Mod 2 Rough

I had a really gross dream.

I dreamt that I moved far away, to a place where I didn't know anybody. The first part of the dream was arriving in the travel station in my ugly new town. My life in the dream is different. I'm younger and less confident, and my "lifestyle" is considerably more conservative. I work a lot, don't smoke, and come home to an ugly, drab, suburban apartment with two or three housemates that I don't know or care much about. This is how I imagine people in the National Guard live. No art, little color, not much pleasure.

I've only ever caught glimpses of any of the housemates. This is a strictly craigslist, I-don't-want-to-ever-consider-the-possibility-of-socializing-with-you kind of thing. One day I'm making coffee, and one of the housemates brushes by, warning me that another housemate is "kinda weird. His job is making puppets."

[If you know me irl, you know the real me would be all over this.]

I just kinda shrug it off and don't process it too much. I still have the same body of knowledge as "real me," but my personality is wildly different, I don't care about the same things, if anything. There is no one else besides me and housemates. None of us have any friends.

The puppet guy's bedroom door is directly across from mine. Occasionally, as I'm walking past, I see him steal glimpses at me. He and the visible sliver of interior of his room are non-descript.

One night, this weird old lady comes into my room. Just casually. She has very floppy hands and a big hooked nose, with shoulder length gray hair. She kind of looks like one of the Triplets of Belleville, or a Brian Froud illustration of an old lady. She has a kind look on her face. She just walks into my room like it's nothing. The reason that I am not completely, instantly freaked out by this, is because I can tell that she is a puppet. My heart warms a little as I decide that this is my new housemate, attempting to break the ice in the coolest possible way.

The lady looks really good. I can barely tell. Her skin is latex-y. I speak to her pleasantly, trying unconvincingly to hold back peals of laughter. I know that my housemate is on the other side of the door, manipulating her, listening to my words. I'm on best behavior, but I'm delighted.

This goes on for a while, maybe once every three days I get a 20 minute visit from the "Old Lady." I still don't speak to anyone aside from that.

Then, one night, the "Old Lady" is visiting, and she makes some kind of a pass at me. It's gross! Now I'm just creeped out. If this wasn't a housemate situation, this might almost be romantic. But this is worse than inappropriate. The puppet is trying to touch me. This perv isn't using this thing to get me all giggly so he can come in and do me, he wants to watch me do the Old Lady puppet. Ew!

I'm so shocked and stupified that I continue responding to the Old Lady as if she is a real, autonomous person. I argue politely and shove her out of the room, asking her to please not come back. I am scared, so I call my sister, Mo, and ask her to come visit for a few days. I don't tell her why.

Now Mo is leaving. Her visit has gone by without incident. I am sitting near the head of my bed. Mo is standing at the foot of the bed, packing a suitcase. She drops a sock and glances down, and gasps a bit.

"What is that?!" She points at something under the bed. Somehow, I already know what it is. Afraid to look, I ask her to describe it. She says it looks like a human skin, but with liver spots, rubbery like a Boglin toy. I ask her if it smells rotten. She says it smells like latex and rotten feet. I tell her not to worry about it, but I am irrationally horrified as we leave for the travel station.

That night, I'm laying asleep in bed, and the Old Lady comes. She is naked, and climbs into my bed, saying really gross sexual things to me, as I struggle to wake and deal with it. All of a sudden, I am terrified: I realize that the Old Lady's body has no animatronic power source, AND there are no strings or rods attached to her limbs. This "puppet" is not being manipulated in the Henson sense. Either this thing IS a self-aware human, or it's my housemate in a suit, or it's a reanimated corpse that my housemate is controlling. I wake up before I figure out which.

Mod 2 Thumbnails

Alone

Heavy

Alone

Heavy

Crystallographic Images 1/26/11

My Fantasy Album

I don't know where this came from, but I crossed my facespace profile somehow:

1 - Go to wikipedia and hit random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days.” Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together.
5 - Post it with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

I can't believe how well this worked:

Baltimore Free Farm Featured in the Urbanite!

