scribbled in the margin..

Time to start planning...

Tom — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:13:37 GMT

If you're not already paying attention to what's going on with Peak Oil/Energy/Money/Food, you really should be. Here's a primer: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/globalfoodcrisis/marginsvideo.html?hpid=multimedia1&hpv=national http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042602041.html http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/BreakingNews.html http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html I don't believe it's fear mongering, it's just fact: we've all experienced the housing/credit crush, now fuel is spiking and food along with it. And with that is going to come some overdue changes to our individual and collective lifestyles. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/27/MNUJ109A76.DTL&hw=recession&sn=025&sc=260 Oh, and PS, don't forget about climate change. AG and I are doing what we can to be able to take care of ourselves and the little one. Last month, we got a biodiesel Mercedes, and yesterday said goodbye to our beloved, but petro burning, Honda. With our downstairs neighbors and landlord, we're going to become ( we think ) the first people to do a joint tenant/landlord solar installation on our home (we'll pay the same, but to him to cover the cost, not PG&E). We're also actively exploring getting a wee chicken coop out back, to go in the garden. And next month, I'll be volunteering w/my stepfather back home at a community food bank of sorts, and will then be able to buy a year's supply of dehydrated food on the cheap. ( I was raised mormon, what can I say). I know that posting this may brand me a bit paranoid. That's fine. I grew up in a poor family that raised much of our own food, and got a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction from it. I suspect the reason many people go to BM is to experience, on some level, the visceral joy that comes from providing your own food and shelter--even if ably abetted by Wal-Mart and Costco. So if for no other reason, we'll keep doing what we're doing. And knowing many of you to be smart, forward looking people, who might not have had this information all put together like this in one place, well, perhaps it will be of value. Far better to see the storm coming, and close the windows and bring in the laundry, than to be surprised outside when the rain begins to fall...

She Made It! Vote again for all the marbles!

Tom — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:27:31 GMT

Holy Cuteness, batman! Juniper made it to round three in the "Cute Baby Photo" contest to win $5000 for her college fund. It started with 3,000+, then down to 200, now she's in the Top 50 and this is the FINAL ROUND! Winner takes all, 2nd place gets nada. wild949.com/pages/babies...wild2008.html Please vote this week - you can vote once per day per email address. Vote from all of them:) Thanks, tell your friends!

She made it! Vote again to go all the way

Tom — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:31:11 GMT

Hey now...ROUND TWO! She made it! Juniper made it into round two - out of thousands of cute babies, she's one of the....cute babies with the most friends on the internet! FIVE DAYS IN THIS ROUND! Vote! Get your friends to vote! She's in group one, slot #104. If she wins, she get's $5,000!!! for college. wild949.com/pages/babies...wild2008.html

Send my baby to school

Tom — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:55:21 GMT

So the local radio station is having a contest, and the baby that gets the most votes gets $5,000 for school. This is where you come in. Go to this link: http://wild949.com/pages/babiesgonewild2008.html?feed=239378&article=3156942 Vote for #49, Juniper Grace. They'll email you a confirmation and leave a cookie ( so if you feel like doing it again, and don't feel like loosing all your stored info, use a browser like Safari you don't normally use, instead of your daily driver Firefox. Once cleared, if so inclined, you can vote again the following day. Kid whose parents know the most people who're likely to be online anyway and looking for a distraction wins $5,000, or about enough to pay for 20 minutes of Cal in 2023. Every little bit helps! Thanks, Tom, AG, and Juniper

Can you help in Fernley this weekend? Rides/digs/meals available--good, clean ( ok, filthy) fun!

Tom — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:47:10 GMT

Hey folks- It's been almost two weeks since the flood in Fernley, Nevada, and our community's response has been nothing short of incredible. In less than a week, we raised over $6,000 to help the victims, and several BWB volunteers have been there the whole time helping clean up and clean out. Last weekend's work weekend was a great success--lots of good solid dirty work done, capped by a surprise visit from President Bill Clinton, when he posed with the crew for photos; see them , read a newspaper story about the work we've done, and hear about what we've been up to here: http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org/global-action/bay-area-bwb/fernley-levee-break The folks who've been there full time--Spoon, Eli, and Matt--need to get moving on to other things next week, but we're seeing if we can't squeeze out one more good weekend of work! So, if you can, please get on up to Fernley this weekend, even if it's only for a couple hours. If you're not from the area, we have the ability to provide a hotel room for all volunteers ( thanks to the donations, and a great break on rates from the Truck Inn). And we can provide meals and gas money if needed for folks coming to help out. All the money that remains after this weekend will be distributed to people in need, in consultation with other aid agencies and the office of the Mayor of Fernley. What to expect: Weather this weekend should be clear, and around 40 for a high. Bring shoes you don't mind getting dirty, and spare to wear afterwards. Gloves are also a plus. Eli, Matt, and Spoon will help you find a place to pitch in, and make sure you've got the tools you need to make a difference. The only thing you really need to do is show up and be willing to help out! Do you need a ride? Email price_tom@hotmail.com Got a ride you're willing to offer? Email Tom, and let him know when you'll leave/return, and from where. Thanks again for all you've done!

