malmo58’s Neighborhood

Pets were few inside the hidden cities, but many people kept caterpillars, and helped nuture them from worm, to

The Caterpillar

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So many animals, and people, had been lost to the change, that a catepillar represented the chance for emergence from the situation. While the change was happening, some species of caterpillars threatened environments and people when the never ending rains, extended from the period of change to longer seasons, created habitats where the creatures thrived. Some over-thrived.

In Liberia, mass breeding of caterpillars, in an exceptionally wet climate, pushed people out of their own homes. The masses of caterpillars devoured plants and food for other wildlife became scarce. Normally, the caterpillars would not all fully develop, but in the extreme damp conditions the creature's multipled, nearly all growing to full adulthood. It became known as the caterpillar crisis of climate change in Liberia, and consideration was given to spraying the country with chemical pesticides to defeat the munching worms. The threat of poisoning the environment made the authorities decide against any pesticide use, and so the people moved away from the caterpillar infested areas, taking shelter in refugee camps.

While Liberia hated the caterpillars, other parts of the world were marveling at the growth of the species, and the

Chrysalis

Many people who lived in the hidden cities remembered the seasons of the butterflies with joy, and desired to keep the Monarch caterpillar as pets in their living areas. These pets were hand-fed leaves and grass, and given safe, dark places to build their chrysalis, and time to allow the transformation. When the caterpillar began to break out of its chrysalis, people gathered to watch the butterfly emerge.

When the birght coloured creature spread its wings and flew into the air, the people clapped at the performance.

Monarch Butterfly

Welcome to Haiはい。my transmedia journey,
-Lisa

*Flickr photos by:

Caterpillar - Brenda Anderson: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiouskiwi/

Chrysalis - MsEli: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mseli/

Butterfly - dwain77: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwain77/

Erik Foss worked seven nights a week, splitting his time between shifts at a few bars in the city, as well as getting his

Erik Foss

While bartending paid the bills, Erik was really in New York City to be an artist. Whenever he had time he painted, made collages and drew pictures of all the feelings that he had to absorb night after night while working at bars. Often, he heard a lot of pain and anger, especially with the pressure of the change happening. People were hiding out inside the many underground bars around the city, where the darkly lit spaces protected them from the burning sunshine that was destroying the environment everywhere on earth. They brought troubles with them to to the underground bars, and often Erik was the only person around that would hear some of the stories.

Haiはい。Painting by Erik Foss

They told Erik about family and friends who got sick from the change, unable to tolerate the rising temperatures, a lot of people were developing heat illnesses. If they were young, it was easier to fight off the intensity of the fever and the constant feeling of thirst and being dizzy. If they were old, death was common.
Beyond the illnesses Erik would hear about, there was always the usual complications of living life. Lost jobs. Lost lovers. Lost dreams. For centuries bartenders had been listening to the stories of heart break and hard times, and Erik often felt like a sponge for all the pain that floated around the city and a magnet for it to land at on a bar stool in front of him.

Haiはい。Painting by Erik Foss

Erik had a way of turning things onto a more upbeat funny side and with a rock 'n roll style, he'd make the most depressing person forget about the troubles and have a good time. A few special cocktails helped pick up the mood and Erik would just take the pain away with him and put some of it into his artwork when it got overwhelming. Furious strokes of paint to canvas emotionally healed him, and he'd then offer some of the results back to customers for sale.

They'd buy back their own pain sometimes, and hang it up on a wall in their home.

Haiはい。Painting by Erik Foss

Haiはい。is my transmedia journey. Cut 'n paste "Haiはい。" into Google to find pieces of this story,

-Lisa

*Photo of Erik Foss by Supreme Mangement.

*Artwork by Erik Foss. 

Today I’m joining 8,000+ bloggers from 144 countries, reaching 11 million viewers to chime in one a single important global issue of climate change for Blog Action Day, and want to share with the world why this topic is personal for me.

While green living is popular, fashionable and trendy right now (hurray!), I’ve actually spent a lot of my own life being

Climate Change Melts Icebergs Destroying Polar Bears Natural Habitat

green and supporting a variety of environmental movements, writing about environmental issues and absolutely loving nature to the point of clapping when I see an ocean wave crashing against the shore, marveling when the sunlight hits against green leaves and makes an almost translucent effect, and crying when an eco-disaster destroys part of the world, from the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the icebergs melting and killing the habitat of polar bears.

