Category Archives: sustainability
February 16, 2011 the good doctor
Edwin, the good doctor, let me tag along to El Bosque yesterday. He is the doctor of a clinic where he either lives during the week or makes a two hour commute by combi bus (van taxi) first from Tuxtla to Bochil, and Bochil to El Bosque. El Bosque means “the Forest,” a simple title because one, that’s where it is, and two, the people there don’t speak Spanish. Indigenous to these mountains, they are Tzotzil, the same people who have the artisan markets nearby in San Cristobal and who form the EZLN.
Edwin sees twenty patients a day with illnesses ranging from tuberculosis to epilepsy. And sadly, in a place with unreliable water and electricity, or even the delivery of medicine, there is always a hot Pepsi to be had. Hypertension and diabetes is the result of free furniture and a wonder cure for pain, fatigue and thirst (guaranteed parasite free).
I have a larger story to tell about what happened yesterday but no time. Today is our last day in Mexico and we must be off to make firm memories to last until we can return. Cafe Avenida for me, some real coffee with old men in Guayaberas.
Upcoming posts: Living in Mexico with Mexicans, a mini video about El Bosque, a Vigilante story, traveling with Las Gringas (the seven American girls who came for Jessica’s wedding and their impact on the atmosphere surrounding them), Salsa and Bachata class: one year later, a situation involving Ashley which led me to believe she may be the biggest bad ass I’ve ever known or even heard of despite her stature and demeanor, and how I dropped my wallet in a combi and realized it after getting a taxi so I jumped out to chase down the combi and bust in the side door to find it in the back seat. (My guardian angel enjoys a good drill). I may not get to all of these topics.
Related posts:
El Bosque 2010 https://noroomforhipsters.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/travel-journal/
Cafe Avenida 2010 https://noroomforhipsters.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/a-mexican-hamburguesa/ and
https://noroomforhipsters.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/song-12-of-14-cafe-avenida/
Tags: bachata class, bochil, cafe avenida, combi taxi, el bosque, ezln, gingas, going home, guardian angel, guayabera, losing wallet in a taxi, parasite, pepsi, san cristobal, san valentine, slasa, tzotzil, vigilante
January 29, 2011 black mold
an old nickname, rhymes with booty
Ashley’s dad got some free drugs and his legs shaved today, then we all left and went to a basketball game. The Johnson City Medical Center discovered black mold in the operating room and the open heart surgery was postponed. Meanwhile the Addair family had settled in for a week. Ashley was watching Twilight on the laptop with her cousin, kids were glued to videogames, I was playing the lobby piano for the elderly, and Pops was somewhere else getting into his party gown.
5:00 AM
Then at 9:30 they called it off. Glen had already had his first round of juice when they pushed him back in a wheelchair, street clothed and grinning about where the nurse had half shaved his leg. He slurred, “I think I’m gonna roll with this.”
4:30 AM surprise
Everyone passed the word down the calling tree to stop relatives driving from all over. Many people were with us in thought and prayer. The family that had already arrived was given a free day together, and felt almost serendipitous about the sterile, healing environment being invaded by spores.
If you’ve been following recently, you realize other implications of the delay. Ashley and I are just two of the people stirring in the house this morning and it feels pretentious to start babbling about our circumstance, however it is the story that this blog has begun and the story that needs continuing. Obviously, a 1409 mile tour down to Mexico won’t repeat this evening.
We hope to fly next week. If we drive to Charlotte, NC we can catch a plane to Mexico City and then bus to Chiapas. The surgery is in two days, the wedding is in seven.
Black mold in a hospital operating room, people. Nobody saw it coming.
Despite the seeming futility of making plans, I still believe we should use them. It is good to have an index of whether or not things go accordingly to the laugh that is our human control. Maybe human will is a better focal point, its what connects one plan to the next.
And when we get home next month, I will do what any dignified songwriter would do: book more coffee shops, oil my shovel, and lint roll my bistro apron. In a different life I was once a credit manager, then a banker, later an investment representative, and finally a financial literacy instructor for the state of Tennessee. That means we don’t have to be maxed, broke and feel ignorant about it.
Tags: black mold, human will, johnson city medical center, making plans, odd jobs, oody, serendipity, twilight
- 2 comments
- Posted under audacity, consumerism, Economy, Financial Literacy, home, mexico, Music, road daze, Songwriting, street vending, sustainability, travel and adventure, Uncertainty, wired, Work
January 21, 2011 before we go
Today is a little blog housekeeping. We leave for Mexico tomorrow, so we thought best to do some updates before we left.
Something you should know about Ashley and I is that we are technically unsavvy. Ashley can match a color in acrylic paint to the tiniest shade discrepancy but she can’t send a text message. My mom has to show me how to use her iPhone. The fact that we have maintained a blog for two years is the result of patience from others.
You’ll notice today that there is a “play” button in the corner. You now have the option to hear music, and that has taken me years. Then, if you click “FREE MUSIC” above, all three EPs are there to hear and download for free, no redirecting from the page, no sign up or anything. I always wanted to figure that out. Another thing, if you right click any of Ashley’s PAINTINGS you can make them your wallpaper (that wasn’t a recent realization but still worth the reminder). Music videos are organized with the recordings now, too.
