Snow and Solitude

It is snowing outside. I don't have to work today. I am snug with a couple of snoring dogs, a fake fireplace, and a cup of hot tea. Perfect.

What I go through...

Another fat bigot

This morning I was listening to the radio. The program had two economists discussing income inequality in our country today and what it means. At some point the dicussion turned to how there isn't just income inequality but life expectancy inequality too. And I swear to god, one of those dudes straight up blamed poor people for dying early because they are more likely to be fat. It was pretty early in the morning and I was half awake but it sounded to me like he was saying that poor people don't die sooner because they don't have the same access to health care. They don't die sooner because their lives are more stressful. They don't die sooner because they don't have the time or access to the kinds of recreation choices that make people healthier. No, they die sooner because they are fat and they are fat because they make bad choices. Which is probably why they are poor too.

I fucking hate people sometimes.

The D is the future.

I am very worried about the direction our country is going in. I worry about it all of the time. But I am not entirely without hope

What makes me hopeful is Detroit. Seriously. Mother F*cking Detroit! What has happened to Detroit could be what happens to the rest of our country. Detroit has a 50% illiteracy rate and probably not coincidentally a 50% unemployment rate (if you count discouraged workers). The government is near collapse. There is decay and crime and every other thing everyone fears.

And you know what? It isn't that bad. People do step up. Although people do starve to death there or die of exposure, it isn't exactly common. We could all do better of course but what I am seeing in Detroit is a bunch of people making real policy changes that I suspect are going to result in a huge improvement.

Not only that, the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" entrepreneurial spirit that everyone says is part of the American psyche is thriving there. I see it every day. I have a lot of friends who live there and the things they are doing are amazing. They are *farming* there (stick it up your butt big agribusiness!) Others are making things and then selling them and really actually making money in the process. People are starting all kinds of businesses. It turns out that for a lot of people, when they can't get a job, they make a god damn job and it is exciting in ways I can hardly describe. But mostly I see it as proof that the 1% isn't going to have an easy time with their feudalistic intentions.

There was a nice article on Huffington Post about just this thing today so I am sure that is why I am feeling that if Detroit can come back, the USA can come back. Here is a link:

Why Detroit? Why Now?

This one is for Bill Hicks: A positive LSD story

I just had to think of Bill Hicks when I was reading this positive LSD story:

http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/landmark-clinical-lsd-study-nears-completion

Detroit

I love Detroit. I really do.

Yesterday, I had quite a nice day there. I got to see all kinds of wonderful folks. First I met up with the Bachers at Dally in the Alley. Lots of people were there. I actually had a hard time parking and ended up parking all the way up on Seldon and walking. That worked out ok though because I was pretty much right across the street from The Old Miami, where I eventually ended up.

The Dally was really fun. I can't believe I've never bothered to attend this event before. *slaps forehead* It is basically the best block party ever! Like one often finds in Detroit, there was amazing live music on multiple stages. Later, I dragged my friend, Brent, to Traffic Jam for dinner. We saw Carl Levin there even! I am such a dork too and I totally pulled my "bus person" maneuver where I'll run into a person I don't know but see on the bus regularly someplace other than the bus and I'll be all like "HI!" like I am greeting an old friend. I totally did that to Carl Levin but he's a good politician so he totally did the same thing back to me. hahaha. He probably gets that all of the time.

After that, I walked over the Old Miami. It is really weird to me how that area is gentrifying. I didn't have to step over even one passed out homeless person! Seriously, it looks like a lot of the vacant buildings have been torn down and the older buildings still standing seem to be occupied and in good shape, at least as far as one can tell from the sidewalk. That makes me happy. I hope that neighborhood does well.

The Punk Fest benefit for Children's Hospital was pretty fun. I got there around 9:30p but still was able to see four bands. And also, as usual, I found myself a little awestruck at how much musical talent there is in Detroit. These bands were amazing! I always feel so lucky when I am in Detroit that I can, for not very much money, see really great live music in small venues. Even doing that "I'm too cool to run to the front so I am going to stand back here by the bar" thing leaves you within 50ft of the stage.

I ended up leaving around 1am and I don't know if it was the Dally or if it was that UofM had a night game that ended late but there were a lot of drunks on the road. :( That isn't something I love about Detroit. I avoided getting hit by someone running a red light on Woodward because I luckily noticed them out of the corner of my eye and stopped even though I had a green light. I had to swerve to miss someone who decided to cut me off on the entrance ramp to I-94. But the really scary part was when I was just in Dearborn and I saw someone get on the freeway going the wrong way. Luckily it was night time so those approaching headlights were very obvious. And also luckily, I and several other drivers, started flashing our lights and honking and the wrong way driver noticed and pulled onto the shoulder. It was pretty scary though and, let me tell you, it woke me right up. Whew.