The anti-Columbus Day rally at City Hall went pretty well. It was a bit cold, but I saw a lot of people I know and met even more. About 99% of the feedback we got from passing motorists was positive. The only comment I could make out that was negative came from an F-150 whipping around the corning yelling “timber!” This was obviously in reference to our Save the Peaks banner. Oh well. It was probably really funny to him, though pretty douche-baggy to us. One woman slowed her car, read every single banner, then honked yelling “right on!”

Afterwards a lot of us went to Applesauce for open mic night. Holy crap, it was packed! It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of these; Aaron must really be working hard to get the word out. I’m going to start going more. Maybe I’ll come up with an act. The banner I helped to hold at the rally, “We Do Not Celebrate Genocide,” was hung up on the stage to promote the theme of the evening. As usual, the acts were pretty hit or miss, but worth attending nonetheless.

About 12 or so acts in, I sauntered over to 111 and saw a couple bands, picked up This Runs On Blood’s new record. Numbers, a band from San Fran, were all really nice, but I thought they were a little boring. It was pretty late by the time they started playing though.

It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is grading papers and stacking wood….so it was a nice break.

I woke up this morning and found a bloody hole in my dog’s leg. The skin around the wound was burned. I have reason to believe it is a bb gun or pellet gun shot wound. The vet was perplexed because he couldn’t find anything lodged inside of her. She received 4 staples.

If anyone has any useful information, please let me know. To a possible trigger-happy-douch-bag neighbor: you’ll be very sorry when I find you.

Artist, musician, and friend of mine, Chris, painted me something based off a list I gave him of my favorite colors, words, images, and ideas. From that list, his process for determining which words he’ll use from the list is a pretty simple one. He read the list several times and focused on the words that appealed to him as an individual and as an artist. This is what those of us who study language mean when we speak of the impossibility of an author being absent from any piece of rhetoric, whether it be an essay, a poem, a news report, a song, or, even a painting.

Anyway, the words he drew out from my list are: the moon, ancient, sleeping (I love sleeping), and mountains. He also used my favorite colors, which I just labeled “earth tones, with purple in moderation.” The original sketch had a monkeywrench looming in the background, but Chris decided it would detract from the rest of the work (but it’s still there in spirit…in the title).

When I first saw it, I really liked it, though wasn’t sure if it resembled me. Then I thought about a line, one that I either heard, read, or wrote myself—I don’t remember, but it still sums up what is important to me—“we are just as much a part of our environment as our environment is a part of us.”

The sleeping figure, though I can’t grow a magnificent beard like that (and great beards should always be described as magnificent, I think), caught me off guard because even though I love sleeping, I don’t think such an illustration is very complimentary. But I think it captures how I feel right now. I feel in between destinations.

I just finished grad school and, during that chaotic time, I was thinking that a PhD. would be my obvious next step, but now I’m having second thoughts. I’m not sure I could sit though more lectures, thinking, reading, writing, and theorizing about the state of the world. I know it’s messed up and I’m tired of thinking and talking about it. I’m beginning to see my niche and I’m not sure more education will enhance that or not. Now that I’m not taking classes, I’m simply teaching them, I already realize and value the time I have to dedicate to myself and activist causes.

I’ve been talking to people and I’ve got some projects and collaborations on the horizon and I have realized that that is what I love. The column I write, the workshops I give for the MARS Project, the environmental work that I do….these are the things that are important to me and these are the things that I love. All I need to do is figure out a way to translate that passion and those activities to a living wage. I’m not saying a PhD. is out, it’s just that I’m not sure that’s what I want to do immediately…and this is for many reasons.

Activists, radicals, deep ecologists, writers, anarchists…all of us…are eventually confronted with having to negotiate the tension between ideology and a paycheck. It’s rough that the same system you seek to change is the same system that you are dependent on to live. I need a job that will fulfill both, but I know it’s ultimately up to me. If I work from 8 until 5 or 6 every day, that leaves 4 or 5 hours a day that I can use for my own projects. Maybe this is why I haven’t even thought of dating anybody during the last year. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. I know I’m not the only one that faces these issues.

Here is a little garden booty. This is most of what we’ve got a regular supply of. The egg-plant is thrown in the mix every now and then. So is an onion, when we need one. These habeneros are like little A-bombs, their so hot.

I’ve also been hanging out with these guys, who have been munching on this parsley for the past week. They’re chubbier every day. I’m glad someone is eating the parsley.

I’m in the process of rehashing many of my links. Some people stopped writing. I need to replace them with people who are.

One great blog I’ve recently been reading is called feminist allies. It’s a group blog with great discussions. Lately they’ve been jivin’ about men’s involvement in sexual violence and prevention.

I updated my side bar links. I deleted “on activism” because it’s outdated, the language is too academic (it was part of an old class project), and it could be improved significantly. I updated the content in the “about” and “me stuff” sections. I just updated the information and added/deleted some stuff. It was time.

I deleted my calendar section because I stopped paying attention to it. Maybe I’ll rekindle it in the near future. The post catagory, “local events,” should cover that stuff anyway.

I also added a “before you comment” section, which is two posts down….saved for posterity!

Sometimes, what is common sense to one person is very hard for others to comprehend. I’m learning to accept this. Every now and then, I have to repost this because it is easier than reminding individuals.

The rules for commenting on this site are simple:

1. Make your comment relevant to the topic in the post.
2. Do not directly attack another through name-calling or threats.
3. Think before you click “submit comment.” Ask yourself if your comment meaningfully addresses any of the issues brought up in my post or any of the comments. If the comment functions only to waste my time and yours, don’t submit it (see 3a for further explanation)
4. I am free to break any of these rules as I see fit.

If you break rule #2, I will delete your comment. If any of your comments break these rules, I’ll probably give you a break and merely make you look like a jackass. If you become a repeat problem, I will block your IP address altogether.

3a. I’m so so so tired of comments that attempt to turn complex issues into “liberal” v. “conservative” problems. The world is not that easy. Sorry. I am not a liberal. I hate that word and I hate when people use it. Phrases like “you people,” or “you liberals” are clear indications of this. If I don’t identify with the word, than it is name-calling and that is how I take it (see #2 again).

If you’re not cool with any of this, go somewhere else. There are zillions of blogs that love that kind of discourse. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I think difference of perspective is great. I do, however, expect everyone to be respectful. Even my 18-year-old students understand this.

“….I just finished writing my column for the Oct. ish of The Noise. I wrote about water, why I love monsoon season, and how we should stop killing The Verde River….with references to Nick Drake, Modest Mouse, Mozart, and Napalm Death. Trust me, it all comes together beautifully.”

As soon as Chuck tells me it’s October-worthy, I’ll post it here.

Dearest readers of The Noise,