Wednesday, July 28, 2010

possum living

I was just googling around (trying to see if they have possums in Russia) and came across this:


Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and (Almost) No Money.








It's all about sustainable living on an individual household level. A 19-year-old woman wrote the book about how she and her father were living on $1500 per year. No phone, no car, and an estranged mother who is very scary and makes an appearance in the documentary.

The link above takes you to a page which has excerpts from the author's current blog, reviews and a documentary on youtube.

Amazing stuff. I'm about to watch the two other chapters of the doco. From the late '70s and it's pretty weird. Some weird family dynamics (if you watch it, between the father and daughter and mother and son.) Also some very gendered roles, between the father and daughter.

"What else do you want for lunch?" Like some Stepford wife.

And they shoot a turtle in the head, saying how they kill all the animals they eat humanely, not like in abbatoirs, but it doesn't die and later back in the kitchen sink as they are talking about what else to put in the soup, it's legs are moving and the father says something about reflexes.

They have a basement full of white bunnies hopping around, that they eat.

The mother/ex-wife visits (with the brother/son) and manages to get a couple of bitchy comments in from behind her blowfly sunglasses and smug coiff. She puts her daughter down in one breath - two insults one on top of the other, about the salad, it's a little bit tart, and you'll never be the cook your mother was.

I am going to try and get the book. What an interesting read. Quite macabre, with a fairly hefty dose of urban hillbilly and moonshine. And then of course she rebelled in her twenties by... buying a car and getting a job.

2 comments:

groverjones said...

Yes, yes, all very interesting, but....

Why did you want to know about possums in Russia?

Melba said...

Oh grover, maybe you can help me.

Are there possums in Russia? Do they have them or is it just us?

I know America has opossums, but what about Russia?

And hey! How are you?