1 day until I leave for Burning Man

Ok, I'm obsessed with this project Melia Dicker has created: Reschool Yourself! I love how so many of our conversations about what goes on in schools are SO perspective dependent... Melia is taking this to a totally different level, and it is creating (in my mind, at least) some REALLY fruitful discussion!

Facebook is bananas, and it makes me miss my former students even more than I thought possible.

I've been hanging out in Tucson with my mom and her crazy hairless dogs, getting ready to go to Burning Man.

So, yeah, I've wanted to go to Burning Man since I was 16. Every year I say: "Burning Man! Oh, or the National Poetry Slam. SIGH I'll do Burning Man next year." I thought about going this year, but then kind of shrugged it off, like: "yeah, I could join Entheon Camp or something and just go, but... school starts in August and this year I'd rather be at a free school learning about what happens there. I'll go next year. SIGH."

I walked into a hardware store in Vancouver (this is not a joke) looking for irrigation tubing to make hoops at IDEC, and I talked to this woman: Laura, a creative alchemist and Vancouver hooper. I followed some links on her website to a pre-Burning Man party in Vancouver, decided to go. The night of the party, my host and I and Isaac met up with Stacey at a restaurant with HER host (all before IDEC officially started)... I say, "Who wants to go to a pre-Burning Man party tonight?" and Stacey says "I DO! I'm going to Burning Man for the first time this year... and I have an extra ticket. Want to go to Burning Man?!?!" Well, we started with the party...







Now, my original plan for that week was to spend time with my mom... THEN I found out my mom is LEAVING for a research trip to Gainesville, and SHE SAYS: "Go to Burning Man, you've always wanted to go."

YEAH MOM!!!!!!! Holy moly! This was exactly a week ago.

I don't know the standard ritual for preparation for this event as a first-time burner, but so far I've:
• read the Survival Guide
• picked up a variety of supplies: ski goggles and face masks to bandaids and gifts!
• gotten a massage and an acupuncture treatment
• run into a friend from Ft Lauderdale in a yoga class in Tucson, AZ. (hi Sarah!)
• yearned for a bright yellow Dickies coverall:


• contacted people I think are going
• looked at a map of Black Rock City
• gotten very nervous about surviving in the desert
• made a list of food stuffs to buy in San Fran, or Reno, or wherever
• exchanged emails with folks I'm traveling with but have NOT YET MET! (whoa. very trusting of me.)

I've been thinking a lot about this grand project I'd like to create... a blend of Purple Thistle, Manchester Craftsman Guild and NorthStar... and thinking about Gainesville again... SIGH.

Whatever.
First, BURNING MAN!

I'm now on Facebook

So if you want to find me there... you can.

I Survived IDEC 2008

I'm leaving Vancouver tomorrow. Tonight I was able to check out Stacie Boscma on tour at the Van Slam (Cafe Duex Soleils) with some IDEC friends.

It is amazing, given how much time I spent in childcare/Windsor House live, that I even MADE friends at IDEC... ok, maybe just improbable.

My IDEC highlight goes like this: on Thursday, I led a field trip to the Purple Thistle Center with nearly 25 people from IDEC. We took 2 hot bus rides....


to the Purple Thistle...







to Casa de Gelato (218 flavors... seriously... and it miraculously appeared when it was SO HOT OUT!)!!!!!





Other IDEC moments for you to enjoy include:

games...





after the 2 hour long post-variety-show-jam, trying to find the power switch on the sound board....


expressive conversations...


infinite hours of dress-up...




and trying to find a pub on a Sunday night in Vancouver near a university before the semester begins...


and lots of friendships!





Lessons learned... there are a LOT of these, but they'll have to wait until I get to Arizona tomorrow.
Did I mention I'm going to BURNING MAN?!?!?!?!

IDEC 2008- really quickly

I have to go to bed RIGHT NOW!
But before I do:
IDEC has been really interesting. I'm volunteering in child care, and surrounded all day by really awesome kids of all ages (4-16?)
Tomorrow I get to accomplish a major goal of the Vancouver trip: A TRIP TO THE PURPLE THISTLE CENTER!!!

UBC is pretty and BIG.
Tomorrow is another 14-16 hour day, so: bye!

WHOSE KEYS?!?!?!

Found a set of keys on a long black lanyard in my green TOWNTEK bag. One key looks like a bike lock key, one looks like a padlock key, another has kittens on it, and the final key has puppies.
They're not mine.
Lost your keys?

Still in Vancouver... leading up to IDEC 2008

Well, I'm still here. It's a bit chilly out, unquantifiable so (celsius?). Yeah leggings!

