The Moral Responsibility of Spiderman

It should go without saying that there are lots of people who make lots of big decisions in this world that will disappoint you. Big decisions, that affect lots of people, especially those who can't defend themselves. I should know this, and not be so surprised when these decisions are made. Unfortunately, in my world of bright radiant people who believe in good things and do their best to do something about them, I don't usually come face to face with people like this and the horrible decisions they sometimes make.

This week has been surrounded by a decision like this. One that cuts deeply into the core of what I believe to be right and will directly affect those who are the most vulnerable among us.

And I'm flabbergasted. I'm shocked, angry, and deeply saddened.

But more than all that, I've been all-too-practically reminded of the importance of always--in big decisions and small--standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves, and choosing the bigger good over smaller conveniences.

Because we are the most blessed--those of us who are educated--and we have the power to act on behalf of ourselves and of others to work for a braver, more just world however we can. We carry this responsibility in our daily lives because of our privilege.

Let us never forget that. And always make the hardest choice in moments of crisis, to choose a better life for someone else over an easier life for ourselves... Because that's the right thing to do , and there are too many people who doesn't have the power to choose that for themselves.

My Fav Bands/Albums of 2009

Top Ten
This isn't science, by the way. This is just my opinion. Click links to listen!


10. Japandroids: Post-Nothing

9. The Thermals: Now We Can See

8. Bibio: Ambivalence Avenue

7. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

6. Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career

5. Cass McCombs: Catacombs

4. Health: Get Color

3. Fuck Buttons: Tarot Sport / The XX - XX (Yes, I think ties are fair)

2. Dan Deacon: Bromst

1. Surfer Blood: Astrocoast (Yes, I know this technically came out in 2010 - but come on... we bought it at their show in October. This is 2009. Let's argue.)


Honorable Mentions:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Very Best
Pictureplane
Here We Go Magic
Deerhunter
Abe Vigoda
Dark Was the Night
Women
The Strange Boys


I also put together a compilation of 25 songs that inspired me in 2009 (but didn't necessarily come OUT in 2009), which I enjoy a LOT. Check it.


Also, I'm pretty excited right now (since it's 2010) about Beach House. And also about Midlake's new album and Owen Pallett's new album. And just music in general.

There are no bullet points this post. Suck it!

Shall we catch up?

It's been awhile. Here are 15 things that happened last year (without cheating and looking at the calendar):

1. I worked a lot January - March, but at the end I had put together my first book! Now, that book is for sale. Check it: The Complete Photo Guide to Home Decorating Projects.

2. Molly and Eric returned, got married, and moved with us to a new house.

3. I hawked homemade stuff at the Craftstravaganza.

4. Spent time being friends when life was dark. Watched movies projected on the garage, held hands - kept going.

5. Summer was wonderful. I rode my bike and worked less and opened all the windows. Plus, Justin didn't have class.

6. Pitchfork pilgrammage to Chicago in July with insoles in our shoes. Met Mark and Katie in person, squeezed Dan a lot, listened to great music (esp. The Very Best, The Black Lips - met Plants & Animals, others). Took the Megabus home - exhilarated, energized, with very sore feet.

7. Polka festival weekend follows immediately after with the blondes + Amy and Lucy. I wore a black dress this year and for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to drink beer while polka dancing - but we forgot that we sweat too much and just got headaches. Polka dancing never, ever gets old.

8. Lyme disease. It really messes with your work schedule. Try not to get it.

9. Said goodbye to Northeast and the little upstairs apartment that held us together and was so much fun for two years. Inhabited Colin's house - packed, unpacked, sorted, hauled, lost things, found them again, etc.

10. Learned how to build pole barns and put this information to good use in The Complete Guide to Sheds, Barns & Outbuildings. Book #2 coming soon.

11. Started training to be a tour guide at the Walker and got really excited about talking about art again. Art is so interesting!! Do you guys all know about that!? Read a great book about Robert Irwin, getting all tingly about conceptual art and the 1960's, Warhol, Johns, Akasegawa, Gonzalez-Torres, on and on and on. Forgetaboutit.

12. I got really inspired this year by science too, especially Radiolab podcasts and Symphony of Science videos.

13. My job has also been really inspiring this year. Big thinkers making big moves.

14. Went to Valleyfair and dressed up dripping in gold to celebrate Shalee's golden.

15. Shut the windows, turned on the heat. Boo. Justin turned 30 and we smooched a lot about it. More books, more books... Work. Holidays. Friends. The end.

Best Albums of 2008

1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
2. Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
3. Muscles - Guns, Babes, Lemonade (OK - this came out in 2007, but I just got in in 2008. And it rules SO HARD that it still makes the list)
4. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
5. Wolf Parade - At Mt. Zoomer
6. Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
7. Portishead - Third
8. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
9. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (Oh god - I know. But really - it rules)
10. All those albums I think I'm going to love, but haven't listened to enough yet - Jay Reatard, Deerhunter, David Byrne/Brian Eno, No Age, M83. Others.)

