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reddawn
1) Your sense of humor could be described as a bit (ahem) dry and sarcastic. Don't you hate it when people just don't get it?
I kinda love it when people just don’t get it. I’ve written previously as a retail worker about lying to customers on purpose just to make the day go by faster. I would count that as just a part of my "dry" and "sarcastic" humor. Weirdly, I’m a terrible liar but I can fool anyone who has no sense of humor.
However, I can’t stand being around anyone with no sense of humor for long.
2) Name your favorite record to fuck to? To make love to?
Is the fuck/make love duality similar to the porn/erotica one? I going to ignore the distinction.
But to answer the question, it depends on the person. It can be meaningful or totally random, but if I hear an album while fooling around, it becomes kinda a theme and I wouldn’t listen to the same one with anyone else if I could help it. * I hate listening to the radio because of the commercials and I’m not too fond of metal though Rob Zombie was kinda special once. Other records that have been special in the past: Jonathon Richman – pretty much anything, Dead Milk men – "Bucky Fellini", Fela – "Black President", X – "Wild Gift", Dr Dre – "2000". You can see I don’t have just one "makeout" mix tape or anything.
If we ever fool around RD, it will definitely be to the Feederz, ok? Or maybe a tape of the MRR radio show circa 1984 or so. I know you’ve got the semi-old school fetish going on.
*If I could help it means that I wouldn’t likely say in the heat of the moment, "Oh turn this off, It reminds me too much of XXXXXX.
3) What quirky trait ofjactitation's are you going to miss the most once she moves out? What annoying habit are you (not-so)secretly glad you'll no longer have to deal with?
I will miss so many quirky things about Jactitation that it is hard to pick just one. The way she will start speaking French and not stop until I start guessing how to respond through context. The way she remembers what TV, movies and soap operas all the bit actors did previously. Her bringing home good books to read. Disagreeing about word meanings and origins with her until finally one of us would look it up in the dictionary (and then I’d find out she’d be right 90% of the time). And those are just the shallow ones, there are many, many deeper reasons why I’ll miss her but I’m going to stop before it makes me sad.
What I won’t miss is her obsession with "Friends". And the way she says, "You know what would be great right now? Cigarettes!" every night even though she hasn’t smoked regularly in about ten years.
And then there’s the way she obsesses about a current hit like "The Thong Song" or "My Milkshake" and plays it over and over and over for weeks.
Oh, that’s me, isn’t it ….
4) So, considering the tensions you've mentioned about identifying as an anarchist, how have your views on worker co-ops changed over the past nine years at Rainbow?
The perfectly thought out co-op won’t work. It’s all about organic compromise* between individuals who come from different backgrounds and places. The pure co-op only breeds purists and purists are hateful, humorless, and annoying. Plus they usually can’t run businesses in the capitalist world so unless someone with a trust fund or rich relatives is secretly keeping someplace afloat, cough …AK Press … cough, having a realistic business plan is kinda a necessary evil.
The co-op world spans the radically political and the status quo capitalist world. Worker control is revolutionary. Being business partners isn’t. Most co-ops are somewhere in between and have a lot to offer radical movements about realism, hope, compromise and being serious about what one is doing. Radical movements supply (some) consumers and a vision for co-ops about what they should strive to become, when more radical possibilities are realistic. Co-ops can also easily ape traditional business models if they (or a portion of their members) don’t keep this vision alive. As Malatesta wrote (and I’m paraphrasing) co-ops can train people in essential skills and show them that they don’t need bosses to order them around in order to function, but they need to guard against the "shopkeeper mentality" that can turn a community-aware organization into a parasitical one.
". . . In my opinion, co-operatives and trade unions under the capitalist regime do not naturally, or by reasons of their intrinsic value, lead to human emancipation, but can be producers of good and evil; today organs of (conservatism) OR social transformation, tomorrow serving the forces of reaction OR revolution. All depends on whether they limit themselves to functioning as defenders of the immediate interests of their members or are animated and influenced by the anarchist spirit, which makes the ideals stronger than sectional interests."
