a lil bit of something else

so to avoid the onslaught of the wheezing robots, i changed the blog to "readable by authors/invited readers only." hope that's okay with you. if you want to open a fellowsquid-squirrel-fox's mind to something adventurous,
- click "customize" at the top of this page (or navigate to the "dashboard")
- click the "settings" tab
- click "permissions" (the last tab)
- scroll to the bottom and add your buddy's email address to the waiting-wanting "invited readers" box
they'll get an email with the address and so long as they are not a robot, are welcome here.
[update: after talking to some squids, i switched this back so you 1) don't have to sign in and 2) anyone can read the blog. as a little sidenote to myself&all, since this is an open page and we sometimes direct our friends here, use yr Sense and don't post any super private info--address, phone #, full name, etc. and since the robots are here, email addresses are rife for spam so keep em to yrself.]

in other news,
capitalism is so boring.

for instance,

this weekend i went to madison with z, the isthmus of bikes-goodfood-tall leaning trees-lakes-co-ops-“ethnic”food-bourgeoisdelight and for the rest of us it’s a prime site for liberatory politics and homes that heal after a long day of the same-the same-the same, this time in wisconsin. the capitol building is better when the farmer’s market rings around it and after we make the rounds (cheese curds, kale, wallawallawallawontcha onions, conversation, little leaf samples, toothpicks for free, hot pickles, endless preserves) we go at it again with coffee-as-handwarmer just to see if there’s something we missed. for instance, a pastry. for instance, strawberry rhubarb something. for instance,

we toured some co-ops, not quite tourists more like “membershipper&waywardperson,” dwelling in the in-between between living and desiring, asking and choosing. reading house journals, asking about conflict, in this gap between rhetoric and reality finding cleavages of spirit and quietude. for instance, how much is dirt a part of your house practice? do you do the dishes because you have to or because you love to? when you say something objectionably real, do others agree? and are you friends? were you friends first? for instance, who shows up? who lives here? for instance, in this huge space, yard-public-rooms-niches-shed-kitchen, where in here do you live? for instance,

cigarettes on a porch, punching kimchi until it sweats, introducing legs to hills and mounds to muscles, homebuilt saunas full of steam and newly-met naked bodies, greywater toilets, filling up space with talk, local beef and indian honey, filing cabinets rocking back and forth with the weight of zines that could change the world if they landed in the right hands,

for instance, our hands found each other.

for instance, getting this funny feeling between my hand, heart, stomach, junk, bellybutton that maybe what i want (permaculture, farming, living, learning, thriving, flourishing, creating, loving) might not be as far away as the west coast, that there are places where life is easier to live well, a funny feeling of jealousy and impatience and through stories and reconstructions and resonance,

coming to love my now/here/present all the more, as ephemeral as it may sometimes seem.

something like,

dear madison,

you are one hot isthmus. thanks for the sunset. i think i’ll be back to go bikeriding with you soon. meet you by the ramps at the farmer’s market?

with communal warmth, cool breezes, and flying hair&pages,
eliot

"guilty robots"

check this out-- scroll down to "guilty robots" on time magazine's "year in ideas"

"This July, the roboticist Ronald Arkin of Georgia Tech finished a three-year project with the U.S. Army designing prototype software for autonomous ethical robots. He maintains that in limited situations, like countersniper operations or storming buildings, the software will actually allow robots to outperform humans from an ethical perspective...but being an ethical robot involves more than just following rules. These machines will have something akin to emotions - in particular, guilt."

the chunk on "gourmet dirt" is pretty good too.

The Future

According to this article, 2009 is the year of telepathy. Don't miss the end of the piece, where we learn how group minds will emerge from implanted telepathy chips made of nano-scale materials.

more robot theorizing

what is robot?
robot is
anti-individual
un-aesthetic
spiteful
(how do robots feel spite, you may ask. I save this as an exercise to the reader)
predictable
boring
and, most of all
robots follow the code.
which code? any code they're given. but they must follow it.

When you need to cross a busy street, do you wait for the walk sign or for the lull in traffic? why?

I don't hate all robots. there is value in code and protocol. however, I find myself aligned against them in the interest of freaks and shamans and mutants everywhere, because the robot code is capitalism's code and I stand for a DIY ethic that is quickly losing its place in our society. Thus, I must take a stand for individual weirdness, against the robots. Let it be known that I do this mainly for my own (metaphysical) amusement. My anger may have arisen out of sexual frustration, but by now it's become something much more valid and serious.

robot paranoia

I'm more and more
worried
amused
concerned
hmm, scratch concerned it sounds just like worried
annoyed
angry
galvanized to |unholy| ACTION!
against these godamn robots.

Let this be a call to arms,
godamit let it be a warning
that the robots are already here
already among us

maybe mostly on the internet
but you never know:
that weird guy on the bus stop bench at 7 in the morning?
the one woman in the bank who sits in the back and never really helps anybody?
the doctor at the student care center with just a little _too_ much twinkle in his eye?

I'm telling you, be careful. Because not only do they have an agenda, but it's decidedly unhuman. Here's what one of them said to me only the other day:

Hey you! I'm just taking a peek at the ads here at Craigslst then viewed your posting and I was intrigued too find out a bit more information! Anyhow I am for the most part outgoing,love to party, and I am got to release my sexual frustration! Want pix Ive got awesome ones at luvtimer423.adultmyspace.org it will take you right 2 my profile pictures. It also has my interest's,some other things about me. So email me back if ya wanna meet. So well make plans and rendezvous! TTYL

grrrrr it makes my blood curdle. godamn robots can't even punctuate.

to start the revolution, I'll be playing anti-robot propaganda folk songs from my front porch at the baohaus every morning. This way the commuters who take the 6 will know what's up. Don't succumb so quick my fellow squids - join the insurgency!