Jim Vagaond #7: Stuff Your Eyes WORLD PREMIERE

Come join us at the 2015 Coney Island Film Festival on Sunday, September 20 at 1 PM (Program 11).  Ride the Cyclone, have a hot dog and come Stuff Your Eyes at Coney Island USA, 1208 Surf Avenue.  The film festival runs all weekend.  Don't miss it!

… and, don’t forget to stick around to catch the award winning Zerogon by fellow SVA classmates Joshua Planz & John Mattiuzzi at 4 PM (Program 14).

My Blog Sucks...

I have read many blogs.  I've been reading them from the beginning, and I know from experience that my blog sucks. I have no pretensions... except having no pretensions.

Today's Crap

The recent article in the New Yorker about the break-in at a nuclear weapons site by a group of nuns and pacifists associated with the the Plowshares movement was a great read, and troubling on many levels:

• The horrible outsourced security at the site.
• Accusing the demonstrators of sabotage when it was clearly an act of civil disobedience - and more importantly an inadvertent case of whistle blowing (perhaps the real crime here).
• The stiff Federal sentences the non-violent protestors received.

On a more personal note, I was blown away by this passage in the article about Tom Lewis:

The walls of the building were soon being decorated with spray paint and blood. It was Tom Lewis’s blood, drawn from his arm four years earlier, not long before he died. Lewis had been one of the Catonsville Nine, an artist and a Plowshares activist arrested numerous times. From his deathbed, Lewis had asked that his blood be used in one last direct action. The blood was frozen, saved, thawed, and poured into six baby bottles carried in backpacks to Y-12. Now it dripped down the white walls.

In the late 70's early 80's Tom was an art teacher at my high school.  He was also my "dorm parent" - essentially legally responsible for my behavior while living in the dorm he co-managed (loco parentis.)  I can't imagine it was easy for a man who went to prison for directly confronting government authority to be be placed in a position of authority over a group of over indulged adolescents.  We didn't make it easy on him, but he persevered through what even today I would consider a pretty horrible job (despite the free room and board).  As an art teacher and an activist Tom was inspirational to many.  I particularly remember some of the haunting pencil sketches he made while in prison, and how he connected his art to his strong personal (and spiritual) beliefs.

After being reminded of my brief association with Tom, I am struck by A) what a complete and total bad ass that man was - even up until his dying days, and B) how easy it is not to notice or care about the fascinating people among us when we're caught up in our own personal bullshit. 

Not Enough Crap

Less than a week into this thing and I've already screwed up my "regimen."   I wish I could say I'm going to focus on quality vs. quantity, but the real problem is just the focusing part.  More to come.  We shall see.
 

Today's Crap

I live on a wooded, one acre lot at the end of a dead end road that looks like the entrance to the bat cave on the old Batman TV show.  I don't get a lot of random visitors.  In the 20 years I have lived in this house, I have never had more than one trick or treater on Halloween, and I had to wait for my neighbor to have a kid to even get that one.

Perhaps it's the remoteness of my doorstep, or my general recalcitrant disposition to strangers intruding on my privacy, but I fucking can't stand door-to-door solicitors.  Whether it's the exploited young adults selling magazine subscriptions, the politicians selling hot air or the clipboard and pamphlet carrying cause related folks, by the time they walk down my long driveway, up my walk and knock on my door (after trying the broken doorbell), I'm usually not the most receptive host.

Yesterday afternoon, I received a visit from what appeared to be a cause related pair (they had buttons, pamphlets and clipboards).  This was how our conversation went:

Them:  Hello
Me:  Hi... we prefer not to do business with door to door solicitors.
Them:  We're not soliciting  (they always say that and it annoys me)
Me:  But you're on my doorstep... (I look down at her clipboard and try to read their buttons) and I didn't invite you on my property.
Them:  We just wanted to talk to you for a minute...
Me:  If you have something to share, please send me a letter or make an appointment.
Them (actually her - the pushy one):  We prefer old fashioned face to face.
Me:  Putting a stamp on a letter is pretty old fashioned

At this point, they get the hint and step off my stoop.

Me:  Have a nice day (sincerely)
Her:  (walking away) Ha!

Someday, I want to compare notes with my neighbors (there are two others houses on the road) about how they deal with solicitors.  I am eager to find out if they complain about the "grouch at the end of the road."  I hope they do.

Lisa, my wife, is a much softer touch.... bad luck for them they got stuck with me.  

...Interesting link of the day:

This chart/map uses Google search data to determine what cost each state is obsessed with.  In CT where I live, it's prostitutes.  Everything is expensive in CT.  

...Cat pic of the day:
 

Tutt at the Vet

Today's Crap

The 2nd post is not as easy as the 1st one.
Fortunately... I have a cat pic: 

Auggie & Tutt hanging out in their boxes.

... Interesting link of the day

Mapping Migration in the United States

Today's Crap ...

I like ellipses. It's punctuation that seems in sync with my internal voice... which at times seems like one long constant run-on sentence.

This is the inaugural LGp Founder's Blog post.  My goal is one post per day.  My motivation to blog is more about a need for an affirmative daily regimen than it is about any great desire to share my brilliance with the world.  That's just an added bonus for us all.

... interesting links of the day: 

Create your own Picasso Head

This one is 2 months old, but confirms many real world truths that inform my thinking on things. Go Mets!

.... I do cat pics too:

The Four Cats: Tutt, Auggie, Amie and Serena

That's all I got.