Fast Food for Thought

On December 29, 2016 I saw Henry Rollins speak at the Herbst Theater. I have been a fan for many years and have had the pleasure of seeing him perform many times. His spoken word has not always been a home run for me, but this night was probably the best talk I have ever heard him give.
There was no way he was going to avoid talking about the election. Last year  he predicted in his LA Weekly column that there would be a Trump presidency. You can read it here.

http://www.laweekly.com/music/henry-rollins-bend-over-america-here-comes-president-trump-5841096

So I knew he would be talking about it. And he did. His perspective was interesting and I have been mulling it over for a few weeks now and I am still, I don't think inspired is the word, hmmm... Motivated.
A couple of things that have stuck with me.
It is time to act. When things are going "okay," people fall asleep and now is the time to get up and stand up for what you believe in.
Donate, protest, support in any way that you can.
He talked about being 55 1/2 years old and even though he is getting older he can still clear the path so the younger and faster can push on ahead to create change.
Art is important and expression in this form will be vital for dealing with the next 4 years.
Don't be passive, if you see someone being marginalized or bullied, don't just stand by and do nothing.
Stay awake and be prepared to take many, many steps in the opposite direction.
Take the rest of 2016 to relax, get your breath and be ready for action January 1, 2017.
Henry Rollins is intense and at 55 1/2 he can make fun of it. He has matured and so have I. Now I am not quite as far along as Hank, but I close enough to relate.
I am ready to take action. Here are some good websites if you need inspiration.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5855a354cd0f68bab2089b40/t/5867cd26be65940ffdeeac1e/1483197741124/IndivisibleGuide_2016-12-31_v1.pdf

https://proactivesteps.info/

https://www.beforeitgetsworse.com



January 21st, I will be wearing comfortable shoes to march.

And clenching your fist for the ones like us who are oppressed by the figures of beauty. You fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind, We are ugly, but we have the music.”

Pickles.
Another post reflecting on the loss of life.
Last weekend a fire broke out at an Oakland art collective called Ghost Ship. Over 30 people lost their lives and the building was completely destroyed.
It is a horrible tragedy that has taken me a few days to get my head around.
There has been much chatter on the interwebs about the building not being safe, the manager being a slime, and the number of illegal occupants.
First, can the family and friends of the people lost grieve?
With the immediacy and availability of media it seems like though news travels fast (and fake news even faster) that there is little to no pause in any information. I did not know any of the people personally who lost their lives, but I know and have known plenty of people who have and had occupied spaces like Ghost Ship. I mean, I was in SF in the 1990s.

I heard a conversation on BART between two people that truly had no idea what they were talking about in regards to the tragic fire.
One quipped that art space collective occupants should pay an extra fee (like a HOA), so that they can ensure that all codes are up to snuff. What?!? This guy had obviously never bought groceries from Safeway using only nickels. The other person wondered why anyone would want to live in such a big building with so many people. "The noise alone!"  (Erica plants her palm to forehead)
Had they been even slightly LESS clueless, I might have interjected, but I saved my energy for another time.

Once people have had a chance to grieve what kind of "solutions" will be proposed?
I am already reading about businesses close to spaces like Ghost Ship complaining and making the claim they are not safe- a popular term I have seen a couple of times is "crackdown."  Great. I am pretty confident that the artists will not benefit.
There is an alleged art grant specifically for Oakland artists that is supposed to help in securing spaces and keeping the creative scene vibrant. We will see. The press conference was canceled that was going address the grant. So stay tuned.

Art is the what makes life interesting.

And in the current climate of the world we need art more than ever.

Don't you know me Kansas City?

It has only been two weeks since the election? Holy tomatoes! I thought it was like a month ago.
I have read crap on social media, traditional news outlets, blogs, had many conversations in person and online, and watched political satire television on the subject. My head hurts.
Am I surprised? Not at all.
Did I think that the next president was going to be a woman?
I wanted the next president to be a woman.

Speaking to a colleague about the election, I wanted her perspective on the whole thing.
She is African-American and part of the LGBTIQA community and I super respect her opinion on just about everything, so I felt comfortable asking her thoughts on the election.
This is the brief summary of the conversation.
Wear a safety pin, a Black Lives Matter teeshirt, donate to the ACLU, protest, create a support group or whatever. Just stand by what you are doing/wearing.
Be okay with yourself.
 Racism (and all the rest of it) didn't magically reappear after an 8 year absence. Yes, it is horrifying to read the news, but it has been here all along. Hateful people are lashing out at those they think oppress them. And because Trump was elected they think that shit will be okay.

It is not okay. That is why I can't subscribe to the "let's see how this all plays out," attitude.


