Like everything else on Craigslist, people can post commodities that they have to offer (radios, concert tickets, babysitting abilities, apartments, sexual favors, rides, etc.), as well as particular things that they are searching for (watches, rides, roommates, sexual favors, babysitters, etc.). People have been using Craigslist as a localized network for online resource exchange since around 1996, when it quickly grew in popularity, and it's been huge ever since, almost as more of an underground community though. It's localized in that there are separate categories and search engines depending on your location, by city and county. Part of the reasoning for it being more underground is because there is a certain controversy behind the site's use due to the impending threat of "Stranger Danger." Anybody has the chance to be a potential victim, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time in exchange with the wrong person. Obviously, some people are risk takers, especially those that use sites like Craigslist (or they could just be oblivious to said risk, but there's a lot of education around internet safety nowadays), which is why these sites are able to run, for in a sense, the people are truly the products. In any case, there have been several occurrences of "Craigslist Killings", and common sense should be used, especially when dealing with people...always carry a gun :P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_killer
The night before, after we spontaneously decided to travel to Portland, I searched the Seattle-Tacoma area for rides heading to Portland for the next day. I emailed a few, and for a majority I received fairly immediate positive responses. We ended up going down with a guy with a green Suburu, carrying a bike on top. His name was Bernard, a computer science graduate from the University of Illinois, and we were accompanied by Anna, going to Olympia, and Emma, also heading for south east Portland. We spent a majority of the trip listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" podcasts from NPR.
At the end of the week, again, I ran a search, but this time I only emailed one name. We met up with Tony, a burlesque performer, and his girlfriend, a belly dancer. The couple were very open, and we had good conversation, and easily joked around. They chatted in a lewd, yet respectful way, and it was funny to listen to what they had to say to each other.
Both trips ran incredibly smoothly, and we were with good company going both down and up, but I think that when you're surrounded by strangers, the fun comes from making it a memorable experience. The easiest way to do this, besides pouring hot wax on the driver's lap or removing articles of clothing whenever someone says a particular word, is by conversing in a humorous way. Every relationship is different, be it someone you can talk with seriously, or a friendship in which you both can make each other laugh. Not that an exchange with a stranger can't be a serious interaction, but neither members really expect much out of the other besides that extended moment of a two hour or so drive. To make each other laugh is to make the trip a healing experience, as not only does laughter forget boundaries, but it's also the best medicine (in case you didn't know!).
I don't mean to make the Ride Share experience sound superficial, because I don't think it needs to be. People put a label of falsity on exchanges over the internet, like in forums and marketplaces, but those are legitimate interactions, especially when both participants are willing to put themselves into the relationship. Ride Share is a trading of resources, and therefore acts as a gateway into the networking process. It's a world of connections, so to interact with someone is an opportunity to call them up in the future if need be, and add them to your subconscious address book. The sense of humor to initially jump start the relationship is a way to come together harmoniously, but if you feel that instinctively, this connection will get you somewhere, or even if you have something to offer the other at some point in one of your lives, then hold onto the name, and reflect back when that time comes. It's funny, but you each have already pierced each others stories; your bubbles have bounced. You will never truly separate from each other's histories now, as you both happened!
I think of exchanges like this, and real world social networking, as a sort of means for the existence of music festivals, not that festivals aren't a means in themselves! By means, I mean an opening of possibility for meeting new people, and then a plane for the relationship that surpasses the real world! The internet is like a festival in itself, in that many social boundaries and wall are torn down. Festivals are communes, and are bridging the gap between societal expectations and free love! I see lots of people who are used to the reigns of society attending festivals and treating them like an amusement park, which there is nothing wrong with, but the potential of these gatherings is to let free of all bounds, and to create together in unity. Some people live for festivals, and during the summer, there lives become the Festival Express, hopping from one event to the next, and even following groups, sort of like Dead Heads. I've found that the most cost effective way of doing this is through volunteering: sacrificing a day to help pick up trash, take tickets, or just to refresh the atmosphere of the park. You get a free or less expensive ticket in exchange for your contribution to the festival. It seems like it would be difficult to be a regular without this kind of behind the scenes plan! (For those of you in or around the mid-west U.S area late May, check out my "First Post" for a couple awesome, smaller festies.)
I digress, and jump from idea to idea, but part of the reason I wanted to talk about festivals was because Tony's girlfriend was a belly dancer who was going to performing at Symbiosis Gathering, which is like a Burning Man in that they don't release the entire artist list before the event. This is one of the festivals of the year, and is held in Nevada in May to celebrate the coming solar eclipse. I'm not attending this particular party, but I know some people who are, as well as a number of the performers, and woo hee, it'll be quite the time! I think that it's cool when the festivals are what bring people together inside, as well as outside the event. When I heard that she was dancing at Symbiosis, you bet that I had a lot to say, and some recommendations of musicians to check out!
