Friday, May 30, 2008

Blood Money

Before my paternal grandma, Francis (or Meme as the grandkids called her), was married she worked as a switch board operator for a oil company in Boston. When she passed, her only remaining asset was divided among the grandkids. That is how I came to be the owner of 32.22222 stocks in Chevron/Texaco.

My family has a deep emotional attachment to Meme's stocks and I was told I could never sell them, unless it was to a member of the family, and then I would just be transferring them. Each year, $60 gets deposited into my savings account, which I then donate to a charity of my choice.

However, when one of the crazy attorneys I work with told me he was suing Chevron on behalf of some Nigerian activists, I told him my dirty little secret: I'm a shareholder. He was ecstatic and told me that would come in very handy. This week it finally did, when one of the Nigerian plaintiffs used my proxy to attend the annual shareholder meeting in San Ramon. Protests were organized by the nice people at Amazon Watch and you can read about their efforts below. I love when I get to use my privilege to damn the man.

PRINT NEWS


LA Times op-ed by Larry Bowoto: "Chevron should pay" (nothing about Ecuador)

Reuters (Amanda Beck): "Chevron profits shadowed by human rights complaints"

KTVU / Bay City News (pre-AGM, focuses on the Tuesday press conference):

SF Bay Guardian editorial (pre-AGM):

CC Times George Avalos:

CBS 5:

Terence Chea AP story in Int'l Herald Tribune:

Mercury News Terence Chea (AP story): "Chevron shareholders say no to activists"

Chronicle (David Baker): "Chevron CEO slams critics at meeting"

East Bay Business Times

Wired Business News:
(weird article, sounds like it wasn't proofread)

TV NEWS

CBS 5:

ABC 7 (video #1):

ABC 7 (video #2):

KTVU 2:
(Video won't play right now for some reason)


RADIO

KCBS - "Protestors criticize Chevron's environmental record"

KGO 810 AM

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Mayor of Gaytown

Today's gay for the day is the tiny, tattooed, Macauley. When I first met her she made pornographic cakes for Masturbakers and was on the cover of Best Lesbian Erotica. Since then, she's cleaned up her act somewhat, but even Texas hasn't been able to slow down her indomitable kinetic energy.

1. how do you know the weasel?

from nyc. we were introduced to each other by tucker, however, we had been in the same circles and would have eventually talked, or more like I would of talked. xo

2. where do you live and why?

I moved from brooklyn to college station texas, then houston and i'm about to move to austin tx. I partly moved to be with my partner and also I wanted to start a business. NY is really expensive and I don't like the way the city is being promoted by mayor bloomberg as a luxury product. The city has greatly changed in the last 10 years and I didn't really like the people that we being drawn to the city. So we left.

3. what was it like going from nyc to texas?

It was hard. But I think moving is always hard. I will say that I realized fun is something one creates and that you can do that anywhere. I believe before leaving NYC I was a new yorkchovinist and that got kicked out of me by realizing that lots of places are cool and that interesting queers are scatterd all over the country in some of the most unlikely places. I had a really hard time when I moved from Chicago to NYC as well so I think that's just part of the deal.

4. what do you do and why?

I'm a pastry chef and cake designer. I have done pretty much every kind of crazy job and now work for myself. I do it because I like it. I also like being my own boss.

5. if you could have any job, what would it be?

I can't answer this question because there is nothing that I would ever want to do forever and I like the idea of reinvention and allowing oneself to change and be or do something different. I just don't believe one can ever be happy doing only one type of job.

6. what kind of queer art/performance projects have you been involved with over the years?
I was a member of the Backdoor Boys and I was in a performance art group called The Andy and Elroi Show and we did really bizarr performance art numbers. I have been in a lot of art projects and national as well international magazines.

7. is it true you were in ck commercials promoting pedophilia and drug abuse?

No this is not true and where did you get this idea? I was in a levi's commercial that never aired. I have a dear friend that was in the original ck commercial that caused a big fuss, in the early 90s commercial with the young boy in underwear with wood paneling in the background, he was also in one with Kate Moss. But that wasn't me. I have been in a photogragh for a magazine mimicking that ck ad. But it wasn't an ad for anything of that scale. Was the ad promoting pedophilia and drug abuse? Or was it just a more honest representation of the modeling industry as a whole? At least he was of age, the models now are 13. I'd say that those aspects have gotten worse but that ck ad was just straight up.

8. is it important for queer people to be represented in mass media?

Yes. I think it's incredibly important, with this said I also think that it'd be nice if the people being photographed for things had more control over their representation. I was in alot of magazines and didn't have any control over my representation and also never got paid because "it's representation for the community". Queers get taken advantage of by not getting paid for these shoots and then will be misrepresented on top of all that. I think as queer individuals one should also look out for their own interests as well as doing "community service". When I was growing up there weren't any queers on tv or in mags. So the growth of queer stardom I think is great for the masses.

9. why is radical community important to you?

It just is. It's good for me. I get to heal there and feel free to be myself. Having that available to me is a salve for the wounds of the world.

10. who do you think you'd be if you weren't the self appointed mayor of gay town (like if you were straight)?


I didn't just appoint myself. I look as gay as a gaylord and many have agreed I'd be a great mayor. Better than bloomberg or guliani. I have never even thought of being straight. But if I were straight and had the same personality, assuming I'd be male, I'd be such an asshole. I don't know what I'd be like as a hetersexual, maybe I'd be less tormented and thus more boring? I just don't know.

The Sadness

My boss Carlos sent out a really cute/embarrassing announcement for my good-bye party (next Wed at Zeitgiest) to our membership. This crazy email has sent me into a tailspin of depression. Although I want to go where I am going (grad school, back East, road trip, ect) I very, very, very, sad.

If you live in the bay area and love me, call/write and promise to keep in touch. I'm really good at it and I am going to miss everyone so very much.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A Spiritual Pilgrimage

With gas prices at an all time high, my family thinks I am nuts to take a 6,000 mile road trip this summer. Also, they are nervous about me camping alone in a place called the Bad Lands. However, I just tell them it's a spiritual pilgrimage and what can you say against that? Or rather, how do secular Catholic Bostonians argue against that? They can't.