In my years of working at a co-op and with many others politically, I feel like I just agree with this more and have a deeper understanding of what Malatesta means.
*I’m not implying that I think these compromises can be accomplished somehow outside of the societal structures we’ve all grown up with, but that compromises are necessary and that different ones make sense at different times.
5) As a big zine dork and a livejournal superstar you're used to (and obviously enjoy) writing for a Public, and being at least partially aware of their expectations of you as the Author. In contrast, the anonymity of graffiti can provide an avenue for both liberation and cowardice. Assuming you hadn't been scared straight after your last graf spree, what would you write anonymously to the world on a darkened underpass?
Well, actually it did scare me straight. But, if I was to graffiti again, it would depend on my mood:
A year ago – a simple "Fuck Your War!"
10 years ago but maybe now again – "Bush, you liar, we’ll set your ass on fire" because it’s catchier than it seems.
For the Old School -- "What vision is left and is anyone asking?"
For you – "WOLVERINES!"
But likely I’d go for my old standby – "Smash the state and have a nice day" with the anarcho smiley face symbol.
Weirdly, I’ve never been good at slogans so this was the hardest question for me to answer.
THE RULES:
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond and I'll ask you five questions. At least, I will until too many people ask and I’ll give up with no warning and a few apologies.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
reddawn1) Your sense of humor could be described as a bit (ahem) dry and sarcastic. Don't you hate it when people just don't get it?
I kinda love it when people just don’t get it. I’ve written previously as a retail worker about lying to customers on purpose just to make the day go by faster. I would count that as just a part of my "dry" and "sarcastic" humor. Weirdly, I’m a terrible liar but I can fool anyone who has no sense of humor.
However, I can’t stand being around anyone with no sense of humor for long.
2) Name your favorite record to fuck to? To make love to?
Is the fuck/make love duality similar to the porn/erotica one? I going to ignore the distinction.
But to answer the question, it depends on the person. It can be meaningful or totally random, but if I hear an album while fooling around, it becomes kinda a theme and I wouldn’t listen to the same one with anyone else if I could help it. * I hate listening to the radio because of the commercials and I’m not too fond of metal though Rob Zombie was kinda special once. Other records that have been special in the past: Jonathon Richman – pretty much anything, Dead Milk men – "Bucky Fellini", Fela – "Black President", X – "Wild Gift", Dr Dre – "2000". You can see I don’t have just one "makeout" mix tape or anything.
If we ever fool around RD, it will definitely be to the Feederz, ok? Or maybe a tape of the MRR radio show circa 1984 or so. I know you’ve got the semi-old school fetish going on.
*If I could help it means that I wouldn’t likely say in the heat of the moment, "Oh turn this off, It reminds me too much of XXXXXX.
3) What quirky trait of
jactitation's are you going to miss the most once she moves out? What annoying habit are you (not-so)secretly glad you'll no longer have to deal with?I will miss so many quirky things about Jactitation that it is hard to pick just one. The way she will start speaking French and not stop until I start guessing how to respond through context. The way she remembers what TV, movies and soap operas all the bit actors did previously. Her bringing home good books to read. Disagreeing about word meanings and origins with her until finally one of us would look it up in the dictionary (and then I’d find out she’d be right 90% of the time). And those are just the shallow ones, there are many, many deeper reasons why I’ll miss her but I’m going to stop before it makes me sad.
What I won’t miss is her obsession with "Friends". And the way she says, "You know what would be great right now? Cigarettes!" every night even though she hasn’t smoked regularly in about ten years.
And then there’s the way she obsesses about a current hit like "The Thong Song" or "My Milkshake" and plays it over and over and over for weeks.
Oh, that’s me, isn’t it ….
4) So, considering the tensions you've mentioned about identifying as an anarchist, how have your views on worker co-ops changed over the past nine years at Rainbow?
The perfectly thought out co-op won’t work. It’s all about organic compromise* between individuals who come from different backgrounds and places. The pure co-op only breeds purists and purists are hateful, humorless, and annoying. Plus they usually can’t run businesses in the capitalist world so unless someone with a trust fund or rich relatives is secretly keeping someplace afloat, cough …AK Press … cough, having a realistic business plan is kinda a necessary evil.