Maybe the moral of the post is that no matter who you run into, be it on the internet or in a make shift ride down to Portland, you can usually find something that'll connect you and the other person, be it an interest in festivals or just an appreciation of a sense of humor. I like to say, I wish the world consisted of "Me" and "You", because it would make everything so much easier. The archetypal relationship can be fit with whoever is demanded in the situation, like in my case, the "You" can be a certain friend, my mother, my dog, the cashier at a grocery store, a man on the street, etc. With this mindset, your individual respect will be shared with whoever the particular partner in the moment is, and you're also protecting yourself, by not becoming susceptible to all of these different incoming energies possible when you're attention isn't focused on one thing at a time. From this point on, when you think of one, you can extend it to mean something larger, but at the same time, it can never be bigger than the respect that you give yourself, and therefore, the respect that you give a partner. To be a public speaker is to allow your attention to face a crowd, and I think that for most talented speakers, they look at the crowd not primarily as a load of individuals (only, I suppose it takes a combination between the trains of thought), but rather, as one whole, and a partner in terms of interaction.
Until next time, Edward
Both trips ran incredibly smoothly, and we were with good company going both down and up, but I think that when you're surrounded by strangers, the fun comes from making it a memorable experience. The easiest way to do this, besides pouring hot wax on the driver's lap or removing articles of clothing whenever someone says a particular word, is by conversing in a humorous way. Every relationship is different, be it someone you can talk with seriously, or a friendship in which you both can make each other laugh. Not that an exchange with a stranger can't be a serious interaction, but neither members really expect much out of the other besides that extended moment of a two hour or so drive. To make each other laugh is to make the trip a healing experience, as not only does laughter forget boundaries, but it's also the best medicine (in case you didn't know!).
I don't mean to make the Ride Share experience sound superficial, because I don't think it needs to be. People put a label of falsity on exchanges over the internet, like in forums and marketplaces, but those are legitimate interactions, especially when both participants are willing to put themselves into the relationship. Ride Share is a trading of resources, and therefore acts as a gateway into the networking process. It's a world of connections, so to interact with someone is an opportunity to call them up in the future if need be, and add them to your subconscious address book. The sense of humor to initially jump start the relationship is a way to come together harmoniously, but if you feel that instinctively, this connection will get you somewhere, or even if you have something to offer the other at some point in one of your lives, then hold onto the name, and reflect back when that time comes. It's funny, but you each have already pierced each others stories; your bubbles have bounced. You will never truly separate from each other's histories now, as you both happened!
I think of exchanges like this, and real world social networking, as a sort of means for the existence of music festivals, not that festivals aren't a means in themselves! By means, I mean an opening of possibility for meeting new people, and then a plane for the relationship that surpasses the real world! The internet is like a festival in itself, in that many social boundaries and wall are torn down. Festivals are communes, and are bridging the gap between societal expectations and free love! I see lots of people who are used to the reigns of society attending festivals and treating them like an amusement park, which there is nothing wrong with, but the potential of these gatherings is to let free of all bounds, and to create together in unity. Some people live for festivals, and during the summer, there lives become the Festival Express, hopping from one event to the next, and even following groups, sort of like Dead Heads. I've found that the most cost effective way of doing this is through volunteering: sacrificing a day to help pick up trash, take tickets, or just to refresh the atmosphere of the park. You get a free or less expensive ticket in exchange for your contribution to the festival. It seems like it would be difficult to be a regular without this kind of behind the scenes plan! (For those of you in or around the mid-west U.S area late May, check out my "First Post" for a couple awesome, smaller festies.)
I digress, and jump from idea to idea, but part of the reason I wanted to talk about festivals was because Tony's girlfriend was a belly dancer who was going to performing at Symbiosis Gathering, which is like a Burning Man in that they don't release the entire artist list before the event. This is one of the festivals of the year, and is held in Nevada in May to celebrate the coming solar eclipse. I'm not attending this particular party, but I know some people who are, as well as a number of the performers, and woo hee, it'll be quite the time! I think that it's cool when the festivals are what bring people together inside, as well as outside the event. When I heard that she was dancing at Symbiosis, you bet that I had a lot to say, and some recommendations of musicians to check out!
Maybe the moral of the post is that no matter who you run into, be it on the internet or in a make shift ride down to Portland, you can usually find something that'll connect you and the other person, be it an interest in festivals or just an appreciation of a sense of humor. I like to say, I wish the world consisted of "Me" and "You", because it would make everything so much easier. The archetypal relationship can be fit with whoever is demanded in the situation, like in my case, the "You" can be a certain friend, my mother, my dog, the cashier at a grocery store, a man on the street, etc. With this mindset, your individual respect will be shared with whoever the particular partner in the moment is, and you're also protecting yourself, by not becoming susceptible to all of these different incoming energies possible when you're attention isn't focused on one thing at a time. From this point on, when you think of one, you can extend it to mean something larger, but at the same time, it can never be bigger than the respect that you give yourself, and therefore, the respect that you give a partner. To be a public speaker is to allow your attention to face a crowd, and I think that for most talented speakers, they look at the crowd not primarily as a load of individuals (only, I suppose it takes a combination between the trains of thought), but rather, as one whole, and a partner in terms of interaction.
Until next time, Edward
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