But it's true, I've got two of Eckhardt Tolle's books on tape and a whole ipod full of 12 step meeting podcasts. I am so ready to go! Even though I never tire of reciting my itinerary to people, I have laid out my plans below, for those of you not lucky enough to have talked to me recently. A little tweaking may occur, but this is basically the deal, so feast your eyes fair friends...

Stage 1: The Backward Migration

July 14: Leave Boston, drive to Philly, stay with Patti

July 15: Drive to Ohio, stay with Char

July 17: Drive to Chicago, stay with Abby.

July 20: Drive toward the Bad Lands

July 21: Hike around Bad Lands and camp

July 22: Drive to the Black Hills, hike around, camp

July 23: Drive to Yellowstone, hike, camp

July 24: Drive to Bozeman, Montana: Stay with my old intern Marcus and have a wilderness adventure in big sky country!

July 25: Drive towards Seattle: Spend the night near a lake in Northern Idaho

July 26: Arrive in Seattle, meet up with Tory! We've been invited to stay at Elena's house, even though I haven't seen her for years and she's going to be in Berlin (aren't Antioch kids the best?)

July 28: Drive to PDX, hang with the Meow for a few days

July 31: Drive to Crater Lake, camp for the night

August 1: Arrive back in SF!!!

2nd Part of Road Trip: Hot as Hades

August 9: Drive to the Mojave with Erika!

August 10: Drive to Sedona, stay with Aileen's parents

August 11: Drive to Albuquerque

August 12: Drive to Carlsbad Canyons

August 13: Drive to Austin!!! Stay with the Danish and Cristian and their puppies and kitties!

August 17: Drive to Houston, stay with Macauley and Leah

August 18: Drive to Lake Charles, LA and stay with my old co-worker, Pam-the-wham

August 19: Layafette, LA to stay with my crazy dyke cousin--aw yeah

August 20: Drive to HOTlanta, stay with my old intern Elaine and eat veggie soul food at the crazy cult (back to Africa Zionist) restaurant

August 21: Drive to Charleston, SC and stay with little Lindy!

August 25: Drive to DC, stay with my Aunt

August 26: Drive to Western Mass, where I will collapse into a dirty, smelly, heap on Aleah's front lawn

Now tell me, doesn't that sound epic? Idealist and brave but a little foolish? That's right folks, its got all the main ingredients of a Spiritual Journey, so take that Mom and Dad.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

This Is Awesome

My first job out of college, I worked at an women's human rights NGO that did advocacy at the U.N. I used to show up for work hung over, with hickeys all over my neck, and fall asleep at big important meetings. Also, the guards always thought I was a little boy and would give me shade about my U.N. badge.

After about a year of this, at the ripe old age of 23, I concluded that international human rights work was too nebulous, brought about change too slowly and I swore it off to do grass roots activism. Now and I look back and think "what a little punk I was."

I don't want to work at the U.N. ever again, but I'm glad they exist, especially with this new mission. We need someone to find us some facts and write a report on how f-ed up this racist country is!

U.N. Independent Expert On Racism Begins Fact-Finding Mission In U.S.

Official Visit Underscores Ongoing Issues Of Discrimination Throughout
Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2008

CONTACT: Rachel Myers, ACLU, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org
Stacie Miller, Lawyers' Committee, (202) 662-8317
Ajamu Baraka, USHRN, (404) 695-0475

WASHINGTON – Several national civil liberties and human rights groups today
welcomed a fact-finding mission to the U.S. by the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance. The American Civil Liberties Union,
Global Rights, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, the
U.S. Human Rights Network, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Rights Working
Group and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty call on the
U.S., state and local governments to fully cooperate with the special
rapporteur.

"The visit of the special rapporteur is a critical opportunity to shed light
on the pervasive and systemic problem of racism and discrimination in the
United States," said Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU Human Rights
Program. "In this election year, the eyes of the world will be turned toward
America and its longstanding promise to end racial and ethnic inequalities."


At the invitation of the U.S. government, Special Rapporteur Doudou Diène is
visiting the U.S. from May 18 to June 6 to examine issues of racism and
racial discrimination in this country. Diène will visit Washington, New
York, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and San Juan, Puerto
Rico over the next three weeks where he will study incidents of contemporary
forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
and the governmental measures in place to address them.

Diène is scheduled to meet with federal and local government officials as
well as members of diverse communities across the United States and
representatives of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

"The special rapporteur's visit presents a unique opportunity to give voice
to those combating racism in the U.S. and will bring our concerns to the
U.N. and its enforcement mechanisms," said Aubrey McCutcheon, Director of
Programs at Global Rights. "I am confident Mr. Diène's visit will heighten
our efforts towards eliminating racism and its vestiges."

In March 2008, the separate U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) issued a strongly worded critique of the United
States' record on racial discrimination and urged the government to make
sweeping reforms to policies affecting racial and ethnic minorities, women,
immigrants and indigenous populations in the U.S. Several civil liberties
and human rights organizations have urged the special rapporteur to
critically examine the continuation of racism and racial discrimination in
various areas identified by CERD and well documented in extensive NGO
reports, including criminal justice, education, housing, juvenile justice,
immigration policy, police brutality, hate crimes and racial profiling.

The mandate of the special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance was established in
1993 by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and further extended by the U.N.
Human Rights Council. The special rapporteur will submit a final report on
the visit to the Human Rights Council in the spring of 2009.

More information about the special rapporteur's visit is available online
at: www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/racialjustice/sronracism.html and
www.ushrnetwork.org/special_rep

More information about the CERD recommendations to the U.S. is available at:
www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/racialjustice/cerd.htmland and
www.ushrnetwork.org/projects/cerd

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I Believe In a Magnificent God

Maybe because it's spring, or maybe because I am about to totally disrupt my life and uproot myself, or probs because I'm just woo woo like that, but I have been reading a lot of self help books lately. I love self help books. I tend not to finish them (because who really to change?) but I get a lot out of them anyway.

