11.07.05
Porcupines of the free state
This last Halloween I dressed as a porcupine. I attached one hundred quills (drinking straws) to a brown hooded sweatshirt and painted my face brown with a black nose and whiskers. For some reason people noticed only the straws and thought I was a “straw-man.” The idea came to me because I wanted to be something different and didn’t feel the need to be anything all that funny or clever. Porcupines mean a little to me too, thanks to a recent experience.
I was hiking with some friends when we saw a porcupine waddling in the forest by the side of the road. Porcupines are large solitary rodents and any one who knows me knows that I am interested in most animals but especially weird ones and rodents. For several nights after seeing the porcupine I had dreams about them. In the dreams the porcupine would speak to me and answer questions or tell me things. It wasn’t some Disney anthropomorphized talking porcupine, instead I would see a porcupine in a tree looking down on me and I would hear a voice as if by telepathy.
I told friends about these dreams and they joked that the porcupine was my spirit guide. I don’t believe in spirit guides, but I was more than happy to have the porcupine as my personal mascot. Attaching straws to a brown sweatshirt seemed like a cute way to honor my personal mascot and simultaneously be sure that I had a unique costume.
Turns out the choice was even more appropriate than I thought at first. The Free State Project is a group of activist libertarians who want to see true freedom in their lifetimes. Their strategy is to move to a state of the union and take it over from within the system through simple majority. Their vow is to create “a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.” It sounds suspiciously like John Galt’s valley in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The Free State Project considered a variety of logos that would capture the meaning and goals of their movement. The Gadsen flag “Don’t Tread on Me” was a strong candidate but someone in their group suggested the porcupine instead. “Porcupines are certainly cute and non-aggressive, but you don’t want to step on them!” they claim.
With about half of the party-goers wondering what the straw-man was all about I certainly questioned the wisdom of selecting a solitary rodent with dangerous quills all over his back as my costume, but maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Check out the Free State Project’s logo if not their whole site. The idea seems crazy at first, but read their FAQ and pledges and you might not want to join them but you’ll surely see they’re at least fairly reasonable in their quest. Meanwhile, porcupines are pretty cute even if my costume was a failure.
Penelope said,
November 7, 2005 at 19:04
What a great logo! I like the explanation, too.
As a member of the R.J. Zimmerman fan club, I’m glad to hear that you went with one of the creative costume ideas you were talking about. I’ll have you know that when I told my good friend Dr. Robson about one of your rejected ideas–the one about simply wearing your monk’s robe and carrying around a pocketful of assorted smooth and wrinkly peas–she exclaimed, “That would be so cool!” Few people would have figured that one out, either, but it would have been fun for any biology professors or generalized geeks you may have run into.
Anyway, I think that Porcupine is your spirit guide. One of the most solid atheists I know (besides yourself) is heavily into shamanic journeying. He is sure that there is no spirit world, but he uses the process to check in with the more complex and hidden parts of his own mind. I’m sure that, in the few journeys I’ve tried, a pika appeared to me for no reason more profound than that I think they’re cute, and I relate to lagomorphs. Maybe the cute but strange porcupine is your mind’s way of getting your attention. Try daydreaming about him and asking questions. Maybe now a guy with drinking straws all over his back will appear to you next time. Hmm. I think I’m going to have some very strange dreams tonight.
Penelope said,
November 7, 2005 at 19:06
Here’s a nearly completely off-topic opinion question:
For cool people (I think) to be for next Halloween, what would Hildegarde von Bingen look like? She’s a medeival (1100s) nun, but what else?
tim rohrer said,
November 9, 2005 at 7:00
No, I think porcupine sex is really where Ron’s at. After all, porcupines are terribly shy.
Irreverently
t