TheListServe Blog

In order to get on the bus in Las Vegas, your skateboard has to be in a bag. This usually means pulling a plastic grocery bag out of the bus stop trash can and draping it over the wheels enough so that the bus driver just gives up and nods you on. I took the Rainbow bus south from my house to my best friend’s house, then we’d take the Tropicana bus east to Maryland Parkway to Balcony Lights. The shows were always on punk time so they wouldn’t be starting for another hour, at least. We’d go upstairs and read zines or comics in the zine library, our impressionable minds fascinated by the revolutionary ideas of CrimethInc. We saw Kaospilot, Van Johnson, Bafabegiya, Curl Up and Die, This Virus Makes Us Human, Zann, D’amore, and End of a Year, maybe all in one summer. These shows were the first time I can remember feeling like a part of something bigger than myself, crowded together with dozens of sweaty bodies, moshing around with the restrained aggression of angry punks that wanted to f...

I have moved countries to be with the person I love. To be specific, I moved from a small town in Germany, away from a great job and a great apartment, to the beautiful land of New Zealand. Ten years have passed and it wasn't always easy. There are still moments where I very much miss my loving family and my german friends, but looking at me now and then-how much have I grown personally and professionally! It was the best decision of my life! What I am trying to say is, sometimes in life it is important to take a leap of faith. I know it is scary, overwhelming (and exciting) but don't hold yourself back from venturing into life. Live your life to the fullest. Sometimes it takes a leap of faith to really start up your life. (The person who I met 10 years ago at 2 Kingsley Street in Auckland is now my husband, my best friend and the love of my life who has brought out the best in me. The past ten years have been the best years of my life…may there be many more to come x) Carolin ...

The timing for winning the lottery is pretty good. As a veteran from a family with a long military history, Memorial Day means a lot to me. But not really for the reason that most people think. There is a difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Veteran's Day is the one where we give thanks to all that have served, but Memorial Day is supposed to be a somber day set aside for remembrance of those that have died serving their country. It is just a day for a barbecue or a killer sale at Best Buy or the like. It is not a happy day. If you want to see what Memorial Day is really about, search for the video of the Marine that stood at attention and saluted for something like 6 hours during the Rolling Thunder parade in D.C. He was there to salute his fellow Marines that could not be there because they made the ultimate sacrifice. I don't think I can sum it up any better than my friend did today on Facebook. She is a master sergeant in the Air Force. She wrote...

Today. May25th, 2013 was our 89th Sisters’ Day adventure! Almost 7 ½ years ago, my 3 sisters and I realized that even though we all lived close, we didn't see each other often. We have always been a close family, but between work and taking care of our families, we were letting too much time go by between visits. After our mother died in 2003, we all grieved separately, coming together mostly for holidays. We have always been a family that puts fun on the top of our list, but after mama died, our fun times together became fewer and farther between. I am not sure who came up with the brilliant idea of setting aside one Saturday a month, come hell or high water, that we would do SOMETHING together. We really had not formulated a long term plan. The first Sisters’ Day outing was in January of 2006. We started off easy - with a trip to an Antique Mall and lunch, A couple of more trips and we discovered our passion…….HIKING! So the majority our Sisters’ Day have been day trips ...

I feel like there is only one thing I should use this llittle space I have to speak to you for. Most of us know our ups and downs, those moments when you think it couldn't get any worse, but then it does. Or those, when you're just feeling overwhelmed by your past, present and the future you imagine yourself in. You know the deal, felt that darkness, I guess. I have a best friend. Her name is Tina, and through the years she had to deal with quite a few bad things happening to her, herself. Lately, she hasn't been feeling well and I really wish for her to feel better soon, and to not feel guilty about being in the state that she is in right now. I love her. I won't give up on her. She is a great person. In fact one of the kindest, most intelligent, funny and warm ones I have ever met. So, I guess what I want her to know, is, that she's not alone. And that everything about her is right, and being sad is not a personal flaw of hers. And if you, the person getting this ...

I am excited to be doing this. Some might even say I'm fazed! WOW. Wow. . Lunch time seems to be the time people go get ripped. They prefer to do this over wasting their time on the internet spending time with people like me. A few of them seem to like being in diapers, and will often interject with a... better diap it up! Peter is having bacon. I Thank! all of you for reading this. I hope you get something out of it. I might go to the supermarket later and get some tangerelles. What is ticking you off? What rox for you? Please don't eat all those corndogs! Did you know about rusty car? ilu lesterquiche[AT]gmail.com Internet

I have no life lessons or inspiration to offer you. Mathematical beauty is "my thing", but I can't give you pictures! (But you can search for my name; I seem to be the only one on the Web.) *\\* I've been a political (or antipolitical) radical for long enough to lose the appetite for preaching without provocation. But I'll take this opportunity to make one point about the word CAPITALISM, which means at least two very different things: * A free market, in which private property and services are exchanged without anyone's permission. * Government benefits to existing businesses, including subsidies and regulations designed to prevent or discourage competition from new businesses. Conservative politicians point to the first to gain approval for the second. Progressive politicians point to the second to scare you away from the first. Despite their rivalry for office, they share a vital interest in preserving the system, and thus in obscuring the difference...

