22 February 2001


sorabji.com: What have you done?: 22 February 2001
THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016).

By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 11:54 am:

    my last final (final final, haha! biological anthropology) was today and i was out at 10:30 am. sylvie wouldn't need to be picked up until 5 pm or so; i decided to ride the max downtown.

    after visiting reading frenzy and powell's, having a bowl of spicy vegan stew at the energy bar (or is it the power bar? it's one of the two, on tenth street, across the street from the central library) and poking around at the beloved finnegan's; i went to pioneer square.

    i sat for a while, organizing the zines in my backpack, finding my chalk, and overall enjoying the action and sunshine. i took a piece of chalk in hand and prepared to write. i'd decided yesterday that i was going to go draw with sidewalk chalk downtown, it just washes off anyway.

    i started with nonsense "HAHA SAID THE CURLY PINK PIG." "THE SHEEP DID IT." (an old joke, much overused during my senior year of hs) then moved on to "DON'T SMOKE. IT STINKS." "I THINK I'M CUTE." beside what was either a pile of vomit or a spilled coffee drink. "IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S CHALK." "IT'S CALLED A SMILE, TRY ONE SOMETIME" "BE ALL YOU CAN BE. ARMY. R.I.P." "RUN, RUN, AS FAST AS YOU CAN, YOU CAN'T CATCH ME; I'M (crossed out: THE GINGERBREAD MAN) A GIRL." i wrote responses to possible questions, but mostly meaningless statements "THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT." people can put meaning into everything.

    i generated a little interest, people stopping my to say "it's true" nodding and smiling. "is this performance art?" one man asked, but my reply was "i just felt like using sidewalk chalk." a woman stopped me, "is this a feminist art project?" i was in the middle of writing "I WON'T BUY YOU DIAMONDS." and i said "no, does it have to be?"

    the policeman: short, fat, caught me while writing "YOU ARE HERE" smack dab in the middle of the square. i immediately drew back into my shell, putting up my 'sweet, innocent, not-so-little girl' facade. i bagan to rub out the message according to his instructions, but he changed his mind and had me follow him to his office. on the way across the square, a middle aged woman stopped him. "you can't cross pioneer square." "whyever not?" "you can't walk here with a bad additude." this comment put a smile to my face. it made me realize how absurd the situation really was. if i played his "silly little game" for a while, everything would be alright.

    his office was in the back of the construction site underneath starbucks. i told the truth, that i didn't realize that it was wrong and the rain would wash it away, no charge. he called my actions "criminal mischief" a term which, if anything, defines the norse god loki more than y simple chalk writings.

    i asked why i wasn't supposed to draw with sidewalk chalk, people did it during the rose festival all the time. "people don't want to see it." during the entire 45 minutes that i was doing this, i had one negative comment other than the policeman, and it wasn't logical: "you shouldn't do that." "why not?" "it's public property." "it washes off." isn't public property supposed to belong to everyone?

    when i was finally allowed back into the sunshine, i'd been banned from the entire 3 park area. i don't know the exact bounderies, but i'll still be able to go to oak street. if i go into pioneer square, finnegan's, or the library within the next month, i could be arrested.

    i felt my last few moments with the policeman had a tinge of humor. he spied my first message "HAHA SAID THE CURLY PINK PIG." he was rather, shall we say, porkish. "what do you mean by that one?" he asked. "oh, nothing, i just made it up." i hurried away before i burst out laughing.

    my experience has led me to believe that government sees any and all deviation, however harmless, as a possible threat. policemen are not there to keep the peace as is commonly believed, but to herd us, like sheep, into the corporations best interests. you don't see a policeman going after people dropping cigarette butts, but those things can be dangerous (ever had one dropped on your foot? hurts like hell.).

    no matter what people say, this is not a democracy. we live our lives in constant fear of being caught straying from the herd, but who gives the government so much power? we do, and we can take it away.

    by staging absurd, peaceful demonstrations, people can get the media interested and encourage people questioning their faith in the government.

    i need to look at the bill of rights again. i seem to remember something about freedom of speech and i want my rights--every single one of them.


By Nate on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 01:08 pm:

    i'm proud of you, pez.