BWB: oil spill, Peru eathquake, and more--meeting this Thursday!

Tom — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:32:51 GMT

From Carmen: Hello- I hope to see you all at the next BWB Salon. (Info. below) We have a lot to talk about and a lot of opportunities to participate in ways that will have a real impact. So, how do we want to tackle this disgusting oil spill in our Bay? A lot of people have asked me and I have a call into Rudy at the National Park Service to find out how groups might be most effective. For instance, we could brainstorm a longish-term plan that might inspire others to commit to a sustainable clean up plan -I am going to L.A. tomorrow to collaborate with some amazing people who are helping us develop a network that will do nothing less than change the face of how people network. -And we have raised over $6,000 for the Peru construction project and Burners are going down to help out. You won't want to miss this one. What: Burners without Borders Salon When: November 14 at 7:30pm. Where: Hosted by Nicole Maron 2211-B Mission Street, San Francisco Call 415.846.2936 Bring-Your own food and drink! Nicole has been gracious enough to let us use her beautiful space and there are plenty of good burrito joints in her neighborhood. I hope to see you all there. Carmen 415-368-3704

Look at what Actiongrl H^H^H^ mom made!

Tom — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:13:20 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68943702@N00/sets/72157602948936151/ for once, i'm at a loss for works. thanks, everyone, for your energy and support and encouragement, we're blessed to be a part of this community.

Help SOCAL fire victims find temp housing/stoage

Tom — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 03:15:20 GMT

Hey folks- A little more detail on this housing idea--from news reports, it looks like 600,000+ people are on the move. Question is: to where? Most of us have a spare space we can put someone in a pinch for a couple days, and we have a large community down there, so we're attempting to create a space where offers of help and requests for need can be matched up. Plone isn't the best framework for this, but you work with what you've got! ( If you know of a better platform, let Carmen know.) How it works: Email either a request or offer to Carmen@burningman.com or projects@burnerswithoutborders.org Then, she'll post it here: http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org/socal-fire-housing-network ( see the sample?) We'll let people connect on their own. It might be of help for folks, might not, we'll see. Can't hurt to try, though!