I'm so grateful to Heather Dewar and the Urbanite for running this article about my collective, the Baltimore Free Farm.

"Young and Hungry in Hampden: What's Next for the Baltimore Free Farm?"



There are a few minor corrections I'll make here:
1) Billy's last name is Thomas, not Thompson.
2) Mike's last name is Garbinski.
3) Most of us are past our "early twenties," but this characterization is very flattering!
4) There are more than a dozen of us. There are about twenty core members of the BFF, and we have a rotating cast of a few hundred volunteers.
5) We've been helped out by more than one Americore team, and we definitely couldn't have done it without them. Thanks, Americore!
6) Anna Ewing did indeed grow up nearby, but she's also a member of our core, in addition to being a neighbor.

These murky points illustrate just how little time Heather had to throw this profile together, and we just can't thank her enough.

This is What I've Been Creating All Sememster.

I do a lot, I think, compared to some people. I go to school, I work as an artist and tailor, and I do an apprenticeship. But most of my time, energy, love, and creativity goes to the Baltimore Free Farm. We're all volunteers, attempting to create alternative food systems inside Baltimore City. This year our biggest accomplishments were building a community garden and acquiring a warehouse, but we did a lot of other stuff, too. I consider this project art, even though it has utilitarian elements. Sure, we grow food, but we also make music and blogs and crazy DiY haunted houses, etc. So for my final required list post, here are some links you can follow to learn more about "my baby," the BFF.

1) This is the video we all made together in an effort to raise funds for our Kickstarter campaign. I'm the one with the paint sprayer, and I'm talking about the "hive of activity" and "de-commodifying our lives." The idea is to raise money to repair our warehouse, so that we can continue to provide community support. All the music was recorded by people we work with.



2) This is where you can vote for us to win a living roof in the Cole Roofing Green Roof Giveaway. Just log into facebook first, and then you can vote up to once per day, for the next 12 days. We're not in the lead right now, but the votes are not the only factor in the contest, so we could still win this thing.

3) This is where we were mentioned in Slingshot!, which is sort of a huge honor within the Punk Rock community. Slingshot! has been around for 22 years, and is one of my favorite 'zines of all time. We didn't know that they had acknowledged us, until we started getting letters from all over the country, with the authors saying that they had read about us in Slingshot!

4) This is the coverage of the BFF Halloween party, !!!FARMAGEDDON!!!, from local art e-zine What Weekly. What weekly have very good to us, previously covering one of our music festivals, and our involvement with the 2010 DiY Festival. (I'm the one with glasses in this picture by Brooke Hall.)



From left: Andrew, Don, AG, and JMe of the Baltimore Free Farm

5) This is where you can sign up to recieve the Urbanite E-Zine, in which we will be profiled this coming week. We gave an interview to Heather Dewar, who took this picture below. We're all very curious how it will turn out.



From left: Don, AG, Mike, Billy, and Allison are some of the Baltimore Free Farmers.

I've really enjoyed writing this blog, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it. I intend to keep it going!

Best wishes next semester, and beyond,
-AG Sherman, Baltimore Free Farm Event Coordinator.

Cats.

1) Garfield Minus Garfield



2) As the Hotword



3) Lasagna Cat



4) Maneki Neko



5) Simon's Cat

Project 5!!!

As part of this blogging assignment, we are instructed to post the results of all our class projects. I don't know how to post a Google Earth file, so I'm posting this screenshot of the finished dealie. The concept was the result of one too many conversations with Mike G. on the topic of 2012. The floating sculpture is intended to loosely represent the "Sacred Geometry," the way that sound waves hold matter together. Viola!

