An Asynchronous Summit

These postings to the Wittgenstein forum have many points of interest in this Halloween season. [1][2]

Likewise this thread at the Math Forum.

Equinox Retreat

I've been dovetailing worlds today, the opposite of worlds in collision. Smoothly meshing gears.

I finally joined the #pdxpython channel on Freenode, long overdue. I'm using Chatzilla.

I introduced myself (to people who know me from PPUG already) and my agenda: to get back into the IRC groove in anticipation of #pdxfnb drawing some traffic.

Maria Droujkova of Math Future popped up on Gchat and kindly checked my "business cards" for spelling (she found a problem with the punctuation).

Then, at the cook site, St. David of Wales, I took some of the fresh vegan soup and added it to containers for bringing to the Linus Pauling House by bike trailer.

FNB meets Pauling House.

Chapter Change

I explained to Satya this morning that I thought Lindsey really did her homework getting to know Friends, myself included, and that proved a strong basis for anchoring Thursday's kitchen for a year's worth of fresh vegan Food Not Bombs meals.

I'm not ready to promote anyone else to her position, as trusted key holder, from within the ranks at this time. Now that Organics to You has moved to N. Williams, we thought this would be the right time to drop our weekly gig.

We both remain interested in the logistics of increasing participation in these kinds of intelligent operations. Neither of us plans to come off as over-zealous however. As a street musician these days, she's in no position to preach. I'm more a back office boob myself, am no Alex Jones with a bullhorn.

This disconnecting of our Multnomah Friends kitchen doesn't mean OTY can't continue to help feeding the hungry in southeast, as both OTY and the northeast chapter have made abundantly clear. Indeed, several of our regulars hail from northerly zip codes and could replace Lindsey as haulers (she was thinking of Jay in particular).

She enjoys hauling herself, leaving the meetinghouse today with an humongous train of trailers, after visiting OTY and bidding them adieu for the time being.

In this next chapter, we may find ourselves performing new roles.

Even the meetinghouse, a kind of learning center, will remain on-line in some ways. We continue with our various social concerns and campaigns (testimonies).

#pdxfnb on freenode

Friendly Discussion

I joined Multnomah Adults' Discussion (SMAD) for an engaging reading this morning. Gary has scraped some ostensibly "satanic" stuff off the Internet, about six pages, which we passed around, taking turns reading.

In this version, the angelic host is merely exercising the privileges of selfhood against a jealous Demiurge that would keep them servile. Some of their number get involved in human relationships, starting with Eve. They basically encourage the study of STEM subjects against the know-nothing boot lickers who wait upon the Demiurge, a jealous jerk.

We had some insightful discussion, treating our text as science fiction. Indeed, Gary said much of it had been written as recently as 1991. One of our discussants and been raised in a Satanic cult. She advised us that the taxonomy among Satanists was ramified (not unlike among Xtians) and this text we were reading had little if anything in common with the protocols she'd been reared on.

I spoke with John Wish afterward who extolled Gary for his intelligence, and quality walking sticks (Gary has a Lord of the Rings air about him, would probably thrive in New Zealand).

Meeting for Worship was a lot about community. Our delegation from Jubilee House had returned. I used some of the time to study a book entitled Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia by Edward Baltzell. He was writing in the turbulent 1960s, comparing it to the 1600s in some dimensions. Quakers as proto-hippies?

Eve Menger was present today. We know each other from Wanderers as well, lots of history. I mentioned having just come across her father's story again, in "some esoteric philosophy I've been reading". I was talking about this book Alex found at Powell's and is letting me read: Wittgenstein: From Mysticism to Ordinary Language by Russell Nieli.

These latest two SUNY Press books have felt more alive and contemporary to Alex and myself, we think because Wittgenstein is finally getting more recognition as a shaman (to sound ethnographic about it). Kimberly, in The Jew of Linz called him a magician. Of course these are not academic categories and such terms are easily confused with metaphysician. Perhaps "alchemist" is better.

In any case, the many references to George Fox and Quakers, by Nieli, a Princeton quasi-contemporary (we had some of the same teachers) is helping me shrink my world. That may sound like a bad thing ("shrink") but in the vernacular I'm using, it's more like "more with less".

Message Traffic (rad math)

From:	Kirby Urner
To:	pdxfnb
Date:	Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 2:21 PM
Subject:	Re: SE chapter: starting Thurs Sept 1 prep

Our new cook, just finding work, was glad to get Corrina's bike,
pulled Satya's trailer to the park.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/6104537430/in/photostream

( bike in basement, plus lock, with David's replacement knives --
unopened boxes)

He was eager for updates on our SE comic strip (silly sit com, PG-13)
as he'd been away for days.

Lindsey announced her no-gossip-about-others policy while proceeding
to gossip about herself at great liberty.

I was glad Satya came by and reminded me about adding vinegar and/or
lemon to lentils.

We must have had over 200 red peppers to play with. Expect to see
some today (they're in prime condition -- thanks OTY).

I have this dynamite recipe I'm hoping to use for FnB one day, but
don't mind sharing ahead of time:

http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2008/07/together-friends.html

The molasses would be too sweet for some of our associates, and the
onion verboten.

However it does have sour ingredients. Thumbs up. Not my invention
(not taking credit).

I might just make it a side dish instead of an entre.

We were semi-silently marking one year of service where Multnomah
Friends are concerned.

http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2011/09/quaker-doings.html

I saw David's new flyer, verbose / micro-print, took it off to my
perch (where I sometimes go when on duty).

Again, we all have active imaginations so if you have a different idea
of PR, shake your booty.

I've got my daughter Tara, recently returned from Managua, advising me
on aesthetic possibilities (and/or traps to avoid).

Kirby

- Hide quoted text -

On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 3:16 PM, kirby urner wrote:
> Opening 3:30 today. Heading over...
>
> See ya'll.
>
> http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2011/09/quaker-doings.html
>
> Kirby
>