to notice how synchronized we were. The pictures were amazing! She took them in with intent curiosity.






























I told her about my life and my woes and what's going on in my life.
Then I got up in her face and went over circular breathing, through the nose and out the mouth. I told her about how the first breath fills the chest, the second down to the diaphragm, and the third one under the belly button. I lead her in some breathing exercises, telling her the benefits of increasing the lung capacity and expelling stored grief (Chinese med.). I told her to bring it to her crown and down into her toes. Down the leg that doesn't move especially. Her right knee twitched with awareness, her toes wiggled just a little. Not even imagining it. I told her I felt it and she did it again.
Then I asked her for a high five and her tense ol' right arm started moving, slowly, in abeyance! In place of the left one. Awesome.
I then proceeded to put pressure on her arm to bring it down to neutral. I let her know the muscles she was tensing and I asked her if it pinched and she said, "Yeah." then "I'm getting better." Yes. She said that! (omg) Diane's eyes bugged out of her head!

Then we got her arm down and I told her to relax it. She was moving her fingers and wrists. A few times of being interrupted with medicine, she tensed up again and I told her that she should relax her arm again. The second time she did it with barely any resistance.
I snuggled up on the bed and put her hands on my stomach to feel me inhale and see how it felt when I breathed into my stomach. Then I put her hands on her belly and showed her where to breathe. I felt her middle wiggle and the muscles contract. She was getting it. I told her about how good it feels to push oxygen into the dark corners of her body, makes it tingle, and she said, "uh huh." Diane and I had our heads right within ear range because shortly she was muttering very differently sounding things all in a row under her breath. We would exchange glances to see if each other got that, but we both mirrored each other. Ok, keep her on the line.
She quieted and Diane went to catch the last call for hospital food. I was talking to her, trying to tell her stuff she might respond to, curled up in her arms on the bed.
She started talking a bunch. Whole sentences. Couldn't get much. Diane came back. Bless her heart, moms can understand the language of their own, before anyone can decipher it. She spends so much time with her, they are intertwined.
I heard, "I don't know..." and her Diane so helpfully asked her, "Did you just say you don't know what happened?"
I then asked her if she remembers going to India and that she had a motorcycle accident. She repeated the word, "Motorcycle." I asked her if she remembers being afraid of the motorcycle before she went. She said, "Yeah."
Diane told her that she had been sleeping for 5 months. Shortly after she began to cry.
This was a new cry. A cry of congniscience and awareness of her situation. It was a deep, meaningful, relief cry. A "Tear-through-the-paper" cry. She was aware of the situation and she was letting the sad parts release into the atmosphere in a cold rip of reality. After she released, I told her about how in Craniosacral therapy, one of the ten signs of release is crying, called a somato-emotional response. I asked her if she remembered me telling her this when I came home from my weekend retreats, learning the stuff. She said, "Yeah." I told her about how that means she is getting better and things will be getting easier. To change the subject, I asked her if she might consider choreographing a marionette dance, relaying and releasing the feelings she had with the wires and tubes connected to her. She said, "yeah." Then I asked her what the first food she would eat will be. Ice cream, salad, coconut milk..." She started crying! I think she is so ready for some coconut water! (Fresh styles.) We let her expell the sadness of not being able to eat. Then assured her that there is so many good things to look forward to. We let her know that whenever she felt sadness, no matter who is in the room, she should let go of it. She started hackin up some mucous, and I told her that this was another one of the ten signs and that she is making more room in her lungs for happiness and expelling grief. She stared saying a few more things that we couldn't catch.
At this point it gets hazy because I am lost in space-time because of a dream I had and wrote about previosly. Time passes and I ask her politely to repeat what she said. Sometimes she would, sometimes she was on to something else.
She brought up the word "dream" in one of her sentences.
You know my ears perked up to that one. I told her that she has not only been communicating with me in dreams, but also more people than just me. She was into the subject. She repeated it again. I can't even imagine what she has been dreaming.

That reminds me:
If I you have had a dream with Hollis in it: WRITE IT UP!
I want her to have a log as well as I think it is a valuable medicine for her.
As well as a study of parapsychology.

Ok. It's late, I am missing out on some details.
I will fill in more when I remember them. I just thought you would want to know.
Thank you for caring and contiually showing your support for this woman who knows she has power deep inside and when she doesn't have any, she has us.

Bring it on home...

Hey everybody it's Harrison. So I know a lot of people have been asking me to write something and my silence may seem inappropriate to some. But now it is time for action so I can not stutter anymore. I've never been an internet person. No myspace or facebook, shudder at twitter and made fun of bloggers. Well boy was I dead wrong and seeing the value that the internet has had, in manifesting actual care and love, was astounding. I have tried to think of what to write just about every day... it plagues me. It drove me to a bad place for a while, well there were a lot of things that drove me there. As to be expected due to the reality of the situation upon our return. The whole time I was trying to stay strong for Hollis I was also crumbling and terribly sick with parasites I brought back. I lost 20 pounds and started generally being wretchedly unhealthy to myself all around. If a part of Hollis may have died, that remains to be seen. But I definitely felt partially dead. At the last minute I went to Venice with the 'Swimming Cities of Serenissima' boat project... there I found life again. I learned to genuinely smile and have fun, things I literally never thought I would do in full again. I have a list of thanks to those who went above and beyond to get us back and dive into Hollis's care and recovery ... and then to revive me. Soon, I want to actually write out and post on this blog and send letters and hugs and art and new found smiles to all who helped and pushed with all their might. The biggest thanks of all goes to Diane. There aren't many people in the world like Diane. I did learn a new found strength that I didn't know I possessed. None of that strength holds a candle to the strength that Diane has shown. That said it is time to get Diane home. There can not be two casualties from this one accident. I myself know that I nearly dodged a bullet and pulled myself out with the amazing help of my loved ones and it is time to show Diane, our loved one, that our hands are far reaching. Let's carry our wounded bird and her mother home to Nashville, Tennessee. What do we need to do to make this happen? All the momentum that was there when we were in India and just getting back is still pulsing in remission and I hope this call out gets passed around on the Facebooks and email lists etc. this is not a call to close this chapter of our lives and move on, we are with Hollis in person and our thoughts and hearts but Diane deserves the shattered remains of her life and love back. It's like a bomb was dropped on her life and it is time to rebuild and get her back to her husband who misses her immensely. This is all so intense and fucked up and the news isn't good and the light at the end of the tunnel is dim. I understand everyone wants updates but the truth is is that she has plateaued in a terrible place with some small steps forward and other steps back. Tragedy is a fact of life. What we have to do now is make the best of it. The best situation is for our beloved friend who is a tragic abbreviated version of herself to go back into her mothers arms and life adjusts. So let's make this happen as quickly and painlessly as possible. The doctors say the tracheotomy could be taken out if needed. We need to get doctors onboard and write and call Nashville politicians and agencies. We need to get her on TennCare and we need to find a caretaking facility that isn't going to let her choke to death on her own vomit. The money is there but we know that this is a long haul we are looking at. I told Diane that when the money runs out we will make more but the step by step of exactly how to get her home and where she will go and who will care for her are things that we need all of our hands on. Now. Start making phone calls, writing e-mails and researching. Producing the magical contacts that poured in when we were trying to get back to the states. St. Lukes has been amazing but Diane can not live in that hospital room anymore. We will see Hollis... she is in the center of the country and Diane has assured me that anyone can go visit her. I am personally trying to save a lot of my energy for when she is doing better and entering a more outward step of her healing, as opposed to the more internal healing that she needs to do right now. I am by no means leaving her side for any of it. I can not begin to explain to you what it is like for me to see a person that I love so much in the state she is in. I'm there, I'm visiting, but it hurts far more than is sustainable and healthy to spend as much time as I thought I would. My update is simple... I'm okay now, Hollis isn't, neither is Diane and we need to get them home. The thought of Hollis going back to Tennessee away from her friends and community that she has built for herself as an artist, lover and a fighter, was once too painful to even mention. Then my second day in Italy, during some deep crying screaming fit therapy with some of my dearest friends on this planet, I realized that she has to go home and it's okay. It doesn't mean I did a bad job, we did the best we could possibly do but her mother needs to start to live again. Sorry for the harsh tone of this post but it reflect the harshness and the reality of the situation.
Love you guys. -Harrison

