A million little pieces: and building the art of perfection.

OH, BOSTON!

For those who can’t tell from the blog post history, I’m just about getting grounded here. Adjusting to Boston is hard, and adjusting to being [anonymous] again after a long sojourn in [Costa Rica] proved even harder. I came in lagging behind technology and friendships, which lost me the competitive edge at [Small Planet]. Most of my files for [Massachusetts Power Shift] are [lost in Panama], my [paid radio advertisements] there never returned results. But: despite technology, work, and communications failure, this has been one of my best semesters yet.

How? A hundred little failures means another year out of personal recession; another year avoided the mainstream dullness of small talk and classes, and a new resiliency that proceeds with the confidence of experience. Confidence, and decision making. Upon personal failure, one learns a perspective of infinite possibility and creativity. (as anyone who’s been [searching for a job] can attest.) Join me, for a post that is both revelatory and informing, revolutionary in a word and inspiring in its clarity.. What’s wrong and powerful reframes.

My (intellectual) baggage was stolen!

I’ve been robbed, and I feel great.

The thieves took off with my bag when I had my back turned: I returned from the ticket counter to find my heart-felt green bag gone without a trace. I looked for a while that it may turn up again, but no luck. With it goes a mini laptop, 4 moleskine notebooks and datebook, a few packs of cards… etc. While nothing was too valuable, it means all of my record of being here has vanished without a trace. (And my glasses, which I do kinda need..)

After the tragedy though, I am left with an interesting sentiment. In the hazards of trying to understand everything I can here, I had gotten caught in my little books. They were a great reference for anything I needed, but now I am without the intellectual restraint- free. The eagle soars again, this time with a new worldview and only his wits to survive.

I challenge you to go for one day without one thing you take for granted. A blackberry, watch or car keys, even a ring. What’s left of the world is indeed refreshing and new again.
Look for more to come soon.
-Eddie Miller
Costa Rica

http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

10 Reasons any Driver can Understand WHY BIKE

10. Left turn on red
9. Mobility on and off road
8. Bikes can be used to generate electricity
7. The wind in your hair
6. $60-$80 a year to maintain
5. It’s sustainable aka doesn’t use gasoline
4. Don’t have to give anyone else rides
3. Messenger bags
2. Always free parking, always at location
1. I get to class faster.

Boston makes it easy to bike… why bike: http://bubikes.org

-Eddie Miller
http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

Family, Community

A successful follow-through to the school year. Class high final grade in Development Econ, pretty sure I aced the Environmental Econ final, and Sustainable development finished nicely. Funnily, my Spanish literature class remains the only outlier, gave me a C+. Psh, I kinda cared… 3.5 not bad. Thanks to everyone that made it possible.

On the Oberlin front, trying to incite a riot with home friends. This mainly involves late night food runs, dance parties, and ultimate frisbee in the rain. Oberlin makes one appreciate the advantages of a small-town community, with local shops and local people. It’s exactly the feeling that’s missing from Boston University, where we subsist on large networks of acquaintances. It’s not without drawbacks, but I think that community is really worth working and fighting for. Our lives are a collective.

I’ll be returning to Boston to finish up some things Friday 12/26 and 27th, let me know if you are still around and are interested in a holiday meet-up. Mara and I will probably be hanging out with a car.

On the virtual front, my World of Warcraft character is so bomb. It will be a good distraction while prepping for Costa Rica (now on a 7-month planned trip February-August! More about this later).

-Eddie
http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

A Day in the Life

Saturday, 10/6/2008!

A day worth getting out of bed for:

First, the Greenpeace Project Hot Seat rally and march: Greenpeace rocks
Had a good turnout. Over one hundred people met at Quincy Market in downtown Boston for a large rally, speakers and music, followed by a march chanting down Devonshire St, through Downtown Crossing, and up to the State House. They had a large postcard message to deliver, all around the UN climate negotiations that day. (The picture is a link if you’re interested in the outcomes!)

UN Climate Negotiations towards Copenhagen 2010

The Spirit of Renaissance and the Current Global Crisis! Conference at Bentley.
The Boston Pledge put it on.
In turbulent times, new ideas produce revolutionary change. This conference was all about what the next round of people’s movement will be guided by, as compared to the Renaissance thinking in medieval times. Amaryta Sen was there, the world’s favorite development economist from Harvard. Snuck in for the workshops!

Imokalee Farmworker’s movement: rally and discussion.
Then took the T back in to the city to catch this gem. Imokalee is the international organization that works in US and Latin America for tomato picker wage and human rights. Conditions are pretty bad (check their flickr slideshow) and sometimes literally form slave rings where pickers cannot leave the premises. So they’re fighting. Targeting large buyers of tomatoes on three premises:
1) 1 penny/pound extra to directly benefit pickers of tomatoes. This is insignificant for restaurants but represents a 60% wage increase for these workers.
2) Code of conduct zero tolerance policy: no slave rings tolerated.
3) Agreement monitored and enforced by representatives in the coalition.

The campaign has recently been very successful. Through boycott they convinced Taco Bell to sign on, then McDonalds, Burger King, and just last week Subway who is the largest fast food buyer. Now they’re targeting Valu-foods (Shaw’s, Stop-and-shop)… interested in being involved for fair food? http://www.ciw-online.org/tools.html

Immortal Technique.
Was playing at the Middle East. As one of my all-time favorite hip-hop artists, I jumped at the opportunity to see him live. There were three of us, went pretty early to get a good spot. This is a good story:

The first acts were pretty awkward, local rap artists who really just had the materials for mixing and some kinda thug connections. Meh. I really just wanted a drink… so decided to take things into my own hands. I was in the bathroom when I realized that the X mark was coming off under water and soap, and with a little work… got it off. It wasn’t until I was walking out that I noticed the staffer watching for just that. I was escorted roughly out of the building, with O’s on my hand and told not to come back. Fuck.

