personal passions

My Bikes
My first bike was 1974 Honda CM400T. My mechanic made fun of it and called it "The Chicken Hawk." I bought it off of a girlfriend who had named it "Metla" which is Croatian for "Broomstick." I bondoed the tank, painted it and dropped it a lot.

My second bike was a 1975 Honda 550-4. On the day I bought it my mechanic was gone out riding. He had a slightly better attitude towards this bike, but still told me I got burned on the price. Anyway, over the 3 years I rode it I improved it alot, adding steel braided lines to the nonstock dual disc breaks, a regina chain and a junk yard scavenged pipe. The best thing I ever did for the bike was invest in an electronic timing plate. Now it starts up and goes right away, every time.

OK. So my third bike is the coolest, a 1971 Honda sl125 dual sport. I call it the Grasshopper cuz it's green and insect like. I have ridden this bike on the dirt, on the super-moto track (practice only), on a mini-motocross track, inside buildings, along side railroad tracks (highly illegal!) and on epic urban dual-sport rides. In the Winter of 2003 I rebuilt the engine, installing a bigger piston, to bring the displacement up to a whomping 149 ccs. Little bikes rock!

My current street bike is a black 2002 Suzuki SV650. There is no legal way to ride it to it's full potential on city streets. I got the bike from another woman rider, with only 2000 miles on it. Some of the work I have done is to open up the airbox ("snorkelectomy") and rejet it to get it to breath better, install the luggage rack onto the original passenger seat for quick release, fender elimination kit and bar backs (ugly, but ergonomic).

www.svrider.com • www.sv650.org

1976 cb400f purchased winter 2006

sl125 at dixon california

dirtbiking in the Mendocino Nat'l forest

Pollination Ecology: Before insects evolved, plants relied on wind or water dispersal of pollen to propagate. While these methods were adequate, the amount of pollen that had to be produced for a chance meeting of sperm and egg, was costly in energy for the plant. Insects, it seemed, would gladly visit and carry pollination to the next plant in exchange for a small "reward." This began an efficient and intricate dance between plants and insects. As insects evolved so did plant diversity and plant strategies for attracting bees, butterflies, gnats, beetles and moths. The subtleties of pollination is something most people know little about. yet we owe our existance to the sex dance of plants and insects. One of the best books I have ever read is Forgotten Pollinators by Gary Nabham. Entertaining and informative, it will change the way you look at nature. In 2002 I took a class on Pollination Ecology. The professors each have interesting articles online. Here is an article on vernal pool flowers & specialist bee pollinators by Robbin Thorpe. Download Volume 30, Issue 3-4 of Fremontia to read Gordon Frankie's article on Bees in Berkeley and as well as other pollination articles. And if you are not already pollinated enough check out Pollinator Paradise!

PERMACULTURE

Permaculture is a series of simple principles which can be applied to any system to make it sustainable. Two of my favorite principals are stacking functions and input = output. Stacking functions seeks ways that an element in a system can serve more than one function. If you keep chickens, for example, they may serve as food (meat and eggs), weed maintainance (chicken tractor), compost pile (they eat kitchen scraps), and fertilizer (chicken poop). Input = output would mean that the energy put into the system comes from within the system (in this case, the chickens are eating klitchen scraps from food from the garden and weeds from the garden). There are many ways to apply permaculture principles. Some of the things in permaculture that I have been most interested in are Greywater Systems, (and here), Natural Building, Biodiesel & Veggie Cars, and Food Forests.

To take a permaculture design course check out OAEC or Penny Livingston's Permaculture Institute of Northern California.

