I love downtown Montreal so damn much, especially in the Summer.
I went downtown yesterday with my mom, Emi, Ty, and Nick (Ty is here visiting again). The Fringe festival is going on right now, so there was plenty of activity. As I think of what to write, the sensory impressions are what come to mind first. The smell of cigarettes, weed, and good food. The sound of cars, music, laughter and voices. The sight of a numerous amount of people. Dyed bright hair, dreadlocks, bright summer dresses, studded everything, cool piercings...
We headed down in the afternoon, and as we walked along the streets, the first thing I noticed were the colours. The bright purple of someones railings; street art splashed on multiple walls, bright colours, faces, abstract scenes. I can't understand why some people don't see the value in such art. To me it's a beautiful art form, and the artists who create it are no less talented than their more traditional counterparts!
We passed a small garage sale on our way, and I bought another pin for my purse. I'll have to post a picture of my small but ever growing pin collection sometime soon.
In the square where the folk music was being played, we hung around briefly. Cigarette smoke hung in the air, and the twang of bluegrass folk sang in my ears. Since it wasn't really our type of music, we left my mom there to listen while the rest of us threaded our way through the band booths, poster plastered temporary walls, and eclectically dressed people. Some sounds we did like were the Fringe fest Cabaret, a motley group of people who wandered through the streets in pirate/gypsy-esque costumes, playing plaintive gypsy tunes. We passed them several times, and always enjoyed their music (and the juggler, in Ty's case). There isn't any feeling quite like wandering down the street with friends, the sun beating down and warming my back, watching the people that pass, taking in the sights, sounds, smells...
When we headed back to meet my mom a little while later, we were all slightly hungry, so after applying a few temporary tattoos supplied by one of the shows, we started on the twenty minute walk that would bring us to a cafe that was selling vegan food by donation. It was a lovely little fair trade, vegetarian cafe, with friendly people. We happily consumed millet pie, ginger cake, and spiked fruit juice with much happiness, at least on my part!
Afterwards, we wandered around for a while, Ty bought a new hand drum, and we headed home, sweaty, tired, and sore-footed. The day ended on a worse note than it had started on, but overall, it was still a good day.
Next Saturday, we're going downtown to see the fireworks (every year Montreal hosts an international fireworks competition, so the shows are truly spectacular), and we'll be there again at least once more this week for an outdoor concert.
I love this city. I really do. And I love long Summer days wandering it's streets, taking in everything, and just enjoying the vibrancy that is all around me. I'm biased, of course, but I truly believe that I live near one of the greatest cities there is!
Peace,
Idzie
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Dark skies
Life by turns continues to be depressing and good. Lately, sadly, depressing is still leading. I wanted to write something, even though the interesting thoughts in my head refuse to be made into a blog post, so I really don't have much interesting to say. So, I figured I'd put this little piece of randomness in a post, minimally edited. The ramblings of my mind as I sat in a car on a grey day in the parking lot of a plant nursery on my mother's Birthday. The sky was opressive, and the car smelled of tomato plants.
The glovebox is full of memories. I never even realized that until today. Depressed, bored, and trying to both distract and amuse myself, I open up the plastic door and start digging around inside. The first thing that catches my eye is Sackboy. He used to hang from a chain on my purse before the chain was broken or lost. I don't even remember which. I'd forgotten that Sackboy even existed. Next, I notice a bright flash of orange - a Kalahari wrist band that's been there since February, when we went to the UWWG. It was the first unschooling gathering we went to as a family (minus my dad). The barcode and phone number are wearing off. Memories keep coming as I pull other things out. The card from Uncle Gene's funeral, and the words on the back that made me cry when I first read them aloud in the car, a few monthes ago, as we drove home. "I have lived - God knows I have lived..." A parking slip from St. Annes. What a memory that is. I don't even emember why we were there. There's also a pile of yellow napkins, and a plastic bag filled with salt and pepper pckets, and plastic knives and forks, stolen from some long forgotten restaurant on the side of the highway. And a bill from an EconoLodge we never even ended up staying at...
I wonder how many words never written are tucked away in my brain, never to be found again... Hidden memories never to be recalled...
That's why I love gloveboxes.
Life is hard smetimes, especially when the way isn't clear, or when your happiness, which it almost always is, is dependant on others. I can't fix everything. I can't even change some things. And figuring out what is changeable and what isn't can be exceedingly difficult. But, I feel bad for complaining, and I really dont want to. I do know that things will get better. It's just hard waiting until it does.