Sassy

The three Derailleurs show up to Hollis' room and she's calmer than usual.
Her neck is straighter, not drooping down, but the first semblance of upright I have seen yet.
We say hello and start showing her other bike dance teams' videos on YouTube. She watches them all, very intent. We talk about moves that have been recycled and the politics of making up dances in a new genre of movement.
Hollis remembered the high five as soon as I got up on her bed. It was great. Then I showed her some of my drawings in a sketchbook. I showed her some of the drawings we had made together when we lived at the Willow street house. I busted out a pink highlighter and put it in her right hand. This is the hand that is curled to her body. She had no problem holding it. She wouldn't look at the page though. I tried waving my fingers to draw her down to it, but it seemed like she was hesitant. We moved the pen along the blank paper, my hand guiding hers. She would move her hand ever so slightly, decimeters at a time. I decided to try the left hand. The one that has had it's fingers extended for a week now. The day before we were working on "grabbing" and I asked her if she remembered that lesson yesterday. The back of her hand is very sensitive. Whenever I touch that area, her hand jumps. It takes a minute to show her the mechanics of wrapping her fingers around the pen. She holds it for a minute and we draw. The left side has larger movements. She moved the pen around in centimeters on this side. We didn't play for very long because she wouldn't look at the paper. She seemed to get tired when it got hard. I think she was also hesitant because of the amount of people in the room, staring hopefully at the page, expecting a miracle. She dozed off purposefully and we started gathering our things. She had been very quiet the whole visit. When she would utter sounds, her voice sounded hoarse. I guess earlier that day she had been pretty talkative.
Her mother said that while she was getting her nurse attention that morning, her right leg started to kick about. This was perhaps the first time this had happened since they were giving her ritalin. This is a sign of her bi-lateral symmetry working itself out. Yay!

We said goodbye, and I stuck my head in her face and gave her a huge smile. It's a genuine smile because I see her brainy icecaps melting. Coming out of an ice age. I see she is more and more herself and her old sassy attitude was apparent in the scowl she was matching with my grin. We stared at each other, our yin-yang expressions, in a facial battle. After a moment, I copied the look she was giving me, being her mirror. She instantly shut her eyes.
"Oh BUSTED!" I say. "Girl, I am just being your mirror and it looks like you don't like the way you are staring at me. Can't handle the taste of your own medicine, eh?"
I told her that they haven't outlawed smiling yet, and that is something she should work on. "I want to see a smile on our face next time I visit. And I want you to start saying 'wifey'. I am not going to give up, babe." I had a feeling she was feigning tired when we all came into the room, and the slamming shut of her eyes when she saw something she didn't like solidified it. I called her out on it. That sassy girl knows more than she lets on.
I have been spending quite a bit of time with her this week because she might be leaving us soon to go back home to Nashville. Her mother deserves to be in her husband's arms again, resume her life after this tragedy, reconnect with her strong southern support network.

I feel like I have a lot of work to do with her before she leaves. I have some guilt for not being there every week, sometimes not coming for a few weeks. I have to keep doing exercises and activities so I can see for myself what a little involvement will yield. It looks like the high fives have stuck. Now on to singing, dancing, and drawing. Ron Turner, one of the thousands of amazing beneficiaries and also the sponsor of sending her stuff to Nashville, related to me the tale of his friend with a brain injury. He said that while they have a hard time talking, singing is easier. The tones are set and in the subconscious and easier to release than pure expression. It's a maze in there and whatever you can coax out will help show the exit. It reminds me of the first few weeks after she awoke that I was singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and she was matching my tones, awkwardly mumbling, finding the notes. In those chaotic times, my singing to her seemed to speak to her more clearly than my sentences.
I wonder about the perfect song.

Hollis and High-5's

Yesterday I went in to say hello to Hollis and we worked on high fives for a while.
It's slow reaction, but she does raise her left hand for the magic of the palm slap. One time she really gave it her all with some force.
This is a great sign and one that can hopefully turn into communication. She understands what I say and responds. We still don't have the "yes" "no" communications, but this is a good step.

After the high5's I gave her a dancing lesson on proper body mechanics. We held both hands wide and danced a bit to some music. I introduced her two hands to themselves and told her about bi-lateral symmetry and advised her to work on her right hands range of motion.
It was truly fun.
I am on my way to the hospital right now with some Derailleurs for a drawing experiment.

Hollis is doing it!

Hello everyone,
Thanks for continually keeping tabs on our lady Hollis.
As per my last visit, just a week or two after this last post, I see her improving quite nicely.
When I entered the room, she was in her chair and her head was not all droopy. Her head was upright and her eyes looking to the right. Her eyes kept that position the whole time. She will usually move her eyes around for me, looking at me, etc. But she was concentrating. It was like she was in a trance. And that trance was the determination to speak. She would repeat her words over and over again, not satisfied by the poor deliveries. She would try to say a sentence, get a few words into it, and purse her lips with a mmmmm sound. Then try again.
A few of the things I thought she was saying was:
"I want to go home"
"I want my mom"
"Elizmmmm" I really feel like she was mouthing my name but didn't quite understand the "z" sound yet.
She is determined.
I had a few dreams about her in the last few weeks where she was talking and I was surprised and she was like, " Did you think I would forget how to speak?" all sassy like.

This is great. I was talking to an old friend and he has seen many brain injuries. He wanted to clarify that she should definitely be read to but to keep it fairly simple. Not simpleton, just not Tolstoy etc. He said everything is all jumbled up in there and the clearer the material, the easier it is to make a cognitive map.

And now on to the storage thing.

First of all, I would like to apologize because I didn't super proofread the previous post before I posted it. My computer broke, so I am not online all the time, and I felt like I owed you all an update while I was at a computer. I misscommunicated or even created unintentionally this "heating up" of the storage debate.
I feel like it is my intention to relay what is going on with Hollis to her support network and in the process I hurt Diane's feelings. This is the last thing I want to do.
The reason I said there was a debate at all is because there was. I am a middlewoman and I needed to get more input so I knew how to deal with the upset that came when I said I would open up the storage unit at all.
Diane isn't an evil caretaker, wanting to sell off all her belongings. She is the most sturdy and dedicated woman. She is amazing and I have SO much respect for her. She wants to send the important stuff home for Hollis to be around and use when she is able. She also needs to tie up loose ends and cut unnecessary spending.

I posted the wrong wording. I made it look like two sides are fighting, but we are all working together, and sometimes ideals differ. Hollis put me as a person who could get into her storage unit before all this happened. I agree we should keep her things together so she has memory capsules to peruse. I also agree that paying the rent on her storage unit could be unnecessary or burdensome. I have some of her belongingsin my room from before she left because we were sharing a room. I need to put those in her storage unit. In doing so, I will also assess the situation. I will not snoop or toss or sell any of her things. Just see what that room holds.

In conclusion, I don't need anyone to "weigh in" on the debate anymore. It is not a debate, and the consensus among us all is that Hollis' belongings are for her and they are safe.

I apologize to Diane and the rest of you for this unnecessary drama.

