I'ved moved.

Wednesday, May 8th

I interviewed today for a new job. A position at a Veterinary Clinic. It would be nice to work with animals again but it is kind of lame that the clinic is in one of the suburbs here. The other thing is the hours....I don't know if it is worth it or not. I would miss being so close to home and some of my co-workers...
The thing is, I am in a quandry as to what I should do at this point in my life. Do I want to be an "adult" and work at a job that may compromise some of things that I enjoy such as the option to walk or bike to work or the option to take off any day that I need to or to dress in whatever manner I please? AARRRGGGHHH!!!! The reason this bothers me is that I have some friends in Michigan that act as though we are living some crazy life here because we have travelled a little bit, have moved to MI to MN, back to MI then right back to MN. They even go so far to say that we are more nomadic. Well if I was given a house by my parents when I graduated H.S., I may have not moved on either (though I probably would have sold it and done so).
Anyways, I still feel young though I will be hitting the 26 mark this July. I feel that there is alot that I want to do and that I can do. I am very envious of the travelling punks, the trainhoppers and the activists that don't have a child to worry about supporting. Not to say that I resent Ana.

Sunday was the MayDay parade and celebration. We had a good time, though we only really stayed for the parade.

I found a bunch of great sites about trainhopping the other night.

I'm looking forward to the This Bike is A Pipe Bomb show at the Seward Cafe in early June. Though I am debating whether taking Ana is a wise choice or not. My dream job is being part of the Seward collective that runs the cafe, or the colletive that runs the Hard Times Cafe. Now that is really living on your own terms. As an employee, you are part owner of the business, so you have a say in how that business is run and matters that effect the business.

No real news on my end. Just waiting for something resembling spring at this point.

Wednesday, April 24th

SOUNDTRACK:
Operation: Cliff Clavin 2XCD set

The mother-in-law was in town for the past week. That is always an experience, let me tell you...
It's not that I don't get along with her, but she has some very obsessive/neurotic things about her that can drive ya crazy if you let it.
On the bright side, we finally have a bed for the pixie and me to share!! It will be her's as soon as she gets used to sleeping alone though.

Really nothing to report other than silly mundane stories...

Friday, April 12th

SOUNDTRACK:
Bob Dylan - "Positively Forth Street"

We just got back from an adventure at Bryant Park. Lots of learning to share for little Ana. Games included the "toddler staredown", the "my ball" tug and hug and the "lets follow the other babies around like a puppy" game.

Ana is becoming quite the little anti-smoking and pro-pedestrian advocate (or is it anti-car?).
Yesterday, she waved her hand and said "eeeewwwww" when a man lit a cigarette at the crosswalk. Then today, as we were stepping out to cross the street in front of our building, a big ol' Dodge Ram came barreling up to the stop sign and she stuck her palm up at him as we crossed in front of him as if to say "back off, mister, we have the right of way". Hee-hee, I've trained her well.

In other "May Day" news, check out the Indymedia site for events happening the week leading up to May 1st, in your city.

Amazon Books will be hosting Julia Butterfly Hill for a book signing, Sunday the 14th.

Sunday, April 7th
SOUNDTRACK:
This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb - "Dance Party With..."
READING:
"Honky" by Dalton Conley

So, we were out for a stroll last night and as we were coming down Lake Street heading home, a traveling punk asked us if we could spare some loot. I was like, "Lemme check" and pulled my wallet-type thing out. Lo and behold, I had a few bucks. Well, let me tell you, we had gusty winds all day and just as I was fumbling around (I had my gloves on for some reason)with my money, WOOSH, the wind sucked 2 bucks out of my hand just as I was getting ready to hand it to him. The clincher of this story is, I just stood there dumbfounded as he scurried after the money. I felt terrible about the situation after it was too late to do anything about it. I hope to goddess that he didn't feel demeaned by the fact that I just stood there while he rushed to grab the dollar bills. I really didn't mean for it to be that way.

Oh yeah, I had my first session at the May Day workshops. GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE. Let's just say that I hope this coming week goes better.

Monday, April 1st

Had a relaxing breakfast at the Seward Cafe this morning. It's the perfect place to take Ana because they have toys and books and she can just wander around while we are waiting for our name to be called.

Today, I was thinking about some commonly used words and phrases that really annoy me. The first being "upscale", this word somehow implies that everything else is lower quality and lower class, that if you shop at a upscale shop, you are somewhat better than everyone else. It is such a bullshit term.

The other phrase is "cutting edge", what the hell? Every time a new product comes out, it's all of the sudden "cutting edge". What is that supposed to mean anyway, that you need
this product if you want to be cool or whatever?

