the dixie cup project:
thanks to everyone that made the southwest trip such a success....
love to hear from ya'll email me at keller@kellerarch.com
this whole concept evolved out of a few distinct events in my life and several manic episodes where i thought i could change the world.
so giddy up and let's get started........
i was having drinks with mark the other night and we are at guadalarja in the houston pavilions and i begin drawing on the paper coasters that the waiter has placed under our drinks.......
and then i ask him for more and continue drawing..... meanwhile mark keeps mumbling about implementation versus creation and the lack of follow thru and blah blah blah................
so i keep drawing and he finally says.. well you better number them so you can keep track of all this brillance........ if you know mark you know this is no compliment.....
the morning comes and i am at ziggy's grill sitting on main street having my usual cup of cafe and i'm looking at the dixie cup that barbara has brought me so i don't have to walk inside every 5 mins and get a refill and i think... let's draw on the dixie cups.... i have to say
that wilco has a lot to do with my love of the dxie cup. great documentary by the by.......
so i have to watch this boring video for work and i begin drawing tulips and butterflies on the dixie cups..... and they are looking fabulous i must say.....
and then it comes to me fill them with little coaster notes and give them to girls..........
for the most selfish of reasons of course................................................... :)
and it's the next day and i'm walking to the office like i normally do and i see a patch
of wild flowers growing in the grassy strip of a vacant parking lot and i rush over and begin picking them because the dixie cups are calling and for once i'm listening...................
so fresh picked flowers and dixie cups and me................................................
well, i've been an insomniac for a good ten years now and have created my own little ways of
dealing with this issue.....................................................................
so it's 3 am and i don't have a clock in my bedroom because i'm too scared to know what time it is and i'm listening to podcast number 10 and it's bob edwards weekend and the program is
about interior secretary stewart udall who was responsible for creating the protected wildlife areas and the federal parks and so much more and he talks about the sixties and how congress conducted business and how it is so different than the way congressional business is conducted today... and i am getting inspired by this man and then he talks about his brother and how they would go on crusades and how he climbed mount kilamanjaro and mount fuji, just to show that americans were a vigorous people.........and the inspiration continues.................
he then starts in about the atomic energy commission .......................................
that's another story........................................................................
he talks about how in the sixties the emphasis was on the commmunity and not the individual.
and i keep listening........................................................................
Working for an alternative energy company i have started to take a long look at how i live what i consume, how much energy i use. I've started asking questions.....
and that's what i want you to do.... Ask questions.......................
Why throw away a perfectly useful glass container? Just because it's empty, it's useless.
How much energy went into putting that glass jar in your hands?
Is anyone really sure..... I think not.........................
Do you commute more than 30 minutes to work everyday...........
Are you enjoying the rat race?
Ever Walk to work, can you even do it? I seriously doubt it here
in houston.
People, we are living in a fantasy world..... Cheap oil is gone.
Why are the sheiks of the Middle East going green???
they see the end of their fossil fuel dominance. why can't we?
we are finally starting to use re-useable grocery bags
..............
that only took 2 centuries............................
the myth of over abundance............................
do we really need trashbags? i mean really the trash goes
from one container to another and then we dump it on the
planet. Are trash bags really necsesary?
do we really need dry cleaning? The point to a pressed shirt
is what? Your put together? your professional? or are all the
little sheep taught that's what's important..................
does two people really constitute a high occupancy vehicle?
i mean come on people, wake up your living in a dream world.
Things we just don't need:
paper towels, swifers, coffee filters, plastic silverware,
paper to go cups. wooden stirrers from starbucks that we throw
away. individual sugar, ketchup, mustard, etc....
Reality TV, i mean it's not even real............
junk mail, straws, what the hell do need straws for? does it
make it taste better?
Do we need a CVS across the street from every Walgreens?
Valet Parking, especially when you can see your car?
Does it really have to be overnighted? What is the rush...?
It's all fabricated to produce consumption................
Open your mind, turn off the TV and think for a change....