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Memphis Democrat Column Week of 1/18/10

  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p>For me one of the richest pleasures of anti-nuclear organizing is the characters who take on this work.  It takes a very peculiar kind of person to commit to fighting a reactor complex which has the support of the state, some of the countries most powerful corporations and giant banks, often campaigning for years concluding with a high chance of failure.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://paxus.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/lucifer-at-gorleben.jpg\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-13905\" alt=\"With Lucifer at Gorleben protest in Germany Circa 2008\" src=\"http://paxus.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/lucifer-at-gorleben.jpg?w=519&amp;h=345\" width=\"519\" height=\"345\" /></a><br />\n</p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">With Lucifer at Gorleben protest in Germany Circa 2008</p>\n<p><a title=\"Meanwhile in Moscow - Lucifers report on protests\" href=\"http://funologist.org/2012/05/15/meanwhile-in-moscow/\" target=\"_blank\">Vladimir Slyviak</a> is one of these unusual people.  He has been fighting reactors in Russia since before the wall came down.  In 1988, he and another activist corked a smoke stack and locked themselves to it over 100 feet off the ground, shutting down the plant for hours.</p>\n<p>But you need to read that sentence again, because you were likely distracted by the action and perhaps missed the most important part, which is the date. In 1988 the KGB simply disappeared many people they found politically problematic.  To be a direct action activist in this era you needed to be unusually daring or crazy or both.  Vladimir might well be both.  Though his flavor of crazy, is like a fox.  I have been calling him Lucifer since 1991, he calls me goddess.</p>\n', created = 1371636164, expire = 1371722564, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:09f703a4c069afa444fe204424b0569b' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p class=\"reblog-from\"><img alt=\'\' src=\'http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/14e93856b6902c2e313d80a7af156b0e?s=25&amp;d=identicon&amp;r=G\' class=\'avatar avatar-25\' height=\'25\' width=\'25\' /> <a href=\"http://runninginzk.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/dance-parties-love/\">Reblogged from Running in ZK:</a></p>\n<p>I can\'t remember a time that I didn\'t love to dance. I was one of those little girls whose mothers carted them to weekly ballet and tap lessons. My friends and I choreographed dances after school and fawned over the cheerleaders at high school football games. My dreams were shaped by the Star Search dancers and some quintessential 80s dance movies: Dirty Dancing, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Footloose.</p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"http://runninginzk.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/dance-parties-love/\" target=\"_self\">Read more… 570 more words</a></p>\n<p>Kathryn was a dancing fool, took a break to have a baby, and now that family life has settled and shifted she is back with some fancy steps and some personal thoughts.</p>\n', created = 1371636164, expire = 1371722564, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:33a3d4a29bd0410e2beb2c8e2a8d9aef' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p>I can’t remember a time that I didn’t love to dance. I was one of those little girls whose mothers carted them to weekly ballet and tap lessons. My friends and I choreographed dances after school and fawned over the cheerleaders at high school football games. My dreams were shaped by the Star Search dancers and some quintessential 80s dance movies: Dirty Dancing, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Footloose.</p>\n<p>By the time I was starting high school, I realized I was a Smart Girl and not a Cheerleader, and I started to deliberately dance silly in order to avoid the possibility of being mocked for trying to dance well and failing. In college, I chose the goth club because people actually went there to dance, and didn’t mind if you danced a little differently. After college, clubs in the city were expensive (for me on my grad student stipend) and filled with cigarette smoke and guys who thought I should want to grind with them. Ugh. I stopped dancing entirely.</p>\n<p>I didn’t realize that I missed it. Yeah, yeah, so I watched Save the Last Dance like 10 times… My life was full. I did yoga. I discovered contra dancing, which was a blast – in a structured sort of way.</p>\n<p>And then I moved to Twin Oaks. My first Twin Oaks dance party was when I was a visitor at Halloween, and it was a revelation. The people filling the dance floor ranged in age from 2 to 78 or so, and I got to watch as many dancing styles as there were people dancing. Everyone was out to have a good time, no matter whether they danced well or awkwardly, hip hop or hippie, boisterously or demurely. It was safe to make eye contact while dancing, and share the joy of moving my body to music, without worrying that I’d have to defend my boundaries later. I was quickly hooked.</p>\n<p>For my first 6 or 7 years of membership, I made a point of going to every dance party I possibly could.</p>\n', created = 1371636164, expire = 1371722564, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:cabc2f74d04ec46f126e7604975f375a' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p dir=\"ltr\">This post was written by Paxus and originally appeared at <a title=\"Official Comm Conf website\" href=\"http://communitiesconference.