Went to go see a Punch Brothers show at the Jorgensen tonight.
Successfully surprised Nishi.
On the way out, I overheard someone say “Great show, but why didn’t they play Wagon Wheel?” I’m not sure whether they were serious or not.
Blog
An Example
On the same note as yesterday’s post, I’ve been thinking a bit about makers. That’s “Makers” in the modern American sense. Suburbanites who have realized they can opt out of consumer culture and fix things or make them for themselves. Obviously this isn’t novel in many parts of the world, and is only recently novel here. It’s kind of strange that I fall into this group, since I grew up with a father who could do anything.
My dad built our back deck. And the pergola above it. And front porch. He installed radiant heat in the addition to our garage, and the tile flooring on top of it. Then he built the deck outside of that. He got an old riding lawnmower someone was giving away, tinkered, bought a $4 part, and it was good as new. He still uses it. He takes a certain pride in it, being from the 80s with zero safety features. I’ve heard our neighbor talking with him about how ridiculously and needlessly complicated modern lawnmowers are, and him just being able to laugh. He falls trees and splits the wood, keeping us warm all winter. He’s tackled all manner of repairs in our house, from construction to electrical. He’s always had advice on how to get something done.
I was numb to most of that growing up. It just wasn’t my thing. I was nerdy, and defined myself that way. Those skills were outside of what I was comfortable doing. That board is too heavy for me to lift. My tool of choice is a keyboard. I helped on many of these projects, but I was mostly an extra hand. Hold here, hammer this, cut that. If I was paying attention I could have absorbed a lot, but I mostly let it slide. Anyway, I’m playing catch-up now. I’m sure that exposure helped me a bit, but I regret those missed opportunities.
Off to a good start
I’ve gotten a lot accomplished on my vehicles lately, and it has made me proud – just a few years ago I wouldn’t have known where to start under the hood of a car. Now I have a Mercedes that is ready to run on 100% vegetable oil, and I did it largely on my own – or I should say, without instructive help, I had many helpers. I’m tinkering with electronics, fixing things on my own. It feels great. Changing in such a short span of time from something that was wholly foreign to something accessible makes me aware of the things I’m already proficient in. It also reminds me of how easy that jump can be.
Today Nishi and I drove to Miner St to work on the bus a bit. Last week we got the two large benches dismantled and set aside. The inside of the bus is opening up. As I turned off my truck, I went to turn off the lights and the knob popped off. The little mechanism the plastic knob attached to was just hanging by its wires inside the dashboard, and wouldn’t stay put on its own. I unscrewed and popped off the large plastic piece covering the area under the steering wheel, and unbolted the metal plate underneath that. Just screws and bolts. I was then able to reach up and hold the mechanism in place as I re-attached the plastic knob. Fixed! There’s a mental block that needs to be passed, after which it all becomes clear. It’s just screws and bolts.
My mom asked us to stay for dinner. I’ve long asserted when talking with her that the difference between generations in regards to technology is that my generation plays with things, while her generation exercises far more caution. They treat the new computer like a luxury car that needs to be carefully maintained and driven on well paved roads. I’m swapping the engine and installing wings. No one told me I couldn’t. She mentioned her amazement that I was able to do that fix today on my own. I think the only difference between me and her is that I was shown that I could do this.
Before Grey Fox this year, Ali and I were making preparations on the bus. We were getting things packed and sorted and generally figured out. The cast iron propane burner that we’ve been cooking on had suffered a few falls, and a few legs had broken off. As a result it couldn’t sit level anymore, and this needed to be fixed. I grabbed a 2×4, a circular saw, and a drill. I cut four small lengths, screwed them into a small box, and screwed the burner to it. Problem solved. It took maybe five minutes. Ali remarked about how he hadn’t seen something like that before. I can easily remember when I could have said the same. I just had to be shown that it was possible. These are things I could do.
Been a while
No excuse really. It’s been over a month since I posted last, and plenty has happened in that time.
I started writing letters finally, long after their recipients moved away and I said I’d write. As it turns out, this is a hobby I really enjoy, and I’m trying to make it a regular pastime. I like being able to sit down a collect my thoughts on a piece of paper, and then send it off to someone.