Peace,
Idzie
The glovebox is full of memories. I never even realized that until today. Depressed, bored, and trying to both distract and amuse myself, I open up the plastic door and start digging around inside. The first thing that catches my eye is Sackboy. He used to hang from a chain on my purse before the chain was broken or lost. I don't even remember which. I'd forgotten that Sackboy even existed. Next, I notice a bright flash of orange - a Kalahari wrist band that's been there since February, when we went to the UWWG. It was the first unschooling gathering we went to as a family (minus my dad). The barcode and phone number are wearing off. Memories keep coming as I pull other things out. The card from Uncle Gene's funeral, and the words on the back that made me cry when I first read them aloud in the car, a few monthes ago, as we drove home. "I have lived - God knows I have lived..." A parking slip from St. Annes. What a memory that is. I don't even emember why we were there. There's also a pile of yellow napkins, and a plastic bag filled with salt and pepper pckets, and plastic knives and forks, stolen from some long forgotten restaurant on the side of the highway. And a bill from an EconoLodge we never even ended up staying at...
I wonder how many words never written are tucked away in my brain, never to be found again... Hidden memories never to be recalled...
That's why I love gloveboxes.
Life is hard smetimes, especially when the way isn't clear, or when your happiness, which it almost always is, is dependant on others. I can't fix everything. I can't even change some things. And figuring out what is changeable and what isn't can be exceedingly difficult. But, I feel bad for complaining, and I really dont want to. I do know that things will get better. It's just hard waiting until it does.
Peace,
Idzie
Monday, June 1, 2009
Creations by Emi
My wonderful Manga, Anime, and anything Japanese obsessed sister, really really really wants to go to the Japan. And she's getting the opportunity to do just that, through Eli Gerzon's Worldschool Travel Tours. However, it's a LOT of money. She's therefor doing a bunch of things to raise money, one of which is making and selling bags, pincushions, jewelry, and other lovely things. If you're interested in supporting her, please check out some of her stuff on her deviantART acount. Items will soon be listed in her Etsy shop, CreationsbyEmi. Thanks a bunch, from both of us (I love to see my sis happy)!
Peace,
Idzie
Peace,
Idzie
Figuring out the problems in life...
More and more lately I've felt that there's a huge gap between where I am, and where I want to be in my life.
I love being around people, and I love being busy (or at least semi-busy), so I don't know how I ended up with such a quiet life. I guess because it happened gradually... Or maybe it's more accurate to say that I was simply happy being not that busy for a while... But that's no longer what I need or want. So then the issue becomes how can I make my life into what I want it to be? Starting new activities where there isn't anyone I know is incredibly difficult for me. It scares me. And not in the fairly normal apprehensive-about new-situations way, but in a terrified-chest-tightening-mild panic-attack-inducing way. New situations are only okay to me if I'm with someone I care about (either family or friend). So that makes things more difficult... But before I even get to that point, I need to figure out what it is I want to be doing. So I compiled a list of my interests the other day, and am going to see what I can do that involves those interests, and whether I can rope any friends or family into doing them with me!
Because of all that, I've been feeling really dissatisfied and frustrated lately. Add emotional stress to that (a breakup (we're still friends, but working on a friendship can still be difficult), someone I'm close too going through chemo (that's a big one)...) and things have been more then a little rough. But I'm okay. And I know that I'll find my way, I'm just not sure how long it's going to take me, or how difficult it's going to be...
I have lots of thoughts and ideas floating around in my head, and hopefully at least a few of them will make it into blog posts in the not too distant future!
Peace,
Idzie
I love being around people, and I love being busy (or at least semi-busy), so I don't know how I ended up with such a quiet life. I guess because it happened gradually... Or maybe it's more accurate to say that I was simply happy being not that busy for a while... But that's no longer what I need or want. So then the issue becomes how can I make my life into what I want it to be? Starting new activities where there isn't anyone I know is incredibly difficult for me. It scares me. And not in the fairly normal apprehensive-about new-situations way, but in a terrified-chest-tightening-mild panic-attack-inducing way. New situations are only okay to me if I'm with someone I care about (either family or friend). So that makes things more difficult... But before I even get to that point, I need to figure out what it is I want to be doing. So I compiled a list of my interests the other day, and am going to see what I can do that involves those interests, and whether I can rope any friends or family into doing them with me!