The last book I just finished, Eat Pray Love, is technically apart of the chic lit cannon, and not truly a self help book, but I enjoyed it. I like reading about women saying no to babies and marriage and yes to travel, food, yoga, meditation and a whole lot of good sex.

On my good days, I also believe in a magnificent god. Many times have I vowed not to harbor unhealthy thoughts or take myself so seriously on this spiritual pilgrimage called life. So it made my heart glad to hear someone else recount their struggle with being a spiritual and material creature. It was totally cheesy at parts but also earnest and witty a lot, so I recommend.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

New Gay For Today: She's a Visionary

How do you know the weasel?

I met the Weas sometime between 2001 + 2002. Our mutual friend, Tucker, had been singing the praises of the Weasel for as long as we'd known each other, so there was a big build up. Lots of pressure! But we didn't become soul sisters until we were thrown together in the experience of losing Tucker + mourning her death. As such, our friendship is a magical rising phoenix.

Where did you grow up, where do you live now and where have you lived in between?

I spent my first 18 years in Summerville, South Carolina. Back then it was a sleepy-on-the-brink-of-burgeoning town about 30 miles northwest of Charleston. I escaped as far away as I could for school out in Portland, OR. After graduating I spent three years in Chicago. I came back to soCar a little over 2 years ago because my mom's ovarian cancer treatments had gotten dangerously rough. By then the town of my wee days had become one giant strip mall with a ridiculous amount of development + the traffic to match. Now I live in Charleston, the closest thing to a city in these parts.

Where is the best place you have ever lived?

This is a tough question for me to answer. Something that I've considered pretty magical lately is that I've come to love each of the cities in which I've lived. Portland was infatuation at first sight. I felt that my Southern penance had finally paid off! Radical politics! Access to all kinds of culture + cultures! I jumped kind of blindly into Chicago... New York + SF were too pricey for me, + the City of Broad Shoulders seemed like a compromise. At first we were at odds, but the wily charm of that rough + tumble town got the best of me. Mmmm... The gritty give + take! My heart was ultra broken when I learned that I needed to move back to SC. But slowly [very slowly] I began to find solace in the bounty of Gaia here. Hermit time was healing for me. And miracles started happening + I met some amazing buddies! Charleston has a special place in my heart for demonstrating to me the heaps of magical opportunities out there that you don't get to see ahead of time.

What do you do for work?

I work at a local college library as the finance peon. I keep the books + pay the bills + write budget reports. Not what I saw myself doing, but the people I work with are special + kind, albeit kind of limited in scope. They can't say gay. They say, "like that." I'm working on them.

What do you feel most passionate about?


Right now I'm most interested in + excited about presence: really being in yourself + open to your experience during each moment, + being able to do that while interacting with other people. I'm passionate about sharing quality time. I'm super stoked on finding magic in everyday experiences + spending time with other people who have magic-vision.

I am predisposed to worrying a lot and freaking out about the future. Too many question marks. My dad died when I was 17. Losing Tucker and coming home to face the reality of my mother's terminal illness took place less than 3 months apart. The soul searching that I had to embrace when I moved to SC put me in touch with how important this moment is. This is the only moment we ever get! It just keeps moving through time with us! I want to spend as little time resisting + judging as possible.

But I think it warrants saying that I feel like personal dance parties, deafening laugh sessions + soul music sing-a-longs fall under the heading of "presence-oriented activities" for me. I am def passionate about all of those.

If you could have any job, what would it be?

Right now I'm tempted by the idea of being a grade school librarian/// media lab specialist. Paid summers off! But there are a lot of other "what if" bases to cover. I kind of need to see a psychic about that one... I want there to be some good ol' fashioned social justice work in there somewhere.

Why is feminism important to you?

I think the fact that I grew up in a place starved for Feminism has really shaped my relationship to its movements + its theory. Growing up here, I was the subject of a kind of genderization that you could probably see most other places in the country, it was just magnified. In my experience, the Lowcountry of South Carolina is between 7 and 15 years behind the rest of the country, politically and in some ways culturally [the 80's just got cool again here!]. Despite my parents’ comparatively liberal leanings, I was banned from a lot of experiences because I was a girl. And there weren't that many other people [if any] around in my neighborhoods + schools who were outraged by this, so the political environment was intensely isolating. But Feminism [and at the time, I had a vague second wave understanding of it] helped me keep the faith.

It wasn't until I got to a place where Feminism was a political assumption [ie not in a minority position] that I was able to experience some real empowerment in it. Feminism became a plan for embracing myself + the varied + various experiences of all kinds of women. I delight in the celebration of +++ respect for difference that Feminism encourages. It became a way for me to crystallize + articulate the anti-racist, anti-classist, ideals that I hold dear. I am a big proponent of the third wave + beyond ++ I spread the good word down here every chance I get. Celebrate!

How do you feel about gender?

When I was coming up in this wide world, my modes of gender expression did not jive with anyone else's. “If that's what it means to be a lady, am I really eligible for ladyhood?” At five I identified as male + wanted to go by Jack, but my folks couldn't hang. So all along the way, I was less than keen on this idea of binary gender identity + expression. Upon getting out to the Northwest, I embraced Queer politics whole-heartedly. I think it's really important to keep "troubling" cultural assumptions about gender. To me, gender at large is fluid + I delight in inhabiting it as such. I celebrate trannies in a way that maybe comes close to fetishization. I started a fan club in my heart for the first + only tranny dude I've met here. Don't tell.

Art?

The older I get the more I understand art + art making to be vital, soul-nurturing medicines. Art is the one of the keys to finding the magic, I think. Making art in your brain all the time out of what you see or what you have at hand. Art has also been a great community-building force in my recent soCar experiences. Collage night, anyone?

Do you have any pets?

Just Ernestine J. Pickles, the most precious mew of all time!

Can you explain your vision of Woman Town, how it came about, and who's allowed there?