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.communitiesconference.org</a> Sections in italics are additions to the original post.</p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n</p><p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>1. Reconsider your living situation.</strong>  If you let it, the Communities Conference can really shake you up.  Daring people who are trying new or untested lifestyles are presenting or in attendance.  Step outside your comfort zone a bit and start from the assumption that you could live somewhere else, or with other people and see what this event has to offer and demonstrate.  Let go of the assumption that your next year has to look like your last year and go back to your own personal values.  What do you really care about?  How could this be better experienced in your daily living situation?</p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>This is a call to be daring, which i think is the most under nurtured revolutionary trait.</em></p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/MlYJFErljS9j3u6y6WRVo0iBCXDZJwpTyYWEDvrWb2vpq-yicsSTFbj-OdjwR7hhnLnrhD4f8kVb2uWn0vUFDl_QsP_MmQfuhHYFbM0Qa6UK-i6fMrzmrjIMWQ\" width=\"NaN\" height=\"NaN\" /></p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>2. Chat with a rock star.</strong>  There are a bunch of inspiring personalities at the Communities Conference and they are more accessible in this relaxed 3 day event than they are at most times in their busy lives.  Seek out the people who say something that excited you and ask to have lunch or a more private chat with them.  If this is your first time attending, read the entire set of workshop descriptions upon arrival and find out which presenters sound like they are doing stuff you are excited about and then get any of the event organizers to point that person out to you.  This conversation might just change your life.</p>\n', created = 1371636164, expire = 1371722564, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:1a0cae9ea7d8413500e25214684ad887' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
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  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p>Several people have said the most useful piece of the <a title=\"Official Loud Love event\" href=\"http://loudlove.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Loud Love</a> event was the transparency tools workshop.   i was powerfully reminded that while the tools are useful, what appears to be really happening is that people are longing to be asked these revealing questions.  With the smallest opportunity most people will share deep feelings and vulnerable information about themselves, even with people they dont know very well.</p>\n<p>We have re-started the transparency group at Acorn.  There were a few people excited about it and a number of people who showed up when it happened who seemed to like it.  My original thought was that we should try to fuse Acorns more festive culture with this tool set and instead of having the classical, slightly formal transparency discussions.  We should have transparency parties, where the format is more relaxed, less full group oriented and more smaller conversations.  Distracting food and drink could be part of it as well.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://paxus.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/picsasso-girl-in-mirror.jpg\"><img class=\" wp-image-13883 \" alt=\"Picasso\'s girl in the mirror\" src=\"http://paxus.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/picsasso-girl-in-mirror.jpg?w=363&amp;h=450\" width=\"363\" height=\"450\" /></a><br />\n</p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Picasso’s girl before a mirror</p>\n<p>Instead, at the first Acorn transparency event this year, we stuck to a more conventional format, with the group in a circle and a single person revealing themselves to everyone using several <a title=\"This blog transparency tools list\" href=\"http://funologist.org/2010/12/27/liberal-transparency/\" target=\"_blank\">different tool sets</a>.  And i was blown away again.</p>\n', created = 1371636164, expire = 1371722564, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:eec343b01362d659c6c6422356f34349' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
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  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p>Scabies sucks, but it was fun when people got excited about applying each other’s permethrin and the subsequent “prolonged skin-to-skin contact” parties we’re now green lighted to have.</p>\n<p>And having strep is not fun, but it’s nice that I don’t worry about losing my job/money/childcare/house because I’ve gotten sick and need to stay in bed for a couple days.  And people will bring me food.</p>\n<p>So maybe intentional community breaks even.  We infect each other with every transmissible ailment, but then we take care of each other while people get back to normal.</p>\n<p>Cue inspirational music.</p>\n<p> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/runninginzk.wordpress.com/629/\"><img alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/runninginzk.wordpress.com/629/\" /></a> <img alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=runninginzk.wordpress.com&amp;blog=51640857&amp;post=629&amp;subd=runninginzk&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" /></p>\n', created = 1371636164, expire = 1371722564, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:ecef4d3a4c260902733e7beecb9958ad' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
Submitted by amy on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 19:44
in