Here are some of the very personal reasons why I’m in love with nature and deeply, emotionally concerned about the impact of climate change on the environment.

Reason #1: I Lived In A Tent

When I was a baby, back in 1967, my parents found themselves suddenly homeless. Dad was a musician and had a great gig for a time working for an orchestra in Maine. When the contract came to an end, he didn’t have another gig lined up, and couldn’t afford the house they were renting.

We lived near the fisherman docks on the coast at this time, and Dad loved hanging out with the boat builders. One of his friends offered a patch of land in a boat yard that we could camp in for the summer, and Dad jumped on it – moving the three of us into a tent on the property. My Mom had never camped before in her life and was terrified of snakes. The mosquitoes were insane and apparently I

Climate Change Threatens Coastal Maine

was covered in bites. We ate amazingly well, as everyday the fishermen gave us lobster – because at that time they couldn’t sell it on the market for some reason. I don’t remember it really (I was about 1 years old) but family members still talk to me about it, and my parents tell me these stories of how we lived off the land and got help from the community that summer. To this day I am in love with sleeping outside in a tent. I’m so happy being snuggled up, in the outdoors, in the woods or on a beach somewhere, where beautiful nature is all around.

If the climate changes, will the memories my family has of the coast of Maine just be memories? Will the coast of Maine be flooded and those fishermen's villages destroyed? Climate change, I take it personally!

Reason #2: My Grandfather Taught Me To Respect Nature

Often in the summers as a child, my family would join my grandparents in visiting the Adirondacks. Grandpa was

researching and writing a book about the great Adirondack explorer and surveyor Verplanck Colvin, and we’d join

my grandparents on adventures through the woods “bushwhacking” to find long forgotten survey marks left by

Climate Change Impact Can Be Spotted in Ancient Adirondack Lichen

Colvin in the deepest woods. We also climbed the high peaks of the Adirondacks to find Colvin’s survey markers,

and at the tops of these incredible mountains were often endless rocks that you had to scramble up to get to the

peak. On these rocks grew lichen. As kids, we paid little attention to where we stepped and often trampled across

the lichen. We would also rip up some of it from its precious place clinging to the rocks, because we were curious

about it. Grandpa scolded us often and told us the story of the lichen plants that were thousands of years old, and

may have lived on the rocks since the time of the dinosaurs. His story made us think, and we then made a game

of trying not to step on the lichen. Grandpa also taught us repetitively the “carry it in carry out” philosophy for every

time we entered the woods. He spent most of his life as a Boy Scout Troop leader and brought many children into

the woods for camping trips and environmental educational excursions. To this day, now in his late nineties, he

looks over pictures of the Adirondack mountains that Colvin surveyed, and shows people his book. To this day, I

think about lichen, and still utter the phrase “carry it in, carry it out!”

Maybe if we all uttered the simple catchy phrase "carry it

in, carry it out" we could make a difference toward

climate change?

Reason #3: I Was A Reporter Covering Environmental Issues

For a number of years I had the best job of my life – working as a small town newspaper reporter in upstate New York. As a reporter, I covered everything for the community from cop reports to school board meetings to wacky stories, such as a woman who had a giant puffball growing in her garden that looked like a face. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. The rural area I was covering for news had many environmentally sensitive issues impacting it, with New York City pressing itself further north there were many land development concerns and the area was filled with fragile eco-systems that were under threat. I was an eye to all of these issues. I wrote a series of articles about the Wallkill River in upstate New York, and explored all the environmental threats from farming, to industrial waste to general pollution that threatened this river. For this I won an award, and got the attention of then Governor Mario Cuomo who cited it as an example in one of his speeches. I didn’t have to cover environmental issues to the extent that I chose to, but I made it my focus because of my love of the natural world.

