:: Ray's Periodic Rantings ::

:: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 ::

Decompression

Friday night and Saturday morning saw me frantically preparing Betty and packing for an overnight Burning Man Decompression party hosted by the midwest regional organization, Synchroni-city at a biker bar in Kansasville, WI, called the Wildlife Refuge. There was final cleaning left to do from this year's BM trip, blankets and pillows to wash, food to organize, riveting to be replaced. I am never efficient at getting ready for trips, and this was no exception.

I needn't have worried. Everything turned out just fine, and I had a great time. I took pics with the Lomo, but the film that was loaded was only 100 speed, and I had no flash, so some of them are a little more, um, interesting than I would have liked. Still, when I get a chance to scan them I will post a few. BM pics are still on the way, too.

I'll make an effort to up the frequency of my posts. I feel like I have been slacking a bit lately.
:: Ray 12:49 PM [+] ::
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Autumn

Autumn has arrived. In the Blackfoot tradition, it is the time of the look within, when we go deep into the bear's cave to see our great dreams. It is a time of harvest, when we reap the benefits of our endeavors. It is time to prepare for winter, time to hibernate. And for me, it is a time for allergies. Mold counts are high, and I have been suffering.

I have also been worrying. DCFS still seems tragically intent on removing 140 kids, including the one I mentor, from their home, needlessly upsetting their fragile lives. Short of making phone calls, writing letters, and asking my friends to do the same, I don't know what to do to prevent it. If you'd like to help, even just to make a call or write a letter or two, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you. My email is koltys at this domain.
:: Ray 6:36 PM [+] ::
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Maryville Academy

I have written before about the boy I mentor, known here as the kid. I don't believe I have named the facility where the kid lives, but it is Maryville Academy in Des Plaines. Last Thursday, September 18, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich decided to remove all DCFS wards from the Maryville campus. If this is to be prevented, the kid and I need your help.

A year ago, there were some serious incidents at Maryville, including a suicide, a rape, and several runaways. The primary cause of these incidents was that DCFS had foisted quite a few kids on Maryville with behavioral problems that Maryville was not properly equipped to handle, and the staff became overwhelmed. One of Maryville's biggest wrongdoings in the process was not saying no. These kids are no longer at the campus, having been moved to facilities more appropriate for their situations, and Maryville has increased staff training. The kids that remain are longer term residents, located there because they are difficult to place in foster care. They are basically good kids who need structure in their lives, and they get it at Maryville. Moving them will turn their worlds upside down for no reason.

I have visited the Maryville campus weekly for the three years I've been mentoring the kid, and have been able to monitor the atmosphere there the entire time. During the trouble a year ago, I was concerned -- the kids and staff were agitated, understandably, at the disturbances that were occurring. Since then, however, the situation has improved immeasurably. Today, the campus feels relaxed, calm, and most importantly, safe.

I don't understand Governor Blagojevich's motivation in removing the kid and the other kids from their home, but I believe it is the wrong thing to do. I hope to change the governor's mind, and I need your help to do so. Please take one or more of the following actions:

1) Call the governor's office at 312-814-2121 and express your displeasure at his decision to withdraw DCFS kids from Maryville. You can also write to his office at Office of the Governor, 100 W Randolph, Chicago IL 60601, but time is of the essence.

2) Call Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy at 312-433-4300 and encourage him to try to block the governor's action.

3) If you are in the are Des Plaines area, join us for rally on the Maryville campus tonight, Monday 9/22/03 at 6PM, on Central, just west of River Rd.

4) If you are really fired up and live in Illinois, call your state senator and representative. If you don't know who they are, search at http://www.elections.state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddresscrit.asp or email me with your address and I will do it for you.

If you have any questions about any of this, I am happy to discuss it. I hope that with enough pressure, we can turn it around. The alternative is sad to contemplate.
:: Ray 3:13 PM [+] ::
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Another sunny day

Yesterday and today have been beautiful again -- sunny and warm, but not hot. These are days when it is a bummer to have to go sit at a desk in an air conditioned building. I have compensated for this a bit by riding the motorcycle to work for the first times in several weeks. Two wheeling rocks.

Yesterday and last night were significant in other ways, too. I hung out with Raul and Carolyn and six-week-old Victor for the first time in several weeks, and I went to see a band play at Martyr's: the Hillbilly Winos. The HW lead singer is an old friend, Jeff Ham, whom I hadn't seen for years. I am acquainted with another band member and someone else who showed up to listen, too. It was great to catch up with these guys and listen to some fantastic music.

The highlight of the evening for me, though, was that it turned into an impromptu third date. That's right, kids, you read it here first. In over a year of blogging I have never written about dating, as it did not seem appropriate. Recently, however, I met a very cool, very beautiful woman, and I find myself having to struggle to remain cautious about being hopeful and optimistic about my future with her. More details will follow when the time is right, but for now, I want the world to know that for the first time in a long time, Ray is sweet on a girl, with absolutely no hesitations or reservations. Life is good.
:: Ray 3:23 PM [+] ::
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Sunny day

Allergy season has kicked in for me. I took a claritin today for the first time in a long time, and it has me a bit spacy. I haven't had the energy to post, though several topics have popped up in the past few days, ranging from the usual Republican hypocrisy (now they are whining about court interference in the California recall...funny how court interference in elections is just fine when it suits them) to, of course, more Burning Man details. All I have the time to report at them moment is that life is good, things are looking up for me on several fronts, and it is a beautiful, sunny day here in Chicago.
:: Ray 3:04 PM [+] ::
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Dust, dust everywhere, and BM03 (pt 1)

Phil came over tonight. He was my traveling companion to Burning Man this year. For a week and a half we lived together in Betty the Airstream. Our task for tonight was to unpack Betty and begin cleaning her. We got a fair amount done, but I have a lot left to do. You just can't know about playa dust and how it completely covers things and sticks to them until you have experienced it for yourself. Worse, it's alkaline, so it corrodes and rusts. Ack. Anyway, it seemed an appropriate occasion to begin telling Burning Man stories while they are still fresh in my head.

