How about a little Anarchy in the new year?

I had a brief but thought-provoking conversation with a dear friend the other night. He mused about what would happen if the Bush administration and their ilk were to stay in office and NOT be impeached or left to crawl off in disgrace after the next elections like so many of us hope. Instead, what would happen if the criminals were allowed to stay a little longer and grow more superficially powerful, what if the corruption were allowed to spread, if it would bring about the collapse necessary for revolution? It is important to ponder whether it would be worth the chaos, the human rights violations and the war crimes sure to ensure, if it were to foment an environment that would ultimately lead to the fracturing and downfall of the system we find so economically oppressive and inherently evil. Does allowing the pigs to wallow in the glory of their own filth a little longer become absolved by the downfall of the greater evil of American Democracy?

From a utilitarian perspective, I would say, damn straight it's worth it. Let them bring their own destruction then the cessation movements and revolutionaries may rise in the wake of empires falling. Yet, there is the persistent deontological voice that says the revolution must be swift and nonviolent and that no end can justify the means of allowing it to continue for one more day without a fight. It is a conundrum that has split the camps of revolutionaries for ages. Can the revolution be achieved merely with the use of nonviolent subversive tactics, or must we speak in the language of the oppressors-that of violence? I call loudly for revolution by any means necessary, but I am not convinced that violence is indeed necessary, especially with the ubiquity of the internet and its ability to transcend borders and economic barriers. We are equal here and therefore, equally able to be heard. Speak loudly and often and perhaps the revolution can come without bloodshed, but in a fury of internet conspirators. It is important for us to realize, fellow bloggers, that this is not just a toy, but can be a tool. Use it accordingly.

On a lighter note, every revolution seems to come with a fashion. My vote for the armory of the revolution is Cryoflesh.com (the clothing/accessory directory is on the right). Sexy as hell, soft and utilitarian. My fellow cyberpunks swear by the stuff. Let's look good while subverting the system and doing a little good for our karma by supporting non-mainstream outfitters, shall we?

Also, all this talk of revolution makes me giggle, so here is my meme of the day.

Giving Credit

Isn't my URL clever? Alas, I cannot take credit for it myself as it was inspired by this photo illustration:



designed by a good friend of mine and sent to me after we discussed our shared love of beets. I was so amused I thought to immortalize it in domain name infamy. Beat[beet]nik snaps for my friend who is one of those incredibly intelligent techno fiddlers referred to in my last post. Hail!

It is Friday, therefore I give you my one line responses to this week's big headlines:

-Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan Assassinated: This heartbreaking tragedy numbs the mind and causes one to wonder if peace is truly attainable in a world where years of painstaking diplomacy can be undone in a moment.

-Poorly Designed Tiger Cage at SF Zoo Leaves 1 Tiger, 1 Human Dead: There are 7 billion-ish people in the world, only 600-ish tigers, and now there is one fewer of each, because those people who took it upon themselves to provide for these endangered creatures failed to build the enclosure to code. This isn't just asinine; it should equate to manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and animal cruelty. Also, WTF, live ammunition?! Tranquilizers....tranquilizers...

-Science Shows Gen-Xers Dull in Bed: To my Gen X friends, you're educated and gorgeous; make a New Year's resolution to have better sex in the upcoming year, because it's good for you, body and soul.

Well kids, that's just depressing all around. Aside from those glorious little gems, war and insurgency don't take a break just because it's the holidays in America, even though the coddled American public is too outraged about Britney Spears' Nickelodeon star sister's pregnancy scandal to really care about the death count or the corruption anymore. Can't we just stop up our ears and ignore it all until we get a new administration? Some days the choice of the ostrich-head-in-sand technique truly sounds appealing.

Must. Resist. Perez. Hilton.

I promise that higher quality posts are on the horizon as my brain is, at the moment, a consistency somewhere between cottage cheese and oatmeal from writing cover letters in my quest for post-graduation employment. Anyone else agree that cover letters should be optional? Whats the problem with a resume and an interview? grrrrrrr..... My aforementioned friend believes that the entire "selling yourself" process is personally degrading to all parties involved. I tend to agree.

Errata

Yeah, my sleep schedule is completely opposite that of my farm folk family. Praise Shiva for pirated internet, free anarchist porn, and the extended version of Lord of the Rings, as I have been spending my cold nights cuddling into bed, under flannel sheets, employing my ear buds and laptop to have some quality time with Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Mmmmmm, Viggo Mortensen.

Tonight, however, I am amused with this: my creepy link of the day. I love it when people with genius IQs have too much time on their hands.

Happy Christmas Eve Day, ya'll!

That's right, I said, "Ya'll." It doesn't matter how long I end up calling the Left Coast my home, I will never stop using 'ya'll.' My friends and lovers out there tease me endlessly, but I maintain that it's one of the most useful words in American parlance and sounds infinitely less pompous than enunciating "Ewe Awl." Yes, I love the city. I prefer the hustle and the seething masses and the sounds of the cities (like the crackheads fighting by streetlamp outside a second story loft in the Tenderloin and the ubiquitous street cleaners running at all hours) to the maddening quiet of Southern Indiana farm country, but I can't see myself ever losing the MacGyver tenancity or the slight southern twang that one is bound to develop over an adolescence spent among farm folk. Ya'll also makes sense linguistically, as English is a Germanic language, and German has a common pronoun for 'you all'- 'ihr.' Thus, it is only natural and proper that English should have developed a similarly useful word, and therefore, I think all of you who laugh at my "ya'll" are simply etymologically confused.

