For Whom Do We Bleed?

This...Unplugged

Ty,

You may or may not be checking your email based upon your recent conversion to the elitist non-wired movement also known as the Un-plugging Yourself from the Matrix Society (but first or lastly, speaking of 'Wired,' I loved the tutorial on Street Portraits you sent). But in regards to your new transformation, you are preaching to the choir...there's a scene in the movie "I Heart Huckabees" where the guy is like, "...have you ever seen what happens in a meadow at dusk?" and the kid at the table is like, "what happens in a meadow at dusk? WHAT happens in a meadow at dusk?!" and the mom and the guy respond at the same time "Nothing!" "Everything!" It always makes me laugh because it's like the absurd notion that this suburban kid doesn't KNOW what happens in a meadow at dusk, with the birds and the bats coming out diving for insects and the sun setting on the 'magic hour' (which is really more like the magic 38 minutes) and that soft glow right before the night falls.

Anyway I got carried away.

Who are you to pull this kind of irreverent shit on the rest of us Junkies?! You get us hooked on the blogs and then you go AWOL and leave the reservation? You're running scared! What makes you think you can get away from the machine? You're right, you're gonna be huddled in the corner in the fetal position in about 3 days! No, but seriously, I don't have internet at my house, I have no cable TV. I come over here to Oakland for my fix every couple of weeks and plug-in. But the rest of the time I open the window in SF my apartment and sketch or draw or write or read...and people think I'm weird.

If I ever get a job in The Industry I've already come to the dark resolution I'll be shackled to a computer in some dark, tech lab for 4 hours a day downloading and photoshoping the wrinkles out of peoples faces. On that subject: I got a D+ in my Photoshop class. Went to every class. Went to the workshops but I had a fundamental disagreement with our professor about exactly this point. I'm an old school photographer, more Capa then these new school hot shots. I believe in breaking the rules, every chance I get...it's art you idiots, there are no fucking rules-which is why I didn't go to business school...anyways my Prof was always preaching about how the industry dictated everybody PS the shit out of everything and for the first half of the semester she had us touching up Macy's ads - -bullshit! But the rest of my classes were straight A's... (not that the grade matters-it just gives me a little leeway to say fuck off for that D).

Anyway pull the plug, brother-I love it, but save your notes and photos and we can scan them in (as is-Gonzo style-into the machine) and we'll make a bundle touting yourself as "The New-Tech Blog: Living Off The Grid."

Anyway just thought I'd holla.

Peace,

Cassady

P.S. Obama needs to spend less time looking cool (and man is he cool! BBQ's Basketball, hot wife) and start doing some 'heavy' shit-or is that age of politics a pipe dream....

P.P.S. Just to prove that maybe quitting the Net IS the right thing to do...at the exact same time that the U.S. is handing over control of Iraq's capitol city, Baghdad, CNN is covering MJ's final day hour by hour....does anyone get the feeling that the camera is pointed at the wrong thing? Like we are getting duped? Like when something REALLY big happens then we blow the shit out of some weirdo "celebrities" life...I mean don't get me wrong, I like music and history (I could probably write a thesis on Bob Dylan's impact on Hip Hop) But shouldn't there be a channel for that, when did that become "news"? Just saying maybe you are Noah and if there's room on the ark, that would be cool...

- CK

Feedback on The Evlove-ment continues to make its way to my little corner of things. Most positive, some glib, some betting against the success of mid-cigarette cessation. It is not, however, my responsibility to give a shit though.

Cass's note is perfect in every regard. From the Fuck You D+ to the notion of jumping the grid as being elitist, Cass is once again on target. And if there's anything I believe in, it's elitism, don't you know? Doing what it takes, brother, to separate from the rest. But rest assured, I am here still with the emailings, the Web logs, the iTunes, and all that silly "virtual" shit. Just turning it down from boil to simmer, perhaps. It takes time to shut these power plants down. There are no master OFF switches. But we are headed in the right direction. This I know.

This is what's left of your internets: [clicky] You really want to be part of that, do you?

It all makes me ask, though:

For whom do we bleed
What are the latest priority fads
Once consumers overtake producers
and mimic creation itself
Where will angels congregate
So here we are at the edge of civilization
(in many ways)
Mind the cycles as you
Mind the warnings

Another friend suggests:

As much as it pains me to suggest this because I would lose interaction with you, try it for 1 day and see how it goes: No internet, no cell phone..land line only, no email unless it's crucial for business. No iPod to tune out the world. Just disconnect and tune in totally to your surroundings and see what it's like. I think for myself, at this point, I'd go through some withdrawal.

It is probably unwise to constantly try to change your basic nature as much as society attempts to make one do just that (all the goddamn time). Maybe we do just need to begin tuning into our surroundings more. Maybe this is the New America. Maybe it's the quitting. Who's to tell. But it feels great.

What's next? Who knows? Sure I have expended tremendous resources reading (successfully) the ripples but maybe I can now begin to make my own. As Rickey P. says, "This is just the way I am.