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October 8th, 2006

01:50 am - Veganism I'm thinking about going vegan. I've been hearing allot of opinions on it recently and I think I've been won over. 3 people have convinced me. Ted (my partner) who is an amazing cook and can make vegan food that is far and beyond the best food I've eaten in a long time. Janine who emailed me an essay on animal rights and feminism. And Christine who gave a talk today at an event about why every anarchist should be an animal rights activist. Specifically hearing from two anarchist women on how animal rights relates to class, labor and women's struggles was very enlightening. Christine also presented veganism from a working class latina perspective which was awesome...very conscious of class and race issues she presented animal rights as being interrelated with the struggle for human and labor rights within the factory farms and slaughter houses. Its a hard decision because, honestly, I really like cheese :) More on this later. In other news I got another job as a prop master for a short history channel documentary. This one is on women who dressed as men during the american civil war. They are flying me to Kansas, putting me up in a hotel and paying me $1,000 bucks! Its a sweet deal. I'm psyched Tomorrow is a rally for the union I'm a member of. The IBU. See below for information about the demonstration. Current Location: Oakland Current Mood: exhausted Current Music: the hum of the computer

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12:58 am - Inland Boatman's Union So, I've been working as a deckhand aboard the ferry boats on the SF Bay since June. I'm represented by the Inland Boatman's Union which is a sister union to the Longshoreman's Union. For those of you who don't know, the ILWU is one of the most radical labor unions in the US. They shut down the west coast ports in 1999 to protest the WTO during their meeting in Seattle, refused to move South African cargo to oppose apartheid and did the same to oppose US policies in South America in the 80's. They are planning a rally tomorrow. I helped make some posters while down at the hall the other day. Basically they are in the heat of a dispute with a non-union company that is refusing to hire 55 workers who all have over 20 years seniority and experience working on the bay. A few months ago the contract to ferry the tourist runs to Alcatraz came up for re-bid. The Blue and Gold Ferry Company had been doing the runs for years. Actually, I think this company has been operating to Alcatraz since the island opened as a tourist attraction over 30 years ago. Blue and Gold put in their standard bid. Another company, Hornblower, also put in a bid. It was a much lower bid than Blue and Gold's. The reason for this was that Hornblower was paying their people well below the industry rate and using their cooks and waiters as deckhands. They could afford to put in a lower bid because they had their people performing multiple jobs at a lower rate of pay than the union ferries The result was Hornblower winning the bid and getting the run to Alcatraz. The problem is that they are dead set against their company unionizing. They refuse to hire any of the union deckhands, captains and engineers unless they break affiliation with the union. At this point 55 people have been laid off and over 100 other IBU members have seen available work on the bay cut in half. There is no reason for Hornblower to not hire these people. Previous to getting the Alcatraz contract they only had 3 boats and they were all pleasure cruses. There was no need for qualified deckhands because the work of operating these small boats was simple. But the ferries are a whole different ball game. They are faster, bigger and dock over 40 times a day. They need qualified people with experience. Its actually dangerous (both to passengers and crew) not to have deckhands with experience. But, Hornblower is convinced that they can run their operation without IBU deckhands and MMP (Masters Mates and Pilots) captains and engineers. Well, last week Hornblower was proven wrong. One of the jobs on the Alcatraz run is emptying the septic tank on the island. This tank is full of all the sewage (shit) the island produces from the tourist industry. It has to be emptied about 4 times a day. The first run Hornblower did to the island they hooked up the hoses wrong and spilled sewage all over the dock, into the bay and onto themselves. The deckhands had to be rushed to the hospital and the dock cleaned and sanitized. There have been continual problems since they started and there will continue to be problems until they hire people with experience. After the sewage incident they offered to negotiate with the IBU. After a week of talk they offered the union a horrible deal. They would agree to hire deckhands only (no captains, no senior deckhand and no engineers) and they could not work out of the union hall. All Hornblower deckhands would have to sign a "fire at will" statement which basically negates one of the main advantages of being in a union, which is job security. They also wanted a 3 year freeze on any union campaigns on all other Hornblower operations, This is the crux of this dispute. Hornblower is worried that the IBU will try and organize their dinner and pleasure cruses. Well the IBU refused the deal and are planning a rally in hopes that (since negotiations have broken down) a good strong picket might do the trick. The "rank and file" folks were really expecting the union to sell us out. We were all worried that they were going to agree to some crappy deal just to get the dispute over and done with. But thankfully they rejected the deal and are planning a fairly high profile rally (and possible direct action) for Sunday. This is columbus day weekend and fleet week. Should be fun So, here is the info on the rally. If you are in SF please try and come down to Pier 33 today. ************************************ ILWU FERRY WORKERS UNDER ATTACK! DIRECT ACTION GETS THE GOODS! RALLY AT PIER 33 ON THE SAN FRANCISCO EMBARCADERO SUNDAY 9AM, OCTOBER 8 On September 25, 2006, longtime Alcatraz ferry workers, represented by the Inlandboatmens Union(IBU/ILWU) and the Masters Mates and Pilots(MMP), were replaced by inexperienced non union crews. IBU members worked on the first day of public Alcatraz ferry service over thirty years ago. Bush appointed, National Park Service bureaucrats awarded the contact to Terry Macrae's Alcatraz Cruises. Macrae is a notoriously anti-union, right wing Republican, who operates on the edge of legality. All workers hired by Alcatraz Cruises must sign 'Fire at Will' statements, abrogating the fundamental right to job security. The ILWU has fought for social and political justice since its inception. Boycotting South African ships of the apartheid regime, refusing to load military cargo for Central America during the 80's, shutting down the coast during the WTO demonstrations of Nov. 1999 and refusing to cross a mass picket against the Iraq war in April of 2003, only to be shot at by the cops for there principled stand. Show your support for these workers by joining a picket and direct action at pier 33 on the Embarcadero, a half mile south of pier 39, on Sunday, October 8, at 9am. We must reclaim the the mantle of organized militancy on the streets and the docks to achieve economic and social justice. Take BART to Embarcadero and then either walk, or take the F street car, towards Fisherman's Wharf, to pier 33. Current Location: Oakland Current Mood: cranky Current Music: The computer again

