Life in Brooklyn

Hello Friends, I have been super busy and have been working so much that it makes me want to travel around the world again. Since I left off, I have been living in Bed-stuy in Brooklyn, NY. I came to NY in January and joined the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and started learning how to play Trombone. I have had wonderful experiences being in the band and have made most of my NYC connections through the band. I also started working at the Ali Forney Center I work as a Youth Counselor at one of the housing sites here in NY. The work I do is really important to me and has changed my life in positive ways. This is the first work place I have been in where I can be as queer as I want and dress the way I want without being ridiculed or harassed in anyway. I get to speak about LGBTQ issues with the folks I work with and speak about my experience as struggling with my gender identity and orientation and listen to others experiences from the LGBTQ community. I feel so safe around all the residents and my co-workers and am really happy that there are workplaces like this that exist. Aside from work I have been practicing the accordion on a regular basis and have started to get pretty good and am working on my technique and am learning lots of new songs. I will start posting videos soon with some songs I have been working on. I want to start writing on a more regular basis and start uploading photos from my life. I have traveled to Montreal 4 times already this year and am starting to fall in love with it. J'aprende Français et je practique avec Rosetta Stone. I am thinking about staying there for a little while to play with another marching band Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble. They also have about 7 or 8 Bicycle Collectives/ Cooperatives that are community oriented. My mind is all over the place and I needed to write a little bit right now to keep my mind focused, But I am not really focused because I am trying to do 5 things at once. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! -Joss

Living in the Big Apple

Hi all,

Its been so long since I posted anything. I wanted to update you all on my life adventures.

Since my last post I have done so much traveling and exploring on my own and figuring out what I want to do with myself in this world of ours.
In November I stayed in Machias, ME with the Beehive Design collective. I helped them out with work that needed to get caught up with after the busy summer festivities. I discovered that I like to run distro orders online and its a thing I can really get into. I got to go to Boston with them for a book fair and to present their poster The True Cost of Coal at MIT. I helped run the distro table and tried to answer peoples questions as the Bees were presenting.
Then I went with them in December to Virginia to be supportive and help cook and run the distro as they had their yearly retreat. You can check them out at


During all of this Occupy Wall st was shut down by mayor Bloomberg which was upsetting in all sorts of ways to me, but I knew that is wasn't over and it isn't over. The fight for systematic change will still happen and is still happening.

Here are some personal views about OWS that I have and would like to share.
First of all I would to say that I have become more open minded politically because of OWS [Occupy Wall st ]. When I first heard of it I was very skeptical about what it was all about. Then as I arrived there I started to meet people from all different political backgrounds and started to have interesting conversations and productive arguments that made me realize that everyone isn't a radical minded anarchist who wants to overthrow the system and live off the land and be nomadic in autonomous communities. Which is totally reasonable and fine now that I look at it. I realized that these are dreams I have of a utopia and drool over the idea of it all. I also realized that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am happy and excited about that. If everyone wanted the same thing then life would be somewhat boring, wouldn't it?
OWS has also made me realize that there are all sorts of people from all walks of life who are radical organizers/ protesters/ revolutionaries/ awesome people, etc.I did notice a huge presence of White, young Cis-Male dudes who like to be organizers and get attention and be in front of large crowds or on media, etc. But they are definitely only 1 little group that happen to exist in the movement. They just happen to get a lot of attention because of privilege that they obtain.





Now I don't want to turn this into anything negative but these things are real and these are things that lots of institutions don't talk about or teach. I am a white, young, male assigned person and I am still learning so much about these topics. I am not letting it get me down and I am not guilty of it because I am figuring out ways of how I can be an ally and be involved without taking up too much space.
I went through an anti-oppression training that changed my life which has lead me to the life I live today. Which is totally different from 2 years ago.
I have been living in intentional communities since 2009 with lots of people from all parts of the world with all different kinds of experience and skills and talents. It has made me so aware of what is happening around the world just by spending so much time with so many people.

Ok, Now I realized I am going off on a rant that does/doesn't relate to what I spoke about before. But HEY! I can do and that and it feels great.
I also wanted to mention that education is a privilege, I might be dropping down some key words here but its because its easier to explain what I am talking about. I didn't even know what oppression meant til I moved into Eliconia/The Burrow in Allston in 2009. It was only a word I heard get tossed around every now and then.
Then I learned what it means and am now totally against it and try to live an oppressive free lifestyle by the way I act,speak, am, etc.

Anyways....
I came to New York City on New years to play with The Rude Mechanical Orchestra, live in The Big Apple and take a bite out it, and meet all sorts of folks who are doing awesome things in the city and around the world.
I have been learning how to play trombone, playing Accordion with a band called Glittered and Mauled but the name might change soon.
Ok, Theres always so much more to write but that can happen another time.

Take care y'all

Occupy, Shut it down

Hi all,
I have been in New York City for a whole month and I have been working a lot with Occupy Wall st. I was camping out there for 2 weeks and then I started couch surfing in Brooklyn and riding my back to the Occupation every day.
I have been playing with the Radical Marching band called Rude Mechanical Orchestra. I have been playing accordion with them.
I will be going up to Machias, Maine to the Beehive collective for the month of November to help take care of the house. While I am up there I am going to start learning how to play trombone so I can play that in RMO.

I have been traveling all over the place since my last post.
In august I went to the Beehive Collective with some rad folks from Arkansas and a friend from Providence. I was volunteering at their annual work party, which leads up to The Blackfly ball!! Its an awesome event made possible by an awesome collective.