Because of all that, I've been feeling really dissatisfied and frustrated lately. Add emotional stress to that (a breakup (we're still friends, but working on a friendship can still be difficult), someone I'm close too going through chemo (that's a big one)...) and things have been more then a little rough. But I'm okay. And I know that I'll find my way, I'm just not sure how long it's going to take me, or how difficult it's going to be...
I have lots of thoughts and ideas floating around in my head, and hopefully at least a few of them will make it into blog posts in the not too distant future!
Peace,
Idzie
Monday, May 25, 2009
Awesome revolutionary quotes
Robin of Decentralize.tv posted the link to a marvelous list of quotes from his site. Here are a bunch of my favorites from said site... The entire collection of quotes can be found here. Oh, and sorry about all the italics... Blogger is being difficult!
“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
-Howard Zinn
“A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an air force.”
-William Blum
“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”
-Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall
“War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.”
-Ambrose Bierce
"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."
-Kurt Vonnegut
-Anonymous
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
"The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity."
-Dr. Robert Anthony
“Find out just what the people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
-Frederick Douglas
“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”
-Arundhati Roy
“There’s room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,”
-John Lennon
“The point of public relations slogans like ‘Support our troops’ is that they don’t mean anything… That’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody’s going to be against, and everybody’s going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn’t mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That’s the one you’re not allowed to talk about.”
-Noam Chompsky
“The corporations don’t have to lobby the government any more. They are the government.”
-Jim Hightower
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
-Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
“Expecting FOX News to report real news is about as silly as waiting for George Bush and Dick Cheney to tell the truth… Americans care, but it’s tough to care when you don’t know what’s going on. That ignorance is what the warmakers count on and what the corporate media delivers.”
-Amy Goodman
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’
Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’
But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“The truth hurts, but denial is what will kill you.”
-Anonymous
“What’s public opinion? It’s the education system plus the media.”
-Mark Green (President of Air America radio)
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.”
-Stalin
“Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM.”
-John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
“Fascism - A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”
-The American Heritage Dictionary, 1983
“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
-David Rockefeller, September 14, 1994
“The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists.”
-Edgar J. Hoover
“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who Is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable.”
-Henry Louis Mencken
“Government cripples you, then hands you a crutch and says, ‘See, if it wasn’t for us, you couldn’t walk.’”
-Harry Browne
“As a rule of thumb, if the government wants you to know it, it probably isn’t true.”
-Craig Murray
“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
-Albert Einstein
“Terrorism has replaced Communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country, for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to create hysteria.”
-Howard Zinn
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.”
-Thomas Pynchon, Jr.
“It does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continous, the essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labor. A hierarchal society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. The war is waged by the ruling group against its subjects, and its object is not victory, but to keep the very structure of society in tact.”
-George Orwell
“Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country”
-Edward Bernays, assistant to William Paley, founder of CBS
“…ironically, perhaps, the best organized dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees.”
-Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)
"You’ve got to rattle your cage door. You’ve got to let them know that you’re in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you’ll sure have a lot more fun."
-Florynce Kennedy
These quotes have also been added to my quotes page.
Peace
Idzie
“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
-Howard Zinn
“A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an air force.”
-William Blum
“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”
-Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall
“War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.”
-Ambrose Bierce
"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."
-Kurt Vonnegut
"Imagine,” Tyler said, “stalking elk past department store windows and stinking racks of beautiful rotting dresses and tuxedos on hangers; you’ll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life, and you’ll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. Jack and the beanstalk, you’ll climb up through the dripping forest canopy and the air will be so clean you’ll see tiny figures pounding corn and laying strips of venison to dry in the empty car pool lane of an abandoned superhighway stretching eight-lanes-wide and August-hot for a thousand miles."
-The book Fight Club
"Just look at us. Everything is backwards. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, schools destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the mainstream media destroys information, and religions destroy spirituality."-Anonymous
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
"The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity."
-Dr. Robert Anthony
“Find out just what the people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
-Frederick Douglas
“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”
-Arundhati Roy
“There’s room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,”
-John Lennon
“The point of public relations slogans like ‘Support our troops’ is that they don’t mean anything… That’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody’s going to be against, and everybody’s going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn’t mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That’s the one you’re not allowed to talk about.”
-Noam Chompsky
“The corporations don’t have to lobby the government any more. They are the government.”
-Jim Hightower
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
-Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
“Expecting FOX News to report real news is about as silly as waiting for George Bush and Dick Cheney to tell the truth… Americans care, but it’s tough to care when you don’t know what’s going on. That ignorance is what the warmakers count on and what the corporate media delivers.”