The co-op world spans the radically political and the status quo capitalist world. Worker control is revolutionary. Being business partners isn’t. Most co-ops are somewhere in between and have a lot to offer radical movements about realism, hope, compromise and being serious about what one is doing. Radical movements supply (some) consumers and a vision for co-ops about what they should strive to become, when more radical possibilities are realistic. Co-ops can also easily ape traditional business models if they (or a portion of their members) don’t keep this vision alive. As Malatesta wrote (and I’m paraphrasing) co-ops can train people in essential skills and show them that they don’t need bosses to order them around in order to function, but they need to guard against the "shopkeeper mentality" that can turn a community-aware organization into a parasitical one.
". . . In my opinion, co-operatives and trade unions under the capitalist regime do not naturally, or by reasons of their intrinsic value, lead to human emancipation, but can be producers of good and evil; today organs of (conservatism) OR social transformation, tomorrow serving the forces of reaction OR revolution. All depends on whether they limit themselves to functioning as defenders of the immediate interests of their members or are animated and influenced by the anarchist spirit, which makes the ideals stronger than sectional interests."
In my years of working at a co-op and with many others politically, I feel like I just agree with this more and have a deeper understanding of what Malatesta means.
*I’m not implying that I think these compromises can be accomplished somehow outside of the societal structures we’ve all grown up with, but that compromises are necessary and that different ones make sense at different times.
5) As a big zine dork and a livejournal superstar you're used to (and obviously enjoy) writing for a Public, and being at least partially aware of their expectations of you as the Author. In contrast, the anonymity of graffiti can provide an avenue for both liberation and cowardice. Assuming you hadn't been scared straight after your last graf spree, what would you write anonymously to the world on a darkened underpass?
Well, actually it did scare me straight. But, if I was to graffiti again, it would depend on my mood:
A year ago – a simple "Fuck Your War!"
10 years ago but maybe now again – "Bush, you liar, we’ll set your ass on fire" because it’s catchier than it seems.
For the Old School -- "What vision is left and is anyone asking?"
For you – "WOLVERINES!"
But likely I’d go for my old standby – "Smash the state and have a nice day" with the anarcho smiley face symbol.
Weirdly, I’ve never been good at slogans so this was the hardest question for me to answer.
THE RULES:
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond and I'll ask you five questions. At least, I will until too many people ask and I’ll give up with no warning and a few apologies.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 08:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 08:41 am (UTC)So, I'm just singing your praises today, is all.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:01 am (UTC)OK, I'm trying to nonjudgemental here, but that's just WRONG. Pure D. Wrong. Making quesadillas to Jonathon Richman is like making out while watching Sesame Street. You should to be ashamed of yourself!
(Says the guy who once posted about listening to Stryper.)
P.S. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to request 5 questions as well.
I never did this meme the first time around.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:06 am (UTC)I know you're not asking for one, but do you want a political question anyway?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 09:35 am (UTC)It's really more the concept in general, although I think that the inital agrarian revolt that really sprung the movement is the backbone.
Populism is about what we will and will not allow. Like, I don't often single-issue vote on issues like abortion, because I think that the public will not allow it to become illegal again.
I am angry when I see that the government wants to AMEND the freaking Constitution to define marriage when there is so much more of international importance going on. I don't think that either a Democratic or Republican winner will make the gay marriage issue one way or the other in the next four years--I do have faith that it may be a slow process; people will come to accept it as they did women voting, because the more gay people they're around and the more couples they see, it becomes less of an issue. The bigger fuss is made by each side, the longer it takes. At any rate, I have argued and convinced both right-wing and left-wing that gay marriage is both RIGHT and fiscally responsible. And it didn't take me that long!
I hate the political elite on both sides that tries to tell us what is and is not important based on their agendas. WE can decide what is important and MAKE them do it our way. I hate being patronized and told, "We Harvard men think women should be allowed to make as much money as us." Really? How nice of you.
