we all need a little sunshine

Visit Yee Haw Industries (here and here) for nice hillbilly letterpress work, and useful info like: "American Goddess Miss Tammy kept her cosmetologist license just in case the music biz didn't work out. Fact."

Yeah, but did she really have a tattoo that said "possum"? That would put some sunshine into the grey day of this office worker, tightly holding onto her unused printmaker past. (After just admitting how terrified I'd be to let go of a steady paycheck and do something that feels important, and like mine, I admire craftspeople like these...)

saved

I don't usually do the email forwarding or posting of cute animal pictures. However, check out Dozer, the new arrival at Catskill Animal Sanctuary. I haven't met Dozer, but this video reminds of Dylan, who I met, fed with a baby bottle, and played with like a dog at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. These boys are rescued veal calves. I was vegan many years before getting to know the personalities of various animals, but since I have, I can't explain how amazing it is to meet pigs enjoying tomatoes and chickens roosting in trees and giddy goats, and to play tag with a calf. After you've visited a sanctuary, you won't be able to tell me why Dozer is different from your dog.

pickle

Status update (a): Fermented Beverages

I "made" my own kombucha mother rather than ordering one or harassing people I know for handouts, and I did it based on the thin instructions of the people I've come to call the "kombucha femme boys". (You know from me that's a loving term—aggro-sincere.) I was discouraged for a full month, poking at it and sniffing it. Apparently, there's no warm enough place in my house, not even on the shelf right behind the wood stove, so it just took a dang long time. But...success! A mother is born, and she's happily floating in a new batch, looking like a crazy jellyfish.

Then there's the ginger beer. Tasty to me, lemony and fizzy, but too strong. No-one looking for a soft drink experience would like it. Again, I think it's the heat cold thing: too cool, so that in waiting extra long for the fizz to come, the acid flavor overrode the sweetness. I'll try again in warmer months.

Status update (b): Root Cellar

The veggies are going strong. Hudson valley squashes and radishes and potatoes and apples and onions and garlic and carrots are still fresh and crisp after being under the cover of darkness since late October. Why haven't I done this in previous winters? Why doesn't everyone (who doesn't live in a tropical clime) do this? I'm having a conspiracy moment, convinced our lack of veg storage knowledge was perpetrated by Green Giant or somebody equally as cunning.

Status update (c): Merit Badge cute news

The woman who's daughter's girl scout vest kicked off the abovegroundpool merit badges awards contacted us to say she likes the idea of recycling scout merit badges for righteous activist activities. Unlikely scouting bond!

my economic downturn

I taught art classes for years, and the struggle students are up against always seems the same: they've been told how to see, so can't see on their own. Because it's how I am, I got myself all up in arms (over and over) about how kids aren't taught to think, just to memorize facts, including some untrue. (Right, who are your historical "facts" coming from anyway?) I've talked for years (ok, maybe now decades) about teaching critical thinking to young kids, maybe second graders, so that these poor things wouldn't get to college and still not have a clue how to think about something for themselves. Too bad I only talked for decades, and have never taught critical thinking skills to anyone.

I'm moving on. My new obsession is home economics. When I was in high school, a home ec class was offered, but no self respecting feminist girl took it, and a couple of boys took it as a joke. (I fought against taking typing, too, computers not being on the scene yet, and not wanting to grow up to be somebody's secretary. That's a separate but related story, where my first jobs were as a secretary. ) Those couple of boys taking home ec didn't learn anything. Sure, they carried their egg around, in theory learning to parent. But they didn't learn about say, contraception, at my Catholic school. They didn't learn how to cook or sew or can or plumb or use tools or grow a garden. And they sure as hell didn't learn anything about money.

I'm on this rant because the student loan monsters are after me. I owe them more than $50,000 for an advanced degree in studio art. I borrowed enough money to buy a house in order to spend two years in the armpit of New Jersey learning zero practical skills and zero technical skills; having most creative impulses beaten out of me by relentless critique and theory; seeing the nasty underside of the New York art who-knows-who business (let's call it what it is); making a few friends; and spending nearly every waking minute a) teaching, b) producing artwork that wasn't as interesting or nuanced as what I'd made in undergrad school, and c) discussing with my shrink whether anti-depressants were really necessary.