The way the idea of Woman Town came to be + my vision of W-Town are two very separate things. My friend, Jimmy, + I were hanging out hootin' + hollerin' + having a real good kooky time together when our frolic was interrupted by a text message I received. This dude I'd hung out with dirty style a couple times had gotten in the habit of texting me for sex once or twice a week. I didn't like it. It was gross + so was he. My frustration + repulsion prompted me to break into song. "In Woman Town, Woman Town, there are no stupid dudes in Wo-oman Town!" I composed further verses that kind of led to the vision, for instance, "You don't have to have a vajayjay to live in Woman Town!" Jimmy chipped in [though not lady-identified, he is welcome, too], + Woman Town turned into this idyllic fantasy land in which kooky times free from bad politics were infinitely possible.

In the heartbreaking weeks that immediately followed Tucker's death, I shared the song of Woman Town with my close friends + they celebrated it. We added new verses to the song. The vision of Woman Town buoyed us when we needed some serious buoying. W-Town became a place in which all of our political + creative fantasies could be realized, a place immersed in Gaia + her celebration, a place for + about sharing knowledge, a nurturing + self-sustaining community. It is the place of dreams! But I think it's the kind of dream that can come to fruition in some capacity eventually. We've all made it in our hearts. We just gotta figure out how + when + where to make it a physical reality.

Do you really carry a salt shaker with you at all times?

I wish I could! I tried for a while, but it got too messy. But if there are any good portable salting devices out there, I'd be excited to hear about them. I do have a salt shaker collection, however....

How are you enjoying your first official lady love affair?

Very well, thank you! Yay! I am celebrating it to the max! My date is a very special + amazing person. I'm kind of bowled over by my luck.

It's funny to me--- the Weasel once dubbed me an honorary Queer. I've strongly identified with Queer politics for a long time, + I feel most comfortable in Queer-dominated/// Queer-friendly social situations. So I guess I secretly considered myself an honorary Queer before I started sleeping with a lady, in so much as I definitely didn't fully identify with/// as being Straight. Now it's officially official! Someone asked me if I felt like I was embracing + inhabiting a part of myself that was always there, but never really honored before. I feel that to be true more + more. But I must say it seems very comical to me that I couldn't really be in my gayness until I moved back to South Carolina. This is a very scary place to be Queer. +++ For the first time, my social group is pretty void of the Queers. There's not that in-person community, although my het pals here are supportive + celebratory. I'm not out at work yet, which is something I wrestle with + I'm not out with much of my family. So I'm enjoying my sexuality + celebrating it amidst some trepidations, navigating + growing into it one day at a time.

Why is radical community important to you?

I believe deeply in radical community, although I can't say that I've been very active on its behalf, outside of trying to maintain important discourses. I am excited by people creating spaces in which to vigorously challenge dominant cultures + the tenets therein. This is hard work + we have to keep on top of it all the time by questioning, "queering" + "troubling" pervasive ideas + assumptions. But the road to Woman Town is paved one stone at a time, you dig?

I am a little confused by the idea of Woman Town [or any other radical community] as a removed place, a community in the woods outside of all the nastiness of the regular American places. A part of me feels like we have to be visible + integrated into the regular American reality of everybody else in order to disrupt that reality + make a difference. Maybe in W-Town we'll teach other people crafts + trades + skills. But I think that shared knowledge should be accessible to people who can't pay to drive out into the woods. I think that Woman Town should work to challenge the way accessibility typically works. That's radical, right? But probably the first steps involve fully embracing + enacting a radical W-Town sensibility, identifying how we can each build community locally + bring some Woman Town out of our hearts + into this real life mess, + identifying + acting upon Possibilities with a capital P. Gotta figure out how to walk that walk.

What kind of amazing things do you like to show visitors when they come to town? (So I have things to look forward to!)

Ooooo! Weasel, you are in for a treat! Charleston, SC is a crazy place. I hate how it's lifeblood is tourism, but this shit is real + I think people need to see it [Our country was built on + by the labor of enslaved peoples. The economic disparity down here is out of control. These are things you might be able to avoid thinking about when you visit other places, but not here.] Where doing's concerned, I like to take folks on the harbor tour, to the beaches, to the swamp, to eat the tasty local treats, to take long walks + to hang out with my family. Regarding the showing, I like to make sure people see some of the sobering history + to show people how the South is an incredibly in your face microcosm of the rest of our land.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I Promise

I will never be a crazy cat lady like this.



However, I do think she is kinda bad ass. Castrating all the male cats? Way to go lady. And to view a longer clip of the meows before they go crazy, click here.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Gay of the Day: Germs and Ghost towns

I haven't known Andy for long but from the little I've learned he seems like a fascinating gay. Also, he works for a non-profit that hosts a web site which allows you to send people you've slept with e-cards telling them you have an STD and they should get tested. Awesome. It was hard for me to resist sending these cards to all my friends, because you can send them anonymously. Apparently, not everyone is as morally conflicted as me...

How do you know Mel?

I know Mel because she and Fig ate Papusas with me one night. Then we just started turning up at the same time in the same place.


Where are you from?


I grew up in Santa Cruz, but I only had a short granola-y phase.

Where did you go to school, what did you study and why?

I double majored in Molecular biology and Gender studies at UC Santa Cruz. I have always loved microbiology and at Santa Cruz I got to work on Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes ulcers. I loved organizing little colored tubes into rainbows and pipetting tiny amounts of scary chemicals and spelling things with E. coli on agar plates. I'm usually not a very organized person, but there's something about a meticulous experiment that makes me really happy. After working for a few years I got my Masters in Public Health from Berkeley focusing on infectious disease. Public health made sense to me because I didn't want to spend my life hovered over molecules, I wanted to think about people. So infectious diseases + people + systems of power = public health.

Why do you love science and germs?

I'm really into evolution. With bacteria and viruses you can basically see it happening. Because of this, infectious diseases are something that will never go away. We can make vaccines and give antibiotics but there will always be something new. It's an exciting and challenging thing. I've always loved science. I used to draw pictures of all of the planets in their orbits.

What do you do for your job?