Then I moved out of my apartment in Providence on Oct 1st and have been in NYC ever since. Life is so fast here but there is always something to do.
I have been playing music on the streets for money every now and then.
After I come back from Maine in December I am hoping to get a job at a youth center and then I am going to try to find a place to live.

I hope all is well in your Lives!!

New Adventures/ Preparing For Nevis Island

Hi Everyone,

I haven't updated in a while but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything fun and adventurous.
I have moved to Providence, Rhode Island on New Years 2011 and have been living there since. I worked at an after school program working with youth at a middle school. My job tittle was a Y.E.S worker. (Youth Enrichment Specialist) It was a great job and I enjoyed working there every day. I helped prepare for the beginning of the Program and gave support to the program providers.
During that time I also took a Youth Development training called the BEST training. I learned different ways and techniques to work with youth and we got to talk about heavy issues such as adultism, sexism, and oppression.

Since then I have been chosen to be a Field Worker with one of my favorite organizations, Bikes Not Bombs. I will be going to Nevis Island tomorrow and will start preparing for a Youth Instructor training that I will help instruct.
There are 2 youth from Boston who are flying down as well as their Mentor. We will all work on and be apart of one of the first International Youth Instructor Training programs.
I will be there for 3 weeks from July 3rd to the 23rd.

I have been mentally preparing for this trip and am excited to journey to another country and learn about their culture and also teach some of my skills and learn from their skills.
I will keep updating throughout my trip and talk about the instructor training as well as the wonderful moments I will spend in Nevis.

Life In Providence

Hello all,

I moved to Providence, RI on Jan 1st 2011. Since then I have been getting to know my apartment mates, my neighbors and new friends. I have started teaching bicycle mechanics at the International Institute to refugees from various countries like Burma, The Congo, and Nepal. It has been fun and exciting. I have been doing that on Saturdays.
During the week I have been working for the boys and girls club at a middle school for an after school program. I am helping be a mediator for youth as they switch to their selected programs. It has been really fun and I am learning a lot. I am glad I have taken the Bikes Not Bombs adult instructor training because I learned a lot about teaching as well as working with youth.
I just finished up a health justice training at Farmacy Herbs. We discussed culture, medical racism, and medical oppression as well.
I have been working on all sorts of art and music projects at home. I wrote a new song which I don't have a name for yet. I have been reading a lot of books from the library and just soaking in as much information as possible. Since the weather has been pretty brutal I have been staying inside more which gives me more time for projects.

Well, I think that is about it for now. Take care everyone!

SO sew

Hello friends,

Today I realized that I start off all of my blog post with the word SO. If you look at a lot of my posts you will realize that too. I am not sure how I feel about this word "so" anymore. I can just not use that word and begin writing what I want to write about. Or I can use other words in its place like Well, therefore, however.

Sew lately I have started to sew lots of things out of t-shirts. I made a hat, a letter J shaped pillow, a skirt and I am going to start working on something to make for my mom. I have also been developing ideas for multiple zines. I am going to make a personal zine with all of my previous blog post's from my travels through Mexico and Guatemala. If you don't know what a zine is I will inform you.
A zine is a self published and distributed magazine that are usually informative, filled with artwork, and pretty crafty. There are all genres of zines that talk about personal issues, personal stories, travel, sexuality, political issues, arts and media, music and bands, and so on. They are a great way to get what you want to say out on some paper and distribute them to your friends and other folks.

I am trying to mentally prepare myself for the move to providence and hope I don't get depressed not being in Boston anymore. I really need this change in my life and I am hoping to build some emotional and personal bridges from boston to providence and start connecting with folks all over the world.

New turns around this winding road.

Hello all.

So in the summer I was working with the Boston Cyclist Union as a mechanic at various farmers markets. Every Thursday I would go to farmers markets spread out through out Boston and give free bike tuneups. I was also working with Boston Bikes and teaching youth cycling classes to different schools and youth programs. The BCU mechanic job ended in September since the farmers markets ended. I recently just finished my last class with Boston Bikes as a youth cycling instructor since it is too cold to ride bikes outside.

In between all of this, I picked up the accordion and learned how to play it. I have been playing about everyday so far. I have started to transpose all of my songs I have written on guitar onto the accordion. I am getting used to it and enjoy the sounds I can produce out of it. I have also been playing with a band when I first started playing accordion. The band is called Foxglove Forager. You can listen to the music at
http://www.myspace.com/foxgloveforager

In the last week of October I drove down to Atlanta, GA. I helped my former housemate Malika move there. I helped pack up all of her stuff in a rental truck and we drove down together. After I got to ATL, I took a bus to Troy, Alabama where I met my Father for the first time ever. It was an exciting time and I got to explore the south. I only stayed with him for a day and a half and then went back to Atlanta for a couple of days and stayed with my old friend Mel.

I have decided to move out of Boston and move to Providence, Rhode Island. I will be moving out of the fantastic cooperative house I have been living in the past year and 4 months. I will be working with a bike collective called Recycle a Bike. I will help coordinate and teach youth programs as well as bicycle education to adults. I am pretty excited about it.

I have also started to form an idea to make a self published zine called Bike Love: Stories behind the saddle. It will be a compilation of passionate bicycle stories as well as comics and other art. If anyone has any ideas for stories they would like to submit then they can contact me.

Well I am off to play more accordion, Be safe everyone!