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partnered with the revolutionary's completion of revive the oral tradition.


townes van zandt's version of "dead flowers" for listening only


truthfully, this was not the first time i completed this task. i did so inadvertently during the cgzero meet and greet in oakland last month. but at that time, unfortunately, a) i was unaware that it was a task and b) i would have been unable to sign up for it anyway, as i was u of a, and it is an hc/biome only task.

luckily, in the midst of a revolution, things can and will change.

i, along with all supporters of the uprising against the university of aesthmatics, received this correspondence from the revolutionary on the winter solstice (coincidentally, my half-birthday):

From: The Revolutionary
To: Orion, avidd arseloch, besha! grey!, Cameron, annnna, ...lowteck, War Kitty, Revolutionary DeLucchi, Rao, p00n p00n, Flowen, svn tsv the disbeliever, Revolutionary Hamilton, eddy, sweeney cheeffff, Fis Sid La, GYØ Ben, GYØ Tom, GYØ Daryl, Eccoglyph, max loves bananas, Scarlett, doomstew, Charlie Fish, Sam Mattea, Ykcor Ydergcm, Speznut Spikoo Moonkey, Prudence, jill s. preston, Ted Logan, Metsuki, Flitworth the Sympathizer, Devil Duck, GYØ Neil, lara black the defector, Torsten the dissenter, Wishy Washy, GYØ Jordan, sixacross, Betsy, Hey Man Jackson, Flying Duckmonster, Stu, David Zoltan, Jayna Dubrey, Mike Hellstrom, Peter Harmon, help im a bug, Zombie Marsupial, Iaman, Quincy Potts, suzy zus
Subj: Hexagram 64: Before Completion
Date: Dec 21 12:00 pm

Dear Revolutionaries,

Tonight will be the longest, darkest night of the year. 6 o'clock AM tomorrow will mark the transition toward longer, brighter days, and the dawn of the new era. It is time to welcome in the Age of Insatiability.

We have spoken out against the Aesthematics, and have posted our proof to the Praxis. We have struggled for three long weeks, but our simple acts do not ultimately decide the fate of SFZero. The outcome of this War can only be declared by its Creators. On January 1st, by the careful design of SSI, the University will either be meticulously rebuilt in a new image, or solidified in the SFØ-wiki as a once-was Empire. For the Soldiers of the Revolution, now is the time to toast our victories, bandage our wounds, and give thanks to the generosity of SSI for their hard work, genius and endurance.

I would like to take this opportunity to remember that SFZero is a single community, in war or in peace. While we may sometimes divide ourselves along our slight differences, we are more significantly a single crew, sailing together against the crashing waves of capitalism and consumerism that attempt every day to drown us. We will work together in this effort, or not at all.

I offer the following directive as the final act of this Revolution, inspired by Flitworth's Roses for the Revolution:

Procure or construct a flower in a manner befitting any Trajectory of Desire. Gift it to an enemy soldier, as a gesture of reunification for the end of this Era.

If you would like to complete this act as a task, consider Tramp Bouquet. If you cannot sign up for this Task because of your declared Group, let me know and I will sign you up for it.

This act should be done by December 31st. We should start the new Era will a clean slate.

Yours,
The Revolutionary

amen.

in spite of our different approaches, modes, and styles, the truest and best thing about sfzero is the sense of community it encourages between its brilliant and talented players. i chose to send my bouquet to anna one and lank, two players that i believe embody the spirit of u of a as it is laid out in its trajectory, and who also greatly enhance the community of sfzero by way of their kindness, generosity with votes, and exemplary efforts in reaching out to and interacting with other players.

all of this, probably not so coincidentally, played quite nicely into a debate that was raging over another interesting idea involving the group structure of sfzero; that being mr. blueberry mascarpone and senator lincoln's unorthodox completion of trajectory of desire.

after reading some of the back and forth being laid down in the comments of that task, i felt i should do my part in supporting the completion by taking the revolutionary up on his offer to sign me up for tramp bouquet, and in exchange signing him up for a black task. ironically, the task i exchanged for tramp bouquet was the first black only task i had ever signed up for!

because i had already completed tramp bouquet as written once, i decided to add a step this time and create a handcrafted flower to augment the bouquet of lavender and bamboo i collected in my neighborhood. to this end i cut out a series of tiny concentric bristol board circles which i colored with ink, and used an xacto knife to cut notches into the edges. i then stacked the circles atop one another, ruffled the edges, and attached them to the top of a small bamboo shoot by inserting a straight pin through the circles and into the stem of the plant (ouch). it was a pain in the ass, but anna one and lank are more than worth it.







after i had created my flower and integrated it into my existing bouquet, i tied the whole thing up with a black ribbon for the u of a. i wrote lank and anna one a little note of appreciation, and got the whole thing post ready. hopefully since they live just across the bay, the lavender and bamboo will survive the voyage through the post. but if they don't, at least paper flower will remain as a testament to my admiration.







many thanks to sean, sam, and ian for creating and maintaining a venue where we may observe, create, and collaborate; to lank and anna one for making it such a wonderful place to spend time; and to the revolutionary for showing us the meaning of emergent organization and reminding us that change is just as much an act of love as is preservation.

and a final thank you to the members of the multilateral task exchange for keeping things engaging and fighting the good fight against the big red x on a well executed completion. i toast your victory!

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