By Antigone on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 01:28 pm:

    d00d, pez. You rock.


By patrick on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 01:38 pm:

    "freak the establishment mannnn"

    you should see the episode when Homer becomes a hippie.


    I get angry that street performers are brushed under the rug. They arent allowed on subways. Guliannai's selective enforcement of the "quality of life" laws. A white guy doing kareoke to sinatra tunes with his nutcase neighbor tap dancing is ok...but im positive kids elsewhere beatboxing or drum circles in the park are expelled.


    a guy with a saxaphone on the corner here about a year ago lasted about 15 minutes.


    yet they let freaks and/or out of work actors dress up like celebrities hang around Mann's no problem.

    In europe street performers are almost always appreciated for what they are.....often talented...and a brief intermission in daily grind. At least in London and Paris.




By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 01:49 pm:

    correction. that was yesterday, 22 march 2001.

    i'm planning to get a group of people together on 22 april, the day before i'm allowed back, with a bunch of chalk and go to the square.

    who's with me?


By Antigone on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 02:55 pm:

    Holy shit, pez! I might just be in your neck of the woods on that very day... Drop me a line.


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:04 pm:

    cool beans!

    i figure that if i make a big deal out of it it'll end up being a big joke in the area.

    "chalk riot in pioneer square. news at eleven."

    i need to review the laws of the city...it could end up being a huge deal, and a lot of fun.


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:05 pm:

    I was once kicked out of the pioneer place mall for carrying a political sign (during gulf war). I asked the security guard why, and he said I might hurt someone with the wooden stick.

    so I went outside and pulled the wooden stick off the side and carried my pieces of cardboard back inside. I didn't really want to go to the fucking mall, but I was supposed to meet my parents in the food court.

    I was stopped again, and this time the guard refused to tell me why.

    I was OK with it, though, because it is a privately owned building and all.

    your writings were a form of graffiti, though, pez. I am pretty anti-griffiti. and it hasn't rained in a long time. should it be OK to paint in the square with watercolors? should it be OK for starbucks to hire people to chalk in a great big green mermaid sign in middle of the square every morning? that would suck.


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:10 pm:

    pez, you should go out with my ex-boyfriend. he's an anti-establishment vegetarian who lives with lesbians, used to live on a commune, plays the accordion in a band, and plants trees for americorps. he's really cute and likes tall chicks. his current girlfriend sounds like a drag. tell him cyst sent you.


By patrick on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:26 pm:


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:27 pm:

    i figure that non-permanent "art" is not graffiti. i put all writings in areas where the rain could easily wash it away. i'd consider it graffiti if it was on walls or inside buildings, but outside where all it would take would be a couple drops of water or people walking on it?

    i think i did have a couple of messages in my writings, like "WHY NOT?" "THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT." "NEXT TIME, LOOK ME IN THE EYE." "STEP ON ME."

    what if i just dropped pieces of paper with the same messages on the ground? would that be littering?

    i've been reading lately about a march that took place last year, downtown. part parade, part demonstration, it was peaceful until the police began herding them and clubbing the stragglers.

    i don't believe in violence or hate, but i do believe in standing up for rights. some of these laws seem to have gotten out of hand.


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:36 pm:

    one thing that i saw once that was really cool: i was in york, standing in front of the cathedral, in an area of the city where it was pedestrians and delivery trucks only. a man was drawing a beautiful picture in chalk on the street. i have a picture of it somewhere.

    we have something simalar to the murals only in portland. companys pay to have ads painted on buildings.


By patrick on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:38 pm:

    yes that would be littering. spray paint isnt permanent. its just chalk is more easily washed away.

    cyst has a point.

    and this is a pickle of situation.

    what is chalk made of? could the dye be a toxin once washed away?


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:39 pm:

    yeah, dropping papers around would be littering.

    the last people I would want differentiating between art, politics, commerce, etc., (and between modes such as chalk, color pencil, watercolors, oils, permanent paint, etc.) are the cops. I want them to uphold the law in as fair a manner as possible, leaving all subtle determinations for the courts.

    the cops shouldn't let you or anyone else draw all over the square with any utensil. I think they did the right thing.

    anyway, pez, you should be thinking big. you should be defacing billboards. now that's big-time fun. (yeah, the cops you arrest you if they catch you. you should be careful not to get caught!)


