gordonzola: (Default)
gordonzola ([personal profile] gordonzola) wrote2006-02-02 03:44 pm

Where's my Slingshot?

My LJ friend [livejournal.com profile] douglain was discussing Slingshot Organizers over in his journal and it made me realize mine was lost. I love my Slingshot because it fits in my back pocket, and carrying it around 24 hours day is the only way that I can keep track of my schedule and not fuck it up.

Today for example. I have a meeting at 9 AM with a new co-op, a cheese department meeting that I will be going late to at 11. A meeting with a different new co-op at 4. A short conference call with a 3rd new co-op at 5 and a meeting of the BOD of the local worker co-op organization from 7-9PM. Also in there, I’m supposed to work a 7 hour cheese shift (usually 8 but our meeting lops off an hour) which is not mathematically possible. Of course except for the cheese meeting which is partly my fault for not noticing, I didn’t really have options for the other things because they are either long overdue or crisis driven. I woke up at 6 dreading this long day ahead.

I find that’s the best thing about having a datebook actually. Trying to keep all my meetings in my head stresses me out enough to lose me sleep. I tend towards anxiousness anyway, but it’s like getting a pre-dawn wake up call when I haven’t been writing things down. My brain says time to get up in case you scheduled something else and forgot.

Lke I said above, I use the Slingshot because it fits in my back pocket, but that doesn’t mean I don’t find it embarrassing sometimes. This year’s cover is truly shameful, bringing up everything I dislike about my people, the anarchists. I maintain that the characters on the cover are not furries. They are re-feralized humans happy that the cities are burning so they can return to a truly free existence facing starvation and imminent death. Will they be able to give up the discovery of fire after it does it’s cleansing work of ridding the earth of excess people? Only time will tell.

At least this year there seemed to be fewer penises drawn on random dates like a 4th grader’s desk.

I do like the way almost every date has some important moment in radical history attached to it though I find it odd that Michel Foucault doesn’t merit a mention on our shared birthday. Are the furry anarchists anti-intellectual? Say it isn’t so.

I bet a lot of you have Slingshots too, don't you?

[identity profile] firebirdgrrl.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I have the pink spiral bound one; I formerly used Franklin Planners but hated carrying around a giant brick of data.

[identity profile] commandercranky.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I like the "this date in radical history" feature a lot, but it's not enough to override my other objections, which are mostly stylistic -- ie, Zerzanian malarkey about banishing technology and modern civilization (like the cover you mentioned), the ridiculous fetishization of pirates, etc.

But the small size is perfect for the jeans pocket. So, I got this yuppie/intellectual/snob pocket-sized planner instead. It's great! Perfect size, durable cover, built-in elastic strap to keep it closed, and more space for each date. Plus, while looking like a snob is a little embarrasing, there's no furries on the cover.
ext_7449: (rarr)

[identity profile] gismonda.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
They have 'em at Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis. Mine has a shiny gold cover. My take on the kitty gals is that they are the result of whatever tragic bioengineering experiment / disaster that also put the background city up in flames.

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
oh how I wish I could share your optimism.

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
A million years ago I used to make my own. Oh well. that yuppie one is kinda nice, actually.

[identity profile] existentialista.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
i have one...but i too hated the cover this year...i put stickers on mine...

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I always buy the pink ones when I get the chance. It goes with my wallet.
sabotabby: raccoon anarchy symbol (durutti)

[personal profile] sabotabby 2006-02-02 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I have one too (the smaller one, in pink and black). The art is definitely shittier than last year -- although I never made the cat-girl-furry connect -- but the inside is much cleaner. I miss the random penises.

The femenstrual calendar is one of the most useful bits, but all of this "menstrual health" crap that they insist on putting in drives me batshit. It's all for hippie women who don't need to shave because their body hair is blonde and barely noticeable and who never get cramps that are so severe that they can't stand. Fuck 'em.

I'm still totally lost without my Slingshot, though. I'm generally a disorganized person and for some reason, it's the only agenda book that's ever worked for me.

[identity profile] -----ericka.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
not this year.

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
yes, the perfect method.

I will say that talent-wise, the art is better than it has been in years. While trying to find mine, I found the 2005 and 2004 ones. Man, there are some great anarcho-artists out there. Just not drawing the Slingshot covers I guess.

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)

well, post your mailing address. I'm sure my FL would be happy to send you their penis drawings if you want.

[identity profile] commandercranky.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
It's very... understated. On purpose, of course. Like HEY! LOOK AT ME! I'M RESERVED!

But still.

And it's only $13, which is a totally reasonable $1/month.


In the category of "nicest gifts anyone ever gave me," I once received a gorgeous hand made journal from my then-partner: hand silk-screened pages bound (sewn) into a printed tyvek cover (durable!), with beautiful art, poems, and inside jokes. It was stunning, and almost made me blush every time I used it.

[identity profile] atypically-me.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I had never heard of a Slingshot, so I looked it up. From the website:

Due to a binding error, 16 pages at the back of the 2006 spiral organizer are out of order.

Classic!

[identity profile] existentialista.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
agreed...the art has gotten way better in recent years...

on a side note, the stickers i have adorning it will probably keep it held together...even when i would put clear contact paper on mine, it would crack and pages start to fall out by july...

...i'd love to see the small ones spiral bound one day.
sabotabby: raccoon anarchy symbol (durutti)

[personal profile] sabotabby 2006-02-02 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
FL?

[identity profile] trixie-bee.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
mine's silver and black, because deep down, i wish i was a raver.

[identity profile] tlacuiloliztli.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
i had one a few years ago, but it just made me realize that i never had anything to plan.
kind of a bummer.

:(

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Friends list. duh.

[identity profile] anarqueso.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I put stickers on mine, partly to hide the art and partly to differentiate it from the many other Slingshots around my work and home. I accidentally brought Formaldehyde's to work once, and it made for a really bad, dumb day.

[identity profile] tiredshaw.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
My wife and I have been getting Slingshots for the past 3 years. They're great! I also like the concept of underground types being organized.

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh Bunny Boy, you break my heart.
sabotabby: raccoon anarchy symbol (durutti)

[personal profile] sabotabby 2006-02-02 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
D'oh.

A day in the life

[identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
9 AM pick fight in parking lot
10 AM mock someone while they try to figure out if I'm serious or kidding.
Noon Engage in detailed discuss with crazy homeless people
11 pm Stage-dive while wearing straight jacket

[identity profile] jette.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
No, I am not a Communist. I have a nice leather Coach organizer.

[identity profile] felicks.livejournal.com 2006-02-02 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I actually like this cover better than average. THe last couple years have been such a jumble - at least I can make out what's happening in the picture!

I alternate years with the organizer. I'll think "Jesus, I'm not getting one of those piece of shit organizers this year! I actually want to be able to read what I wrote in own calander instead of sifting through clip art, penis drawings (as you mentioned), and birthdays of questionably revolutionary figures (duchamp shooshamp). Besides, last year my organizer fell to pieces by mid-February!" But invariably, after a year of boring-ass Week-at-a-Glance living I'll revert to my slingshot ways.

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