Not exactly #SolarPunkSunday related, but this is how my friends and I spent last evening... Listening to albums and talking! No screens! No phones! We listened to #SineadOConnor, #WorldParty, #PIL, #U2, #ElvisCostello and #TalkTalk. Before we knew it, it was midnight and time to head home!
@tinker Yeah, I had a vinyl listening party with a close friend (no screens), and also went out to the club I used to DJ at for a Halloween Party, where more vinyl was spun!
Weekly #SolarPunk update. Did my usual #FoodRescue ride on Saturday, then stopped by the community bike repair garage to help organize and sort donated bikes and clean stuff up for painting. We're getting towards the end of the active season and want to get as many bikes processed as possible before snow falls on them all. Having the space clean and organized makes that easier and safer.
Sunday morning was the final farm day for the #UrbanGarden, where we packed up the cold frames and cleared out the beds and fed the compost. We also had a meeting to elect a new garden coordinator and programming coordinator, which went well. After that it was back to the bike garage, where I did some final tuning of my own bike and helped out a few folks. I've really enjoyed working at the women, transgender, and non-binary hours on Sundays, and I'll keep doing that as long as it remains warm enough for me to work outside (and people keep coming). Sadly I suspect the season for that is also drawing to a close.
After we were done fixing bikes, I went to dinner with the two other volunteers who were working with me. We talked about building strong communities, how things had changed, what we like about the neighbourhood, and got to know each other a little better. It was good food and good company. I will try to find ways to keep investing in those relationships even if I don't get to see them every week.
Activism is actually about behind the scenes work.
The Lula victory makes me think of all the organisers who must have worked their arses off to get this idea across the line.
Activism is not just the rally, it is also everything before and after.
Think of the activists and organisers in these next few days, who are doing their best every day.
We take a lot for granted here in Australia, where voting is compulsory.
Please get out and vote.
I have not been online as much.
In the past handful of weeks, I have:
- Watched a movie outside in the park on a blow up projector screen.
- Went to a local set of horror plays written by local playwrights. We voted on which one we liked the best (ranked choice) and whoever wins will have a chance to produce a full play locally.
- Went to the local symphony orchestra (small town, but dang the local folks can play!) and even watched a guest violinist play amazingly!
- Went on a "ghost tour" which is really just a local history tour but with fun things mixed in
- Went to some lovely gardens and museums
Annnnnnd some other stuff like going downtown and listening to street buskers (and tipping), checking out local art shows, going to fun events in the various parks.
Many of those activities were free. The ones that cost money were cheaper than eating at McDonalds.
I've been doing other things like trying to run again, and sit in meditation with others, and play my fipple flute, and build up food infrastructure.
Things are quiet now. And I'm finding ways to be quiet with other folks around me. And it is lovely.
I've learned a new set of terms!!!
Emic and Etic.
I'm continuing my religious studies and am approaching it from two fronts, one as a practitioner and two from an academic standpoint.
So one is from the inside of the religion and studying the religious beliefs, philosophies, and practices as a member of that religion.
And the second is from an outside perspective, more academic, less bias, and more dry.
In so doing, I came across the words "emic" and "etic" which describe just that. Emic approaches the study from an insider's perspective. One who believes and practices it. Etic is from an outsider's perspective, more academic and research oriented.
Both approaches combined allow for a really holistic approach.
Anyhoo! Fun!
The security posture can not be truly known. It can only be experienced.
The absence of the asset inventory is not enlightenment.
Before patching the systems, chop wood, carry water, and run vuln scans. After patching the system, chop wood, carry water, and run vuln scans.
If you work in the tech industry this whole thread is a spec for the product we should be working on instead of whatever bullshit we’re doing now. We are failing these people and eventually they will turn on us.
Drop-In Time is a time where I hang out in a room at the library with a big table and a lot of chairs and help people with their technology problems for two and a half hours. These are their stories. It was cold today so I was warming up some water for tea and by the time I got upstairs at three past the hour there were four people waiting for me. Whoops!
Bob and Kathy had a Medicare prescription drug plan that wasn't going to be around next year so they needed help finding a new one.
Some Ursula K Le Guin energy to make it through the day ❤️🔥
If your head is spinning with all the recent security news, and dealing with new vulnerabilities, and LLM jive turkeyism, and shifting employment landscape, and it all feels unsustainable... that's because it is.
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin. "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings."
I got a midnight message from a volunteer within our local community food group telling me they're taking down some of our servers until this PHP vuln is patched.
If you're in IT or technically proficient, supporting a local mutual aid or charity group is an amazing way of helping out.
(A lot of people ask me how a person who is unable to meet in person or be physically in proximity with others can help out in community groups - this is an amazing way to do that.)
Edit to add: A lot of local community groups have a tiny amount of IT assets that are still critical to them. For our group, it's a single wiki server (along with some third party communication apps like email, chat, and our website). It's generally easy for them to maintain that small number as a volunteer. Anything larger for a big non-profit should be a paid position in our current economic model.
Well that was a first for me...
Instead of hearing "This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes..."
...I just heard "This call may be analyzed by AI for quality assurance purposes."
Lovely.
Awesome.
On the way home a young lad was stopped with his broken down motorcycle - pulled over to see if he was OK, and got out my LED mechanics lamp to help him see what was wrong. he had a rough noise from his rear wheel, turned out a bungee cord come loose and wrap itself around rear sprocket and chain. I lent him the side cutters I keep in the car and he was able to cut most of the bungee cord, another chap who turned up got out of his car and helped yoink the metal bit of the bungee cord hook and the lad was back on the road and could get to work..
The Black Panthers organized to provide:
School lunches. Ambulance service. Free clinics. Education. Groceries. Escorts for elders…
The photo includes some of my favorite books about and by the Panthers. If you do nothing else today, please look up and read The 10 Point Program.
The #BlackPantherParty, a #socialist #antiracist group, was founded in #Oakland, CA, on #ThisDayInHistory in 1966 by #HueyPNewton & #BobbySeale. It operated health clinics and provided free food to children, scaring Washington into unleashing #COINTELPRO and killing its leaders.