There are many, many, more deeply personal reasons why I love the environment, but the above are three of my own reasons why I feel strongly about the issue we are all facing of climate change. I’m sure that the 8,000+ bloggers writing posts today also have intensely personal associations with the natural world, and I’m interested in reading some of the other posts that people share for Blog Action Day. Many people are going to write about the upcoming gathering of world leaders in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference and maybe if those world leaders give some contemplation of personal memories they have because of experiences in the natural world, they will care a lot more about climate change and do a lot more to make it stop happening.

I’m also interested in your personal stories about climate change here on Vox.com, so please join in today and register your blog at www.blogactionday.org

Concerned about climate change,

-Lisa

*The above images were found on Flickr and credit goes to:

Polar Bear:

Greenz4u’s

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80079525@N00/

Coast of Maine:

Ken Lund http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenlund/

Freeduh2’s Photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26862761@N03/

so this is how it goes.. i miss you guys.. and i know  haven't been a good voxer.. i miss being here so much.. want to hear you stories and read them soon.. :)

the fountain head!

100,000 people would be selected to live in each hidden city.

100,000 would be selected to live in each hidden city

The number was decided based on space in the cities, but also because those in charge liked the round number.

100,000 was a milestone number for many things at the time. Web site pages celebrated when traffic hit 100,000 views. The introduction of Google Wave was only given to 100,000 lucky first testers. Prize money was often set at 100,000.

For such an important decision, the selectors may have sat around and calculated all kinds of variables and equations. They did put consideration to staffing of the hidden cities, and how many people in key roles would be needed, and when the jobs were added up the number came very close to 100,000 for each hidden city's population. The selectors rounded up to 100,000, and the number had the feeling of being a lottery card. For the 100,000 people saved in each hidden city, millions would be left out to face the change, and likely die.

Among the 100,000 people selected, everyone would have a pre-determined role, based on the skill they brought to the hidden city. Some of the roles included:

• Builders
• Architects
• Engineers
• Botanists
• Breeders
• Teachers
• Hydroponic farmers
• Nutritionists
• Digital archivists
• Computer programmers

About 500 roles were planned for the inhabitants of the hidden cities, and the selection process set out to recruit people for the roles. The selectors observed people who they thought would have the needed skills, from afar, for several years. Often someone would appear to have the necessary skills to fill a role, but personality traits would interfer and pollute allowing them as a choice.

During the selection process, candidates were secretly put to the test -- with challenges being pushed on them to see how they would perform. In some cases pressure was put on them with unexpected tax audits that forced a candidate to face bureaucracy and the threat of financial issues. Those who tackled the tax audit challenge by remaining calm and addressing the issue passed this test, but many cracked under the pressure and displayed anger and excessive emotion. The selectors wanted those who could remain calm and level headed under any situation.

In the hidden cities there would be many stressful challenges. All of the 100,000 residents would have to have the peace of mind to face daily hurdles.

Thank you for following my transmedia journey -- to find more of the story, cut 'n paste the tag Haiはい。into Google,
-Lisa

*Flickr photo by Enrico Weber: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skintype/

Rosie and Mya decided to sit at the beautiful underground bar inside Pravda and order their usual Friday afternoon

Subterranean Pravda

cocktail treat of decadent chocolate martinis. The place had a feeling of being safe, with it’s strong vaulted, tiled ceilings. It had been a bar for decades now, and remained one of Rosie and Mya’s favourite, secure, destinations. They started meeting on Friday afternoons at the subterranean bar about six months ago, when the reports of severe, tsunami-size flooding in parts of the world started. It felt very doomsday with the latest news of tragedy resulting from the change happening, and as best friends, they decided that time together was valuable and they should make sure they appreciate each other.

“Thanks for the extra strawberry Erik,” Rosie told the bartender. “Glad to see the rations are letting us get fresh fruit into the city still.”

“Yeah, this week was pretty good, so I saved some extra strawberries for you and Mya,” he said.

“I heard that Chicago is totally fruitless, another reason not to live in the mid-west,” Mya said.

