The Dumpster of My Life
By JMcQ

Why does summer come for everyone but me? I understand that it is about 90 degrees out right now, and that my crotch rot flares up like a bad motherfucker (don't worry kiddoes, its only chafing), but this is decidedly not what I imagine summer to be. Summer should be that time lazily laying about and hanging out with friends, but in my case it means instead of doing work and school assignments, I work and try my best to keep up with the zine (the release date of this issue, months after I thought it was going to first come out) is testament to that. Hell, the only real fun I've had this summer was hanging out with my buddy Shayne (the Bloody Irish Boys) and trash-picking during the long, drunken walk home. What you see in this issue is remnants of the treasure I found.- a bevy of old Country Living magazines from the eighties, that this household decided to throw out. Every time I end up on that side of town (either after hanging out at Shayne's or Kelsey's old house), this house dumps out some pretty amazing stuff. Thie first time I went by (it is right behind the 9th grade school here in Lancaster), I was able to snag some barely-used (five or so sheets out of ninety) spiral notebooks and three-ring folders). Second time brought me a pair of lightly-used Nike shoes (dayum, they were fly), and this last time got me all these magazines. I think I've only came up empty once after all the times I've stopped by it.

Lancaster may not be as wealthy as DePauw/Greencastle was, but I'm determined to find some decent dumpstering places in the few months I've still got here. There has been much talk (I believe that JMA, a former contributor, was talking to me about this) about the "fact" that the Pizza Hut in town (and perhaps other Pizza Huts the world over?) regularly dumpsters a shit-ton of old pizza. Now, the people who are for dumpstering but anti-dumpstering food might be cringing, but mull this over: Pizza Hut does not just throw random pizzas in the grody dumpster but rather puts the food waste (I'm guessing all the pizzas in one bag, because they would be bulky) in a nice, CLEAN plastic trash bag. It is essentially the same thing as putting pizza in a bag, albeit not refrigerating it. I've read tons of zines where intrepid people go and find oodles of food and material behind supermarkets, I just have not been that lucky yet.

In fact, during my time at DePauw, I had a worthless streak of three years during the move-out process (where people leave their dorms for the summer) where each time I would actually go out or want to go out it was raining. Right before commencement this year, I was finally able to go around and snoop around. After working until 11 PM or so one night, I thought it would be a good time to look around but there were tons of individuals, including someone in a large black SUV (I can�t imagine it was cops, but who knows) hanging around the various exits and dumpsters. My search was really a waste of time that night, save for the first place I stopped after work: the dumpster behind the library. I was able to snag some manila folders (great for stenciling) and an old book.

However, all this discussion about dumpster diving really only describes about two hours of events in the last three or so months. Aside from the excitement that always is present during a good night of dumpster diving are oodles and oodles of time spent reading materials or working at the wonderful corporation that is Kmart. At least, this time around I�m getting paid a little better, getting more hours, and people that worked with me the first go-around actually remember me. That shot to shit my �Summer Jobs� [NeuFutur #11] proposition that individuals at places I�ve worked immediately would forget me after I quit. Work is probably the least strenuous of the activities I end up doing; the correspondence with a number of PR firms for this magazine is much more time-consuming and irritating. Particularly problematic are the firms that repeatedly ask for the reviews you�ve already submitted to them a number of time (I think that Powderfinger holds the record for number of those e-mails after I�ve sent them our review, with three replies. I could conceivably understand if the firm was small, but Powderfinger is pretty famous and should be entrenched enough to have some sort of a system where they mark down that we reviewed their client on such and such a day.

I feel that I doth protesteth too much, though. This is the last summer I will be spending in Lancaster, the last shows I�m holding here and the last time I will see the Lancaster kids. I am more than alittle worried about what will become of me up at Kent State, but the worst thing to come of this fear is that it paralyses me. I may have reviews, interviews, and the web site to maintain in one night but I find myself stuck to pondering where life will take me, only falling to sleep at 4 AM after polishing ideas smooth like so many pebbles in my head. This creates an increasingly destructive loop, as the lack of sleep I get (especially on those nights that I have to go to work at 8 AM) diminishes my ideas anyways. At least with the school year I had essential things to complete and activities that sapped all my free time (especially that time devoted to uselessly contemplating my future), now, during the sweat-laced summer we find ourselves in, more free time leads to more inertia and less getting done. Writing pieces such as this one really allows me to push beyond these neuroses and actually get what I need done done.