Meet Go Go!

she's my baby and favorite companion
(second only to my '81 ladies schwinn back home)

thanks, marc!

xoxo

Food Not Lawns

read this book. I own it. you can borrow it.

I bought vegetable and herb seeds this week. planting next week. thrilling! I would love to have a seed swap this season. free seed sharing = ideal.

also: chickens would be great. fresh eggs every day. and they're kinda like pets. the yard is big enough... it's perfectly legal. and maybe bees? we'll see how far the landlord lets me go.

have you heard this prediction? it better happen. elected officials need to step it up as role models towards sustainable best practices in their daily lives - for the sake of everyone's daily life.

I firmly believe that many of society's problems are caused by our disconnect from food. food not lawns!

xo
'la

City From Below!

"The city has emerged in recent years as an indispensable concept for many of the struggles for social justice we are all engaged in - it's a place where theory meets practice, where the neighborhood organizes against global capitalism, where unequal divisions based on race and class can be mapped out block by block and contested, where the micropolitics of gender and sexual orientation are subject to metropolitan rearticulation, where every corner is a potential site of resistance and every vacant lot a commons to be reclaimed, and, most importantly, a place where all our diverse struggles and strategies have a chance of coming together into something greater. In cities everywhere, new social movements are coming into being, hidden histories and herstories are being uncovered, and unanticipated futures are being imagined and built - but so much of this knowledge remains, so to speak, at street-level. We need a space to gather and share our stories, our ideas and analysis, a space to come together and rethink the city from below."

THEMES TO BE CONSIDERED

* Gentrification/uneven development
* Policing and incarceration
* Tenants rights/housing as a right
* Public transit
* Urban worker's rights
* Foreclosures/financial crisis
* Public education
* Slots/casinos/regressive taxation
* Cultural gentrification
* Underground economies
* Reclaiming public space
* The right to the city
* Squatting/Contesting Property Rights
* Urban sustainability

Read more - get excited - submit proposals!

smoke. choke. disease. death.

it's been a month since I quit smoking.

hooray for me!!!

it's really not that hard. all you have to do is not smoke.

I recommend my quitting method: overdosing on the nicotine gum, giving myself an aversion to the drug forever.

also, this super lame video has helped and I think it every time I see or smell cigarette smoke.

who needs a drummer?

homeboy is brilliant.

love you.

xo
lady

More Art

Nick has done it again - made his way into the Argentine press. Read the article and then check out his stuff. I'm a big fan.

Not only because this dude is super talented and amazing, but also because the doll-making project in Providence he talks about was when we worked for English for Action's arts and literacy based child care program, NuestraEscuela! I took the photo above from that day working with kids painting the dolls that Nick had carved. The dolls were later part of a larger exhibition of works. Nick's skinny arms can be seen in the photo.

Word up.

the arts

xo
carlita do parlita

new-to-me comic!

I love comics. I'm still very new to this one. it's challenging and the author is at times painfully self-deprecating, but it's well-done. enjoy.

xo
Carla

Click Them.

Things you should read today that others have found:

obey


there's probably no god...


will it blend?


peace, love, unity, punch in the face.


feel like smiling?


first ever lolcat


we'll conclude with an old hip hop favorite of mine...

bees!

I love them dearly.
so smart and developed.
I wrote about my affinity to bees and ants in a cover letter today.
I am a nerd to the max.
enjoy!

xoxo
la

Best / Worst

Jesse,

Have I told you lately that I love you, and I love your FUCKING INTENSE blog?!?!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Keep it up, old friend. Miss you bunches every day! When I get rich I will fly to Brooklyn and we will party in style.

xoxo
'La

The Fierce Urgency of Now!

"Now is the time to make real the promises of Democracy!"

Let the good Doctor move you...



remember: today is not a day off, it's a day on!

xoxo
carla

Tranqui Yanqui

Nick is doing some more great work in Argentina.

Support my starving artist friend and send him hot dogs, paper, paint, or purchase his art. It's amazing.

Watch his video.

Send him love and support!

xoxo
Carlita

I Can Has Dee Jay Nite?!

Cozy Like Cats // Cats Like Cozy

Extra Special Holiday Season Interstate Travel Edition!

Thursday December 18th
@ Local 121's Tap Room
Free!

The 121 Puma Girls (Lara and Carla)
and Tim O'Keefe
Proudly Present:



Lara and I take requests, but it's best to let us know beforehand... Send me a message and I'll get your tracks on the setlist. Even better - I'll cue it up to play as you enter the glamorous Tap Room. Hottne$$.

xoxo
Puma Girl

P.S. Super special thank you to Storm Davis for yet another dope Cozy Like Cats flyer.

Updated: Providence Music

I miss it, and I want to share some of it with you...



CAROLINE COTTER
My best friend since childhood who is a world traveler and folk musician. Her music is raw, unadultered, and honest (trust me). Her voice is gorgeous. And she's super nice. Her CD makes a great holiday gift, if you're into supporting indie arts.



MAHI MAHI
Two foxy dudes who get everyone dancing. I love these men (for many reasons, including Julian's and Ziggy the cat) and I love these heavy electro tunes. Just enough creepy and dark to keep it standing apart from a lot of other electronic music.



VVLTVRE
These two former coworkers of mine lay it on with layers of filth / creep / dark. They would be paid to work on the soundtrack for my film (if I were ever to make one). Listen to it, and if you like it, come do scratch tickets with me and Anna Purna during my visit home.