An Interview with Erin McLaughlin

Erin McLaughlin is many things, but above all, she is an amazing friend. I've known Erin for about ten years now. She's 27. We've been through a lot together, and... separately. I haven't always gotten to see Erin as much as I'd like, but I know that no matter how often I might see her, she'll always leave me wanting more. Erin is SMART.
And funny, fun to be with, incredibly supportive, loving, kind, sweet, beautiful, and bakes a MEAN brownie. She was instrumental in bringing me together with my now-partner, Mastodon, who I've similarly known almost a decade, but fell in love with more recently.
I think one key to our friendship, is that we both have that, "I've been through some stuff in my life, and I can't hide it," vibe going on. Indeed, the very onset of our friendship was beset by a major mutual trauma. Erin's not at all a mean girl, but she is a tough girl. Strong. But also a little shy, and typically very private. Consequently, I'm always learning new things about her.
Even so, I was flat-out shocked to learn that as a child, Erin was not allowed to watch cartoons, or engage in make-believe play. 
The idea of a cartoonless existence straight-up scared me, not to mention, I believe that in order to be emotionally healthy, people NEED make-believe. To children, especially, I feel, having an imaginary world is equal in importance to, if not more important than, having access to food, shelter, or clothing. When I was a kid, and sometimes didn't have adequate food or clothing, make-believe got me through. I asked Erin if I could interview her about the experience, and was even more shocked, and delighted, when she tentatively agreed.

Erin McLaughlin, a Most Excellent Buddy.

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Interview: 7:27pm, 12 September 2010, at Monster.

AGS: How old were you when you were forbidden to watch cartoons?

EMcL: It started when I was seven, when my Mom found God. I was allowed to watch a series about a boy and a girl, who went back in time, and explored Old and New Testament Bible stories? It was a cartoon. I watched other ones, but only when my Mom wasn't present. She hated "Tom and Jerry" because they were always fighting with each other, so we couldn't watch that. Hanna Barbera had a Christian line. We'd get those at the Christian bookstore. And Chick-Fil-A is a Christian business. They give out Christian toys, so then we'd go there.
We were allowed to to watch "The Simpsons" on Sunday night. That was family night. We'd always watch "The Simpsons" and "Cops." I don't know why that was OK. It doesn't make sense. Also, only Christian video games. It's amazing what you can find in a Christian bookstore. We tried to convince my Mom about Sega Genesis. My Dad tried, to convince her, too, because "Genesis" is the first book of the Bible, but then she found out, and that didn't work.
"David and Goliath" and "Spiritual Warfare." Those at least were games, so they were fun to play. "Spiritual Warfare" - you had to dress up in a suit of armor and combat the world.
A Beka Books is a Christian based homeschool text from Florida. This guy came to my house and sold the books to my Mom.
I didn't like being homeschooled. Nothing about violence, fantasy, witchcraft, sorcery, make-believe, demons, evil. Examples are "Ferngully,"  "Alice In Wonderland." I wasn't allowed to watch "Ferngully" because pixies are make-believe. And do I feel robbed!!!?! I wish I had watched that years ago, because I would have enjoyed it more, and learned about saving the world.
We watched a lot of live-action stuff like "Jesus of Nazareth," and "The Ten Commandments." Or stuff the was about, or based off, real life, like "Boys n the Hood." She just didn't want us growing up in this make-believe world.
When you're ten years old and you think QVC is a privilege, there's something wrong.
My grandparents took us to see "Edward Scissorhands," and my Mom got REALLY mad about that. G-rated stuff was usually OK, but PG-rated stuff she had to preview first. I wasn't allowed to watch "[Who Framed] Roger Rabbit." I still am religious in some ways, but I think using your imagination is a good thing. It helps in the creative process. I think it's important to show lots of different ways to a child, so that there's not a question about what might have been.
I don't blame the Christian Church for the way I was raised. It's up to the individual how far they want to take limits.

AGS: Were you hurt by these limits?