I'm the program director at a non-profit that uses technology to communicate important sexual health information. This means that I write grants and articles and help with intervention design. I'm also the person that directs much of our program evaluation and I'm one of our main health department liaisons. Mobile technologies are starting to take off in public health right now, so many of our future projects will involve creating systems that people can access with their phones.

How many STDs do you have?

Zilcho. I'm one of the most overly tested people I know.

Are you tempted to send people you dislike anonymous cards telling them they have an STD?

I only use my powers for good.



If you could have any job, what would it be?


I would like to be the creative director somewhere that communicates science-y stuff using interactive technologies. Or some funny guy on NPR that gets to tell a nerdy story once a week. I would also like to travel all over the world and be a writer that reports on ghosttowns. I also want to be a dad.

What do you do for fun?


I love to go camping and find ghosttowns and crawl into dark dangerous tunnels. I love to travel in general and I wish I had more time off to do it. Other underdeveloped hobbies of mine include unicycling and banjo playing.


Why do you needlessly risk your life running around ghosts towns and abandoned mine shafts in a place called Death Valley?

I love learning about the sordid history of western expansion and the gold rush. I think it's nuts that people actually built whole mining operations in places that regularly top 130 degrees. I guess I just like adventure...but I only go to the desert in the spring and fall. Does that make you less worried?

Do you have any pets and whats your fav thing they do?

I have one cat named Birdy who I rescued from the SPCA. She'll be four next month. My favorite thing that she does curl up under the covers. She does lots of strange things though, like lick my hair and beard and suck on her tail. The last two and half inches of her tail is rarely dry.

Where is your favorite place you've ever been?

Lost Burro Mine in Death Valley or Tranquebar, India.

Where do you most want to travel to next?

I want to drive up to the arctic circle and I want to see more ghost towns in Arizona and New Mexico.

Monday, May 12, 2008

In Sister Spirit

On Saturday I journeyed to Fort Bragg for the 75th birthday party of an old family friend of Fairleys, Suzanne, who just happens to be a bad ass radical lesbian. I was promised a wiccan ceremony, drag king act, and a bbq. What I got was so much more!

The drive up was gorgeous. We stopped at a little secluded vineyard and did a wine tasting. The wine was so delicious and I was so buzzed by the end that I bought two bottles! I have never been more looking forward to drinking a chardonnay in my life.
The views of the ocean from Highway 1 were so amazing I had a hard time not driving off the road. So we stopped where the Navarro river meets the Pacific and did a "I Love California" victory dance!

They told us it was too cold to camp out, and it did become freaking freezing when the fog rolled in, so we were given accommodation in a three (or four?) story house built by hand in the 1970s by a man who Fairley commented must have been "seriously tripping".

A family lived in "the Tower" for many years but now the mom lives in a different, but also cute and weird, house just a few feet away with her lesbian lover. The dad lives in a trailer in front of the house but still uses the kitchen and bathroom in the Tower. Right now, the only full time occupants of the house are two cats.

Inside, there were more levels than I could conceive, and it was hard to tell what was a step and what was intended to be a surface and most of it was covered in carpet. You go up and down through a series of ladders and steps of random height.

They had one daughter, who was also in attendance at the party, and I can not imagine the sense of wonder, possibility, and vertigo a child raised in such an environment would experience. The world is my tree house. Not that this is too much of a stretch for me, but I felt like a giant cat, crawling and exploring every nook and cranny. When we walked up, the daughter was on the roof with her boyfriend making bubbles rain down on the party below. Needless to say, Fairley and I felt like we had hit the jackpot.

The party got started with a Wiccan High Priestess of the Faery Tradition calling the corners and having us all chant Suzanne's name. I felt like I was finally getting my Michigan Womyn's Musical Festival experience when the band "Ravenstar" began playing (the guitarist is formerly of the Druid Sisters) cover songs like Donnovan's Season of the Witch and the bra-less middle-age lesbains began hippy dancing in the garden.

The drag was extremely cute and there were joints of the dankest weed and beer in abundance. The only disappointing thing was that they exclusively grilled meat for dinner and I had to make do with salads and cheese. I was pretty shocked, how can there be a lesbian potluck in NorCal without lentils?

Fairley brought her camera and we interviewed everyone and filmed the performances. I will post the sure to be amazing finished product once she is done editing. Stay tuned for more: Adventures in the search for Woman Town!

Friday, May 9, 2008

What I'm Not Going to Miss

Here is an exercise, or a challenge, for the brave of heart: quit your job...but then continue to work there. Then report back and let me know if each day feels like a unique form of torture in a nether world.

I am an anarchist, because I believe that heirarchy is a form of coercion. I am not denying it can be a useful method at times, but I think people with power have always been afraid of anarchy because you can't make people do what they don't want to do. An anarchist society would have to be structured to facilitate the meeting of our needs and exploration of our desires and passions. Sounds good to me.

I used to think that if I worked in a social justice non-profit, I would walk to work skipping and humming a happy tune. Instead it's harder and harder to motivate myself to come to work these days, what with the ants crawling all over the bathroom, including on the toilet seat; screaming homeless people on the steps each morning; and large clusters of flies on the sidewalk.

Now that I am no longer compelled to perform out of fear of the future job evaluation, it's really hard to motivate. Oh, did I mention there is practically no structure or oversight in my office. I could spend 4 days of the week staring out the window, as long as I was able to get all my work done in that final day. Doesn't work though, cause lawyers like to leave early on Fridays.

Sure, I want to get good refrences when I leave, but I think I've sealed that deal. So what more is there? Lots of course. I still love protests and activists and undermining the FBI and INS and defending human rights and civil liberties but (and maybe this is seriously fucked up in light of all my privledge) the thrill is gone. I have been here for 4 years and I'm ready to move on.

There are so many things I am going to miss about SF and I'm sure I'll have lots of nostalgia for this job, but it's hard to have your feet in two worlds. Makes me feel far away and kinda dizzy.

Missive from Miles

Dearest wisforweasel enthusiasts,

I have two hopes for all of you:

1. That you are having hotttt (ass) safer sex on the regular

2. That you will consider donating some spare dollars to support me in my AIDS walking. Even 3 dollars would be awesome. http://www.aac.org/site/TR?px=1472671&pg=personal&fr_id=1070

Sincererly, your biostatistics ftm tranny gay aids walker person,

Miles Q
http://www.aac.org/site/TR?px=1472671&pg=personal&...