So I'm sitting at a large dining table full of sheets of paper and little stickies which together comprise the IDEC 2008 schedule. We've gone through 2 major revisions so far, and the last one should take place in a couple of hours. Then it is off to the copy shop!

Tomorrow I help haul equipment and materials to the conference site, and then I stay there- I'll be on the campus of the University of British Columbia tomorrow afternoon through Monday Aug 18.

Maps are made and copied. Ditto self scheduling schematics. Now its down to final signs and (of course) the conference program, which is waiting for the schedule to finally resolve itself (for now).

Staying at Meghan's home has been eventful- people come and go... Meghan's kids run around and sometimes fuss and whine... dishes pile up and then are cleared... phone is always ringing or in use... awesome next door neighbor with recently broken arm comes over to chat or have shoes tied... staying here is an exercise in balance: you do exactly what can be done that needs to be done right now, and hope you do it in a way that affects the least number of people in a negative or time-consuming way.

Next update: IDEC 2008!! Yeah!!

and now... in Vancouver! Plus, NorthStar thoughts...

Well, here I am!
Its colder than I was expecting... actually, to be frank, I wasn't really expecting anything- and I didn't take due diligence in preparing for this leg of the trip AT ALL. I didn't look at maps, I didn't ask where I'm staying, I didn't even check the weather. It wasn't until I had an hour and a half layover in Newark that I even LOOKED at a temperature map of North America... and YIKES! FULL AIRPORT FREAKOUT! Ok, I'm not really acclimated to 45 degree nights and 60 degree days, and I frantically ruffled through the suitcase in my mind: how many pairs of pants do I have? How many socks? Did I bring ANY tops other than tanks?!?!? Oh dear. And then- it was a mad dash from store to store to find something-anything- WARM and AFFORDABLE. Ok, its an airport- nothing affordable.

Off I went- no new purchases.
My flight companion was hilarious, and slept the whole way. Continental showed 2 films on the flight: Drillbit Taylor (ho hum, though enjoyable), and Penelope (LOVED IT!!!). I willed myself the whole way not to even NOTICE the temperature after we landed, and made it all the way back to my host's home without a shiver, thought she did (thankfully) put the heat on in the house as we slept!

So, naturally, my first thoughts here were: how do I DO this? I put on my ONE pair of acceptable/non-workout pants for my first full day: we took a tour of the facility in which the conference will be held----


OH. Did I even say what I'm DOING here in Vancouver? I'm volunteering with the 2008 International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC 2008). At AERO, back in June, I met some folks associated with a pretty interesting democratic experiential school here called Windsor House. They also happened to be organizing this conference- I had heard of the conference and even considered going (long before I showed up at AERO) but... I wasn't convinced that it would be worthwhile for ME personally. Then I spoke with Meghan (a teacher at Windsor House) and she convinced me to come and volunteer. So here I am. My first day here was a tour of the conference facility- it will be held on the campus of UBC, August 11-18. Since then I've been collecting duties (I love to help!) and figuring out this city I'm in.

And it was on the tour that the solution to my problem was revealed to me- LEGGINGS! I can still wear ALL my skirts, as long as I have LEGGINGS! My personal shopping mission proceeded from that very moment.

At this point I can happily say it was a success! I'll never be cold again- at least, not 'til October. To be fair to this lovely city, the weather of the first 3 days of my visit were very unusual for Vancouver in August. Today, the sun came out in FULL FORCE and it was lovely and warm. Still glad I have the leggings though!

Last night I met up with the Svelte Ms Spelt, a good poet and a good friend, at his home slam venue- Cafe Duex Soleils for the Apocalypse Road Show, a lovely little tribute to the destruction that love brings, in this case, the destruction of life on planet earth just after the show.





Think- Restaurant At the End of the Universe, with more black clothes and some intense sexual imagery. It was really great to see him... the last time we hung out must have been 2 years ago, Austin 2006? Maybe?




Today I met up with a hooper named Christa- she teaches hoop classes in the area, and on Saturdays hosts a skill play outdoor fest on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Poi, unicycles, juggling and hooping. Fun!






I met some fellow travelers Trish and Allison, from Ontario, with an awesome collapsible hoop made by Kaivalya in Colorado. I might even get one...




Ok, so until IDEC I'll be pretty busy-busy, and during IDEC I'll be pretty busy-busy also, but I'll do 1 or 2 IDEC updates in about a week.

I want to go back in time and talk about my experience at the NorthStar replication workshop. NorthStar, as a homeschool resource center for teens, is an admirable program and the replication workshop was really useful. Because it is NOT A SCHOOL, they do not generally deal with many of the administration details of a school: they don't take attendance, they don't require classes, they don't 'count credits', they don't issue diplomas. They just CARE, without the strings. In that way, the program freaking ROCKS! They do offer classes and workshops, and they provide a lot of support for student initiative and families going through the transition out of school. The replication workshop spent a relatively even time divided between unschooling theory in practice at NorthStar and functional administrative concerns. My hosts were very giving of their time, and very informative. I am very much looking forward to returning to the area and working with them.