I am a procrastinator. True to style, I've left this to last minute (won't be pulling an all-nighter for the Listserve, so this has to be sent off before bed-time, no exceptions) and haven't spent much time on what to talk about, or why I should. It's going to be easiest if I pick something fresh in my head. And since I procrastinated to get here... procrastination it is. Yesterday I had an argument (neither of us angry, so maybe 'argument' isn't the right word) with my partner-in-crime, about my lack of follow-through on things that interest me. He thinks I could do more with the things I know, and he hates seeing me do things he sees as a waste of time. I think he's got a point, but I also partially disagree. There are a lot of things I like. I love to learn, even if that learning never goes further than being useful when it's pub trivia night. I put into practice some of the things I've learned, but most of it just sits there in my head. His ...

I was going to take this opportunity to talk about something entirely different, but after something that happened yesterday, I'm going to use it to clear up a few misconceptions about a topic very dear to me. My mom is an English professor. During one of her classes, she looked at her students and asked "How many of you here would identify as a feminist?". To her dismay, about three or four of the twenty-some students raised their hands, and all of them were female. "Let me ask you something," she said. "How many of you believe in equal rights for women?" Everyone raised their hands. "How many of you believe women should be paid the same amount as men in the workplace?" They all raised her hands again. Mom smiled. "Then you are all feminists." The first two definitions of feminism, as per dictionary.com, are: fem·i·nism [fem-uh-niz-uhm] Show IPA noun 1. the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal ...

Hi there, If we've met before, hi again. My name is Anthony Albright and I am lost. In that, my hobby is drifting — across places, across people, across ideas. I enjoy finding myself surprised and delighted by the energy of the city street, which finds its own uses for things. If you were at Nicole He's Listserve Internet Picnic in Prospect Park last August, you might remember me as the fifteen-year-old from San Diego. If we got to chatting — or if we ever have, for that matter — I've probably told you that my greatest fascination is with airport wayfinding signage. Wayfinding signage represents for me an intermodality that I understand as a cognizance of the nuances that distinguish for us between platforms and cast a sense of place. This intermodality is some kind of fully lucid weave through fleeting moments of interstitial space. It is a consciousness that I have come to understand as a constant process of at once being completely awash in the present and being a comple...

The earlier message from The Listserve was a repeat from yesterday's e-mail from Steve Reid. Today's winner, Hesham Naiem, graciously tweeted us: "@thelistserve Today's mail (my Turn) is not what i sent and repeated from yesterday with different subject with my name I'm Very Lucky." Sorry, Hesham. Here's his message: *** What is the purpose of everything? How did we get here? "What is the meaning of Life?" You might be amazed to learn, that Islam is providing clear and concise answers for these questions. Have you heard about “The Stanford Prison Experiment”? Or maybe you’ve seen the movie “The Experiment”? . Zimbardo is a famous psychologist who used to teach at Stanford University, and made this experiment. Twenty-four males were part of it; twelve were assigned the roles of “prisoners” and the other twelve were assigned the roles of “guards”. A mock prison was created. Each person had to play their role for two weeks. However, the experiment ...

I think this list of people are very like minded. The majority of emails are about people's life stories and advice. I thought I'd do the same and also teach you something crazy at the end anyone can learn to do. I don't think life needs to complicated. Keep people in your life you enjoy being with who support you to pursue opportunities that allow you to live closer to the life you want to live. In turn you do the same for them. I'm 24 years old and deep into the "experience and learn as much as possible" time of my life. This is all with boundaries of course (I don't want to experience what it's like to take Heroin). I feel very fortunate to have experienced things like winning a national soccer championship in University, having an amazing connected intimate relationship, and experiencing different cultures through travelling. I've learned a lot so far and I'm excited to experience and learn more in the coming years. I remember havi...