Note: The weasel endorses this candidate whole heartedly.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

My Meow

How do I love the Meow? Let me count the ways:

1. Smart (or clevah as we like to say in Boston)
2. Hilarious
(you'll see for yourself below)
3. Beautiful (ohhhh, I had such a crush on her in high school!)
4. Creative (like her mommy, with the art and such)
5. Lover of Meows (who else is gonna leave me messages saying "hey meow, it's your meow"?!?)

Basically Torrance is one of my all time faves. Like not even in the top 10, or 5, in the top 3. She is family, like the hot hot sister I never had...and in high school I got her HIGH for the first time! My love for the Meow is eternal.

How do you know the meow?

I met the meow during our freshman year in high school through a mutual friend named Megan. A more ugly time I cannot remember, so I was thrilled and a little scared that somebody new wanted to be my friend. I think the first time I hung out with Mel was at he birthday party in January. Or maybe it was one of your scary movie parties, it’s all a little fuzzy.

We bonded quickly over our hatred of puberty, dads, being sober and our love of/for women. The S.C.U.M. Manifesto wouldn’t have been as sweet without my meow.

Where did you grow up, where do you live now and where have you lived in between?
I grew up in Brookline, MA. Currently I live in Portland, OR. I lived in Bryn Mawr, PA for about a year in 99-00. I am trying to figure out where to go next. Any thoughts?

(Note: The proprietress of this blog does have some thoughts on the matter.)

Where is the best place you have ever lived?
You know, I was feeling Philiadelphia even though I didn’t actually live there. And Boston looks damn good from 3000 miles away.

Where do you go to school and what do you study?
I am currently taking a break from Portland State University. I was working on a double major in Women’s/Gender Studies and Public Health.

Why did you choose this area of focus and particular university?
Well getting a degree in women’s studies was not a hard sell. “Women’s” issues and cats are pretty much the only thing I have cared about consistently throughout my life (and if cats could be my major it would be). The health aspect came in as I started to become sexually active and without health insurance spent a lot of time surfing women’s clinics and planned parenthoods for check-up’s and various other things. To say I am appalled at the way I was treated at most of the places I went to is a MASSIVE understatement. So my interest in public health was about me wanting to try to make sure that people would never have to have shitty experiences while they were trying to advocate for their health. Which,without health insurance is hard enough to do.

Will you have to write a thesis?
Fuck no! If I stick with PSU I will have to do 2 internships, 1 for each major. But PSU is wearin’ me out! I don’t know if I want to sell out my brain any longer.

What do you most enjoy learning about ?
I took a class last term “Chronic and Communicable Disease”. My teacher was the hotness; big wrinkley brain, great sense of humor. We learned all about the immune system, disease and sickness. And as a total germ freak I learned that I can totally rely on my body to handle gross germs. My new mantra for when I am on the bus and everyone is coughing and the person sitting near me smells of urine is, “My immune system can handle this.” It feels way healthier than running off the bus screaming, convinced I have Syphillis and TB.

Back to the question, I love learning about how my body works and how I can help it to work better. We are in this together!

What do you want to do with your degree?
Right now I would be happy if I got to work at my bookstore forever. I’m having a bit of a crisis about life plans and such, so I don’t know how to answer that one right now. Stay tuned…

Who do you for work?
I work at Powell’s. The biggest, independent, new and used bookstore in the world!

Why did you move to PDX?
Once apon a time I had a girlfriend. She picked Portland, still unclear as to why or how. We came out for a visit and liked it. It’s been almost 7 years.

How do you identify politically?
Liberal. An angry, fed-up, disgusted, bleeding heart liberal.

If you could have any job, what would it be?
I just finished watching season 1 of Ugly Betty so right now I want to be Hilda, Mark or Amanda. They are so god damn fabulous. Can being Fabulous be my dream job? Otherwise it would be kitten trainer.

Why is feminism important to you personally?
It’s important for me because I see sexism everywhere I go. And sometimes it is so thick and vile that I feel like all I want to do is hide. Feminism helps me get out of my house and deal with the bullshit. It helps me have a dialogue with people about the fucked up shit I see and it helps give me strength so that I can interrupt the fucked up shit that happens.

I know feminism doesn’t work for everybody and that a lot of feminist thought has hurt people. I like to think of Feminism as my mother. She is human and flawed. But she does the best that she can under difficult circumstances. She inspires me, she kicks my ass and she gives me a reason to get out of bed every morning.

How do you feel about gender?
Depends on the kind of day I am having. Sometimes I think gender is fun to play with and manipulate. Lee press-on nails anyone? But sometimes I don’t want to play, I just want to live my life, you know?

Books?
Fuck yea! One of the best things about my job is that I can check books out. We have over 1 million titles and it’s like my own personal library. I have so many books that I ran out of shelf space a while ago. At work I am building a wall of books around my desk. My boss makes fun of me and uses me as an example about the dangers of working around so many books for the new hires.

I am really into graphic novels right now cuz they are great for reading while in school. And you can find one about anything! There are graphic novel’s about Tupac, Emma Goldman, Malcom X. There are ones about baseball and Jim Crow laws, sexy vampires, cancer and there is even one about the history of freakin’ Cup-a-noodle!

How has your gender expression changed over the years and what has that process been like for you?
I’ve had job interviews with less questions…I used to hate my body, my breasts in particular. So I did everything short of wearing a burplap sack to hide the shape of my body. Breasts are obviously gendered, but having big breasts hyper-sexualizes your body. I think b/c I hated my breasts I shunned my feminine side for a long time. But I have been working on enjoying “the jerks” and my femme side for a couple years. It is still a struggle. I still wish boobs were like Velcro shoulder pads.

