The demise of the Rock River Canoe Company Loss of cultural and civic diversity rocks the boat By Michael Meurer (Clic aquí por la versión de Español.) One early spring many years ago, I traveled to Ft. Atkinson, Wisconsin to help my friend Kim Grunow build the original Rock River Canoe shop. For two weeks, Kim and I worked in the shop in the morning stripping the cement floors, painting,
March 7, 2018
Heart in a Mason Jar
March 6, 2018 by Michael (Scroll down for Spanish translation.) Heart in a Mason Jar The Anarchy of memory and emotion About a month ago, I met a woman named Rosey in the Mexican fishing village of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle where I am holed up trying to write. Rosey is her Mexican nickname, including the odd spelling. Rosey was walking at dusk to a public presentation by a British
February 14, 2018
A Week in a Mexican Fishing Village – Days 4 thru 7
By Michael See days 1 through 3 here. The cover photo is of a mural at Organic Love restaurant in La Cruz. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7 After an early morning walk of nearly an hour around the Marina in La Cruz, I showered and went to Jardín del Pulpo again, working until late afternoon, then spent a quiet night at home. I am working on a book of photo-essays based on my
February 13, 2018
A Week in a Mexican Fishing Village – Days 1 thru 3
By Michael The incessant and corrosive din of the daily news cycle in the US, now driven as much by the distracting imperatives of social media as by news itself, often leaves people feeling as fragile as eggshells. Personally invasive social and political disruption have become daily norms. I am not advocating a move to a fishing village of 1,600 people as a cure, but perhaps simply recounting the events
December 25, 2017
My Troubled Relationship with Christmas
By Michael (La versión en Español está debajo.) For many years, Christmas has been a difficult and sometimes very lonely holiday for me, both politically and emotionally. My dad was a lapsed Catholic who still pined for the church of his sainted mother, while my mother was a non-denominational but always anti-Catholic Protestant, even opposing John F. Kennedy as a presidential candidate because of his Catholicism. During my years away
June 16, 2017
Travelling worldwide with 1 carry-on bag
By Michael – Once I decided to begin traveling in May 2016, my itinerary started to take shape almost immediately, mainly going where I had friends. By August, after a trip to Montana to visit family, I was on the road. I started in Paris then London, Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Milan, Lugano and Copenhagen in Europe. I flew back to LA from Copenhagen and had dinner with a friend during
June 14, 2017
Saying goodbye to Mom
By Michael – Before flying to Europe last August, I had a goodbye dinner with a small group of friends in Los Angeles and also made a trip to my hometown of Billings, Montana to say goodbye to my 90 year old mother and my favourite cousin Terry Anne. Terry Anne and I had a wonderful time just chatting, getting caught up and sampling craft beers in the new brew
June 14, 2017
Michael’s Travel Series on Medium
By Michael – When it became clear to me in May, 2016, that the US election was going to be a disaster, I began sharing with friends in Los Angeles my idea of traveling to Europe and Latin America. I wrote an article about what I believed were the underlying causes of a new kind of political disorder not just in the US, but worldwide, which published in July. By
March 18, 2017
Six Month Update / Noticias de seis meses
By Michael – Knowing that the US election of 2016 could not end well, I began traveling in late August last year after months of planning, first to Europe and then to Latin America. I wanted to reconnect with friends around the world, but I have also been in search of new kinds of civic and political initiatives that are breaking the mold to reimagine politics and expand the range of
December 2, 2016
Baños 3
Here is another set of rather baroque bathroom signs in Victorian style from an old parrilla in the Palermo Viejo barrio of Buenos Aires. The restaurant was replete with historic seeming black and white photos of Buenos Aires with a focus on horse racing and old framed photos of visiting British dignataries. With apologies, I do not remember the name of the parrilla. YOU CAN HELP Thank
November 26, 2016
Living in a googled world
As of November 1, 2016, the three most popular global websites by rank are: 1) Google, 1.6 billion unique monthly visits 2) Facebook, 1.1 billion ” ” 3) YouTube, 1.1 billion ” ” When Google’s website and their entire suite of Web services went down for a few minutes between 23:52 and 23:57 hours BST on August 16, 2013, total global Web pageviews per minute dropped by 40% according to traffic analytics
November 24, 2016
Baños 2
These artfully presented bathroom signs were encountered in La PachaMama Restaurante in Guadalajara, México. Estos letreros de baños se encontraron en La PachaMama Restaurante en Guadalajara, México. Post your Baños photos on our Twitter feed @MeurerCommunity. Pon tus fotos de Baños en nuestro sitio de Twitter @MeurerCommunity. YOU CAN HELP Thank you for reading my online Journal. If you like what I am doing with Reimagining Politics, please consider donating today. Our