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How is everyone doing?

My house of 6 is trying our best to not go anywhere. I work at a coffee shop, which closed last week and I have just been doing some of the roasting and bagging for doing online retail exclusively. I am currently the only employee remaining. It's a small business with a shakey payroll situation to begin with, so I am still owed about 500 dollars. Now is not a great time to be out 500 dollars. Most of my house still somehow has income, but one person works at a weed place and says everyone is ignorant there and they all share joints and hug all the time and it stresses him out.

I live in a county in Michigan with currently no reported cases, but we all are well aware that that has everything to do with a latency in testing and a lack of tests. Michigan seems to be worse and worse off by the day.

It's frightening and weird and it's only going to get weirder and worse. My plans to stay sane are to spend time on nice days picking up trash outside, and my housemate and I have been building compost bins and gardening. My partner is going to sew medical masks to donate to our local hospitals which have put out a call for it.


I hope you all are taking care of yourselves and those around you. I feel like punk kids, though maybe not the most santiary, are pretty good at shifting gears into resourceful problem solving and community care. Or maybe I'm just waxing nostalgia about it and feeling hopeful.

<3

I attempted to have a similar arrangement with the landlord at the house I was at for 7+ years. Ultimately she thought it was worth more than it was, and certainly more than a bank would approve me for. Ended up with a house that could very easily be a lucrative rental, but it's basically half a mile out of the neighborhood considered the student rental area, so the marketing for it was not geared towards investment properties - which really worked out for me. This house sat empty ofr 10 years, with the owner working on his cars in the (heated/drywalled) garage for that duration. A lot of the plumbing was/is happy having sat for that long, but I've worked to learn a decent amount about it. I'm saving up to re-route the water lines in the basement with PEX, because it's honestly only a matter of time before one bursts and ruins the gear of 6 different musicians.

Re-doing the knob-and-tube is a great idea and a hell of a hassle! We are doing some serious attic overhaul as well, and used the opportunity for just that same thing. I have not had all the knob-and-tube switched out in the basement, 2nd floor, and attic. I really lucked out by having a friend who is an electrician who is doing the work at a discounted rate, and working around our strange hectic house, while also giving us some lessons and pointers. I'm honestly pretty afraid of electricity, but my partner is enjoying learning about it.

That fire stuff sounds wild! My house has obvious former water damage, it looks like there was a major roof leak in a section, to the point that they tossed a lot of the floor boards in the attic in that spot. The mold in the rooms below was still find-able when we took the wallpaper down, and those rooms are also carpeted, which I imagine is a coverup. There's a brand new roof, though, and so far not a single leak. I feel like you and I are going to both find strange happenstances we can trace in the walls for years to come.

Super cool Joe! I also bought a 100 year old house in a great location to work on. It's been wonderful, though can also feel terrifying. I hope it is working out well for you, that is extremely exciting.

Gilles Deleuze: Essential Guides for Literary Studies by Claire Colebrook

and I just ordered and therefore will be starting soon:
Fatal Deception: The Terrifying True Story of How Asbestos Is Killing America by Michael Bowker

I just had to remove asbestos from my new house, so I'm excited to get pissed and terrified about it.

I'm in a couple new music project that are about to record that I am very excited about. It feels good to be getting back into the swing of things, even though I'm 29 and sometimes feel silly for being a musician. I play guitar now and I'm extremely reluctant to call myself a guitar player, but I'm eventually going to have to get over it.

Congrats on the house, Rory!

I spent a lot of years feeling shame for loving music, but thankfully I am now aware that I'm a lifer.  Playing music, specifically drums, informs me so much of myself and the world around me.  I am happy to give myself over to it.

Which is a great attitude, and often I feel this way! I get glimpses of feeling like maybe I should be doing something else, but it's certainly not the main thought.

Having this big old house is breathing some life in to me, giving me a bit of non-music related momentum. Though it's going to be a lot of work, and I will assuredly be exhausted, I think it's also going to make me more excited to have music as an outlet.

Turns out I was further along in buying a house than I thought, and this wonderful monstrosity is mine.

I'm in a couple new music project that are about to record that I am very excited about. It feels good to be getting back into the swing of things, even though I'm 29 and sometimes feel silly for being a musician. I play guitar now and I'm extremely reluctant to call myself a guitar player, but I'm eventually going to have to get over it.


I also am in the early stages of potentially buying a house. It means saying goodbye to the house I've been in and running as a venue for over 7 years. I have really become who I am in and because of this house, and the prospect of leaving is sort of freaking me out. On the one hand, it's always been a rental, and therefore always seemed like it has to end at some point. On the other, I always had it in the back of my head that maybe my landlord would sell me this place. Well, it turns out, she would, but the price she wants for it considering the condition it's in is totally unreasonable. That reality is sinking in, and I found a place I'm starting to let myself fall in love with. A few of my housemates and my partner would come with me. Figuring out what the remaining people will do with the house, if anything at all, is weighing heavy on me. I don't want to leave anyone holding the bag on this rental, but I think considering the history and function of the house we can get people to move in. I worry about the house continuing to throw shows after me, even though I also love the idea of something continuing on beyond me. The house has never just been me, but especially in the last few years I have taken on the vast majority of the event running. I want to throw a big goodbye show for myself and the couple other housemates following, even if that seems big-headed. Growing up is strange.