While there, I also got the opportunity to stay in a very interesting co-housing community. Josh, one of the NorthStar founders, lived there and his family hosted me one night before I left. I also had a really cool meeting with him the morning before I went back to Boston. Josh is a life coach, and a really good one, too. It was a little intense, but wholly worthwhile, and I have a lot more confidence about this journey and this project now. I also am nearly convinced that (in actual fact) I DON'T need a masters degree under my belt in order to build this educational space, which opens me up to new thoughts and ideas about how to do it.

Did I mention there was ANOTHER hoop waiting for me at the co-housing community? Aha!



Ok, one more thing: I had a 4 hour layover in Springfield, MA and was feeling a little springy, so I went for a walk and found the Dr. Suess Memorial Sculpture Garden!

Last night- flight to Vancouver

There is no way to wrap this up, no tape strong enough to hold it all together. It spills out like jello from a paper bag on a hot day.
This trip is a mixtape. It ebbs and flows, hits highs and lows, goodbyes, hellos. It twitches and stutters and floats and soars then crashes, only to dust off its knees and climb back up.
I’ve spent a month and a half in the air, on train tracks, on friends’ couches and floors, holding hands, staring deeply, breathing deeply.
All transformation starts from within, but sometimes you’ve got to get yourself out of the way. Is this right?
I often ponder how my life would be different if I had more confidence in my own abilities, in my own thoughts and ideas.

Josh (from NorthStar) called me a maverick the other day. I don’t know if that’s a tight fit, but I do know who I am and what I’m doing. And I’m doing it the best way I know how.

I’m not entirely alone, just a little lonely- and I really needed to write something so here it is, whatever it is. I’m sure I’m tired- flying 8 hours today, but it’s taken me 10 hours on planes… I’m just not yet ready to sleep. I’m not dehydrated, not hungry, just settled and slightly melancholy.

Yesterday & Today- Amherst, MA

Yesterday's thoughts-
"Today is Sunday. I’m sitting in a train station in Springfield, MA. Just left Boston: Rock the Bells (Pharcyde!!!)

and the New England Aquarium.
Just left Talya, after a LOOOOONG train ride....

and most of her family.

From here, I’ll be staying with, learning from and working with near strangers until I stop in Tucson to see my mom.
Haven’t yet communicated much with the many friends I’ve made along the way, but I believe some of them have kept along with my journeys.

Ordinary life seems so mediocre and colorless after all of these experiences. A great example of this was the Rock the Bells Show. No space to dance (really), smoke everywhere, people spilling drinks inside themselves… it was infantile. I remember when the greatest thrill of my life was standing in a large auditorium full of people who share my adoration of the musicians on stage. I’m certainly not 15 anymore. I’m comparing THAT experience to the hip hop show in Madison- educators institute folks everywhere, hoops to play with, plenty of dancing space, no clouds of smoke to dodge- totally different and MUCH BETTER show. Also comparing it to Sunfest. I suppose nothing beats a hometown party. Maybe I’ll come back for Sunfest?!"

Last night I went to a Sufi Zicr. It was AWEsome. Here's the Wikipedia link for more info. It was put on by representatives of an abode in New Lebanon, NY. The event took place at a beautiful zen buddhist/world religions center nearby (Montague, MA?).

All day today is brain work. My host, John, had a hoop (courtesy of a local Pioneer Valley hooper Shenandoah) and I got to wake up hooping today- GRRREAT! Now, I'm in NorthStar, Self-Directed Learning for Teens, in day of one-on-one conversations with the founders and staff. More on that later...

Wednesday I leave for Vancouver.

The Brave New Voices Recap

Brave New Voices Recap
Honestly, this festival was truly a pinnacle-turning point for me, in many ways... Youth empowerment is what it is all about!
Hint- The best part is at the very end of this post.
Here are a few narrated pictures of the action...


Opening day cipher at the Marvin Center- GWU.



License plate @ US Capitol.



Yes there is it!



Making friends- Profet and Gator.



Kira and George Watsky!



Kira, Lauren & Angela at the Kennedy Center.



Flags (HAITI!) at the Kennedy Center.



Johnny & Lauren: life is good.



Robert Redford introducing the Green Mic @ the Kennedy Center



DJ Dion “Decibels” Reiner-Guzman at the Coaches Open Mic



Robbie Q & MIcheal Cirelli, Coaches Open Mic



Queen GodIs “Look at my face.” Coaches Open Mic



Marc Marcel, Quarterfinals, Atlas Arts Center



Taos Poets represent!