HOWL
Three dudes and a badass chick who are blowing up step by step... They tour often (CA soon?) and party with the best of us. Catch them around PVD working in your local Grocery or Corporate Chain Eatery, or boozin' at the favorite spots.



SAINT JUDE
Self-described as "metalheads playing hardcore with a punk drummer." They throw a mean show (Vincent has a nice scar to prove it). Brendan just got a The Big Lebowski tattoo. Vegans and Athiests and Cyclists and Babe Magnets. I love these boys so much it hurts! Get in there and throw some loving punches.




WHAT CHEER MARCHING BRIGADE
Do you ever get the feeling that you just wanna jump into the street and start dancing? Thanks to the WCMB, summertime in Providence now means spontaneous parades, tree climbing musical merriment, gorilla costumed percussionists, and huge motherfuckin' dance parties in the city streets past midnight. Support their touring! Support the marching bands! (R.I.P. Decatur Lounge)




POORLY DRAWN PEOPLE
Independent hip hop collective. Tight as that rope on which the industry is walking. They don't perform as much as they used to, but don't miss the tunes which are well-produced and intelligently written. Delivered correctly. Fresh. My BFF Lara and I (and some spiced whiskey) did some of the back up on "Storm Davis Fucks Like a Puma," which has turned into a cult classic (of mine and Lara's). Catch them hanging at Providence's local taprooms and strippys.

Miss you / kiss you.

xoxo
la la la

Providence People

Go to Local 121 tonight to see a documentary about the local food movement!

6:00 speakeasy doors open
6:30 optional dinner for $12 (made with local foods, silly goose!)
7:00 'Tableland' plays on the dope a/v system, discussion following

Tableland is a culinary expedition in search of the people, place and taste of North American small scale, sustainable food production. Director Chris Noble argues for the re-location of North American food systems and a return to fresher, healthier ways of feeding ourselves. From the orchards of British Columbia, the inner city gardens of Chicago to the Napa Highlands and everywhere in between, Tableland celebrates the successful production of tasty, local, and seasonal food from field to plate.

-PDD

Personally, I feel that a lot of unrest and displeasure in this society is caused by how we consume food instead of nourish ourselves. I lot of life change can happen when one begins to eat with (personal and global) mindfulness. When a lot of lives change, we get a community shift, and then a societal trend, no?

Forget having the status symbol of a pristine green lawn... Grow food in that plot of land and cook with the fruits of your labor!

Eat, drink, think local!

<3
Former Local 121 Employee

Best Idea Ever!

Lily and I are going to Mexico or Guatemala - for free!

there's only one catch...

hahahahahahah

xoxo
c

Starbucks, GOOD, and Consumption...

Oh, hi there!

On Sunday afternoon I was walking around downtown San Francisco with two friends. One wanted Starbucks brand coffee (no other coffee would suffice), so we stopped in one of 6 Starbucks within a 5 block radius, and while he was up at the counter I stumbled upon a free publication called GOOD SHEET. It's a small folding leaflet that is created by the consumer zombie machines (I mean editors) at GOOD.

GOOD is a total facade for a group of greenwashed lying corporations that appease both the zombie consumer and the not-so-harsh critics for being edgy, trendy, hip, and eco-friendly (hey - it's published on 45% post-consumer recycled paper, and the offset their emissions!). It is self-described as "a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Since 2006 we've been making a magazine, videos, and events for people who give a damn."

The GOOD SHEET No. 011 (Nov 20-26, 2008) was a post-election look at the US holiday economy. It states:

"The winter holidays: a time to join with family and friends, give thanks, celebrate, and get out the plastic and cash. We are a nation of consumers and we consme the most in November and December - in those two months, the retail profits come rolling in."

It has a bunch of great receipt-inspired graphics that give facts about what consumers are consuming in the holiday season (131 million pounds of eggnog, 67 million turkeys...) and the amount of debt it causes the consumer (12.8 billion in new debt in 2007).

But it treats it as normal, and beyond that - as a great way to stimulate the economy in these uneasy times of recession.

How long can we continue to support this failing system of beg, borrow, and steal? I know I'm the paranoid idealist anarcho-feminist conspiracy theorist who is always struggling with living in a world full of contradictions... but I know I'm not alone in feeling like I want to watch it all crash and burn!

Maybe...
...I read too much.
...I'll build my off-the-grid hut in the woods, be a farmer, and make bicycles and babies.
...I should become a barista at Starbucks, or work at Whole Foods (ha!)
...You should help me light some fires to get this crash-and-burn started!

xoxo
'la

through rose-colored lenses

I was reading Jesse's blog and was simultaneously impressed and horrified by his latest post about Sekai Camera, which is a mind-blowing app for iPhone.

I was on a date the other night (hubba hubba) and the dude's friends kept checking their phones and looking up directions to a place around the corner (literally around the corner). I kept turning their phones over and telling them to enjoy life (real life) because we only get one (in my opinion).

But I guess very soon "real life" will be considered one through rose-colored lenses, brought to us by some techno wizards for a pretty penny.

<3
carla

p.s. now I have 'send me an angel' stuck in my head...

David Segal...

...you are my hero right now.



Thank you for sharing this in the PDD.

xoxo
Carla