MOTORBIKES I have been riding motorcycles for about 7 years and have learned how to do some maintanance and repair as well. I think all riding is great, but I particularly support women riders! If you want to learn, please, please, please learn from a professional, not from your boyfriend or other well-meaning dude, even if he is an experienced rider. If he were really experienced, he'd tell you to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course. Call 1-800-CCRIDER.
		My Bikes My first bike was 1974 Honda CM400T. My mechanic made fun of it and called it "The Chicken Hawk." I bought it off of a girlfriend who had named it "Metla" which is Croatian for "Broomstick." I bondoed the tank, painted it and dropped it a lot.
My second bike was a 1975 Honda 550-4. On the day I bought it my mechanic was gone out riding. He had a slightly better attitude towards this bike, but still told me I got burned on the price. Anyway, over the 3 years I rode it I improved it alot, adding steel braided lines to the nonstock dual disc breaks, a regina chain and a junk yard scavenged pipe. The best thing I ever did for the bike was invest in an electronic timing plate. Now it starts up and goes right away, every time.
		OK. So my third bike is the coolest, a 1971 Honda sl125 dual sport. I call it the Grasshopper cuz it's green and insect like. I have ridden this bike on the dirt, on the super-moto track (practice only), on a mini-motocross track, inside buildings, along side railroad tracks (highly illegal!) and on epic urban dual-sport rides. In the Winter of 2003 I rebuilt the engine, installing a bigger piston, to bring the displacement up to a whomping 149 ccs. Little bikes rock!
My current street bike is a black 2002 Suzuki SV650. There is no legal way to ride it to it's full potential on city streets. I got the bike from another woman rider, with only 2000 miles on it. Some of the work I have done is to open up the airbox ("snorkelectomy") and rejet it to get it to breath better, install the luggage rack onto the original passenger seat for quick release, fender elimination kit and bar backs (ugly, but ergonomic). www.svrider.com • www.sv650.org
1976 cb400f purchased winter 2006		sl125 at dixon california
2007 ttr125 LE	TOP	dirtbiking in the Mendocino Nat'l forest
BEES and Pollination Ecology Honey Bees: I've been a beekeeper for about 6 years now, keeping backyard bees using a hive system called the Kenyan Top Bar. The bees are amazing, what can I say? The Top Bar System was developed by the Peace Corps as a low input cottage industry for rural Africa. It can be easily started and maintained in both urban and rural environments. For complete basic information on beekeeping & how to get started with the top bar system, check out the Peace Corps Small Scale Beekeeping Book. I wrote two articles for a zine called Urban Wilds.One is about native bees and pollination, the second compares my experience with beekeeping with top bar & langstroth hives. Finally, cool bee pictures: honeybee & top bar gallery native bee gallery Wild Bees: There are over 172 species in Berkeley, 700 species in California, 4000 in the US and upwards of 25,000 unique bee species worldwide. Wild bees, also called solitary bees, live alone. Each spring one female makes a nest, lays her eggs and gathers food for her brood. There is no surplus of nectar for making honey. Many wild bees prefer a specific host flower, which may be dependant on those bees for pollination and survival. Check out About Wild Bees.	TOP	Pollination Ecology: Before insects evolved, plants relied on wind or water dispersal of pollen to propagate. While these methods were adequate, the amount of pollen that had to be produced for a chance meeting of sperm and egg, was costly in energy for the plant. Insects, it seemed, would gladly visit and carry pollination to the next plant in exchange for a small "reward." This began an efficient and intricate dance between plants and insects. As insects evolved so did plant diversity and plant strategies for attracting bees, butterflies, gnats, beetles and moths. The subtleties of pollination is something most people know little about. yet we owe our existance to the sex dance of plants and insects. One of the best books I have ever read is Forgotten Pollinators by Gary Nabham. Entertaining and informative, it will change the way you look at nature. In 2002 I took a class on Pollination Ecology. The professors each have interesting articles online. Here is an article on vernal pool flowers & specialist bee pollinators by Robbin Thorpe. Download Volume 30, Issue 3-4 of Fremontia to read Gordon Frankie's article on Bees in Berkeley and as well as other pollination articles. And if you are not already pollinated enough check out Pollinator Paradise!
PLANTS Plants are the shit. Plants will inherit the earth. Just look at them pushing up through the cracks! I have been studying herbalism, botany and native plants informally for a number of years. I have been gardening since 1989, have been involved in community gardening in the East Bay and am a docent at th Tilden Park Botanic Garden, dedicated to California Native Plants. For herbs check out Michael Moore's books and Adam Seller's Pacific School of Herbal Medicine. If you are in California I recommend joining the California Native Plant Society to receive their fantastic journal, the Fremontia. And if you are in the Bay Area, visit the amazing Tilden Botanic Garden one of only two dedicated native plant gardens in California. It is open and free to the public 365 days a year! The SF Mycological Society has free mushroom walks and an annual fungus fair. CalFlora is an extensive database of California Wildflowers. A few of my favorite Heirloom Seed suppliers are Native Seed /Search, Abundant Life Seed Foundation and the Seed Savers Exchange. Food is life! Grow food everywhere!	TOP	PERMACULTURE Permaculture is a series of simple principles which can be applied to any system to make it sustainable. Two of my favorite principals are stacking functions and input = output. Stacking functions seeks ways that an element in a system can serve more than one function. If you keep chickens, for example, they may serve as food (meat and eggs), weed maintainance (chicken tractor), compost pile (they eat kitchen scraps), and fertilizer (chicken poop). Input = output would mean that the energy put into the system comes from within the system (in this case, the chickens are eating klitchen scraps from food from the garden and weeds from the garden). There are many ways to apply permaculture principles. Some of the things in permaculture that I have been most interested in are Greywater Systems, (and here), Natural Building, Biodiesel & Veggie Cars, and Food Forests. To take a permaculture design course check out OAEC or Penny Livingston's Permaculture Institute of Northern California.