The anti-depressants WERE necessary, even with the awfulness that getting off them brought. All that was with zero understanding of the impact of borrowing tens of thousands of dollars.

I now understand why taking money seriously is important, even when you hate the stuff. If there are any young people out there who read this blog, pay attention:

1. DO NOT BORROW MONEY FOR SCHOOL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Yes, you want to get away from home. Yes, you've been told you'll be a flunky if you don't go straight to college. Yes, I'm sure you have visions of the fabulous career you'll have, and the multitudes of debts you'll be able to afford. Unless you're 100% positive things will turn out as you plan, it doesn't make sense to borrow money, even if you're studying to become a doctor or lawyer. Take my friend who was at the top of his law school class, and writes poetry instead of practicing law. He learned he just couldn't stand the game of law in this country. Look at all those doctors who leave fancy practices behind to help those living in poverty and suffering from AIDS or dengue, because they realized facelifts weren't why they got into medicine. These doctors can't afford their student loan payments, I promise you.
   
   There are scholarships available. Public schools have some brilliant teachers in them—find those teachers and stick to them. Community colleges aren't bad. If you must go to an out of state school, live there for a year first and get residency in the state. Ivy league means nothing, unless you're a fancy pants rich person who can afford to pay, and you live in the fancy pants world where such things as where one got their education matters. Find a way to pay for school, or better yet, move to a country where they believe in educating their citizens and have free schools.
   
   You won't be a loser if you don't go to college straight out of high school, or (gasp!), even if you don't go to college at all.
   
   
2. PAYING RENT SUCKS. If you do go to school, you plan to be there for several years. Why not get together with a few friends you trust and buy a ramshackle cottage? Sell it or rent it to other students in a few years. Four years + of rent is not a small amount of money. Add it up!
   
   
3. DON'T GET CREDIT CARDS. They're pure evil. Better to go hungry or ask a friend for help than charge your groceries.
   
   
4. START A BUSINESS. It doesn't matter what it is. Make and sell t-shirts, sell crafts, distribute food at a farmer's market. Be a bicycle delivery service. It really doesn't matter, but picking something you enjoy is helpful. The point of this is for some cash, made solely by you and not by working for the man at the corner fast food joint. It'll help make you believe in yourself. It'll teach you some basic skills about self-management, force you to learn about communication and dealing with money.

This is a weird topic for an activist space, for sure, but here's the thing: money and debt change lives. I thought I'd share instead of ranting to those for whom it's too late to make a difference. I'm just now learning to to take care of a home, to make due when money is tight. My hands shake when I get into the nitty gritty of starting my own business or organization. These things are like languages, so much harder to learn later on. Especially under the looming weight of student loans.

animal rights terrorists

I've clearly been concentrating too hard on covering up my garlic breath to notice the connection! The cartoon is by Tony Peyser, and I came across it on the important Green Scare site Green is the New Red.

water of the season

I'm obsessed with water. And right now, when I encounter the (crazy!) thick river ice every day, I'm also obsessed with spring. I went back today and reread some cycle of life writing to help convince myself everything's not dead out there. After all, that white stuff has been hanging around for a while now, and is dirty and frozen and unwelcoming. For this same reason, I was glad to receive the 20x200 newsletter, with this super summer photo through a wet screen by Matt Tischler. We've all seen lots of underwater photo shots, but here's some steam, fog and ice to keep you paying attention.

Rain by Matt Tischler, steam by Charmante, fog by Alingham, and ice by BB Photoworks.

If you aren't familiar, 20x200 is one of those "cheap art" deals. It's not out and out activism, but important nonetheless, cuz it keeps art accessible.

more snow today

by Gunther Uecker

signs of change

1. Beautiful posters from Exit Art's Signs of Change show, curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee.
2. Brooklyn scaffolding used as an "ad" for a JustSeeds art show, from f.trainer.

use what you've got

There's a guy in Poughkeepsie composing music, amazing music, by hitting the bridge with various tools. This idea isn't so new...people who haven't had much have created musical instruments out of whatever they could find for eons. Those of us who ride the NYC subways are intimately familiar with the bucket drummers who keep us dancing on our commutes.

