for every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable. for every boy who is burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything, there is a girl tired of people not trusting her intelligence. for every girl who is tired of being called over-senstive, there is a boy who fears to be gentle, to weep. for every boy for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity, there is a girl who is called unfeminine when she competes. for every girl who throws out her e-z-bake oven there is a boy who wishes to find one. for every boy struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires, there is a girl facing the ad industry's attacks on her self-esteem. for every girl who takes a step toward her liberation, there is a boy who finds the way to freedom a little easier.

(adapted by a poem by nancy r smith)

everyone is loking at www.ratemypoo.com downstairs. you have to love moments like that. everyones laughing so hard. i had to leave bc the visual images were giving me associations of smells and...

anyways im back from nasco institute, a co-op conference for a group thats in the business of developing co-ops and furthering the co-op movement. the theme of this year's conference was "facing ourselves: examining power and privilege in our co-ops" and dealing with the strange phenomena that most housing co-ops are sometimes homogenous or lacking true diversity. its a very strange thing to say about a co-op because they tend to be the most open of places in terms of being accepting, or trying to be accepting, of people and things.


start with this assumption: i am a racist. i am a sexist. i am a homophobe. but it's time to unlearn all of those things, all inscribed in us by society.

all weekend i was being challenged. my entire sense of being is flipped on its head, which feels fucking great and fucking terrible all at once. the only way that i will get anywhere on this issue is by feeling discomfort-- bc these are uncomfortable topics to approach in this country, for a lot of reasons-- so the only thing to do is to jump in head first.

im thinking that i want to engage in more anti-oppression work. I've always had this desire..but it was never really fulfilled. i was signed up for ruckus society (http://www.ruckus.org) anti-racist organizing/ anti-oppression camp for sept. 14 2001 but well you remember what happened during that time, so camp was cancelled.

i can't wait to talk to you about all my thoughts and the crazyness that's taken place and is taking place.

tonights rainy, which inevitably dampens my spirit. it wasnt always like this- i never used to care but now there is a roof to think of, thats being ruined by every drop of water coming down. but it will be done, soon enough..

pumpkin carving has taken over crafty night. and its proving to be quite racy. andrea carved a nice bum into her pumpkin. id like to be crafting it up but the computer is distracting me. but there's always next week. been reformatting my computer, so I've been sitting here off and on all day. pretty soon, i'll even have some fancy images to upload and will be able to make fliers and stuff, for wednesdays

we're hoping to have open community potlucks and crafty nights on wednesday nights, so come one, come all! cook a dish and show up at the co-op house by 7pm, or come later with your crafts and whimsical fanciness. crafty night was once knitting night, until we found that ppl wanted to crochet. and draw. and do wood-burning. and so on, you get the idea

tonight:
buffalo critical mass defense fund benefit
nietzsche's
248 allen street
8PM

read mike niman's artvoice article for more info.

tomorrow:
wny peace center dinner
bflo convention center
153 franklin
6:30

if you wanna come, let me know, i reserved a table

not a moment to sit, not a moment to type. maybe soon..