I don't think about pix stuff a ton. I think the death of my own band and a split with a long time friend coinciding with everything revealing it's true shit self around pix creates just one big hole in my heart, but just like how I'm going to learn to move on from my house venue, I learned to carry on and define myself in other ways. Remembering pix stuff might start to happen more as I get back into booking, recalling some of my friends from other places, who knows.

I'm still reading the Tunnel. Fairly close to the end, would be nice to accomplish that task in under 6 months, hah. Also I lost my renter's rights book, which is bothersome. Did not get very far into before that happened.

Now also reading:
The Great Rent Wars: New York, 1917-1929 by Robert M. Fogelson
Meanwhile, Elsewhere a collection of fiction shorts by trans/queer authors


I'm enjoying The Great Rent Wars, it's dry and historic, and tries to remain somewhat politically neutral in a way. Some things are very relateable even now, and even to me in not a large city, and other things definitely are products of the times they speak of. I'm finding I'm enjoying historical texts more than I ever really imagined I would, so I hope to continue to grab more on topics that pique my interest.

I'm so far only casually reading Meanwhile, Elsewhere until I finish The Tunnel and can therefore really dive in. Reading those two side by side is making me frustrated with the writing in Meanwhile, Elsewhere, which is not at all fair to it because William Gass is a ridiculously beautiful writer, even when his person of focus is so vile. Meanwhile, Elsewhere feel so far much more fun, young, current, and I'm excited to give it my proper attention when I'm not deeply entrenched in one of the best written books about a deplorable person I've ever read.

Things are different. It's okay.


I mean some things are really not okay.


But we're all growing and learning, so there's one uptick.

Finally finished both the Stewart Brand and Judith Butler books. The Judith Butler book is her most readable work I have delved into, and on such a difficult and important topic.

Still reading The Tunnel. For that being my "fun" book, it sure is a rough time.

About to start
May Made Me: An Oral History of the 1968 Uprising in France[i/] by Mitchell Abidor
Renters' Rights by Janet Portman

Me and a couple of friends are intending on doing a work shop on renters' rights, as we have a huge problem here with slumlord management companies taking over. After living in this city for a decade, I've grown totally disgusted watching these landlords and management companies take advantage of the lack of knowledge many of these first time and poor renters have. But I myself also have quite a bit to learn, so I am trying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before presenting something to people.

Just started The Tunnel by William Gass.

Still reading the two above, but also:
The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day by Peter Linebaugh
Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

The May Day book is fairly easy to read, but also quite a bit more scattered than what I was really looking for. I think Bluebeard is the 2nd Vonnegut book I ever read, which means I probably read it in 8th grade. I think about it often, so it seemed that I was do for a re-visit. It's probably been more than 5 years since I've read any of his works, but he's the first author I truly enjoyed reading, so his works will always be pretty special to me.

Just started:
Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism by Judith Butler
Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand

A couple other books are on the way too, will probably start one of them within the week. The Stewart Brand book is one my housemate is reading for school, so I'm just picking it up while it's sitting around in the livingroom.

Oh yeah I was waiting to not be so broke to place a pre-order, good reminder!

Just finished Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. Part of the way through Giving An Account Of Oneself by Judith Butler.

Soon will start:
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
The Poltical Philosophy of Poststructuralist Anarchism by Todd May
The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I regret that it took her death to get me to check out her work. I used to get into political commentary sci-fi stuff, and somehow missed her. Every quote I've seen of her come up since her death has been really wonderful though, so I'm excited to finally put my head in some of her full works.

Also, I just kind of use this thread as my personal log on the books I've read. Reading more is changing my life in one of those slow, patient ways.

Pile - A Hairshirt Of Purpose
Nana Grizol - Ursa Minor
Girlpool - Powerplant
Radiator Hospital - Play The Songs You Like
Emperor X - Oversleepers International
Nnamdi Obonnaya - Drool
Palehound - A Place I'll Always Go
About A Million - Look For Me When You Get Bored
Longface - Hillbilly Wit
Allison Crutchfield - tourist In This Town

This was my top 10 I was forced to create because I work at a record store and am supposed to have these sorts of opinions.

I'm still reading Science and Human Behavior. About half way through. It's good review. Some ways Skinner talks about things appear dated, even if the general concepts still hold.
I gave up onA Derrida Reader: Between the Blinds. Maybe someday.