Working behind a counter at a corporate grocery that targets the rich folk, I notice things about our customers all of the time. Like how everyone that comes into the store is wearing the same North Face puffy coat or fleece vest, in black mind you, and the same leather hiking shoes, you know the ones. Why is everyone so caught up on a brand name. And the high school girls with their Abercrombie sweatshirts. It doesn't even look good, but they spend a load of their(parents) cash just because of the name on the front or on a little tag. And how I see a parking lot full of Volvos, Audis and Saabs when I walk out to go home. Is this the "American Dream"? If so, they can have it. Blah.

Friday, March 29th

The other day as I was leaving the Art Material's store with my bag of blockprinting goodies, I came to an elderly lady at the end of the alley. She held her hand up to me, motioning me to stop. I rested at the end of the alley and slid the window down a hair to she what she needed. Of course, she needed money. All of the sudden the excitement of getting my art supplies didn't seem so great anymore. I get knocked into to this every now and then. I feel as though I don't deserve to have things when there are people out there that can't even buy food. There have been too many times this year alone that I almost had to make the trek to the food shelf but I am thankful to have my housing.
On the other hand, I have residents in my building that were homeless before they moved in and now own more than I do. Shit's fucked up.
By the way, I did give her a buck in quarters, it was the only cash I had.

On a good note, a co-worker offered up some space in her garden if I wanted to plant something this spring. I was very touched by her guesture. And another co-worker that I thought disliked me, paid the 5 cents that I was short for my morning coffee. I realize that 5 cents isn't much but it's the thought that counts.... Are things looking up???

Thursday, March 28th

SOUNDTRACK:
The UNSEEN - "In the City"
Blatz - "I don't care about you"
Nancy Sinatra - "These Boots Are Made For Walkin"

Yes, its true, I think that Spring has finally graced us here in Minnesota. Keep your fingers crossed that it's not yet another false alarm.

It's time to dig the bicycle out and get my ass in shape again. I want to commit to at least riding the bike or walking this whole summer when I go out alone.

I've recruited someone to contribute some drawings to the zine-in-progress since I'm a spazz at art.

I picked up some block printing supplies to test my hand at that. If all goes well, I will block print covers.

I put the mini-poll back up for the time being....

Thursday, March 21st

SOUNDTRACK:
Baby yapping

No news.
Some new links to the left and to the right.
Some new color in the background.
Big WHUP.

Wednesday, March 20th

SOUNDTRACK:
Hum - "Stars"
Small Brown Bike - "Sleeping Weather"
Patsy Cline - "Walking After Midnight"

It's the Spring Equinox today. growl. Then how come it's snowing?

I have been thinking about issues of "class" too much lately. Then some pompus physician comes into my place of employment and belittles me and says very classist remarks about myself and my co-workers and when I find out, I am so angry that I get teary. I take shit way too personally, though it is hard not to when some selfish jerk is launching attacks at me and the people I work with. What a wonderful world we live in.

The other issue that I have been major insecurities about for the past few weeks, months and years is friends and friendships in general. In the whole city of Minneapolis, I have ONE person that wants to go out to catch lunch or hang out or whatever. ONE.
Is it selfish of me to desire a group of friends of which I can get together with to silkscreen shirts or go to shows with or volunteer with or cook a pot of soup with? Is it selfish of me to want my daughter to be around these type of people and to see people interacting in a positive way?
Am I too standoffish? Am I too crabby? Am I too poor or not poor enough (depending on the people)? Am I not dressed cool enough? Am I weird? Do I want to know the answers? Probably not...
Should I just crawl back to the hole in the wall town I came from and sink into complacentcy and work at the local factory or the nearest office/prison and shop at Wal-Mart and not care about anything going on in the world around me?

On a lighter note, I will be starting the puppet making at the Heart of the Beast theatre in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to that anyway.

Sunday, March 17th

one word: SNOW
I have seen enough of it, my back is blown out from shoveling it and I am more than ready for spring. {growl}

I finally picked up Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, it is a great book that focuses on the evils that the fast food industry forces upon unsuspecting masses and wage slaves alike. I have been switching between that book and the "Burn Collector" collection by Al Burian which is available through Microcosm.

I had a chance to check out Atom and His Package last Sunday. I was supposed to meet another Mpls mama there, but our paths didn't cross. Even though, it was a good time.

Monday, March 4th

I want to draw attention to the beautiful work by a local or once local, artist named Inna Valin. I know that I have mentioned her before but I thought that it was worth a second mention!

Well, I am offically signed up to work on puppets for the HOTB May Day parade and festival. I am also trying to decide if I want to try and participate in the May Day March for the Labor Movement on May 1st.

Another site with interesting "busy work" is the Victorian Trading Company. Check out the pretty Spring greeting cards.

Keep updated on all facets of "alternative news" on this site.

Okay, this is all I have time for tonight.

Wednesday, Feb 27th

Spring is getting closer! In the Heart of the Beast is getting ready for the annual MayDay 2002 parade!

