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A Tribute to Christopher R. Al-Aswad
Entered into life July 16th 1979 - Escaped into life July 27th 2010Henry DargerWhen Chris set up this Online Arts Journal just a little over a year ago, he dedicated it to his late mother, the artist...
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Escape Into Chris
The Musician by Fred Aris (1972)A long, wintry six months has passed since EIL and Blog of Innocence's founder, Chris Al-Aswad, left life behind and stepped into the world of the Spirit. In addition to...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 1
Gustave Courbet, self portraitIn tribute to the life and works of Chris Al-Aswad, we, his family, are honoring his memory by posting regular excerpts from his writings here at his website...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 2
Understand Still by Nick LepardFebruary 2007 – Normal, IL“…What I’m a finding overall is that this image I have of myself in my mind should not be taken so seriously. Who I think I am is an illusion....
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 3
Drawing by Chris Al-AswadSpring 2007, Normal IL“…The woman you love, her actions and behaviors toward you, her words, that is the balm for your soul. She is there to validate you, to reveal to you your...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 4
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadMarch 2005 – Normal, IL"…After the meeting, I went to Chestnut, which is an adolescent facility for addicts and sometimes I go there to help out and be of service. Every time I...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 5
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadMarch 2005, Normal IL“…We exist outside our conversations, with ourselves and with others, we are part of the silent nature of things. When we are confined to our thoughts, we...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 6
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadPoems to my motherWe had fun didn’t we – on earthWe laughed, our laughingreleased us from the painof circumstance.We couldn’t adequately explainor escape but like nowthere are...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 7
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadFebruary 2007 – Normal, IL“…My mind is a temple of illusion and I am a false god. True, there is something pure and positive in me but it is hidden so deep, under all the layers...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 8
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadMarch 2005 – Normal, IL“…Greatness is not assumed, it is earned and I have not earned it yet. These are just my thoughts, they are not public displays of art. Why to write art...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 9
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadApril 2009 – Normal, ILAll is incompleteCan you handlebeinga work in progressCan you handleincompleteunfinished symphoniesnovelsportraitsThe moments of perfectionof...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 10
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadMarch 2005 – Normal, IL"How do I trust or learn to trust? How do I place faith in simply being myself and not strive so hard to be the world’s next great author? When if ever...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 11
Sketch by Chris Al-Aswad2007 – Meditation retreat with Dad“All in all, today hasn’t been that bad and things are looking up for you already. And while the body is irritating and you always wish you...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 12
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadJanuary 2008 – Normal, ILWe can learn byliving in realityby dispelling illusionsAnd illusions are desiresforget desires -Just be – live in the momentof what you are...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 13
Lethe Bashar's Novel of Life Las VegasWritten by Chris Al-Aswad and illustrated by Gerrar GonzalezJune 20, 2007 – Normal, ILIn my novel, the main character is riding a bus to Las Vegas when he has an...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 14
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadJune 2007 – Normal, ILMy personality is based on an overcompensation. I was wounded probably at the end of my childhood and at the beginning of my adolescence. I made several...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 15
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadSeptember 27, 2007 – Normal, ILThe personality comes and goes. My task is to stay aware – aware of my discomfort, my anxiety, my suffering. An insight – as I mature, I find that...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 16
Sketch by Chris Al-AswadJuly 30, 2006 – Normal, ILI have a backyardmy neighbors have a gardenthe air reverberates withchildren’s voices.Crickets chirpingthe autumn stands one month aheadlooking back at...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 17
Jeff LukerFebruary 2006 – Normal, ILA letter to my father on his 60th birthdayIt is hard for me to believe that my father is 60 years old. Memories from when you used to take me to my soccer games, or...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 18
Frank CaicoJan 1, 2007 – Chicago, ILLast night was a hell trip. But a good one, and I am glad it happened.On New Years Eve in a bar in Naperville, you should have seen the looks that hung on the faces...
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In Memory of Rosalind D. Al-Aswad
The Swan, Rosalind Al-AswadChristopher Al-Aswad’s Journal Entry – March 14, 2003My mother died on March 13, 2003. She died so peacefully, is what I told my friends. I said she died without resistance....
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 21
Stefano UnterthinerEarly 2007- Normal, IL10 minutes before work, I’m sitting in the front hall of Heartland College, eating my apple. A man, middle-aged, wearing a sport jacket and a baseball cap with...
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Escape Into Chris - Entry 22
WinkWinter 2006 – Normal, ILLast night at Borders I picked up a book by Osho about aloneness and after reading the last four chapters of the book, my perceptive on my current state changed...
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Escape Into Chris - Father's Day Special
June 20, 1993 – Father’s DayLoving, living, and giving are three gifts which you continue to give me each day. A blanket, you are, which holds me at night and frees me in the day, and this is important...
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The Month of July
Mahbubur Rahman, Time WarpThe Month of JulyWritten by Basel Al-Aswad, the father of Escape into Life founder, Chris Al-AswadThirty-two years ago on July 16th, 1979, I received a most special gift, a...
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