New Info on Hollis:

Hello hello,
It has been quite a month of not updating this website. Sorry to keep you all out of the loop. It has been a time for me to get back on with my own life. If you are interested in the daily medical updates, her mother, Diane, keeps the family blog helpholligethome.blogspot.com frequently updated while she waits patiently in the hospital room.

Now on to the good news.
As we know with brain injuries, these things take time. Constant updates would be quite boring but over the long span of things, the progress is amazing.
The last couple weeks have been showing great leaps.
It started with her sipping liquid with a spoon. The first thing that someone fed her was a sip of Framboise, one of her most favored liquids.
Then a few days later she was slurping up some applesauce.
This is a great thing because each time I go I remind her that if she can start swallowing and eating, she can get the tracheotomy out.
One less string attached to the hospital should improve her mental environment.
Previously, her right arm had been extremely tight and curled to her body. This trauma position has been something the visitors have been trying to work on, relaxing her arm. In the past few weeks this arm has been much more relaxed. Her left arm has been feeling her right arm, as if she is aware that it is misbehaving. This left arm also explores your hands and her traech tube. It shows her awareness is sharpening.

As I get more used to visiting Hollis in the state she is in, I have learned a few things on how to talk to her even better than before. I felt in the first few months that when I went to see her I just tried to pour out all of my energy to her, coaxing her through a dark tunnel into the light. This always resulted in the feeling of incredible gravity after the visit. It took quite a while to get back to normal. Well, a couple of weeks ago we had a multiple person craniosacral therapy session, and one of the therapists talked to me about it later. She advised me not to give her too much. She said that I should maintain a normal relationship and see if I can reach her through the subconscious. It is along the same lines of not babying her. Talk to her like you would last year. If you know her, you know how headstrong she is and that baby talk pisses her off. I really tried not to talk to her that way, but there was a certain patronizing tone, a tone of hope. I went in later in the week and sat by her side in her chair, peeking my head under her droopy head and told her everything about what is going on outside her window. Her head doesn't really stay up on her own for very long, but her eyes will look at you and she will respond to your stories. She communicates when she understands a story and it makes her remember. This visit she was smiling and clearing her mouth. Swallowing her saliva. This is a great sign. I feel like she is close to forming words.

One of my visits, I grabbed an In Touch Magazine and sat in her bed and read out loud to her. She was checking out all the pictures and kept her attention the whole time. I think she really liked it. I brought in the cover of the Guardian that The Derailleurs were featured. She started crying. She is there. Our job is to keep her updated on the outside world.

Speaking of outside world, her mother's plans for her is to take her to Tennessee when she is able to have homecare. There is a debate now on what to do with the stuff in her storage unit. Her mother would like to have a big garage sale and her close friends would like to chain themselves to the storage unit. It is heating up. This is the official opening of the forum on this topic. Talk amongst yourselves and send a representative with your argument.

In conclusion, bring intellectually stimulating media, conversations of the outside world, and talk to her as if she can respond to you, like you were hanging out. Get over your sadness and despair because yours couldn't possibly match her own.

News on the Austin Fundraiser:

From Face of DPW:

Austin has postponed Hollis' Fundraiser until after Burning Flipside.
But we can still make her some dough.
It's online raffle time!
The prize: 1 ticket to Flipside
Raffle tickets are $5 a piece.
No one person can spend more than $80 on raffle tickets.
Please honor this.
I will be collecting money through my paypal account.
FacetiousTexan@gmail.com
I will close the raffle next Saturday night at midnight.
Anne Bonny and I will doll out each raffle ticket according to how much money you spend (paypal will notify me each time someone adds money) and put it in a bucket.
We just love buckets.
The next day during DaFT at the Flipside Warehouse we will draw the name for the ticket.
I will announce online who the winner is.
100% of the money for this raffle is going to Hollis Hawthorne.
http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com
Please repost everywhere.
I want to make Hollis as much money as possible, and there's only a week to pull this off.
Thanks guys, and good luck!
Love,
Face

Momentum Magazine blurb reguarding Hollis:

Momentum Magazine is a very fabulous publication and has done a follow up story on Hollis' situation.
Here is the Link:
http://www.momentumplanet.com/love-new-black

You thought I forgot:

I promised the new total a week ago.
Well, ARE YOU CURIOUS?
drumroll.......
....................
................

Friends of Hollis has brought in:
$109,243
Help Holli Get Home has brought in:
$30,306

That makes the total money raised:
$139,549
just $60,000 shy of our $200,000 goal.
That's pretty darn good it you ask me.

A new total:

I received an email yesterday asking for the new total.
I apologize to everyone for not keeping up with the tally marks.
The donation station was flying off the hook for three solid weeks.
At the same time as we reached $100,000, Hollis arrived safe in our arms. Shortly after that there have been many benefits all over the place, and the job here at Friends of Hollis moved from behind the screen to hand in hand. The pay pal went from 7 donations every ten minutes to a few a day, steadily rolling in. I know that the first three weeks were so amazing because your eyes just lit up every time you checked in and found that the money coming in had doubled, then tripled. It seems like a let down if it isn't in the thousands. But that is incorrect thinking.
Every donation counts and each cent is a vote for Hollis to reach health.

Today I am getting ready for The Cougar Run where The Derailleurs are performing.
check it out here:
http://agentchaosproductions.blogspot.com/2009/04/cougar-run-today.html

Then I will track down a new total for you all.
It's on the way.

New York benefit on May1st:

May Day Masquerade!!!
A Benefit for Hollis Hawthorne & Pre-Shpongle Extravaganza..

Friday May 1st in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Featuring Live Performances By:

Disco Monkeys &
Your Boyfriend's Band Sucks!

Psytrance, Dub, Electro, Tech House & Drum n' Bass DJs:

Liquid Kids (DJ Zola Vs. Drift Dodgers) http://www.myspace.com/driftdodgers
DJ HiFONIX (NYCRAVERS) http://www.myspace.com/djhifonix
Higher Nebulae http://www.jambase.com/Artists/61054/Higher-Nebulae
DJ Stress (2Tuff, Alteration)
Todd Fatjo (Jack Productions, Dealin' Records) http://www.myspace.com/JackProductions
Morgan Stoner (Funky Communication, Team Ewok)
DJ Atom C (NYCRAVERS) http://www.djatomc.com
Reverend Dr. Shamus (PsySystem/Kostume Kult)

Live Art Performances, Canvas & Bodypainting provided by ART BATTLES! (ArtBattles.com)

OPEN BAR, ALL BEER & LIQUOR 11 - 12!

Bodypainted Dancers, Poi Spinners, Giveaways and much more!

We have a great 1000-person capacity space with a balcony, separate bar with seating and VIP room!


The party also has a greater meaning, it is a benefit for Hollis Hawthorne. Hollis is an incredible, innovative artist, dancer and Burning Man worker who was hit by a bus on February 28th while riding a motorbike in India. She has been in a coma ever since, and her friends and the Burning Man community have raised over $100,000 to transport her back to the states and for medical expenses.

She seems to be improving slowly and is opening her eyes, responding to stimuli, making verbal noises and moving fingers and toes on command. She is currently at St. Luke's hospital in San Francisco and the goal is to raise $200,000 for her complete rehabilitation and care. All proceeds from the event will go toward this fund.

The story has completely captivated us as we've learned of the beauty of this person and about the incredible response from her friends and the entire tribe. It is a moving testament to this great woman and the huge, powerful family that she is a part of.

http://theliquidkids.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/the-liquid-kids-presentpre-shpongle-underground-warehouse-partyburner-benefit-for-hollis/

Acupuncture Wednesday

Hollis will be treated at 6pm wed. so please refrain from visiting.