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July 28th, 2006

10:18 am - Pagans in Prison I just posted this to a pagan message board where people were discussing paganism and specifically the rise of racist Odinism in prison. There are a few points here that I could elaborate on, and some that I argued simply to make a point...but in general i'm happy with the post. >>>>>Three Blade Wrote: In general, we should note that bad guys have been Getting Religion in the clink for thousands of years. And I'll venture that convict > converts are usually strongly attracted to rigid, literal, > fundamentalist interpretations of ANY religion without subtlety and > nuance less mysticism, but with simple, externalized rules for > telling Good from Bad. Prisons crank out many newly-minted > Southern Baptists, but precious few Episcopalians.... Wouldn't > surprise me if jailhouse pagans leaned in that direction as well.<<<<<<< There is allot to address here. First of all as someone who has been communicating for a while with pagans in prison I feel that I have a fair view of the situation. I'm not a religious studies expert and haven't conducted a survey, but I do think that over the past 5 years of writing to inmates of all sorts (pagans and not) I've learned a bit. The biggest thing I've learned is that conservative religions spend allot of time and money flooding jails and prisons with literature. Very few progressive denominations spend as much time on prison ministry. Buddhists are starting to work in prison more and there are a few pagan ministries as well. The popularity of conservative religions in prison can be traced directly back to the amount of resources said religions put into prison ministry. I also think that, especially in the case of The Nation of Islam, these conservative religions spend allot of time fine tuning their message to appeal to people in prison. People who are often poor and looking for an avenue to vent their anger and frustration. The second thing I've learned is that most of the people in jail are there for petty drug offenses and fairly minor violent crime (mugging and robbery mostly)...most of the pagans I've talked to are in jail for possession and distribution of pot and other drug related crimes. The next largest population are people in for offenses related to sex-work (especially women). You stated that you think many pagans in jail would be drawn to a more conservative form of heathenism because it tends to be literal and (to paraphrase) easier to understand/dumbed down. I do not this this is a correct analysis of the situation. I think the reason pagans in prison are drawn to simplified forms of paganism is because they do not have much of a choice. There are not that many pagan ministries willing to teach them so they are left with learning from inferior texts and other pagans in jail. There are many racist odinist organizations willing to exploit this lack of proper pagan ministry to recruit more disaffected angry people to their ideology. I think that if more pagans on the outside were willing to at least write to other pagans in jail you would see a more nuanced form of paganism being practiced in prison. And if every pagan organization with enough resources to pull it off were to begin sending literature to prison you would also see a rise in the number of incarcerated pagans interested in deeper forms of magick. In political activism we have a saying, "any movement that does not support its prisoners is a sham movement". I would say the same thing goes for religious organizations as well. And heck, if you want to be selfish about it. Most of the pagans I wrote to 4 years ago got out of jail a long time ago (most only served a few months). Its in your own best interest as a community to make sure that the pagans who find their path while in prison learn a form that will make them a "productive member of society" (and your pagan community) when they get out. It is one of the glaring failures of this community that we do not support and offer guidance to our brothers and sisters behind bars. Current Location: Oaklands Current Mood: refreshed Current Music: The hum of computers

