better luck next time

Back from the Cape, now its off to Maine. I hope everyone is enjoying the end of the year, and lets hope that 2002 is a better year for the world. Here are some suggestions for resolutions that you could make for a more peaceful planet.

Resolve to:
1. vote in every election you can, and do the homework to find out who is a worthy candidate (if no one is, write in someone!)
2. volunteer in your community
3. use human powered transportation whenever possible (the less petroleum we use, the fewer wars we'll get into)
4. take time to stop and smell the cosmos
5. love someone
6. learn stuff (keep that old brain busy)
7. express yourself (be nice now!)
8. plant something and watch it grow
9. celebrate diversity (don't be ashamed to be different, or shame others who are different from you, unless they are greedy assholes, of course :)
10. And no matter what you resolve, make sure to spend as much time as possible enjoying life!

Now, everyone have a happy New Year! I'll be celebrating with a bunch of hippy christian musicians and my mom. Pretty funny, huh? But they are all very cool people, and I can't think of too many other people I would want to spend the holiday with. So I'll have fun. See you next year...

screech

My (errrch) roommate (screeeech) is (errrrrreee) learning (errrrch) play the (eewwweeeich) violin. (Errrreeeereuuuuchh.)

Hopefully, he won't want to bring it to the solstice party... :)

Hey, happy solstice! (I can't stress that enough.)

happy solstice!

If you listen carefully
in the stillness of the night
you can hear peace.
Remember that sound, when dawn breaks
and bring it into your day.

I should have thought of that

Another Google search that brought the masses (well one of them, anyway) here was "sticker god bless whole world". Cute. I don't have one of those, but I do have an "America bless Goddess" one. And you can always get a whole pile of stickers, with whatever saying you desire, custom-made at either Unamerican Activities or The Sticker Guy.

didn't people used to die of consumption?

I went to a forum with Juliet Schor, a Harvard/BC sociologist, and writer of the book "The Overworked American". Her latest tome (actually it's pretty darn slim, more like a big zine, really) is about America's obsession with overconsumption. The best sound bite of the evening was: "More people filed for bankruptcy this year than graduated from college". Other than that it was a fairly dull talk. But, there were a few folks in attendence who hadn't already heard the news about how badly we're screwing ourselves, our kids, and our planet. They seemed to get something out of her speech.

As for the future politicalization of yours truly, last night I attended what had to be the shortest political meeting ever. This was the Committee Committee (no shit, there is one!), and they were there to vote on the appointments for the Mayor's bike committee. The three guys (yep, all men) sat down and immediately made a motion to approve all of us. One gentleman pointed out that, at least, the appointees names needed to be read off, for the record. He did so, mangled my name profoundly, to which I responded by spelling my name for the clerk, for the record. Then someone seconded the motion, and thirded (?) it, and it was a done deal. Tomorrow, I get to be sworn in by the mayor. I'm just hoping that she doesn't make me agree to asking for some god dude's help. If anyone has any humorous, nonoffensive, but serious retort to officials asking you to swear "so help me god", let me know asap...

Last note of the evening: Out of curiosity I got a little site meter (the little rubik's cubey thing up there), and discovered my suspicions were almost entirely right, two of you (maybe three) are, occasionally, reading my journal. Hey guys! On the otherhand, I did get a couple of entirely random people from odd searches on Google. One from a search for WTO stuff (I put a link up to the virtual sit-in a few weeks ago), and the other for the McCain-Feingold Bill (which I mentioned in the Granny D. commentary). Funny. I wonder how far down those people dug to get to my site?

punk crafts: take two

So, you didn't make it to the Bizarre Bazaar? Well fear not, you can still get diy/punk crafts online! (Or just look at the stuff to get ideas, and make it yourself, like I'm doing.) My favorite is the punk sock monkey.

While I'm in the mood, here's a quick diy craft gift idea for you: A vinyl LP candy dish.

You'll need an unwanted 12" record (for you youngins, that's a vinyl disc with a little hole in the center) and an empty tin can, an oven, and, preferably, a cookie sheet. Put the can on the cookie sheet, with the closed end up. Then put the record on top of the can. (It's a can sandwich!) Make sure that the can only touches the paper label on the record (so that the vinyl doesn't stick to the metal). Then bake the whole thing for about 5 minutes at a medium temperature (try 300° F). Keep an eye on the record, and watch it melt. When it's all nice and droopy, take it out. It will be a funky, wiggly shape. While the vinyl is still hot, you can carefully mold it, if the shape isn't quite even. Obviously, wear some kind of oven mit or something while handling it (you'll want to save your fingers for later activities, I'd imagine). Let the bowl cool, and voila! You've got a pretty spiffy, and very punk, candy dish for your coffeetable. You could also use it to put keys in, or jewelry, (unused) condoms, or any other random small items. Be creative!

If you want to make the bowl suitable for other, messier, items like chips or dip, you can try your hand at filling the bottom with clear acrylic stuff (make sure to temporarily seal the bottom of the hole with some masking tape, first). This stuff is available at craft stores, but I warn you, it's messy to work with.

Wheee!

This excellent web site has a similar idea, and the directions are more elaborate. Plus, there is a picture!

gender bias

It occured to me that my little mini-rant about older people dating teenagers was completely heterosexually biased. Sorry if I offended anyone. I'm ususally one of the most pro-queer straight folks out there. But when it comes to ruminations on love, I tend to forget about other people's preferences. But the advice still stands for same sex relationships. Honest, lasting love is all about equality. And there's just no way a mature adult can escape the tendency to feel superior to a teenager. And that's true no matter what gender you're doing the hanky panky with.

