have tent, will camp

i got to climate camp on sunday night (better late than never!), and just after i'd finished my welcome soup, i bumped into my friend. she got hit on the head by a police baton, because.. well.. she was within reach of a policeman with a baton. her mate got charged by a policewoman on a horse. nice. i think they were in the independent or the telegraph today. she was dead upset cos she'd asked them not to publish the photo in case it worried her mum too much.

not ACAB though - i also cuddled a policeman called john. well, he didn't whack me with a stick for doing it. and didn't arrest me for telling rubbish jokes either. anyway.

my mate asked me if i'd go with her to hand out sandwiches to the protestors, if the police would let us near them.

we got there. we handed out sarnies and choc coffee beans. we smiled at policewomen. we did poetry on a bikepowered soundsytem. we sat down and talked to people. and stayed sat down. even when it rained, and someone got a tarp to cover us. then more tarp, then tent poles appeared, along with more people.

we blockaded BAA's car park.

we were the singing and poetry corner - shitloads of funny, clever and blimmin talented people, all in one place, all for the same reason, all slightly jumpy (all through the night were cries of 'riot police outside! be ready to get going!' - as in get your stuff together and prepare to leave peacefully but quickly....

we even did a round of 'row row row your boat', along with african chants and 'run rabbit'....

the rabbit was called elliott. we Bonded. at around four in the morning, after being fed cups of tea, sandwiches and wine by the Food Fairies (ie random volunteers), we developed RIH, or rabbit induced hysteria. we decided the rabbit was the Unelected Leader (aka The Elder!) of climate camp, and was also in the pay of the police...

the pissing situation in the BAA carpark got a bit .. um.. sticky?

unfortunately there was a small area of hedge in the corner that turned into the toilet (no poo-ing though! thank god!)

the local hotels/petrol stations/maccyd's weren't letting people 'use the facilities', so there wasn't a lot of choice.

i went for a wee at about 2am, and before i could even get my pants down, a policwoman flashed her torch at me from the outside of the hedge, shouted that i was 'disgusting' and 'worse than an animal', and that i should 'use a toilet'. when i asked her if she had one i could borrow, she told me to 'go home'

one girl got literally dragged out of the hedge and dragged through the car park on her back for actually having the audacity to carry on and drop her trousers

can you sue the police for making you get cystitis? (joking!)

i think they *were* especially mean to the woman with kidney problems, who told them politely but firmly that there could be quite nasty medical probs for her if she wasn't allowed to pee. (whole other debate about protest/illegal action/whether you should do it or not if you have med probs... which i'm not going to even start getting into)

we had 'our lot' to sort out setting up accommodation and dispensing tea (and sandwiches. and the odd bit of wine to share around. and cigs for those that did) all night long. i'm being constructive and applying for jobs at the moment, would have been doing it on sunday too but i don't have a laptop, and i'm guessing the car park didn't have wifi

OH, and i don't think i do count as a crusty. especially as my most recent job title had the words 'corporate' and 'procurement' in it....

this is the last big thing i'm doing for a while, and i've pretty much got a free diary unti october now. i'm concentrating on sorting work and then a home (have a few places to crash for a couple of weeks if i can get some temping stuff for a short time just to get some cash together), got agency interviews this week and am being told by my mum it sounds 'dangerous' for me to head back up north, following some delightful phone calls to her from my ex-landlady....

love to you all xx

to all the dailymailreading naysayers, i'd suggest heading down there and meeting the dolescum dangerous anarchists yourselves. i've met scientists, teachers, care workers, researchers, and small children, and not encountererd a Bad Egg yet.

and WELL DONE to everyone who's been, is there, or is planning on making a late arrival.

zine submission appeal mark #2

this is gonna be 'stickied' until the current deadline (august 21st).

i make a zine, it is called goldfish nation. it's a top publication. first issue was march 06 (technically - long story). next issue will be september.

contributions (words, pictures, other) are wanted.



clicky here for more info on previous and upcoming publications.


DIY (interpret that however you like) is the theme for the second issue. if you want to send something in, click here".

thank you xxx


ps. it's also going to come with a free cd, which is shaping up to be very very interesting :)



i also made a GN gig night at the Packhorse, Woodhouse Lane, Leedssicks, on 2nd August, to make up for the brudenell losses (see further below in this post). we covered costs, and made enough for a pint or two and a packet of tobacco. it was good.



a fundraiser gig was held on 27th july to try raise money to make issue 2 free...... it was at leeds brudenell social, and featured epic 45, tim and sam, home of the brave (also see their flyer below, and thee northcoats. a fab night was had by all, but unfortunately, minus thirty six quid profit was made.

if you would like to donate to the Make GN Free fund without having to come to any gigs at all, then please click on the above button. or if you would like to come to gigs and also donate, then please do that too.

thank you xx

profession: being a homeless

i came home from Northern Green Gathering today. Appropriately enough, i attended the 'cash free living' workshop (top stuff), and found a couchsurfer.com (or something) buddy in brighton. i did the cause and effect distro (consisting of: fantastic zines, mooncups, re-useable feminine products (eek!) and corporate watch reports, publications, newsletters and poetry books. oh, and a poetry book by the wondrous mahalia).

it took me from 7pm on saturday to 1.30 am on sunday to get there by my own steam with everything in tow, and pitch my fabulously liberated from latitude pop up tent. my feet actually bled :(

i also did me poeting last night, and nearly fell over at the massive applause i got for the climate camp poem. my stage got invaded by someone i suspect to be part of Thick Richard (anyone familiar with a poem about a judge and drugs?). twice. but it all went good. even though, on a friend's advice, i postponed the nudity until the *last* line of the naked poem, instead of the first verse, and ended up getting all flustered. and i was offered lsd for the first time ever, but declined gracefully :)

and my bubble had to burst sooner or later. i came home to be informed that my current flatsitting has been cut short by a fortnight, and i'm out tonight. i currently have no fixed address. i'm on a sofa tonight, at my brother's tomorrow, and in london for the next fortnight.

armed with cv's a-plenty, a sharp suit, bar skills and admin superhero capabilities, i will be whoring myself out for any available employment opportunities, as well as saving the world by climate camping somewhere in the middle.
and seeing dave, which is ALL I WANT TO DO AT THE MOMENT.

bizarrely enough, i applied for some london based verrr ethical jobs over the weekend, before i knew about my 'homeless' status.

wow.

wish me a fuckload of luck. Goldfish Nation (the zine) is postponed until i locate the box it's stored in again (clue: it's *somewhere* at *someone's* house in leeds. doesn't narrow it down much), and have a permanentish base.

and, i doubt he reads this, but a MASSIVE thank you to my brother si for driving up from coventry tonight to help me shift stuff, sorting me out with transport to london, and generally being a Very Good Egg.


all in all it's gonna be ok, it might just be that life's a little precarious for a while.