-Amy Goodman
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’
Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’
But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“The truth hurts, but denial is what will kill you.”
-Anonymous
“What’s public opinion? It’s the education system plus the media.”
-Mark Green (President of Air America radio)
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.”
-Stalin
“Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM.”
-John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
“Fascism - A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”
-The American Heritage Dictionary, 1983
“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
-David Rockefeller, September 14, 1994
“The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists.”
-Edgar J. Hoover
“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who Is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable.”
-Henry Louis Mencken
“Government cripples you, then hands you a crutch and says, ‘See, if it wasn’t for us, you couldn’t walk.’”
-Harry Browne
“As a rule of thumb, if the government wants you to know it, it probably isn’t true.”
-Craig Murray
“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
-Albert Einstein
“Terrorism has replaced Communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country, for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to create hysteria.”
-Howard Zinn
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.”
-Thomas Pynchon, Jr.
“It does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continous, the essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labor. A hierarchal society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. The war is waged by the ruling group against its subjects, and its object is not victory, but to keep the very structure of society in tact.”
-George Orwell
“Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country”
-Edward Bernays, assistant to William Paley, founder of CBS
“…ironically, perhaps, the best organized dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees.”
-Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)
"You’ve got to rattle your cage door. You’ve got to let them know that you’re in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you’ll sure have a lot more fun."
-Florynce Kennedy
These quotes have also been added to my quotes page.
Peace
Idzie
Links on unschooling and radical environmentalism
The Six-Lesson School Teacher is an essay by John Taylor Gatto damning the school system.
Who Needs School? A video interview with Holly and Sandra Dodd
Resist Do Not Comply is a moving video on Arctic wildlife, climate change, and militant action. Link courtesy of Misko (thanks!).
World At Gunpoint is the first installment of a new column in Orion magazine written by Derrick Jensen. Thanks to ps pirro for the link!
Who Needs School? A video interview with Holly and Sandra Dodd
Resist Do Not Comply is a moving video on Arctic wildlife, climate change, and militant action. Link courtesy of Misko (thanks!).
World At Gunpoint is the first installment of a new column in Orion magazine written by Derrick Jensen. Thanks to ps pirro for the link!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Public email
Periodically I'll get a lovely message from someone who has read and liked my blog enough to drop me a line. I really appreciate this, and getting messages from people really makes me happy! But I've realized it must be a bit of a pain to contact me privately, since previously the only way to do so was through YouTube. So I've now made a public email account:
open.eyed.slave@gmail.com.
Please mention something to do with my blog, unschooling, anarchy, or whatever in the subject line, so I know it's not spam! For those of you who already know my private email address, that's still my primary one, and you should send your emails there.
Peace,
Idzie
open.eyed.slave@gmail.com.
Please mention something to do with my blog, unschooling, anarchy, or whatever in the subject line, so I know it's not spam! For those of you who already know my private email address, that's still my primary one, and you should send your emails there.
Peace,
Idzie
Monday, May 18, 2009
Updates on life, the universe (or at least the small part of it that I inhabit), and anything else I can think of
While Ty and family were still here, Ty and I went to the hotel that Donna and Cole were staying at to eat dinner and swim one day, and had a small early birthday celebration for Ty at my house another day (his birthday is on the 20th), and then they left on the the 16th.
Later that day (the 16th), my mom and I went to the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. There were tons of people there! Outside of the building where it was being held there were groups of people standing around talking, and a small camping tent set of where several people had crammed themselves in and were playing instruments. Inside, it was packed. In the main hallway people were sitting all over the floor, talking, laughing, playing guitar and banjo, putting dreads in each others hair... I loved the style of the people there. There were tons of people with dreadlocks, some with mowhawks or mullets. There were tons (and I do mean TONS) of awesome piercings, and tons of cool DIY punk clothing. As my sister pointed out, pretty much the only people who are anarchists are punks and hippies, so was it really a big surprise that those were the prevalent people there? :-P My mom and I were both equally happy with the wonderful atmosphere there and all of the cool stuff to see. We wandered around, happily looking at/reading a wide range of radical books, zines, pamphlets, stickers, buttons, t-shirts, and similar paraphernalia. Many things were sold on a sliding scale, and many things were free, or simply by donation. There was also a decent amount of stuff on green anarchy, ecology, and similar stuff, which made me very happy! Finally, between my mom and I, we got Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed, Stolen Harvest, Earth Democracy, Days of War, Nights of Love, and Expect Resistance. I was thrilled when my mom decided to get Days of War, Nights of love since it's a book that I myself have wanted to read since it was recommended to me last year by the guy who got me interested in green anarchy. Both that book and Expect Resistance are published by CrimeThinc., which I love. Their rebellious, sarcastic, energetic style makes their stuff compulsively readable, and what they have to say is virtually always thought provoking.