Austin Benefit postponed due to inclimate weather:

From one of the organizers of the Austin Hollis Benefit:

Hi kids,
I am sad to say, the benefit for Hollis needs to be postponed.
Between the torrential thunder and lightening storms AND tornado warnings, it's just too dangerous.
In addition, last night, the community lost a friend.
Caleb "Shooter" Schaber took his last call.
Damn near everyone involved with the benefit for Hollis is now in mourning.
Hollis' bills aren't going anywhere.
We will announce the rescheduled date as soon as we have it.
Thanks for being understanding, gang.

Acupuncture on saturday.

Saturday for a couple hours Hollis will be getting acupuncture.
Starting at 3:30, Hollis will not be accepting visitors until 6pm.

She is becoming more and more aware. She seems to be more present. Her eyes are opening together and wide when I walk in. Her noises are getting more expressive. She had been kicking her legs, especially her left one. The doctors have been using this table that they strap her to that slowly stands up, so she can get used to the feeling of gravity under her feet.
I think about how it seems like it is taking so long for her, and how things are still in such shambles of Hollis' former self. Then I think about how each week progress builds and builds and is just a very slow process. I think about the first time I saw her compared to the last time and there have been incredible steps taken. I must be patient and consistent. Breath and wait.

From Face:

We got a Burning Man ticket to raffle!
So that's one ticket to Flipside, and one ticket to Burning Man for Hollis' fundraiser Saturday in ATX!

Austin Benefit: the flier!

This Saturday:





April 18th Austin Texas:
early eavning till late
@ the burning flipside wherehouse off of springdale and airport in east austin
featuring:
THAT Damned Band
GutBunny Revival
Black Label Bike Club will have their freak bikes, tall bike jousting, chicken shit kino, and freak bike rides for donation
face camp will be set up for chillin out in
there will be a raffle with many awesome prizes
a possible dance troop
wrapped up with a movie night featuring "The Jerk"

ANY performers are welcome to come and show their stuff, just email Anne Bonny: chickenmcfetus@gmail.com
(looking for musical and circus performers, other ideas welcome of course)

Tonight! Lost Vegas @ Cellspace

Lo$t Vegas is a benefit for the Swimming Cities of Serenissima
2050 Bryant @ 19th
9pm dress to the nines$

Lineup:
Mark Growden, Mongolounge, The Cheese Puffs (Hollis co-founded this dance team), Otto Von Danger, Tango #9, Wink and Yoni, Freaktronic, Sparkle Motion, and trapeze by Miriam Telles.

The games this year:

Cockroach Racing, Quantum Dating Game, Poke-her, Human Wheel of Death, Rat Roulette, Craps And much much more!!!!!!

FOR LOTS MORE INFO:

http://chickenjohn.wordpress.com/

Hollis Update:

Tonight Hollis is getting acupuncture, so there will be NO visitors after 6pm.

Yay!

ps.
Come to Lost Vegas tomorrow!

And now for something different: Lost Vegas

If you didn't know, Harrison was going to go to Slovenia after India to work on a artboat project before Hollis' accident occurred. The project is called the The Swimming Cities of Serenissima. It is headed up by the world renown artist Swoon and also Chicken John. Many of our bay area friends are going to meet up with the project to build it and sail it down to Venice. The goal is to do shows along the way, and end at the Venice Beinalle, and crash the party.
Harrison chose to drop the next six months of his international artstar life to stick by Hollis' side and see her through the fog. (clapclapclap)



Last week the funding was severely cut right as they secured a spot to build in eastern Europe.
This Saturday there is benefit at Cell Space called LOST VEGAS.
This occasion calls for high heels and sequins.
You can bet on cockroach racing or rat roulette.
Watch Hollis' dance team and showgirls extraordinaire, The Cheese Puffs.
See Otto Von Danger jump the Ramp of Death.
Listen to the soothing sounds of the Devo lounge cover band, Mongolounge.
Mark Growden was just added to the bill.
Get married in the chapel.
Throw pies at Chicken John.
Sounds fun, eh?

Here are pictures of the last few Lost Vegas events:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayndrahps/sets/72157600332910955/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/sets/72057594107873149/
check it out on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=99983607432&ref=nf

New protocol for visiting Hollis:

Hollis had a sputum culture and she still has a lung bug from India. ( I forgot the name.)
The bug is really resistant to antibiotics, and while visiting her, you don't want to catch it. Visitors are asked to wear gloves and a mask while touching her to prevent catching it themselves. It's up to you to prevent yourself from getting it. Bummer, huh?

A video tour of the Cirkus Carnival:

Karen sent this to me. It was good to see the layout because I couldn't make it.

I walked in on saturday...

And there were a bunch of balloons on the wall and Hollis' was holding one in her sleeping hand. And then I noticed she had clown make up. It was actually pretty cute. When she woke up I asked her who did that to her and showed her in the mirror.
Then I found a picture on facebook.
Robin Hood, you are caught red handed!

Hollis Update:

Yesterday Hollis received her first small dose of Ritalin, an agent used to try and wake her up. It might work in a few days or instantly or not at all. There is still some residual blood in her head from the accident, but when that clears, she should see a rapid improvement.
The medicine so far has seemed to make her miserable and she has a fever. Best of wishes to Hollis and this terrible state she is going through.
Thanks for checking in.

We Need Paparazi:

A camera for the room so we can document everyone coming to visit Hollis, and especially their gifts they bring and more especially their outfits. Upload them for safe keeping. Diane will have a computer from her husband in a week.

Shout out:

I want to thank the two members of Dark Dark Dark who visiting Hollis on Tuesday and playing her some peaceful music. By you creating those mellifluous vibrations in the room, her soul is filling out her body. Her mind is expanding back from of the convoluted space she has been in.

Franny's Raffle was a success!!

Last night they called the winners of the month long raffle held by Franny Corsick.

Grand total with Hollis's Raffle earnings is $2,230.00!!!!!!!

This will be a nice padded cushion for Hollis' long recovery back to rockstar status.
Thank you Franny and all of the amazing retailers and artisans who donated their services.
With a list of prizes that long, no wonder it was such a success!

Not to be outdone:

Hearing about all the cities who are putting on fundraisers, Seattle got miffed that they didn't join the cause and so they are not only doing one benefit, but two!
A lady named Heather Miles is putting the two together. They are planning a small bar event in May, and a very large, outdoor, full-day circus/concert event + raffle in June.
If you live in Seattle, search this woman out and join up on the team. In a recession, there are a bunch of people with idle time on their hands. Let's put those hands to work.
Heatherly is looking for a venue at the moment.
to contact her:

windspryte2000@yahoo.com

And on the tip of fundraisers, we are not out of the woods of wonderfulness yet!
We have many still coming up. Here is a schedule:

April 4th Western Kentucky University:
Healing Hollis- A night of Comedy, Dance, and live music.
@ Russell Miller Theater
7pm Silent Auction starts
8pm show starts

April 18th Austin Texas:
early eavning till late
@ the burning flipside wherehouse off of springdale and airport in east austin
featuring:
THAT Damned Band
GutBunny Revival
Black Label Bike Club will have their freak bikes, tall bike jousting, chicken shit kino, and freak bike rides for donation
face camp will be set up for chillin out in
there will be a raffle with many awesome prizes
a possible dance troop
wrapped up with a movie night featuring "The Jerk"

ANY performers are welcome to come and show their stuff, just email Anne Bonny: chickenmcfetus@gmail.com
(looking for musical and circus performers, other ideas welcome of course)
everything will be on donation and there will be info on hollis' story for anyone to check out.

