Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Grad Profile: AARON VIDAVER






Constant companion? Dorothy Trujillo Lusk.

Where do you live now? Vancouver.

Occupation? Archivist.

Children? One step-daughter, Anna (17).

When and where are you the happiest? I find happiness at all hours in all kinds of places from sub-basements to the woods. I’ve noticed that my affective states are less dependant upon my location than upon nutrition and general physical and mental health.

What was your favorite journey? My most important journey (aside from birth itself) was the one I made from the hospital in Duncan (where I was born) to the home of my adoptive parents Josephine and William Vidaver in West Vancouver (where I grew up). That was luck. I spent a year in Stauffen, Germany (1971-1972) with my parents and while I don’t remember any of it I think my fetishization of certain German words (überlieferungsbildung, wirkungsgeschictliches Bewußtsein and gesamtkunstwerk, for instance) date to this early experience. My only other off-continent travel was a summer in England (1984) to trek around with Simon Raybould (who attended West Bay Elementary through Grade 6). I have an assortment of favourite memories of traveling in California. My family is from there primarily and so we used to drive down twice each year through the 1970s and early 1980s. I did my archival internship in Massachusetts (1997)—where the commuter rail system (supplemented by busses) allows for excellent day-trips to outlying areas like Gloucester, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Lowell, Walden Pond and other spots (saw my first amanita phalloides in Maine that summer)—then worked on a contract in Banff (1999-2000) which has no real transit system but was astonishing nonetheless. My favourite journey would have to be the four-day Greyhound bus ride I took from Seattle to Atlanta (1993) to attend an American Philosophical Association conference. After that I knew that despite the familiar looking people down south the United States is, in fact, an exotic destination. My favourite drug-induced journey, which this question perhaps hints at, consisted in a short series of MDMA sessions (1994-1995). I wish we’d had safe access to the empathogens back in the day (1984-1985) rather than having to fumble around with Hofmann’s Problem Child.

What are your interests? Writing, editing, publishing. Archives, politics and law (pertaining to access to information, privacy, accountability, inter-agency cooperation, destruction of documents). Autonomous social movements and the apparatuses that abhor them. Philosophical and tactical aspects of dissent, refusal, practical negation and withdrawal from participation in the juridical system. Natural history. The lumpenproletariat. Sentences. Fungi, lichen and succulents. Freedom 35. Self-sabotage and counter-interpellation. The resurgence of an appeal to citizenship and obedience in the latest cultural avant-garde. Etiquette and hospitality in the context of squatting and land reclamation. Domesticated cats. Wild birds.

What is your fondest memory of Hillside? Being the boyfriend of Carolyn Doucette. I am also grateful to Michael Wineberg who, mid-way through Grade 12, brokered an agreement with Dallas Christofoli to permit me to drop my science courses (except for Algebra, which I loved, and Physics, which I enjoyed but didn’t love) in favour of various “work experience” and “study block” credits that allowed me to deepen the pursuit of what I was doing by myself and with friends in English, Writing (and Dream of the Butterflies magazine) and Journalism (with Drew Meikle and members of the Non-Entity Club). Earlier pleasures of studying at Hillside include Economics 11 and Law 11 (combined with Consumer Ed 10 to form the holy trinity), Computer Science 11 (with Barry Underwood—I subsequently did his marking for him in Grade 12 as another “work experience” project) and Typing 9 (with Tom Taylor who wrote “Aaron occasionally shows sparks suggesting great potential in this subject: with determination it could be realized” on my report card). I look back in fondness to the time (Grade 10) when Heather Cameron and I appeared on Shaw community television to explain to the world who our heroes were (You Tube upload pending) and to the various antics (Grade 8) of The Slush Cat Gang (Neil Hogan, Patrick Rittich, Mark Vaughan and me).

What is your most embarrassing memory of Hillside? Going to score my first gram of pot and taking along an Adidas bag thinking that I would require such a large device to conceal my purchase on the trip home.

What is your favorite music, past/present? I agree with a comment made by Al Yankovic during the recording sessions for Straight Outta Lynwood: “Not too stupid, just stupid enough.”

What do you consider your greatest achievements? Taking care of my mother during the last year of her life (2005-2006) is at the top of the list. Then comes editing a book on the Woodwards Squat (2003-2004), editing and publishing The Rain Review of Books (2006-), keeping Filler, my diary (1990-2010), helping friends (1994-) and stayin’ alive (1969-).What is your greatest regret? My regrets fall into two categories: regrets over things I did do (eg. cracking the engine block on a rental car in the desert) and regrets over things I did not do (eg. failing to support friends who went back east after graduation). I have more of the latter than the former.

What are you waiting to do? I’m waiting to complete Filler before it becomes obsolete. I’m waiting to read Dorothy’s next book, DECORUM, before I commence couples’ Pilates. I’m afraid the “most likely to ... lead the next political revolution” attributed to me in the yearbook is not something that will happen. Not just because the concept of leadership is confounded in the “post-Seattle” era but because the concepts of “revolution”, “political”, “next” and “the” are all in the middle of being rethought. It’s not clear which parts of the radical heritage are salvageable. But please check in with me in another twenty years.

20 years in 20 words or less: Capilano. Greenchain. Samantha. Nanaimo. SFU. Francesca. UBC. Estrus. MIT. VAG. FORM. Flukes. KSW. Banff. Lusking. PILLS. Woodsquat. Rain. Palliative. Metafiller.

PS: I have digitized two sets of photographs that may be of interest to people: a series of shots that I took of the Hillside demolition (1996) and a series of portraits from West Bay (1975-1981) featuring at least two dozen of us.



'87 Yearbook Quote: Aaron's words of wisdom are to the administration: "When treated like people, the animals got up off the floor and acted in a responsible manner."

6 Comments:

At 8:26 AM, Blogger Katie said...

Aaron,

Your words brightened my day. It is great to hear about your life journey and read your writings. Very Uplifting.

I did think of you when I read both Carolyn and Mark's postings and have to agree your comment about Carolyn's posting is "right on".

I'm looking forward to heading out West for the reunion and seeing you, Carolyna, Mark and others.

My life has taken a bit of a sojourn from the important parts of being but good and bad are one so it's all good. Your words have heightened my commitment to my life shift however, so thanks.

Take Care Man.

I hope I see you soon.

Katie

 
At 3:08 PM, Blogger Aaron Vidaver said...

Katie, thanks! If you’re up for it you should add a profile to the blog. See you in June! Aaron.

 
At 2:32 PM, Blogger Aaron Vidaver said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 10:24 AM, Blogger Alistair said...

Wow - I remember days at your house with computers, modems and wondering what was going on in the digital world. Good to see you are still still around.

 
At 2:51 PM, Blogger Aaron Vidaver said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 2:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home


Hillside Highwaymen