Spring also means volunteering again with the Youth Farm and Market Project. Hopefully this time I can commit for a longer period than I did this past summer...

Thursday, Feb 21st

I AM:
tired eyes,
weary head
hard heart,
and confused thoughts.

Sunday, Feb 17th

Spay Day 2002 is here...
SPAY DAY USA is Feb. 26th. Please consider getting your pet done if you have not yet done so. Many shelters and Veterinarians will be doing it for little or no cost on this day.
I have seen first hand how many cats/kittens and dogs/puppies are put down on a daily basis because a lack of homes and ignorance on the previous owners part.

HERE ARE SOME FACTS FOR YOU TO PONDER:
- Two unaltered cats and all their descendents can number 420,000 in just seven years.
- Two unaltered dogs and all their descendents can number 67,000 in just six years.
- "No homes for littermates" is one of the top ten reasons people relinquish their cats and dogs to shelters.
- The top reason both cat guardians and dog guardians give for not having their pet altered is that they simply have not bothered to do it yet.
- 20% of cat guardians think their cat is too young to be altered, and 18% say they are not able to afford spay/neuter surgery.
- 21% of dog guardians want to breed their dog, and 13% think their dog is too young to be altered.
- An estimated 5 million cats and dogs are killed in shelters each year. That's one about every six and one half seconds.
- Tens of millions of stray and feral cats struggle to survive on their own outdoors. Although some are altered and live in managed colonies, most are not altered and receive no health care. They reproduce at will and many suffer from illness or injury before dying.
- Over half (56%) of dog guardians and nearly two-thirds (63%) of cat guardians rank pet overpopulation as the most important pet issue.
- In a study of relinquishment of cats and dogs in 12 U.S. animal shelters, 30% of the surrendered dogs were purebreds.
- The same study indicated that 55% of the surrendered dogs and 47% of the surrendered cats were unaltered.6 - It costs U.S. taxpayers an estimated $2 billion each year to round up, house, kill, and dispose of homeless animals.
- Over 56% of dogs and puppies entering shelters are killed, based on reports from over 1,055 facilities across America.
- Approximately 71% of cats and kittens entering shelters are killed, based on reports from 1,055 facilities across America.

Another great site to visit is Alley Cat Allies.

Wednesday, Feb 13th

Soundtrack
"Alex Chilton" - The Replacements
"How Soon Is Now?" - The Smiths
"Dyslexic Heart" - Paul Westerberg

I've been having a love affair with WinMx. I finally can listen to some songs without buying the whole damn CD!! I realize that most ppl have been doing this all along but I just got back online, with my own computer at that!!

We had a mini Mardi Gras parade @ work Tuesday. Every department had to decorate a "float" starting with a cart. Then at 11:00 (for my shift) and 4:00 we paraded like asses around the store with our makeshift floats. Our theme was loosely based as a Mariachi float. Complete with a trumpet, violin and guitar made of bread, Latin music and a pinata. I was in charge of "playing the trumpet". The reasoning behind this theme was that over half of our staff in the bakery are Latino.

I got a bundle of zines and such in the mail this week from the good ppl @ Microcosm. Check them out, you shall not regret it. They run the distro, make custom buttons and I'm pretty sure that they can do custom silkscreened t-shirts.

I've been being a bad spender this month, I also ordered a beautiful Nikki McClure shirt from buyolympia.com. It is a white tee (In a womyn's cut, no less!) with a print of a crow papercut she did. I have a strange attachment to crows for some reason, so I was excited when I saw the new shirt!

And last but not least, I bought two colorful (meadow green and violet!! oohlala) bottles for the upcoming arrival of spring/summer from Nalgene. The old blue model was feeling a bit boring and that blasted wide mouth gets me and Ana wet nearly every time.

Sunday, Feb 10th

Soundtrack:
Small Brown Bike - Collection

I bought the Lake Street,USA book last night. I wish I had picked it up sooner. The longer I live here the more I get interested in the other cultures that exsist here. I'm curious about what they think of me as a white womyn (good or bad), how they feel about living here and how they are treated by all of the other cultures and sub-cultures. I had seen some of the photos up when I moved back in 2000 but this goes more in depth obviously.

Along the same lines, this site is a good read.

mama stuff
hipmama
bethany's project
Guerrilla Grrls
Salon-MWT

read
clamor
powell's books
ak press
reading frenzy
zines at pander
microcosm publishing
and at stickfigure
mister ridiculous
quimby's
be a poet...
utne reader
newspages

learn
indy media center
twin cities green guide
npr news
mpr
this american life
michael moore
arise

listen
no idea records
k records
kill rock stars
Vital Music
plan-it x

other
The youth farm and market project

In the Heart of the Beast

DIY auction
eric drooker
stella marrs
buy olympia
archie mcphee
in passing

save a stray
save the big cats