I'm in Arcata, CA, in Humboldt County--the seventh-largest pot-producing county in the US--helping my mom move into her new house. It's a beautiful, forested town. My mom's house is a few dozen yards from a trailhead. The local paper, the Arcata Eye, runs headlines such as:

     EVIDENTLY, CERTAIN YOUNG PEOPLE ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH MARIJUANA

Evidently, the Arcata Eye doesn't take itself very seriously. The Police Log section is just as funny:

    11:39 PM: A guy said Sunflower told him Digger had stolen his wallet 

    and was spending his money in a Plaza tavern. Whoah, that bites.

The Humboldt Exposure, however, does take itself seriously. The "To Trade" classifieds include things like "Massage for organic vegetables" and "Llama fiber for use of your drum carder." Those who advertise goods or services in the Exposure agree to accept half US money and half "Community Currency." This is an attempt to fight the Target store that's going to move in and destroy the Humboldt way of life.

As far as I can tell, it also means the Exposure is printing its own money, which can't be good.

The Exposure also includes a measure of journalism, as long as you define the word loosely. For instance, one of the cover stories is coverage of several political rallies by a being named Starhawk. After reading Starhawk's political rally coverage, I don't know who or what the rally was opposing (seriously; I really don't), but there were many loving and nurturing paragraphs about puppets, drum circles, a treaty between Starhawk's "pagan cluster" and some homeless people, magical blue fabric, fish hats, and spiral dances. These fish hats and spiral dances are extreeemely powerful, as the next section referred back to them as "the victory in Michigan," also known as "the brutal police state."

(Actually, I don't think it was Michigan, but we've since used this edition of the Exposure as kindling, so I can't check.)

My sister, who lives here and teaches yoga--the legit kind, no energy channeling or crystals--assures me that Starhawk is a famous and well-respected nutball among nutballs. Those are my negative-energy words. Hers are much less Westernized and judgmental. Book deals, speaking appearances, a devoted following; the Starhawk entity has everything a globally conscious being could need to reinforce avoidance of medication.

I find this place very funny.

On the less ridiculous side of things, if you're interested in Lori Snyder's GROOVE YOGA or FLOW YOGA classes, they're at the Community Yoga Center. $10 or whatever you can afford. Llama fiber and organic vegetables considered.

Anybody know where I can get some good pagan clusters? Dark chocolate preferred.


[Best of the Blog]