Diary of Drewcifer
Harm Reduction
Derrick Jensen has signed on as a regular contributor to Orion Magazine. Here's his latest contribution.
posted by Drew @ 9:07 AM | link to this post
Detroit, Hawaii, Chicago, San Antonio, Wichita, Memphis, Antananarivo...
These were a few of the places that sent forth members of r's family to get together in the Detroit area over the 4th of July weekend. I flew out last Wednesday to meet r, who flew out almost a week before. I took a red-eye and got there before noon on Thursday. r and her father picked me up at DTW and took me to eat lunch at a place in Royal Oak. I ate a "paneer burger" that was on their special menu. It was outstanding!It was my first time getting to meet the Hawaii-living members of the family. It was great!
It's funny, the more I learn about r through opportunities like this trip, the closer I feel to her.
We left the critters at home with a pet sitter that we hadn't used before. He seems to have done a good job, but it really is hard to tell. Maybe next time we'll set up a nanny cam or something.
Z-R has been sick. She was ill enough that I almost cancelled my plans to join folks in Michigan. Fortunately, right be before I left she quit barfing and we spent another $140 for some follow-up tests at the vet that seemed to indicate that her Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) was not in any kind of precipitous decline. We paid about $300 for pet sitting from Wednesday evening through Sunday evening. I stopped off today and paid the sitter.
I also wandered about today and did some grocery shopping. Z-R barfed again today. She only barfed once while we were gone. I'm doing cat laundry now.
I'm very glad to be home. It's a gorgeous day here!
posted by Drew @ 6:32 PM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
"The natural world in my life has always been a way of connecting with people --- with my children, my husband, my friends. I think the richness of my experience in the natural world translates immediately into a richer relationship with people.I've come to think that one of the most romantic and loving things you can say to another person is, 'Look.' There is the kind of love of two people looking at each other, but I don't think that's as interesting as the love between two people standing side by side and looking out at something else that moves them." --- Kathleen Dean Moore
posted by Drew @ 12:39 AM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
"One of my colleagues believes that if there is eternal life, it won't be in the length of her life, but in its depth. This makes sense to me. I have no doubt that each life has a definite limit, an end point. But I don't think there is any limit to the depth of each moment, and I have resolved to try to live in a way that reaches into those depths. I want to live thickly, in layers of ideas and emotions and sensory experience. What I'm recommending is a way of life that is rich and noticing. Caring. Remembering. Embracing. Rejoicing in...what... in the smell of a child's hair, or the color of a storm light." --- Kathleen Dean Moore, from "How Shall I Live My Life?" an interview with Derrick Jensen.
posted by Drew @ 4:37 PM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
And when they can’t convince people to buy their products, they simply destroy the alternatives. Clive Ponting describes one example in his book A Green History of the World: “In 1936 three corporations connected with the car industry (General Motors, Standard Oil of California and the tyre company Firestone) formed a new company called National City Lines whose purpose was to buy up alternative transport systems and close them down. By 1956 over 100 electric surface rail systems in forty-five cities had been purchased and then closed. Their biggest operation was the acquisition, in 1940, of the Pacific Electric system, which carried 110 million passengers a year in fifty-six communities. Over 1100 miles of track were ripped up, and by 1961 the whole network was closed.” --- Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay, What We Leave Behind
posted by Drew @ 4:41 PM | link to this post
Rapture for Nerds
I was reading the New York Times this morning about "The Coming Superbrain." While a little disappointed that this was not a story about me or my offspring, I was amused to read such a prominent feature on "THE SINGULARITY." The reference to it as a matter of religion, not science - "Rapture for nerds," would have benefited from greater exploration. I just can't quite figure out what the point of the story was. I guess it was just to (re)introduce the concept of the singularity to the public.A friend and I went to experience Bruce Sterling talking about it at a Long Now Foundation event in 2004.
posted by Drew @ 8:56 AM | link to this post
Hmmm
posted by Drew @ 11:57 PM | link to this post
Another Picture
posted by Drew @ 11:43 PM | link to this post
Picture of the Moment
posted by Drew @ 11:38 PM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
The truth is that agriculture is the most destructive things humans have done to the planet, and more of the same won't save us. The truth is that agriculture requires the wholesale destruction of entire ecosystems. The truth is also that life isn't possible without death, that no matter what you eat, someone has to die to feed you. ---Lierre Keith, The Vegetarian Myth:food, justice, and sustainability
posted by Drew @ 11:09 PM | link to this post
Show 'em the door
Texas Governor Rick Perry thinks secession is a possibility and clearly likes the idea. I say, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Why don't you take Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia with you?
posted by Drew @ 5:46 PM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
We are always living out the reality of our own lives, although we very often lose sight of this reality, getting caught up in fantasies of the past or in our relationships with others. We end up beng dragged around by those fantasies and by our comparisons of ourselves with others. Living like that, how can we not become filled with feelings of utter isolation and loneliness, overwhelmed by our jealousy and envy of those around us or by some other great suffering?
---Kosho Uchiyama
posted by Drew @ 12:18 AM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing. If we read or listen with an open mind and an open heart, the rain of the Dharma will penetrate the soil of our consciousness.