Help Make Great Art--see below

Tom — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:53:01 GMT

From the JRS, please share widely: Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks Volume 11, Issue 17 Art News - URGENT August 9, 2007 This quickly inserted before regular issue, still on the way....man, y'all have a lot of news to compile this year!! SPECIAL ART EDITION Two of our most ambitious honorarium projects for 2007 are BigRigJig by Mike Ross and JIm Mason's Mechabolic: Cyborg Speculations in Machine Metabolism. Although Burning Man funded both projects, each has exhausted their budget and is in need of financial support. We have never before approached the community for help like this, but we are unable to further fund these projects, so we are calling on our readers for help in a few ways. Mike Ross of Big Rig Jig - (see the project at http://www.bigrigjig.com - it's literally awesome) - reports: "Things are going well on the project. We are on schedule, and ramping things up dramatically for the last few weeks. Several new core crew members just arrived from New York with a burst of energy and enthusiasm. We are working full time, 7 days a week, from about 2pm to 4am (last two nights till 5am, actually). Its an amazing group of people that can sacrifice months of their lives, working that hard to pull something like this off. Im lucky to have them around. And we are all lucky to have Burning Man provide the opportunity for us. Unfortunately, despite our best and continued efforts, we are out of money. Putting two big rig trucks 40 feet up in the air is enormously difficult, especially when you come from out of town (we moved our entire operation from Brooklyn, NY to California in order to build this sculpture). We received the majority of our funding from the Burning Man grant, and immediately began seeking additional sources to make up for the remainder of our budget. But between setting up a new shop, finding our materials in an unfamiliar environment, and actually building the project, our time is stretched thin. The long and short of it is that we have so far failed to find the additional funding we need. As of two weeks ago, the project is being funded by personal credit cards, which is difficult as I have no source of income right now, and have already spent my savings on the project. If you know of any emergency funding opportunities, or other helpful people or resources, we would be much obliged. You can help with in kind donations of materials, too. If you can help, please contact mikenon@gmail.com Donate via PayPal to: donate@bigrigjig.com Funding Needs: To meet costs, we need to raise approximately $20,000. Any donation, large or small, helps. Some specific in kind donations would help reduce this. Wish List: * I-beams: 72 feet of W14x109 I-beam (or approximate equivalent) * Road Plates: 5 road plates (or approximate equivalent) borrowed or purchased * Chrome Truck Accessories, such as: air filter assemblies, exterior "chicken" lights, bumpers, exhaust "stacks", rims * Lighting: exterior par cans or other lights which can project onto the surface of the sculpture * 20 kW generator, or approximate equivalent, for use during 2-week pre-event installation * Transportation Services: 3 full-length flatbeds from Oakland to the playa before the event, and from playa to Oakland afterwards Also, we can always use more volunteers in Oakland of various skill levels, from skilled metal fabricators/welders, to anyone willing to spend a few hours holding a grinder. Jim Mason - http://www.mechabolic.org - tells us: "Logistically we are about as ok as can be expected. The time is stressful, but we are making it, and the sculpture working very well. Our real problem is money. This remains a much more expensive project than we were funded for. Building a 120 foot, trash-to-fuel, land speed racer slug scavenger continues to be, well, difficult and expensive. The fundraising and extra personal money I expected to put towards this project has been extremely challenged by the shipyard vs city of berkeley situation (http://www.theshipyard.org). Though we stopped the city shutdown, the shipyard continues to hemmorage money. All rent-paying citizens have had to move out, but all liabilities to the landowner remain, as do a ton of city interventions and the associated architects and permitting fees. This has more than consumed all the extra resources I hoped to apply to the Mechabolic when we were planning all this back in the naive and saladicious days of March/April. Deficit spending started in earnest this past week. Finishing important details in the project, as well as sanely transporting it to and from the desert requires us finding another $20k. If you want to help, contact me at "jimmason@whatiamupto.com". donations can also be sent directly via paypal address "jimmason@whatiamupto.com". As you know small donations are as meaningful as big ones. Many 10 or 20 or 50 dollar donations add up to significant amounts. Here is our list of needed inkind physical type things. Finding these without having to buy them of course reduces our project costs. Materials/Parts- -stainless steel tubing (specifically 0.120" wall 1.5" rnd tube, but we can use any rnd/sq tube, sheet, or plate) -clear tubing, 1-8" (acrylic / poly-carbonate / etc) -scientific and high temp glass / pyrex (tube, sheet, dish, etc) -shade cloth / window screen / mesh / alumaweave) -2 front truck axles (medium to heavy duty w/ knuckles and hubs). ford f-350 superduty front axles ideally. - polished aluminum diamond plate sheets. - big block chevy bell housing and starter motor - 5th wheel and kingpin assembly from a semi tractor and trailer - 4x4 transfer case, or over/under gear down box - potted orchids - good planting soil Loaners- -scaffolding -work lights on stands (we'll buy the bulbs) People- -weldors/fabricators (i.e. competent in layout with strong mig, plasma skills) -mechanics (specifically for hydraulic systems and/or helping bring an insanely built performance 427 to turn-key) -machinists (we have a full shop) -shop god/goddess (anyone who loves MIIP 'matter in its place' and can help combat the resultant chaos of fabrication frenetics) Logistics- -shipping (Yeah, who doesn't? The creature will break down to fit in a 40' container, or on a 40' trailer and the internals should fit in/on a 20'." ALSO: Those around the Bay Area... Peter the Boston Regional is out here helping with Mechabolic and he sent this to local regional contacts: "The team is looking for people that can commit a couple of nights and a weekend or two of work and provide general fab skills... but if you can just assist in the labor, "hold this here, carry this there" you are probably welcome. As Jim Mason wrote, 'the crew is tired. we need your fresh face and youthful enthusiasm. good food and drink returned daily. as well as participation in a rather interesting project.' It would be a great project for others to be involved in and you get to work with some really smart, fun and otherwise interesting folk. Contact Jim at jimmason@whatiamupto.com or Babalou at bbl@babalou.com if you can lend a hand." The JRS hopes everyone will spread the word about these two amazing projects and the ways we can help them get to the finish line on the playa. Make art go. Yyyyeah! Meow, as the kitty would say. 23 days until we burn.