Do you have any pets?
Not only do I have a cat but I happen to have the softest, most wonderful meow of all time. Sometimes when I pet her I think that my hands are too pedestrian to understand the greatness of her fur. She is also an amazing jumper and I trained her (more like broke her down) to let me hold her like a baby. I don’t know if you know this people, but cats don’t really enjoy that position. Also, they are not huge fans of getting stuffed into Cabbage Patch Kid clothing. Sorry Biscuit, may kitty heaven be free of children.

Why are cats the greatest animals ever?

So glad you asked. I think it is true what they say about how people are like their pets. Ultimately I don’t like being pawed. I can’t be depended on all the time and I need lots of space.

I can’t handle how dog’s won’t give you a moments peace. I love how Sophia keeps me wanting more. I could stay home all day playing with her and she might reward me by sleeping on my lap for a few minutes. And it would all be worth it. Also I can make her hang out with me by feeding her chips, she loves cool ranch. So we are kinda like spirit sisters.

Are you ready for the revolution?
You know what meow? I would like to postpone the revolution till I feel more equipped to handle it. But sadly the revolution waits for no meow. So, if it’s now or never, I say “Let’s do this!”

How do you navigate having politics/being a feminist with liking to party and enjoying fashion and pop culture?
My simple answers is that being an unhappy fashion nightmare didn’t make me a better feminist or more politically aware. I will say that it is hard sometimes to make the right choices around fashion consumption and making sure your money is going to the right places. And being a pop culture nut helps me to keep my fingers on the pulse. It lets me know where we are at as a collective society. I need to know what the kids are into these days. I need to know what the conservative/Christian community is frothing at the mouth about. If I was only informed by my specific surroundings I would think our biggest problems were PBR or microbrew and whether or not coke is the new black.

Where do you most want to travel next?
I have got to get my ass out of this country.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

What Would The Danish Do?

The Danish and I first lived together in dilapidated dorms in Ohio and then in an apartment with crazy house mates in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. During her time in NYC, Dana was a dog walker for Robert DiNero and Al Pacino (who both have Burmese Mountain Lions). True story.

I was so sad when Dana left NYC for the Rocky Mountain highs of Colorado and that rift took many years to mend. However, weasel's hearts are resilient, and its a good thing too, because she is one tasty pastry. Her goodness can not be resisted.

When I swing through Austin this summer, Dana has promised to take me to a place called Hippy Hollow to go swimming. Can't wait. Also, Dana is the reason I started a blog, so you can all thank her and check out her brilliance here: nothingicandoaboutitnow.

How do you know Mel?
Mythic Answer: Mel is my Great-Gayma on my father's side. I have known her since birth.

Real Life Answer: I met Mel on the very first day of my first year at Antioch College. As I recall, I was manic with happiness at finally having shaken off the bonds of home life, and my uncontrolled ebullience set off a mistrust reaction in Mel. (She’s from Massachusetts.) Despite an inauspicious beginning, we became good friends.

Where did you grow up, where do you live now and where have you lived in between?
Once upon a time I worked with a bunch of teenagers who were living in juvenile detention in Springfield, Ohio. And we doing this ICEBREAKER game which was really just pointless, ICEBREAKERS barely work in the professional world, where people are being paid to go along with things and have a nice comfy home to look forward to sitting in when the ICEBREAKERS are over. But anyway, the icebreaker question for that week was HOW MANY PLACES HAVE YOU LIVED? And I said 9 and this kid said to me, “Miss, what are you? On the run from the law?” And I and all the other delinquents fell apart, but the lady whose ICEBREAKER it was didn’t appreciate the joke.

Also, the only reason that kid called me Miss was because otherwise he wouldn’t have been allowed to go get water from the drinking fountain, per the Guard, who believed in chivalry to the point of involuntary dehydration.

1. West Chester, PA
2. Malvern, PA- this is where I grew up
3. Yellow Springs Ohio
4. Minneapolis Minnesota
5. Big Mountain Arizona
6. San Francisco California
7. New York City New York
8. Paonia Colorado
9. Crawford Colorado
10. Austin Texas – this is where I live now

Where is the best place you have ever lived?
Well, Yellow Springs for the walkability and the green space. Colorado for the freaking feast of nature laid bare for my eyes each morning. And Austin because I’m living in what feels like my first home. Last night we had all the windows open, and the breeze coming in brought the neighbor’s Tejano music with it, and the dogs were sleeping at my feet while I read.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?
I went to Antioch College and worked primarily within the Self, Society and Culture major, with more of a focus on sociology/anthropology than psychology.

Why did you choose those areas of focus and institution?
It was where my interests took me. I found the readings for sociology classes to be really interesting, and liked those professors and classes the best.

What do you do now?

I work for the American Cancer Society as the Resource Data Specialist for the High Plains Division. All those words mean nothing to anyone except me and my boss.

What are the most challenging/rewarding aspects of your job?
The most challenging aspect is just keeping everything accurate and up to date, as well as consistently listed and therefore findable. There are a million little decisions to make in a day that need to match up with decisions from the days and weeks before, and new resources are constantly being submitted for consideration. I really like being able to help people in a direct and practical way, without having the emotional exhaustion that, at least for me, is an inevitable part of hands-on social service work. And I like that I am the only one in charge of my project. I like that part a lot.

How bad is cancer, really?
Depending on the kind you get, cancer is always worse than a paper cut, and almost always better than ebola.

Why did you become a triathelete?
As a way of supporting my Dad, and also connecting with him. He had multiple myeloma at the time, and had been a long distance cyclist for years. The first triathlon I did was through Team in Training, which is the main fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, who also work with Multiple Myeloma patients.

Do you have graduate academic plans?
That question kind of makes me want to die. I’d like to live somewhere rural enough to have a big garden and chickens and a few goats. If going back to school can help make that happen for me, I’m there.

What do you want to do in the future?
This sounds so mild, but really I’d love to be able to live in some sort of ecohome that Cristian and I build ourselves in the country. I’d love to be able to work from home and have kids around and goats and dogs and chickens. That is the work I really love to do, the work I’m really good at, and it doesn’t have too much to do with my degree. It also doesn’t pay, and therefore may be a lifelong pipedream.