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July 14th, 2006

05:19 pm - Support Josh Wolf Josh Wolf, and independent journalist in San Francisco may be sent to jail for up to a year for refusing to turn over evidence to a federal grand jury investigation. Josh's contempt hearing is on the 20th. I'm going to be sending out more info on this soon. But please forward this info around and feel free to put these links on your journal and websites. -Sam- National Lawyers Guild Condemns Attack on Free Press San Francisco video journalist Josh Wolf is being charged with civil contempt for exercising his first amendment right and refusing to provide a federal grand jury with video footage he shot at a protest last summer. The Guild believes that the grand jury is being improperly used to obtain materials which would normally be protected under California's Reporter Shield Law. The civil contempt hearing is scheduled for July 20th at 1 p.m. before Judge William Alsup and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) will host a press conference at noon in front of the Federal Building-450 Golden Gate in San Francisco on that day. The US Attorney's Office, led by Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Finigan, are attempting to force Wolf to testify before the grand jury and hand over a video tape of a protest that occurred in San Francisco's Mission District last July. "My client's political activity and free speech activity in the Bay Area as a journalist and this subpoena, with its associated threat of jail time for noncompliance, has an incredible chilling effect on his and other journalist's freedom to gather and disseminate information of groups who espouse dissident beliefs," said Attorney Jose Luis Fuentes, of the Oakland based Siegel & Yee firm, who is representing Wolf on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild. The use of federal grand juries to target journalists and political activists who are critical of the repressive domestic and international policies of the United States government is an attack on democratic free speech activity. The implications of Josh Wolf's case go well beyond a single journalist or protest. "Like the Judith Miller case or the BALCO case this is about the government's ability to take an independent and free press and treat it as an investigatory arm of the government," said Carlos Villarreal, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area. "The people of California have made it clear through our shield law that we prefer a free press that doesn't have the government constantly looking over its shoulder." California's shield law, according to a recent court decision on the matter, "is intended to protect the gathering and dissemination of news." In that decision, the California Court of Appeals in San Jose confirmed that the law protected internet bloggers just as it protected corporate news reporters. Federal protections are not as strong. "People protesting or on strike for better wages or marching for amnesty should feel free to do so in front of journalist's cameras, just as they should feel free to talk to journalists," said Wolf. "A free press benefits all of us," he said. Court documents and past news articles can be found at http://joshwolf.net/grandjury/

