This “space” is about my mom and her journey as she birthed a hard-shelled sea turtle into a fighting El Nino storm near a redwood forest and off the coast in California. It is also sometimes about exploding hearts, landmines, jihad as a moral struggle, the Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter, and modern camping techniques. Look beneath the shell.
We just had an earthquake. I didn’t feel it because I was on BART in the East Bay. I did get stuck on the train for 20 extra minutes.
I hope no one got hurt, but I really wish I wasn’t on BART for the earthquake, because it’s been a while since I’ve felt what an earthquake feels like. Do YOU know what an earthquake feels like? Maybe I will go to Cal Academy of Sciences tomorrow to experience the earthquake simulator.
My computer was fried for a couple of weeks and it felt grossly anachronistic to attempt to connect with the blogosphere from my mother’s dinosaur computer.
I return now, after many funny phone conversations with the caretakers over at Apple. (Me: “The cord is black, like there was a trip, maybe it’s been burned” Apple: “It’s burning? Do you see smoke?” Me: “No, but it appears as if there could have been smoke at some point” Apple: “Well, this is a safety issue. Please do not attempt to use your computer before we send you a replacement” Me: “I don’t think I can use it, seeing as how I haven’t been able to turn on my computer for the last two weeks” Apple: “Oh, right, just making sure”)
While I was sleeping, my dear friend Ben Jervey has been in the arctic experiencing things never experienced by (hu)man. And! seeing the Northern Lights and REAL LIVE POLAR BEARS. He is up there with the Cape Farewell project, a rad climate change art project that takes artists on sailing voyages to the front lines of climate change aka the starry arctic, where ice is melting, polar bears are dying, and lands are being discovered. I got to meet David Buckland, artist and CF founder a few months back at an NYU Washinghton Mews luncheon. He gave a presentation on climate change that was far more digestable and compelling than any others on the subject I’ve seen (James Hansen and Al Gore among them). I think he wins in his emphasis on speaking about the “human scale” — there is something way more intimate in engaging someone about climate change through melting ice sculptures and ephemeral digital projections than hifalutin numbers and diagrams (don’t get me wrong, I am not discounting these important figures). Lots of people are talking about climate change and art.
Here is Ben talking about Cape Farewell. He looks handsome! Video by other ex-roomie/NY homie Blake.
EDIT: I WAS UNAWARE OF WORDPRESS/VIMEO weirdness — please follow links below.
Ben Farewell from Blake Whitman on Vimeo.
Read/see more here and here.
I was searching the Step It Up 2007 website to see what actions are being organized in and around the Bay for Step It Up pt. 2 rallies on November 3. I found one in SF hosted by the 1Sky Campaign that is asking all participants to come wearing blue! For Step It Up pt. 1, we organized a rally in NY and asked everyone to wear blue to appropriate “water” (potential future sea levels). Is blue the official color of climate change?
A blue song:
Etta James – I’d Rather Be Blind
I found it in the dollar 7″ bin yesterday.
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