May 1st, New York City:
I just received word today that two birthday folks are throwing a huge warehouse party and wanted to turn it into a benefit for Hollis. They heard about her inspiring message and want to help her out on this slow recovery. Isn't that so sweet you get a cavity?
Anyways, Caeli Higgins got in touch with me and told me that she is throwing an event in a warehouse that can hold 1,000 people and she wants to yell it from the rooftops.
If you want to link up with actions going on in New York, or if you are and artist/dj/performer/painted lady, get in touch with her.

caeli426@yahoo.com
The facebook event is:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104929320328


ps: Oakland, I want some words, a story chronicling the benefit last Saturday. The Giant Get Well Soon Card looks amazing in Hollis room.

Reminder of Excitement!

Tonight Franny will reveal the winners of the raffle:

Raffle night 7:30pm - 9:00 The Bus Stop Gallery 135 Dore off Folsom between 9th and 10th.

If you don't remember the prizes:
http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/2009/03/tuesday-is-raffle-day-at-amnesia.html

I bought two so I could win the Burning Man ticket (I have never been) and the Hot Air Baloon Ride. cross your fingers. I am crossing my toes. If you can't make it, hopefully you filled out the back so she can get in touch with you for your prize.

Check in from Canada:

From Ottawa, Canada about Sunday's Event:

pARTicipants included The Latest Artists, who installed video projections and a modular light sculpture, music by Travino, performers from the Ottawa bellydance and psytrance communities, Burners from Ottawa & Montreal, including one of the Montreal Regional Reps, and many friends of all those pARTicipating came out to enjoy the evening. We extend many thanks to all performers and those who came to support the event and our silent auction and most notably extend thanks and gratitude to The Mercury Lounge, whose generous donation of their venue made the event possible! With about 75 participants, we raised about $800 (CAD) and still some proceeds are rolling in from the Silent Auction, which included music, arts, and crafts created by local burners and dancers. Given that many of those pARTicipating had never met Hollis, nor even thought of attending Burning Man, it speaks to the unity of the artistic community during times of crises, and the generosity of the many souls touched by Hollis and her family. On behalf of our community I'd like to extend prayers for good health and well being for Hollis, Harrison, Diane, and her family.

much love,

Leslie / Ocean
(disorient & DPW)



Pictures:
http://www.pbase.com/hsandler/mercury

Hollis update:

Hey team.
First off, thanks for being there for Hollis.
Everyone who has been at the hospital. Giving her smells, telling her dreams, and holding her hands. You have been integral doing something good for her.
She has been moved to the 8th flooor.
Room 835.
We are starting to organize a few things and I want you to be in on it.
1. We are looking for dream stories. We want to start a database of dreams that Hollis has been featured. If nothing else she could benefit from her scope of influence she has had on everyone. I think it would be very interesting for her to realize her time frame as well.
2. We want to set up a schedule of acupuncture, reiki, and massage for her and fill in the slots. Hopefully we can fill in the schedule so we don't have to wait for her physical therapy while we are trying to have good one on one time with her. What I mean is set up a schedule for yor visiting needs.
Speaking of...
Hey, remember that guy who had the acupuncturist who wanted to work on her? Let's get them together. We are looking for acupuncture four to seven days a week. We need to find a team who would be able to sign up for that for a month. We will pay. It's necessary.
3. She's doing good.
I will give the full update later, but I will do that when I have more time in front of the computer.
4. Seriously, thank you.

THis Sunday in Ottawa, ON, Canada:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=67383917128&ref=ts


The details:
Shakti fusion presents: pARTicipate!
A Benefit for Hollis Hawthorne
Sunday, March 29th
7-10 at The Mercury Lounge, 56 Byward

Performers: Leslie, Shakti fusion bellydance, Francesca (Rockalily Burlesque) Dani LeBlanc, Safiya, Halyma, Joshua Tacoma, Vera Sagram, Zamira, Justin Barca, John Lloyd, Dollhouse Dance Co, and more to come!

Visuals by: The Latest Artists (AO & Deborah O'Malley)

Today in Oakland:

Circus Carnival Benefit for Hollis Hawthorne
Saturday afternoon March 28th from 2-7pm
at 5th st and Harrison near Lake Merrit Bart and 980 Jackson st exit

Family friendly event so bring those youngsters!

Carnival games including pie throwing, whack a mole, ring toss, ball toss, face painting, balloon animals and more.

Live performances!
BBQ and food (veggie things too!) Creme Brulee!
and a Raffle!!!
prizes include:
* a sailing trip for two
* a bike tune up
* Yoga classes

Thank You Friends:

You make this whole hard thing easier. Thanks for reading and giving encouragement.

Cirkus Carnival Saturday:

Slim Chance, Kristen, and Goatman Dan have put together a wonderful event on saturday.
It will be kid friendly with a Cyclecide Carnival Ride, games, raffles, and great food.
Games for knocking things over. Pie throwing. Musical amusement. Performances. ClownS not Bombs. Luke on the grill.
Saturday March 28th
2-7pm downtown Oakland
5th street and Harrison.
See you there!

GoTeam Hollis!

Be a Mission Welcoming Committee.

St. Luke's
3555 Cesar Chavez St. (@ Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 467-9808
10th Floor
Room 1037
They are not strict about visiting.
You should see the view of Bernal Hill!

My account of yesterday:

This is my biased account of yesterday's happenings. I encourage other stories to post up, give the readers a picture behind this internet tale.
It was beautiful and I'll tell you why...

Four days ago I had a dream that I was in Hollis' room and I was talking to her and she was on her side and she answered something, so I kept her talking. I pretended that I hadn't noticed anything different, to keep her working on that plane to get accustomed. Inside I was so joyous that she had spoken. Oh I couldn't contain it! I would spring it on her after a while and tell her that she had just done something marvelous.

The night before visiting her, I had a dream where we were hiking/skipping through the lush green woods. We were very happy and the sun lit up our smiles.
We found a large patch of yellow flowers and lay down. We told secrets to each other and sang loud into the wide open.
I woke with this Bright Eyes song stuck in my head. The epic one, "Does she kiss your eyelids in the morning when you start to raise your head..." It wouldn't stop repeating, so I vowed to sing it to her.


It was about 2:45 pm yesterday. DATino, Party Radar and I walk into the room and she is getting her physical therapy. She is out of the boots and mittens they put her in; the boots that keep her joints from hyper extending or stretching out too much. She was getting heel stretches and the nurse showed us how to do them, so we could actively help her recover. The more it happens, the better she'll feel. They had recently put a vibrating piece into her trach so she could make noises, and when they turned her on her side, she started hummming. I was having dejavu, and so stoked about it! I told her about the dream right then and there. Told her that we had communicated on that level and that she should still try to contact me, because I am listening. I started singing that Bright Eyes song to her. I asked her if she recognized it and she squeezed my hand and hmmmmed. It felt like that "It's so beautiful, I have to cry" moments. There were a lot of those in the room. I didn't cry, but we encouraged her to let it go loud and proud.
Diane was there and looking very sturdy. She had her little roll bed set up with reading material and a bag of cookies in the corner. Cards and books and pictures of Derailleurs performances were all over the room. Diane is an amazing woman who is getting to know our culture through her daughter, and is ushering her through this whole process. We need to honor and pamper her. And Harrison. Give these people massage! But I digress.

