two new things

Brittney Cooper is my favorite news commentator.

She spoke at the Y a few weeks ago, and they taped it, so I watched it.

Two (of the) things I learned from her:

(1) The sexual-abuse-to-prison pipeline.  I knew that many, many people who are incarcerated -- especially women --- are survivors of sexual abuse, but I'd never heard that term before, and I think it's a brilliant way of naming that reality.  Naming is so important.

(2) The critique of intersectionality coming from scholars arguing for assemblage as a more helpful construct.  I don't exactly understand the distinction, but now I want to.

Also, at 59:30, she gets asked about the 2016 election, and the way she responds is so YEAH YEAH EXACTLY YEAH.

prepping for a good night

Getting this Facebook message from tonight's MC really got me pumped:

Ellen,

Are you attending tonight's Y Auction? If so, prepare yourself for a spectacle. Let's just say I've been thoroughly studying Hugh Jackman's opening monologue from the Academy Awards. Also, expect some slam poetry, a few Barack Obama jokes, several Jay Z references (for the older donors), and a Michael Good quote.

-Kevin

less than 20 more than 10 of my friends are retired

Am I more cool or less cool for having my Facebook friendship request denied by this man?


Can we be friends, I wonder, at The Esquire? How about at High Dive?

Okay, I'm not a huge Unofficial fan, but

is this the best they can do?



And you know, I like that Nick Burbules guy. He gave a talk about blogging at the Y that I mentioned here. Nick, come on... What are dorks like me going to do? Why not take a page from Students for Environmental ConcernS book, and plan something sweet that gives students a viable option to be not-completely-heinous:



You're welcome, by the way, for this all-access pass to my email.

the battle cry of my generation:

"Don't tase me, bro!"

Seriously, if we had a "Remember the Alamo!" I think it would be "Don't tase me, bro!"

I mean, someone even re-mixed it:



Andrew wrote about this when it was actually new news. I think he's particularly poignant with his closing, "So be warned, young Americans, we may participate in the democratic process, but only for 45 seconds at a time."

Why am I writing about this now? Well first, a couple weeks ago I read this article for Campus Progress in which Tim Fernholz rips into journalist Courtney Martin for her article "The Problem with youth Activism" that blasts American college-aged activists for going about things all wrong.

"[Typical youth socio-political activism today] is sweetly collaborative, mainly focused on raising awareness among students, very keyed in to particular dates (Love Your Body Day, Earth Day, Black History Month), and most of all, safe," she writes.

He responds, "Martin would like to see today’s young activists adopt the tactics of the 1960’s student radicals—protests, theatrics, and the like. Martin’s complaint is that young people today are too complacent, too safe, and too co-opted by 'the man.' We’re just not angry enough, she argues. But today’s young activists are angry—they’re just too busy attempting to create meaningful change to sit around waving signs." And he goes on to chastise her for calling it "Youth Activism" when really she only addresses activists on college campuses (campi?). Nice point.

Last night, in a totally unrelated conversation, a friend of mine quoted, "Don't tase me, bro!" Since we all got the allusion, we laughed knowingly and moved on. It's some kind of joke. But come on. "Don't tase me bro!"?

As much as I think it's funny, re-watching the video this morning made me sad.They seriously tased him. And I can't understand how he was in the wrong. And nobody responded to his cries of, "Will somebody please help me!"

For young activists like us, this seems to be pretty quintessential The-Man-is-so-fucked-up. But then at the same time, for The Man, it's probably quintessential these-kids-are-morons. "Don't tase me bro!" What the fuck?

post 100!

Going through the mounds of paperwork I've collected over the past few months, I found my copy of this new version of The Pledge (on the right) that Steve from the Y wrote with his friend Joan and brought to a meeting a few weeks or so ago. Me likey.

And speaking of thinking people from the Y are sweet, how funny is Amy? (She's writing to let me know that there are some letters to donors that I need to come in and sign so that she can send them out.):

stressed as hell right now

One of my favorite people in C-U is Bobbie, a woman I met through my involvement with a volunteer tutoring program on campus, and with whom over the years I've had some really interesting visits. Bobbie's a self-described hippie who went to U of I at the end of the 60s and into the early 70s. She and her husband were the President and Vice-President of what is now the Student Senate, lived on a commune, opened a restaurant on campus that employed newly arriving immigrants and refugees, and just generally chilled, man.

Last year, she gave me this meditation, and I've been trying a lot lately to use it. She's the best.

Metta Bhavana
May I be safe from inner and outer harm and danger.
May I be safe and protected.

May I be free of mental suffering or distress.
May I be happy.

May I be free of physical pain and suffering.
May I be healthy and strong.

May I be able to live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease.

(Repeat the above, replacing "I" with the following:)
May a person who invites the pure feeling of unconditional loving kindness, the love that does not depend on getting anything back

May a dear friend...

May someone for whom I feel neither strong like nor dislike...

(To the best of my ability, I wish that) someone with whom I have difficulty may...

May all awakened ones...

May all seekers...

May all in difficult places...

May all celestial beings...

May all humans...

May all animals...

May all beings...

incessant sneezing due to dust allergies -- totally worth it

I spent much of Saturday afternoon helping out with a major clean-out process that's going on in the Student Programs Office at the Y. With a long history of being one of the hippie-er places on campus, the office did not disappoint in terms of the amount of really cool crap that's been accumulated and forgotten.


Among my favorite finds:
one (1) limited edition Super Famicon cassette tape complete with type-written (as in created on a type-writer) note from Super Famicon's spokesperson

one (1) VHS copy of East Side Story, tagged as "ALL SINGING! ALL DANCING! ALL MARXIST MUSICALS!"

one (1) Famous Vegetarians & their favorite recipes, paperback edition, that includes the biggest superstar of them all, Jesus Christ, and his favorite recipes: Barley and Lentils; Wheat, Mint, and Parsley Salad, and Essene Sprouted Bread

one (1) note for Aimee, a terrific hostess who could nonetheless use a little work in the finger sandwiches department

Antiques Road Show: Urbana, IL

One of the things that's been consuming my life a little bit over the past few days has been helping out with the preparation for a massive garage sale run by the University YMCA as a fundraiser for the Y and it's programs (which by the way are really cool: Amnesty International, Students for Environmental Concerns, Engineers Without Borders, and the like). Every May, we offer to collect everyone's shit as they're moving out of their dorms and apartments, and then we collect again in August. The idea is that we're keeping lots and lots of stuff out of the landfill, and we're also having a garage sale which is obviously the coolest.

The best part about volunteering is getting to look at all the great stuff that gets donated before all of the greasy college kids and quirky townies come in and ransack the place. Look at some of the stuff we found today!

a head in a box

(That's what she said.)

a guitar-shaped tin

a heavy-duty metal camel/llama of some sort

and this, my favorite so far, a creature

Kasey thinks it looks like Voldemort.

Sale starts Thursday if you're in town!