quotidian design

bathroom wall-shelf-cubby-thing and ceramic tiles.

kitchen wall tiles.

restaurant bloc sinks with foot-pedals.

intriguing unisex toilet sign.

the price of a beautiful sunrise

As I make my coffee in the early morning, I marvel at the lateness of the sunrise. Winter is approaching, and I am further north in latitude than I am used to. And yet, for once I don't mind being a natural insomniac.. The horizon bleeds a red firey light over the Mediterranean, and the view from my terrace is amazing. But such a spectacular Barcelonin sunrise has its price.
According to an investigative article for Barcelona Metropolitan by Nicholas Mead, compared to the rest of western Europe, Spain is the country furthest from meeting Kyoto protocol targets. Catalunya has experienced a massive rise in industrial growth in the last 20 years, and the air quality has unfortunately suffered for it. The main culprit is due to a rise in traffic, which is evidenced by the pungent smell of petrol from numerous vehicles which zoom past you on any of the city's countless narrow streets. In light of this, I have a new appreciation for California's increasing regulations for air quality, and our newly-elected president's commitment to it for the rest of the nation.

day of hope realized

It finally happened.

The day many hoped was possible, although some cynical ones like myself, wondered whether corruption and greed would reign over hope and truth. Glad I was proven wrong for now. Even still, the words for now betray my criticism of a system I once wholly believed in. In the days and weeks before yesterday, I hid my cynicism as best as I could. Amongst my friends I felt like a charlatan, unable or unwilling to be completely taken by the tide of fervent emotion. Have the years of disappointment finally carved their doubtful ways like tatoos onto my body politic? Or is it the realization that, nothing is as it seems. Nothing is to be taken for granted, especially not freedom. As free as we thought our country to be, many of us had actually been imprisoned by our own beliefs, not realizing the blind trust we place in our leaders hands helped create the bars of our cages. Our fear of being terrorized was assuaged by handing over our freedom from unwarranted searches and wiretaps, only to find the fears were fueled by lies and oily money, oil-stained blood.

Full of trepidation as I was, up until the very moment of realization that, yes, indeed we did make it happen. Our betrayal turned to anger, and we fought back. We turned the tide. This was enough to break the dam of cynicism for me. A flood of relief and true emotion took me over as I heard our new president speak last night. And for now, cynicism gives way to hope, and determination not to let ourselves be blindsided again.

Perhaps the biggest sign of hope for me has been seeing that so many of us– unprecedented numbers–became involved. From researching and lobbying against faulty election ballot machines to grassroots work, to getting out the Black and Latino vote, we are finally rising up to our potential. Seeing the effects on people all over the world speaks volumes.

But–and this is not a cynical but, only a sober one–much work lies ahead of us.

Now is not the time to sit back and relax. Now is the time to plan, gather, implement. Create communities, continue to explore alternative, sustainable ways of living. Travel. Collect dreams and make them manifest. Dreams require lots of elbow grease, and I intend to utilize this momentum to grease the wheel.

The first step for my personal dream-work is making collectivate happen. Since day 1 of 2008, I have been visualizing and dreaming a collective forum where combined the tactics and strategy of design with the motivation of deeply personal issues to come together in a way that was both virtual and real. It was such a big vision that I had trouble describing it. I had hoped to organize a collective art show where those involved chose their own theme. My plan was to make the collective itself the umbrella theme. I'm not sure what happened, but maybe it was fear of entropy taking over.

No matter. Even if the cart pull the horse, one way or another the damn thing will eventually move.

For now, it will suffice to put the vision to words, in a place where all can contribute. That is the nature of a collective. Initiate, Motivate, Participate. Wonder twin powers Activate. Form of...(fill in the blank).

Which brings me to homework assignment number one:

In this moment of post-election elation, if you were a Wonder Twin, and could take any animal or water form, what would it be, and for what reason?

Me? I would be a virus that only targets GMO crops. And wipe them off the face of the earth.

Ready, set, go.
The world awaits.