The "Empty Abyss" Edition :: Issue #203, Rusty's Electric Dreams

“In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move.”

― Henry Rollins

An inbox zine for positive deviants and the people who love them
Issue #203 :: The “Empty abyss” Edition :: 01:09:2019

Empty abyss…

I’d like to say 2019 came in with a bang for me. But it was more like a haze, one driven by cold medicines. On my drive down to Palm Springs, I started to feel a scratch in my throat and… I decided to keep going. (Yeah, I know.) Soon after arriving, I realized I was deep in a horrible cold. There was nothing to do but make the best of my trip. Though, I was fast asleep when the new year rang in. Not really complaining, as “low-key” seems to suit me well these days. On the plus side, I was surrounded by friends (who hopefully didn’t get sick from me) and came home with a condiment gun won in a kitsch-themed Yankee Swap. Shooting ketchup, yes!

— Rusty Blazenhoff

P.S. If you start to feel sick, get Zicam Nasal Swabs asap. You might be able to stop it. My friend Susan gave me some, though I was already a few days into the cold and I’m not sure they helped.

As seen on the Internets

Meanwhile, in Idaho: First there was the Little Free Library, now there’s the Little Tree Library! A family in Idaho turned a 100-year-old cottonwood tree stump into a marvelous, well-lit place where people in their neighborhood can exchange books. Positive deviance in action!

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:: Winner is “tender-age shelter”: 2018 Word of the Year nominations
:: https://www.americandialect.org/nominations-for-2018-word-of-the-year-posted Thanks, Suzanne!

:: How not to be a “conversational narcissist”
:: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-help-a-grieving-friend_us_5aa9801fe4b0004c0406d2fb

:: “The difference between a SNAFU, a shitshow, and a clusterfuck”
:: https://qz.com/work/1225213/the-difference-between-a-snafu-a-shitshow-and-a-clusterfuck Thx, Marcia!

:: Pedialyte for hangovers
:: https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/health/a25725026/pedialyte-hangover-cure-sparkling-rush:: Get two free months of classes at Skillshare
:: https://join.skillshare.com/2free Thanks, Mark!

:: But will it thank the clothes for us? Thanks, Sunny!
:: https://www.bhg.com/news/laundry-folding-machine

:: Figure out this street art puzzle in France to win $1K in Bitcoin
:: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/01/07/french-graffiti-artist-hides-bitcoin

:: This in-wall LEGO installation by Dante Dentoni is next level!
:: https://www.instagram.com/p/BsREj6mBUZu

:: I LOVE Nicole Mclaughlin’s art — you just have to see it
:: https://www.instagram.com/nicolemclaughlin

:: Oldie but a goodie: The Beastie Boys performing “Cooky Puss” live in 1983
:: https://youtu.be/kUIKaH2alGw via

:: Father Time: David Sedaris has a new piece in The New Yorker
:: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/father-time

Real things you can actually buy: yay!

Bzzz: See all those brick’s holes? Those are for bees, solitary bees. The kind that don’t live in hives or produce honey. The non-aggressive, non-stinging ones that are declining in population. Bee Bricks are kind of like a condo for bees, giving them a place to live, build nests, and lay eggs. (£27.50/$34.97 each) (caveat)

Featured Events

Coming to a sky near you (probably) [1/20-1/21] A supermoon combined with a total lunar eclipse is called a Blood Moon. January’s Full Moon is called the Wolf Moon. Put it all together and what have you got? Yup, the Super Wolf Blood Moon. Totality happens at 9:12 PM PST. image via NASA

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Various Cities Worldwide
[1/13] Improv Everywhere’s Global No Pants Subway Ride 2019

USA and Canada
[various dates] Immersive listings

[various dates] Dan Savage’s Hump! Film Festival

Alameda, CA
[4/20] The Menagerie: Oddities and Curiosities Market at Alameda Elks Lodge, 11 AM to 7 PM, Tickets

Berkeley, CA
[2/7] That Really Happened??? A night of true stories at The Monkey House, 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM

Lodoga, CA
[6/20-6/23] Camp Tipsy

New York City
[1/18] Excursion to the Explorers Club, 11 AM to 1 PM, $35

Also, Oriana Leckert always knows what’s going on in the Big Apple

Niles, CA
[Dates in January] Silent Film Museum

Oakland, CA
[1/18] Burger Boogaloo’s Camp Fire & Punks with Lunch Benefit Show at The UPTOWN, 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM

[1/27] Oakland White Elephant PREVIEW Sale, Tickets go on sale 12/8
[3/2-3/3] Oakland White Elephant Sale

[1/27] Young Frankenstein at The New Parkway

[6/6-6/7] Burger Boogaloo (lineup announced on 1/15), Tickets

[10/12-2/16] The Smithsonian’s No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man exhibit is coming to Oakland Museum of California

Phoenix, AZ
[until 5/12] Electric Desert by Klip Collective at the Desert Botanical Garden, after dark only

San Francisco, CA
[TONIGHT 1/9] Bawdy Storytelling: Super Kink, 7 PM Games, 8 PM, stories

[1/10] The Lottery, at a secret location in the Dogpatch

[1/10-1/27] SF Sketchfest, schedule and tickets

[1/16] Nerd Nite SF #104: Sunfish, Ants, and SF Transit History at Rickshaw Stop, Tickets

[1/22] Puddles Pity Party at Palace of Fine Arts, 8 PM, Tickets

[1/24] Office Space 20th Anniversary Screening at Castro Theatre, 8 PM to 10:30 PM — Q & A with Mike Judge!

[2/3] Celebrate Emperor Norton’s 201st Birthday, 12 PM to 5 PM. $30

Scottsdale, AZ
[4/12-14] Arizona Tiki Oasis, a cool new weekender by Baby Doe and Otto, at the Valley Ho

Seattle, WA
[1/26] MUST-DO: After hours at the Archie McPhee store (!), 7:30 PM to 9 PM

Know about a cool event? Send me the info and I’ll share it with the class!

It’s the new year, so SJ and I have been making vision boards. So, I pulled out our stack of coloring books (ones made for grownups), thinking there might be something in them to put on our boards. There wasn’t but I did find this drawing of a chicken mask in my Existential Coloring Book (Archie McPhee). My niece probably drew it when she visited in the summer of 2017… when she wasn’t yet reading