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 03:40 pm:

    and I have a feeling that in cities such as paris where street artists use colored chalk to make pictures on the ground, they've paid the city for the right to do so. same with musicians busking in heavily touristed areas.


By Cat on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 05:00 pm:

    There was a man in Sydney many years ago who went around writing the word "Eternity" everywhere. It was such an existentialist statement, it became a part of the Sydney consciousness. During the non-millenium fireworks extravaganza, the word appeared in 200 foot high letters on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

    Such is the power of graffiti.


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 05:45 pm:

    that's pdc.

    i used a type of chalk labeled "nontoxic". the river's prolly more toxic than the chalk, not that i'd go partaking in either.

    i wonder, if a bunch of kids drew hopscotch at the square and started playing, what the cops would do.


By patrick on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 05:48 pm:

    as mentioned recently that happened with a stencil of Andre the Giant


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 05:50 pm:

    the cops wouldn't do a thing, of course.

    when the security guard told me I had to leave because I had a sign with a potentially dangerous stick, he didn't seem disturbed at all that a man using a big, long, heavy cane was walking past us.

    pez, you troublemaker.


By Div on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 05:51 pm:

    Living near Manhattan, I have come to appreciate graffiti. I think it is a statement no matter what the scrawl, color, or medium, and to me it says "people live here, people who want to be seen and heard, and have no other means of expression available to them"

    My heart hurts for those who scream through their art and tags that they want to BE NOTICED....that they are more ALIVE than brick and stone.....

    SEE ME
    FEEL ME
    TOUCH ME
    HEAL ME


    ya know?


By Hal on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:02 pm:

    Pez... You are my hero.

    Damn the "man" for busting you down with your fun. What I think if amusing is the reasons people like that give for their assault on your freedom of speech and expression.

    Here in Missoula (the extreamly liberal, or granola as some people call it, college town.) something like sidewalk chalk writings would either be seen as cute and funny, or as a PC statement which no one would touch for fear of offending said PC group... Sometimes the world is just odd.


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:02 pm:

    what if it were adults playing hopscotch?


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:05 pm:

    then they'd be hauled away in handcuffs!


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:09 pm:

    double standard, don't you see?

    to kids, the police want to be as friendly as possible, so they'll learn to trust them. then they crack down on the same people as adults. little animals are cute and easier to train.


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:10 pm:

    here in seattle graffiti "artists" seem to look for the oldest, coolest buildings with the surfaces most difficult to clean. then they just tag them with spray paint.

    my heart does not go out to them.

    graffiti is for bathroom walls, where discussions can be started, and existing billboards, which are eyesores that shouldn't be there in the first place.



By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:12 pm:

    pez, you aren't seriously proposing that our police force may use a double standard for different classes of citizens when it comes to enforcing the law?

    um, yeah.


By pez on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:17 pm:

    of course.

    if one of my uncles did it (one's a fairly well-known local cardiologist, the other's a cop) they'd be told to move along.

    if my mom did it, she'd be told to move along, because she'd be in her nice downtown clothes.

    if my cousin's daughter did it, people'd say it was cute.

    if a homeless person did it, they'd be either instantly arrested or people'd stay away from the crazy person.

    i was probably saved by my innocent act and by not making any "smart remarks". there was a sign in his "office": "if it's not yours, don't touch it." i almost asked if that went for public property too.


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:18 pm:

    anyway, next time you chalk up pioneer square, you should go down there with some kids.

    have the kids do the same as you, and see what the cops do. maybe the children could write political messages and you could play hopscotch. videotape the whole thing (and post it on the web, of course). now that would be art! and possibly a court case!


By cyst on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 06:25 pm:


By pez on Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 02:10 am:

    i wish i'd known about that earlier so i could've seen myself. and the police pig.

    i used to play hopscotch all the time, but i can't remember how! i wish i knew.