And in other news...

Tom — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:44:20 GMT

The below is crossdecked from AG's blog, which sums it all up quite nicely. Wow. Wow. Maren's gonna be an aunt. Funny how even talkative folks like me can sometimes be speachless. Lemme try: Pretty. Damn. Cool. OK, really? You sure? Sweet--bring it! Seems we're going to have three premiers this year: her film, my film, and our, ah, bean:) So, in the 30 days since I've turned 40, I've been skiing in Tahoe with friends, blasted down to Costa Rica, hit Austin for the first time, a quick hit to Reno, another to Jackson, given notice on my apartment, found a new and outstanding place to live, finally started cranking out this movie we're making, really gotten into my job, and of course, the little bit of news about the little dude/tte. 40 is starting off to be an outstanding year. From AG: The deal is that after a lovely trip to Costa Rica, while we were stopped over in Austin for the raucous and proud SXSW premiere of the film I worked on, "What Would Jesus Buy", I realized that my strange dreams and odd sensations and frequent naps on vacation had a root cause and it wasn't just too much sunshine. I'm pregnant. We're pregnant. We're going to have a baby. So, um.... I already know your standard questions, so let's just get them out of the way: 1.) About 8 weeks, give or take. 2.) Around December 1. 2.b) (Well, no. We weren't really, but now that it's here, we're going to make the very best of it and are embracing it with all our might. We're finding ourselves feeling quite happy about the adventure and the unexpected challenge and the unfamiliar and exciting future ahead, now that it's revealed itself. It's actually pretty cool, really, when you think about it. Why not us? Why not now? Off we go.) 3.) Of COURSE I'm still going to the event. I'll be 6 months along in August. Totally reasonable. 4.) Well, of course! I'm still going to work the event - I'm pregnant, not dying. It's my job, and I love it. I work with an awesome, capable team of people and I have a lot of support. I'll need additional help, but I'm reaching out to find it. We'll be fine. 5.) He's been awesome. I'm totally hormonal and I can't believe he puts up with me at all, much less treating me this well. He's going to be great. 6.) Yeah, we'll get married, but we're not gonna do it just as some kind of response to getting pregnant or something. Totally different subjects. Later. Too much to think about now. 6b.) His last name if it's a boy, my last name if it's a girl. 7.) I feel ok. I want to throw up 24 hours a day, and I'm practically narcoleptic, but that's normal. Just don't smoke around me or I'll gack on your shoes. Yeah, I've heard that remedy. I tried it. Didn't work. Yes, I'll be fine. 8.) Actually, we're not planning to find out the gender until the birth. Yes, really. More fun that way. OK! Now that's all out of the way....pretty crazy, right? I mean, suddenly, life changes overnight, and we're going to have a baby. I'm still getting used to the idea myself.

