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After that cheery title[*], it is time for another entry chock full of randomness! Whee!
Random the First: If any of my friends in the UK could use a car, let me know. Peter I has been sitting in our driveway unused for about two months now, ever since shortly after I purchased Peter II. Peter I is a 1997 Volkswagen Vento (see here for photos). His engine is in very good shape. However, he needs about £300 of suspension work to pass the MOT. A new battery is not strictly necessary, but would not hurt. And at least one new tyre will be needed soon. This is why I chose to buy Peter II -- especially for the bargain price of £300 -- rather than fix up Peter I. However, if anyone could use this car, it is yours for the rock-bottom price of £000.00! It would make me happy if I could help somebody I know out by giving them the car. Otherwise, I will offer it away on FreeCycle.
Random the Second: Ice skating lessons tonight! For the first time since mid-July! The summer break at the rink is over and the new term begins tonight. I will be starting the NISA Level Six course tonight. Here's hoping that I have not forgotten everything I ever learned in the past month and a half!
Random the Third: I have been reading about the atrocities committed by police during the 2008 RNC in St. Paul. I must say that I am absolutely horrified. As bad as things were in 2004 for us in NYC, this sounds like it was even worse -- concussion grenades, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, smoke bombs! Oy! Makes me remember one of the reasons why I left the United States... and makes me all the more reluctant to consider returning, even if it does turn out to be the best career path. One friend -- who is not an activist -- has referred me to somebody who was arrested and held for forty hours last week, so that I can offer advice from my experience. I am happy to help, if I can, but I do feel like I really should have been there. So I make a promise to myself now, to be at the 2012 RNC, wherever it is held. Sad to say, watching the police brutality and fascist repression increase tells me that we failed in 2004... because all our efforts -- during the convention and afterward -- could not stop the same (and worse) from happening again.
Random the Fourth: The St. Giles Fair is on! The fair goes back about two hundred years (although that photograph goes back only about half that). It is held on the first Monday and Tuesday following the first Sunday after September 1st. The usually busy street of St. Giles is closed to traffic and turned into a carnival for two days. I work at the very Northern end of the street, so all I need do is wander outside to see rides and carnival games and food vendors and whatnot. Definitely a change from the usual -- and a very interesting contrast with the ancient buildings that line the street! I plan to take in the fair a bit tomorrow evening (possibly with some company...). I don't really know why they have a fair there every year, but tis nifty. Rumour has it that St. John's College -- the richest of the Oxford colleges -- owns the street and, although they let the city use it for general traffic most of the year, they choose to shut it down for two days as a way of asserting their ownership rights. Is this correct? I don't know...
[*] Title goes with third randomness, icon goes with first, "current music" goes with second. The St. Giles fair is left out and will just have to cope somehow...
Random the First: If any of my friends in the UK could use a car, let me know. Peter I has been sitting in our driveway unused for about two months now, ever since shortly after I purchased Peter II. Peter I is a 1997 Volkswagen Vento (see here for photos). His engine is in very good shape. However, he needs about £300 of suspension work to pass the MOT. A new battery is not strictly necessary, but would not hurt. And at least one new tyre will be needed soon. This is why I chose to buy Peter II -- especially for the bargain price of £300 -- rather than fix up Peter I. However, if anyone could use this car, it is yours for the rock-bottom price of £000.00! It would make me happy if I could help somebody I know out by giving them the car. Otherwise, I will offer it away on FreeCycle.
Random the Second: Ice skating lessons tonight! For the first time since mid-July! The summer break at the rink is over and the new term begins tonight. I will be starting the NISA Level Six course tonight. Here's hoping that I have not forgotten everything I ever learned in the past month and a half!
Random the Third: I have been reading about the atrocities committed by police during the 2008 RNC in St. Paul. I must say that I am absolutely horrified. As bad as things were in 2004 for us in NYC, this sounds like it was even worse -- concussion grenades, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, smoke bombs! Oy! Makes me remember one of the reasons why I left the United States... and makes me all the more reluctant to consider returning, even if it does turn out to be the best career path. One friend -- who is not an activist -- has referred me to somebody who was arrested and held for forty hours last week, so that I can offer advice from my experience. I am happy to help, if I can, but I do feel like I really should have been there. So I make a promise to myself now, to be at the 2012 RNC, wherever it is held. Sad to say, watching the police brutality and fascist repression increase tells me that we failed in 2004... because all our efforts -- during the convention and afterward -- could not stop the same (and worse) from happening again.
Random the Fourth: The St. Giles Fair is on! The fair goes back about two hundred years (although that photograph goes back only about half that). It is held on the first Monday and Tuesday following the first Sunday after September 1st. The usually busy street of St. Giles is closed to traffic and turned into a carnival for two days. I work at the very Northern end of the street, so all I need do is wander outside to see rides and carnival games and food vendors and whatnot. Definitely a change from the usual -- and a very interesting contrast with the ancient buildings that line the street! I plan to take in the fair a bit tomorrow evening (possibly with some company...). I don't really know why they have a fair there every year, but tis nifty. Rumour has it that St. John's College -- the richest of the Oxford colleges -- owns the street and, although they let the city use it for general traffic most of the year, they choose to shut it down for two days as a way of asserting their ownership rights. Is this correct? I don't know...
[*] Title goes with third randomness, icon goes with first, "current music" goes with second. The St. Giles fair is left out and will just have to cope somehow...
