I've been realizing that I don't normally write very uplifting messages; most of my blogs are pretty doom and gloom, and since this past week has been a week straight from hell (1 a lover and I came to the understanding that we can't be lovers anymore 2) I got kicked out of my new house, about two weeks after moving in 3) I got caught shoplifting 4) I went back to being a wage-slave 5) I had a mini-nervous breakdown and went temporarily crazy, (or maybe just a little more crazy then usual,)...um, well, I just don't feel like talking about negative shit at the moment...so I've decided to make a list of things I actually enjoy about the world (are there any? Hmmm, let me think for a second..)
1) Bike events, like Pedalpooluza and Zoobombing (I saw some Zoobombers riding mini-bikes down the hill on my way to work and that cheered me up considerably tonight..)
2) People like my friend Dorothy, who despite being eighty-six years old still preaches about animal liberation and veganism and just loving everyone and everything in general...she still tells stories of the animal lib work she did when she was younger...
3) Kids who want me to play with them...ditto for adults who still want to play!
4) Seeing "wild" animals in the city, like raccoons and possums and geese and ducks and great blue herons...
5) Seeing really good teenage parents loving their kids..seeing any parent loving their kids...
6) Mild criminal activity
7) Writing letters to prisoners
8) Writing a letter to my dad
9) Bolt Weevils
10) Graffiti that really makes me think (come on Portland, we can do better then we've been doin' with the graffiti!)
11) Restaurants with good vegan gravy!
12) Playful kittens!
13) Wild, willful, strong and resistant women!
14) Well prepared roadkill dishes...
15) People who know how to tan hides
16) Archery
17) Fire
18) Wine
19) Really shitty vehicles that are always on the verge of breaking down; the type that regularly catch on fire and leave you hitchhiking home....
20) Places without radios where people sing to entertain themselves (for example, see #19)
21) Woods
22) Licorice ferns (yum!)
23) Hobos, Tramps, Vagabonds, Gypsies, Bandits, Outlaws, Hoodlums, Scoundrels, Crusty-kids, Train-hoppers, Fruit flies (seasonal migrant workers,) Traveling bards, Hitchhikers, Rewilders, Witches and people who refuse to wear underpants....
24) People who refuse to work for a living (those who are more creative then us "wage slaves")
25) Carrots
26) Random gifts, especially found objects people think I'll enjoy
27) Homemade soap
28) Mittens
29) Mommas, especially cuddly, buxom types...
30) Stew
31) Tea
32) Books...next to food, one of the most basic necessities for me!
33) Free boxes
34) Generosity from unlikely sources; especially while traveling
35) Africa; jungle trees, huge mountains, beautiful people who have a real sense of what is important; and I'll give you a hint; it ain't money!
36) Irish accents
37) Balkan dancing!
38) Mischief
39) Tricksters (The other day, one of my classmates randomly called me a trickster...)
40) Sunsets. Dusk, when all the animals start coming out...
41) Lots of time spent in bed with someone cuddly....
Love ya,
Carrot
ps. I'm gladly excepting gifts of the mentioned items....
H
This is a sweet list, finding uplifting qualities in unlikely places. This blog is the first thing i read this morning, after listening to my husband pray for the day. I've just immigrated, spent my first night in a car, I'm worried about visas and work permits, and though we all realize people go thru stuff all the time, its nice to be encouraged by your positive persevering outlook.
6) Mild criminal activity
I take a few grapes from the grocer even when I'm not testing them out to buy. It makes me feel like I'm sticking it to the Man. grapes, and maybe a few butterscotchs from the bulk candy aisle...
What does "sticking it to the man" mean? All I know is that "the man" will be sticking you in a jail cell for theft if you get caught. Why in the world would you steal grapes or anything else? It's unethical and illegal. You steal. Ha I learn something new everyday here. Not exactly what I'd like to learn about Progressive U blogger though.
People steal grapes and Santa Clause isn't real.
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Now that's just outrageous to make such a claim. Every educated person knows that Santa Claus is real!
that's just what they want you to think!