I want to be writing more in general, both here and elsewhere. I’m going to keep to a weekly letter writing habit, and I’m thinking I’ll try to update here daily through October. Old entries are a huge resource, but not worth much when I don’t post anything.
This should be made easier by another new development since I last posted – my new phone. I had to finally put down my trusty N95, and grabbed a Galaxy S2. There’s plenty wrong with it, and there’s a lot about my old phone I miss, but I do like being able to use a phone that is actively being supported. In fact, I wrote most of this entry from my phone today while I was on the road (chill out, I was the passenger).
Grey Fox into Tweed River
Grey Fox this year was incredible. Anne Marie is building a real community around her. In addition to the group of people who frequent jams and hang out, we actually had some groupies. There were two neighbors of ours who camped specifically near us, after seeing us last year. I think that’s legitimately fantastic. As always, we made new friends, and visited old friends, and the group grows. We’ve officially overtaken my parents’ camp in number – I’m hoping they’ll join us next year.
There was a week of downtime, in which I tried to focus on work. I tried to remind myself that I’m working so I can not work. But it’s hard to reject that instant gratification that comes with festivals.
Tweed River was this past weekend, and it was marvelous as well. It’s growing, around 1,500 people came this year. We’re meeting more and more of the people who organize and run the festival, and that is definitely a good thing. That festival has an aggressively good vibe. It’s hard to resist.
I’m excited to see what festivals will be like in Anne Marie 2.0.
Waiting
I had yesterday off as a paid holiday. I only get a handful of paid holidays all year, so it was nice to just sit around, and not feel bad about not making money. But it wasn’t a real holiday, at least not in the sense I would like it to be. One of the chief complaints I had about being in school was that downtime was just a period of waiting. You could do some stuff on the side, and even get some interesting stuff achieved, but soon enough you’d have to get back to doing school work and focusing on studies. This kept my mind from seeking larger projects, and kept me thinking and living in the very near future.
Work isn’t quite the same, likely because there is actually less downtime. I don’t have as much time that could otherwise be spent thinking about things I would rather be doing than work. There isn’t the massive summer break which will end. But yesterday just served as a reminder to me of what I’m working towards. I want to be able to get up, and be able to pursue nearly anything, whether it takes 5 minutes or 5 months. Just as school used to loom over my free time, so does work. I want to be free of that, even for a short time.
In between school and work, I was no closer, since the thought of making money to reach both immediate and distant goals was ever present. The last time I felt close to free of things was when we traveled last summer. Though we still had deadlines to meet, and places to be, the time in between festivals was an incredibly free time. Not perfect, but not bad. I think I’ll get there. But in the meantime, I’m not sure I want many more paid vacations.
Things I Have Done
On June 4th, the Middletown City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning Citizens United, and calling for electoral reform. Peter, Nishi and myself had been working on this cause for months, and we got it passed in time to coincide with a national movement doing the same. The resolution reads as follows:
Whereas, the Citizen’s United v. Federal Election Commission, Buckley v. Valero and SpeechNow v. FEC legal decisions have changed the national landscape on how elections are financed, and
Whereas, the Supreme Court ‘s Citizen’s United decision has led to a flood of money from individuals, corporations and special interest groups being used for political purposes, and
Whereas, Super Political Action Committee’s (“Super PACs”) now enjoy unlimited spending from wealthy individuals and corporations, and
Whereas, outside spending by Super PAC’s, corporations, special interest groups and others totaled over $900 M or 2.5 times as much as spent during the same period in 2008 and six (6) times as much as in 2004, and
Whereas, huge sums of money are now being decried as securing elections to ensure allegiance to a specific political agenda, and
Whereas, the influence of excessive and anonymous money in political campaigns can lead to corruption, limit political discourse, subject the citizenry to unlimited and extensive “spin” which shadows the facts for any political campaign.
Whereas a coalition of groups throughout the United States are working to pass over 100 new local resolutions during Resolutions Week in June calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, challenge corporate power and eliminate unlimited campaign spending.