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July 12th, 2006

04:34 pm - Cross Country Trip I just got back from an exciting cross country trip with my current partner Mr. Ted R. Nebus. As I mentioned before one of the many highlights is that I didn't stab him in his sleep halfway through Utah. Other highlights included: Jesse James Wax Museum: Stanton, Missouri. This place was put together by a lovely old women who really believes that Jesse James didn't die back in 1882. According to the museum he lived to be 102 years old and spent his last days in Texas. Its more then a little wacky and the wax figures are not very well executed. The sculpture of Jesse James' former slave was particularly bad, you could tell that the artist behind it had never met an African American person before in their entire life. Pretty loopy, not worth the price of admission...but if your ever driving through Missouri on I-44 i'd say you should stop in for a visit...just because there's really nothing else to do on a 5 hour trip through Missouri. Except for maybe the toy museum next door. Just for kicks check out the band Jesse James Wax Museum The Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere: Groom, Texas. We saw this amazing piece of modern art peer out at us from the hills of Texas about a mile away along I-40 and we both said...yes..I want to know the love of my lord and savior Jesus Christ. This giant sheet metal marvel forced us to reject our heathen and atheist ways and walk the path of salvation with god and Um...oh did I mention that the flood lights illuminating the giant cross were mounted on several smaller crosses made in the same style as their larger mother cross. Quite the enriching experience. As far as I can tell there is no MySpace band associated with the largest cross in the western hemisphere. If I am wrong please let me know. The World's Only Corn Palace: Mitchell, SD. Huge building with murals completely made out of corn. It was impressive. mostly because they change their murals every year. There are photos chronicling the history of the corn palace and archiving the hundreds of designs that adorned the palace since 1892. Liza was way more into it than me. I thought it was corney...oh snap! We also visited the Wounded Knee memorial site and location of the AIM occupation in 1973. The museum was amazing and the folks staffing it were very cool. We found out about another struggle going on in the Bear Butte area of South Dakota. Visit the site Defend Bear Butte for more information. Ok...thats enough for now. You might get some more out of me later. Current Location: Oakland Current Mood: tired Current Music: Crappy Internet Radio

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July 10th, 2006

05:05 pm - Bikes My roomates Greg and Megan are embarking on an epic road trip by bike. Check out the website. http://bikebums.com/2006/ I just got home from a very long road trip myself, driving cross country from San Francisco to Philadelphia and back again in only two weeks. I'll post something interesting about it soon. But the most important thing right now is that I didn't kill Ted. Current Location: Oakland Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Skip James

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June 17th, 2006

09:16 pm - Haiku LiveJournal Haiku! Your name: saoirse93 Your haiku: he said all we need is the size and number of stab wounds in his hand Username: Created by Grahame Current Location: Oakland Current Mood: bored Current Music: John Lee Hooker

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June 14th, 2006

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June 11th, 2006

12:11 pm - Nifty Letter and the Green Scare I just got a letter today from the Inland Boatmen's Union of the Pacific. They are the marine division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. I signed up on their list about a month 1/2 ago and finally got back a letter. They are opening their registration to new applicants. I have to attend a 4 day basic seamanship class and then resister with the union. I will be put on their register and then called for jobs when something I qualify for comes up. I only have a basic license (Merchant Mariners Document) so I will not qualify for many of the skilled positions, but I do qualify for deckhand type work aboard ferries and tugs (line handling, collecting tickets etc...) They pay well too...about $25.00/hour In jobby-job news I just got finished working on a film (it was a paid gig !) where I was coordinating wardrobe. I am now in the running for the production designer position on another independent film shooting in Oakland in September. Yesterday I helped organize an event around the green scare. It was a punk show with some speakers...pretty standard. I cooked a TON of vegan thai noodles with peanut sauce ...mmmm....The punk bands were ok. The speakers were very moving. Mark Reichel, the attorney representing Eric McDavid, spoke mostly about the Sacamento cases and the FBI's use of a confidential source (infiltrator) named Anna. Richard Brown spoke, he is a former member of the Black Panther Party and the black liberation movement who recently spent over 5 months in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating a case from over 30 years ago. Karen Pickett, a long time Earth First activist, also spoke about the recent cases in oregon and the history of government surveillance and repression of social movements. Current Location: Oakland Current Mood: mischievous Current Music: random hip hop