Speaking of kids. I just happened to catch a few minutes of the kid's show "Blues' Clues". It's pretty darn cool. Most tv shows out there are crap but, occasionally, someone does it right.

punk rock crafts

I have now seen it all. Somerville's first annual Bizarre Bazaar was held tonight. It was a holiday craft show by and for the punk/DIY set. Wallets made out of duct tape, and only duct tape. S&M whips made out of bicycle parts. (Hey, that was MY idea!) Beautiful stained glass ornaments made out of old (real) monkey brain slides, from an abandoned research facility. And plenty of zines. Fun stuff. And, for someone who is not at all a punk (though I was such a wannabe in college) I certainly knew a lot of the people there. My favorite is Jef Czekaj. He does the comic "R2D2 is an indy rocker" and plays in several bands with one of my old roommates. He's also got a strip in Nikelodeon's magazine. (How did a punk get into a mainstream kids' magazine?!) The fact that he not only remembers me from a couple of years ago, but that he also complimented me on my letter in the Phoenix, certainly makes him cool in my book. :)

Surprisingly, the other Jef (the EVEN COOLER one!) didn't know about this event, even though the store where he works, Flyrabbit, was selling stuff there. Sucks to be him.

I had about an hour to kill before the Bazaar opened, so I stopped into the Davis Square Goodwill, nearby. I came out with some of the coolest thrift scores ever. A working orange juicer from the 50's, a zen chime box that usually costs upwards of $50 in fancy schmancy museum shops but that cost me only a buck, and of course, another bike. No, I did not need another bike. But it was five bucks. And it's in nearly working order. It's got one of those super cushy, spring loaded seats and I just couldn't resist. It's an addiction, I know.

PS. I noticed that I mispelled Windoze wrong in my earlier post. But I left it "Wondoze", since it has even more of an ironicality to it that way. It was a Freudian slip that happened again just now. Maybe my brain just can't grasp the concept that a Microsoft product has the word "win" in it. or maybe it's just because the "i" and the "o" are right next to eachother on the keyboard.

I have a deckled edge

Quiet week. Only one committee related meeting, which was attended by not one, but two 20-something jock-townie guys from the Massachusetts government. You just KNEW that they drove SUV's with little American flags attached to their antennas. They were entertaining, if nothing else.

I found out that my Dad and Stepmother are ditching the family for Christmas this year. They've been planning a vacation for months now, but had neglected to mention it to me... I've realized that I'm just not a big priority in their lives. They love me and all, but I think that they would be perfectly happy if they saw me once or twice a year. Fortunately, my mom can never get enough of me!

Found out at work that they are really, really serious about forcing us to work on Wondoze machines, against all reason and common sense. PC's are ok if you just want to type letters and numbers on a screen, but ask it to deal with postscript fonts, graphics, or open an undefined document and the things just get all panic attacky. So, I'm looking very seriously for another job. (The CPPAX thing fell through. Too many applicants, and I was overqualified.) In the meantime my coworkers and I have decided that they need to give us raises Combat pay, if you will, for having to deal with an irrational operating system.

On a final note, a roommate bumped into the Jason a few days ago and reported back to me. Apparently, the the woman who he was waxing poetic about (immediately after he dumped me and vehemently claimed that he was not at all interested in being in a relationship), dumped him. And it turns out that she was 19 years old. 19!

Here's some advice for you men out there: If you are still dating teenagers when you're 30 (or even 29, 28, 27...), you are clearly not interested in a serious relationship. You should just go out and get a prostitute, and save everyone a headache. (Just remember to wear those condoms!) The same advice goes for older women, except that chances are slim that the kid is gonna have any feelings for you, beyond those in his dick, so he's probably not going to be too bothered when you decide to ditch him.

my fifteen minutes

Boston area readers can check out yours truly in an article in the City Section of the Boston Globe. And, I was right, the reporter did make note of my keen bicycling fashion sense. Unfortunately there is no photo to go along with the article. Though, there is another article a couple of pages away that has a great picture of a local mother and ALL three of her kids on a bike, as well as a guest, too. They've rigged up a sort of scoop thing on the front of the bike which holds the smaller kids and a trail-a-bike on the back for the older one. (Sorry, no link. The Globe website doesn't seem to have this one online.) This family was on my Rolling Blackout bike ride. They are cool people.

Also, if you are in the Boston area, check out the show at the Oni Gallery in Chinatown. It's hard to find, but it's worth it. The show that is going on for the next few weeks is a collection of engineering art worthy of Rube Goldberg. The show was organized by Dana Moser, who teaches in the Studio for Interrelated Media, the coolest department at MassArt. Check out the web site for his class on Computer-Controlled Media.

couch party

While trying to follow the critical mass group to the Couch Guy's party, I managed to loose everyone. I had to go all the way home and get the address. When I looked at the map, I almost decided to forego the party, because it was located in an area of Somerville which is nearly impossible to get to. It's one of those places where, because of some really insane urban planning, you can see where you want to go but just can't get there. But, I was determined to have some fun, so I hopped back on my bike and ventured out into no-woman's land. I did eventually find the place, and even had a little fun. Immediately, upon passing the doorstep, a bowl of Borscht was thrust into my hands, and, yet another person said "so THIS is Turil!". It was also refreshing to be at a party where getting plastered was not the goal. And, I was hit on by yet another geeky older gentleman. I think I've hit a personal best this week. Sadly, none of these guys is quite the turtle-type, though they all are very nice.

After the party, I came home to find all of my roommates hanging out, eating chocolate, and singing acoustic guitar versions of Pokemon songs. I love my roommies.