Since arriving Thursday night, I have been enjoying my stay in Colorado immensely. Even though it was only 7 months ago that I moved to Lincoln, I feel as if the period of absence has allowed me to see my home state through new eyes.

Yesterday, I drove into Boulder and made a visit to Pearl Street. I visited the shop of a friendly little Indian couple (as in "from India", not Native American), where they had lots of little Buddha statues, gongs, chakra vibration bowls, and zillions of other neat little odds and ends. The man showed me how to rub the wooden gong against the metal bowls to create a sonic vibration, each resonating on a frequency that is said to affect a specific part of the body. While I doubt the scientific efficacy of such a treatment method, it certainly did have an aesthetic charm.

Of course, I wasn't ready to buy any of the pricey little bowls, but I did want to support to this neat little store. Living in the land of Lincoln, where places like this are more of a rarity makes you appreciate that.

(Ironcially, I was also reminded of why I don't want to live in Boulder. It's so hard to be frugal! It's not just the high cost of living. It's having so much appealing stuff around that you're interested in; so many good restaurants and stores. This is especially painful when you're poor, because it's like living in a land surrounded by treasures, and not being able to touch any of them. Yes, Lincoln is boring. That's what makes living there easier! When there's nothing around but hick bars and Wal Marts, but the corporation's reach hasn't yet gotten quite far enough to eliminate public parks, you can just sit out in the grass and not feel like you're missing out on anything. Not so in Boulder!)

Since part of my mission was to acquire bumper stickers, I looked though the stickers on his table and decided that the eyes of the buddha (or the eyes of truth) would be an excellent choice. Subtle, but telling. Even though it was overpriced, I made the purchase. A tourist in my own hometown.

(I've decided that Tobias, and to a lesser degree Serenity, need to have their bumper sticker content adjusted. This will include removing several of the existing stickers. Way too much visual noise. Also, the message that comes out most prominently screams "flaming anti-Bush liberal". I don't think that's a message that needs to be emphasized anymore. It's like stating the obvious. Everyone in the country, with the possible exception of my dad (bless his heart), now sees the administration for the fraudulant menace it is. So I'll be toning that part down, while emphasizing modes of thought geared more toward creating a positive future.)

As I strolled westward toward the Pearl Street mall, I enjoyed being accosted by a particularly cute campaigner for environmental advocacy. Though I made clear that I wasn't prepared to give her organization a donation on the spot without at least doing some independent research, we did have a nice little chat about the ongoing battle in congress over drilling the Alaska wilderness. For now, the assaults of the oil companies have been fended off, but the issue will come up again in another six months.

I made my way to Left Hand Books, where I basked in the wonderous haven of leftist politics and alternative thought. I knew I was at least going to want a bumper sticker or two, but I also ended up spending an inordinate amount of time perusing through various books and chatting with the volunteer on staff, who didn't hesitiate to point out many of his favorites, mostly focused on documenting U.S. and corporate imperialism.

This might come as a shock to some, but I'm pretty much tired of reading detailed accounts about the extent to which this country has fucked up the world. I get it. I'm in agreement. I've seen enough to know the truth of it. I don't need to spend endless hours pouring over the particulars. I suppose if I did, I might be better equipped to debate those who still believe the corporate titans and military state to be mostly benign. But at this point, I'm much more interested in talking to people who already see what's going on, and are ready to do something about it.

Talking with the Left Hand Books guy about how they run their store was an inspiration. Though I've bought several books and other items there over the past few years, and I knew they refuse credit card payments, I hadn't realized the degree to which they adhere to syndacylist principles in the everyday running of the store. When I asked about the structure of the organization, he told me that not only is every staff member a volunteer, but all major decisions happen by consensus of the self-selecting subset of volunteers who choose to show up at the weekly meetings. There is no general manager, or any managers of any sort. Different people more-or-less spontaniously adopt the various tasks that need to be done; there is a person who has made it their job to take care of ordering books (other volunteers can request certain titles or authors to be added to the order); others take care of going through the shelves and making sure everything is organized, there's someone else who does the general accounting, etc.

And of course, whenever the store is open, they need to have somebody there to ring up sales and attend to customers. He said that there have been, on a few occassions, times when the place had to close a few hours early or open late due to lack of available volunteers, but most of the time, there are enough committed people around to keep things running smoothly. Most volunteers put in around 3 or 4 hours a week on average, which means that it takes a whole bunch of people to keep it open all the time, but they each spend a relatively small amount of time at it.

If I ever move back to Boulder (or anywhere nearby), I definitely want to volunteer at that store.

I perused through the many reading materials that most "respectable" meatspace stores would be loathe to carry (yes, they even had a nice selection of anti-civilization writings); there were so many that looked interesting that I had troubled deciding what I wanted. I was very tempted to buy the disinfo Book of Lies; after perusing it, it's now obvious to me that many of the insights from some of the blogs I've been reading have drawn heavily from the same sources that comprise this compilation of occult knowledge. I want to go back to the roots and learn more, dammit! But I held off on that purchase, though I may yet go back to Boulder and get it before returning to the land of Nebraska, where such stuff is far more scarce.

We also got into a protracted discussion about the media crucifixion of professor Ward Churchill. They have a nice selection of his writings proudly on display at one of the tables near the front of the store.

Eventually, I decided get a Derrick Jensen book (Walking on Water. I'm also interested in reading A Language Older Than Words, but they were out of stock on that one.) I also bought a shirt and a couple of bumper stickers. Vacation splurging.

With my multi-hour visit to the lefty bookstore concluded, I made a brief pass by Lighthouse Books (for spiritual discovery) directly across the way, but bought nothing there.

Finally, I made a stop by the Boulder Coop Market to procure ingredients to make stew. I had great fun comparing and contrasting the features of our sister coop. Of course, the first thing one notices: Wow, do they ever have a huge amount of floor space! (Open Harvest, located in a tiny little outlet in a stripmall south of downtown Lincoln, is virtually bursting at the seams to fit all the procucts a one-stop-shop coop should have into 3 small aisles. There is talk of a much-needed expansion, but it's still in the planning stages.)

Their shelves, though immaculately faced, were stocked only 2 or 3 layers deep. Nowhere near capacity. At Open Harvest, we consistently cram as much product as can possibly fit (and more) to the rear corners of the shelves, so as to minimize the amount that needs to go into the crowded backroom, and also to prevent the shelves from running out before the next round of stocking. This suggests to me that either a) The Boulder Coop does less sales volume, b) they have more room in backstock, or c) they get more frequent (but smaller) deliveries.

But anyway, I suppose that's enough geeking out about the logistics of stocking shelves.

I am now preparing said stew. I intend to go back to Boulder this afternoon and bring it to Food Not Bombs. I have no idea whether anybody else will show up, or how consistently Food Not Bombs has been happening lately, or how the fact that it is Christmas Eve might affect the operation. It's quite possible that I'll be sitting and eating stew by myself. But I want to be there, just in case.

Boulder Bandshell. 3:30pm. Food Not Bombs!