Linkage.

La vida has been sort of weird and upsy-downsy lately. Mercury retrograde probably isn't helping, but it's also just the nature of plans changing and, you know, life happening in unexpected ways. C'est la vie! (So, lessee, that's "life" in three languages so far, eh?) Anyway, I've been spending a lot of time navel-gazing and trying to spread my intellectual recognition of how fucking lucky I am into a visceral and experiential understanding. It's not as easy as it sounds, I am finding.

Meanwhile, yesterday yielded some interesting stuff that I found by turns inspiring, motivating, and soothing. Some of it was meandering into Millennium Park for lunch, only to stumble into Serendipity, a performance troupe featuring various seniors performing (the bits I saw, anyway) some ass-kicking Motown soul music. "Stand By Me" was haunting me yesterday (which, of course, makes me want ot pull it out and whip up a version myself).

Also, last night at pottery class, I think I maybe made some stuff that doesn't suck. Though, you know, we'll see. Still has to be fired and glazed. I'll take pictures if it isn't butt ugly.

Other things that caught my eye and imagination and set my heart aflutter yesterday:

** T. Thorn Coyle, a capital-T Teacher whose work isn't mine (but whose integrity, humanity, taste, and hair I admire nonetheless), writes about...well, a lot of stuff: paganism, how sex-positivity interacts with sex education and the sacred, integrity and authority and, well, just go read it (yes, all of it!): Clay Feet, part one, Clay Feet, part two, and Clay Feet, part three.

** A link at Shakesville led me to Playing for Change, an organization that brings together musicians from all over the world to promote peace. I don't know how I have managed not to hear about this before, but I am blown away. I watched all the online episodes, and downloaded the electronic version of the CD posthaste (though I will likely also pick up the combo CD/DVD to get the documentary part). It's inspiring, but it also makes me want to write more protest songs....which, as anybody who knows me knows, I am not great at.

** This article at New York magazine (tweeted by @fingertipsmusic) talks interestingly about attention, meditation, and the idea that our experience is composed of whatever we pay attention to. Money quote: "It’s possible that we’re evolving toward a new techno-cognitive nomadism, in which restlessness will be an advantage." I should be so lucky, 'cause I pretty much find my own restlessness to be an advantage for fuck all.

** The Freak Revolution was recently launched by my friend Kyeli and her partner Pace. I like a lot of the ideas they've talked about so far....though I'm not sure that it quite fits what I'm working with in general, or where I am right now. Having said that, totally worth checking out, just as one more way to shift away from the dominant (crap) paradigm!

....and thus concludes this friendly, neighborhood linkage. Happy weekend, y'all!

The weekend was a black hole of motherfucking suck, and I am going to be processing for awhile. This saddens me, and leaves me no spare thoughtspace to pontificate on the ills of the world; my heart is creaking for more personal reasons today.

Lucky for me, other people are saying insightful things, though. For example, there's the Women of Color and Beauty Carnival at Yennenga, which is seriously worth reading. I also liked this rant about torture, from John Buell via Common Dreams. Also exciting: Connecticut's steps to make solar power more accessible to the masses! I also liked the Anti-Advertising Agency's take down of a travel ad.

Then, of course, there's this pile of horse shit that purports to defend GMO crops and by extension agribusiness. I read it over and was too pissed to properly dress it down, but in summary:

If a new product's characteristics are attractive and the price is right, it succeeds in the marketplace, stimulating still more innovation. Ironically, some of Prince Charles's own organically produced vegetables failed this test: so deformed and repulsive to look at, they were not marketable and had to be given to local schools.

...that is bullshit. That framing of success only applies if your goal is to make a profit. If your goal is to properly nourish people with actual real live food, all the while NOT destroying the planet....well, then, maybe GMO crops aren't quite so damn fabulous.