Sarah and Jane come out, and there’s a touch of bitterness in their shouts. You what?
Plan: wash off the O’s, change clothes (I was layered), and walk back in for Immortal Technique.
This involved walking around Central Square for a while, finding the materials and buying a new magic marker. After some work, we managed a pretty good replica, but there was no way the stamp was coming back on. I left the circle on instead. Let’s do this…

The three of us walk back in as planned, and stop. I’m called back to the front…
Terrified, I think I’m about to get beat. It’s the same guy that kicked me out earlier and told me not to come back. He makes me show my hands, and then– get this– RESTAMPS my hand over the O. I just got back in. SOOOO WIN!

Immortal technique was awesome. Never fails to inspire the revolutionary in me. I actually got his signature on a book I’m reading: Nicaragua: What difference could a revolution make?. The night ended well (even though the last bus totally blew us off), up till almost 5:00 at my place talking.

Story of the night..
Solid Saturday! Total time at home between events the whole day: 8 minutes. Onward to finals!

-Eddie Miller
A Global Organic Mindset: http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

Listening to hip-hop: buy. K’naan a new face to hip-hop.

My “Fake” Resume

When I think about this past year, and think ahead to success and what that is going to mean, I inevitable arrive at the conclusion that life experience is critical in forming new expertise. Leaders are created, not born. Up to now I have only one regret: in not taking advantage of an opportunity with Trader Joe’s last year, I have given up a few very real losses that I can only hope to some day rectify. Here, then, is my “fake” resume, as it could be.

1. Trader Joe’s, Crew member and Regional supervisor
Trader Joe’s is a wonder to most people who shop there. How, they ask, can TJ’s afford to price higher-quality, better-sourced food at 30% off of a supermarket? The answer to this involves direct supply chains, and store brand (Trader Giotto’s Italian food?) that cut out that crucial middle man. It also involves catering to amazing customers, and moving twice as much per store area as most supermarkets do. I “worked” here from Fall 2007 to early February, 2008 and was a part of this movement as it quadrupled profits and expansion through that time.

2. The Food Project, Summer trainings supervisor
With my experience at Trader Joe’s and a good understanding of sustainable food chains, I put in an application to be Intern at the Food Project (I actually did, barely missed the opportunity). The Food Project is the best regional example of farms creating thoughtful and productive community, especially with young people as full partners in food creation. This was a summer advising position to local area youth, to grow chemical-free food for markets and local food banks. Gave an understanding of a working farm and market flows.

3. Nourish International, Founder
Nourish International is another application I just missed. This position was head of a club to raise funds towards implementing a sustainable development project in a developing country. Together with peers, we raised $10,000 through school lunches, poker tournaments, and the Equal Exchange fundraiser towards a project that I design in Costa Rica Spring ‘09. As a second part of the club, we “travelled” there to actually implement the design and improve the lives of an entire community. As leader and founder, I look forward to next year to implement bigger projects.

This has been a vision of what could have been. It’s painful to see an alternative less than this visionary path, and know that it was within reach. Rather than continue to lament the loss, I had to write this down. Research can somewhat make up for lost opportunity, but I have to question what could have been if there hadn’t been a casually dismissive comment one fall day from a friend I really value…

My reactions to change, the election, and Barack Obama

As a “mongerer of hope” myself, I see a lot of myself in Barack Obama.

In his practicality, vision, and opportunity this amazing campaign.

I hope that Americans understand what this means, this thing that
we’ve all done. The next 4-8 years of our country is in the hands of
Barack Obama and the democrats now– I feel, though, that He may be
the only one who truly knows what that change means. I realized that
this was possible on realizing that all eras must end.

The only doubt is that everyone might not be ready for this. It just
takes one racial bigot with a gun to cause a national tragedy, a
possibility that seems all too real to me.

Dark thoughts aside, its been great to be a part of our democracy.
From here out, anything is possible. we did our part!

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, into
Your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.

For Obama’s acceptance speech:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/5/0510/83437/390/653543

Good morning.
-Eddie

Awakening the Dreamer: Response.

Where do our beautiful visions become things we can do right now?

A: It starts with one person standing up.
A: Vision, education, and hope.
A: The harder I work, the harder I live.

http://www.wiserearth.org/

Bioneers- humans and development

The bioneers experience has been unreal. In everything that a conference should be:

A couple big conclusions.

-Many day-to-day decisions are not based in environmental realities. A simple systems analysis shows humans have to face their impacts and begin talking about institution change and restoration.
-On the civil society systems analysis level, things look very sobering for humans. Human rights, food, culture and.waste issues abound. (Where are the solutions? We make them.)
-Who were great leaders before they were that?

And solutions:
-Collaborative business ownership shares responsibility and reward.
-Farming can be done in a way that is permanent and fulfilling.
-Development is a right. Which means material things and energy, unfortunately!
-Through the crisis, take the opportunity to rethink our great institutions. “Redream it” (Lynn Tarist- Pachamama alliance).

Look at all the amazing things that are happening! Every day, every person working to make the world better makes it so. Our energy creates our environment, Can this many leaders work together?

We already are.

—
Eddie Miller
Eddiemill.wordpress.com

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