This week at Dancing Rabbit we had weathery things like snow, ice, and slush. Burrrr and a bit o’ yuck. This is my first winter at Dancing Rabbit and it has been a learning experience (and continues to be). We had below zero weather for a few nights in a row. This weather, which I thought had to be uncharacteristic, is evidently how it used to be, "back in the day" (according to the Rutledge Renegades, locals and friends we talk to often at Zimmerman's). I have learned the fine art of chopping wood and keeping a room warm. Tereza, Alyson, and I all shared the joy of frozen pipes; not to fear, we are all well and on track again. The best part has been taking advantage of winter's abundance...of snow. Dave, Jennifer, and I trekked over to a big o hill, affectionately called Vista de la Moo, and sledded on toboggan and flimsy yet fast regular sleds. My first time sledding, it was awesome, I tried to get Thor (Bear's dog) to get on the sled, but he wasn't having it. What we also learned about too many nights of too cold weather may cause the top layer of potatoes to freeze. Sheila was trying to explain to me how the first mushy layer was usable in some way, but I couldn't really imagine it. The good news is that most of Sheila's cellared tates did well, and I'm hoping that one day Sheila will make me breakfast. Dan tried to feed his mushy taters to the chickens, they were not so interested; they are clearly hens with discerning and refined tastes. Whatever helps those yummy eggs to keep 'a coming!

My favorite part of this week was seeing more of our people return home. Ali and Thomas, Sara, Ted, and Aurelia, Ziggy and April. I know it was last week, but Alyssa, Zane, and Bear and Ma'ikwe and Enzio. It always feels good when family returns home, both related and chosen families. So, now it feels like we are all getting back into the swing of things. The common house is livening up again. We all get to socialize together again and get excited about this next year. I hear people talking about projects they want to start...or continue. Gardening is always a big topic. We just started a gardening club and had our first meeting. There was quite a turn out, with experienced gardeners and newbies like myself. It inspires me how much the people in our eco-village care to bring food organically and locally into our lives for ourselves and neighbors. It is inspiring to see sustainability in process.

We all came together for a special party for Sara, who had a medical procedure last Monday. She is doing well now; before she went to the hospital we got everyone together and all wished her well. There was artwork galore and henna tattooing and songs written in her honor. It was not only fun, which is always a welcome thing during January, it was warm and fuzzy.

All in all it's been a good and productive week. People chopping wood, throwing shindigs and dinners, connecting, and some people continue to build – Dave is still putting a floor in the Timberframe extension, even as the temperatures drop. As it seems to be getting warmer, I can feel the spirits rising around here too. I think we all look forward to getting more work done and having more fun together in the common house. I'm from Hawai'i though and perhaps I'm optimistic and naive, it's only just January. I suppose we could be sledding again next week. Either way, I can't wait. It's taken awhile, but I'm finally warming up to this colder weather.

Aloha,
Nani

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community in Rutledge, Missouri, practicing ecological sustainability. We offer free public tours March through October. For more information, please see our website at http://www.dancingrabbit.org.