I think this list of people are very like minded. The majority of emails are about people's life stories and advice. I thought I'd do the same and also teach you something crazy at the end anyone can learn to do. I don't think life needs to complicated. Keep people in your life you enjoy being with who support you to pursue opportunities that allow you to live closer to the life you want to live. In turn you do the same for them. I'm 24 years old and deep into the "experience and learn as much as possible" time of my life. This is all with boundaries of course (I don't want to experience what it's like to take Heroin). I feel very fortunate to have experienced things like winning a national soccer championship in University, having an amazing connected intimate relationship, and experiencing different cultures through travelling. I've learned a lot so far and I'm excited to experience and learn more in the coming years. I remember havi...

We as a species make the greatest changes to the world; more so then any other species ever has. Many take this idea as a bad or ominous sign about the destruction we cause upon the planet but I conversely consider it the single greatest thing that we can ever do. As humans we have been placed into a niche that no other species has ever been in. We have become the protectors and purveyors of life. In the event of a large disaster, one that could cause mass extinctions, humans are at an interesting position in their ability to control and prevent such events. We have the ability to stop a meteorite from striking the earth in the same manner we can prevent almost any known cataclysm from striking our planet. This places us in the position of being the protectors of life on earth. Currently the planet tolerates what we are doing to it. With the current rate of destruction upon the nature with a rather conservative plan to end the destruction we will have killed more then 10% of the divers...

Hey everybody, I'm a wine and beer buyer in San Francisco. No deep thoughts today, just me whinging on the lack of GF beer available. Or the lack of GF beer that doesn't taste like yak urine. There are some decent "low gluten" beers out there, such as Omission, Brunehaut, Stubbe pilsner, and to a lesser extent Estrella Damm. Due to an FDA ruling about a year ago or so ago, "no beer made with gluten ingredients, even with gluten filtered out can be labeled as GF." That wording is mine, but you get the drift. Those are decent to good, but should not be consumed by those with Celiac. That pretty much leaves the sorghum based , um, "beer". The less said about them the better. I keep hearing about new breweries like Harvester in Oregon who are doing interesting sounding things with ingredients such as chestnuts and sweet potatoes. Hmmm. It feels like we are on the cusp of a new wave of GF beer that perhaps, just perhaps, won't suck. Or a fella ca...

she woke one morning and realized that she could not move her legs. Panic. Then disbelief how can this be, how could it happen. what do I do now? After half an hour of wallowing in every emotion she decided she needed a plan, how to get to a phone to make a call, after falling off the bed and crawling to her phone who to call friend, doctor, finally choosing mom, complicated but a good decision. Practical mom. The ambulance delivered her to the hospital with no complication how valuable a gurney, not something you think about every day! The doctors prodded poked and tested, no answer no reason just fact. How can it be in this day and age no answer, we think modern medicine has all answers. After two weeks, one morning, just like it started feeling back in her legs. Now what do you do, how do change your life, do you celebrate or rue the loss of two weeks? Jon New York jons1[AT]optonline.net

When I first joined The Listserve (thanks to Yoav Shapira (hi Yoav!)), I really wanted to win the lottery because, well, I wanted to whine. Although my goth period was about 20 years ago, I was going through a rough time and I wanted to WHINE about it. I wanted to tell all of you how I was depressed. How following my husband to Seattle and leaving a company (HubSpot) and job I absolutely adored had screwed over my life. How my poor husband felt bad for messing with my career, and how I was soooooooooooooo unhappy. Thankfully, I didn’t win the lottery at that point. In fact, this has come at a funny time – I was indeed lost, but I seem to have found myself. And I found myself just last week. See, my dream job has always been to be COO of a small to mid-sized company. I have an odd fondness for the blood and guts of a company, and a good personality for #2. This is what I thought I lost. I thought I lost my path to my dream job because I’d left my original career path (running IT at law ...

My favorite song at this current moment is Dance Our Tears Away - John De Sohn feat. Kristin Amparo The reason I'm telling 21,419 people this is because music contributes to a lot of people's lives. What's your favorite song? Carlos Espejo New York City cape14[AT]gmail.com

I guess, here's my story in a tight nutshell. Last August, I moved from DC to Australia for graduate school. In that time my father got very sick. I returned home and stayed by his side during his miraculous recovery (seriously, the doctors were even shocked). He was discharged and went home on a path to full recovery and I returned to school in Australia. Late one night, I got a phone call from my cousin telling me that my dad's condition had unexpectedly taken a drastic turn for the worse and he didnt have much time left. So ten thousand miles apart and over speaker phone, I had to say my last words to my father. He passed minutes later. I'm telling this to 20K+ strangers because since he passed I have felt scared and alone and apprehensive about the future. And I know I cant be the only one going through this. I had never lost anyone before and my father was always the quiet reassurance I needed to keep me going. Losing him was like losing air. So while re-learning to ...