RADICAL THEATRE ~ RADICAL PUPPETRY Visual spectacle, agit-prop, theatre for the masses, theater of the people, political theatre, experimental theatre. The Pupptry Home Page is a great resource for puppetry. See my extensive essay on the History of Radical Puppetry on my creative arts site. Ruby's Radical Theatre Bibliography Wise Fool Puppet Intervention Paper Hand Puppet Intervention Welfare State International Bread & Puppet Theatre Listen to myself and Morgan Andrews speaking on Protest Puppetry MUSIC Although I don't really consider myself a musician I started reading and playing music as a kid and play woodwinds and C-flute proficiently. I dabbled at being in a band when I was in my 20s, played the bass guitar and wrote the songs. I trained with the San Francisco Taiko Dojo for about 2 years and with the Emeryville Taiko for another 2 years. I have owned probably half a dozen accordians and have repaired a few as well. Though my playing is rudimentary I can't get away from the charm of the instrument.	TOP	POLITICS For many years I have identified as an anarchist. Most people think of anarchy as chaos. Besides the fact that some chaos is neccessary to the vitality of any system (no chaos = stasis & stagnation), anarchy is more about personal & social accountability and self-governance than it is about lawlessness. Of course, there are many flavors of anarchist, just as there are many flavors of republican (for example, those who believe in use of force/violence and those who do not--on both accounts), but most of the anarchists I know reflect a higher level of personal and social responsibility than your average citizen. We believe it is both our right & responsibility to "do no harm" and to work for the common good, not just for our little piece of the pie. I have been involved in street action and anti-war protest and war tax resistance. For the up to the moment lefty political news visit IndyMedia. I have done lots of study and work in the area of food politics. Where our food comes from, how it is grown/raised and how it gets to us are major issues in the coming years. Go ahead and read Michael Pollen's book The Omnivore's Dilemma for an eye-opening journey into the world of food production. Also Vandana Shiva's books Stolen Harvest and Biopiracy talk about corporate takeover and copy-righting of genetic material. I am deeply concered about global warming, loss of civil liberties and privacy and peak oil.
SEX!!! Life would be less fun without it! I have always been interested in sex as a way of exploring and experiencing deeper levels of myself and my connection to others. I have studied sex informally for many years and recently became a certified sexologist. There are so many fascinating aspects of sexuality, yet our culture continues to either obsess on or ignore sex. I am a certified Somatic Sex Educator or Sexological Bodyworker. Yes, that's a real profession! You can read or watch some of my teaching online at www.eroticmassage.com. I don't always live this lifestyle, but I beleive poly-amory has much to teach people, even those who ultimately choose monogamy. Check out The Ethical Slut to learn more about what's possible. I support sex workers! and sex worker rights. These women and men who provide pleasure and relief are angels and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect. I believe Sex Work should be a profession of choice, rather than coercion. Please support decriminalisation and an end to illegal sex trafficking. I also support the rights of intersexed and transgendered , people and the whole idea of gender fluidity and our right to identify as we wish. SFSI ~ San Francisco Sex Information Line a wonderful free resource. CUNT ~ A lengthy history of the word Betty Dodson's Genital Art Gallery ~ Go Betty!	TOP	PEOPLE & PROJECTS Projects Cellspace ~ multi-use community arts space Counterpulse ~ New home to 848 and more CircoZero ~ Lush contemporary circus Suigetsukan ~ martial arts dojo BioFuel Oasis ~ bio-diesel filling station in Berkeley Spiral Gardens ~ Urban garden project in Berkeley True Mosaics ~ Institute of Mosaic Art, Store and projects City Slicker Farms ~ Amazing Inner City Food Growing Program People Tara Mooney ~ expressive arts therapist Stonethings ~ awesome jewelry by Lynn Stone Mona Caron ~ muralist & illustrator Michael Rauner ~ photography & other art Ratka Popovic ~ metal worker Wendy-O-Matik ~ love radical Erik "Jesus" Bjorkquist ~ video engineering & metal fabrication Dr.Annie Sprinkle ~ Sex Educator, Artist & Amazing Human Sandy K. ~ Graphic Design Darshana Weill ~ nutritional counselor Laura Plotkin/Lola Films ~ Film maker & film frenzy
HOME & GARDEN (UNDER CONSTRUCTION) in October 2005 I bought a house. I've had a lot of fun fixing it up and creating a magical garden from a flat patch of crab grass. House Projects Before & After Kitchen Floor Radiant heat floor Sink & Counter Custom Hinges More Tile Projects Other Projects The garden I have been gardening since 1989 and this is the 4th major garden I have created. I grow vegetables, fruit, culinary & medicinal herbs, flowers and many california natives. Virtual Garden Tour (coming soon) Hallmark video about me and my garden	TOP	MEAD I got interetsed in Mead and Mead-making couple years ago There's really not all that much to say about Mead except that it is f**king deliscious. To buy mead online try: www.honeywine.com To learn more about meadmaking: www.gotmead.com. Of the books I have purchased the most helpful and thourough has been: The Complete Meadmaker My basic mead recipe, requiring very little in the way of specialty additives or chemicals is here. Also Joe's Ancient Orange is an easy starter recipe that doesn't even require wine yeast. List of Sparky Beegirl vintage wines and meads wth label designs is here.
MOSAIC & TILE WORK I have been exploring tile making and mosaic the last few years. I highly reccommend Laurel True's Institute of Mosaic Arts and the Tile Heritage Foundation. Ruby's Tile and Mosaic Gallery	TOP	Miscellany Tattoo work Yes, I am a bibliophile. Read here, now!