goddesscafe

Saturday, June 30, 2001 :::

OK, I think I'm dealing with glass half empty people here.

NT: even out here in the much celebrated Northeastern US, if you travel outside of the city you'll mostly find scary rural and suburban places. They may not be as scary as, say, Martinsville, but Martinsville really is hell, so I don't think that's a fair comparison. All that stuff you write, "...you've got a people who are, as Allemuse noted, very insular in their worldview and highly resistant to change, diversity of skincolor, opinion and musical taste...," is partially true both in the midwest and anywhere else in the country - except maybe in Vermont, Oregon and Washington. But then, there are also rural parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota that are as cool as anywhere. I've had the opportunity to speak to many people who have grown up in the rural/suburban East Coast and I can't find any qualitative difference in how they grew up and with whom and how I did. We've all pretty much escaped to the same cities and places for the same reasons.

Alura: I love Brooklyn, don't get me wrong. You've heard me spout off on the subject. It's just that Chicago FEELS like home. It seems to be everything I love about Green Bay, Bloomington, and New York City in the same place.

NT: The law that you mention in Philly is real, it also exists in Boston, New York, Chicago, and probably most other major cities. It's often called the 1% for Art law. Chicago has the best public art of the four. (I'm not being arbitrary here, it really does). Chicago also has the best architecture of the four.

Alura: The people of D.C. are rude, that's been my experience. I've worked with the public in D.C. - especially the employees of the federal government - and they were mostly awful to me. The whole mid-atlantic region is a bit screwy, that's why I couldn't stay longer than 6 months in the area.

NT: I think it would be good for you to learn how to be amused by the prententiousness of Duke undergrad cultural studies types... just remember that they're scared and vulnerable. Be gentle.

NT: I accepted those invitations of free beer and it mostly worked out well. Except for one half hour discussing the disposal of hazardous waste, the conversation was all very frank and interesting. Believe it or not the people who chose to remain - at least the more interesting ones - have some pretty interesting things to say about that choice. Also, everyone's a bit older, more mature, the annoying jagged edges (mine included) have been worn down by experience - this makes it easier. Alura: on the same point: give it a chance. I think it's great to talk to people that irritated the hell out of you and realize that people change.

Friday, June 29, 2001 :::

I will be looking forward to comparitive and detailed reports from NT as he is forced back to the midwest later this month, after struggling in the southeast. (you really have my deepest sympathy, and shared terror of a similar fate) (although I did read yesterday that something like 20 or 30% of 18-24yo's are living with their parents, and like 15 or 20% of 25-34yo's...good economy, my ass)

And Alex, I liked Brooklyn. It was cute. Seemed safe and neighborhood-ly. And for crying out loud, you guys have a functioning, cheap, comprehensive transit system! (well, and a dysfunctional mayor, like ours) Or did I not have a broad enough view of your area? I still think that people in D.C. come off as far more tense and rude than New Yorkers, but I freely admit my exposure to the latter is quite limited.

Random rants...1) Zarbet got a free ticket to see Radiohead the other night, and he's not even familiar with them! Unfair. I think his analysis went something along the lines of being interested in the band's "self-interested mystique." 2) I need to be kissed. So badly that it's palpable. Does anyone else ever have days like this? Not horniness, per se, or touch-starvation, but a very overwhelming specific desire for a particular thing. I'm not whining, just curious about the body's response to thoughts and deprivation and such, how things are manifested physically and mentally. Also relates to my thought for the week, "beliefs are physical," from a book on women's health. 3) Found this neat site, Guerilla News from a story link on metafilter. Wanted to watch the Beastie Boy/Ralph Nader remix video but can't on this computer. 4) $7000 for a glorified dildo?!?

::: posted by Alura Allumeuse at 12:03 PM

My responses to Midwestern Living, now that I've found The South:

1 - Naivete is in the mind of the observer. It also helps if you've got a pad in the Lakeview district and a paying, stable dot-com job that's not too far from an L stop. If you stop for a minute and look at the Midwest as not only the city, but the tiny towns and hamlets, the sprawling suburban wastelands, and the flat farms, you've got a people who are, as Allemuse noted, very insular in their worldview and highly resistant to change, diversity of skincolor, opinion and musical taste (among other things). Chicago, much like Atlanta, Raleigh and Charlotte down here, fosters quite a different attitude from the good old folks who choose to live out in Spivey's Corner or Pittsboro or Albemarle.
2 - Booyah. Agreed.
3 - Have fun. I'll be over here looking for a stable relationship.
4 - I like the funky law in Philly where new builders in the metro area (?correct) have to donate a certain percentage of the initial building cost towards some sort of public artistry on the premises...
5 - It pays to drive around the small towns, see the front lawns and front porches - front porches! for the love of all things! there are people who have front freaking porches! Stop at the local greasy spoon, if it hasn't been run out of town by a McD's or Bojangles or Whataburger or KFC... Take a walk around the center of town. Small towns may not conform to the cosmopolitan ways and morality of city-types, but there's a reason why they refuse to adopt it...
6 - If I hear "The Culture Of (x)" again, I swear I'm gonna have to put someone down. Damned Duke undergrads...
7 - Yeah. it could've been your name AND your phone number alongside an invitation...
8 - And realize they really haven't done much with their lives since High School, and aren't all that interested in the things you're working on. You can't beat an invite for free beer, though.
10 - About Damn Time

::: posted by N T at 10:52 AM

Thursday, June 28, 2001 :::

Sorry for that last overly long post. Normally I try to avoid that. Bored and tense today.

I want to be a high school teacher of media criticism and get my kids to do stuff like this.