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June 6th, 2006

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April 13th, 2006

12:39 am - Legal Tool I have an interview tomorrow with a temp agency that places folks in law firms. I'm gonna try and get a job doing data entry or something equally as inane so I can just check my email all day....wish me luck. Making vegan muffins with Ted tomorrow night. If I don't get a job at least I will have some yummy muffins...and a Ted. Thats all for now folks...go to bed... Current Location: Oakland...Styro-topia Current Mood: sleepy Current Music: DJ Shadow

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April 11th, 2006

11:06 am - Bounty Just got this photo of Bounty (one of my old boats). She is getting some work done in Rhode Island (I think). It looks like her top masts and most of her yards are down rigged in this photo. You can also see two crew members running around in the rigging. Oh Bounty :) Current Location: Work Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Modest Mouse

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April 3rd, 2006

11:19 am - Shitty Ferry My dinky non-union family run ferry is screwing me over...surprise surprise. They hired me, quoted me a wage of 12-15 / hr depending on experience and put me to work. They told me to get my drug test done ASAP, I got my period and the test company told me to wait until I was past my cycle. I waited. They still put me to work and told me that I was "in training" and that they they "might not be able to pay me" because I am in the "training" period and haven't done my drug test yet. I knew that was illegal, I told them it was illegal, but I still went to work because I needed the hours. I called them on Friday asking about trying to get some weekday hours. They told me that weekdays hours are reserved for long time employees. I told them that I can't work Sunday because I can't get to work (public transit doesn't run to Tiburon on Sundays). They told me that they can't hire me if I can't work Sunday. That would have been Ok I guess, I needed the job but if they don't have hours for me, what can I say. But after they told me that I was "un-hired" they told me that they weren't going to pay me for my "training" days (16 hours) because I was in training and didn't complete the drug test. The bastards have to pay me...I don't care if THEY violated the law by allowing me to work on their ferry without being screened for drugs...thats their problem not mine ! Total bullshit! They have to pay for for the hours I worked! At least minimum wage. Why? Who says? The Fair Labor Standards Act and The Jones Act bitch! I clocked in....I also have witnesses. I'm drafting an angry letter today written on some letterhead provided by a friend from the Lawyer's Guild, getting said attorney to look over it ... faxing it tomorrow. Fuck that ferry! 1) I know a shit load of lawyers 2) I'm friends with all the other (union) deckhands working on another ferry that uses the Tiburon dock. 3) I am prepared to fuck with their reputation and/or sue them until I get paid. In better news a fellow worker from the wobs works for a larger unionized ferry company, represented by the Inland Boatman's Union. I am meeting with them today, will get my Merchant Mariner's document in about 2 weeks and will hopefully be working for a real company by the end of the month. Grrrr... Current Mood: angry Current Music: The Clash

