"With A Little Help From My Friends..."

Though I have been too busy to post much these days, I have been continuing my freegan lifestyle and outreach, with such things as the dumpster rides, interviews, personal bin raiding, and my work at the Hippie Kitchen.

 In my last post, I mentioned that I would be leaving the LACW this spring, to hit the road once again. I'm excited to get back to the nomadic lifestyle that has shaped my adult life.

At the moment, my friends and I have a van as a living space, but we're looking for more. We don't want anything extravagant, but just a small trailer (10' to 14') that can be easily towed by our vehicle.

It's unusual for me to ask for anything, but I am aware that people often have travel trailers or campers rotting in their backyards. If any of my readers has access to such an item (like the one on my graphic wishlist below) that they'd be willing to part with for free or cheap for the sake of a few free spirited freegans, please contact me! Any response is greatly appreciated. 

A Long Month

Hello again. It's only been a month (not an unprecedented lapse in time between posts), but it feels like I haven't written on my blog for a year. A lot has been happening in my life in the first month of 2011. I've been sorting through emotional changes and decision making.

But I'm still a freegan. :)

The biggest change in my personal life is that I am planning to leave the LACW at the end of my second year commitment, which puts my departure around the beginning of summer. It's time for me to hit the road again. I am grateful to the LACW, my many friends and the city of Los Angeles for the fantabulous two years I have lived here. But I have to move on.

Another big change is that one of our hospitality guests, Michael Cooksey, passed away last week. It was the first close experience of death for many of our community members, including me.

I will expound upon these points soon, I promise. But for now I had to merely touch base.

Until next time,

And may the dumpster gods bless you. :)

Happy Disappointment

Yesterday I went on a typical dumpster dive, by myself, in Pasadena. I was actually in the bin, digging around, and not finding much. Suddenly, a big white pickup truck pulled up next to the dumpster, which is in front of the loading dock gate (which was closed at this point). I wondered if the truck was that of a dumpster diver, or of somebody coming to pick up food. I didn't want to find out; if it was the latter, I could get in trouble when the employees opened the gate! So I made a speedy getaway.

When I was pulling out of the parking lot in Eric's car, I saw the big white pickup truck again, as it was leaving, too. The bed of the truck was full of bags of food. The driver had picked up a donation. That was the reason for my meager pickings. Instead of throwing away the good food, employees had given it to the driver of that truck.

I was never so happy to go away nearly empty handed as I was that evening.