::: posted by Alura Allumeuse at 4:39 PM

You may think of Chicago as representative of the midwest, but for those of us from Indianapolis (or Cincinnati, who knows?), our memories are not quite as rosy. That's why we LEFT, you see. Your experience in Bloomington perhaps made you think more highly of Indiana than is necessary. Please remember, Indiana = KKK, gay-baiting (you must not have gotten "drive-by faggotings" living at Read like we did at Collins...a phrase coined by a B'ton writer to describe the inbreeds in pickup trucks who drive by and yell "faggots!", or, in my case, "fucking dyke!"), monopoly newspaper owned by the Quayle family with a frightening religious bent, general all-around intolerance and ignorance. It has one of the lowest percentages of college graduates in the nation. That's why every year, without fail, the newspapers moan "why are all our graduates leaving?" Well, uh, duh. Higher education = waking up and getting the hell away from small towns and small minds.

However, there may be hope. My dad and brother report that Indy is becoming increasingly Hispanic (INS doesn't look for illegals there), which may either help or hinder the rampant racism, and that the gov't is starting to buy land for a light rail system in the far future. I'm not saying big cities are a million times better, but don't glorify things unnecessarily. There's a reason that half of Californians come from other states.

#8 -- having gone to the same private school all the way K-12, I have little to no interest in seeing people who knew me when. As for #3, marriage, huh? Examples, please. I think all marriage should be outlawed, frankly. No legal or financial/tax involvement, other than declaring parental responsibility and such. Have a frickin' religious ceremony if you need to, just don't get the gov't involved. On the other hand, if Sergio proposed but said he'd have to dress up like a famous rock star, I might have to accept, if only to have a sexy and purple wedding. ;) But if I were gonna do that, I'd have to already be living in an intentional community with my friends. If you're gonna commit to something, commit all the way, to all the things that are important to you.

In a side note, it's now come out that Bush helped issue fake IDs at Andover in the '60s. Guess that's where the twins got it. This on the heels of Mr. Won't-Answer-Questions-About-Cocaine's new stance that simple refusal to answer questions about past drug use will get you denied federal aid for college. This man's hypocrisy astounds me daily.

::: posted by Alura Allumeuse at 3:21 PM

Here are ten things I learned on my recent visits to Green Bay, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois.

1. We were all fools to leave the midwest. I've recently had the chance to make some comparisons and I think back home comes out on top. This was a direct New York/Chicago comparison: Chicago is as positive and sincere as NYC is jaded and cynical. I'm tired of world weariness and I'm all for 'new naivet�.'
2. If you get a chance to see Cirque du Soleil, do do do. It's a good spectacle, they even bring their own tent and clean up after themselves. I even forgot that the show is sponsored by a bunch of irritating corporations.
3. Marriage seems to work and I intend to get married at the soonest opportunity.
4. Art needs to be both more practical and more accessible.
5. Driving along interstate highways in rural Wisconsin and the like is the essence of being American. Don't forget to be listening to good American pop music like Tom Petty.
6. In conversation, use the construction, "I'm for the 'new (insert word)'" and people will think you're smarter and more culturally attuned than they are. Example, "Well.... I'm all for the 'new naivet�.'" Don't forget to make quote marks with your fingers. This is exactly the sort of pseudo-intellectual frippery that no one ever questions. Also, use 'the culture of (insert word)' as in 'the culture of acquiescence.'
7. Your hometown is where people write your name in the men's room of popular bars. While in Green Bay I discovered that someone's been writing, "Who is (insert my name for the Ayn Rand reference)?" all over. It could have been so much worse!
8. Those people that you forget about that you have known since you were three years old, you can't replace those people. They're important, even if you're not sure why. Take time to have frank conversation with them whenever possible.
9. It's good to flirt as much as possible unless you're married or in a committed long-term relationship. It's fun and it makes you feel good.
10. The Chicago 'El' transit system really does work and shouldn't be made fun of, it's definitely better than the Boston 'T.'

::: posted by the boot at 10:39 AM

Wednesday, June 27, 2001 :::

Evidently I didn't miss anything by being offline for six days. It's good to know that the internet only FEELS important. Viva the midwest! Sometimes I think I've had it with salt water.

::: posted by the boot at 9:40 PM

The DEA has declared war on glowsticks.

::: posted by Alura Allumeuse at 11:53 AM

Monday, June 25, 2001 :::

Its been pretty hectic around here... so I apologize for my silence. Let me make it up to you with one of the lovliest pieces of animation to hit the flash developers circuit. Don't have a cow .

::: posted by Rogue Designer at 2:31 PM

OK peeps, where the hell is everybody? Butch is in Vegas for a while, but Zarbet has returned from his trip abroad, as has Trish from her VERY extended vacation (Europe/Indianapolis/Portland), although I haven't physically seen either of them yet so I can't prove it...but anyway, we need to get this blog going again, even with the prolific Mr. Seal's absence.

Went to Gay Pride with Sly Squiqqle yesterday...too crowded. He felt "irrelevant." Bwah ha ha. The Dyke March on Sat was fun, though...Eve's drag king troupe The Disposable Boy Toys performed and were very cute. Eve's stoner comedian girlfriend Sabrina was hanging out at the women's stage (awesome slam poetry by members of Sister Spit), but didn't remember meeting me before so I think she wanted to punch me when I was friend-ily messing with her. Het-bashing at Gay Pride! What a headline. The other headline, announced by one of Sabrina's friends during the march, was "Dyke March Turns Back on Itself!!!" as everyone stopped and cheered the two buck-naked women getting in on in a windowsill, and kept trying to look back and watch.

::: posted by Alura Allumeuse at 10:10 AM