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The government captured Santa and his magic sleigh and have covered it up. Isn't it obvious? It's a conspiracy I tell you. All seriousness aside, I seem to have nothing useful to lend to this thread. Do I ever?
your list for me (except I am not sure about roadkill, I haven't had it before, but I would be willing to try it if it doesn't smell bad), but I will add one,
#42: Reading carrot's blogs.
Oh, and extra, extra emphasis on seeing anyone love kids, parents, or otherwise.
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This even cheered me up. I don't know why... I guess I like some of that stuff too. Graffiti is really mysterious, especially when you see it on train overpasses and stuff... makes you wonder, who put it up there? When? Why? I think I'll pass on roadkill dishes though- I've had dishes that I guess were technically roadkill (I'm sure to your horror, my uncle was the one who made it roadkill... on purpose... that's what you get when you have a redneck Greek family...)
This was a nice uplifting blog, even if you think you've only written the doom/gloom variety.
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I need some more input from y'all here in this forum topic: A ProgressiveU Radio Show/Podcast
I think this is an idea that can improve the ProgressiveU community and add a new dimension to t
Good ones. I can dig those.
my documentary...
"some folks say that a hippie won't steal,
but I caught three in my corn field"
--John Hartford
Being positive is the ultimate progressive trait, because it lifts your spirits enough to do something about anything that is in your way.
You already started to, with the burning cars ;-), but the next part of this progression is learning to be thankful for the very worst things you see as well.
http://www.progressiveu.org/020053-always-be-thankful
http://www.progressiveu.org/154720-love-the-truth
"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it."
--Andre Gide
Please don't pin any of that on me; I don't want to serve 20 to life for something I didn't do...people who burn cars get serious sentences
Love ya,
Carrot!
And they shoud get serious time for burning cars. Being the hardass that I am, I would probably execute somebody if I caught them burning my car. Or at least shoot them in the knee cap.
But what about #19 on your list?
I thought the person commenting was saying that I was one of those environmentalists who burn cars...#19 on my list is a reference to a specific car I used to own, an old Nissan called The Bomber, which used to catch on fire all the time and I'd have to stop and let the fire burn down; also I got stranded a few times and had to hitchhike to work or home. And although it was annoying at the time; looking back now, I see the humor in it, and am glad I had that shitty vehicle and all those experiences with it.
Love ya,
Carrot
Doesn't that result in all kinds of nasty emissions into the ozone layer?
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It seems to be a theme here in Oregon; several environmentalists or so-called "environmental terrorists," have been jailed for burning SUVs at dealerships. They are protesting what they see as excessive waste just to get around. Similarly, some environmentalists have burned "McMansions," those giant, grotesque houses that all look the same and pass as "luxury" housing these days. Some of these McMansions have been deemed "green" by developers, yet they are single-family dwellings and tend to be built on land that used to be farmland, or even worse, forest.
In many ways, burning anything seems counterproductive; insurance will cover the cost of the damage, and more natural resources will be used to produce replacement McMansions or replacement SUVs.
Some people in activism also say that going to measures such as these to get the message out just makes all activists look crazy...
I feel both ways, depending on the day. Sometimes, I think about the only revolutions which have actually resolved anything, and those are almost always violent in nature, with a lot of burning and bombing and guns and loss...(When I think in these terms, I often think about William Wallace and what he might say about violence, or the leaders of our revolution, for example..)
Other times, I agree with the pacifists; I think, fighting violence with violence doesn't do a whole lot to make a healthy, stable and sane world.
Love ya,
Carrot
I can relate through personal experience. I kept that shitty car going longer than anyone expected.
My mechanical skills benefitted by my many junker cash cars, but now I use the car dealer negotiation skills I gained more. The price I could afford to pay increased, but my willingness to pay it hasn't.
"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it."
--Andre Gide
By youths of a comicaly unnamed ethnicity:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15424638/
But there is a solution to the problem:
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hsp/?id=088_BurnResistantCars
"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it."
--Andre Gide
nice, soft breasts on a beautiful woman
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I was thinking of you a bit ago when I saw a porn star possibly running for senator somewhere.
Made me think of wombels' blog, "Porn Away Porn." i was thinking today that since I lost my job, maybe I should consider getting in on that cash cow.
What do you say Meke? You can be the director, I'll be the producer. I have a little money saved up to get started.
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