Savannah GA poets waiting for the quarterfinal to begin.



Trinidad & Tobago showing love and pride!



Poet from Savannah, GA.



Poet from Connecticut.



Poet from Trinidad & Tobago.





Poet from Connecticut.



Pre-bout cipher- the view from the ground.



Providence stretches out- “we just came to dance!”



Poet from Providence.



Kira: “I am SO green.”



Happy mama duck, waddling through Washington, DC.



Lauren points out her truth!



My favorite Cleveland poet.



Matthew “Cuban” “I am not a crook” Hernandez.



Washington monument- There it is!



Whoa, its not that big after all.



Kira performs her piece as we Hear the Children Left Behind- Lafayette Park.





Johnny performs at the rally, Lafayette Park.





Two views from behind the stage- Hear the Children Left Behind, Lafayette Park.





After all the shouting, who cleans up the signs?



I found Tati!



Poets are all family! Love to you both- Lauren and Jasmine.



First Wave artists after finals at the Lincoln Theatre.



_______________________________________________________

OK- so the best part of the WHOLE FESTIVAL was definitely the finals.
Due to a mis-assessed time penalty, the BNV staff mis-identified the finals teams as Hawaii, Chicago, Rochester and New York City. Philadelphia had been the real 2nd place team from the Hawaii-Chicago-etc. etc. Semifinal, NOT CHICAGO. During the showcase that preceded the People's Championship final, the night before the finals, BNV participants were faced with the question- does Chicago drop out of the the finals or should they just add Philadelphia to the final four to make a final five? The audience voted to change the four team final to a five team final.

This caused a big problem, not for the festival... but for HBO. HBO was actually producing The Brave New Voices Finals as a Def Poetry special. They wanted an hour show, not an hour + show (adding another team = 4 more poems= 15 more minutes of pure poetry...). This was the 2nd of two HBO projects filmed at BNV- the first being a documentary about the youth poet participants, where separate film crews followed 4-6 different teams on their route to the festival, and then during the festival. Tensions between poets and cameramen were rising throughout the festival, and peaked onstage during the finals....

In the middle of the first round of the finals bout, Philadelphia's team takes the stage: THE ENTIRE TEAM. They explain, tearily, that the competition had broken their team, and that they were sick of being followed by the cameras and sick of thinking about only scores. They pledged to only perform the pieces they cared the most about, effectively disqualifying themselves from the competition (for violating rules related to the number of 'repeats' possible for any team).

Whoa, right?
But wait, there's more.

So the finals continue, and are AWESOME. I refuse to spoil the poetry by paraphrasing here, but it was DEFINITELY worth ALL THE STRIFE I WENT THROUGH TO MAKE THIS TRIP WORK.

After the last poem, the hosts invite all five finalist teams to the stage, and then disappear to collect the final score tally. The poets commence to sing and dance and chant and yell and hug and party... and then turn to chant "Sonia! Sonia! Sonia!" in honor of Sonia Sanchez, one of the five distinguished poets who judged the finals. She rises from her seat and indicates that she has something to say, at which the chants turn to "Give her a mic! Give her a mic!" The hosts return to the stage and finally give her a mic. She honors the poets on stage and performs a haiku written in memory of jazz legend Max Roach, and then provokes the youth poets to pledge resistance to any/all forces that attempt to censor/condemn them.

In the end, the hosts announce that Hawaii bested the other teams, and then they request that the poets separate into their respective teams for a competition picture to be used in the special. Jamaica, one of Hawaii's poets at the front of the stage, immediately refuses. "NO! We're one team!" Everyone on stage quickly join her chant: "One team! One team!" which morphs into "One mic! One mic!" and the entire auditorium unites in voice behind their comrades on stage. Well, all the youth poets in the auditorium. Many of the adults revert to "better safe than sorry" hush mode. One, near me, even says "Stop that!"

This goes on for approximately 5 minutes.

The producers come out on stage to plead, to cajole the poets into submission. The poets refuse to budge into 'formation,' locking hands. The adults cluck cluck and shake their heads (though an older woman behind me sided with the poets, shouting "Sell outs!" to the event hosts trying to keep order).

Well? The next generation CAN speak for itself. They proved themselves resilient, and irresistible. And they won.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE RESULTING 'MADE FOR TV' VERSION! All elements (including the loud "Boo HBO!" part of the protest) were caught on film.

HA!

Tomorrow I leave for Boston with Talya on Amtrak. I'll probably update this blog again on Sunday, after we attend Rock the Bells!