Details irrelevant to the bigger things in life
We’re leaving for Black Mesa in less than a week. I don’t know who we will be staying with, but we have all our details worked out on this end including a massive bulk foods order which came in today at work. I call it “massive” because it’s nearly $200 (a fortune!) in food for two people for one month. Here we go. If you wish to communicate, this week is the time because we will be incomunicado until September.
sexist assholes
As I was leaving work today, two of the contractors who had been working on the gutters all day were sitting in the bed of their truck. One of them yelled as I walked by. Even with my headphones on and Propaghandi blaring I heard “hey sexy!”. I kept walking in the direction of the bus stop and they yelled “hey!” and then “HEY!!!” in that deep voice you might use to stop a little kid who’s about to run headfirst into traffic. It was pretty shitty. I was going to ask “who are you talking to?” but after that patriarchal yell I just yanked my headphones off and yelled back, asking what the problem was. They both jumped and pointed to one another like they were embarassed to be caught or something. It is so frustrating not only to not have a response, but to be put in the position of needing to have a response.
Understatement of the year
We haven’t heard back from our contact at Black Mesa. Am getting worried…which is silly because I only made one attempt so far…what will we do if, after all this planning, we can’t go? It is too early to call the west coast. Clearly the only thing to do right now is to do something else.
It rained all day last night and yesterday which almost made me cry with relief. I have such a different relationship with the weather now: rain as life force, not event spoiler or day wrecker. The garden is doing just fine. We have peppers, greens, and more peppers, and two tomatillo plants staking claim on every inch of space between the tomatoes and the mustard. Who knew they grew so big? Yesterday, out of necessity, Jacob and I found ourselves in one of those department stores with fluorescent lights and tile floors and rows of semi expired soups at discount prices. I don’t know if it was the sheer quantities of stuff or the hospital-white atmosphere, but somehow it felt like I was being irradiated. Even the plastic sand pails and picnicware looked radioactive. I think I prefer the garden and the mountains to big box stores.
RIP Antioch
So, Antioch closed today , and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Well it didn’t close “today”, it announced the formal decision to close its doors one year from now in July 2008. It’s one of those things, I guess, that strikes from time to time: a sense of loss of place, of a place you knew and loved, of a place that shaped you and someplace you loved as well. Pretty insignificant in the grand scheme, but very significant to you. I suddenly remember telling my friend Amy that I didn’t want to go to Antioch, that I wasn’t ready for college, and never would be. I’ve known for awhile that the college was failing, and even when I was a student we all knew it had seen its heyday in the 70’s, and declined from there. But still, in 1999 we had some amazing times I can’t even describe. My college career was short, and I don’t regret that, but I do feel sad that we (my friends and I) never got to be “the alumni who came back”, you know, the folks who come to visit only to find new people where they themselves once were. Coming around full circle, as it were. This all sort of feels like the Vogue closing, only marginally less emotionally intense. Because I’ve been away from Antioch so long, I suppose.
All right, enough. This post is inexcusably self-indulgent. I guess the larger point is that, whatever its faults, Antioch existed as a school of free thought and liberation in an educational atmosphere of stringency and hierarchy. Maybe later when this all makes more sense I’ll come up with these points more succinctly but for now this will have to do. It’s really cool that this school existed in the first place. May it re-open in 2012 (!!!) to a brighter future.
very simply, must see. old commercials!
http://www.80stvthemes.com/commercials/
all children of the 80s, even if you loathe consumerism like I (especially if you loathe consumerism), this link here is an interesting look into mass commercialism and “feminism” (check out the Barbie video). Oh…trickle-down economics.
!! is all there is to say.
http://www.retrojunk.com/ (a little more fun, and Thundercats, a little bit kitsch but hey)
Weird as they are, these spots provide an odd sense of comfort from time to time.
rainbow blossom: land of skinny emo boys
Today I brought my boss a copy of one of my aunt’s romance novels (meaning my aunt wrote them, not merely posseses them). We had been discussing the Harlequin novels and I suddenly remembered this bizarre fact (“my aunt writes romance novels!”) in the usual ‘Aramie has either something crazy to add to conversations, or nothing’ way. Between work drama, cheap novels, and the very recent personal tragedy of a family friend I have had plenty of time and reason to contemplate relationships, what they mean and what they never should. How strong community is everything. How you cannot be ”in love” and unfaithful. How getting stronger, better, and kinder is all there is to life. Very simple truths that seem to somehow, sadly, never get taken seriously by lots of people. But then I have to say, the fact that I understand these truths means that countless people who already got them were able to teach them to me. Good folks is out there, but the bad ones do the damage. Sorry to end on this note, but there’s a lot more thinking to do still.
I just learned:
when you heat foods above 115 degrees the enzymes are destroyed (they start to degrade around 105). Enzymes are, essentially, the energy or “life force” of food. They are catalysts and assist in absorbtion and utlitization of food. Vitamins and minerals are also lost when food is heated. Raw and living = beautiful!
And this is my obsessive health-nut post if the week. Long life to everyone!
ponies means horses
This morning, up in northern KY, we went out for a drive and found a small horse show in the works at a barn on the side of the road. The kids were so cute, mostly around 10-11 with lots of little paint ponies. I immediately thought of Keri cause one girl had a paint draft horse (unusual!!) and was taking him around the jump course. It was fun. So many memories (and promises of things to come?). All I know is, it brightened my day. Ponies!
prehistoric bones
The remains of at least 33 Natives were found less than a couple of miles away the other day. The bones date from humans who lived about 3000 BCE, and were found during construction of a multi-million dollar condo project.
Jacob and I went over to see the site last night. Obviously the place was guarded and we couldn’t do much but drive past it, but still. It was awfully surreal. Imagine what our current habitats looked like that long ago…that is, if you can even conceive time in this manner (which I think I cannot). This morning I lit some very special sage and sweetgrass in honor of the disturbance of more than 5,000 years.
Fast, days 1-2ish
So I’ve begun the SOA fast and I’m trying not to think too much about it. Probably I am thinking way too much about it. It’s going well though, much better (so far) than my water fast in Moklei last year. This time I prepared by eating only fruits n veggies and now am simply drinking juiced combos those foods. Am starting to get a slight headache but nothin major.
Had a little philosophical crisis today at work when I felt, more strongly than ever, the ridiculousness of a system where most folks work like dogs for a few minor folks to become rich. “That’s just the way it is” well, the same was once said of slavery, and the 7 day work week. Ah, well…
Time for a little relaxing fun maybe. So much of my time is usually spent on cooking, now what do I do?!