My mom and I have started reading Days of War, Nights of Love together, taking turns reading bits out loud, and it's already sparked some very interesting conversations. For instance, last night we read the chapter on hygiene and "cleanliness" which was very interesting, and then moved onto the chapter about sex, which sparked a long discussion. Strange thing to be discussing with my mom, eh? When I was in my preteens and early teens, there was so much stuff that made me uncomfortable to talk about. Sex, drugs, bodily functions, just tons of stuff. But as I made different friends, I became desensitized to a lot of stuff, and that's basically what I'm still doing now. I really don't like it when something makes me uncomfortable to talk about, because I honestly believe that everything should be able to be discussed with comfort, and I want to be able to do that! So I'm actually almost happy when I find something that makes me feel uncomfortable, because then I can push through that feeling and be happy in the knowledge that I've just broadened my horizons a bit by having an interesting conversation that I could have shied away from do to a bit of uncomfort! It also helps that my mom is amazing cool, open-minded, and as much a best friend as a mother. I know that it makes both of us very happy that we have such a strong relationship, and can discuss things comfortably with each other that most teens/parents would never dream of talking to their parents/teens about! It also makes me very happy that my mom agrees with so much of what I have to say. It really wasn't all that long a stretch for me to get into as radical views as I have, since my mom has always been a wee bit "radical" herself! ;-)
In other news, well, there isn't really much news that I can think of at the moment, actually. Oh, wait, perhaps there is... I've been thinking a lot lately about issues of sexual orientation, and similar things. For the longest time it seemed to me that many of my friends, and simply people I knew, were wrestling with issues of sexual identity, and how society looked on their sexual orientations, how whether the fact they were bisexual or homosexual changed the way people viewed them or treated them, as well as gender issues, and issues of how society expected them to act in a very narrow way because of what gender they were assigned at birth. I always found it slightly ironic (as well as sad) that I was very sure of my heterosexuality and felt entirely female, yet had some of the most open-minded and accepting parents I knew, and the people I knew who did not identify as heterosexual had parents who were very homophobic, close-minded, and unaccepting.
For the longest time I've said, and believed, that those boxes of straight/gay/bi were too restricting, and unrealistic. People are people, and I think that matters a lot more then gender, straightness, gayness, or any other label. People are attracted to people, and some people simply tend to be attracted to certain types of people (I am including gender in types of people, I just don't think it's necessarily the most important part). However, as much as I knew that to be true, I'm not sure I fully absorbed it, because a little while ago I realized that I wasn't as "straight" as I thought myself to be. I was, and am, attracted to girls somewhat, I'm just attracted to a wider range of guys. For about a week, I fussed over that. I'd put myself into too tight a box, then felt insecure and a bit lost when I realized that the way I describe myself and show myself to the world wasn't quite right. But luckily, after about a week of that, I realized that I was being silly. I didn't need to worry about labels or anything else. As I already knew, people are attracted to people, and it really isn't all that important, or even necessarily healthy, to try and attach a ton of labels to myself. Now the closest to labeling I've come lately is in a rather interesting conversation involving each person's percentage of attraction to either sex. I've decided that I'm 85% attracted to guys, 15% girls. And for some reason, having something solid like that in my head makes me happy. I think it's because I find it very important to be able to describe myself to people in words, and when I can't do that it makes me unhappy...