My Own Year in Review

January

• Started out the year after what has turned out to be a fairly crucial turning point for our family. Sometimes things need to crack in order to heal.
• Turned 26
• Applied to graduate school to study business and media and stuff in NYC, Canada and Chicago

February

• Voted Obama in a very exciting, packed local primary.
• Said goodbye to my Grandma - one of the most warm, most fun, most full of life people I have ever known.
  
• Ate at White Castle on Valentine's Day with Justin, Molly and Eric
• Drove M & E to the airport, sent them off to Haiti for what felt like a very long time. Cried, but didn't really know what about and worried a lot those first few days.
• Flew to Hawaii. Laid on many beaches. Watched whales. Read 100 Years of Solitude to the sound of waves crashing. Learned to surf. Ate a lot of avocados, drove a rental car, went to a random party with locals and freeloaders, laughed a lot.

March

• Got really tired of hearing Sublime everywhere and feeling like no one was aware that the whole rest of the world existed - flew home to cold, grey Minnesota ready for spring and more sunshine, but were really ready to talk about things and spend time with friends and participate in the world again.
• In an effort to brighten up day to day life, I redecorated my office
• Listened to Menomena
  
• I was accepted into NYU and all of a sudden was maybe going to move to New York
  
• Signed up for a hip hop dance class through community ed
• Mom gave me her sewing machine, and an adventure began!
  

April

• I made my first skirt.... and then another one and another one and then I made a dress. And another one. And another one.
  
• Hip hop dance class cancelled - and sewing club was born!
• Beirut on my headphones on the morning bus to work
  
• Molly and I navigated letters between Minnesota and Haiti on the blue light electronic pony express
• Justin and I celebrated one year of being married. And we didn't really know how to celebrate that since it was our first time, so we ate sushi and went shopping and loved each other so wonderfully much for another day.
  

May

• New bike!
• It snowed again - and we all thought spring would NEVER come and everyone got really irritated.
• Decided not to go to NYU, but then flew out to New York anyway to hang with friends and spend a weekend in another place.
• No emails from Haiti for three weeks! Boo....
• Made my first bag out of neckties. Huh. Cool.
  
• Decided that maybe Justin should go back to school instead, and realized again that plan-making is for suckers, because nothing ever really goes how you expect.

June

• Molly and Eric are back for a few wonderful weeks! A bigger world fills our house, we squeeze them tight and then release them again to Nicaragua, Argentina, and beyond...
• The sun is back!
• Started dreaming about life outside of my FCS office and began to email myself new job opportunities
• Listend to Muscles a lot
  
• Realized that neckties are a totally badass thing to make stuff out off, and ordered myself a box of 300 from ebay, and this whole sewing thing took on a new life altogether.

July

• Rearranged our house... spread out and welcomed the light.
• New blog! It's good to write things down.
  
• New plan! Justin enrolls in MCTC's graphic design program for fall 2008.
• Pitchfork 2008! Justin and Colin and I head down for quality time with Dan Wren, the Hold Steady and Dinosaur Jr.
• I start to go beyond browsing... applications sent out for new jobs.
• I begin an account at etsy.com called Tart Design.
  
• Molly and I discover the miracle of the telephone.
  

August

• Cell phones suck! We ditch em and buy an old-school land line.
• I apply for a job with The New Teacher Project.
• Justin gets laid off, starts classes.
• I start calling in sick. A lot.

September

• Tart Design - first sale!!
• Shalee, Kristina and I head to Wisconsin Dells for dancing, roller coasters, mooning and general troublemakery.
  
• The New Teacher Project calls and I accept a part time job, put in my notice at FCS and begin the wild ride of pursuing a happier day to day.
  

October

• I head in to Saint Paul Public Schools for my first day with The New Teacher Project.
• Justin turns 29!
  
• I find myself with 4 jobs instead of one suddenly - still working for FCS, working at a new job, writing for three websites, filling Tart Design orders, and feeling overwhelmed all the time.
• Polka girls get a tattoo.
  
• Buy a new macbook, and it totally rules so hard. I'll never go back.
• Molly and Eric begin life in Tanzania and the light splits open a little again...

November

• Holy shit - Obama is elected president!!!!!
• First craft fair at the Lake Nokomis Community Center...
• My brother, Judd, gets a girlfriend.
• I feel overwhelmed and stressed for most of the month and become increasingly difficult to calm down. Still have 4 jobs.
• Tart Design is featured in Metro Magazine. This is so cool!
  