The girls had removed their hats and dark glasses, and were enjoying the feeling of putting away the cumbersome accessories that protected them in the outside world. Soft light illuminated the bar, and complimented how they looked. Both single, and in their mid-thirties, appearance remained a priority in their urban home, and fashion styles were adapted to suit the need for ultraviolet protection. The white leggings and dresses they were both wearing took on a glow in the dim light and enhanced the creamy colour of their fragile skin. They both, subconsciously, took a look around the bar to see what men were present on a Friday afternoon. Often, the city workers took off work early and went to the bar to get seats, before the rush started for the weekend. As regulars, Mya and Rosie were guaranteed a spot at the bar, as long as they got there by 3 PM. Erik always saved their spot on Fridays, because they were all friends and looked forward to seeing each other every week.Today was typical, and the routine was something they all looked forward to when the week got challenging. It was a chance to just be social, and tell each other any updates they felt like sharing. Erik worked non-stop on weekends, and Friday afternoon was usually a calm period of a few hours before the bar got crazy.

“So did the casting agent get back to you yet?” Mya asked Rosie.

“No, I called a few times, but he never answered. The commercial isn’t scheduled to be filmed for a few months yet, so I’m not hopeless on that, and besides I got another audition invite yesterday that I’m working on,” Rosie told her friend.

Rosie was a semi-working actress. She picked up film roles for television commercials, and played character roles in shows like Law and Order, the now longest running American television show in history. Work would come and go, and she was always on the hustle to find paid gigs. At this stage in her career she harboured no delusions about becoming famous, and the excitement and sparkle of being a working actress had expired for her a few years ago. It was all she knew how to do, so she kept doing it because she had to. She earned enough to pay rent every month on her tiny apartment, and she often got interesting invitations to parties, art openings and film premieres because of her connections. Mya was often invited as her +1 guest, and she’d taken Erik to a few things if he was free.

With the change happening, it had impact on the entertainment business, in terms of the types of roles that Rosie was auditioning for. Story lines were getting darker and reflected a lot of the fear the general public was feeling. Rosie found herself specializing in hardship roles these last few years, often being made up to play the role of someone who was scarred from sunlight burning, or devastated economically – such as a farmer’s wife who saw crops burn up and livelihood destroyed in the change, and was forced to move to the city and find work. The roles were grim now, but Rosie was flexible and could easily slip into any part a director wanted to fill.

“I was watching an old episode of Law and Order the other day, and saw you playing that homeless person. Remember that one? It was the one where the wife murders her baby to get back at the husband for having an affair and then tries to pin it on the homeless lady,” said Mya.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that episode, I remember it took hours to get the makeup right on that one. I never realized that caking dirt on a person could be such a precise business in making it look authentic,” Rosie recalled.

“You were really good in that, scary. You looked hideous – they did a really impressive job of transforming you.”

Rosie told Mya that the roles on Law and Order were getting harder to get, because she had appeared so many times as various characters that the casting agents for the show were concerned that she was becoming too recognizable to the audience. The show had a pool of performers that they often picked from over the years, because it was easier to cast people with experience in working with the directors. The formulaic nature of the show meant that thousands of episodes, and spin-offs, had been made over the years, often with repeat appearances from the character actors.

Mya loved Law and Order because it also served as a current event archive, with the shows following story lines that were based on real world events. When the change started happening, the show mirrored some of the stories that were emerging. Characters in the show started dressing in the heat reflective clothing that became necessary with the change happening, and the story lines weaved around some of the stresses that everyone was feeling with the increased pressure in the city from severe sunlight.

Often Mya would document the real stories depicted in Law and Order, researching any of the digital archives that she could find about the real life events and preserving the video, news reports, pictures and birth records of the real people involved. It was one of the reasons she found her job so interesting, beyond the importance that her role meant to society overall. Things were disappearing in the change, and everything Mya saved and documented became more and more valuable as the story of humanity unfolded.

Welcome to Haiはい。, a transmedia journey,

-Lisa

*Flickr Photo by Peter Sealy, aka Dr. Curry:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkdarkroom/

is something i got 45 minutes of since yesterday...

damnnnn im tired! dammnn dammnn!!!

am going out for a starbucks get some coffee stay awake till like 8 or 9 pm then sleep.. will try to find activities to do!

wasn't superbad.

but it was bad enough that i can say that i won't be happy about seeing it again.. well, it's just not that type of comedy. and i hate this type of teenagers wanting to get laid comedy. not a fan that honestly .. heh!

Life as it looks behind a window on a humid night..