context
context: any number of relationships that surround, inform, and ultimately include the self. these relationships are material (our physical surroundings, e.g. whether a space is urban or rural, our physical possessions and homely dwellings), idealistic (our value systems, e.g. the ideas we have inherited as “truth,” how we understand the social/material world, anything that influences our perceptions), historical (our past personal experiences, e.g. memories), and social (the people around us, e.g. friends, lovers, yet also, how the dominant society classifies us on the basis of gender, race, or any number of other categories) in their nature.
if a given context persists with any semblance of regularity (e.g. a work schedule or set of social relationships with interactions going more or less as expected), the more likely our sense of self will become unconsciously welded to it. an identity forms around the context and ossifies. when discrete elements of a given context shift (e.g. a sudden change in the rhythms of our everyday lives, a sudden change in relationship with another person), the more likely our sense of identity will shift.
contexts are infinite equations, limitlessly diverse in permutation.
Mano Farm notebooks: Just show up.
This is the first in what will be a series of entries documenting my stewardship of Mano Farm, an acre plot land in Ojai, California with two friends, David Klein and Justin Huhn.
Above: A view from the center point of Mano Farm. For more extensive imagery, check out my flickr photo gallery.
“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” —Jack Gilbert
We’re all a little nervous going into this. Will our starts fail? Will our vegetable beds be fatally overrun by nut grass (Cyperus rotundus) — surely one of the most invasive plants I’ve encountered in my life? Will a dearth of ground squirrels and gophers (not to mention rabbits, coyotes, field mice, and numerous insects) wreak havoc upon our established vegetables? Will we come to an agreement on when and how much to water in a bioregion ridden with drought? Will farming bolster or pilfer our paychecks? Can three people really create a farm using primarily our bodies and hand tools? Read more…
alla this… lyrics by ani difranco
i will not stand immersed in this ultra violent curse i won't let you make a tool of me i will keep my mind and body free bye bye minutiae of the day to day drama i'm expanding exponentially, i am consciousness without identity i am many things made of everything but i will not be your bank roll i won't idle in your drive-thru i won't watch your electric sideshow i got way better places to go i will maintain the truth i knew naturally as a child i won't forfeit my creativity to a world that's all laid out for me i'll look at everything around me and i will vow to bear in mind that all of this was just someone's idea it could just as well be mine i won't rent you my time i won't sell you my brain i won't pray to a male god cuz that would be insane and i can't support the troops cuz every last one of them's being duped and i will not rest a wink until the women have regrouped i am many things made of everything but i will not be your bank roll i won't idle in your drive-thru i won't watch your electric sideshow i got way better places to go
