Some cognitive dissonance last night: Didn’t go directly home after work. Instead, I took the commuter rail from work to Back Bay, and arrived with about 20 minutes to spare before Vikki Law’s talk on womens’ resistance in prison. The talk was hosted by the Community Church & the , both housed in the same space in Copley Square. I wandered up Boylston St., then down Newbury St., hoping for a slice of pizza. No luck. I haven’t spent much time on Newbury, and will admit that I got excited when I spotted the Agent Provocateur store across the way. I’ll also admit to eyeing a pair of $160 shoes & having a deep want reaction, and doing some mental calculation about what owning then would involve, in terms of my budget. Weird space to occupy, physically and mentally, while also being aware that in a matter of minutes, I’d be turning my attention to the strategies incarcerated women are using to survive. Earlier in the day, commentary among friends on Facebook reminded me it was D.’s birthday, and I decided that taking a moment to observe and engage the complicated, contradictory bundle of desires at work in that space (& in my brain) — for a slice of pizza, for pretty things, for information, for community, for liberation, for sexy undergarments and eco-chic shoes, for prison abolition — would be a good way to mark the occasion.

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This morning my brain was working in a favorite mode: reading Pattern Recognition (this post on nogoodforme.com was the catalyst) > then listening to Kid A (again) > then wondering if Gibson is a Radiohead fan > then remembering the post-9/11 drag act by Pat Riarch & Rey Cruiter that is inseparable from “Idioteque” in my memory, one of my top 5 favorite acts, ever > then thinking about how the same song would be a pretty kickass soundtrack for a performance about how queer (and other) communities might enact alternatives to calling the police/involving law enforcement in specific situations > then imagining that performance & what it would look like.