A Toast

I was recently digging around in some papers and found this toast that I recited at a party some time ago. Thought I'd put it here for posterity's sake.

Where e're with friends I drink,

Of one I often think.

She's pretty, she's witty, and so true;

So with joy and great delight,

I'll drink to her tonight.

Za vas Chloe, to you!

this is how it all begins

"We stop buying our music from corporate-owned stores, our food from supermarkets and our clothing from malls. We become bottom-feeders, always foraging at the lowest levels of consumption. In every purchase we make, we obsessively search for the wisest, most enlightened deals. We punish the big, the super  and the mega. We reward the small, the slow, the local, the personal.

Size is our enemy.

And once we have shrunk our world, narrowed our focus and imposed some much needed discipline of self, we start networking with other activists to launch coordinated global attacks. A million people a day drinking indie coffee instead of Starbucks. Another million boycotting Exxon Mobil. And thousands more every day choosing indie sneakers over Nike.

In this way we become true cultural creatives... playful resistors... catalysts for change. We become dispensers of bottom-up cool. A growing mass of people driving the evolution of capitalism, transforming it into a healthier, more just, more grassroots affair.

In this Year of the Ox, let's turn megacorporate capitalism on its head.

for the wild, Kalle"

Back page of Adbusters magazine. January/February 2009.

Fuck the man. Power to the people. Viva la revolution!

Two Thousand Nine

So it's a new year. Time to take stock of the year gone past and make plans for the year to come. It's really all arbitrary anyhow...

2008:

I went through the worst winter I've ever experienced. 

I made an appearance on stage at my alma mater for 2 nights only.

I was perpetually cold for the first 5 months.

I had surgery.

I got to travel for fun.

I went through some body changes.

I quit two jobs.

I wrote many many letters.

I packed my car and moved across the country.

I was completely alone for 5 days straight.

I camped in my car twice.

I moved into an apartment with an almost complete stranger.

I learned what it meant to be truly isolated.

I was unemployed for several months.

I made new friends.

I fell in love.

I went to a queer nude beach.

Every weekend for a month.

I got frustrated a lot.

I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

I went broke.

I sold my car and bought a bike.

I knew what unrequited love felt like.

I cried.

A lot.

I got a new job.

I got a raise.

I cried some more.

I received a love letter.

I went on a date.

I got another raise.

I worked through a holiday.

I cried again.

I renewed a relationship.

I got a promotion.

And another raise.

I worked through another holiday.

I spent a week alone.

I drank a lot of tea.

I spent a weekend in bed.

Not alone.

I cried.

I decided that things needed to change some more.

I felt deeply happy.

I was held tight in loving arms.

I fell asleep that way.

On many nights.

2009:

More friends.

New homes.

More travel.

Quiet.

Weekends.

Dates.

Beaches.

Vacation.

Music.

Nights out.

Camping.

Hiking.

Tea.

Unplanned spontaneous happenings.

Change is not stagnation.

There has been much speculation going on, for quite some time, about how effective Obama will be at creating the change he has campaigned on. So far he has appointed and reappointed the same old people who have been in the white house creating the current shit-hole called America. There was much surprise in these appointments. There was also some recent outcry (mostly from the gay community) when Obama announced that at his inauguration one of the speakers would be a known conservative christian minister. And people seem to be shocked by all of this. Here's my question: why?

I've said it before and I'll say it again- a corrupt system will always remain corrupt regardless of who is "running" it. Until the system is truly changed, it won't work correctly. Obama's piddly promises of change have so far shown themselves to be quite shallow. His idea of change is far from enough to create the far-reaching change needed to actually correct our fucked up, power-hungry, over-reaching, corrupt, self-destructive government. It appears that the momentum has fizzled out since election day. But casting a vote isn't enough. There is much work still to be done...

A Ponderance

When two people really care about each other and share a bed, who is it harder on: the one who has to get up early and leave each morning, or the one left in bed alone?

PSU Phelps Counterprotest

Today PSU was protested by the Fred Phelp's group and their "God Hates Fags" campaign. They were protesting PSU for having a Queer Resource Center and for having gender-neutral bathrooms. The outcome of the protest? 4 Phelps, over 100 PSU students and community members. The entire time was peaceful (yes, most of the PSU group stayed on PSU property a block away from the Phelps people, but those that went and stood and blocked the Phelps people were peaceful too). Here are some pictures:

Of the 4 from the Phelps group, 3 were young teenage girls. There was also a middle-aged man who was their leader. The girls weren't very vocal but preached at anyone who chatted with them them God created everyone and predestined many of them to go to hell. They felt that there was nothing wrong with that idea.

Some of the posters there were amazing. One read "I'm pretty sure God doesn't hate fags." One read "God hates tiny fuzzy kittens". I took one that read "Let us pee in peace". It got a lot of attention from the new crews. Another read "God Loves Fags... why else did She make so many?" 

There was lots of cheering and smiles and a general good time. All in all, a success I'd say. Next time we should make some more plans though to make some improvements.

Spreading the Holiday Spirit

The holiday season is here again (in reality its always the holiday season... its just that the mainstream capitalist system only recognizes and cashes in on the major Christian ones). One thing I find interesting is that around the major holidays things shut down. Offices, centers, support services, groups, etc. Isn't that sort-of backwards? The holidays are times when things should purposely stay open. After all, not everyone has a family to go home to where we'll have that Hallmark picture perfect moment around the dinner table and the turkey. Shit, many would settle just for a family, let alone the picture perfect moment. News flash: PEOPLE NEED SUPPORT ESPECIALLY DURING THE HOLIDAYS!!! And we wonder why the suicide rate is higher in the months of November and December into January.