National Thrift Disco*

*With thanks to James Wesson

It has occurred to me intermittently that there is going to be a f*k-ton of donations being made when some of the restrictions for the coronavirus are lifted to allow donations to thrift store and consignment shops once again. I am both gladdened and nervous about this; as I write, people are going through long-forgotten boxes, closets, sheds - it boggles the mind how much crap - and therefore treasure - people will be unleashing into the reuse stream after we go back to “normal” or some simulacrum.

I’m doing this along with everyone else - my albatross possessions are a blurry mix of my childhood, my son’s childhood, and the constant inflow and stoppage of everyday detritus we bring onto the property. My usual strategy is to create a bolus of things to go to Hospice Attic and when it reaches a certain enormity I take it to the donation area. You’d think that system would make my house a spartan landscape but you would be wrong. Like I said, I am literally shoveling out crap from my son’s childhood.

I have ultimately failed as an environmentalist by buying my child every Nerf gun in existence and then letting them rot out in the carport. And that’s just the name-brand plastic! My task the past month has been to go through and fill contruction-sized bags of plastic debris - it’s mostly broken Nerf guns but there’s also things like LEGOs that can be legitimately returned to the use stream. Mostly, though, it’s junk that is headed to the landfill and did I say it was mostly plastic?

Living Small

Courtesy of Geek Out Huntsville 

Been thinking about the enormous misery Americans are going through right now. Despite your belief in the validity of the pandemic, we are still in a spiral - emotionally, physically, environmentally - and the coronavirus or COVID-19 is going to be with us even after the number of new cases diminish.

Now is the time to have that heart to heart you’ve been wanting to have with yourself but can never seem to find the right moment to bring up the topic of how will life change after the pandemic is over. Today, Bette Miller on Twitter quoted Arundhati Roy who is telling us that we are going to have to rethink what normal is for most Americans. The sudden halt to commerce, travel, immigration, public spaces - all this is going to have to be rethought moving forward. It’s a disaster but people are waking up to some hard truths about American society that we’ve obfuscated for generations, and have dismantled over time, like the concept of equality for all. People who had steady employment are now laid off like they don’t exist - this many people out of work is unsustainable. We will implode if this continues.

In other news, there’s going to be a huge food giveaway tomorrow morning at the Alachua County Fairgrounds and I volunteered to help with the distribution. I was advised to bring a mask but not gloves because the CDC hasn’t recommended it, which is a ridiculous reason for not letting people bring gloves.

In the time of Coronavirus

I miss Marineland.

WTH, people?! I go away for a few years and now the worst has occurred- coronavirus, Covid-19. Through a hilarious series of mishaps and literal fumbles, our dear leaders let several windows of opportunity close and now we’re all apparently doomed.

How’re things going? Social distancing is hard, even for an introvert (I’m not talking about myself, per se)! But in all the humanity-related miseries we wake up to each day, there is a silver lining; humanity’s breather from destroying the earth has shown us just how resilient the earth is, actually.

We used to see stories about how, now that Chernobyl is uninhabited by humanity, the natural ecosystem is flourishing and thriving like never before. Now, with the reductions of thuggish humans along the canals of Venice, the water is a beautiful, clear, Mediterranean blue from lack of boating activity. That’s just one of the many stories and I’ll update at some point with more links (if you’re into that positivity thing).

From this article on the NatGeo site, it says there are now “animals thriving among human quarantine” spate of fake news stories. But then Snopes pops off with “it’s a mixed bag of truth and BS.” Who are we to believe?!

Chico Bags Bag Monster Costume Video

Valentine's Day is for LOSERS

Happy Feast of Aphrodite and harambe! (No, harambe isn't a holiday, it's Disney-speak for "Welcome!"). (That is wrong; Harambee means "Let's work together" in Swahili).

Oh my gosh... it's been so long since I've posted. So long, in fact, that when I saw the number of followers it had increased, like, 30%.

I'm unemployed right now, which is pretty much the only reason I have time to blog. I'm also mixed up in other shenanigans which I won't get into, here -- but besides looking for a new job I've injected my presence in a couple of different directions; one of them this weekend is the Cinema Verde International Environmental Film and Arts Festival, taking place at the Hippodrome State Theater and other locations in town (here is a link to the movies, times, and locations) this weekend.  I was not really a volunteer, although I got to hang out with the director who is really cool and did a couple of canvasses and promotions, one of them using a plastic bag monster suit made by Chico Bags.  It was heavy and hot! Thank goodness it was kind of chilly at the time.  It makes a very striking statement when you enter a biergarten and proclaim that the outfit you are wearing consists of the number of plastic bags the average human consumes each year.

I'll have the video in a bit and will upload (the bag monster was one of Cinema Verde's intrepid and courageous volunteers).

More stuff to talk about but I need a laundry break (one of the many household tasks that have gotten out of hand during the last three years).

Cinema Verde

Going to Cinema Verde's Green drinks movie night.  They're showing American Made, about the economic importance of local businesses - duh!  Here's a link to the Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/102580036763951/

If you're in town please come out for this event!