Come to my house

Tom — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:24:54 GMT

You may have already seen this, just in case: a week from Saturday, April 14th, there's a bunch of hella cool stuff happening in one day. Deets below, hope you can make it, see you @ the beach if not before? Burning Man Open House, Green House & Beach House Three Burnerific Events in One Radically Fun Day! Open House: Learn How To Help Create Black Rock City Green House: Find Out How to Green the Burn and the World Beach House: Inaugurate the New Ocean Beach Burn Platforms Saturday April 14, 11AM to 3PM - Revised Time Burning Man Headquarters - 1900 3rd St. @ 16th, SF Then off to Ocean Beach for the 7PM Fire (Artists' fire pits to be dedicated at stairwells 15-21. Meet at Stairwell 18 to start) Free, of course! Leave no trace. In celebration of this year's theme "the Green Man", our annual Burning Man Open House and Volunteer Recruitment Day will feature a major Green House theme to help you green your burn! As in prior years, this is your chance to meet the coordinators of our City, and learn how you can become one of the 3,000+ volunteers that create it. This year, we're adding a complete green fair, with eco-fashion show, alternative energy demonstrations and presentations, a trashion workshop, solar cooking, green art, and a whole lot more! Even our annual pot luck and BBQ social will be earth-friendly. It all began at the beach, so after the event, we'll all head to Ocean Beach to fire up the new burn platforms!! Plan to spend the entire day at BMHQ, because like the playa, there will be a lot going on! Here's just a sampling: 11AM-12PM How to be a green burner - eco-workshops, presentations, and demonstrations on the solar powered stage plus green vehicles, eco-carnival, solar ovens, biodiesel distillation, grey water works, green art and the Solar Death Ray 2000! 12-3PM Volunteer resource tables open - meet the volunteer coordinators from over 20 departments that organize our creative chaos into our city. Ask them anything, like how their department is going green. From Greeters to Artery to DPW to Rangers to Playa Info to DMV to the Geek Squad, we fuel our city on participation. WE need YOU to be part of WE to make the dream real! You'll never be the same. Solar Stage - Biofuels presentations, Green Man Puppet Performance, Inconvenient Truth Talk, the Tri-clops Monstrosity Band, and more! Green pot luck - eat lunch earth-friendly: BYO reusable or composting cups, plates, and utensils, along with organic food to share. Ongoing green demonstrations indoors and out - Check out the Trashion Bee, the Friends of Black Rock, green lighting and videos, displays on how to be green, the National LNT traveling trainers - even a hydrogen-fueled rocket! Bring old sheets, socks, pants, sweaters, shirts and swatches to create a MOOP bag or playa outfit at the Bee. 2PM Eco-fashion show - get your trashion on the stage, or be trashy playarazzi!!! 3PM Leave no trace at BMHQ, consider meeting at the Beach Chalet back patio for cocktails and a bite to eat, then cruise over to the 7PM burn platform inauguration @ Ocean Beach! We've been trusted with this beach so treat it like the playa. Since the Park Service is not requiring permits for this large gathering, there will be Park Rangers present so please leave alcohol/glass behind, bring some wood and enjoy the fire! April 14th is a day of climate change events across the country, so don't be a spectator - become a participant! It's a great way to meet everyone, become more connected to the Burning Man community, and preserve the planet. Why not start by leaving your car at home: BMHQ is served by the NEW SF Muni T-THIRD streetcar service, Mariposa Street stop. (scheduled to open April 7th - see http://www.sfmta.com) To help with green RVs, trashion, eco-performances, demonstrations, other Green House resources or staging/logistics, please contact Karina@burningman.com. To volunteer for the Man, sign up now at http://www.burningman.com/participate/volunteer.html. See you at BMHQ!!! =========================================================

BANNED in Botswana

Tom — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 06:15:50 GMT

I'm just so proud of myself, I've got to write about it somewhere: apparently my work has pissed off the wrong/right people, because I've officially been banned from free entry into Botswana by their Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs. Here's a link to the story, http://www.mmegi.bw/2007/March/Thursday29/43.php and the salient bit about who's on the list that are journos: "Seven of the people in the list are journalists. They include Simpson, the respected world affairs editor with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Financial Times of London's South African correspondent, Reed and its African editor, White; Price, a highly respected American freelance journalist who often contributes to major publications such as the Los Angeles Times. Other journalists are: Duff (Independent - UK), Goodwin (Sunday Times - Scotland), and Midgley (The Times - UK)." Highly respected, dang. Course, I don't work for the LA Times, but I'll take the first bit. Banned from the CKGR You don't know how lucky you are, boys, Banned from the CKGR. Really, it's such an honor. My first banning. Wow.

Green Man in the news

Tom — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:50:54 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/2de5nn No, not me, THE Green Man. The theme. It's taking off, in many, many odd directions. Perfect that this is the week Mavericks is supposed to go off. You know, big mountain of momentum, 100 foot wall of water epic waves near Half Moon Bay, being either: (a) elegantly ridden by gifted, balletic athletes or (b) temporarily smudged by up hubristic poseurs to being same, before spitting their cartwheeling ass onto the coral reef below OR: This will end up being a spectacular success, or a complete trainwreck. I have no idea. My hopebringing word of the week: gasifier. Stay tuned.