--- Thich Nhat Hanh
posted by Drew @ 9:23 PM | link to this post
Hate Takes A Holiday
Well, at least 58% of one
posted by Drew @ 8:57 AM | link to this post
Our Home
posted by Drew @ 3:03 AM | link to this post
Video of the Moment
posted by Drew @ 2:45 AM | link to this post
Bed Bug Sniffing Beagle
posted by Drew @ 10:11 AM | link to this post
Movement
r and I moved a couple of weeks ago. She took off out of town for a week, while the critters and I adjusted to the new place. Last weekend we did a little unpacking and nesting. This weekend we found a few furniture items we needed/wanted and really made some headway in getting the house situated. We've hung a little art and gotten a few pieces of rugs down for the dog. She's afraid of the hardwood and vinyl floors. We've still got a lot of work to do to get things homified.
posted by Drew @ 6:02 PM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
“There is no housing shortage. We've got nearly 10 empty places to live for every homeless man, woman and child. But the housing that is available is not affordable to the people who live and work in our community.”
--- Jon DeCarmine, Director, Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless & Hungry
posted by Drew @ 9:42 AM | link to this post
A Home
r and I are on the verge of signing a lease on a house in the Richmond Hills. We should know by tomorrow afternoon if we've got a deal worked out. It will make my commute to work a little longer and a little more complicated, but it feels like a better location.
posted by Drew @ 1:13 AM | link to this post
Faux News of a Moment or Two Ago
I liked this.
posted by Drew @ 8:04 AM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
We have a trust fund, which is as good a promise as you can get. A promise to repay would not be something that would make us sleep any better at night. When you break a trust fund, I don't know how good any additional promises you make are.
--- Jaimie Ross, affordable housing director of 1,000 Friends of Florida commenting on the Florida Legislature's recent raid on the affordable housing trust fund with no promise to repay the fund
posted by Drew @ 7:47 AM | link to this post
Drug Store's
A few years ago I went to a meeting with representatives from a drugstore chain that was planning to renovate a downtown building and open a new store. I told the reps what I thought the downtown area needed and didn't need. (I lived near downtown at the time.) One of the things that amused me was at some point when they asked me if I would go to their store, I told them probably not. I told them that I was much more likely to walk a mile further to go to Elephant Pharmacy, who I perceived to be operating more in accord with my values and offering more organic/natural products. The rep mentioned something about them having a "high price point." I told him it didn't really matter to me. I wanted to support businesses that supported my needs. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the new drugstore has an entire aisle of natural and organic body care products very visible from the sidewalk. I had an "Oh, Shit!" moment, when I felt guilty for not having patronized them. Of course, I was able to be more rational within a few seconds and remind myself that I have been living elsewhere for three years and just moved back. Still, I have gone in to the store a couple of times recently to make purchases.
posted by Drew @ 9:22 PM | link to this post
Listen of the Moment
I'm streaming audio from his site.
posted by Drew @ 8:41 AM | link to this post
As Naked As Ever
Sometimes I inspire myself. I think it may be the Katayama in me. I wandered to the front page of my website today and clicked on the link to Dorothy Allison's quote from Skin that inspired me so much. I noticed that it still does. It makes me want to do better at living in the world with whatever my state of being is.I felt naked yesterday when a friend at work asked if she could share my website with some folks in IT who had just resolved a couple of IT problems I'd been having.
posted by Drew @ 9:43 AM | link to this post
Quote of the Moment
And maybe this was another reason why people read: not so they would feel less lonely, but so that other people would think they looked less lonely with a book in their hands and therefore not pity them and leave them alone.
--- Brocke Clarke's Sam Pulsifer, in An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England
posted by Drew @ 1:44 PM | link to this post
Hard to Stomach
I have a hard time accepting the President-elect's choice for his inaugural prayer. Especially given the minister's position on Prop 8, attitude toward queer folks and a recent area hate crime. Maybe he could find a kleagle to help fill positions in his administration.
posted by Drew @ 1:18 PM | link to this post
Little Blonde Bullies
I came in from a quick grocery shopping trip to witness two little blonde bullies picking on a little girl with dark hair, darker skin and speech impediment. These were some of the kids that live in the apartment complex that I live in. They're probably 8 or 9. I wanted to go in and get the dog and see if she wanted to weigh in on the bullying. I just glared at the two blondes who stopped when I pulled up.
posted by Drew @ 7:03 PM | link to this post
Old Friends
I was in the Elephant Pharmacy's video section yesterday when someone asked if I was Drew King. I looked up to see a friend from Gainesville, who moved to the Bay Area more than a decade ago. She and I run into each other every few years. She usually spots me and initiates interaction. I'm always very pleased to interact with her. I feel a little guilty for not spotting her first. I think how much I appreciate her and her partner, then we wander on our different directions until the next time we cross paths. After I got home I sent her an email and gave her our contact info and expressed hope that we might be able to be more intentional in our interactions.
posted by Drew @ 9:40 AM | link to this post
Olbermann On Prop 8's Passage
posted by Drew @ 9:35 AM | link to this post
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