a new beginning (part III)

it's amazing how drastically one's life can improve in a single week. i'm still unemployed but it's more of a joyous job-free existence. i am now sharing a beautiful new apartment with two of my best friends. i'm so grateful of all of this.

as sailor and i were finishing up filling the u-haul on saturday the mail was delivered to our old house. amongst junk mail and bills was my check from toward freedom for the interview and article i wrote for them! everything has come together smoothly. it really couldn't be any better.

i do miss liz though. i'm glad that she went to new orleans because it's going to be a really great experience for her but it's just weird not having her around. i'm glad that she's been able to call me from down there to let me know what's happening. it sounds so messed up. but her friend leigh is there with her and they're sharing a bunk bed!

i'm looking forward to going down to dc this weekend for ncor. it will be great to see old friends and be back in that vibrant, radical environment again. things are good.

embracing change

i spent last week avoiding reality. then i woke up sunday morning and it all hit me, both physically and emotionally. there is just so much happening right now. jo and liz leaving town indefinitely, searching for a new job, and now moving back to south street. it's all very intense but i am embracing change. it forces me to be more conscious of everything. i'm also finishing up an article for toward freedom that i will be using for my first passions and survival radio show next week. i'm going to finally do it. everything will be fine. i just need to get my shit together and stay motivated...

take this job and shove it

i got fired today.

it's fine though. leaving the cafe, there was this feeling of liberation not sadness. a new beginning not a tragic loss. it sucks that i have to start looking for a new job again and play all those charades but i this is definitely a positive development. i want to keep supporting all my coworkers in their struggle to follow their passions in this brief stepping stone to bigger things. there is something more at our finger tips and we will not be held back...

onward!

feeling better, finally

i'm feeling better and it's nice outside. it almost feels like spring again with the sun out and temps in the 50's. crazy. i'm not as jealous of my friends who are in san francisco this week.

shit is going down at the woodstar. we're getting together tonight to try to change things. i wouldn't call it mutiny but it's exciting that we're starting to organize.

i'm currently day-dreaming about diy summer adventures...

money sickness

i've been sick all year so far. it hit me on new year's day and i haven't been able to shake it off yet. i had to work last night and spent most of the shift blowing my nose and coughing. but i have to work because i have also spent the beginning of 2006 completely broke. the bank reopened january 3rd. that day i cashed my paycheck and after giving my roommates rent money i had a whopping $1 surplus. yes, one dollar.

one.

cough, sneeze. happy new year.

but this is just a bump in the road. i will be getting paid soon for my articles for toward freedom and after a day of rest i should be feeling better tomorrow.

i talked to richard and kate last night. they're trying to get a ride out from milwaukee to go to ncor in february. i can't wait to see those kids again.

this time, this year (part II)

is bigger than us,
and goes on long after we're gone.

another year. looking over a journal entry from new year's day last year i begin to put things into perspective and realize that my optimism and hope in those words didn't exactly pan out. not so say it was a bad year. it's more complex than that. it was just challenging. after an incredible winter adventure of falling in love and throwing myself into the world i returned to madison in february. my stubborn refusal to return to the wage market got me in a lot of financial trouble of which i am still feeling the effects. but half way through the year i moved back to the east coast to begin anew.

northampton has been pretty good to me. i've met some amazing people here and it's been really nice being so close to cape cod, boston, bard, nyc and other northeastern points of interest. i'm starting to feel centered here as i prepare to move back to south street february 1st. this will be good. so like last year, i am beginning 2006 with optimism and hope, but (hopefully) with more wisdom from the mistakes i've made and more potential for greatness...

*still forging ahead with the passions and survival project with articles and interviews in toward freedom and other publications along with an hour long radio show on valley free radio!

*just appointed the coordinator of the 2006 clamor music festival: dozens of benefit shows will take place all over the country sometime this fall and i'm in charge of putting it together!

*diy tour this summer, playing my acoustic punk songs and networking with rad people and making new friends!

*maybe grad school at umass, amherst in the fall to get a masters in labor studies. i could use their resources to write a book on passions and survival!

so yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on. this could be a really amazing year. i wish you all the same...