We took our posts beside the bed. It looked like she wanted to sit up, so Diane showed us how to raise her a bit. She kept on hmmming for a while. We rolled down the side guards and grabbed her hands and started giving her some muscle massage. The nurse left the boots off for us to work on her. She was very vocal. She was opening her eyes, focusing on each person. Her left eye needs more calibration and strength. I kept reminding her to focus on that one, apologizing for telling her what to do, but I was toughening her up for the world.
While she was holding my hand, I suggested a thumb war. 1,2,3,4..I declare a thumb war.
She was caressing my thumb, moving it around. Then she pinned me. Light at first but got really hard. I was so upset. I haven't lost a thumb war yet so I called a rematch best 2 out of three. I managed to pin her down, so we needed a tie breaker. Shazzam she got me. Her eyes were looking at it, hmmming.
Then Donna, Mel, Shannon, and Nissa arrived. We showed them the thumb war action. It was a great moment of support when they all walked in. The whole bed was surrounded and we all were touching her, moving her legs, stretching her Achilles, massaging her muscles. Some of the times she was holding on to my arm so hard it seemed as though she was trying to pull herself up. She just recently had a feeding tube surgery, making it come out of her stomach, so I am sure it made sitting up a discomfort. But she sure wanted to. Her left hand was weaker as well, but as I reminded her to use that one and squeeze more with it, her grip got much tighter and controlled. They were synchronizing more near the end when she was making a point of expressing how crazy and beautiful it was. Sporadically she was having muscle spasms down her i.t. band and quadriceps. I'm sure her hips are tight from all that has happened. When they would come, we would stick our thumbs in that hollow where the hips and sacrum meet and it seemed to calm them. Her guests did some leg and hip rotations and she seemed to be aiding them. She would move her toes and legs a bit, all while Hmmming.
We started an Om moment or two. One time I was right up by her side, and she was matching my breaths and we harmonized for a few magical moments. Oh! She's coming back!
Harrison called me while we were there, and I put him on speaker phone to hear Hollis hollering. He was amazed, and let her know that he was on his way down. He showed up with Patrick and it was a huge gathering. We were all surrounding her and letting her know it's okay to be mad at the situation and be embarrassed to be in this state, but the worst is behind her. The more she recognizes how crappy the situation was, the more she can get better. It's a catch-22. She squeezed my hand and started crying. We encouraged her to let it all out because that would give more space for all the love that she has surrounding her. We told her to take her time because we love her unconditionally and we are patient. And we'll be here as long as she needs us. She was so mad about not being able to be in her body. She is fighting and she is making great progress! And she is processing some of the emotions that have been locked up in another realm.

Well, enough of my story, go over there and visit her. Be a Mission welcoming committee. Find your own stories. Send them to me.
St. Luke's
3555 Cesar Chavez St. (@ Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94110
10th Floor
Room 1037
They are not strict about visiting.
You should see the view of Bernal Hill!

Today:

Stanford donated the ambulance escort to St. Lukes today.
Hollis is slated for a noon departure.
I will post as soon as I know what room she is in.

It's all fly by the pants:

I am glad to inform you that Hollis will be moved to the heart of the Mission, St. Lukes.
She is being moved today, wed. march 24th and will be excited to see each and every one of you in her hood. I will attest to her incredible state now from a group effort and the ability of greatness in the future.
She is leaving Stanford because she is not in need of state-of-the-art care, more rehabilitation. St. Lukes has been kind enough to offer a rehabilitation program free of charge while we work on getting her medi-cal (a process that takes a few to six months.) As soon as I sleep off my celebratory experience I will detail the AMAZING time we had with her today.
I am processing and figuring out words.
Just know you are on the verge of some excitement!
Visiting hours begin most likely thursday morning.
So everyone planning to visit her this week still should, it will just be a heck of a lot closer for your convenience.
Trust me I will post it AS SOON AS SHE IS TRANSFERRED!

Catching signals that sound in the dark...

                I am so inspired by all of you.  I am in some sort of dark and damp maze and the air inside is like that out of a growling dog’s breath.  I keep on running into walls and hitting my head. Feeling disenchanted I sit down and let the moss start to cover me. Suddenly thousands of hands reach down and pull me up and turn me around give me a torch and point me in the right direction.  They are doing the same for Hollis.  As voices calling to her down the long echoing hallways and winding synapses of her brain as she is spinning in search of a way out of the maze. Somewhere in there it is working and she is getting closer to the exit and faintly calling back to us over the walls.

                I haven’t written anything for this website in many days and the reasons are numerous.  Mostly I was focusing and it took every ounce I had to coordinate the flight back and make it actually happen. Then I got back and I guess I am experiencing culture shock or I’ve got ‘feeling really crazy all the time syndrome’ or at least feeling too intense for ‘blogging’.  I was however writing and I guess I can post the things I was writing on the message board or something, if people still want to hear about my perspective on her progress (even if it’s somewhat outdated at this point).  That said let’s shift the focus back to Hollis.

                 So the story I want to relay is meant to make you jump.  To make you jump out of your seat and run to your bike or car or to get on that train, both metaphorically and literally. She needs you, to be invested.  It has been one month since her accident and you should come see her now. You should come see how much better she is and you should keep coming back and see how much better she will be and understand it first hand.  Sure we all read a lot of really cool things on the internet and sure we’ve all seen little miracles that bring us to tears but you should know that they are happening in Stanford Medical round the clock. 

      She hasn’t had the overwhelming amount of visitors I had thought she would.  The few groups of visitors she has had have been amazing.  Amazing for her as well as for her mom, who can’t stop raving about how nice all of  Holli’s friends are.  The first time she had a group of friends around her she used her voice for the first time since the second day after her accident, when she was making choking/screaming noises.  I could hardly believe it and I can’t describe to you what it feels like to hear someone make even the slightest sound after a part of you thought you might never hear a peep ever again.  Something about it squelched the post accident sounds in my head and replaced them with expectancy for actual speech.

      Two nights later, the next time she had a group of visitors was amazing.  She was the most responsive she has ever been.  Five friends, in two groups flooded in at about the same time, bringing high hopes and good spirits.  All of them and her mother and myself included made for a pretty packed room and Hollis knew it.  The background noise of everyone hanging out and reminiscing and the loving cheapshots (that are taken while she can’t respond but we are all going to pay for I’m sure) were flowing colorfully.  As things finally calmed down, it was down to 15 year old Ocean and her mother Lulu and me and Hollis’ mom.  Ocean had brought a selection of books and began reading to Hollis.  Hollis was focused and intent.  She was moving her eyes between the book and all the mesmerized onlookers.  She was so intent I could’ve sworn she was going to ask us a question about the book.  She scanned with both eyes around in the pictures and scrunched her eyebrows like she was thinking real hard.  She then was pulling Ocean’s hand to her head repeatedly like she was trying to kiss it and even got hold of her feed tube that was coming from her nose (it has since been moved to her stomach directly). I then knew it was time and I grabbed hold of her hand and stared her in the eye and asked her to squeeze my hand.  She did it, on command for the first time.  I then begged her to let go, a feat which seemed less probable due to the grip with which she was crushing me.  Nevertheless she released and then I placed her hand on her own arm, which she began to squeeze and then Ocean asked her to let it go and with some coaxing… she did.

                This very lucid bit of time that passed exhausted her, but it makes a few things blatantly obvious.  She is getting better, visitors and friends help amazingly, this is very hard for her as well and it’s going to take tons of work from everyone.  It takes a city, not a village. Scratch that it takes a whole Bay Area.  You’ll want to have rubbed her and talked to her as much as you can when the results start being so gratifying.

      What does it mean to be in a coma? What does it mean to wake up? What defines consciousness? Where are the lines between ‘coma’, ‘persistent vegetative state’, ‘minimally conscious’ and ‘fully conscious’?  Hollis waxes and wanes between these and nobody can really say what’s going on behind the surface of her eyes.  I do know this; Hollis is beating all the odds. That surprises no one and she is going to keep getting better.  So far we have done THE BEST that we could possibly do for her.  She was in the best hospital accessible to her in India and she is in the best care accessible to her in the US.  She has the most loving network of friends and family.  Now it's time to do the best we can for her face to face.  We need to be rubbing her and getting her into the lucid workouts where she wakes up just that little bit more. We need to be doing this as often as possible and as many of us as possible.  Everyone says it works, especially the doctors.

