Ursula K Le Guin: March 3, 2015: Feminist Paper Doll Project 2015

Ursula Le Guin

My uncle gave me a copy of "The Wizard of Earthsea" sometime during the 1980's.  I loved it.  I got lost in the lands there.  I went sailing in my mind.  There were goats and mountains and wizards and dragons.  I have secret stashes of this book in my house.

Le Guin's books also opened up different ways of thinking: in "The Left Hand of Darkness" she told me about thinking about gender beyond the binary.  She opened up the realms of compassion and strength to those concepts beyond the mainstream media.  She helped me dive into the subverse.

But also she taught me to believe in metaphors.  She said, "People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within."

Avijit Roy: March 2, 2015: Feminist Paper Doll Project 2015

Avijit Roy

"We are united in our grief and will remain undefeated" 

(from the opening page of Mukto-mona (Free Thought).)

On February 26, Avijit Roy and his wife were returning from a book signing in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  They were attacked by religious extremist and Roy was brutually hacked to death. (She is currently in critical condition.)

Avijit Roy was an outspoken atheist and critic of religious extremists.  He founded the Bangladeshi liberal blog Mukta-Mona in which debate and rational discussion were prized.  He was noted for engaging folks who disagreed with his ideals and thoughts in discourse and debate.  

On the site dnaindia.com, Avijit Roy's daughter (who he adopted when he married Rafida Ahmed Banya) spoke out about her relationship with her father. She said this about him in a twitter post:

"He and my mom started dating when I was six years old.  In the twelve years that followed,  he became my friend,  my hero,  my most trusted confidante,  my dance partner (even though we're both terrible dancers), and my father.   Not once did he tell me to simmer down or be more polite;  he taught me to be informed,  bold and unafraid."

Thank you, Avijit Roy.

Leonard Nimoy: March 1, 2015: Feminist Paper Doll Project

I watched Star Trek and Doctor Who with my Poppy-  my mother's father.  They were on just after the PBS Nightly News Hour.  I loved this ritual with my Poppy.  But I hated the news only because I wanted the stories that unfurled on the screen to fill my eyes with far off lands and ideas.  The news was reality and my 4 year old mind had had enough of that. The folks on Star Trek and Doctor Who had star ships and they could travel in time.  They had world of wonderful exploration at their finger tips. 

And Star Trek had "Mr. Kitty Cat Ears"...Spock.  I loved him.  He did not people down.  He was fair. He observed.  He understood the use of being quiet. He very rarely displayed anger or rage.  He talked through his problems.  This was a salvation for my child self.

Leonard Nimoy was not Spock.  Spock was dependent on the artistry Nimoy placed into him.  This was the same artistry that he placed into his photography and into his understanding of how to use his celebrity to help others.

Thank you Mr. Nimoy.

Capturing the Self

Heart box

I think many people forgot First Friday last evening.  Or perhaps it was too cold for folks to venture out.  Either way, pity.

I have been working with my sweetie and conspirator on little automata.  Together we created a little blue bird automaton.  Last night was its public debut.  It was an interesting one.

This is it in motion:

However,only a few people even bothered to ask what was in the box.  In previous evenings I have had the black box that seemed to compel folks to ask what was in it.  My thought was that this box would do similar things.  I was wrong-ish.

Only a few folks seemed curious enough to completely engage.  One gentleman said that I was a puzzle that he NEEDED to figure out an engaged in "conversation" for almost 2 minutes.  The "conversation" was so long that my sweetie (who watches from the sideline to keep me safe) thought that I was verbally talking to him.  Eventually, this gentleman figured that he needed to ask to see in the box.  He laughed, seemingly delighted when he finally saw the bird.

My point in this piece is not to deal with emotion.  My heart is not broken nor am I seeking any spiritual enlightenment for myself or the community.  My point is to get people engaged in asking.

I placed myself near another artist friend, Abbeth Russel last night. She was juggling and is all around wonderful. (She also is a founder of The Hidden Ladder Collective.)  We were among the small handful of artists out.  After being out for a bit we went off to have a beer and debrief ourselves.  On of our questions was: How to engage people? and Why do people NOT engage?

I wonder if people feel exposed when they are curious.  Is curiosity too risky?  I know I did not engage one person last evening while I was walking to the corner of Brown and Congress because I was focused on walking and there was a bit of fear around talking (or in my case non-verbally communicating) with people.  I was fixated on my own goal and thereby negated her curiosity.

Other folks seemed pompous and self important.  They seemed to already know everything about what I was doing even though they really couldn't have.  Perhaps this was a fear mechanism as well?

I would like to thank those folks who did stop to engage with me last evening.  Sharing my art with you is the reason to stand out in the cold.  And the interaction with you made me forget about how cold it was for at least the duration of the engagement.

See you soon!