Also reading:
Carsick by John Waters
Society Of The Spectacle by Guy Debord which I'm so far finding to be terrifyingly relevant

Science and Human Behavior by B.F. Skinner
A Derrida Reader: Between the Blinds
Vulnerability In Resistance

I'm in the early stages of all of these texts, though all the Skinner stuff is mostly review.

I feel like a normie, but this band has really been bringing it for me. I didn't super care for Murder of the Universe, but Flying Microtonal Banana and this album, for different reasons, really resonate with me. I hate the band name more than any band I've ever enjoyed or probably ever will, though.

https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/sketches-of-brunswick-east

Oh neat, did you study this in school, or just sort of develop your own interest?

I had started reading queer theory in school, but it was pretty surface level look. I tried to dive in on my own a bit after graduating, but as you probably know or can imagine, a lot of these texts are pretty dense without cursory knowledge of other philosophers, the language around philosophy, or any sort of reading guide/discussion. I fell away from it for a few years, but with ideas around it kicking around in my head for awhile now.


Mainly when I was in school I studied behavior analysis, which is also still something I've kept an arms-length interest in even while not applying my degree. My ex is also in grad school for it right now, and we've spent a lot of time over the years bouncing ideas about behavior analysis around. I picked up one of her textbooks (the behavior book mentioned earlier) and it all sort of clicked into some lines of thought I had been thinking about earlier. I think the philosophy behind behavior analysis relates to or works in tandem with a lot of the concepts brought to light from post structuralism, at least the bits I had gleaned from some reading years ago. I've been wanting to write about behavior social/political theory that is coherent but also true and accurate to the tenets of the science of behavior analysis.

I'm not sure any of this at this point is coherent, but the plan is for it to someday be!

Instead of reading Dune, I bought a few "a very short introduction" books on Post Structuralism, Derrida, and Foucault, as well as A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory by Nikki Sullivan. I have some writing that I want to do, but I have to make sure I know what I'm talking about first. I've read some Foucault and Butler, but I'm fairly rusty on theory stuff these days, especially considering the esoteric writing style of those particular theorists.

Recently finished:
Gay Berlin by Robert M. Beachy
Against The Fascist Creep by Alexander Reid Ross

Currently reading:
Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook by Mark Bray
Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science by Mecca Chiesa

I'm also thinking about starting Dune, but I'm not sure I can commit. Maybe that's a read for if I ever go on tour again.

I remember hearing some kind of wild statistic about how many hours a week the average American watched TV in the 90s/early 2000s, and I don't know what it was, but I remember it seeming egregious. But then I think back and I grew up in a household absolutely engrossed with cable TV. If someone was awake, 9 times out of 10 the TV was on, with that remaining 10th filled with music. It seemed so normal.

I think that technology and media go back in so many different ways, and are always critiqued for pulling people out of reality, as though there was a better time before it. I think most of humanity's history is toil, and when it's not, it's mostly filled up with how to occupy ones time when you're not just scraping through life.

But with every new technology and media, there's a unique way that it re-shapes societal living, and we are certainly on a fast-track for that kind of re-shaping comparatively. Comparing and absurd amount of television watching to what one experiences on social media is just not analogous. The interactive small dopamine bursts of social media, as well as the ways that those things are connected as the now most socially acceptable and palpable way to contact people, is such a weird position.

I do think that there's something to be said about being bored, though. If one source of near-constant reinforcement is cut off, a person is just going to have to find a new way to get their kicks. I quickly find myself dissatisfied watching TV when I can't break it up with social media, but I have found reading and guitar playing to be functional little bursts of activity to keep me from going into a spiraling boredom depression hole.

I work at a record store. It's a staff of 6 people, so it's not a ton to keep track of but just enough. But it is a thing where we post every day multiple times a day.

I have a flip phone so I don't have messenger, and it is pretty annoying not having everyone's contacts. I tried to get as many phone numbers and addresses as I could before I signed off, but I lost steam on it quickly.

to realize you can just have thoughts and experiences and not share them.

But it's such a weird sensation, right?! At least for a moment (and maybe this only applies to people who are particularly active on facebook - which I definitely was).

I've been on facebook for over 10 years, and maybe in college I took small breaks during times when I needed absolute focus, but they were so minimal and facebook wasn't the monster it is now then then I don't even really recall. Back then I was more apt to take breaks from forum posting and make myself log out of that, which I do remember doing and I do remember it being difficult.

Not being able to leave for the business makes sense. My work has had to re-structure some things for getting information to me because we centralized all communication, including schedules, on facebook. I thankfully did such minimal promotion with our businesses actual page, that it was acceptable for me to leave, for many that's not the case.

I always felt so tied to it because of show promotion. So far quitting facebook is the one somewhat positive consequence of my band falling apart. It has given me an opportunity to step away and I'm glad for the experience. I've been off of it for almost a month, and I have every intention of staying away until the new year. By then I may have enough momentum with new music projects that I may need an outlet to promote again.