The Armless Swimmer

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

Dance lot Talk a lot Dance a lot Talk a lot there is good news!
There is a band that sounds an aweful lotlike the Horsies:

Cat Science!

and they are playing TONIGHT!! Halloween night!
And I wanted to dress up like a cat anyway!!!!!

and they will be at the Trash Bar in Brooklyn.

What a perfect way to celebrate my un-suspension
from the bookstore. Today at one I am meeting with Horace
and someone ( a lawyer?) from Strandbooks at the UAW office.

I'm not sure what will happen there but I will be happy either way
if I can dress up and go dancing afterwards!!

Thanks, Steve...and Happy 29th!

Blame society productions

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

Ha ha...krishna just showed me this funny video.

I'm off to photoshop class. Happy halloween!

Ancestors, Water People, and Heroes

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

Feeling very sleepy and lazy. Yesterday I took a long walk from 146st down to west 4th st..making several stops on the way. Jackie Robinson Park, LESPFCU, the UU church on 79th st., MNN, MOMA, Coliseum Books...I met Kathy Gaskins and Ryan M. at the Waverly Diner. We may go out again tonight, but I think I will take the train this time.

appeal for redress

L. H. O. O. Q.
phote taken with my lovely mini dv camera

Start the war on villification and obsfucation!!
phote taken with my lovely mini dv camera

another another green world?

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

The march twards cleaning the apartment continues. This morning I changed a lightbulb. While I have the ladder (la escalera de tijera?) I'm going to try to install this bike hook I got from the container store. It sounds easy no?

I also downloaded a thirty day trial version of photoshop. This way I can practice during the week what I learn in the monday night photoshop class. It's all very exciting.

So far I have a small stack of books to give away...now to attack the clothes!

cold feet tuesday radio verified
phote taken with my lovely mini dv camera

write, right, you are bloody well

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

ok...so I'm home today with the intention to clean and organize this space to make it a bit more habitable. That has led me to going through all these books to see if I can give some away. It is a slow process because I occasionally feel I should read or do reasearch on the book to see if I can part with if. After all I must have brought it home for a reason, non?

Let's start with Wanda Coleman-A War of the Eyes and Other Stories. I guess I was attracted to the Black Sparrow Press label and encouraged by the $1.00 price tag. I haven't opened it yet. I think it's a keeper since I promised myself to try to read more women authors.

What about Operating Grants for Nonprofit Orginizations? I paid good money for this back in 2001. Has the freshness dating expired? Maybe so, but it seems like a good reference book if I can find some people who want to start an arts non-profit organization. Or if we need $$$ for serenity gardens. I guess that's a keeper too.


Women and the Making of the Modern House

Vocal Improvisation in the Be-Bop Idiom vol 1: A Rhythmic Approach

George Grosz Ecce Homo

This could take a while.

No Booths Pizza

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

Check out his u tube video discussion. There are over seven hundred comments! I haven't read them all but I'm finding them interesting. There are some good points being made regarding racial prejudice and cultural difference. There are questions about the viability of film photography in a digital world and

Some comments are so horrible/rude, I am sure the poster is being incendiary(sp?)...trying to get people riled up. Or maybe sarcastic. At least I hope so.

Anyway...Friday I went to see Horace at the UAW local 2179 office about my free 14day trial period-I mean my indefinate suspension pending investigation. He said that they want to fire me.

I am not sure exactly who "they" are. Nancy Bass? Richard Devereaux(sp?)? Brian, Bibbi, and Taylor? My co-union members?

I could only ask, "Why?"

Why do They want to fire me? Because I wrote on the break timesheet "4:52" when it was actually 4:47?

Because I said "Please don't be a prick." to Taylor?

These seem like minor offenses to me.

Horace and I discussed the matter with Pablo Valcarcel (car sell?) the local president.

I told Horace and Pablo that I guess I didn't want to be there if I was not wanted. But I would like to know why "they" want to fire me.

Anyway, Horace and Pablo seemed to agree that these may not be firing (firable?)offences. Horace wondered what was being investigated. In a week, what has been discovered? What will be discovered in following weeks. I wondered that too. Horace said he would go back and talk to the lawyer(s?) and call me later.

