Snails, sci fi, talking trees and fantasies
Flower Moon MuSings
Capitalist culture (father of seeking culture - addiction culture - colonizer culture)is fantasy culture, telling us that we can be anything we want, do anything we want - that it is only a matter of will for us to realize our every dream. But this dismisses circumstance; it puts the burned up upward movement on the individual and immunizes the system that preys off their useless struggle. Buy into the dream, and feed the beast with your unquenchable desire.
Western life is options layered on options layered on options. Decision fatigue is a spurn of our generation, as is indecision. We have infinite choices, so many we have to pay people to make the for us. We are told to follow our passions, we are told to do and have what makes us happy, and get rid of the rest. But this is an elementary and limited view of life. We are not in fact writing our own narratives; they are collaborative works. What we can do, is do the best with what we have. Maybe all those choices are what are driving you mad.
What fairytales have you clung to? Did you think it would all fall into place when you got that job - that boyfriend - that beautiful house? There is no final solution, your life is a blossom that opens until it falls from the bush of life, and you are recycled into the earth to become a new manifestation of carbon hubs.
The flower moon is rising, heavy fertile and hungry for everything you have to release. Maybe it’s time to feed it those fantasies, and let the reality of life as an endless co-creative experience
with pain to match its pleasure
and death to match its life
and love spun up in everything, even the darkest hate
Come gushing into their void.
Let’s Kick it!: MountainFilm Telluride 2025
It’s been five years since I MountainFilmed, and I am so excited to go back with my sweetie Jim Aikman, sharing our documentary feature Snail Hunters in a special feedback screening! This event is FREE and open to the public. 5 PM at the Library: 100 W Pacific Ave Telluride, CO. Snail Hunters is an adventurous natural history comedy about how snails could save humanity, so obviously you don’t want to miss it. Did I mention that during sex, a snail’s penis emerges from its head? More of that snail juice, coming soon to a theater near you . . .
DO: Women Trailblazers Grant Program
Female creators who like to bike, this grant’s for you! Things are feeling a little desperate in the creative world right now, so I love seeing grassroots efforts to lift up our community of artists and adventurers.
Priority Bikes (a sweet, innovative, grassroots boutique bike company out of NYC) in collaboration with my dear friend Ryan VanDuzer are offering $5000 in gear + $1000 in dollars to empower women to GET OUT THERE and share the story.
CONTEMPLATE: Hours before a solar eclipse, spruce trees 'talk' to each other
Y’all always take me metaphorically when I go on about conversing with trees but REAL TALK it’s bioelectrical signaling and these scientists are showing not only that trees talk to each other, but that older tress are wisdom keepers. So tell a tree that you love it today, and let me know what it says back. Also, I’m excited for the doc, but radically unsure about their Blair Witch soundtrack
READ HERSTORY: BROKEN EARTH TRILOGY by NK Jemisin
I am actually completely freaking out for this trilogy, and basically have not been seen without book in hand since I started it last month. This series is everything you want in science fiction: Brilliant world building, complex and lovable characters, a plot that twists, turns & delights, and incredibly intelligent social commentary. The stories are so easy to read and fall into, and yet I would never stoop to label them “entertainment.” They explore densely important facets of humanity including as systemic oppression, racism, trauma, pain, rage, and resource exploitation in an immersive way that is impressively approachable. They are, in short, brilliant.
One of the easiest ways (and I’d argue essential at any level) to fight systemic sexism & racism is to make sure you’re LISTENING TO aka reading/watching stories by women and people of color, and NK Jemison makes that easy.
CONNECT: Love as Antidote to Authoritarianism
The title says it all. This free online event is being put on by the Amplifier Foundation. It’s apart of a revolutionary Love series and “will feature deep conversation with Valarie Kaur and visionary leaders, concrete ways to take action, tools for navigating this moment with the Revolutionary Love, and healing through music and meditation.” May 4th, 5 PM PT.
Mad love,
Ali