The Cult of Veganism; or, Sit Down & Shut Up, Little Brown Girl
My friend Lenah has been going through a similar situation. There are no winners in the Oppression Olympics. All struggles are interconnected. Get over yourself.
Dammit.
Force of Nature - Same Ol' Thing
Hey folks. I’m back here in SD, where things have cooled down considerably. The Harris & Witch fires are 90% and 97% contained respectively, and the air doesn’t taste or look ashy anymore. Our home was unaffected, save for some ash on the windowsill, truly a blessing considering that the cities and towns all around us have been scorched in some way.
School has also restarted—and its kicking my ass. Losing 5 days doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re on the dreaded quarter system, you’re losing 10% of your classes. Nothing CRAZY, but combined with hard-ass professors eager teachers, this spells trouble for the average student. You know, the ones who weren’t using the week off as an extended study hall (hey, I was evacuated. I have an excuse. Kinda.)
Anyway, to my fellow peoples living in San Diego (I am not a “San Diegan”) I hope you and yours are all good. Thanks to Mr. Fisher for offering your place to me, and to Tyrone, who kept lookin’ out for me (I’ll pay ya a visit tomorrow). In parting, here’s a tune that I’m sure many here resonate with.
Bob Marley - No More Trouble
Catch A Fire indeed.
UPDATED: 10/27/07 12:53p
SD County Fires
Witch Fire
Harris Fire
Here’s some info I’ve collected about the fires ravishing through SD. Sorry about the formating, I’m evacuating right now and can’t fix it. I’m evacuated (in “the Lakehouse” near Riverside), and links are fixed. Changed to a faster-loading layout too.
UPDATE (10/27/07 - 12:53p) The fires look a lot better in SD and are mostly contained. I’m in LA right now, cramming and studying for the onslaught of work UCSD is gonna drop on students next week. I’ll be heading back to SD tomorrow morning. I hope everyone is safe and sound, and that the fires didn’t mess you up too bad. I added a link to the SD Fire Wiki, which is a great resource created by the community.
UPDATE (10/25/07 - 4:20p) One of my roommates has made it back to the house and everything seems fine. I will be going to LA to visit Amanda, and then I will head back down to SD afterwards. I also took down the google map because of its considerable load time.
UPDATE (10/24/07 - 9:10p) Our area (PQ) has just been cleared of evacuation status. I can return home as of right now, but I will stay the night here in Riverside. Since SD is still unstable, I will probably go to Amanda’s house in Los Angeles tomorrow, and then return to SD sometime this weekend after things have settled down a bit.
Newest Evacuation Map (PDF file) - Check to see if you can go back home.
My Top Links for San Diego Fire Info
Some of the most important links from the list below
This is my linkroll for any info on the fires throughout SoCal.
So a few days back, Shannon answered a question that had kinda been on my mind during the last few weeks of spring quarter:
“What are they saying in that song!?”
For those of you who don’t know, its “T T Totally Dude!”.
If you didn’t understand that, then chances are, you probably already know the hook—as well as the rest of the song by heart.
The explosion-as-devilhorns-sign and the very end made me get spit all over my aging Powerbook G4 (ooh shiny Macbook Pros). Then yesterday, Shannon told me about the newest song from the 1 2-Hit Wonder, Shop Boyz:
Damn. Just had to rub it in huh? And you want us to pay you for this stuff music industry?! I don’t wanna sound all old-fogey-ish… music in general has never been better imo, but radio is a cesspool. With stuff like pandora, last.fm, and the hype machine, I won’t look back when the current business model collapses, despite the RIAA’s last gasps.
Anyway, sorry for the crap. I’ve been real bitter as of late at myself and my world in general, for having shit like this, “Pop Lock & Drop It” & “ella, ella, ey! ey! ey!” stuck in my head more than 1/2 the time I’m awake.
Here’s some real music:
John Mayer - Kid A (Radiohead Cover)
Though I was definitely part of the right college radio generation, I never got into the whole John Mayer (or SD’s response, Jason Mraz) thing. But Radiohead was “my band” back in the days of the FHP (FumeHood Posse)—which, btw, is way better than OBG (no comment)—and continued to be my “college band” throughout my UCSD days. Long story short: Kid A is my favoritist song ever (LIVE!!!), and Mayer does a nice acoustic of it.
I also picked up this gem from the del.icio.us mp3 page.
We Got Our Own Thing - J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E.
(via: The White Noise Revisited)
This one’s for Clockw0rk. Funky-house beats that you love, with the old-school rap rhymes that no one can deny… don’t sleep on that via: link though, as I go through it with Peel, I find a lotta gems (YA mp3 blog I gotta check up on).
PS: I’ve been listening to a lot of “The Eraser” recently… shoulda got it last Summer back in Switzerland. And Random Google Researchâ„¢ for the post: Remember this? I vaguely, vaguely do, but the game and cartoon are remembered more readily… Thanks Nintendo Power!
I’m Graduating tomorrow. Its kind of surreal. I’m really glad that my family is here though. Although my brothers couldn’t make it after all, my closest kin is with me.
Love…
[need Picture]
Oh yeah, I was talking about a book!
I’m reading All About Love: new visions by bell hooks. I got it as a gift from the Cross (Yes I have found religion). Thanks Nancy, Edwina, Violeta and Cat. Thanks Fatima, Noah, Chris, Joseph, Brisa, Oraneet, Heidi & Miguel. I’ve learned to live life with these people and the space. Cya soon. =}
Ah! About the book: First of all. After doing hella research for final essays and artistic precedents, I’ve come to the realization that everything has a subtitle now. (The “All About” part reminds me of old Japanese Street Fighter 2 references like this that were the coveted books of pre-internet SF players in the states). 2nd of all, Bell Hooks!? Even the people are subtitles! Aiya, this is ridiiiiculous. But I trust. The strongest message so far has been this:
When we understand love as the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth, it becomes clear that we cannot claim to love if we are hurtful and abusive. Love and abuse cannot coexist. Abuse and neglect are, by definition, the opposites of nurturance and care.
Makes sense huh.
. o O (( So, I have a lot of free time now I suppose… ))
I can read, I can think. I can communicate with friends— and I can act on my random thoughts without guilt.
…I really don’t know why, but while thinking about the sippy cup terrorist, I suddenly wanted to laugh at crying babies. Yes, yes, I know. But I’m not as bad as some people… I’m sure all of you have that one friend. You know the one. The one who wishes cancer to babies. Yes. That one. (But yes… you were intoxicated!)
Anyway, I just wanted a quick laugh of babies in dire, but silly situations.
. o O (( Someone took a picture of his wife holding a little baby. ))
This is what I want to say to them: