solidarity forever
you know… when it rains, it pours.
Those of you in the know already know about my housing situation, so I won’t go into that, but suffice it to say, it’s been complicating things. And since I needed some levity and social interaction in my life, I decided to attend an event with some comrades– I made a bunch of chili (unfortunately I did in fact burn the chili keeping it warm on the camp stove…), helped set things up, and generally mingled. I’m not the most graceful navigator of social situations, but I feel I did alright.
So picture this: nearly everyone is gone, and we’re packing up. I move my vehicle from the far end of the lot to the gravel right next to all of our heavy materials, and load it. Everyone is saying their goodbyes, the sun is going down, I sit in my vehicle, insert the key, and…
CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK whirrrrrrrrr
Well that’s no good.
click click cliicccckkkk whiirrrrr
Well that’s REALLY not good.
I’m sitting here, people leaving, 45 minutes away from the couch on which I’m crashing, sensitive material in the vehicle, and the shit just won’t turn over. Just my luck, eh? I could feel my heart drop into my stomach. My arms felt heavy, my head light, and I was fully prepared to sleep in my car, or have it towed, or lose everything in it.
When it rains, it pours.
And that’s when my aforementioned comrades stepped in with an umbrella and more than a little kindness.
When I say four people independently brought our their little power bricks, jumping at the opportunity to use them (finally! one said.), not only am I not exaggerating, I could just about cry. Some two hours later, there are multiple folks discussing options, hatching plots to tell the AAA that it’s actually their vehicle, several folks fucking around in my engine bay, more giving comfort and laughing, all standing together in the cold well after we were supposed to leave.
click click click click click click – “Cut it!”
Someone allowed me to charge my phone using their vehicle, some brought out their toolboxes, some offered me advice.
One final prayer to the machine god, and
click click VRRROOOOOOOOOOMM
Cheers.
Someone clapped, a couple came around to tell me what to look out for in the next few days, others gave me their contact info should the vehicle die on the way home, or I need more tinkering, or tools, or a ride.
The whole episode reaffirmed my belief in humanity, in solidarity, in the idea that people helping people can get through damn near anything.
I couldn’t be more grateful for the folks with whom I’ve surrounded myself.
LitS Update
In other news, I’m officially a college student again, (yippee!), although an unhoused one (less yippee…). I have a plan.
This pamphlet has been admittedly low on my list, but I’m still committed to getting it out, even if it’s light on art for v0.1. I HAVE vectorized the map and forced myself to finally learn the pen tool in order to make some neat little icons for the map. Quote:
“ya the icons do look good!”
After that, assuming I’m, stable enough, I need to get my module ready for ZINE MONTH this February, and maybe find a collab partner. I also have plans on remastering (and re-editing) the DREAMCATCHER into a properly linked and proportioned PDF 2.0 doc.
I can’t wait to show you all what we’ve put together. I can’t wait to hear your feedback. I can’t wait to continuously self critique, and improve, and become the kind of person I look up to.
Happy holidays y’all, and remember:
We’re all in this together.