weapons of massdistraction

The weekend was a mix of relaxation and taking care of business. Mostly the latter. I’ve been going full-on Marie Kondo with the radical decluttering of our home. Now that it’s July our move is just a few weeks away. Purging feels amazing. And I even made a little money, though it was bittersweet. I parted with a pile of punk and hardcore records I’d been hanging on to for years. Some since junior high. I only saved a small stack of records with the most sentimental value. Saturday my son and I set up a table at the Extreme Noise Flea Market. Extreme Noise is a volunteer run co-op/institution in Minneapolis. Before I was even done unloading those fine folks swooped in. They pulled out a pile of my more valuable items and set them aside. Later that day they gave me an extremely generous amount of money for them, while I sold the less rare stuff at the flea market for a fair chunk of change. Sadly those funds are only temporarily visiting my banking account. This morning I finally took my car in for much-needed repairs and had to rent a loaner car. The hit to my pocketbook will hurt but I’ll feel better when the car’s issues have been resolved.

Five Good Things:

• I’ve been a big Saul Williams fan for years. Right now he’s got a Kickstarter to back Neptune Frost, a musical he’s written and would like to direct. If that happens I would love to see it.
• Interesting interview with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web, has some regrets. As well he should.
• To guard against climate change, Los Angeles is painting its streets white. They plan to lower the temperature by 3 degrees over the next 20 years. And vertical forest residential towers in Milan, Italy are fighting air pollution. More cities need to get on top of initiatives like this.
• Protests https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/30/us/politics/trump-protests-family-separation.html
• A Letter Of Hope from Henry Rollins:
  

  Do all the protests, do all the direct action, make all the phone calls, then mobilize in October and November. That’s when we can get off the ropes and start punching again. Take the long view, my sisters and brothers. Don’t let them take you out of the fight.

• It’s important to make time for comedy in dark times. This week I’m going back to ACME with my co-workers to see Laurie Kilmartin. Good stand-up always makes me feel better.