urban earth mother

Salam Pax is going to be writing for the Guardian . Neat. And really handy as I've been so lazy about keeping up with people's blogs, but I download the Guardian to my Palm every day to read on the train.

Picked up my cap and gown today

It's nice to see that in toppling a secular government, we were good enough to allow the sort of rabid fundamentalism that some conservatives would like here. From the May 19 th installment of Salam Pax's blog: There have been attacks on 5 stores that sell liquor and everybody in the store was killed. There is no way any one is going to sell you a beer on the street in Basra. Some areas in Baghdad have seen similar attacks but nobody panicked yet. But we will be there soon. Al-Fartoosi in his Friday prayer Khutba said that "loose women", the cinemas in Sadoon street showing immoral films (the films are as sinful as a Britney Spears video, bellies and fake kissing) and anyone selling alcohol will be given a week to clean up their act or "other methods" will be used to stop them spreading wickedness.

I am fascinated by the ability of humans to create communities. It used to be that your "community" was your village, clan or suburban block, but those things don’t really mean much any more*. The communities I involve myself in tend to be online, and I find myself feeling closer to some of my online friends, who I have never seen or heard, than I am to some of the flesh and blood people I see everyday. It's a strange phenomenon, but for someone who never felt comfortable in social situations (I once stood in a corner facing the wall at a school dance. I'm still not sure why I went to those things, other than it's what one did at age 14), I feel like I've finally come home. And the flirting kicks ass. *A friend of mine does live in a neighborhood where people still have block parties and gather on the street to chat while the kids all play in the backyards. Personally, I like my community better.

Salam Pax is back.

Only one more week and then my course work will be done. FOREVER!!!!!!

Went out with the Holga today to take some shots of Glorious South Boston. Mostly stuck around the industrial areas, getting shots of warehouses and allys. My photography eye still sucks, but hopefully I'm learning something, even if it's only remembering to switch from "cloudy" to "sunlight".

You know, I star out all enthusiastic with my " Rah, Rah, Protest !" and "Our Government sucks!" and all that fun stuff and then I just fizzle out. I suck. However, I'm always one for charming little obsessions, lasting or no. So, today I was wandering around photography sites to see if someone with as bad an eye as I can ever hope to take interesting photos. I'm still trying to use my Holga and found Digital Sucks , a fun site of Holga images. I do tend to agree that there are some serious issues with digital photography, but not the ones they site. To me, the problem with digital photos, still or moving, is that it makes everyone think they can take picture/make movies. Now, I have no problem with people having hobbies, but not everyone is an artist. And NO amount of immediacy is going to improve someone's artistic sensibility. Sure you can improve your technique by seeing your mistakes instantly, but the ability to delete them, removing