Cult of Less

"Many have begun trading in CD, DVD, and book collections for digital music, movies, and e-books. But this trend in digital technology is now influencing some to get rid of nearly all of their physical possessions - from photographs to furniture to homes altogether."

- BBC News | Cult of Less: Living out of a Hard drive

The BBC article the above photo and excerpt are taken from couldn't be more about me and the way I live my life if they'd called me up for an interview.

For the past two years I have steadily been decreasing the level of things that I own. It started with me simply no longer shopping. After all, what need have I for new things when what I have still suits me fine? It progressed with my increasing belief that people place to much emphasis on the material which led to the total financial break down in 2008 [which is also the time of my burgeoning awareness]. And hit critical awareness when I moved last year. Because while packing I realized I still had for to many things.

One box of trash bags later and I was able to move to my condo in one trip. A bag of clothes I wear regularly, check. My laptop, check. My roommate's old tv from the 70s, check. A box of books, check. My xbox 360, check.

Anything else? Nope.

Moving in, my house looked like that. Only without the bed or the side table. And yet, despite the virtual emptiness of my room and my house... I felt so content.

It was funny. I'd tell people I not only didn't I have a cable, but I also didn't have a tv [I forgot to mention the tv wasn't good for anything but playing my 360 didn't I?]. I'd tell them I didn't have chairs for them to sit or bed. And they'd look at me with such pity, such sadness. And most would say...

We'll help you have furniture in no time!

Not understanding that I was perfectly happy with the state of things.

Perfectly content with my bag full necessities and little else. If my summer of brokeness proved anything else it was this.

Family Reunions

Coachella | Feel Good Inc., originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

I just had mine yesterday and it was... Interesting.

A collection of awesome, yes I'm still in college, no I'm not in danger of getting pregnant and oh-my-god-what-is-shewearing?!

It's funny.

My family is so oddly gay. I've got an older cousin [as in, in her 50's] whose been with her partner for the past... 10 years or so. Then there's her granddaughter, whom I love so much for being so genuine in all things. She struggled so hard last year with herself, because she was in the process of coming out to herself. She even approached me and called me brave [I felt so proud of me in that moment] And judging by the girlfriend she brought to the family reunion this year... I'd say she's finally come to terms with herself.

Then there's the myriad of female cousins who... I don't know... I think will just sleep with anything that moves. I mean, I have a cousin who has had an alternate gender on her arm for the past 5 family reunions. .. And has 2 small children under 5.

On that score it feels weird for me.

I am... an intensely private person. I am not in the closet, but I similarly don't feel the need to take out ad space in the family gossip memo simply to discuss the nature of my attractions. I don't see the point. Especially since my family holds me in a weird double standard of morality.

However, the ambiguous state of my love life in the eyes of my family seems to lead to me hearing the most insulting things. Or maybe I'm just a sensitive gay?

While playing dominoes with a group of old men and discussing the weather in different cities we've lived in and the state our family hails from... Louisiana... We came to the city of San Francisco. While talking about the weather there, one of the men makes the comment, "I've never been there and I never want to go there! To many of them gays! I don't like that!"

Um... Ok?

Not only are you sitting with a gay, but your step-daughter is a sometimes gay!

But then, that's the problem isn't it? I mean, it's easy to think the worse of gay people when you're step daughter is the kind of woman that leads people to think it's a choice. A sometimes gay.

I can't begin to explain the sometimes gay. And I don't mean someone who identifies as bi. I don't even mean the person who experiments in college. I mean, someone that just give all people a bad name. Gay or straight.

But I digress.... Even if he wasn't fully aware of me being gay, there are enough gay and sometimes gay people in the family that the comment shouldn't have been made.

Other than that however, I did enjoy seeing my cousins... Even the younger girls that were dressed like... well... starts with a W and ends with an e. 5 letter word.

So my family has a thing. A belief, if you will... That children are born in threes. There is never just a single child born to the family. There are always three.

My generation of three consists of two girls and a boy.

We were raised as sisters, grew apart slightly as pre-teen and teenagers, but maintain a distant closeness... If that makes any sense. And it was... well amusing, catching up with her.

As we went through puberty she became one of those girls that was entirely to focused on boys while simultaneously thinking themselves a lot older then they were. Then 6 years ago she started dating a preacher's son.

...lol. Yeah.

I'm fairly certain he's the only reason she hasn't had a baby yet. Making us the only two of our trinity and the trinities immediately surrounding us...that haven't had a child yet.

And I'm a lesbian, so she's doing really well!

Oh well.

Quick rundown: My Grandfather is sick | My Aunt is getting married to man only a couple inches taller then me [and I'm 5'3] on the 29th | My little cousin broke his foot [don't get me started on how]

And I... am strangely feeling all loved up over someone I really shouldn't.