I mentioned that I had previously requested vacation time for this upcoming week. I wasn't sure if I should stick around or go away on vacation as planned. Pablo said that if I had vacation scheduled, they would have to give it to me.

I don't feel like a can afford to travel now. Things seem far too un-settled here to go anywhere. I guess I will spend this week cleaning the apartment and looking for a roomate.

Last night I went to a performance at the Brecht Forum with Dave, Jamal, Lindon, Mitch, and Alex. Afterwards we sat in Pizza Booth and joked about making a film titled BOOTH, about a pizza parlor with no public restrooms and oddly, no booths.

coffee bean in the head

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSo...I had trouble sleeping because of the 1/2 liter of coffee i drank last night when I went down to 54st to meet Roussina nad Mitch. We didn't get into see the Colbert Report but instead walked around to Columbus Circle and through the Time-Warner (Lincoln Center?) building and into Borders Books...where we looked at calanders, and magazines and listened to music.

This morning in my caffinated non-sleep I was thinking about NYC. Doing a little reckoning. Trying to justify my existance here. I have long maintained that this is a sort of bizzaro world where my previous expectations of cause and effect don't really apply.

It makes for difficult storytelling when the listener is expecting things to make sense because what I come up with is a string of events with no causal relationship. (cause unknown) All I can do is wonder what bizzare thing will happen next. Or make wild long winded speculations. Sometimes I try to test things to see if I can cause something. Like trying to organize a tenants association. Or help a homeless person.

The tenant organizing here at 545 was akin to bouncing a flat basketball. When I was organizing with UHAB it was like either like bouncing a flat basketball or a superball. Eventually I gave up. or lost the ball. It seems now that tenant and community organizing are best done in slow motion. My few experiences "helping" homeless people might be compared to taking acid then hittingoneself with a bat...a live bat-not a baseball bat.

Lately I've been trying to play the constant. Doing things as regularly and predictably as I can and looking around a bit to see if I can see causes and effects happening. Sometimes I think I see a cause or an effect out of the corner of my eye, like a fishing line on a star fighter or a mouse at Strandbooks but its only there for and instant. Maybe I need to be stiller...I mean: more still.

I talked to Horace from UAW local 2179 yesterday. He said he went to the store to talk to Fred, Fred said he didn't know anything about it, so they called in Bibbi. Bibbi said it was all Nancy's doing. He talked to Nancy. She said he would have to talk to the lawyer. He talked to the lawyer.

Now I am supposed be at the UAW office at noon to meet with Horace and the lawyer. I don't know if it is Nancy's lawyer or the UAW lawyer. I guess I will find out.

le mort joyeux

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

This is day five of my third suspension from Strandbooks...sigh...It's good that I had the time off since it gave me time to write a letter to 545 W 146 INC. ...ugh...I guess I have to go to housing court soon. This is all very draining...this...uh...defending one's self. I can see why people hire lawyers to do this type of thing.

I feel myself coming down with something...depression or the flu or something.

Yesterday, I had a beer with Kumal who was very psyched about his new job. Then I made Krishna and Lindon miss the free screening of running with scissors.

It was a dark and stormy night. We went to the dumpling resturaunt across the street from home depot. They have amazing hot chocolate dumplings there. Krishna, Lindon, Nick, and I started a band. again.

sigh...sigh...heavy sigh...I wonder if Horace or Rebecca or Will will call and let me know the results of THE INVESTIGATION into my conduct. On the totally plus side I had time to go to a photoshop class on Monday. The class was way better than I expected. AND it was in the UNITEHERE building across from FIT. I've wanted to go into that building. I also got to see inside the lithographers union building. Events like this remind me that New York City is still amazing and there is much left to see and learn here.

what does "spic" mean?

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

so I'm sitting here crossed legged on the futon...half watching T.V....half trying to figure out my situation. My claims on my job and my home. My alternatives. There is a good show on IFC called Girls Town.

Saturday I was suspended from work "pending investigation". I'm not sure what this means other than I had time to go to Jackson heights with Krishna yesterday and hang out with Lindon B., sleep in the sun with Tita, and hang out with my neighbor, Harmony today. Harmony is practicing to be an EMT. Shetook my blood pressure (115/70?).