 Here is a website that a friend has put together-
https://www.beforeitgetsworse.com/

There are some really helpful resources and great links to all kinds of ways one can take action.

There are many ways to protest. As a responsible parent I have to protest, but as a responsible parent I am not going to follow protesters onto the freeway.

I want to support my community and if you do to, I am sure there are organizations in your own backyard that could use some help.
Can't donate much time?
Money is always good.
If you are not sure how the money is spent. Call the organization.
Want to check on the politicians who represent your district, city, state, and the like? Call them. Email them.
I called Barbara Lee, my representative for my district and left a message with her office. I got an email back that she was part of a coalition of representatives who were putting pressure on pres-elect to not have Bannon as his strategist.
I called some publishers who have titles that focus on bullying and asked them to send free copies to Oakland Unified School District.
I am putting together a list of local resources for the students I serve, who are afraid for their safety.
After this post I will probably donate some money to Planned Parenthood.

Being heard is important. Nothing is going to happen overnight, and I cannot sit by waiting for someone else to make noise.

Memphis Skyline

Pretty much all of my 2016 posts have been about death and  loss and I will be starting this one with the same subject.

A friend of mine was killed in a hit and run a month ago. Helping her spouse was my main concern and I honestly can say that I did not really cry about the loss of my friend for about a week or so after it happened.
In the age of texting, I have grown accustomed to sending a quick message to a friend about something random and it seems that I have wanted to do that about 20 times since she died.
I have been writing them down in my journal. I guess it is part of my healing process.
This terrible tragedy has banded the tribe together. I check in with them a lot more than I did 4 weeks ago. I don't think there would be a dispute that I am the planner of the group, but even with that unofficial title I have got caught up in my own stuff and not been as active of a participant in my friendships.
Not to sound cheesy, but life is too short.

It is strange to me that a death has given me a new lease on life. Though I don't think of myself as a person who is uneasy trying new things, or a "uhhh, I can't do this."
This does not mean that I am going to jump out of an airplane or get a some kind of botox done, it means that I am going to seek out opportunity and not fall into the daily ruts.

I love my friends, I am going to make plans to see them more often.
Don't think that I can submit an article for possible publication, because I don't have time, or it won't get published anyway. Bollocks. I can put something together.
I want my daughter to try roller skating. BAM! She has an interest in something. As long as it is not totally unfeasible, I say let's give it a go.

I had a conversation with someone awhile ago that said to me that keeping up friendships was too much work. She was too old to bother with all the egos, opinions, and personalities. Thinking back on this conversation I have to chuckle a bit. Isn't that what it is all about? I love that some of my friends are needy, picky, flaky, and really I could go on and on and on and on, because that is what makes them who they are...
Can it be annoying? Absolutely. But who cares?!? As I said before, life is too short and as long as they want to hang out with me then it is all good.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I love my friends and I am really going to miss my friend who died.

No clever title for this blog post

It has taken me a couple of days to really get my head around what happened at the Orlando nightclub last weekend. I have made a conscious decision to not watch any talking heads report it, instead choosing NPR and some hand picked news agencies via the interwebs.

 I thought about the community that was struck by this horrific tragedy. For some, this space could have been the only place they felt free to be themselves. Someone mentioned to me that Orlando is urban, but the surrounding areas are not and there could have been people coming there who traveled quite a  distance because it was the only place around where they felt safe. I couldn't bare to listen to what the politicians had to say, because they don't understand. The last time I checked there were no LGBT people of color running for president or sitting in wait, Takano. I will check out if he has said anything. Anyway the MO of many elected officials  is of making sure all Americans are safe, yeah, well why don't we work on making it less terrifying for trans people to leave their house. Just saying.

I have been remembering all the times I had been at the Lexington or the Cafe, Ginger's, Wild West, the Stud, or El Rio  with my friends and friends of friends who welcomed me to share their space with them. How I walked side by side with my friends at Dyke March year after year, and always trying to convince one of my lady friends with a bike to let me ride on the back during the parade. 

I thought about how I brought my young daughter to PRIDE parades. 

Yes, I donated money to Equality Florida and I am gathering monies to donate to the Orlando Center directly. 

The same friend I was talking to said that it is important to support those in our own backyard too. 

I agree. This was a hate crime and giving support (volunteering, donating, whatever) to make safe spaces. 

If we have to call it something bland like public safety, then be it. I am all for public safety. 

I typically don't like air my politics in information superhighway and my next post will probably be music related.

In my house we don't use the word hate. Hate is a bad word.  If we don't like something, we say "I don't care for it." If she says she doesn't like someone I ask why (lucky for me it usually because they didn't share and it only lasts for a few minutes), because I don't want things to go unchecked. She understands to be gracious and that everyone is deserving. Even if they sometimes cut in line. To me, I would rather my daughter say the word fuck than hate. 

