God On The Rocks

The City By The Bay continues celebrating Movies and Music! Tonight's visitor to the City By The Bay and dropping into God On The Rocks for a few glasses of Pinot Noir and conversation is the amazing talent of Dr. Michael Brant DeMaria. 

Pull up a stool and enjoy the magic of this man whose music has had more than 250 Million downloads worldwide, earning him four Grammy®
nominations, eight ZMR awards, six #1 albums, and a Native American
Music Award. His work is also featured on the Grammy® winning album All
About Bullies Big and Small. Michael's music has been featured in projects
with Eckhart Tolle, Mark Nepo, Peter Kater, and Noah Levine.

How he got here? The journey . . . 

Dr. DeMaria's life took a profound turn 30 years ago. Experiencing compassion fatigue, burn out and suicidal thoughts from working with over 2000 cases of severe child abuse and neglect as a child protection team psychologist, he embarked on a life-transforming vision quest guided by a native elder. This journey, which involved going without food or water alone in the wilderness, led to profound heart opening and a reawakening of his first loves of nature and creativity, while instilling in him a sense of the deep mystery of living and dying as far beyond anything we are taught in modern culture.  

Thank you for continuing to visit God On The Rocks and bringing along friends to spend time with us. This bartender greatly appreciates your company!

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

The  City By The Bay kicks off our Summer Series celebrating Movies and Music and Tonight's Traveler helps us do just that in style!  Michael Farris Smith pulls up a stool at God On The Rocks to talk all things Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049 and to share a few of his excellent Bourbon discoveries. 

There's nothing better for this Bartender than hanging out in conversation with one of my favorite Southern Authors and discussing a favorite movie and bourbon makes the evening go down smooth.  It was particularly wonderful to listen to Michael share stories from behind the scenes and on the set of his recent movies, Desperation Road, and Rumble Through the Dark based on his best-selling novels. 

Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Oprah Magazine, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets, and have been named Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. He has also written the feature-film adaptations of his novels Desperation Road and The Fighter, titled for the screen as Rumble Through the Dark. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

The City By The Bay has been hosting a week long Storytelling Festival so imagine our delighted surprise when Dr. Rick Diamond, Story-Healer in the Wild came wandering into God On The Rocks lured by the scent of Alchemy Espresso! Pull up a  stool and join the conversation as we talk about the stories we were told, the ones we tell ourselves, and the journey of discovering our true Story! And, as always, thank you for bringing a friend along with you to God On The Rocks!

“Getting to know Dr. Diamond over a couple of Alchemy Espresso’s was such a warm, enlightening experience. It renewed my awareness of how everyone’s story is a part of this tapestry we call life.” 

Dr. Rick Diamond is a Story Healer. He helps people see what patterns and beliefs have led them to their present moment, and he helps them discover the story their deepest self wants to live. Rick was an award-wining college English teacher for a decade. He then had a series of spiritual experiences, attended seminary, and worked as a minister, before leading an innovative
faith community in Austin, Texas, for 17 years. Rick has led thousands of classes in seminaries, universities, and churches. He’s created and led scores of retreats and events about open- heartedness, accessing our sacred masculine and feminine, personal formation, and more. He works with nonprofits, companies, and organizations to help them create strategies to realize their goals. His worldview embraces both Western and Eastern religious traditions, myth and archetypes, and Indigenous and shamanic practices. He participates in therapy, recovery, men’s
work, and in energy medicine and breathwork. Rick is the author of 2 books and hundreds of articles. He created the Story Healing process by bringing together spirituality, myth, art, literary theory, systems analysis, and the joy of awakening.

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

God On The Rocks is OPEN! Our Remodeling project is finally finished and just in time for author, Charles McNair to wind his way up from Columbia, South America and visit with the bartender about his days of discovery on the open road. It's the things that happen when a choirboy puts Alabama in the rearview and sets out on a one of a kind adventure hitching his way to Mexico and get's a ride in a big, gold Cadillac with Kool and the Gang and meets many, strange and wonderful traveling companions along the way. 

Charles McNair, a native of the Yellowhammer State of Alabama, released his first novel, Land O’ Goshen, to critical acclaim. Land O’ Goshen was a nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1994. Charles currently lives in Columbia, South America where he writes full-time, combining freelance literary duties with assignments for corporations and businesses, including “Power of Storytelling” workshops.  He has served as Books Editor for Paste magazine and shared his reviews on Atlanta radio station WMLB 1690. He is currently at work on his forth novel, The Epicureans. Visit Charles online at charlesmcnairauthor.com 

Thank you for visiting God On The Rocks and bringing along a friend, spreading the word, and sharing the news. Upcoming events in the City by the Bay include a City wide Celebration of Yoga, a new Storytelling Festival, and a Summer long celebration of Movies and Music with some of your favorite authors sharing their passion about their favorite movies and musicians. Stay with us! 

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

God On The Rocks is currently closed for a remodeling project. Coming soon - Open Rafters, a little loft hideaway complete with woodstove, Clearstories and stained glass. Check in for the update on what's ahead for the City by the Bay! 

Reopening with a party and a visit from Pulitzer finalist, Charles McNair on May 3rd. 

Sending you love for spreading the word about the bar. Keep those postcards coming!

See You Soon! 

The Bartender

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

It's officially Springtime and Baseball Season returns with a wonderful reminder that we have emerged from the dark days of Winter, that sometimes Summer's can feel eternal, and that people still love to wander into a bar, pull up a stool, and chat about the things they love and find in common.