Please take the music. If you like it, share it. I’d love your feedback so please comment. Pay it forward.
cover art by Dustin Addair
Other updates: new (shorter) bios, updated links on the blogroll (left), a MASON JAR press write up, a GIGS and GALLERIES page that tells where you can find us in person. As always, new artworks are listed at Ashley’s online gallery at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ashleyaddair. You can still subscribe to Good Packaging and get original artwork and unreleased song demos in your mailbox.
This blog is always a work in progress and we appreciate you coming by. If you have comments or suggestions please let us know, our contact is above.
- 2 comments
- Posted under an invitation, Ashley, consumerism, Economy, etsy, Good Packaging : a quarterly art and music subscription, little art videos, mason jar, mexico, Music, no room for hipsters merchandise, on tour, simple living, Songwriting, street art, sustainability, travel and adventure, Work
January 20, 2011 returning to mexico
(by Levon who is listening to Casi Te Envidio)
We made three promises to our friends in Mexico.
- That we would become fluent in Spanish.
- We would continue to learn Latin Dance.
- We would return each winter
Last year we began in Kentucky, camping first in an Arkansas state park and secondly on Galveston Island, Texas. At the border we crossed by bus to Reynosa, boarding again for 33 hours to Veracruz, Veracruz. There we caught another bus for 7 hours to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. It takes five days to reach the bottom of Mexico by land, now we know.
We were afraid, cautious of our budget, and unsure whether sustaining ourselves as artists was ever going to work. Glued to the window of a rugged Mexico, the judder of bus wheels amidst foreign foliage, concrete rebar and hand painted words scrolling until we were too tired to peer any longer. I slept, my fragmented memory wild on a Harlem apartment floor above sidewalk shouts and blowing trash, thin walled Virginia Beach motels full of drifters and winter salt, soup kitchen lines and clapping for nice strangers, a microphone in a bar over an out of tune piano.
In my pockets were tickets to redeem for backpacks, one key to a car in Texas and another to a house in Knoxville where someone else lived. A phone that wasn’t turned on. Crisp plastic pesos. A cold hand containing Ashley’s. My muse was determined to teach me resolve, when would it teach me stage presence?
In the Jan, Feb, Mar 2010 archives, there are extensive blog entries about what we found. The good doctor, Edwin, and the American linguist, Jessica would see to it that our time in the hills of Chiapas would leave us promising to return for a season of every year thereafter. They will be married this February 5th and we head for a hostel in New Orleans on Sunday for day number one.
Tags: casi te envidio, chiapas, galveston island state park, hot springs arkansas, mexico buses, tuxtla gutierrez
- 2 comments
- Posted under audacity, home, Life, marriage, mexico, Music, new york city, on tour, pictures i like, road daze, Songwriting, street art, sustainability, travel and adventure, Uncertainty, Work
January 12, 2011 indulge
(Levon who is listening to Jay Z, the Black Album)
Let me paraphrase something I read in Backpacker Magazine the other day: “The Appalachian Trail is America’s most revered trail, allowing for thousands to find themselves each year. But enough of the self indulgent memoirs, already.” I almost laughed myself off the EFX machine. These people I know. These poets, songwriters, bloggers, adventurers seeking to better the narrative of themselves… are just like me.
I looked up self indulgent because it sounds like a bad thing, grousing defensively that my work is self reflective and I could never ask it not to be. Self indulgent: doing exactly what one wants, and in regard to a creative work, lacking economy and control. The economics of my work, if that is the saving measure, don’t absolve me whatsoever. Oh no.
Backpacking Europe with no toothbrush, Reading 365 novels in 365 days, Training for a marathon to overcome a fear of inner cities… you’ve found the links in your inbox. It’s like Mrs Robinson asks in “The Graduate,” “Would you like to tell me about your college experiences, Ben?” Ashley rolls her eyes when I tell the same stories over and over. Let me have my moment.
Doing creative work is satisfying a role of expression by the artist. Not self indulgent, but self fulfilling because as one expresses themselves, so they are. The risk of self indulgence lies in the intent; are you working to enjoy yourself or are you working to give a part of yourself? I suppose both can be good art, but we don’t need that many memoirs. Nonetheless, tomorrow I’d like to tell you how I once got lost on Mt. Marcy in a whiteout, if you will allow me to indulge.
Tags: appalachian trail, backpacker magazine, efx, jay z, memoir, mrs. robinson, mt. marcy, self indulge, the black album, the graduate
- Leave a comment
- Posted under audacity, Humor, painting, simple living, Songwriting, sustainability, Uncategorized, Uncertainty, Work
January 7, 2011 hooray for two years
Around two years have passed since this blog began, or really the tangents of Facebook notes which would lead your humble narrator to believe that a blog might be worthwhile, if only to himself. Ashley and I were, in those days, feeling the indescribable itch to make it all stop. And so, in such a state we stepped out, to be met abruptly by stiff failure and vaporous chaos which has now come to resemble a large sanding belt in the sky. It took more than to go, we had to remain. It would be silly to sum up the days as uncomfortable, or to term them adventurous. It has been nothing short of absolute transformation, beyond what a springtime in Manhattan could have begun to answer.