In 1962, my dad and a buddy from their military base at Twentynine Palms, were enjoying the live music of Leroy Van Dyke at a bar in San Bernardino, California. They ended up leaving with a gal my dad had been dancing with. On the way to her house, she informed him that she was presently going with the Vice President of the local chapter of a renowned motorcycle gang. My dad's buddy dropped them off at her house and took off. The house door would only open a few inches before it hit something. The gal explained that it was her guy's motorcycle. My dad was not only full of regular courage, because he was one tough marine, but also had a bit of liquid courage on this night. So he pushed extra hard on the door and shot that motorcycle across the floor. This ruckus brought out the irate motorcycle owner, who I shall further refer to as H.A. Somehow, my dad just ends up conversing with H.A. until he goes back to bed. My dad and his new gal friend stay up a bit later until my dad pas...

Hello Everyone, Its pretty cool that I have won the lottery. Oh what to say and what not to say! A little introduction: I am a recent Graduate Mechanical Engineer from University of California,San Diego. Though originally from India I have been in the US for the past two years and hopefully stay here much longer. Read. Read books, magazines, articles, anything and everything. But also do, do something , anything and everything. Keep investing in yourself and keep learning. Live as if you will die tomorrow. Learn as if you will live forever - Mahatma Gandhi Tej San Diego sirrinki[AT]ucsd.edu P.S: Mechanical Engineer for Hire.

Writing an e-mail to more than 21,000 people one does not know - except that they are open-minded enough to know The Listserve - is both exciting and terrifying... especially because "you never get a second chance to make a good first impression" (quote from Will Rogers). I first thought to give you some tips to live happily, but I do not think I have the authority to give advice on this topic... I am not yet thirty years old and do not know much about life. I also considered making a list of amazing facts that would have educated you and/or surprised you. But the web is full of such lists, so I abandoned the idea... Finally, I decided to offer you to make a discovery that will perhaps please you. It is about my mother’s work. My mother is a painter. Eager to understand what painting is - a discipline that she has practised from her earliest years -, she took a degree in philosophy during which she became fascinated by the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (a French philosopher),...

My name is Tim, and I'm going to ask you to participate in my project. I want you to call me at this number: +1 (971) 200-5065 I want you to tell me all about your day. What did you see on your way to the train? Who did you talk to? What was scary? What was fun? What made it special? What made it bleak? Who pissed you off at work? What kind of smoothie did you choose? What did the asshole ahead of you at Starbucks order? How beautiful did she look in that sweater? Think of this as a time to reflect on the things that are happening both around, and inside of you - your own, free, thirty-second therapy session. You can rant, rave, bitch, moan, whistle, sing, cry, whatever. It's about you. Hopefully through your reflection, and my exposure to your stories, you and I can both become a little more enlightened about this whole "life" thing. For the sake of continuity, it would be really great if everyone started their message with the words "Hi Tim." I'm hopi...

Sorry about this one, guys. Normally listserve emails are so bright and cheery - but I told myself if I got selected I'd write honestly. I'm 24 years old and this week is the court date to finalize my divorce. I'd been with the same woman for my entire adult life - we started dating when we were 15. I loved - still love - her madly. I graduated last year already set up in a good job. We bought a small, pretty house about an hour from our families, close to my work. We got Ikea furniture and a new roof and were saving for a new car and a dog. Then she fell out of love with me, and left. Six months ago I was happy, well adjusted, hard working. I knew what I wanted out of life and I had a pretty good idea how to get it. Now I feel like a gutted ship - I look mostly the same and I still float, but I'm empty and drifting. My house reflects this - pictures conspicuously missing, walls abandoned halfway through painting, far too much room for the tiny fragment of life that hap...

I thought maybe I'd write about shifting from a humanities education and editorial career to the world of technologists and a re-education, and career, in engineering. I thought that, since this group is interested in correspondence, maybe I'd write about my decision, after twenty-five years, that cursive handwriting might be worth my time after all. (It turns out that, despite the frisson of opening the mailbox to receive a real, paper letter, a letter-writing hobby demands time and a special dedication in the era of email.) But no, I'm going to write about childbirth. Not something I've ever done. Nor will I, since I'm a man. The first time my wife went into labor, neither of us really knew what to expect. That's true for all first-time parents. We did know that the common Hollywood depiction of labor, with its dramatic screaming mom and bumbling dad was at best a gross stereotype and, at least in many cases, far from accurate. We knew that we should call our ...