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March 31st, 2006

03:55 pm - Primitivists I saw Derrick Jensen speak the other night. I flaked on who he was and went only because it was a fundraiser for California Anarchist Prisoner Support at AK Press . First of all, in my personal opinion the man is a total wingnut and a horrible public speaker. I would say that he should stick to writing books but even his writing is shitty so maybe he should just kill himself. Oh...shit...thats harsh. But, the guy wrote a book about destroying language and symbolic thought...oh yea...he also has a (very well designed) website...primitivist my ass...this dude is just out to sell books. And he sold allot of them that night. Suckers. For those unfamiliar with primitivism Mr. Jensen believes that human civilization as we know it destined to collapse and is inherently flawed. Not only does he look forward to the day when civilization will collapse, he encourages people to actively facilitate it occurring within our lifetime. He believes that we need to return to a stone age level of technology and society in order to live sustainably on the earth. This sounds all well and good, but he also believes that humans have overreached our carrying capacity on the planet, according to Derrick Jensen, we need to return to a stone age era population level. In order for this to happen nearly 95% of the earth's current population who have die, or be killed off. I neglected to ask him during the Q&A session if that meant he was a big supporter of the Iraq War or was against sex education, needle exchange and condom distribution because it facilitates the spread of AIDs, Hep C and other STDs faster...thus killing off more of us pesky humans. He went on to imply that if civilization fell it would be the rich and those living in "developed countries" who would be the first to die off because they are more removed from the land and can't feed themselves without the help of mega supermarkets and other luxuries of our globalized society. I guess someone failed to point out to him that the majority of the people who were killed during hurricane Katrina were poor people...all the rich folks got the hell outta' dodge days before the hurricane hit. I imagine that if there were a series of natural disasters or diseases that affected billions of people at a time...the most affected will probably be poor people. Just call it a hunch. Just about everything the guy said made my skin crawl. But the most annoying part of the whole event was the Q&A...not one person called the guy out. There was so much material, maybe all the non-primitivists in the room were so shell shocked they didn't know where to begin. For me his talk was so disjointed (being just a series of rants) I had a hard time piecing together a proper argument against the guy until I had a few hours to process it. But I was really surprised that nobody articulated anything that resembled an opposing argument. Maybe that's just San Francisco, people here are just too nice. If this were Philly or Jersey that guy would have been running out of the room in tears. Current Mood: lethargic Current Music: http://www.musebroadcast.com:8000/antiradio.m3u

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03:32 pm - My parents and their jobs. I forgot to write about this. It completely freaked me out when I was in Austin, I can't believe I flaked on writing about it. So, my parents are moving to Indiana! I found out a few weeks ago while I was attending an IWW conference in Austin Texas. I was on my way back to the conference after getting dinner with Ted and Bruce, I decided to call my Mom since it was the weekend and I had free minutes. Me: Hey Mom, hows it going Mom: Good, we're just packing. Me: Packing for what? Are you going on vacation? Mom: Um...no...were moving. Me: What! Mom: Didn't I tell you? Me: No! Mom: We're moving to Indiana Me: Argg! I guess she had told so many people she just assumed I knew. This is classic Mom. Oh well. The deal is that the factory my Mom works at is closing down. They have one location in Indiana and another in San Diego. My Mom has been working there for over 15 years so they offered her a position (shipping and receiving...I think she is a secretary of some sort) at one of their other locations. For a while she was just going to get laid off and try to find another job. But, her pension is all wrapped up with the company...she decided to keep working for this company until retirement rather that a) retire now which is not really an option or b) find another job which will pay less and will offer a lower pension and retirement plan. It made sense to take the job in Indiana, keep her pension, keep her current salary and eventually retire at 64ish ready to get the heck out of Indiana. I told her Indiana is a whole lot of nothing...she was excited for the change of scenery. Soooo....about two days ago my Father looses his mind. Once again I called my parents on the weekend to check in. I talk to my Mom about nothing, all of a sudden my Dad grabs the phone. Dad: Sam! Me: Hey Dad. Dad: Guess what I did today? Me: Um....what? Dad: I quit my job! Me: Really?! Um...I guess that good. What happened? The factory my Dad works at makes widgets. My Dad is on the assembly line, he puts stuff together that he will probably never use...I never really knew what exactly they made...I think it has something to do with water treatment something or other. Last week some executives came into the place and conducted a meeting on workplace safety, they wanted the workers to start wearing safety goggles and gloves...my Dad (during his rant) also stated that they wanted him to wear "safety shoes" and "safety underwear"....I think he was exaggerating. After the meeting some of the management went desk to desk inspecting them for safety. One guy picked up an exacto-knife off my Dad's desk and asked him what it was. My Dad stated that it was an exacto-knife. The manager told him that having it sitting out on his desk was unsafe. My Dad then went into a rant that included statement such as "i've been working in factories since before you were conceived" and preceded to whack the exacto-knife off of his forehead (my Dad's not the manager's) The Manager told my Dad to calm down and that the new safety measures were for their own safety and not just about money. My Dad continued to yell, "oh yea! then are you going to give us a better pension...better health care!?" Manager: "Mr. Levens. Your getting out of control" My Dad then quit and left. Its good for him, he hated that place for years...plus he was going to have to quit anyway to move to Indiana. Current Mood: lethargic Current Music: http://www.musebroadcast.com:8000/antiradio.m3u

