Fighting the Systems Within Us

[image originally from here]

You Say Fair, I Say Faire…

Hello. So, it has been some time since I jotted down some thoughts here, so here goes nothing – what interesting things can I write to you of…

Well, the spring time is finally here – and not a moment too soon. Not to wrangle you with the weather, as it seems all strangers do – or defeat you with the routine and common of everyday, but this past winter made me want to move to the Caribbean (dear readers, have an empty house there in need of a caretaker – why not invite me over for some sunshine?). Although, I think I could do without the tropical storms and hurricanes, or whatever, but I guess not everything is perfect… or is it? If everything was only that easy and dreamy.

Actually, in all I’m pretty content with where I’m at. I think having the drama of all four seasons, just makes me appreciate everything a little bit more. Let’s take today for example: there is a raging wind outside (and I mean raging); earlier it was hailing the size of pebbles; then all of a sudden – the sun came out, everything became calm, and there was a big sigh of relief heard by all looking on. Now, it is back to being the kind of weather that makes one thinks one, two, three[1] many times before venturing outside (without ear muffs, remember those?).

Ocean City, Swallowing

Someone shouts in the street, “Go New York, go New York, GO…” Seriously, though lets go Knicks…

Somewhat related to nicer weather and traveling… A few weekends ago, I made it down to New York City (NYC) for the 5th annual NYC Anarchist Book Fair and stuff. And, wow. It was actually a lot of fun and it was great to meet some new people and hang out with old friends. NYC is a strange place for me. The stereotype goes that people from “the City” are often so fast talking, quick, and perhaps unfriendly in this way, as to be impolite. Well, not to fall into this trap, but I actually found that everyone was super polite and friendly. Well… not everyone – driving still sucks, and of course – I wasn’t hanging out with the Wall Street crowd, but it still felt like a marked difference. And this isn’t even to talk about the anarchist book fair.

If you want to listen to some of the workshops, skill shares, panels, and presentations from this past book fair, some of them are recorded here. You can also find the closing plenary with Ashanti Alston here, which is worth a listen if you missed it. You can also read the Basic Tech Security Recap from the 2011 NYC Anarchist Bookfair which recommends some Firefox add-ons and how to setup encrypted email to show off to your friends / co-workers.

Some funny things: a younger fellow came up to me with a Free State Project t-shirt and asked me basically to move there. The Free State Project, which I was previously unaware of is an idea to have a bunch of people to move to the State of New Hampshire. I couldn’t help but laughing a little bit (okay, a lot) and asking something like, “why not New York?” But, according to our free stater, I guess “a bunch of people are moving there soon” and there will probably be a pizza party as well. It reminds me of a funny question: why don’t a bunch of anarchists just move somewhere together? And some of the Vermont Free Republic before that imploded or whatever… But, then again maybe not, I just know that I’m not moving to New Hampshire…. ever. Why not make it more appealing, like some giant island in the Caribbean with lots of beaches?

Moving on, there was a video projected on the church wall continually throughout the day which had someone burning a $100 bill with matches. It also had a part with a kid in a box trying to bust out or something… A random passerby was fascinated with this I think and asked me if I knew what it was… and I was like, very cleverly and witty, looks like a kid in a box or something.

Hrmm…? More funny stuff? Nope. Other ideas, yes. Another time, perhaps.

Cold has a thousand shapes and a thousand ways of moving in the world: on the sea it gallops like a troop of horses, on the countryside it falls like a swarm of locusts, in the cities like a knife-blade it slashes the streets and penetrates the chinks of unheated houses.

What else can I say? It was a good time, a lot of quick conversations with many folks, and stuff. NYC is a huge place, it is somewhat overwhelming and seems pretty easy to get lost in, amongst all the hubbub.

[1] Do you get my Che Guevara joke here? Is it sad that I made this as a footnote?