To begin with, I finished both the dinette I was working on and the neon sign for my camp, just barely. We were to depart Friday, 8/22, and at midnight the night before I was literally putting in the final screws on the dinette. I can't thank my friend Tom Pope enough for his invaluable help in pulling this project off. It looks beautiful...pics are to come.

I didn't finish assembling the neon sign until Friday at about midday, along with a quickly rigged box to protect it en route. I was freaking out at that point. I had done some shopping and packing, but wasn't nearly ready yet, and I was supposed to go get Phil and our third copilot for the drive west, JP. JP is from France. Cool guy. He and Phil and Cindy, another friend who housesat for me, made quick work of packing once we were all together at the house, while I ran around pulling my hair out, gathering my own items together. Then Cindy presented us with some wonderful cookies and brownies and quickbreads she had baked, and we were off.

Once we finally hit the road, the drive was similar to last year. We made Iowa the first day, and Wyoming the second, arriving in Winnemucca, NV late Sunday. Bam Bam got Betty through every pass without a hiccup, just slowly at times, and without air conditioning on the climbs. Even the insane descent down Parley's Canyon between Park City and Salt Lake City seemed easier than it had the first time. I was nervous the entire time, though, wondering if we would make it, if we would blow out a tire from the weight, and fretting about mileage and cost.

This year, we put the bikes up on Bam Bam's roof. Having them in the trailer the previous year had sucked, and I was determined not to do it again. My late wife, Mary, had a love of many things, including Yakima roof racks. I had to buy a couple of new parts, but she already possessed most of what we needed. Pushing four bikes through the air didn't do wonders for our aerodynamics, though. Bam Bam's mileage dropped from last year's 8 down to 7. Ack. 3800 miles at 7mpg. And to make matters worse, that Phoenix gas pipeline interruption had prices all out of whack. In Utah, we paid as much as $2.10 a gallon. Ouch! I don't want to see my credit card statement when it arrives.

The point of getting the bikes out of the trailer was to improve its habitability on the road. We spent our first two nights sleeping in Betty, parked in the lots of that national chain of discount stores whose labor and purchasing practices appall me. They let RVers stay for free, though. We are towing a room with us...why not use it? One of these days, I even want to try staying in an RV park!

JP was the first to sleep on the double bed that the dinette is designed to become. He pronounced it very comfortable, and said he slept better than he had for a week or two. I'll have to take his word for it...I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

In Winnemucca, we stayed at the same motel I have used before, which afforded us a final shower before hitting the playa. Monday morning, we did our final provisioning before driving the last couple of hundred miles to the site. That afternoon, finally, we rounded the last curve, and there was the playa in the distance, with Black Rock City all shimmering and bustling. Though fun at times, the drive had been long and exhausting. Seeing the city there in the distance made it all worth it.

I was home.
:: Ray 1:00 AM [+] ::
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Food again

As I mentioned in my last post, I safely returned from this year's Burning Man trip on Wednesday night. Except for a trip to work on Friday, and dinner and a movie with a coworker that evening, I have pretty much been a vegetable since then. Call it post-trip depression or whatever, I fell into my occasional cycle of not eating enough and not having motivation to do anything.

There is only one thing to do about it...I am going to cook up a storm! I just put some chicken breasts in a chipotle marinade in the fridge. They will go on the grill tomorrow, together with some beautiful pork chops that were on sale at the store, which I will rub with rosemary, salt, and pepper. I plan to make a batch of potato salad, and also grill the five small ears of sweet corn that I harvested from the garden a couple of days ago. Finally, I bought pie dough so I can make some tarts from some wonderful fruit of the month peaches from my biomom. If you are hungry Sunday afternoon, come on over...I'm cooking!
:: Ray 11:29 PM [+] ::
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Entertainment

It has been a long couple of weeks. I returned from Burning Man Wednesday night at 10pm, exhausted. There is a lot to tell about the trip, but for now, I can't resist commenting about some of today's news.

I am tremendously entertained, watching Republican senators bleat in protest at the behavior of the Democrats which resulted the withdrawal of the nomination of Miguel Estrada to a federal appeals court position. All the usual conservative hacks are there, on C-SPAN right now, whining like bullies who didn't get their way. Lott and Hatch are there, and even their newest buddy, Norm Coleman, who, impressively, beat a last-minute stand-in for the deceased Paul Wellstone to get his senate seat. Paul would be turning over in his grave to see this.

I keep hearing these buffoons use words like decry, disgrace, and shabby. They are even calling it an unconstitutional process. I have to call them on that one. Senate rules are senate rules. If they aren't constitutional, perhaps they should be changed. Republicans have never shied from using them to their advantage, however, so for them to call doing so unconstitutional sounds plain silly.

I encourage Senate Democrats to continue their strategy of blocking the nominations of the worst of President Bush's judicial nominees. He is picking some really awful candidates, conservative far beyond most Americans, and they deserve to be rejected. The future of our country and our rights and civil liberties depends on it. Go Dems!
:: Ray 8:16 PM [+] ::
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