demf: more pics

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detroit style: demf 08 day 1

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oh my second life

this is somewhat sad … demf 08 is heading into the virtual soundsphere. n & i were browsing after parties and picking what we would attend and we saw “ben sims” was appearing at a party that he had not seen before. a few years ago he called me from seeing ben sims live and it was the hit of the weekend so naturally it piqued both of our interests. we looked closer and its actually being held, in second life. oh my. capacity: 70. i am not sure how i feel about this. isn’t demf virtual enough? its a techno-fest— heavily tech-mediated entertainment-fueled atmospheric virtual blips and bleeps and submersive bass. do we need a virtual experience beyond the real? well, maybe if you cannot actually BE there, but still, second life?

http://www.demf.com/loudbaby/move_into_the_metaverse.html

to boot, hello cheesy 90s rave flyer. haven’t we gotten any more sophisticated in the age of the hyperreal?

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vernacular signage and juxtaposition in charleston, sc

hand-drawn blackletter inspired calligraphy

dancing anyone? i love that this was a few blocks away from dystopia, a suburban strip mall helltropolis, brand new and featuring every brand. in this environment, the hand made stands out

grave in downtown charleston, behind a church with lovely bells that rang for 15 minutes when we passed.

i love that the signs posted said “after the fact approval”

we rode through the city, noting the spaces of the rich and the forgotten. there were stark contrasts in how the earth and greenery was tamed or claimed.

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opposable what?

i hesitate to call this found type, but its found language/writing for sure. i looked it up and it seems that there is a local band here in columbia, sc by this name, which i found hilarious.

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odd animal encounters galore

ok. lets start with the squirrel. the other day i went outside to load my car to take stuff over to ambers, and i noticed there was a squirrel lying flat under my car. at first i was certain that i ran over it. then it moved a bit and i could see it was still alive. i could also tell there was something amiss with it. it kind of dragged/crawled under my car and around to the drivers side. then it proceeded to drag its furry little body INTO MY TIRE. not the tire well, but behind the rim and in front of the brake disk. it was heaving and breathing heavy, and it was clearly on its way out of this world. as gretchen and i moved closer, it tried to crawl deeper into the wheel. we let it set for awhile, thinking that nature would take its course, but it was still there after 30 min and breathing. i decided to try and roll the car back and forth, but the darn thing held onto the rim with its little claws. it finally fell off and i pulled the car forward. i went back in the house and we were going to get a shovel and put it in the woods. we thought it was dead, but it suddenly moved (its back legs were no longer working at this point) and DRAGGED itself army crawl style back into the wheel! i rolled the car and it fell off and ran under. i back out without squishing it and took off. later, it came back to life again and had dragged itself under the jeep, near the dogs. at this point b and g had enough and took it to the greenway to finish out its time.

story 2: i arrive at my mom’s today and give her a hug. anxious to show me her small garden in the back, we head behind the house and look at the herbs and flowers. i reached my hand behind me and onto my back and felt a bump. i knew immediately what it was. a tick. GROSS. she is screeching and picking at it and i can’t see it, but know its a big one. GROSS GROSS GROSS. it takes some calm talk from me, but we get it out and throw it in the bird bath. heebeegeebees for everyone involved. what a way to start my visit.

story 3: so its about 10 pm. i just watched the office and had a glass of wine. me, mom and dad are hanging out on the couch relaxing. its great to be at moms. i had to pee. so, i went to the bathroom. nothing unusual. as i stand up to flush, i catch a small random movement in my peripheral vision. to the right, near the cabinet on the floor, OMG … i take off screaming and running at full speed and crash into the couch, nearly upsetting a wine glass. there was a snake in the bathroom. my mom and dad thought it was a prank. i used to hide a green rubber snake around the house to scare my mom when i was younger. no prank. the real deal. red alert, all systems in hysterics. i was standing on the couch screaming, my mom is running around and my dad was looking for gloves in the garage. we have NO idea how it got in there, but the most plausible is FROM MY BAG. i think, ladies and gents, that i have ben harboring a fugitive in my trunk or in my cosmetic bag. holy shit. i am so afraid of the slithery bastards and there is one in the bathroom with me. we think it was a young rat snake. it was grey and black with intermittent markings.

so, i think mother earth is trying to send me a message. or something. whats next, a rat in my room? lets hope not or my next stop isn’t california, its the looney bin.

addendum: we now have determined that the snake most likely came from a flower pot that my mom had outside for two weeks while they were away. so it came in when she brought it inside yesterday morning. just to be safe, i discarded my toothbrush that was in the cosmetic bag.

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…

tomorrow is final review. i am not 100% confident that my presentation speaks to my project intentions in the way that i hoped it would, but i feel so deeply immersed in the forest that i cannot see the proverbial trees. i am sure i will be able to speak clearly about my intentions and conclusions in a few months. but for now, i am not so sure. i feel wrapped in anxiety and in relief at the same time. i want it to be over, but not to end. there is the next phase, the next thing, the next adventure … but i have learned so much on this one its hard to allow it to pass. with that said, i am confident that i will be able to let it go with more grace than i have in the past. if i have learned anything about living these last two years, its to live in the moment more. so in this moment i feel change coming in all of its freedom and fright. i dreamt of snakes last night, but i did not wake up screaming. to the contrary i slept quite well. maybe grace has found me after all.

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tshirt

i found my tshirt that i designed for michele’s project for symposium, so i thought i would post it. heh heh.

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such interesting words

“The primal laws of design and our pleasure in them reach deeper and higher than sex. From simple repetition and alternation, on through symmetry, radiation and the rest, we respond to regularity, to balance, to the lifting and soothing effect of line, form, color, having no connection whatever with sex or sex-attraction.”

— CP Gilman, The Dress of Women, 1915

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