Wednesday, October 14, 2009
scripture
I bought a book:
![urban-homestead[1].jpg](/ptblog/uploads/urban-homestead%5B1%5D.jpg)
it caught my eye (as did Pornogami*) when Kanna and I dropped by Pilot Books on Broadway last night. I wanted to browse it a bit so I kept it with me while we listened to Joey Comeau and a couple other folks read from some books. then I spilled a delicious beer all over everything. reading stopped. beer was cleaned up. fun was had at my expense. and the decision whether or not to buy the book was made for me. by me. because I spilled beer on it.**
also, Joey signed my copy of Overqualified. then he signed the reserve slip from the library where I checked it out. I would photograph those things for you, but there is no camera handy: it has escaped again.
moral: Pilot Books is pretty great you should go there. that beer was strong so I spilled it. Joey Comeau is the same as on the internet. The Urban Homestead may very well be worthwhile reading; I really have no idea.
*I am thirteen
**Summer runs Pilot Books. she said I didn't really have to buy the book. Summer is very nice. it's a good thing that I don't have to buy everything I spill beer on. I would have so many carpets. shit.
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Wednesday, October 07, 2009
doctrine air
travel by air leads to many problems. some of these problems, such as deep vein thrombosis,
are of only passing interest to the first church of dirt. of greater
concern are direct impacts of air travel on dirt: air, water, dirt, and
noise pollution due to operation of aircraft, construction and
maintenance of airports, and travel to and from airports.
most
distressing to this church, however, are changes to human attitudes
that follow from travel by aeroplane and other high-speed modes. on an
airplane, each place loses any connection it has to any other place.
when it is possible to get elsewhere so quickly, much of the motivation
to care about and invest in your current location is removed. why
would I spend valuable time discovering and becoming part of what is
unique about where I am when I could more easily head to the nearest
aerodrome and quickly find myself in some other more interesting
place? why treat dirt as anything other than what holds me up between
traveling to ever more distant and exotic places?
I am not
opposed to traveling long distances. it is the only way to really
experience the connections that exist between people and places and dirt and
everything else that needs dirt. traveling far from where we are
exposes us to new ideas and other ways humans, animals, soil processes,
hydrologic cycles, &c. operate outside of our experience. I am
only opposed to traveling long distances too quickly. speed turns the
potential that travel has to connect us with other people and places into
the potential for it to destroy the idea and reality of place.
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