My electricity and internet are working. We have warmish running water. I haven't paid rent since July when Bernardo, Eric, Z and I decided to stop paying since the conditions were so bad here and [545 W 146 ST INC.] was not responding to our calls. Now the hole in the bathroom ceiling is fixed but Bernardo and I can not seem to have conversation without yelling accusations and insults at each other so we are stuck in a stalemate regarding the rent, bills, and empty room. As we wait...the overdue rent accumulates. I am afraid I or we may end up in court with each other and the landlord.

Now there is a short Rosie Perez doc about Puerto Rico on IFC. I'm really interested. I never thought much about Puerto Rico until I moved here. As I am listening to this I am realizing something about music and language and the mechinism of the pun...puns and the cousin of the pun...I'm not sure what it is called when something can be said in a way that it has two or more meanings that cross languages and change depending on the phyche of the listener...i don't think it is quite the same thing as a pun...maybe a super pun or pun to the second power.

I am waiting to hear another example of it on tv...still waiting...ok...I'll get back to you on this.

Tomorrow I am going to the UAW office again with Rebecca to find out what to do. I am glad Bob O. was around to advise me. Otherwise I would be extreamly clueless.

Vamos a ver.

bro, Bro, brug, die Brucke

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

Last night Krishna and I went to a celebration of the 20th anniversary of F.A.I.R.
Tom Tomorrow of This Modern World; Amy Goodman of Democracy Now; Barbara Ehrenreich author of Nickel and Dimed; and other reporters from both the left and the liberal left (ha!)spoke and joked about challenging factual inaccuracy, documenting, and exploring dissenting opinions.

I was more impressed with Barbara Eherinreich than I thought I would be. She was funny and to the point when she said she acknowleged biological differences between men and women...by some (biological?) cause which we have yet to understand...men are ten times more likely than women to become NY Times reporters.

skatalogical broken glass dinner for eight

what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this what is this

I feel sad and a little afraid about my roomate situation. Bernardo and Eric have decided to not cooperate with me. I think it is Bernardo who leaves his dirty dishes in the sink and Eric who leaves horrible smelling things in garbage bags in the middle of the kitchen floor and pees in places other than the toilet, but I really don't know why.

I've been trying to have dinner parties on saturday nights. Last saturday I rushed home from work to do last minute cleaning and make dinner and found the power was still out from the night before when Bernardo got mad because we disagreed about who owed who money and decided to call me a bitch and remove the fuses. I went into my dark bedroom to look for a match to light a candle and tripped over a pile of dirty dishes...Bernardo's dirty dishes.

I was pretty pissed that someone had let themselves into my room and done this and went to knock on Bernardo's door. No answer. Arrgh...Quickly, still thinking about the people who were supposed to arrive any minute, started cleaning the pile of stuff off the carpet. I heard Bernardo come home and went to yell about how mad I was. I think I was yelling, "Stay out of my room!" or something like that. Bernardo responded not with..."I didn't go into your room." but rather, "You're crazy, you sstupid bitch. Don't move Tita's litterbox! You should be in a hospital!"
Or something to that effect. I couldn't really hear because I was yelling "Stay out of my room!"
Then, for effect and to drive home the point...I threw one of the already broken dirty dishes that had been placed on my floor, past Bernardo and at the metal front door to the apartment.

Bernardo went into his room and shut the door but continued to yell about how stupid and crazy I am. I yelled back about I would like for him to stay out of my room, then went back to cleaning in the dark. There was more yelling and dish throwing, including Bernardo yelling "I'm going to call the cops." and me yelling "Call the cops." as I looked for my keys so I could go to the store to get some candles.

Suprisingly, this ended with a rather nice candle lit dinner. After the police came and the reports were made, Lindon, Adi, Jamie, Jamal, and I sat in what Bernardo has dubbed "Tita's room"aka the dinning room and drank some red wine and ate brie and salad.

Now in the after math I contemplate planning another dinner for Saturday...hmmmm...What's that smell? Oh I guess somehow the fridge lost power and everything in it is rotten. I'm thinking about becoming vegan. Can I divorce my roomate? sigh...I'm supposed to go to the UAW office with Rebecca today to talk to them about electing shop stewards and getting copies of the last two contracts and finding out if we can take a field trip to a printing press...I guess I'll clean the fridge...and bike downtown, maybe stop at MOMA it's a beautiful day.