A lot of people don't have much food on the table but they've got a lot of forks

Homeless Joe

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:05:16 GMT

I took the train to the art center last night for the second night of the Danish Film Festival, which ended up being canceled due to vaguely cold and wet streets. I walked down to midtown and met a guy named Homeless Joe on the way. Homeless Joe has been homeless for 83 days and before that I suppose he was just Joe. Anyway, I bought him a cup of coffee at a place called the Landmark Diner in midtown and we talked for about two hours. His life story was really interesting, involving growing up in Atlanta during the 1960s, losing his wife to some sort of infectious disease, then losing a kidney and his house.

I was pretty disappointed not to get to see the Danish film on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but I completely forgot about that when I was sitting in the diner hearing about race riots and nonviolent, civil disobedience first hand from Homeless Joe. He told me about MLK, the black panthers, desegregation, the famous sit-ins at diners, and the KKK.

I also asked him about the One-Eyed Blues Man since I haven't been able to find him at Baker and Peachtree streets recently. He told me to come back in about a week and he'd let me know if he was able to find anything out about him. They all use the same homeless shelter by the bridge between the North Avenue and Civic Center train stations. After I had coffee with Homeless Joe, I was on my way there to see what I could find out for myself and I heard someone shouting my name. I turned around to see Homeless Joe running across the street towards me, just as I was approaching the bridge. He wouldn't let me walk there at night, and instead made me turn around and he escorted me back to the North Avenue station. I guess I'll have to wait until next weekend to hear about the One-Eyed Blues Man.

cheers

Shania's there... promoting her APPAREL.....

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:15:15 GMT

NO MAYONNAISE.

If you have access to today's issue of the New York Times, check out the last page of the A section. It is hilarious. They did a spreadsheet comparing all the personality characteristics of the main presidential candidates. It was inspired by a similar analysis done by a paper in Britain in the early 1800s of the new members of the House of Commons.

cheers

My pretty cherry wood floors that only took a week of slaving to install.

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:49:43 GMT

So in the spirit of nonsensical procrastination, I have uploaded photos of my floor:

My tools, which were borrowed from various people because I am too poor to buy things for myself (~~except that is my pencil~~ actually that pencil was probably stolen from Carrie at some point during the past four and a half years):

The first room I did was my bedroom (in which I've never actually slept):

I also filled the sinkhole in with a little cement and a whole lot of lovin'. I'm feeling conflicted about posting this photo because this was one of those secret things about which I only intended for myself to know:

The living room and balcony, where I spend 100% of my time while in my apartment:

Look at how much sawdust there was on the floor. I had to sweep the floor ten thousand times and every time I swept, I would collect piles and piles of sawdust:

Everyone who comes over to my poor, empty apartment inevitably ends up giving me free kitchen things, like the broiler on the left. What sort of things does a broiler broil? The main purpose of this photo, however, is to show off my gas oven and the creepy mirror that won't come off the wall:

I went to the farmer's market the other day and bought these guys for my instant, yet still appropriately pathetic, holiday decorations. I don't have any furniture or tables or anything, so they move around a lot (along with their friend the little red apple timer who is not pictured), currently on a stack of board games:

That's all for now because I'm getting so nervous about the amount of reading and writing I'm going to have to do tonight that I think I'm going to have an aneurysm.

cheers

travel!

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:18:43 GMT

Uhhhm, so I am flying to Baltimore at 6AM tomorrow morning. Just decided about half an hour ago, after looking at pictures of Staunton and reminiscing about college life.

How's that for spontaneity?

I'm sittin' in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
On a tour of one night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one man band

cheers

P.S. Looks like Carrie and I will be in Cincinnati at noon to pick up Kylie and bring her to Staunton. This is great. And apparently Stefano is free on Saturday. What about Shona? And Jen? And Fenstermacher? And anyone else who lives in VA/DC/Baltimore? Laura, do you still live in Staunton? I want to see everyone.

flashback

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:44:51 GMT

Creep in the background!