Anyway, I'm going to head off now, and perhaps spend some time outside while the sun is still out... :-)
Peace,
Idzie
Later that day (the 16th), my mom and I went to the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. There were tons of people there! Outside of the building where it was being held there were groups of people standing around talking, and a small camping tent set of where several people had crammed themselves in and were playing instruments. Inside, it was packed. In the main hallway people were sitting all over the floor, talking, laughing, playing guitar and banjo, putting dreads in each others hair... I loved the style of the people there. There were tons of people with dreadlocks, some with mowhawks or mullets. There were tons (and I do mean TONS) of awesome piercings, and tons of cool DIY punk clothing. As my sister pointed out, pretty much the only people who are anarchists are punks and hippies, so was it really a big surprise that those were the prevalent people there? :-P My mom and I were both equally happy with the wonderful atmosphere there and all of the cool stuff to see. We wandered around, happily looking at/reading a wide range of radical books, zines, pamphlets, stickers, buttons, t-shirts, and similar paraphernalia. Many things were sold on a sliding scale, and many things were free, or simply by donation. There was also a decent amount of stuff on green anarchy, ecology, and similar stuff, which made me very happy! Finally, between my mom and I, we got Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed, Stolen Harvest, Earth Democracy, Days of War, Nights of Love, and Expect Resistance. I was thrilled when my mom decided to get Days of War, Nights of love since it's a book that I myself have wanted to read since it was recommended to me last year by the guy who got me interested in green anarchy. Both that book and Expect Resistance are published by CrimeThinc., which I love. Their rebellious, sarcastic, energetic style makes their stuff compulsively readable, and what they have to say is virtually always thought provoking.
My mom and I have started reading Days of War, Nights of Love together, taking turns reading bits out loud, and it's already sparked some very interesting conversations. For instance, last night we read the chapter on hygiene and "cleanliness" which was very interesting, and then moved onto the chapter about sex, which sparked a long discussion. Strange thing to be discussing with my mom, eh? When I was in my preteens and early teens, there was so much stuff that made me uncomfortable to talk about. Sex, drugs, bodily functions, just tons of stuff. But as I made different friends, I became desensitized to a lot of stuff, and that's basically what I'm still doing now. I really don't like it when something makes me uncomfortable to talk about, because I honestly believe that everything should be able to be discussed with comfort, and I want to be able to do that! So I'm actually almost happy when I find something that makes me feel uncomfortable, because then I can push through that feeling and be happy in the knowledge that I've just broadened my horizons a bit by having an interesting conversation that I could have shied away from do to a bit of uncomfort! It also helps that my mom is amazing cool, open-minded, and as much a best friend as a mother. I know that it makes both of us very happy that we have such a strong relationship, and can discuss things comfortably with each other that most teens/parents would never dream of talking to their parents/teens about! It also makes me very happy that my mom agrees with so much of what I have to say. It really wasn't all that long a stretch for me to get into as radical views as I have, since my mom has always been a wee bit "radical" herself! ;-)
In other news, well, there isn't really much news that I can think of at the moment, actually. Oh, wait, perhaps there is... I've been thinking a lot lately about issues of sexual orientation, and similar things. For the longest time it seemed to me that many of my friends, and simply people I knew, were wrestling with issues of sexual identity, and how society looked on their sexual orientations, how whether the fact they were bisexual or homosexual changed the way people viewed them or treated them, as well as gender issues, and issues of how society expected them to act in a very narrow way because of what gender they were assigned at birth. I always found it slightly ironic (as well as sad) that I was very sure of my heterosexuality and felt entirely female, yet had some of the most open-minded and accepting parents I knew, and the people I knew who did not identify as heterosexual had parents who were very homophobic, close-minded, and unaccepting.
For the longest time I've said, and believed, that those boxes of straight/gay/bi were too restricting, and unrealistic. People are people, and I think that matters a lot more then gender, straightness, gayness, or any other label. People are attracted to people, and some people simply tend to be attracted to certain types of people (I am including gender in types of people, I just don't think it's necessarily the most important part). However, as much as I knew that to be true, I'm not sure I fully absorbed it, because a little while ago I realized that I wasn't as "straight" as I thought myself to be. I was, and am, attracted to girls somewhat, I'm just attracted to a wider range of guys. For about a week, I fussed over that. I'd put myself into too tight a box, then felt insecure and a bit lost when I realized that the way I describe myself and show myself to the world wasn't quite right. But luckily, after about a week of that, I realized that I was being silly. I didn't need to worry about labels or anything else. As I already knew, people are attracted to people, and it really isn't all that important, or even necessarily healthy, to try and attach a ton of labels to myself. Now the closest to labeling I've come lately is in a rather interesting conversation involving each person's percentage of attraction to either sex. I've decided that I'm 85% attracted to guys, 15% girls. And for some reason, having something solid like that in my head makes me happy. I think it's because I find it very important to be able to describe myself to people in words, and when I can't do that it makes me unhappy...
Anyway, I'm going to head off now, and perhaps spend some time outside while the sun is still out... :-)
Peace,
Idzie
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