Oh well... part 2.

Cataclysm

image, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

A sudden violent change

A cataclysm is what has just occurred in my life.

I suppose you could say what I'm going through is a mild exaggeration. After all, simply loosing a particularly large update does not technically warrant the title cataclysm...

But I'm melodramatic at times and right now, the loss of all those random thought processes put to paper... Or rather, internet as the case may be... Is feeling fairly cataclysmic...

Oh well.

In other news, the dates for next years Coachella has been announced and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely exctited. Because I am. The dates are: April 15 - 17th. At first you'd think I'd feel a little sad that I'd be going back to the scene of the crime. The last place where I apparently committed such crimes against the moral fabric of friendship that I lost one.

However, that would be understating my love for live music and more importantly... Live music in the California desert... And overstating my care for bullshit.

lol.

I mean, Come on! It's going to be my 5 year anniversary! All relationships have good and bad moments and I've got a feeling that Coachella is going to pull out all the stops for 2011. Most likely going so far as to recreate the weekend we met by inviting Arcade Fire back to perform.

Of course this is speculation... But all signs are pointing to this eventuality.

--

In other, non-music related news...

I love the magazine, GameInformer. It's the perfect blend of game review, industry article and commentary. In the 207th issue there was a really well done article on the question of Games as Art in response to Roger Egbert's statement that it was impossible.

Also stemming from the comment is a truly awesome open letter to all gamers and game creators, from Bioshock creator Keven Levine. In the letter, Levine basically takes everyone to task for even caring about what Roger Egbert has to say when it comes to games. Saying that the gaming Industry: from the creators, to the players and the reviewers should hold no weight in what people outside of the industry had to say about games.

After all, Egbert is a movie reviewer... What does he know of games?

--

In even MORE gaming related news with actual tie-ins to the above... Bioshock Infinity, the third installment in the Bioshock franchise official announced today. However, the announcement came with more than just a few measely game stills.... Oh no, Bioshock Inifinity is introduced to the world by way of a trailer that just leaves one feeling...

Excited

Lovalot

M.I.A, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

Oh music.

Oh Summer.

Oh my summer of music.

Actually if I'm being honest, every summer since 2007 has been a summer of music. Usually this manifests itself in the form of my hitting up as many different music festivals as possible. While I was still living in LA full time, it manifested in me hitting up as many music festivals as possible as well as all but living in West Hollywood and Santa Monica. Why those places? That's where all the best local venues are.

However, as is well documented... This has also been my summer of no money, less internet and rapidly depleting time.

Not that I'm complaining.

But all of this together led to a situation where I was unable to get the music on or before the release date. I say all that to say: I just got M.I.A.'s latest and album... and Holy Chick, Batman!

I dig it. No... I Lovalot.

This album is wall to wall. And in a sense, I feel redeems her. Not that I didn't like Kala... But let's be honest, it was no Arular. Listening to this album takes me back to the Echoplex.

And for good reason.

This is a club dance album.

Arular and Kala both had insanely big beat and insanely catchy lines... Just all around suitable for festival crowd dancing, with huge festival speakers. But /\/\ /\ Y /\ , just sounds like it would be lost and washed away in a setting such as that. This is a up close and personal, small quarters dancing kind of album.

This is a club tour/small venue kind of album. And I hope she does it.

Resurrection

Leo, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

It's come to my attention that most of my favorite people have been born in July, August, and September.

If I were to be more exact, [at the risk of sounding like I actually hold weight in these things] I'd say that of those 3 months, most of my favorite people have been Leo or Virgo.

Ignoring the astrological side of things, I do have to wonder why that is. Is it the nature of being born in the summer months? Do we mind meld better? Have a better understanding of how each other thinks? If all things are connected [in the scientific sense, everyone can ponder that further to suit their own religious ideals] are we somehow more connected, because the environmental conditions would be similar around our births?

Wait, hold on. Stop.

I just blew those last couple of reasons and probably completely destabilized my whole line of thinking.

How?

Well, I seriously doubt environmental conditions are all that similar across continents.

So let's just abandon those ponderous thoughts to our own individual ideas on life.

---

In other news, I've been thinking.... And it hurt.

Just kidding.

Seriously though, isn't it fascinating when you discover your own personal things? You know, those odd habits you have that are just... Well random, but upon closer look you realize that you can't bring yourself to change those habits?

Actually... I just realized that the minor idiosyncrasies that I find amusing in my life are actually minor signs of ocd...

lol.

Oh well.

"Just inhale... inhale, inhale...Inhale... Just inhale, inhale.... Exhale" | Inhale Remix | Soul Position