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:43:32 GMT

If I die of laughter, I want this photo on my tombstone:

http://mr-ln-cap.livejournal.com/12699.html

Just keep looking at the photo until you feel your bowels release from sheer hilarity. If you're not gasping for air after looking at that photo, I don't want to know you.

cheers

musicmusicmusicmusicblahblahblah

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:13:08 GMT

A list, a song, a memory, and a scent:

For a while now, I have been compiling a mental list of albums which are so absolutely perfect that I don’t even partially dislike any of the songs on them. The criteria is very strict and I have been very careful to only include an album out of only the most pure intentions and never to include one only out of respect for the artist and a few tracks (which is why you won’t see Nirvana or Instituto Mexicano Del Sonido). The albums not only have to be the sort to which you can just start listening from the first track and continue until the end without ever once desiring to skip a track, but also the sort of album that forces you to stop whatever it is you are doing to listen. Not only must you know every word to every song on the album, but also every intonation in the singer’s voice and every chord and movement and twanging guitar string and laugh and introduction and applause. Furthermore, the list does not discriminate against artists that may not currently be trendy to like, so keep that in mind when you see artists like Marc Anthony and Chiodos on there.

In no particular order, except maybe a subconscious one, but I don't know for sure:

Singles- The Smiths
Graceland- Paul Simon
Blue- Joni Mitchell
Bob Dylan- Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin’- Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin’- Bob Dylan
Bayside- Bayside
The Very Best of the Early Years- Donovan
Carmina Burana- Carl Orff
Don’t Be Frightened of Turning the Page- Bright Eyes
All’s Well That Ends Well- Chiodos
Very Early Joan- Joan Baez
Amar Sin Mentiras- Marc Anthony
Long Company- Pete Coe
Greatest Hits (UK Version)- Queen
Folkways: Original Version- Woody Guthrie

That’s all I’ve got. I don’t think I’ve missed any, but I may add to or subtract from the list as I continue to consider the criteria and additional artists. I think the shortness of the list is important as well.

I’d be eternally interested to see what some of your lists look like, following the same criteria. (DOOOOO IT.)

I listened to this song on repeat all night:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kpc4p5
(Worried Man Blues- Maybelle Carter)

It reminds me of being in the middle of a field in Scotland, in a traditional Mongolian yurt full of folk musicians, in the middle of the night, ten different types of incense burning, everyone singing and playing that song-- about 5 guitars strumming, equally as many banjos, fiddles, and harmonicas, two bodhráns, a dulcimer, an autoharp, two bouzoukis, and one Jew's harp. It was loud and wonderful, especially because as the night went on, everyone began to swap instruments until it was just noise and singing. Oh, and beer and whiskey and marijuana.

I have these two really old, avocado green suitcases that I took to Scotland. I keep my clothing in them, even though they make my clothing smell funny, because the smell reminds me of all the fun I had in Scotland. I can close my eyes and the smell brings me back to Gigha or to my little room at the University or to walking to the beach every morning or to all-night jam sessions or to shady pubs.

cheers

Kill me.

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:19:10 GMT

I stopped taking the cheap sleeping pills a few days ago, which were the only thing allowing me to sleep. I stopped taking them because they gave me really insane dreams. The last dream was of Louis (the kitten). He was sitting in the middle of a muddy street like the ones shown in those commercials which are aimed at getting you to donate money to send food and medicine to orphan children lying on the ground with flies in their mouths in underdeveloped countries. He was talking to me with the voice of the woman with the Irish accent who always does those commercials and he was telling me how, "For only 50 cents per day... the price of a cheap generic brand can of soda... you can feed me the really good Meow Mix food in the little orange, plastic container..."

That's when I decided I should stop taking those sleeping pills. They were only $1, which seemed excellent and normally I would be thrilled if the drugs I bought turned out to be laced with LSD, but not when I am trying to sleep.

So anyway, I'm going slightly mad.

Yesterday morning I bought about 20 containers of the kitten food in the orange plastic containers that Louis apparently likes so much.

And there you have it.

cheers

Malthusian check

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:11:22 GMT

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEEEEOOOOOPLE!