Now Therefore Be It Resolved by The Common Council of the City of Middletown that:
We join in the efforts of groups and organizations throughout the Unites States to remove the overt influence of money on our political system and stand with other communities across America to protect our democratic system by supporting public funding of elections, reducing the unnecessary time required to select candidates and conduct elections and make any and all political spending to be open and transparent.
Be It Further Resolved that
We hereby instruct our State and Federal Government Representatives to end the influence of money in politics by enacting resolutions, legislation and constitutional amendments to advance these principles.
I’ve been working on Dawn quite a bit as well, and though I’m far behind where I thought I would be, I’m about 50% done. I haven’t gotten anything done on the bus, and I’m really behind on projects in general. SomDay went unobserved for the first time since its inception. But the money keeps rolling in, which will allow me to get around to these things sooner or later.
Mostly later.
Lucky
I won a $50 gift certificate to First & Last Tavern on Main St, from a local radio station contest. A month or so before that, I won two tickets to a concert at Infinity Hall (I thought my parents would like to go, and they declined). Last week I won a free lunch at a restaurant in Manchester, though there is a catch. I don’t think this is luck, rather I think it is more reflective of how I’m currently moving through life.
I travel around the state constantly, for work, and I’m exposed to and open to more things than most people are. The amount of interactions I have in a day if phenomenal, and it reminds me of being on the bus tour. That was a big change for all of us – living out in the open, exposed to each other and anyone who happened to pass by. While we were collecting signatures on Main St., Peter was reminded that he hadn’t really been out there, talking to people since the Tour.
I’m lucky to be in a place in my life where I’m not cooped up in my own world.
Conditioned
The last few days have firmly placed me into the pro-air-conditioning camp. I grew up without air conditioning in my house, and it was always a treat to spend time in someone’s house that had it. We plopped a window unit, that our landlord left, in our bedroom window. It can cool that room, but that’s all. I’ve never had an air conditioner in my bedroom before, and it is an incredible luxury. And I think I’m hooked. Now I’m trying to figure out how to get the entire apartment cooled. In my dream house, it is designed well enough that I will never need air conditioning. But I’m not there yet, and it’s hot out.
I also need to figure out something to do for my day job. I spend most of my time outdoors, and I’m not driving a vehicle with air conditioning. I had no problem in the winter, though it was admittedly mild, I can always put on more layers. But now, I have to figure out a way to still look professional without sweating my ass off. This is a work in progress as well, but I’m looking to golfers for answers. They dress well enough to get into country clubs, and aren’t dropping like flies around the course. It’s a happy medium I need to achieve.
Matzo Man
Passover was this last weekend, and I celebrated with my new annual tradition: buying cheap matzo. On Sunday morning, the day after Passover ends, supermarkets slash the prices on their leftover matzo stock. Usually going for ~$4/lb, the matzo market dips as low as $0.50/lb once the holiday passes. Nishi stumbled onto this event last year by accident. She was browsing through the bargain aisle of our local Stop & Shop, when she found a 5lb box of Matzo going for $3. She figured I would like it because it’s bland, and if I didn’t it wasn’t a big loss, so she bought it. And it turns out I really really like matzo. I did a good job of rationing that package, and finished my last cracker sometime in October.
This year, realizing this event was approaching, I made plans to go a-matzo hunting with a friend. First, we returned to the Stop & Shop that started it all, where we struck out. Someone had beaten us to the punch, and an empty shelf greeted us where all the cheap matzo was supposed to be. It’s worth noting, that there was premium matzo left at about $1.50/lb, but that wasn’t quite the score we’d been hoping for. On to the Price Chopper! Where we struck out again. Nothing in the bargain aisle, and the ethnic food aisle only has the usual $4/lb boxes. We conclude that we probably jumped the gun, and the deals may not appear until mid-week. We part ways, me heading to my car, him heading off to buy regular groceries. I’m getting into my car as my phone rings – Mike had found the matzo! At $0.50/lb! I took no chances and packed the back seat of the Buick with 40lbs of matzo.
It never goes bad, isn’t bad for you, and satisfies the munchies – I’m sold.