How many pets do you own?
You asked this question to publicly embarrass me! I have………….3 pets. 2 dogs and a cat. All I have to say about that is, once you open the door to a rescue animal, it is really hard to get it shut again.

How do you feel about turning 30?
So far adulthood has been the best part of my life. Turning 30 was not a big deal, maybe because I am just coming off the crisis of my father’s death? All of those issues of responsbility and the end of the era of dependency came up with his passing, along with the coming to grips with one’s own mortality stuff. I am happy, and full of a profound feeling of gratitude. Don’t get me wrong, I can still mope and spazz with the best of them, but I don’t seem to as often.

Do you believe in astrology?
I think astrology is a really useful way to think about the different types of people there are in the world, and the different strengths and weaknesses that go along with different personality types. I don’t think that stars in the sky determine personality.

Can you rate your faith on a scale from 1-10?
A 10? A 10 because the big leap for me is to choose to have faith. I believe that there is a mystery at the heart of creation that is beyond my puny mind to fully comprehend or understand, and that to live my life well requires that I give attention and respect to that mystery. I emphatically do not believe that if you pray to one certain God over another, He will smite your enemies or rain dollar bills on your house.

Why is radical community important to you?
  • To get out of the capitalist system and instead participate in a system of reciprocity, where favors are exchanged between people in place of money.
  • To spread the role of caregiver and care receiver out beyond the nuclear family unit, making it easier to both give and receive in any given situation
  • To have the opportunity to deeply share in my friend’s successes and triumphs
  • To have the opportunity to learn different ways of seeing the world and being in the world from people who grew up in different places and circumstances
  • What Would Jesus Do?
Do you see yourself in Texas long term?
I would put the odds at a solid 50-50.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Damning the Man, Uplifting the Mamas

Oh, Abby. I know it's been said a million times before, but she has the prettiest, curly, red hair ever. She looks like the Little Mermaid, which is one of my ultimate favorite childhood movies. I got upset that she wouldn't wear her luscious locks down when we went to the Mermaid Day parade (which mostly features low riders) at Coney Island one hot June day. This is Abby with a shiner she earned delivering a baby. Exactly who kicked her in the face is still unclear.

Besides being a fierce feminist and crazy smart, Abby is impressive because she remains the only person I know who was in a long lasting polyamorous relationship. A few years ago, Aleah and I created an official queer organization (the name escapes me now) just so we could bestow her with a "best new recruit" certificate.

Did I happen to mention she's one of those annoying people who are book smart and really artsy crafy? However, I can't hate her for it, cause she sends me homemade cookies and handmade cards every Valentines Day. Once she even sent them inside a tin she spray painted with stars that says "Weasel" on it. I am super psyched to visit her in Shytown this summer!


How do you know Mel?
antioch/sharing b.f.f. aleah

Where did you grow up, where do you live now and where have you lived in between?
the early years: newton mass.

currently: chicago.

uhhh: cape cod mass, yellow springs oh, seattle wa, roamed around south america, burlington vt, st pete beach fl, san francisco, new haven ct, loitered in northampton mass, tucson az, north county san diego, in my car, chicago il

Where is the best place you have ever lived?
in the attic of a shed north of san diego. i had a pomegranate tree in my yard.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?
i went to antioch and studied biochemistry cause i am a nerd. then i went to nursing school at yale and studied midwifery

Why did you choose those area of focus and institutions?
i went to antioch cause i was dating a homeless high school drop out and that's the only place he would go/got into and then i took science classes and fell in love with organic chemistry. later i went to yale cause i could get a degree in nursing and a masters in midwifery in 3 years. also cause i had no concept of debt and thought it was play money when i signed all those loan papers.

Did you have to write a thesis?
yep, but i called it a book report cause writing gives me anxiety

What was it about?
midwifery care of queer teens

What did you most enjoy learning?
besides organic chemistry? i guess the mentsrual cycle. like org chem, it leaves me in awe of nature.

What do you do now?
i hang out with pregnant ladies on the southwest side of chicago. i work for a community health center whose mission is to serve newly immigrated, undocumented latino families. these mamas are only eligible for medicaid while pregnant, so there is a lot of healthcare to squeeze into 10 months.

What did you want to do with your degree?
damn the man by uplifting the ladies.

What are the biggest challenges/rewards of your job?
the challenges: loss of sleep, the frequency with which i have to deal with machismo, chlamydia-spreading, partner abusing men, bureaucracy, the depth of sadness of peoples' lives

the rewards: being the first one to hold a slimy little newborn when it comes into the world, helping women, especially the little teen mamas, understand their bodies and take control of their fertility, free pens, helping women gestate and birth without anyone telling them there is something inherently wrong with their bodies and they need technology to fit it.

Why is it important for queers to be health care providers?
it is still so often scary and intimidating for people seeking healthcare to deal with the medical machine. people are vulnerable and embarassed and don't want to feel judged, but the status quo maintains a pretty intense power dynamic. i find that people will often seek out providers that they feel they have something in common with, and i hope that that helps dispell some of that perceived, or acutal, power.

Why are midwives important?

midwives try to take the technology and pathology of women's bodies and phases of life.

How many babies have you delivered?

as of this morning, 103.

Is it more glamorous or gross to participate in the birthing process?
never glam, especially when you are plucking poop from an engorged anus. but on occasion, beautiful beyond words.

Do women need to reclaim healthcare?
yes. please read "witches, nurses and midwives"

Our bodies/ourselves?
indubitably

If you could have any job, what would it be?
either a gardener, or a tailor, or a welder. i like to keep my hands busy. or maybe a CEO of a non-profit, i am kind of bossy.

Why do you want to have children?

professionally, so i have some credibility with my patients. personally, because i want to eat ice cream for 10 months, have an enormous belly with a squirming fetus inside it and wear hippie sundresses, and then pop it out and breastfeed it for years. you get totally high off those hormones when the baby is on the titty.

Do you believe in gay marriage and why?
as much as i believe in straight marriage.

Where do you most want to travel next?
my ladyfriend and i are going to go visit her sister in cambodia in august.
 
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