This past week certainly has me thinking a lot about the differences between the city and the country, as I am back in Southern Indiana, visiting my folks for the holidays, pirating the neighbor's wi-fi, because my family doesn't have use for the interwebs and my neighbors have not seen fit to password protect their connection. Suckers. It's nice to be at such a slow pace for a moment, though, recuperating after a hellacious last semester of undergrad and spending time with my parents and the little brother, but I'm quietly thankful that I'm going back home to the city by bay so soon. It's silent here, cold and flat and cripplingly gorgeous, but I have to drive a half hour just to get a decent latte and I miss public transportation. Also, all the shops and restaurants closed at noon today for the holiday. (Not that the restaurants here have much that isn't covered in gravy or wrapped in bacon. What, you're a vegetarian? Isn't that an eating disorder?) WTF Bible belt?! More than two weeks here, I'd go a little crazy. I definitely understand how fundamentalism thrives in this environment, because one does feel completely cut off from the rest of existence. Globalization? What globalization?

The idea of tradition is deeply entrenched here though. I look at my parents' tree (a real tree that we trekked into the wilderness and hacked down the day after Thanksgiving) has three decades of history hanging from its branches. From the 85-year-old Polish glassware my parents inherited upon their marriage to the creepy snowman icicle my mom received at her office party last week, our tree tells the story of my family. Every ornament has a memory and though I come off as hard and unaffected in my professional life, the sentimentalist in me can't help but be humbled by the history enveloped by those simple glass knickknacks. Tradition is an odd meme. Every family has little habits they developed over the generations, and though we all understand that these habits are mere social constructs, the sentimentalist in all of us tends to fuss that the holiday simply CANNOT happen without the special Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, or gathering around to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" (please don't make me watch it again...), or the Old Country game of hiding a glass pickle in the tree for the children to find for a special present on Christmas Morning. (I assure you that my teenage brother and I still compete like 5-year-olds for the pickle present.)

What's the real reason for the season? Historically, it's not Christ. Easter was the big one LONG before Christmas was really embraced, especially by protestants (here's a really cool synopsis of the history of the Christian-ness, or lack thereof, of the holiday). It's not about finding a Wii (though it's always fun to give presents, can't we just do that all year, like hobbits?) It's about doing what families do to feel like a special bond does indeed exist in blood. We may disagree politically, religiously, and fundamentally, but for a week in December, families do their damnedest to love each other (or at least they should). The blood-bonds are forged in the fires of those seemingly innocuous traditions.

Along with that (moreso in my coastal city than in the Midwest, I've found) is the urge to expand the definition of family. The old adage that you can't pick your family is just not true. There is room in every tradition for new family members and that's what makes the holiday a holy day, not religion, not commercialism, but the ability to make anyone family, because we are all a part of the same human family. So you want to share in my pickle? You are more than welcome to come to my Southern Indiana home. And I intend to carry the Holy-day spirit for the next 365 days in the Bay Area. I encourage all of you to do the same by holding an open mind and an open heart for a new definition of family, including friends, pets, lovers, and strangers. With that I bid you Merry Christmas, Happy (belated) Solstice, an awesome end to Saturnalia, and a joyous yule!

Crawling Out of the Academic Abyss

Hello Blogosphere, I have returned with a new blog and a new outlook on style, anarchism, and generally monkey-wrenching with paradigms. It's been far too long, but alas, I am apparently too scattered to multi-task academia, traditional journalism, and the upkeep of a blog worth reading. For those intrepid souls who have happened upon this humble blog (which will become less humble as the weeks progress, I assure you), I will tell you a bit about myself and what I hope this blog will become. I'm older than I look, younger than I act, and I have Bachelor Degrees in both journalism and anthropology with a minor in making traditionalists squirm. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but now I'm thinking, no. Which leaves me with an entire world of options outside of lawyering with which I can cause havoc and mayhem on the system, while simultaneously saving the planet. Oh yes, I have lofty ambitions.

I have, for the past year and half, had a weekly column in the newspaper of my alma mater, the archives of which you can find here. Now you know my name, which is quite fine by me. How you doin? Some people have said that I'm too left for their taste, others have said I'm a walking contradiction. That may be true, but I self identify as a perpetually amused news junkie with a dirty mind. It is my goal with this blog to collect the odd, sexy, wonderful, and infuriating things floating around the web and the world for your enjoyment and edification while yammering on like I used to get paid to do in my newspaper, because it's only been a few weeks, but I miss it already. Also, I am a whore for music and music photography, so there will be some posts involving my thoughts on the music industry here and there, I'm sure.

For now, I leave you with my favorite holiday gift idea. Etsy is a damn cool site. Enjoy.