Tonight's traveler to the City by the Bay who wanders into the bar is
Gregory Wolfe is a writer, teacher, editor, and publisher. In 1989 he founded Image—one of America’s leading literary journals, which he edited for thirty years. He was also the founding director of the Seattle Pacific University MFA in Creative Writing program, which he led for over a dozen years. He is currently editor of an indie, non-profit literary press, Slant Books. Wolfe’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, First Things, Commonweal, and America. In 2005 he was a judge for the National Book Awards. His books include Beauty Will Save the World, Intruding Upon the Timeless, and The Operation of Grace. He is married to the novelist Suzanne M. Wolfe. They are the parents of four grown children and live in Richmond Beach, Washington.

A man with a memory that blows us out of the water, who loves baseball like nobody's business and shares that enthusiasm with a very, thankful Bartender who just happens to have a special place in her heart for the game. 

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

It's Big Dog's Night Out at God On The Rocks and all the furry friends joined us for water bowls and treats. National Puppy Day is March 23rd but this past week we lost our precious old dogs unexpectedly within 3 days of each other and decided there was never a better time than to celebrate the true love, loyalty and dedication that we find in our furry beasts.  So many dogs, so many years, and so many funny stories. Not a sad moment, just a lot of laughter, and realizing after the bar closed we had left out some really important stories. Like the night our Daddy picked up a stray dog in the road and brought it home that looked like - a pig. Which we discovered was pregnant within a week or so and then it had puppies - that looked just liked pigs. With corkscrew tails. We do not lie. All the puppies found good homes including the Mama dog and all the new dog owners swore those were the best dog's they had ever owned. 

For the record, sister's favorite dog movie remains Lady and the Tramp. 
Mine is Homeward Bound - both versions. 
And our forever fav is Lady and the Tramp jointly. 

Favorite dog novel: Racing in the Rain - I have never seen the movie because I. Just. Can. Not. 

We hope you enjoy this very special visit to God On The Rocks!

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

This week's Traveler to the City By The Bay is the soulful poet, Michael Dechane who dropped in God On The Rocks to discuss his upcoming dream workshop with the Hagen Institute featuring the work of Carl Jung and Jungian Dream Work.  This Bartender had a blast talking with Michael about the many facets of our dream life, the universality of our dreams, and how our dreams might have a positive impact on the world.

After earning his MFA in Poetry from SPU, Dechane moved to Switzerland and then the Netherlands, before returning to the States because he fell in love, again. His poems have appeared in Image, Southern Poetry Review, Spiritus, Bellingham Poetry Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Lake Effect, Tar River Poetry, EcoTheo Review, Cumberland River Review, Channel, The Night Heron Barks, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, Maine Review, Exstasis, and elsewhere. He was a finalist in Atlanta Review’s 2020 International Poetry Contest and the winner of Ruminate’sBroadside Poetry Prize in 2020. His poem “Dressing” was included in Between Heaven & Earth: Eve Poems, a 2023 anthology from Orison Books. His debut collection, The Long Invisible, is forthcoming through Wildhouse Publishing in September of 2024.

Dechane is currently enrolled in the dream work certificate program through The Haden Institute. This two-year program is a deep dive into the strange and wonderful waters of foundational Jungian concepts, analytical psychology, dream interpretation, equipment for active imagination forays, cultivating the process of individuation, and subverting our rampant cultural 'othering' by recalling our projections. He intends to complete his certification work in December of 2024 and hopes to lead dream groups and individuals who are curious about all that their dreams and unconscious lives have to offer. 

Michael resides in Asheville, NC, with his person, Regan. He enjoys chasing fish, carving wooden spoons, and everything the Punch Bucket Lit community and reading series has to offer. Learn more about his poetry at www.michaeldechane.com.

Explore his marketing consultancy, content production, and SEO services at LinkedIn.

Or, find him online at Facebook and Instagram.

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

The new Comic Book store, Silver Surfer is opening this weekend and this weeks Traveler, Jamie Ford knows a thing or two about comics. It's a lifelong love of his based from his early experiences with a childhood illness that left him housebound but thankfully with a Dad who realized comics would help ease the isolated boredom. He visits the City by the Bay in search of the Holy Grail of Comic Books and to celebrate Marvel Madness Weekend. He pulls up a stool to drink gin and tonic and discuss Marvel Characters, Independent Artists, Collecting (and sometimes painfully selling) comic collections, Marvel Movies, and that wonderful news that Pedro Pascal will be entering the Marvel Universe for the Fantastic Four Movie. 

Jamie Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer, Min Chung, who emigrated from Hoiping, China to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the western name “Ford,” thus confusing countless generations.

His debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, spent two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list and went on to win the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and has been optioned for film and stage. His work has been translated into 35 languages. His latest novel is The Many Daughters of Afong Moy.

 When not writing or daydreaming, he can be found on Instagram @jamieford and at www.jamieford.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

It's Valentines Week and this weeks Traveler to the City by the Bay is wild woman, literary author, and editor-in-chief, Mandy Haynes who flew in to help take care of all the patrons at God On The Rocks. There have been so many weddings, parties, and Valentines happenings it has been crazy. The Film and TV Society has a famous fictional couples costume contest, the Cinema is playing all the best romance movies, and it's undeniable - love is in the air. 

Between taking care of customers there will be the drinking of Tequila and stories of love and lust from here to there. And lots and lots of laughter.

This Week's Traveler is Mandy Haynes who spent hours on barstools and riding in vans listening to great stories from some of the best songwriters and storytellers in Nashville, Tennessee. She recently moved to Semmes, Alabama where she lives in a barn at Good Fortune Farm Refuge and helps take care of farm chores and rescues of all shapes and sizes with various medical issues and special needs. She is the author of two short story collections, a novella, editor of several anthologies, and the editor-in-chief of Three Dogs Press and the online literary journal, WELL READ Magazine. You can find her at mandyhaynes.com 

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com