I Must Be a Commie

[shanmonster]

I'm definitely feeling better. I'm not anywhere near healthy yet, but at least I'm not in agony. I woke up from a dream in which I'd found a fascinating new apartment. It had no closets or bathrooms, but it had a huge ballroom with a cork floor. It was perfect for dance or kung fu. This room was easily the size of a basketball court. The phrase "stainless steel providers" kept going through my head, which is odd, because I've haven't listened to The Revolting Cocks in several years. I'm not certain what twigged that particular word sequence.

I am filled with resentment today. I resent having to go back to work. It's not that I mind working. But I do mind needing to work in a field in which I have absolutely no interest. I'm trained and skilled in all sorts of artistic areas. Unfortunately, I can't make a living at any of them here. This makes me angry. I've trained and worked for years to be a writer/dancer/teacher/artist, and received lots of positive feedback for each. I've won numerous awards and competitions. But I book hotel rooms I can't afford to stay in just in order to survive. At least it's not as bad as when I sold groceries I couldn't afford to buy. That really sucked. I had to collect popcans and beer bottles just to buy bread and milk, and I had to wash my work uniform in the shower because I couldn't afford to go to the laundromat. For hours each day, I handled more food than I could eat, and more money than I could spend. It left me feeling filthy. Money is repulsively dirty.

I have an abnormal resentment of money. Yes, it was an excellent development for society, but I'd like to see it more as a supplement than the one binding ingredient for commerce. I must be a communist at heart, because I'd much rather use trade and barter primarily, using cash only when no other trade is beneficial. I'd gladly trade dance lessons for fresh eggs every week. But life won't work that way unless I move to a commune, and I fear I'd make a crappy hippy. Patchouli smells like anus.

And now for some linkage:

A Case of Curiosities: Hermann Ploucquet was a taxidermist at the Royal Museum in Stuttgart. He exhibited fanciful anthropomorphic tableaux which were in turn rendered in daguerrotypes and woodcuttings. Queen Victoria was a fan of his work.

The Whooping Crane Report: Baby whooping cranes are the colour of fawns. They're so cute!

Local belly dancers exposing truth about their craft: The general tone of the article is positive and in good taste. However, I'm getting really tired of articles which claim that in order to be a good dancer, you need to have a particular build. This one says that in order to be a good middle eastern dancer, you need to have fat on your stomach. Argh. I say that in order to be a good dancer, you must know how to move what your momma gave you, whether it's fat or not (thanks, light_n_shadow).

Cockfan: Odd and NSFW.

Proposal would make feral cats fair game: This will go over like shit in the punch bowl.

Baby Foxes Going to the Dogs: "Young foxes, or kits, scamper in a cage in Siberia, Russia, where they are part of a 45-year research project to domesticate foxes. Each generation has been selectively bred for tameness—fearlessness and nonaggression toward humans. By now the foxes in the project behave like pet dogs, barking and wagging their tails at humans."

Clinton sleeps on floor so elder Bush can have bed: If slash hasn't been written about this yet, it's only a matter of time.

Using Spot to Cure Spots: "Take two puppies, cut off their heads and collect the blood, reads the 17th century instructions -- not for some voodoo rite but to cure pimples among the middle class."

Comments

[sidruid.livejournal.com]

That fox news is excellent, i've long held that they'd make better domestic pets than dogs (which tend to pack) and cats (which tend toward over-independence).

One day i'll grow up and have a pet siberian fox.

As for money, i hate the stuff. Which is why i'm going to empty my bank accounts this afternoon and give it to someone in exchange for a townhouse. I've always hated money, and my objective has been to make enough money to not have to worry about money.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'd like to make enough money to never have to worry about it. But I don't see it happening too soon. Someday, I might be out of the black and into the red, but that's not going to be for a while.

[liquid-quaalude.livejournal.com]

arnet those foxs just beautiful...
Im willing to doanate a kidney for one of my own! hehe

[ladyiolanthe.livejournal.com]

I'd heard of this project years ago. The way I heard it though, is that they were taming foxes so that they would be easier to manage on fur farms. However, along with the friendly, dog-like temperament came undesirable traits for fur coats, such as excessive white patches, etc. I thought they had canned the experiment because of this.