I’m gonna try to get back to posting updates but also feel free to call me.  Or better yet come and visit. Today, tomorrow, this weekend, every Monday, whatever works for you. And don’t worry about ‘abusing’ my number anymore.  I can handle it and love to hear from all of you. It’s like listening to music with your friends.  Sure the song may be good but it’s sharing it with your friends that makes it stay in your heart.

Notes from a Sprockette in Portland:

"The benefit in Portland was one of the better reminders for me of the strength that our community has built. Deciding that I had to do something aside from spreading the word about Hollis' accident was pretty immediate, and I thought it would be a basement show with maybe some local bands. What it ended up being was a HUGE warehouse event with hundreds of people, great acts, and over $5,000 raised. That to me is no small feat, considering that as we were chanting over the phone to India for Hollis to wake up, I was looking from the stage at everyone there, and realized that aside from the Sprockettes, Maybe five others had ever even met Hollis but were all working together to send love accross the sea. All of the performances went smoothly and beautifully, and everyone involved approched me to say that they have never been a part of a benefit that felt more powerful than that one. Maybe it was the kissing booth (smoochies for rupees!) or the gold attire, or the silent auction, or the bands that made the night so special, but really I think it was just for the love of Hollis."

Thank You Kiki, aka Agent Crush

Notes from Gerlach:

Hey All. I just wanted to report out on The Gerlach event Saturday night. Everything went great and we were able to raise $1326.40!

I wanted to make sure and thank the following people that made this happen!
-Ullass, for having the plan
-Larry Guisasola, proprietor of Joe's Gerlach Club
-Jon "Farmer" Farnsworth for bbqin (AGAIN!!)
-Quinn and Andy Luna for setting up and playing music on the fly
-All the people that came from points beyond: Winnemucca, Reno, Oakland, SF, etc.

And a VERY SPECIAL THANKS all the people of Gerlach and Empire, who not only showed up when they heard what was going on but donated their time, money and enough awesome food to feed everyone!

My pics are here, sorry there aren't more.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fstick/sets/72157615729800385/

-Fstick

On a personal note:

I do not have a car and would like to visit Hollis a bunch.
If anyone is going and has room for me, please call me or email me:
eliza@friendsofhollis.com

Tools for rehabilitation:

Hello team.
Thanks for getting Hollis home. We did it. Now is the time to go visit her.
If you'll notice I changed the Visiting terms on the side. It's pretty relaxed now and you are encouraged to take the trip.
She has been responding to groups very well lately. According to Harrison, the other day there were a few people in her room and Ocean was reading to her from a book with very beautiful pictures. She was following the story, and looking around the room at each individual person. On the page, she would point out different pictures. Ocean would take long dramatic pauses in order for Hollis to take it all in and respond. She also squeezed a hand on command. This is very exciting.

We are encouraged to bring more intellectually stimulating material. After all, she is at an Ivy League Hospital and we would accept nothing less. Harrison said he was told that reading material is good because she is aware on some level and that will bring her back to a refined congniscence. Bring your latest term paper to read. Maybe you don't have to do the dramatic pauses or maybe you feel like its good for her to really soak in a concept. But don't treat her like a baby. She is not and will get mad if we do. Let's bring her out of this coma with theories, music, books, and stimulating concepts. Let's enable her with the belief that she will recover and her mind will too.
And come visit. Stanford is a beautiful place. Did I mention how thankful we are to them for their support of our collective goal of rehabilitating Hollis?

Raffle Prizes Added:

Now you can purchase tickets to the most amazing raffle drawing at two locations, Dark Garden Corsets in Sf and Azure Studios in Oakland.
(see this post: http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/2009/03/tuesday-is-raffle-day-at-amnesia.html )
The prizes are so amazing!! I totally bought a ticket last night at Il Pirata! There are many many prizes and they are all worth a lot of money. Talk about a good deal. There are also individuals carrying around raffle tickets for your purchsing power. Find Franny or Robin hood if you know those ladies.

For the record, you CANNOT buy tickets through the paypal here. Please don't try.
You CAN donate for Hollis' medical fund through the paypal here. Please do try.

This is the latest addition:

You and 2 or your friends for a day of sailing on beautiful San Francisco Bay.
Scoop up you and your friends up in SF or your choice of local harbor.
Have lunch in the lee of Angel Island or on the island for some bocce or frisbee golf.

DUDE!

Shout it from the rooftops!

We officially jumped into six figure digits yesterday.
We have raised $100,000!!!!
Wo-OH were halfway theeere. WoooaOH livin' on a prayer!!!
Take my hand and we'll make it I swear. WOOOoh! Livin' on a prayeyair!

Keep up those plans for fundraisers.

A BIG SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Miranda Rugburn and Glenny Kravitz for their work organizing the Karaoke benefit last night.
It was brutal! I have never heard of anyone paying $20 to stop the national anthem. Four times!
We raised $592 of pure insultory money.
From DA Tinio:
"daMongolian donated 20$ yesterday online for me to sing American Pie... so I guess we cleared $600.
If memory serves American Pie took in $114
Star Spangled Banner took in $80 (short song!)
Under The Board Walk $60
Not that the numbers matter but it's kind of funny to see



I forgot to mention Jonah Th' Mole's Amusement Extravaganza last week. What a hoot that was! SPAZ brought their ginormous speakers and there was musical chairs, a cake walk, a knot tying workshop, and a station to build super glued mutants out of little action figures. MC Subzero Permafrost did a great live show to Vankmen's dance music. Th'Mole is my new favorite rapper. His show was awesome! He did a live music beatmatcher with Heartworm. Big fun time!
He donated $598 towards Hollis' medical expenses. Thank you thank you thank you!

editor's note:
I did some incorrect reporting about costs. I need to double reiterate that we are very thankful of Stanford gracious gift to Hollis and her care. Nothing has changed and I will report when/if it does. I am just trying to be informative and sometimes I am wrong.

More Pictures:

Gold Rush by Felix Ling:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fling93/sets/72157615137524951/

For The Love Of Hollis (portland) by Gray Ayer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grayayer/

Tonight is Karaoke @ Il Pirata:

Tonight @ Il Parata Miss Rugburn and Glorious KJ Glenny Kravitz present the most raucous karaoke event I have ever heard of.
From the saucy Karaoke Mistress Miranda Rugburn:

So dig it, tonight's the night. The night where instead of booing or grimacing in the corner, blubbering about when it's your turn next, talking shit about the crappy singing, you can DO something about it! Shut 'em up by giving 2 bucks. That's it. Like 'em, or just want to piss other people off? Give 2 bucks to start it up again.

So let's do this:
Il Pirata
2007 16th St. (near Potrero)
San Francisco, CA
Bar 'til bar time, so get that firewater boiling!

So to reiterate:

Hate the person on stage? Now you have the sweet, sweet control of getting them OFF the stage! Hate the crowd? Pick the most annoying song to sing and keep the intensity rising by upping the ante and seeing if anyone will match you. Hate yourself? Well, good luck with all that, maybe singing a sweet little lullaby will put your woes at ease - HA, 'til you get shut down! 10 bucks severs (or continues?) the ties completely! This is a fight on all accounts. Hollis is fighting to come out of this, so we're (literally) fighting for her!

Luchador masks encouraged ::cough:: Logan ::cough:: Talking crap, being annoying, punching, well, we all know how punching ends, right Weldboy?

So get your jerk on, and come out!!

Can't wait to see you.
burnt rug.

Hollis Update:

Just talked to Harrison and he said Hollis is making verbal noises.

Oakland Benefit:

Save the Date!