I was sheltered. I didn't know secular music. Other kids asked me if I liked "New Kids On the Block," an I thought they meant that I was the new kid on the block.  They asked me if I liked Vanilla Ice, and I thought they meant ice cream.
In a social way, I think it set me back a lot. The other kids watched cartoons, and they didn't become evil, or whatever it was they thought would happen if you watched these cartoons.
I went to public school till third grade. Then I went to home and private school for fourth. Back to public for fifth, sixth was homeschool. Public for seventh through tenth, then I got my GED. I tried to go back to school, but my Mom didn't want me to. She saw it as more beneficial to have me out of school. I was supporting her and myself [for awhile.]

[Erin goes on to discuss the specifics of her mother's current financial situation, which she later asked me to strike, for legal reasons.]

...which is fine, because it's less financial pressure for me [now.] It seems like she lives more in a fantasy world than the cartoons.
My Mom was in a Christian Metal band, so we used to go to Christian Metal shows; Stryper, One Bad Pig, DC Talk. They were a DC rap group. Sometimes they would come to our house for parties.

AGS: Did Stryper ever come to your house for a party?

Yeah! They came to a couple parties. Which were food. No drinking. No one ever drank in our house.
My Mom drinks a little now. She's still very active in church music programs. When I was a kid, we went to church three or four times a week. She works with the teenage group, takes them to Metal shows. She teaches not to judge people by their appearances. Metal is not always evil. The kind of world I lived in was more real, no cartoons and stuff. There was always practicing. A lot of people were always in the house all the time, like teenagers, because everyone knew it was a safe place. Even people that weren't Christians. Going to shows and stuff, I thought a lot of people would go to these shows.
Oh, and we didn't celebrate Halloween. Sometimes, I would sneak off to my grandparents', and they'd have a costume waiting for me. Sometimes that worked, but not always.
I went to five different elementary schools, aside from being homeschooled. It was nerve-wracking. I knew I was different from other kids. I was trapped in this Christian bubble. My friends from church were allowed to watch Full House. (Though, when I watch it now, I'm glad I wasn't allowed to watch it. My Mom was probably just annoyed.)
The pastor's daughter gave me a rabbit's foot, for good luck, and my Mom tossed it. Accused me of witchcraft. My Mom had a lot more freedom. Aware of the world. She was a bad child. She knew a lot of the world, and tried to keep me away from those things. You can kind of see her good in it. Anything fantasy she wanted no part of, because she thought it was foolish to put those beliefs off on kids. If I asked if I could watch Tiny Toons, she'd say, "Erin, that's not real. And the way their eyes bug out is disgusting."
She didn't like the Tasmanian Devil, because he had the word "Devil" in his name.
I think cartoons are helpful to interact socially, and to take life light-heartedly. Not take life too seriously. There are different ways to look at different situations. Not everything is the end of the world, as they think of it.I think it's a good outlet for kids, too.

AGS: I wanted to ask you to talk about "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."


We did, as a family, watch the whole thing once. I was about eight or nine. We were not allowed to watch it again after that.
The Snow Queen has little villains working for her. The Lion is good and the Snow Queen is bad. It's like in the Second Testament, they capture the Lion like how they captured Jesus. And as they bring him to where he's going to be crucified, they heckle him and spit on him and stuff like that. Then they nail him to a board or something. My Mom didn't like that because he's supposed to be representing Jesus. My Mom didn't like that because in Exodus, it says, "Thou shalt not have any other God," so she took that a step beyond, no one else but Jesus can represent God, a lion being portrayed as Jesus was sinful and wrong.
As a child, I could see what they were doing, but she couldn't see it. An animal posing as Jesus was not OK, but "Jesus of Nazareth" was OK because it was literal.
I've never understood fantasy love novels. Those are for certain people. I just watched "Clash of the Titans." [Note: Not sure if Erin is referencing the original or the remake.] It got a Razzie, but I really liked it. I had a basic concept of mythology when I was a kid, but I wasn't allowed to watch it.

AGS: Do you watch cartoons now?

Yup. I love it. I like Adult Swim. Nickelodeon has some funny cartoons. I watch cartoons now for the humor, the lightness of it. Characters that have distinct personalities and eccentric behaviors are really fun to watch.