I would like to tell you a short story I thought up a few years ago for a film, a dark fairytale to be precise. (It is viewable on YouTube if you're feeling intrigued.) I don't want to say too much about Ponda as I feel the story says it all, but I would like people to hear this story because I am intrigued as to how people interpret it. Before you read Ponda: I must mention Peter Fellows, who found the words to tell Ponda in a way I couldn't. Also to encourage you to email me your ideas and thoughts once you have finished reading. And finally, to thank The Listserve for giving me the opportunity to tell the tale of Ponda to so many people. I honestly am so grateful. Tales of Ponda: Ponda Story by Rikki Udagawa, Words by Peter Fellows A curious young girl, Ponda often felt, she was being followed by something else. A darker presence, in the corner of her eye, a crooked hand reaching out, but just out of sight. One winter noon, she ventured...

I received the fateful "congratulations" email on a day when a lot was on the line. Although, that's relative because, really, all that was "on the line" was getting a B on an econometrics class so I can graduate....I'M FREAKING GRADUATING COLLEGE. who let this happen? This is a crazy time in my life and, frankly, also one of the loneliest. So, the opportunity to say something to 21k fellow listservers is somewhat poignant. I'm struck by a serious loss for words. Many of you have likely just sat down at the office and are looking for an opportunity to delay actually starting work for the day and, if you're like me, many of you won't open half of these anyway. So, for lack of any pithy words of advice or meaningful segments of literature, I'll tell you some interesting facts about Minnesota, the best state ever. It's where I grew up and really the only thing I can talk about off the top of my head and I think everyone can relate to having...

Hello Listserve friends, I am currently finishing my first year teaching. I teach English Language Arts to 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at a small school in rural Vermont. So many people have told me I'm crazy for choosing to spend my days with middle school kids, and while I often laugh off those comments, I can't say I always disagree. Occasionally I have days where I want to bang my head against something (I've only indulged in this desire once!), but most of my days are actually filled with laughter and learning; and it's not just my students who are learning. They may be young, but my students know levels of tragedy and joy that I can only imagine. They teach me more than they will ever know. We see plenty of advice pour into our inboxes via The Listserve, but instead of rattling off what little I know of the world, I decided to ask my students to inspire you with their best pieces of advice, since they are my daily inspiration. Here are some of the highl...

Do you believe in karma ? Well I do believe in balance. Like a physics law that states that everything tend to reach balance. Same thing with "luck". Sometimes you are lucky, sometime you are not... and it sort of balance out. So, at the end, the important thing is what remains and this will be what you have focused on. Remember the luck you have and try to neglect your misfortune. Ok, that was for the "I'm trying to be wise part". Now, because I probably used 2 years of "good luck" karma to be chosen among 10K+ people to write to you, I'll better try to make it useful in some way. Hmm. Well, one very little thing, as a cyclist, that I always wanted to tell the world is : Dear car/truck driver, but please don't treat us as an obstacle on the road and if you're about to overtake, do it properly, like you would overtake -lets say.. hmm- a police car ! Because in the process, you may risk precious time, but we risk life. Another thing I would...

Hello! I'm Alex and I'm a freelance web developer/consultant - a combination of telling people what to do on the internet & actually doing it. But today I'm going to talk to you about how I became a nude photographer. Over the years I've smeared people with blackberries and stuck pinheads & glowsticks to them. I've made human-sized cat cones and played with fire. There was a brief time when it seemed likely I'd become a professional pornographer. I've watched a friend get her lips sewn shut and then pose in a dank basement with a giant python - that one was her idea. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I've always been interested in photography but it wasn't until my second year of university that my passion ignited. I was trying to impress a lady by teaching her to use a manual SLR. She remained unwooed, but I found a new way to express myself. I wanted to learn as much as possible, so I read voraciously and tried what I could. But one genr...

I’m a 17 year old guy from Toronto and last year I started a food blog called IronWhisk. In retrospect, I’m not entirely sure why I chose to name it IronWhisk since, well, iron rusts. Iron would not be a particularly great material to make a whisk out of. I invite you to follow along as I tackle some pretty challenging pastry and dessert recipes. Some pretty crazy ones too, such as a cake that I made that looked like a bushel of bamboo. Particularly exciting are the Japanese recipes that I cannot read, but decide to do anyway just for kicks. Also, I’m curious if there are any other food bloggers that subscribe to The Listserve. Be sure to say hello if you’re out there! Please send foodstuffs. P.S. My website isn’t showing up correctly on Internet Explorer, specifically on smaller screens (the right sidebar is pushed down to the bottom of the page). If anyone would like to help me fix the problem it would be much appreciated. Ilan ilan[AT]ironwhisk.com Toronto, Canada