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  • user warning: Table 'cache_filter' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache_filter SET data = '<p><a name=\"pd_a_7190190\"></a></p>\n<p>Twin Oakers are getting the equivalent of a tax refund – free money (sorta)!</p>\n<p>So if this applies to you, please write in an “other” answer and tell all about how you’re going to spend your Big Bucks.  If it does not apply to you, just sit back and ingest the hilarity of our cash-poor existences.</p>\n<p> </p>\n<p> </p>\n<p> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/runninginzk.wordpress.com/638/\"><img alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/runninginzk.wordpress.com/638/\" /></a> <img alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=runninginzk.wordpress.com&amp;blog=51640857&amp;post=638&amp;subd=runninginzk&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" /></p>\n', created = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:6e2638332c4eeda6633b991fc35ab2f7' 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>Thanks Nexus (ex-Twin Oaker) for creating this video for us!</p>\n\n', created = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:8a0a392f172b0166b434fa87245b7abf' 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>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 = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, 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 = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, 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 = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, 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 = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, 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 = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, 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 = 1371714457, expire = 1371800857, headers = '', serialized = 0 WHERE cid = '3:ecef4d3a4c260902733e7beecb9958ad' in /home/thefec/htdocs/includes/cache.inc on line 109.
Submitted by Paxus on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 23:10
in

Every Thursday night i have Not Forum, my Twin Oaks transparency group.  We are playing with a several different tools and my current favorite is what is being affectionately (and slightly mockingly) being called “The emotional flip”  This is a borrowed from Emotional Brain Training and the first part of it is you cycle thru  more difficult emotions: anger, sadness, guilt and fear.

So for example last night i said

“I am angry that Rainbow and this anti-occupy gathering are happening at the same time so i cant go to both.”

“I am sad i will miss out on the national rainbow gathering with Shal, who i would love to go with.”

“I am afraid this anti-occupy event in Philly will be poorly organized and there wont be enuf people there to network with effectively and the trip will have been a mistake, and then i will be even more sad about not going to rainbow with Shal and company.”*

“I feel guilty that i am prioritizing this political thing over the cultural/fun thing.  i feel like a bad funologist.”

It is often the case the someone will feel combinations of these emotions around some situation, you might list 4 fears before you went onto sadness.  The flow is what ever feels best to the person who is revealing.  And, significantly it does not have to be true (i am oft too earnest in these exercises).  Even contradictory statements are okay like:

“I am sad that everyone hates me”

“I am secure that everyone does not hate me.”

These simple emotional declaratives, ideally spoken like a child would are fabulously revealing, even when (and i would argue especially when) they are liberated from having to be reality based.

The slightly comic part of the evening was when we got to the earned rewards emotions which technically are: happy, proud, grateful and secure.  Secure has a fall back, which is if you dont feel secure about anything, you could feel hopeful about something.

But i think this short sells the importance of hopeful as a stand alone emotional experience.  I am hopeful that there will be transformative change in the way the US operates in my lifetime, i may well never be secure in this, but the hope alone matters to me.  It drives me to do things which i would not do if i were resting comfortably in my securities and happinesses.

So all thru the evening when we were reminding people what the different earned rewards were, the four principal ones would be listed and i would and “hopeful”, sparking some amusement.

* It seems this fear is probably ill founded after talking with a couple organizers they reasonably expect between 50 and 200 people, including people poached from the national Occupy event in town at the same time.