I took the kitten to the beach this morning.

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:15:58 GMT

I didn't sleep last night, so early this morning Louis and I went to the beach. He seemed very interested in the waves, although he did not go into the water. I think perhaps a few more visits to the beach and he may like to try it. I should bring my surfboard and put him on it, maybe?

It was very difficult to take a photograph of him at the beach because he would not let me put him in the sand (which is essentially a giant litter box, right?) for the first half an hour when I was still motivated to take a photo.

Louis photos:

You may never know how painfully difficult this photo was to take:

This was a few minutes later when he actually let me put him down for a second:

This has become his favorite table on which to sit:

And his favorite chair in which to pass out after an exhausting couple of minutes supervising from his favorite table:

Oh, and I finally caved into the pressure of the annoying notifications telling me to add an Honesty Box to my facebook profile. I'm going to delete it in a few days, so if you'd like to tell me how much you dislike me or something, now is your chance. My favorite entry that someone has written in it so far is:

"I ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm no more, either."

cheers

Peace March Report, Pictures, Video

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 17:49:36 GMT

The Peace March yesterday was great. We went with the Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice. I feel like my batteries have been fully recharged. It's great to see so many thousands of people screaming, chanting, singing, and writing the same thing you've been telling everyone and anyone you meet for years. The whole thing was absolutely exploding with creative outrage at the Bush Administration, while still being a peaceful rally and march. The goal of this one was to send a message to Congress to get US troops out of Iraq and judging by how many people attended, the fact that is was less like a march and more like a flood of people, I think they probably at least got the message. Whether or not they'll act on it obviously remains to be seen, but I have quite a bit of confidence in our new Democratic Congress. Maybe President Bush's escalation of unjust fighting will somehow be stopped?

All in all, very successful and quite fun. Also, I got to go to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum for a few minutes, which really made the day over the top fun. We walked through the new orchid exhibit, which was a bit like walking through a jungle of orchids.

Here are some pictures and a video or two, depending upon how motivated I am:

Beginning of the rally:

Capitol building in the background:

Some people were not thinking as peaceful as others. Here's a picture of a cardboard cutout of President Bush hanging from a noose:

Carrie took a picture of my good really bad hair day:

March in front of the Capitol building:

Video of part of the rally. "We support war resistors. They're our brothers, they're our sisters.":

I'm listening to my brother's fucking ridiculous stories of being drunk in 'Nawlins, so I'm sorry if any of this seemed vacuous and incoherent.

cheers

Who wants to come with me?

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 00:29:17 GMT

Mandate for Peace:
http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?list=type&type=185

(National march on Washington, D.C., on Saturday, January 27, to call on Congress to take immediate action to bring the troops home)

Let's Toast to Ten Good Things About 2006 by Medea Benjamin

As we close this year on the low of a devastating conflict in Iraq and a President contemplating sending yet more troops to fight and die in an unwinnable war, let us not forget that it was a year of many positive gains for the progressive movement. Here are just ten.

1. First, of course, is the November elections, when voters gave Republicans an “electoral thumpin’”. From California’s Jerry McNerney to Ohio’s Sherrod Brown to Minnesota’s Keith Ellison—Democrats all over the country won elections by slamming Bush’s war. The collapse of one-party rule in Washington reflected a spectacular repudiation of George Bush and handed Congress a mandate to get out of Iraq.

2. Latino communities throughout the United States took center stage in the spring of 2006, putting May Day back on the map as a day of grassroots mobilizing. From high school students to union members to community organizers, the spirit and energy of millions of immigrants demanding to be treated with dignity and respect took the nation by surprise. Immigrants not only carved out new political space, but in the age of e-activism, they breathed new life into the importance of “street heat.”

3. After decades of dictating the rules of the global economy, World Trade Organization talks fell flat on their face in 2006. Activists the world over celebrated its collapse after years of work to sink this titanic tool of empire. The work to derail corporate-dominated trade policies is far from over, with bilateral free trade agreements taking the place of the WTO. But the WTO and its model of globalization have been exposed as a dismal failure and opposition continues to grow worldwide.

