A day to catch up with friends all over the place. I’ve booked two weekends in SF for February as there’s a protest march on February 16th I really want to be a part of. I’m thinking of volunteering for it. I’m also getting revved up about the possibilities that my thesis can offer, especially after watching a recent Bill Moyers special about hydrogen cars. It offered a spotlight on Arianna Huffington’s “When you drive an SUV, you fund terrorists” commercial campaign, and an evangelical association’s “What Would Jesus Drive?” campaign. This ties in with my thesis, and makes excellent background material. They’re shaping a visual language for certain mainstream elements. I think the WWJD campaign is more effective, though, because it doesn’t attack people personally.
Gerald Collier
I got to go out tonight. Gerald Collier — a former bartender at my old watering hole – played at Molly’s tonight. He has an alt-country sort of feel to his music, and probably the most pleasant voice I’ve ever heard. He’s one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met in this city, and has the sort of inner peace that attracts people to him. After trying out what a national scale feels like, he’s found happiness in a local existence, where his conversation and musical talents don’t need to be watered down via a media company.
The shuttle Columbia exploded on re-entry – Yow.
I’m on Day 10 of the cleanse. There was great temptation tonight, however, as Molly’s makes really good Irish food, and the smell of mashed potatoes and shepherd’s pie was permeating the establishment.
Day 6
Day 6 of cleanse… I’m not really even missing food or alcohol, but then I haven’t been putting myself in situations that require those things to be around. I saw “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, the alleged autobiography of Chuck Barris, with Kimmay and Celeste. It was brilliant in the way that we have no way of knowing if his CIA story was true, through the way his tale is told. Anyway, they wanted to go out to eat after the movie, but I had to decline – I don’t want to go off this now.One of the side effects of a cleanse is also emotional release. I’m living past experiences in reverse, newest ones first – sort of like peeling back layers.
I watched the State of the Union address. Yow. Hydrogen funding for cars? Getting off foreign oil? Dubya was sounding like the Green Party a bit, but there’s no way he’ll fund these programs. He’s simply moving to the center (just talking about these ideas) to further co-opt the Democrats, and then will do nothing about it.
Crossfire
CNN’s Crossfire is the show I’ve been looking for, and it stars Paul Begala, James Carville (Buck Up, Suck Up, and Come Back When You Foul Up) representing the left (well, the Democratic left, anyway), and Tucker Carlson and Robert Novak on the right. It’s fast-paced and fun to watch.
Organic sustainable feast, rally
Class today. A bit uncomfortable for some reason. Listened mostly, not sure if there was anything I could offer today. Didn’t read Malcolm X biography. Read about W.E.B. DuBois in high school, I think. Starting from scratch in this class. That’s a good thing. I’m here to learn, after all.Rally! Organizers say 350,000 – news says tens of thousands, police say 200,000. Barbara Lee, Bonnie Raitt, Martin Sheen. Market St was apparently full from Embarcadero to Civic Center. Can’t wait for the next march. I’ll be in Seattle – hopefully they’ll have something put together.
I almost feel hogtied a bit because I have a foot in the mainstream capitalist world, and one in a behind-the-scenes activist sort of way. It’s difficult because I don’t feel I connect with the protest movement today, yet I’m a part of it, even if in a small way. But I’m not a socialist, an anarchist, a communist. I do believe in the system of government we have. It’s just it needs a bit of fixing, but I don’t believe a complete overhaul, but then my opinion is based on my experience.
I went to an organic dinner in a “painted lady” house. It was probably the first night I’ve ever felt really welcome in San Francisco. I met a lot of wonderful people, and all of the food was organic and locally grown – nothing traveled further than 150 miles to be at the table. We had a bit of booze, all of us, and played Cranium in the living room. My social self can flourish here under the proper circumstances. Maybe these weekend trips to SF are the best way to establish a foothold in the city eventually. Build a community from another city? Why not?
The beady-eyed conspiracy theorist
Santa Monica is touristy. Then I see Arianna Huffington at Midnight Special bookstore. She indicates that we can use the lazyness and spinelessness of our leaders to our advantage. Public protest gets things done. During her speaking engagement, there’s a beady-eyed conspiracy theorist who keeps interrupting other people trying to ask questions, especially when talking about the 2000 election. He hates Nader, apparently. Diana and I leave at this point. I came to see her speak, but know her work well enough not to have to sit through a Q&A period. There’s a lot of angry faces in the room, but it seems to me the anger shouldn’t be directed here.
To L.A.
The drive to LA – beautiful, actually. I never realized the road to Southern California was so flat, although I passed a cattle ranch that had thousands of cattle and no grass. Maybe it was one of those cattle processing farms that I read about in “Fast Food Nation” or saw on Frontline. I saw two Hummer H2s. I’m most definitely not in San Francisco anymore. I meet my cousin Diana and her husband Peter at their place in Santa Monica. We go to a restaurant, and then Diana and I head over to a bar called “The Brig”. It’s a dive bar redone in LA fashion. The women are really skinny, and evidence of cosmetic surgery seems abundant.
Alternatives to Social Discomfort
I’m never staying in a hotel again. Why should I, when a beautiful bed and breakfast near Alamo Square is slightly cheaper. There’s barely anyone there, so I get the tudor part of the mansion to myself. There’s a fireplace and clawfoot tub. Yes!
Tonight my friend Leda and I went to the ‘Alternatives to Economic Globalization’ conference at the Palace of Fine Arts. I recognize a couple of people from New College, lending further evidence to my theory that communities in SF are formed through groups of interest moreso than knowing your neighbor. What made this conference so inspiring was that it wasn’t a bitch-and-moan session, it was a report on alternatives on the way the world can do business, and tread lightly on the environment while embracing human rights. We went to the Orbit Room afterwards and talked over a mojito. Leda just had an article about time management published in the latest Utne magazine. She informed me that United for Peace is adding ‘and Justice’ to their title to be more representative of the social justice mission of the organization.
I chat it up with a few people at the bar – maybe I’m more comfortable here than I realize.
The Angry Republican
Kimmay and I went with Jeannette to the Café Venus and Mars Bar, to celebrate one of Jeannette’s friend’s birthday. One of the people in the group was an angry Republican (self-professed). I’ve never met anyone so visibly angry with the world – I wonder if he had experienced a breakup a while ago, and became embittered and joined the Republican party. I attempted to diffuse him with non-partisan conversation, and that seemed to bring him down a bit. It’s been awhile since I’ve met someone that tightly wound.
The recovery
Today I spent on the couch, when I wasn’t getting sick. We really take our food sources for granted – who knows how far the ingredients traveled? I read ‘Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things’ today, and as a result have a new appreciation to keep my purchases local when possible. The author uses a boating term at the end of the book: ‘Watch your wake’, talking about the rippling effect of our consuming habits and the need to tread lightly (minimal wake) with our lifestyle.