It does still seem novel to be playing the Mid-Hudson bridge. The compositions will be complete and made public this summer, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the Hudson River. You can listen to a clip here.

And, I don't know if there will be drummers there, but this summer will also see the opening of the Walkway over the Hudson. This railroad bridge, just north of (and visible from) the Mid-Hudson Bridge, was the longest bridge in the world when it opened in 1889. In the 1970s a fire damaged the bridge, and it's been out of use since. It's being re-engineered as a park and walkway over the river, connecting rail trails on either side, and promises to be a stunning public space. Parks and paths and views and drum music make for happy living.

moongazing

Go outside and look up!

Tonight, the biggest, brightest moon of the year, a perigee full moon will be lighting up the night. They say that if there's snow on the ground to bounce the moonlight, it will create enough light to read a newspaper. Here in the Hudson Valley we're mid snowstorm, and I suspect it won't clear up quickly enough to give us a look. So please howl at this huge moon for me. Perigee is the point where the moon gets closest to the Earth in orbit, and this is the one and only chance to look so closely this year.

the value of archives

I sat shiva for a friend's father this week, and was once again reminded of the importance of activist archives. The man who died had been part of the armed resistance against the Nazis in World War II, but many people there mourning hadn't heard of partisans, or at least not until James Bond played a role remarkably similar to the life of Simon Trakinski in a little movie called Defiance. I remember visiting Polish ghetto sites and concentration camps and being shocked to learn of the many rebellions, escapes, and armed uprisings. My education about Nazis and concentration camps had always only represented defeated, bewildered victims.

Fortunately, an archivist has been hard at work documenting the Jewish Partisans (blowing up railway lines!), and recording the stories of those still living.

Other valuable archives include:

• Active Stills documents Palestine and Israel on a daily basis;
  
• Direct Action Wiki provides information on (what else?) the tactics of direct action;
  
• The Lesbian Herstory Archives have anything and everything you need to know about dyke activism;
  
• ahem! ahem! abovegroundpool activist archive, to which you should submit photos, videos, and information regarding your saboteur activities, fighting back, or creating new possibilities.

on queer animals

The founder and director of Mercy for Animals, Nathan Runkle, was gay bashed a few days ago, putting him in very serious condition. In a culture where people like to "focus" or pretend that the thing they are paying attention to is more pressing than other things, an incident like this reminds us it ain't so.

Mercy for Animals is one of a handful of groups that go to events like gay rodeos and try to point out that it's destructive to both the animals and the queers. OK, yeah, I have a special dislike for rodeos since I come from place that has "rodeo vacation" instead of spring break. But c'mon, it's a good example of why putting on all the worst parts of masculinity like a costume, in magnified form, is grotesque. I loves me all kinds of queers, even some with stubble and swaggers, but there's too much macho worship going on with our beloved gay boys. Exerting control over others doesn't make one stronger, or more virile. The gay rodeo is just one site of many many that shows why animal advocates need to care about and understand queers, and why queers should extend their care to other groups. Queer bashing of animal rights leaders is another.

If you think your coming out struggle was the worst form of torture, think again. (Thought bubble here: factory farms.) If you think queers have it good because Ellen reruns show on TV and gay marriage is legal in CT & VT, you don't know a whole lot about queer life. If you think immigrants or homeless people or those on welfare are treated decently in the U.S., well, you live in an insular world.

All this isn't bad news. Sometimes when you reach out beyond your comfort zone, bother to learn about someone else and their struggle, it is very rewarding. You make connections, both emotional and intellectual ones. And, hey, then we're off to a good start in making things better, for a whole lot of people and animals.

I'm not trying to make light of a horrible thing that happened to this activist. But he is interested in opening people's eyes with it, and compelling them to action. If you care about your community, take the invitation.