clare judith bowers

listy business

i'm really trying to write more, because (like i said in my last post, um, 19 days ago...) blogging once a month is weird and boring.  so here's the deal.  i'm gonna tell you about three awesome things:

awesome thing #1
j.otto seibold is doing a show at grass hut in portland, opening this friday night.  portland is rad all on it's own.  add in some ponies and mushrooms and you graduate to a whole new level of rad. AP rad.   

awesome thing #2
jenny kim, currently at keter salon in san francisco, can make anyone look pretty.  i entered her salon looking like  a greasy hippie (you know how i do) and i left looking like barba-frickin-rella.  well, my hair looked like barbarella's hair.  my face is still all clare looking.  but check it out...the resemblance is uncanny, right?  right??!?! 

awesome thing #3
remedy tea in seattle.  have i mentioned this place before? probably...but who cares?  i love remedy tea and i'm not afraid to repeat myself about it.  remedy tea completes me.  seriously, when i lived near remedy, i gave up (almost) all my vices and just sat around drinking green tea, all healthy and mellow-like.  it was awesome.  they even have tea cocktails like matcha champagne mojitos (a drink invented by angels and super smart puppies).

k, that's it for now.   high fives and hugs and stuff.   and maybe come party with me in portland this friday night at the grass hut! 

a specific suggestion and a bunch of questions

please read this article...mr. keizer tells it in a way that i just can't...

so, what do you think?  is it time to strike?  i think it may be.  i was always against this whole "war on terror" thing...and now it's grown to heartbreakingly monstrous proportions.  i mean, rationalizing torture?  preemptive war?  the suspension of habeas corpus?  each new distortion is bolder than the last...

it's sickening...especially now that so many people are finally admitting that the war was mismanaged from the beginning and that it is "largely about oil."  i mean, actual people are actually being tortured and dying every actual day...for what?  oil?  lucrative no-bid contracts?  that's unacceptable. 

does anyone really believe that there are gangs of evildoers out there that want to blow us up for no reason other than love of terror and hatred of freedom?  really?  even if, and i'm going to go way out on an invisible, hypothetical, imaginary limb here, even if this war were about spreading freedom...it has gone horribly wrong and it's not working. 

so why is it that we automatically assume that we can't do anything about it?  i've always had that feeling, like why bother?  it won't do any good.  i'm not trying to be snotty and rhetorical, but why are we all so convinced that it won't do any good?  is it laziness?  addiction to comfort?  lack of imagination?  the long-term result of a slow, sneaky deterioration of our rights? 

i really don't know exactly how i became convinced that protest was pointless and ineffective.  i mean, i did grow up in the 80s...and i know i'm a cynic...but that never stopped me from trying to be honest and fair in my own life.  so why is this different?   

strikes do work...even if they are scary...like, what if it doesn't work?  will i lose my job?  will i lose the small amount of security (and hope) i have?  and, honestly, i don't know much about strikes, general or otherwise. like, if no one else strikes, do i just keep on striking anyway?  how long can it go on?  will i need canned foods and drinking water?  will i get splinters?  i know how to boycott things i'm against...i don't buy gasoline or meat and my makeup is cruelty free.  but i don't know all that much about social action...

but i don't think that i need to memorize the complete anti-war activist's handbook and glossary before i can go ahead and take a stand against this retarded war.  so...november 6...i'm thinking i'm gonna sit inside and sew peace patches onto my freedom moccasins or something...who's with me?!  or...who has a better idea?   

for reals, who has a better idea?   

party for a good cause this weekend

i tried to come up with a clever title for this blog, some kind of funny-punny twist on the lyrics to hell'€™s bells, but dang!  have you listened to that song lately.  very negative, very nasty.  tsk-tsk!  plus, i'm all post-massage groggy, so i'm just gonna have to stick to the facts:

1) the Hell's Belles Car Club's 2nd Annual Pinewood Derby & Art Auction is this saturday, august 18th, at The Shooting Gallery.

2) it'€™s going to be fun.

2) there will be a pinewood derby, which i hear is some sort of race between a bunch of blocks of wood.  also, i hear that "pinewood derby"€ is actually a registered trademark of The Boy Scouts of America.  so watch out, Belles!  The Boy Scouts might come looking for you!  and i hear they often carry pointy sticks and/or pocket knives!

3) there will also be an art auction of art by artists, including a piece by me.  me!   

4) the auction will be silent, but the party will probably be loud.  and by loud, i mean awesome.  did i mention how groggy i am?

and...

5) it's all for a good cause!  all proceeds benefit the Bay Area Women & Children's Center. 

saturday, august 18th, 2007
doors at 6 p.m., races begin at 8 p.m.

The Shooting Gallery
839 larkin st., san francisco, ca

(photo credit to www.hellsbellescarclub.com)