4 George Bush opened 2006 with a State of the Union Address bemoaning our “addiction to oil”; 86 prominent Evangelicals called global warming a moral issue; Al Gore educated millions with his film, An Inconvenient Truth; and Time magazine declared the Earth is at a tipping point with melting ice, drought, wind, disease, and fires raging out of control. Historians may one day look back on 2006 as the “tipping-point” year when human societies—including the United States as the major superpower and the major polluter—woke up to the precarious state of our world and decided it was time to find solutions.

5. As a clear indicator of the shift from debating global warming to doing something about it, this year California passed the nation’s toughest legislation to curb greenhouse gases. The groundbreaking bill would require the state to cut back its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020—a reduction of approximately 25 percent. A smart politico, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saw the green writing on the wall and joined the state’s Democrats in setting a new environmental standard for the rest of the nation to follow.

6. In a year when Enron executives were found guilty of cooking the books, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for proving that poor people can be more reliable money managers than rich ones. Yunus’ “microcredit movement” that started out giving small loans to poor Bangladeshis, mostly women, mushroomed into a worldwide movement that has extended small loans to millions of the world’s poor. By awarding Yunus the Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee not only recognized the credit-worthiness of the poor but acknowledged that poverty is a threat to peace. As Yunus said in his acceptance speech, “I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy [for combating terrorism] than spending it on guns.”

7. While the fighting between Israel and Lebanon left over 1,000 dead, mostly Lebanese, a ceasefire was achieved after only 34 days. When the violence threatened to spiral out of control, the United Nations, the Arab League and individual governments stepped forward to insist on negotiations, to hammer out a ceasefire agreement and to provide international peacekeeping forces to serve as monitors. What could have been a prolonged conflict with devastating consequences for the entire region was halted. The lessons that SHOULD have been learned when the powerful Israeli military was unable to “win” the conflict through force are that military aggression will not solve the deep-seated problems in the region, and that negotiations and peace processes can work.

8. Speaking of dialogue, Jimmy Carter, with his new book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, took on the greatest taboo in US politics: the gross violation of Palestinian rights and the unqualified US government support for the Israeli government. Likening Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories to the racist white rule in South Africa, Carter has raised a firestorm of controversy. But finally, FINALLY, someone with the credentials of a statesman, a peacemaker and a friend of Israel is crying out against Israel’s hellish treatment of Palestinians. The public is embracing his views: his book quickly became a bestseller and he has been greeted by enthusiastic crowds at appearances around the country. Hopefully, our elected officials will start listening as well.

9. In 2006 we managed to stop the next war from starting! With the US bogged down in Iraq and the public sick of war, it has been impossible for the Bush administration to launch an attack against another country like Iran or North Korea. The army doesn’t have enough recruits to fight a new war and the politicians know it would be political suicide to reinstate the draft. Two major warmongers—Donald Rumsfeld and John Bolton—were forced out of power. And with Bush obligated to appoint a new ambassador to the United Nations, perhaps diplomacy will come back into fashion.

10. Across Latin America, elections have continued to bring a wave of progressive leadership to power. With the victories of Daniel Ortega and Rafael Correa, Nicaragua and Ecuador join Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Brazil as governments committed to improving the lives of the majority. As a sign of the radical changes in the region, Bolivia’s Evo Morales marked May 1 by nationalizing the country’s oil and gas resources. “After today,” he declared, “the hydrocarbons will belong to all Bolivians. Never again will they be in the hands of transnational corporations. Today the country--la patria--stands up.”

So here’s a toast to nations standing up to greedy transnationals, to people standing up to leaders who abuse their power, to humanity standing up to save the planet we inhabit—and to bringing our troops home in 2007!

PICTURES OF LOUIS PASTEUR II (1 being the microbiologist, 2 being the kitten)!

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:15:03 GMT

We got our kitty today.

Kitten:

If you're really bored, here are some pictures.