I'm glad to see that it has continued and been put towards another use.

[longpig.livejournal.com]

Once I made a booking in Whistler that would have paid off about half my student loan.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm astonished at how much money people pay to stay at resorts. I can't imagine ever having that much money to throw around frivolously.

[zero-design.livejournal.com]

You want frivolous? I had a guy that was doing an 'emergency' rental because he had to go to a funeral, and was pissed because I was asking 90$ for a !luxury! car...

"hmmm... uncle ted just died, think I'll rent me a luxury car!" *sigh*

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Hmm. In my world, for emergencies I take the bus. Luxury cars, hmm?

[zero-design.livejournal.com]

I can at least understand the people that want an economy car, or a minivan because they're carrying a bunch of familymembers to the service. But a luxury car? Conspicuous consumption, anyone?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

They want to go to the funeral in style, I guess.

[zero-design.livejournal.com]

Possibly, but he was one grumpy scuzzball.

[nymphie.livejournal.com]

That belly dancing article makes me want to try it even more. I found the whole part about isolation to be extremley cool.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you'd find it excellent crosstraining for your kung fu. There are a lot of commonalities.

[liquid-quaalude.livejournal.com]

ok MUST have pet fox!

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

i always thought communism's ideal was *no* commerce - common ownership of everything, money unnecessary not because the economic system doesn't require it but because there is no economic system per se.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm a bad commie, too.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

The cock fan text does say to remove blades, but it's still pretty freakydeaky.

Unfortunately, while I was unemployed, I was living off my credit cards. They paid for things like food and rent. So now I'm paying off that debt while still paying for basic necessities. Ugh.

Ever since I contracted mono in university, I get sick all the time. It puts a damper on just about everything.

If you are bartering dance lessons for fresh eggs...

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

...then one of two things must be true:

1. You're getting one hell of a lot of fresh eggs.


2. You're way undervaluing your talents or overvaluing fresh eggs.

Re: If you are bartering dance lessons for fresh eggs...

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

It would be the first. I wouldn't trade dance lessons for a dozen eggs, but I'd trade about six to eight lessons for a dozen eggs a week for about a year.

Re: If you are bartering dance lessons for fresh eggs...

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'd rather have my own chickens, though. Then I could trade my eggs for something else.

[kamomil.livejournal.com]

Have you considered moving to a larger city, to get more work in an artistic field? I don't know if you live in a large city now though.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'd like to, but I'm stuck here until f00 is finished his degree.

[bloobert.livejournal.com]

At the brewery market here in Hali, they have something called the "barter board" (or something). There are two columns: What I Have, and What I want. It always seems full of stuff. People will offer "guitar lessons" for "a decent, used ten speed bike", or "handmade pottery" for "fresh pickled beets"... that kind of thing. I dunno how many actual transactions happen through this mechanism, but I always find it refreshingly hippy-quaint =) Nice idea in a way, though it does seem like a lot of work, somehow.

[phil-in-a-box.livejournal.com]

I remember reading about that fox experiment in my Intro to Psych class. Me wantee!

[daughty.livejournal.com]

But I do mind needing to work in a field in which I have absolutely no interest. I'm trained and skilled in all sorts of artistic areas. Unfortunately, I can't make a living at any of them here. This makes me angry.

Difficult field, that one. It must be really annoying to be trained in artistic fields and not be able to make a living of it. Hope you'll find more dance engagements etc. once f00dave has finished his degree.

It is a fine line... My situation is completely different. My parents sort of coaxed me into Law School even though I would have been much more talented (and interested) in studying German/journalism. For some reason unknown to myself (obedience?) I went for it and am now stuck in a job I never wanted in the first place. I am trying to find a balance by doing things I enjoy in my free time (e.g. learning how to belly dance) and seeing my job as a means to be able to pay for it. I did write for a local newspaper a few years ago, but this is pretty time-consuming and not possible with my current job.