By Nisi on Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 01:55 pm:

    I'm a bit torn on the graffiti issue - I don't like it when people spray scribbles onto buildings that can't be easily cleaned... not that the facility of cleaning is the issue, really - I guess I don't like ugliness.

    Also, some jerk spray painted my bike one night. Not that I was in love with the bright orange colour the bike was originally, but it was a hell of a lot nicer than bright orange with taupe spots. I also had to replace my hand grips because the paint kept coming off onto my hands.

    But maybe the funniest thing is, I told my dad: "someone painted my bike yesterday." He replied, "did they do a good job?" He was totally serious. See, I moved to Brooklyn, and that stuff is normal, but I grew up (and my dad still lives) in a suburb of Toronto, where there is almost no grafitti anywhere, and I certainly have never heard of anyone's bike being painted.


By pez on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 03:53 pm:

    on a similar note:

    on monday i got kicked out because i had a chair with me. no threats, just got told i had to leave.

    it's a pretty cool chair, too. built to use with a drafting table. vintage 50s-ish style, bright "primary" green. there's a sign on the back, "judy's air".

    i sat around in the thing for about half an hour in plain sight and then played hackey sack for another hour before the rent-a-cop even said anything.

    it was good that i had the chair because all the seats on the MAX were full so i could still sit down.


By wisper on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 05:42 pm:

    the man is after you pezzy. That's just bullshit. Cops get so bored....

    here we have street chalk artists, and everyone seems cool with them, no one steps on their work or gives them shit. They make murals on the sidewalk of major shopping streets all summer, sometimes their creations are damn near 10 feet long. I don't know if they have to pay the city or not for the rights.
    We have street musicians too, in subway tunnels, in front of buildings, all over. Most of them aren't very good (not like the brilliant ones seen in Paris), except for this guy who's always in the subway at Finch. He plays classical guitar like a mother fucker, and if kids walk past he breaks into a song by whatever rock band's t-shirt they're wearing. Sometimes and accordion guy backs him up as well. In Dundas station there was a flute player that was great too.
    I think they have to get permits to play in the subways, but clearly they're not very hard to get. I'm pretty sure they just did this to cut down on the number of people trying to play in one station at once. Outside areas are a musician free-for-all. Summer is quite musical downtown.




    did i mention it also rains fucking candy here?


By cyst on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 06:37 pm:

    you can bet that the street artists and buskers in paris and other big euro cities pay for the privilege.


By patrick on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 06:40 pm:

    they lock away street musicians and subway performers here. fucking nazis


By cyst on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:08 pm:

    I didn't know l.a. even had a subway.


By patrick on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:15 pm:

    Has for sometime. Throughout the southern half of the city its mostly above ground light rail servicing as far down as Long Beach and west to the airport. The last 4 stops of the line north of downtown were completed last year...which has service from downtown, under the Hollywood hills and into the valley in North Hollywood. I take the subway from Silverlake to Hollywood daily.


By patrick on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 07:17 pm:

    see


    the red line was the one completed...the last 4 stops anyway, in the north. The downtown and south la portions have been completed for years.


By Platypus on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 12:35 am:

    I remember riding it when it was all shiny and new.


By pez on Monday, June 25, 2001 - 02:54 am:

    i feel all shiny and new.

    sometime tomorrow check out mr. ridiculous and look at the columns. you might see something a little familiar.

    *eeek! happy dance*


By wisper on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 06:20 pm:

    you go pezzy!!


By Cat on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 07:04 pm:

    Yay! Great column. Loved the clever read-me title.


By Trace on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 09:32 pm:

    Alright Pez! Great job


By dave. on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 12:10 am:

    i found a new almost boring band from that site, pez. bozart. from minnesota via portland.

    why do women and protein-deficient artist boys get away with so much? if i'd been you, i'd have been trying to scrape up some bail money.


By pez on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 12:53 pm:

    the column itself

    "i immediately drew back into my shell, putting up my 'sweet, innocent, not-so-little girl' facade."

    because i don't look like the type of person who'd make trouble. clean, pleasant smell, combed hair. plus i think i earned points for continuing to say that it would wash off and i never said how far i went or for how long.

    once he let me go, i left immediately. i was actually pretty scared. my only defence was to accent how scared i was.


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