I think that when it comes to racial issues especially, most PEOPLE don't have them. POLITICS cause them. People all have prejudices, but they're a lot more willing to talk about them in a less rhetorically inflammatory environment. I hate that the Democrats and Republicans have been IT for so long that they will filibuster the other side just on principle--when people need prescription drugs, and retirement plans, and an outline of how we're planning to get out of this mess.
Populism is when we tell our elected officials, "You work for US," and tell them what is important, so instead of bitching and moaning about having two sucky candidates come general election time, people see WHY we have those candidates. Populism sees beyond political parties. Populism reminds politicians that we didn't approve that last raise, and we don't want OUR time wasted while you boys try to decide whose penis is bigger, or who should and shouldn't get married.
Alas, methinks populism is also a pipe dream. I think that if people really FELT what power they can have through action and demand, we'd have moderation and acceptance, instead of allowing cultural rifts caused by people who want us divided because that's how they keep their power.
Oops, you said a short answer was okay.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:11 am (UTC)1. What’s the most Modesto thing about your hubby?
2. What’s the most Buffalo thing about you?
3. Understanding that it is normal and doesn’t mean anything in terms of actually leaving, how many times a week do you wish you were back in the states? This can be for simple things, say your brand of candy isn’t available, or for bigger ones.
4. Do you find the food to be as bad as rumored in England?
5.Geez, you’re a very old friend and just stayed at my house for a few days. I feel caught up with you. What question should I be asking that I’m too dense to figure out?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:12 am (UTC)2. Have you always been into collage art? Did you get into it rom punk rock or vice versa? Who are your fave artists?
3. Is Vol. 2 of your book ever going to come out? How were the sales for #1? I suppose there’s no hope of a reprinting with better proofreading, is there?
4. Did pirates get coopted in 2003? Are they still a useful image, or did Johnny Depp play it out?
5. Where did your love for oral and secret history come from?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:17 am (UTC)2. What is your favorite recipe? What is your favorite cheese?
3. What’s great about Vancouver? It’s so close yet I’ve never been. What should I see, besides your restaurant if I visit? What’s the worst thing about it?
4. In your opinion, what is the percentage of restaurant workers with drug and alcohol problems? Relate a funny restaurant anecdote relating to drugs, alcohol, hangovers, or related ailments.
5. I have been mocked by a co-worker for having tattoos that are on the smallish side. What is a "man-sized tattoo" as listed in your interests? If you have tattoos, describe them?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:27 am (UTC)So hit me with your best shot.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 11:01 am (UTC)But a girl must have her dreams, no?
Anarchist or not?
Date: 2004-01-26 11:14 am (UTC)Since I like your writing and you have a viewpoint that is both radical and non-dogmatic, I'd appreciate it if you were to post links to where you talk about identifying as an anarchist.
oh please do me...
Date: 2004-01-26 11:31 am (UTC)Re: Anarchist or not?
Date: 2004-01-26 11:33 am (UTC)Ideally, sub-culturally,* and ideologically, I'm an anarchist. I resisted the label during my high school years but started using it at the 1988 Anarchist conference in Toronto because I was moved by the community I found there. I appreciate the analysis of power and coercion and find it most useful to my political work and my life. But I pay taxes, vote, and generally submit to the will of the state until such time as there is a viable alternative. I find the anarchist community alternatively inspiring and embarrassing, but it was there for me in my formative years when I needed it. I recognize that others need it too. But I'm not going to be working out battlefield tactics with the Black Bloc as my main source of political outlet.
So how did you find my journal? Are you a member of any law enforcement agency? Give me a brief bio of things that are important or demographic about you. Can you use a pen name so I know when you comment that it's the same person?
*in that ex-punk rocker kind of way.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 12:06 pm (UTC)interview
Date: 2004-01-26 12:12 pm (UTC)Oooh! Me too! Me too!
*waves arm around like a spaz*
You know, if you aren't on overload.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 01:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-26 01:05 pm (UTC)