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 02:51:18 GMT

Dorm room 2006-2007.

The roommates and I finally cleaned and finished putting up our posters tonight. Here are some photos so you can see all my thiiiings and all my roommates' thiiiings, which will allow you to stalk me more thoroughly.

Here's the door, from the hall. We love Albert Einstein for fucking with all of Newton's laws so much that we've put him on the door.... (We did not put up the streamers or bizarre name hot air balloons.)

We put a lot of posters on that big blank wall space above Jen's bed. Jen is reading a crappy magazine in this picture because she decided that none of us know enough about sex and shite like that, so she's been reading it to us as we try to concentrate on our textbooks:

Slightly further to the left, there's Carrie's surfboard and Jen's closet door (the one that goes to Narnia):

Posters on Carrie's closet. The painting above her closet was done by Glenn a few decades ago when he was on LSD. It is called "Leucine in the Sky with Diamonds" Hahahaha.

Within Carrie's closet, you can see lots of shit-- bongos, ukulele case, dvds, folk song books, scottish drum, clothing, etc......

Further to the left, Carrie at her desk, my surfboard in the background, lots of posters (including my Florida's Freshwater Fishes poster, which is pretty excellent):

Little nook thing with my closet (you can see my lonely clarinet behind the surfboard). I'd show you my closet, but there isn't anything in it..... some clothing on the floor, my lab coat is the only thing hanging up, a suitcase on the top shelf:

Carrie and I have bunk beds (mine is the top [stripey] one, hers is the bottom [lame] one):

Bob Dylan poster above my bed, as well as my batman pillow, a stuffed dog, and part of the douche bag-y Che and Fidel poster:

A portion of my bookshelf (above my bed) as well as my stuffed whale (Shampoo, not Shamu):

Further down the bookshelf... more interesting things for you to memorize, scifi books and Bob Dylan electric (yuck):

Further along down the shelf... past the books to the records and nerdy physics poster, you can see the top of my desk towards the left:

My desk- science textbooks, crappiest computer in the world:

View from my desk looking towards Carrie's desk (Carrie hunched over her computer doing Ecology lab.... using my ecology lab report from 2 years ago to "assist" her). Also, you can see my timecard taped to my desk with nearly no hours filled out... I am a good teaching assistant:

My favorite bumper sticker, from where I worked as a Conservation Ecologist and a sheet of paper from Carrie's "Chopin Liszt" (Shopping List-- laugh at this now) telling me what not to forget:

Posters on the wall next to my desk- blue one is also from my Ecology job "If water is life, then water conservation must be our way of life", obligatory feminist poster, portion of the obligatory MBC pendant, Einstein photo and Bob Dylan photos, picasso guitar print, and obligatory anti-Bush pin collection, which you cannot see clearly:

Close-up of obligatory anti-Bush pin collection:

Obligatory defaced piece of Bush propaganda (Note: Carrie's father did not contribute to the campaign, he actively worked against it. We have no idea why President Bush's puppets sent him this):

What an alarming waste of time.

cheers

::::::ATTENTION suckaPUNCH! FANS::::::

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 05:33:24 GMT

suckaPUNCH! HAS A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT SOON entitled "No hardcore dancing in the kitchen" in which we feature such classic suckaPUNCH! hits as "XxXlacerateXmyXfaceXandXletXmeXbleedXonXyourXjeansXandXwithXmyXlastXounceXofXbloodXI'llXwriteXyouXaXpoemXxX" and "XxXIXlistenedXtoXBrahmsXwhenXheXwasXstillXundergroundXxX".

And, you'll love the instrumentation on the new album! We ditched the drums and just had about 200 people gather and crack their knuckles as we sang with our heads in buckets of water while a rabbit hopped on a keyboard. It is brilliant.

IN STORES NEXT WEEK!

cheers queers

Friends Only.

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 18:14:51 GMT

Comment.

I used to be sculling101 and if you'd like to stalk me, I suggest you go there and read up on me. I'm fascinating, I assure you.

Add me and I'll surely add you. I don't have any real friends anyway.