After two years I wouldn’t say that I’ve learned to live with peace in uncertainty. I can find peace, but I won’t look for certainty. Those who are most certain will retain the most fear. Certainty of everything requires a hardy dependence on power and acceptance of inequities. I’ve found that peace comes from spending time and effort where it best belongs, where it most needed for others, and where there is most call for hope. I’ll abandon myself to a life of pure work that I’m proud of, even if my labor must go to the shovel or the waiter’s apron. I can be sustained in an existence which gives me peace. Or I can be certain of my helplessness.
Thank you for being our readers. Anyone who takes their time to be concerned with ours is a dear friend and a reason to keep doing our work.
(Levon who is listening to The Last Shadow Puppets, “My Mistakes Were Made for You EP”)
January 4, 2011 intentions
(by Levon who is listening to “Street Lights” by Kayne West)
In 2011 I want to make the art that I most proud of. Take courageous steps. Grow in excellence. Find wisdom. Utilize experiences. Write with a larger focus. Deliver performances that seize. Build structure. Make healthy habits and destroy bad ones. Work the land and not waste. Find instruction. Slow down and use space. Breathe deeper. Stretch. Laugh and smile often. Say what needs to be said. Make sure that I have listened. Give. Take stance. Bend.
Tags: first night knoxville, intentions, street lights kanye west
- Leave a comment
- Posted under audacity, Life, on tour, Songwriting, sustainability, Uncertainty, Work
December 16, 2010 imaginative conflict
[ from a. addair who is listening to Flight of the Conchords (Flight of the Conchords) ]
“To a large extent , culture is a set of expectations. How will we behave toward one another? What can we expect from our fellow citizens? What does the community expect of us? What are the unspoken rules that we just assume will be followed in our daily interactions? In one sense, a culture of democracy can be defined as one that builds trust.” -Frances Moore Lappe
Tags: abstractions, acrylic, apple red, circles, community, conejo bus, conflict as opportunity, culture, democracy, dwellings, Flight of the Conchords, frances moore lappe, hope, lime yellow, mexican bus tickets, paintings, permeability, trust, tuxtla gutierrez
December 15, 2010 still thankful for thanksgiving (a sister, dad, and cousins)
[ from a. addair who is listening to French Kicks (Swimming) ]
“…that we come to appreciate and enjoy nature’s laws, learning to live within a self-renewing ecological home, we discover there’s more than enough for all to live well.” -Frances Moore Lappe
Tags: abundance, cody wilson, cortney addair, family, frances moore lappe, french kicks, getting a grip, Glen Addair, grandmother's, interconnectedness, josh wilson, morning, on the hill, shane wilson, sustainability, swimming, thanksgiving
December 10, 2010 paintings for the All Souls chapel
[ from a. addair who is listening to Zee Avi (Zee Avi) ]
“The passage into mystery always refreshes. If, when we work, we can look once a day upon the face of mystery, then our labor satisfies. We are lightened when our gifts rise from pools we cannot fathom. Then we know they are not solitary egotism and they are inexhaustible. Anything contained within a boundary must contain as well its own exhaustion.”
–Lewis Hyde
The piece is much less about declaring a vision for the chapel and much more a simple marking of breath.
The aim then is not for anyone to align with or even share my conception of the human experience, rather, it is an invitation to delight in the mystery of God and the loving openness our little family pours out to its members and the city.
It is an exhalation that hopes to give space. It is a record of a labor for authenticity, permeability, vulnerability, and an acknowledgement of interdependence. My hope is that it gives permission for others to struggle and delight in labors of their own.
In this way, these paintings are images from personal experience (I don’t feel qualified to offer more than this) that are for and about the collective.
“I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love”
–Walt Whitman
I am learning that the spirit swells even though, or maybe because, the body dissolves. I am learning to acknowledge my participation and live in harmony with the cycles of nature. I am learning that the boundaries dividing the biological, social, and spiritual are fluid. I am learning to give and to love freely because the giving of these things assures their plenty. I am learning to let go of ambition and the desire to control. I am learning to participate in momentum. I am learning to be a part of a community whose paradigm is one of gift exchange. I am learning to acknowledge a flow that is out of my hands and cannot be managed in the scheduled, quantitative system of our culture.
Tags: 4 market square, abundance, acrylic painting, all souls chapel, Ashley Addair, bathing suits, blue, bodies, city, commissioned work, culture, cycles, dissolve, dive, eddies, effuse, ego, environmentalism, exhaustion, family, gift economies, gift exchange, god, grass, green, growth, interdependence, knoxville tn, labor, lacy jags, lewis hyde, little girls, molecules, mystery, permeability, pink, red, refresh, scarcity, skin, spirituality, stripes, swimming, the gift, visual metaphors, vulnerability, walt whitman, water, Work, zee avi
no room for hipsters 