The Nexus of 2024

Notes from Underground: Digging Out

—

by

jon
in

from the DJ's booth

To ensure your future, some freedoms must be surrendered …
We will save you
We will save you
We will save you
From your selves

— Robot Revolution (Say no to SOPA remix), Virtual Light vs. Wizack Twizack vs. ?,

San Francisco over the holidays was a lot of fun but by early January we were really glad to be back in Washington.  We got there Thursday afternoon and spent the next few nights at The Atrium: psytrance Thursday, stompy darkwave on Friday, and then more psytrance on Saturday at Brightness.  The next week it was a darkwave set Wednesday, psytrance Thursday … happy 2012!

Saturday, it was all night psytrance at Gibbous/Deadly Snow. The drinks were strong, the snacks were tasty, the place looked fantastic, and DJ Anomaly was on a roll. Monday night was stompy darkwave at Dead Snow … hey wait a second, I’m noticing a pattern here.

berriesSnOMG!

After six inches of snow followed by freezing rain, the Seattle area took a couple of snow days.  sure is coldThe Atrium was almost empty Thursday night, and still pretty quiet Friday for Icy.  And despite a huge victory for grassroots social network activism (yay Tumblr!  yay Reddit!  yay RedState and DailyKos, together again for the first time! and yay for everybody else who got involved on SOPA and PIPA)  my mood wasn’t great either.   During the week, I had decided to put  Qweries on hold for the time being.   Sigh.

A friend of mine made the great suggestion that I write down my frame of mind, and when I read it over I was surprised how negative it was: frustration, disappointment, and beating myself up for decisions I wish I had made differently.   Intellectually, I know that it doesn’t always go smoothly: startups are hard.  But emotionally, it’s clearly taken a toll on me.

Fortunately, DJ Anomaly was once again headlining on Saturday night — psytrance at Digging Out.  w00t!  After a few days cooped up, people were ready to dance.   And as always, the lights, music, and vibe lifted my spirits.  A couple of hours into the evening, I was in a complete different frame of mind: looking forward to what’s next, and ready to enjoy the process of digging out.

I heart psytrance.

escape flowers lights

Comments

2 responses to “Notes from Underground: Digging Out”

  1. rainey Avatar
    rainey

    Hang in there. Startups take a lot of bravery, a lot of faith even when faced with disappointment. Activism is the same way. And you have enough faith and bravery to do both startups and activism – no small feat. Be proud and take care.

    Reply
  2. jon Avatar
    jon

    I’ve learned a lot, and now know how to temper analysis with empathy and combine it with experience; at what point does it become enough to understand?

    — Scientists in an irrational world, August 2004

    2012 New Year’s Resolutions:

    • focus passionately on my goals, cutting down on distractions
    • finish things, don’t just start them
    • listen better
    • work out regularly
    • spend more time in diversity-friendly environment, online and off, and less time and energy dealing with sexists, racists, and elitists
    • find a better balance of femininity, flounciness, and flirtation

    And continue my successful 2011 resolutions: get more sleep; meditate regularly; do the things i know i should be doing to reduce stress; listen to new music; take an ABT approach to life;make new recipes; have friends over more often; choose desire over fear; trust my intuition; try not to analyze things too much; fall through the limitations of intelligence into pure and simple creativity; bring inner ecstasy back into my consciousness; have more art, beauty, and fun in our lives; and spend more time with women — and in particular the women I love and the goddesses I know.

    2012 goals: change the world and have a great time doing it

    • working with great people at a company I’m passionate about
    • e-book published and selling
    • at least one successful activism campaign and one successful diversity effort
    • share more good times with my family and closest friends
    Reply

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