I am so restless, I just went and started a new blog with a different name. It's over here:
Gentleman Anarchist
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The story so far.
So after ignoring this blog endlessly, I figure it's time I started posting to it and using it for the reasons I actually decided to. It seems that every time I think about it, I have either no time or nothing relevant to say combined with the mood to blog. I guess having a day job where I don't use the Net is a problem.
But as an outlet for musings, brief observations, and linking, it could work, especially as I (hopefully) find my niche in the blogosphere. The important thing is to move from simply reading to participating in the conversation as well, even in a small way.
Anyway, a little about where I'm coming from. I'm a denizen of the San Francisco bay area, currently in Oakland and before that, the City itself. Since I moved to Oakland a few months ago I got re-activated doing organizing and political work with the anti-war direct action left, and finding community among fellow activists of many stripes. This has been a great thing, as I'd been inactive and frustrated for over two years before that, and feeling cut off. But now I feel good to be back doing the good work and fighting the good fight.
My political experience prior was mostly on anti-war issues, and more broadly within the anarchist community. I suppose I'll put aside describing my political thoughts and identification in depth for now, but if I had to use a word, I would say anarchist, or radical, or "anarcho-flexible" (just came up with that).
And the main challenge I'm having now is how to reconcile that and a committment to direct action with being in the regular workaday world where I have a full time job, a career plan that requires participating in institutions and broadly the "Establishment", and (lately) a full personal life.
So for now, I'll just leave it at that, and say also that I'm nearly done reading "Expect Resistance" by the CrimethInc collective, and wow am I amazed by it. It is a book that is actually two books, a sort of call-and-response structure of some of the propaganda and critical essays by CrimethInc that they've published over the last several years, and a memoir-like narrative by several activists trying to apply it in their own lives and their own work. It's a fascinating device and both parts are very engaging. CrimethInc as a group within the anarchist community is one that I think is very vital and full of useful insight, as well as producing some of the best anarchist propaganda I've ever encountered. And in my opinion, they produce work that is some of the only really engaging and accessible (which is *key*) that I've seen recently. So, the book is highly recommended for critical and revolutionary minds.
Anyway that's about it for me for now. More to come.
But as an outlet for musings, brief observations, and linking, it could work, especially as I (hopefully) find my niche in the blogosphere. The important thing is to move from simply reading to participating in the conversation as well, even in a small way.
Anyway, a little about where I'm coming from. I'm a denizen of the San Francisco bay area, currently in Oakland and before that, the City itself. Since I moved to Oakland a few months ago I got re-activated doing organizing and political work with the anti-war direct action left, and finding community among fellow activists of many stripes. This has been a great thing, as I'd been inactive and frustrated for over two years before that, and feeling cut off. But now I feel good to be back doing the good work and fighting the good fight.
My political experience prior was mostly on anti-war issues, and more broadly within the anarchist community. I suppose I'll put aside describing my political thoughts and identification in depth for now, but if I had to use a word, I would say anarchist, or radical, or "anarcho-flexible" (just came up with that).
And the main challenge I'm having now is how to reconcile that and a committment to direct action with being in the regular workaday world where I have a full time job, a career plan that requires participating in institutions and broadly the "Establishment", and (lately) a full personal life.
So for now, I'll just leave it at that, and say also that I'm nearly done reading "Expect Resistance" by the CrimethInc collective, and wow am I amazed by it. It is a book that is actually two books, a sort of call-and-response structure of some of the propaganda and critical essays by CrimethInc that they've published over the last several years, and a memoir-like narrative by several activists trying to apply it in their own lives and their own work. It's a fascinating device and both parts are very engaging. CrimethInc as a group within the anarchist community is one that I think is very vital and full of useful insight, as well as producing some of the best anarchist propaganda I've ever encountered. And in my opinion, they produce work that is some of the only really engaging and accessible (which is *key*) that I've seen recently. So, the book is highly recommended for critical and revolutionary minds.
Anyway that's about it for me for now. More to come.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Fleet Week has arrived
And with it, the Blue Angels practicing their strafing runs, er, acrobatics, barely above our city's rooftops.
And so for one magical week, San Franciscans get to pretend they live in Gaza.
And so for one magical week, San Franciscans get to pretend they live in Gaza.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
At last a blog
I created this blog because I needed someone besides my long-suffering girlfriend to rant to. No, scratch that. I guess you could call me a late-adopter, but I finally realized a blog was what I was looking for as an outlet for expressing the ideas that I've had floating around for a couple years now, and it's simple enough to get started.
I'll have a bit more about myself and what this blog is about in the near future.
My blog name and URL are a reference to Nim Chimpsky, a "famous ape" who learned sign language and was himself a namesake of Noam Chomsky. It fits me since I study and work in psychology, but I'm also a political junkie and occasional activist of the anarchist persuasion. The title is a reference to some 70's song I can't name.
I'll have a bit more about myself and what this blog is about in the near future.
My blog name and URL are a reference to Nim Chimpsky, a "famous ape" who learned sign language and was himself a namesake of Noam Chomsky. It fits me since I study and work in psychology, but I'm also a political junkie and occasional activist of the anarchist persuasion. The title is a reference to some 70's song I can't name.
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