The Beautiful Ones

I was talking with one of my student workers about grieving on the internet via social media type platforms and we both agree that it is totally fine to do...
So here goes.
I was not always the biggest fan of Prince's music, but I appreciated him as an artist and person.
He seemed to have a healthy relationship with his persona and was not afraid to make fun of himself.
My relationship with Prince and his music was over the Purple Rain period.  I loved the soundtrack, but did not see the movie until cable. And boy oh boy- was that movie on A LOT.
My cousin and I could recite the dialogue to each other. There was a boy I liked that hung out with a girl who liked him too and so the song "the Beautiful Ones," was a page out of my diary and I listened to it over and over and over and over and over again.
I have been reading a lot of Prince music commentary and there has been mention of many of the cuts from the Purple Rain soundtrack, but I have only one article which singles out the song and you can find it here.
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/beautiful-ones-the-moment-prince-became-a-movie-star-20160422
It is mostly about his performance of the song in the movie (which is still one of my favorite moments in a movie), but the song stands on its own. Though it is hard to push out the imagery if you have seen Purple Rain.
The song begins with Prince singing in a kind of falsetto voice and keyboard accompaniment. It gradually builds to full band participation and some talk lyrics about getting married. He quips that "the beautiful ones always smash the picture, always every time." To me, this indicates that besides going out on a romantic limb, the writer of the song also knows that she is probably not the best choice even if the love interest in question decides to choose  him.
After many questions to the love interest, Prince in  Prince-screaming fashion sings the  lyrics " I want you!," and "Baaaby, baby, baaaby!" And trust me, I am not doing the song justice. It is powerful.
The song is an inner dialogue of deciding you want to be with someone and there being obstacles for which you have little control.
At one point, he sings "u make me so confused, the beautiful ones, u always seem to lose," this to me is not commentary, but emotionally charged ego romance stuff. Other tunes of this era were coming from a more sexually charged part of his psyche- "Take Me with U," and "I Would Die 4 U," are more of the love song-y kind of thing.
I have always wondered why it wasn't released as a single. Half the record was released as singles and charted in the top 25.
I mean, hello!

A friend of mine did a record club and we would bring our vinyl and listen to cuts and explain why we chose the record and the song.
I don't remember exactly what I said as to why I chose it, but I know it was my thirteen year old self who was behind it.

The beautiful ones
Always smash the picture
Always...every time...

Up there --- there is a sea

I just finished Patti Smith's latest literary work "M Train." I really enjoyed it. It is a quiet book that reflects on life, love, and writing about nothing.
I admit, sometimes Patti Smith's references go over my head and on more than one occasion I had to look up an author, poet, or novel to help me attempt to understand what she was talking about or how it related  to her prose.
"M Train," is still written in the good ol' Patti Smith style and there was one chapter, or vignette that struck a chord in me. She writes about how Fred (her late husband) liked to live as if the clock has no hands. For me, I live this way. Not in a sense that I am late for appointments or think deadlines are arbitrary, but that time ages you and feeds the monster of procrastination. Yes, I am older and I do not devote as much time to my artistic endeavors, but I am always looking for avenues to express myself (This is a blog post, right?) And the drive I have to create is still in me and I don't think it will ever go away. My interests have changed and my desire for a large audience has diminished, but I still like makin' stuff.  This theme was carried throughout the book along with how she spends her days.
Patti is really into solitude. I find that as I get older I do not want to spend my time alone so much. I mean yes, I want "me" time and blah, blah, blah. But I like interacting with people I care about.
Being a parent has also encouraged me to introduce adventures to my daughter. I want to travel with her and watch her reaction to experiences. Not all experiences have to epic; a sunset, jokes (usually at Papa's expense) at the grocery store, or drawing silly pictures all work for me. Yes, I want to take my kid to see the Eiffel Tower or the Trevi Fountain, but  she rode her bike for the first time at the cemetery by our house and she had a blast. To me they are the same(ish).
I got into a game on my smart phone a few months ago. It was one of those Candy Crush kind of games. I played it for over a month and I realized that I was spending a lot of my free time playing it. I got irritated with myself and deleted it. I have no idea what it was called and I don't miss it. I don't want to spend that much time looking at my phone. Not sure what my point was...Oh yeah! Even though most of my work day is spent talking to people, I don't crave solitude. Experiences with others is my game.
My grandmother taught me that life happens in cycles and is fluid. Consequences of a circumstance can alter how one's current cycle is proceeding and many people do not like the changing of cycles and have a hard time with the transition.
I don't want to use the blanket statement that I am enjoying the simple things in life, because yes, I am, but no, it is more complicated than that.
So Patti I agree with you, it is hard to write about nothing.
Thanks for the read.