Aid & Abet

Yes, it is true, I have been back in the Bay Area for a few weeks. But honestly, a series of setback, such as my laptop completely dying, have prevented me from making any posts. Really, it was because all my photos are on my laptop and I really don’t like making posts without photos. And let me make a shout-out right now to Apple for how much I love love love the Time Machine part of their operating system. Time Machine is a super-simple back up program that means I back up my entire computer every day, sometimes several times a day. And what it really means is that when I get my new computer (tomorrow??) I will be able to completely restore everything from the old one. It makes me think back to those days when I was in college (15 years ago) and the technology was just not easy and how devastated I was whenever I lost something. Do you back up your computer? You should.

ANYWAY, I wanted to write the part 2 of my epic road trip story, and of course there are a dozen other things to blog about after that. So first of all, after leaving North Carolina, I traveled to New York City, Cleveland, Ohio, and Columbia, Missouri.

So, here we go:

• Clamor. I did a talk on the Clamor pamphlet at Bluestockings Bookstore in Manhattan. First of all, I love Bluestockings. It’s a great space and everyone who I’ve met who works there is awesome. They have a great line-up of events, so definitely a good resource for New York. The Clamor talk was probably my favorite of the whole tour because it was the first time in years that I had been in the same room as co-founder Jason Kucsma and consulting editor Josh Breitbart. That was a real treat, and I thought that they really added insight and depth to the conversation about the magazine, its history and its legacy. The discussion was really great. One of the threads that came out of it was how the pamphlet is really about organizational dynamics and how the project functioned, and doesn’t really reflect the political moment within which Clamor existed. I definitely agree that would be an interesting project, as a lot happened over the seven years we were publishing, and that would help give more political context. I’d like to publish a post of the essence of my talk, but that will have to wait until the new computer arrives.
• New York. I still find it overwhelming. I have a difficult time figuring out how to get places and it feels like everyone is just so busy all the time, they don’t have time to hang out with you even if you only come to town once every 5 years. I don’t like that. In terms of living a life that models a future we want, I don’t want a life that means I don’t have time for my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I did get to hang out with tons of awesome people, so shout outs to the cool people I got to spend time with: Andy, Ana, Arun, Josh, Kat, Jenn, Tara, Deanna, Jenna, James, Eric, Brooke, Matt, Rick and all the people I saw at the bookfair (more on that later!)
• The NY Anarchist Bookfair. On one hand, I don’t really bookfairs. I don’t really get the whole shopping aspect of it. Sure, it’s great to be able to browse and see all the new stuff that’s out there, but on the other hand, it’s just kinda weird to participate in something so centered around consumerism, albeit progressive/radical consumerism. But I do LOVE the aspect of tons of people you normally don’t see being in one place. I really appreciated seeing some friends from Philly, and of course all the New Yorkers. I didn’t make it to many workshops, partially because of the weird layout of the rooms and because I tried to go to two that were either cancelled or moved, but I think centering the event more around these aspects – discussions, panels, etc – really helps alleviate some of the weirdness about buying shit. And yes, I did buy some stuff, including a t-shirt to help support Daniel McGowen.
• Disposable culture. I spent a lot of time just walking around New York City. More than any other city or place that I have been, New York epitomizes for me the disposable-ness of our culture. There are just SO MANY people making SO MUCH trash. It made me hyper-aware of everything that I was buying, using, discarding.
• Missouri. After a stop in Cleveland to visit my mom and some friends, I headed to Columbia, MO at the request of Students for Progressive Action. It was great to meet some awesome college students are doing all sorts of great projects in their small town. I did a talk on Clamor and independent media at the University of Missouri. It’s been a long time since I visited a town dominated by a college – it made me nostalgic for when I lived in Bowling Green, OH. You can walk to everything, people are nice, the school is mostly a positive influence on the town. I liked hanging out at the RagTag Cinema/coffeeshop combo and meeting loads of nice people. Thanks to Richard and Nick in particular!

Alright. I’ve gone on long enough – More posts soon on random aspects of the trip and places I visited (like the Barnard Zine Library!). And hopefully more photos too once I get my computer all fixed (though you can check out some at my flickr page).