i’m probably going to retire from tumblr
or at least for an indefinite period.
i’m really sick of the vapid nature of this site. i can’t keep up with the banality of round the clock image regurgitation. no offense people.
in the past i’ve tried to make some thoughtful, intelligent and academic posts. it’s hard to keep up with this type of writing/cognitive processing while still in school, and i have serious plans to returning to more astute and lengthy ruminations in about a month or so.
more likely than not though, i’ll probably be starting a wordpress blog for these scrawlings. i intend for this new forum to generate more multimedia content (photography, art, text, video, music), as well as afford likeminded individuals to engage in a deeper dialogue via comments.
i dunno man, school’s been making me think a lot about my adult life lately. i don’t want to dumb myself down for tumblr anymore. unlike an earlier self, i’m not particularly interested in attempting to reduce my feelings, interests, politics and aesthetics to tweet-like updates and re-blogged images. i don’t want to blindly embrace that type of self-satisfying narcissism anymore. sorry dude.
i want to nerd out and write annotated essays about the things that capture my interest, with extensive bibliographies and five footnotes per page. i want to write about racial politics, about art, about history, about pedagogy, about radical politics, about the NBA, about portland, about new york, about pseudoscience, about antique shopping, about collecting, about class, about my never-ending quest for the tiki bar with the best mai tais, about film, about feminism, about the multiple jeopardies of being a radical woman of color, about aesthetics, about hip hop and surf rock and girl groups and k records and punk rock and no wave, about goofy/12 year-old boy humour. i want people to comment and react and make corrections to my proclamations and ask questions and suggest further reading and have enough of a sense of humor to sometimes just reply “lol.”
so uh, i hope some of you followers will follow me there. i’ll let you know more when i make the transition.
from “further considerations on afrofuturism” by kodwo eshun:
“Toni Morrison argued that the African subjects that experienced capture, theft, mutilation, and slavery were the first moderns. They underwent real conditions of existential homelessness, alienation, dislocation, and dehumanization that philosophers like Nietzsche would later define as quintessentially modern.”
“In the colonial era of the early to middle twentieth century, avant-gardists from Walter Benjamin to Frantz Fanon revolted in the name of the future against a power structure that relied on control and representation of the historical archive. Today, the situation is reversed. The powerful employ futurists and draw power from the futures they endorse, thereby condemning the disempowered to live in the past.”
“…science fiction was never concerned with the future, but rather with engineering feedback between its preferred future and its becoming present.”
“The human-machine interface became both the condition and the subject of Afrofuturism… to feel at home in alienation…”
“Afrodiasporic subjects live the estrangement that science-fiction writers envision. Black existence and science fiction are one and the same.”
cgis really are the worst/best.
that daniel johnston shirt is a nice touch though, haha.
i’m holding a meeting tonight with a few other concerned students about what the sarah lawrence community can do to help tsunami/earthquake/radiation victims in japan. i’m honestly kind of appalled that NOTHING has been done thus far, even with it being spring vacation right now.
most likely there will be a fundraising event, but i also have some visions for a few different community projects/events to both memorialize those lost and suffering in japan, and raise awareness of the dangers of nuclear energy dependency worldwide. more to come in the following days/weeks on this. let me know if you want to get on the email list for organizing these events/projects.
-annie
once again guys, i’m looking for subjects for my photography project!!
for now, i’m mainly looking for new york-based collectors, but really, i’d love to get in touch with collectors on both coasts.
if you are a collector and are interested in being part of this work, please contact me at asoga@gm.slc.edu
if you’re not a collector, but know of anyone who is, please feel free to pass this info on.
please reblog!!
xo,
annie
i can’t say i agree with the factors contributing to so-called “badass-ness,” but the least i can say is i’m a sucker for maps, and according to this one i live between the #7 and #36 most badass neighborhoods.
ok, the woman i babysit for just linked me to this. what the whaaaaaaat.
alien boy: the death and life of james chasse
On September 17, 2006, James Chasse, a shy and gentle man with schizophrenia, was tackled by three police officers in front of dozens of eyewitnesses on a downtown street corner in Portland, Oregon.
He was not suspected of a crime, nor had he committed one.
Eyewitnesses report the officers used “knees to the chest, punches to the face” and a Taser to subdue Chasse. He was handcuffed and lost consciousness for several moments. Eyewitnesses feared he was dead.
Paramedics arrived to the scene, but police neglected to share the extent of their violent struggle with Chasse, or his loss of consciousness. Chasse was then hogtied and - in the words of eyewitnesses - carried away “like and shot deer,” loaded into the back of a police car and taken to the police station, not a nearby hospital.
Jail nurses refused to admit Chasse due to the extent of his injuries, and demanded he be taken to a hospital. Rather than going to one of three emergency rooms within two miles, the officers who beat him started to drive Chasse to an emergency room six miles away.
En route, officers noticed Chasse had slumped over in the backseat. They pulled over and attempted CPR, but it was too late. Ninety minutes after the police tackled him, James Chasse died.
The autopsy reports Chasse had suffered 17 broken ribs, a separated shoulder, a punctured lung, and numerous bruises and contusions. At the scene of the struggle, police told on-lookers that Chasse was homeless and had 14 felony convictions for selling cocaine. Not true: Chasse had no criminal record, and lived in an apartment just a few blocks away.
THE FILM
Alien Boy: the Death and Life of James Chasse is a feature-length documentary film that:
* Examines the events of Sept. 17, 2006;
* Explores the impact and meaning of James Chasse’s death;
* Asks questions about how we as a society treat those with mental illness.
The film takes a deep look at Chasse’s life, uncovering his suburban childhood, participation in Portland’s early punk rock scene, the teenage onset of his schizophrenia, the peeling away of friendships and opportunities as his illness progressed into his adulthood, and his ability to carve out an independent existence despite his mental illness.
this film needs help through charitable contributions to wrap up production. i personally support the efforts to make alien boy because not only is there still inadequate awareness/advocacy of mental health causes, but there’s also little knowledge of portland police brutality outside of the city. i think it’s important to bring light to both of these subjects; all profits from the film are to go to the mental health association of portland. go to their kickstarter to watch the trailer and donate. bonus points for supporting this film if you’re a portland punk fan!
just got this. you should, too. it’s a lot of covers, but still. japanese girl group surf rock/pop. it’s helping me get through winter blues.
i’m planning a birthday dinner for sarah this weekend, with the theme NIC “CAJUN” DINNER NITE.
so far, the menu consists of:
-arizona sweet tea & vodka (raising arizona)
-honey biscuits & gravy (the wicker man)
-canned peach cobbler (face/off)
still needs a main course, though. or at least something with veggies. considering nic’s obsession with elvis (wild at heart, and marrying his daughter), i thought about making peanut butter & banana sandwiches. herzog’s bad lieutenant: port of call new orleans which features cage is also on the whole cajun theme, though i’m not sure i want to be cooking crack cocaine. was also thinking of getting her some moonstruck chocolate for moonstruck, but i forgot they only have shops in portland, and their shipping is ridiculous.
any more suggestions?