Nothing but portolets and puppy dogs

Tom — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:43:39 GMT

And then it was done. Seven months after whim and passion and a unsorted sense that something, anything, must be done drove first a few then hundreds south to the place of swamp and bayou, of nature-wraught chaos, rot and devastation, it's over. Or at least, this little piece of it. Day before yesterday I photographed this dog loping across the post office site in Pearlington, MS. That's where Burners Without Borders put the cap on a seven month stretch of hurricane Katrina relief work. We wrote "leave no trace" in the sand and left nothing more, and a lot more. Somewhere on the order of $1 million in free demolition and debris removal. Sixty houses demo'd and removed. An equal number of container trucks of supplies given out. Lives changed, difference made, and done in a way that was authentic to who we are and how we live our lives. KK noted a few weeks ago: we'd been down there living in that disaster relief theme camp longer than all Burning Man's ever. Combined. It's the best thing I've ever done, or been a part of, and now I'm decompressing pretty damn hard and the magic grace and poetic genius of the whole thing, how the pieces fell like self seating Tetris blocks from the sky, is a little blurry. That'll change. Perhaps then I'll be able to write better about it. Perhaps tomorrow. It just bore noting, and is so noted. There is more more more to that thing that draws us each August to the searing desert than we knew. I know it, I've seen proof. Perhaps nothing sums it up better than what the Fire Chief said when he stopped in to say goodbye the other day. "There's not a single person in this town with a bad word to say about your bunch," gesturing to our mottled crew of heavy machinery operators, street freaks and the rest of our assorted cultural sample nut pack that had been there for months, " and in a small town this size, that's saying a whole lot." Further proof, were any needed, we'd somehow bridged the Bagdhad by the Bay to the Redneck Nascar Bayou gap: they lined up to bring us moonshine, crawfish, and a promise--to keep our tradition of building a bonfire on saturday nights, gathering round, and burning art. Immitation is, indeed, the sincerest form of flattery. Thanks for readin, ya'll. -dispatched from bay st. louis, mississippi.

Mississippi Chainsaw Massacre

Tom — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:12:01 GMT

OK, new recipe for a brilliant morning: take seven chainsaws, and eight people ( one to do nothing but sharpen blades and add fuel ). Add two acres of busted up live oak mixed with pine. Season with Husqvarna and Stihl, and a steady breeze. Simmer in the spring sun for three hours. Serve freshly cut up the following day to 30 college students to haul away. MMMM--that's tasty

A billion little pieces....

Tom — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 18:20:49 GMT

Note to self: when feeling all cocky about feeling grounded, do not take call from ex, who then puts you on hold because it may be one of her two new billionaire friends calling about plans to go someplace fabulous, esp. if one of them is named Sergey. Or, do, and then explore emergent issues of self worth that arise. (further note: some discomfort may ensue).

Best sunday morning ever?

Tom — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:43:09 GMT

A steady breeze blows across the parking lot our camp is on, wafting tendrils of woodsmoke of last nights eight burned pieces of art through my RV door, keeping the gnats at bay. On the radio the scratchy sounds of a plucky public radio station in New Orleans play bluegrass and jazz. People dear to me are well, and in touch. We've worn ourselves ragged cleaning up this shattered town, and its just like when you move out of an apartment--it seems like an overwhelming tide of stuff, till one trip to the car and you come back and it's suddenly empty. The difference we're making is really beginning to show. But it's all tinged with melancholy. Soon, too soon, this experience will be something in my past. I've met so many extraordinary people through this. Changed. Grown. Expanded, hell, completely revised my sense of self. Or, perhaps more accurately, recovered one long lost. My feet touch the ground here. Don't know how else to describe it. Things that mattered before have fallen away. Perhaps it's growing a sense of what really matters to me, or perhaps it's the every day trudging through the remains of other peoples' lives. Whatever it is, I'm much less attached to things than I was when I came here. Every day I give away a few more things, toss a few more. In a few weeks time, I'll leave this 28 foot RV behind, and head...somewhere in my little honda, with everything I need ( and a fuckton that I don't ) on board. Stuff. Who needs it? It's one of two things: a replaceable tool, or an energetically charged talisman of a time, a self past. Keep the good ones, that which reminds you of your best self. Chuck everything else. Love the people you love, fearlessly. Start with yourself. Repeat until old and gray. Feel exceptionally fortunate to have had this opportunity, yet know I created it as much as anything. And relearning that? More valuable than anything I own. I'm 39 now, as of a week ago Friday, and work everyday to live into this truth: non, je ne regrette rien. Tough work sometimes, but everything worth doing, everything, is work. The only difference between working a chain gang and working out in a gym? Deciding when you sweat. Ahh, nothing like prattling on, on a Sunday spring morning, down on the bayou...

BSF

Tom — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 06:02:32 GMT

That Steve Jones fella sure can wield a keyboard: www.sfbg.com Pretty happy about this; damn right it's more than a party in the desert. This, AND getting placed under citizens arrest at a Gun Show in Slidell, LA, dressed as Santa, while stealing a Gun Show---> sign, in the same week? And tomorrow I get to drive a 28,000lb tonka truck? Pinch me.