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March 27th, 2006

07:46 pm - Kitties Last night the stray cat my housemates and I have been feeding came around and was severely injured. She has a huge gash in her upper thigh, it was brown and oozing puss. We decided to take her to the vet right away to get her looked at. Kim, Ted, Abe and I got a cat carrier from a friend of ours and took the cat to the vet. The Dr. looked at her and recommended minor surgery...we asked for an estimate...it would cost us over $500 to for surgery and medication! Of course we agreed. She spent about 8 hours at the animal hospital. When we came to retrieve her she had over 10 stitches a 4 tubes (so the nasty puss could drain out of her infection). We now have a very happy (if not slightly leaky) cat. She's happy because of living inside...oh yea...and pain killers :) I think we are going to try and keep her for as long as possible. She's quite cute, very well behaved and I'm only a little allergic. We're not allowed to have cats at our apartment...but our landlord has failed to notice that we have 4 tenants rather than the allotted 3...so we don't think she's going to notice the cat. ((((Hugs to Varian))) our new housemate! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: The Smiths

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March 23rd, 2006

02:19 pm - Life and stuff Last Weekend: Went to the Anarchist Bookfare in San Francisco. Saw Ward Churchill speak on Indigenism and Anarchism. I may try to write up my thoughts on his speech (but I probably won't) Cooked a bunch of yummy vegan food with Ted (he is such a good cook). Vegan Shepards Pie and three Vegan Pizzas for a few friends we had over Sunday night. Mmmm...I'm hoping to try out some baking this weekend...vegan brownies :) You can see Ted's blog: Vegan Sandwich. Its sort of a joke...he just wanted to create a totally useless blog that takes up space on the internet. Yesterday: Cashed some checks...The last check from Berkeley Rep. Theatre (phone banking) and a reimbursment check from the I.W.W. for expenses going to Austin ; and a check from Americans for Safe Access. I can actually pay my rent for next month! Woo Hoo! Hung out with Ted, cooked dinner, went to see Night Watch at The Parkway Theater. I hightly recommend this movie. Its a Russian vampire flick...very cyber punk...Moscow is the perfect setting; the special effects are amazing (even the subtitles were cool). They combined many different aspects of vampire mythology and gave them a modern twist. It isn't your standard horror flick...its more of a psychological/mythological thriller. Very Neil Gaiman....go and see it now. Today: Going to see Dr. Strangelove at the Parkway Theater (can you tell I like this Theatre). Its a cool theater because: a) Its Cheap...$5.00. Wednesdays they do 2 for 1. b)Its second run but they also show some pretty obscure films and do alot of fundraisers for local non-profits. c)They have a full bar and food. If you get there early enough you can score a table with couch. But all the seats are good. I'm also attending a meeting discussing local (and national) support for activists being called before Grand Juries. We are working on several projects. Two that I am directly involved in included Popular Education (creating trainings, know your rights materials and other literature) and Direct Support (providing assistance to activists called before a Grand Jury...including financial support if they are imprisoned for refusing to testify.) This Weekend: Going to see Gogol Bordello....gypsy punk band from NYC Hanging out in Santa Cruz on Saturday with Ted and Abe. Working on the Ferry on Sunday. Cooking vegan brownies??? Current Mood: lazy Current Music: Le Tigre