We're putting together a Circus Carnival next Saturday the 28th
It will be a Benefit for Hollis Hawthorne
and will be outside our warehouse in downtown oakland
from about 2pm till dark (7 or 8pm)

We are looking for bands, performers
also for carnival booths, ideas? volunteers?
bbq and food helpers
raffle and door helpers
RAFFLE DONATIONS! got art, a bike, massage, anything?
decoraters etc
please repost too!
Family friendly event! get those kids out here!

From: slimchance@spaz.org

Two Beautiful Articles on Hollis by Friends:

http://uprooted.jessicareeder.com/2009/03/off-topic-help-hollis-hawthorne/

and

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/2009/03/17/hollis%E2%80%99-story-our-story-a-tale-of-immense-riches-during-hard-times/#more-1104

Hollis Update:

Just talked to Harrison with a Hollis Update.
She has been moved to a room with a floor-to-ceiling window from which you can see rolling hills, trees and the sunset. She has been very responsive lately, moving arm and making facial expressions. It is as though she knows where she is and is unhappy with the situation. It is hard to watch her painful expressions, but it is a good sign that she is warming back up to our reality. I can imagine her personality will be angry with being babied, angry with pity, and angry for not being able to be in her body. This reminds us to be patient with her and her situation as she goes through childhood and adolescence again.

This reminds me of etiquette while talking to a person in a coma.

1. You are a mirror for their emotions. Be cheerful and positive. If you are crying and upset, she will be soaking that in. Try talking to her in positive ways, talking about things she enjoys, things on the brighter side of life.

2. They can hear you. Some insight is provided by another burner woman who was internally decapitated and fell into a coma. During the unfortunate circumstances Amacker had while in a coma, she was able to share this:
"As I said, I was in a coma for a long time. And I remember all of it. And my brother, who never left my side, spent a lot of time talking to me. And his words were part of the script of my "coma reality." In other words, she probably CAN hear you, and depending on her brain,and how she dreams, she can process this into her world in some way. (so don't repeat yourself .. my bro did that a couple of days in a row and i was *so* flumoxed!)"

Amacker has made a miraculous recovery from a motorcycle accident 2 years ago and talks more about it here: http://helpholligethome.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-just-spoke-briefly-with-diane.html#comments

Hope you enjoy these tips.
I will get the updated visitor information as it arrives. Until then, the sidebar of this blog has the instructions on how to visit Hollis.

Money and Fundraiser Update:

First of all, Congratulations everyone!!
We scored a Touchdown!!
We successfully reached one of our goals of bringing Hollis home.
We are not out of the woods yet. There are still many uncertainties surrounding her recovery and medical expenses. Therefore we are charging along to meet our goal of $200k. And we are not alone in our efforts. We are still getting many benefits in line to satisfy our goals. This network of friends is setting a national (and worldwide) example of how any obstacle is possible to overcome with a little compassion. Or a lot!
There are several fundraisers planned in the future.

Here is a list:
1. Every Tuesday till the end of march Franny is holding a raffle with AMAZING prizes. This is in San Francisco after 9pm at Amnesia on 19th and Valencia. more info: frannypny@hotmail.com

2. This Thursday Miranda Rugburn and KJ Glenny Kravitz are hosting a karaoke benefit at Il Parata 2007 16th near Potrero. more info: mirandography@gmail.com or 773.971.1199

3. Oakland is hosting an outdoor carnival March 28th @ Your House. They are looking for more carnival games and acts. They are allowed to do fire spinning! Jump on this because that is a rare thing in this town. To get involved email goatmandan@juno.com or slimchance@spaz.org

4. Saturday 3/21 in Gerlach NV @ Joe's Gerlach Club. 7pm Bbq'ing tri-tip and other things, having a prize raffle for a mystery Black Rock Tour with Farmer and Fstick and for your listening pleasure The Newly Formed Gerlach All Stars will be playing at 8pm!!! BRING YOUR BANJO!!!! more info: Gary Ullas@yahoo.com or Fstick
jonathan.g@gmail.com

5. March 29th Leslie aka Ocean is hosting a benefit called pARTicipate: 7-10pm @ The Mercury Lounge, 56 Byward, Ottawa, Canada. Performers: Leslie, Shakti fusion bellydance, Francesca (RockabillyBurlesque) Dani LeBlanc, Safiya, Halyma, Joshua Tacoma, plus more.
more info: leslie@shaktifusion.ca

6. Austin, TX is planning a benefit at The Enchanted Forest (date tba) There are many performers already in action, they are just solidifying the date. more info: Anne Bonny chickenmcfetus@gmail.com

I know I am overlooking something. Please email me if I have forgotten something. I am trying to do this fast and concise. eliza@friendsofhollis.com

And least I forget, THE NUMBERS!!!!
First, some thanks to Portland, who just deposited $3,875 in the bank from For The Love Of Hollis event! Special thanks to the Sprockettes for organizing and pdx DPW for helping clean up the space. And of course to all of the performers and myriad of volunteers. If you didn't get to see the pictures, here is the link: http://www.kodelab.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=1032&g2_page=1

After chasing down paypal denominations, bank totals, checks to be deposited, and putting them in a number crunch, we have currently raised.......
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~oh em geee~~
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>(I like doing this)<<<<<<<
$95,236!!!

towards our goal of $200k
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!!!!!
JUMP UP AND DOWN!!!!
We are nearing the halfway mark of our goals IN ONLY THREE WEEKS.
This is so astounding, it has been on the local news twice. AMEN!

Keep up the good work. Take a step back and regroup. Think about the power of miracles. Tell yourself you are one.

Karaoke Benefit this Thurs. @ Il Pirata:

"Who loves karaoke?
We love karaoke!!!

Who loves helping a celebrated dancer in our community get on her feet again?
We love Hollis!!!

So come on out this Thurs, March 19th to Il Parata, where we can sing her some love, and love her some more. The way this karaoke night will work is you pay two bucks to sign up for a song. Depending on the song and how badly you do, someone from the audience can pay another two bucks to stop it, and who knows? Maybe "Living on a Prayer" is ::ahem:: someone's favorite song, so they can pay another two bucks to start it back up again, and on, and on... And if you want to up the ante, hey that's acceptable too! So, come drunk, stay drunk, be tone deaf and rowdy!

Tapped out for cash? Got a huge pile of cd's (what're those?) laying around? Bring 'em in so we can sell them to Amoeba Records. Or maybe you have some of Gramma's gold costume jewelry? Glenny knows a gold dealer who will give us a fair price. Or just come out and regale in the good energy and positive thoughts! Just b/c you're too shy to get on stage doesn't mean you can't watch other people make an ass out of themselves!

The where:
Il Parata
2007 16th St (near Potrero)
San Francisco, Ca

The when:
March 19th (THIS THURSDAY!!!), sign up for songs starts at 9pm, so get there early to get a slot!
Bar until bar time.

The Who:
The most celebrated KJ ever, Mr. Glenny Kravitz!!!

I can't wait to see your shining, stumbling, smiling faces coming together for this most awesome and deserving girl!

Ooh, ooh! Can some one bring a recorder? That would be hilarious if we could play the karaoke songs in her honor back to her!"

Oakland Benefit:

Goat Man Dan is organizing a benefit March 28th @ Your House in Oakland.
They are planning an early afternoon outdoor barbecue and carnival atmosphere that will be moved inside as the sun goes down. If you would like to lend a hand, an act, or a fire performance, email him at: goatmandan@juno.com or call (510.289.7602)

Fog City Journal Pics of Gold Rush!

Cat Rauschuber passed this link along of never before seen Gold Rush photos. Enjoy!
http://www.fogcityjournal.com/images/photos2009/hollis_hawthorne_benefit_slims_090312/