December

• FCS finally hires someone and I gradually phase them out. Thank GOD. I can breathe a little again.
• The New Teacher Project has its first interview event!
• Craft fair #2!
• Molly and Eric depart Tanzania for Greece and try to decide where to go next.
• It's cold and snowy... and New Year's is just around the corner.

I love New Year's. And I'm so excited (as always) for next year. You just NEVER know what's going to happen. And tonight, I'm feeling optimistic.

Elevator Buttons and the Great Leader of our Time

When we were kids, my brother and sister and I always used to argue about who got to push the buttons in the elevator when we were staying in hotels on vacation. It drove my parents crazy, and completely mystified them - why are these buttons so exciting? They developed intricate systems of taking turns to keep it fair.

As an adult now, I don't really understand why we each wanted so badly to push the button... but I think it definitely had something to do with the intrigue of doing something small - pushing a button and watching it light up - and causing this huge piece of machinery to move. It was kind of a miracle to me, a little girl, that I could do something that would cause such a large reaction.

I wish I could've voted multiple times yesterday.... and I definitely would've argued with anyone who wanted to take the right to do it once away from me. It felt so special - so big - so important. To push my small button in my little corner of Minneapolis, and then to watch the world move.

And it did. And our world will (hopefully) never be the same. I think this election may have been one of the greatest choices made by a couple million people in my lifetime in the United States. And I am SO GLAD to have had the opportunity to be a part of it.

To believe in it.
To be inspired by it.

And now, to be comforted by it. Comforted by the belief that something is foundationally different in this country that will never be able to shift back. Because yesterday, we proved it was possible and blew the crack in the doors open just that much wider.

What else will we try now, now that we know it just might be possible?

Betsy between things

Transition is hard for me - changing jobs, moving apartments, cities, etc. I always think it's going to be no big deal, and it always sucks. I'm just not very good at working out the details, I think....

Anyway - thoughts about changing jobs this past week. And why it's been hard. And also, why it's good.

• So, my schedule is all different - which is great - but I never know when to eat. I don't know how to bring food for breakfast and lunch (is there a refrigerator? where will I heat it up? where will I sit to eat?)... So what happens is, I end up eating crappy food that makes me feel like shit - in the car. Lunch is, therefore, totally unsatisfying and not really a break at all. Which just throws off the whole day.
• Where do I get coffee? (Since we're hobos sometimes and don't have any at home...)
  
• Sometimes my nose is runny in the morning... and my workspace this week hasn't had any kleenex, which leads to many interruptions during which I go to the ladies to blow out my boogers.
• I don't have a central calendar with all the aspects of my life on it - so I go through the day not really knowing what I'm going to do next and constantly worried that I'm going to forget something important.
• Small thing, but often this week I haven't gotten to check my email until I get home at 10:30... which really throws me off. I'm used to just having it on all the time... and feeling very connected to everything that's trying to get in contact with me. Which is nice, since I don't have a cellphone.
• I don't have my own computer at work yet - so I don't have any of my shortcuts programmed. God, I'm such an anal nerd. But this really bothers me. Because I'm an anal nerd.
• It's been really hard to stay working part of the time at FCS... it's just so disjointed to be plunging into this new life for part of the day and then writing the staff enewsletter for the rest of it. Weird.
• Keeping track of my time and projects is going to be a pain in the ass - and setting aside portions of freelance income and bag sales for paying taxes. Boo! Taxes!
  

So - having made this list, I feel like I've spent all my energy being wrapped up in and worried about petty shit that doesn't matter at all. Which is too bad - but maybe there's a lesson to be learned here.

The following are things that are going to be really good about all this transition. I'm just not quite at the point that I know it yet.

• The organization I'm working for now is a really inspired, ambitious, hard-working place, and I think I'm really going to like me new job and coworkers. I think it will take some time for me to switch gears from the hum drum rhythym I've gotten into at FCS... because I think this job really will require thought and efficiency and kindness and responsiveness. Which is great!... I think I will be really thankful and energized by this once I can get into the swing.
• I am going to LOVE only spending 20 hours per week at my "job." Although I'm a little freaked out about having to find enough freelance work to fill in the gaps. But that an entirely different problem. This 20 hrs/week is a great thing. I'm done with "work" at 1:30! Holy cats, that's awesome!
  
• I like freelance writing.
  
• I like sewing. And I will hopefully spend a lot more time doing both of these things.
• I will actually get to be out in the daylight. And I don't have to get up in the dark.
• In general, I think I'll have to spend less time being serious. Being serious is for real adults, and I'm just not ready to surrender to that yet. I want to spend time reading music reviews and forwarding photos from cuteoverload.com and spying on exboyfriends on facebook. These are the kinds of activities that make it possible to be good at everything else.
• More time for singing loud alone in the car.