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March 16th, 2006

11:36 am - Bikes, Puppies, Ferries and Data Entry Oh My ! Updates: *Helder fixed me a bike. Its a Schwinn...very large...like a tank...if I get in an accident the bike will be fine...this bike will survive the apocalypse. I hope the cockroaches have fun riding my bike. *I'm doing data entry at Americans for Safe Access to make some extra cash. I know about 6 people who work here. I pretty much can make my own hours, but I have to be disciplined about actually getting work done. Because of the fact that I know so many of the folks who work here (my boss is my roommate, and 3 of the other people are in the law collective I am working with) it could be really easy to just slack off. But slacking off a bit is ok...the other day my co-worker offered me a beer (mid-day around 2:00)...it made the data entry go a bit faster. *I moved into my new apartment yesterday! I now live in Oakland! Go Raders! *I'm staring my training on the Angel Island/Tiburon Ferry this weekend. I'm going to start out as a part time deckhand...moving into full time during the summer season. The ferry shuttles tourists from Tiburon (a fancy pants part of Marin County near Sausilito) to Angel island (a pretty island in the SF Bay). They also do sunset cruises and other holiday/special event cruises on the Bay. I got the job through a friend of mine who used to work for them as a bar tender...I worked with her in the Art Department on the Top Chef reality show. *Top Chef has aired twice on Bravo and I still haven't seen it. My new apt. has cable though...I guess I should watch it next week. If your interested in seeing what I do for a living watch it at 10:00pm on Bravo. I was working with the art department...so we designed and constructed all the sets and props. Check it out...let me know what you think...not about the show (the show sucks) but on my taste in throw pillows. *Just got back from a week long road trip to Austin Texas. I was there for the IWW organizing conference. The trip was quite eventful. I went with Ted (my new sweetie) and Bruce (who is also quite sweet). I think I should write a separate entry since I have a ton of photos from the trip that I want to post. But for now all you need to know is that the trip went well, I saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while, we slept in the dessert and rescued a lost puppy from certain death. *I'm slacking off on my job (see)...so I'm gonna get back to work. Check in tomorrow for photos from the road trip. Current Mood: silly Current Music: The Clash

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March 7th, 2006

05:07 pm - Poop This post is about poop. I'm seeing this boy...he is super cute and sweet and nice....but he sure can poop. This past weekend an old friend of mine arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area aboard a tall ship. The ship is the Lady Washington, she played the HMS Interceptor in Pirates of the Caribbean. In exchange for driving him to the airport at 5:30 am Sunday morning he let me, Emma and Ted sail around with them on Saturday. We buckled lots of swash and nobody got seasick. There were a few yuppies talking about their yachts onboard...but we ran them through. After the sail we went to the seaport museum to sing sea chanteys. The nerdyness was overwhelming. Then we went back to the ship...to sleep in a very small bunk. Ted got up to use the head (toilet). Marine heads generally have a pump, very little water and function by sucking your waste into a holding tank stored below deck. You can't put anything in it that "hasn't passed through you"...soooo....tp etc...goes in the bin. If your planning on passing a mighty shit its generally a good idea to space it out. I'm laying in the rack...I can hear Ted's pumping getting more and more frantic, so I decide to pay a visit to the head myself. I open the door and see the most god awful pile of shit I've ever encountered. Ted is looking quite sheepish with a look of "ooops I broke it" on his face. The scrubber is sticking straight out of the head...I guess he thought it would be a good idea to try and shove his turd down into the tank...when the pump proved ineffective. So...I proceed to fix and clean the head. I've done this quite a few times since the heads onboard Providence were regularly broken or clogged. I've discovered that I have a pretty high tolerance for shit...especially when all I can think about is how badly I want to get back to bed. I got some water and flushed the thing a few times, cleared out the pump and cleaned off the scrubber. Soon enough Ted and I are back in the bunk...with the head in proper working order... I guess this means I like him...or that I enjoy repairing marine toilets (which is quite possible). Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: RadioVolta.org

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