jeff ferrell

went to our neighborhood association mtg last night (that's "neighborhood," not "homeowners," which is one reason why we'd even think about belonging; we've only been to a coupla mtgs so far but intend to do better) and heard jeff ferrell, who teaches sociology 'n' criminal justice at tcu, talk about dumpster diving, the topic of his latest book, empire of scrounge. he's also pubbed tomes on hip-hop graffiti culture (crimes of style) 'n' the struggle to reclaim the streets from the disneyfiers 'n' yuppifiers, a topic of some interest to those of us who dwell in the '107 (tearing down the streets).

ferrell, who's a common sight around the westside, traversing the area bounded by tcu, downtown, and the northside on his bicycle, talked about the "code of honor" among scroungers (find something useful? leave it in plain sight, even if it's not what you were looking for) 'n' their propensity for offsetting the waste that pervades our consumer kulcha. while the popular stereotype of scroungers is homeless ppl with shopping carts, in his yrs of research, da prof found that many are working poor (folks with families 'n' minimum-wage jobs) or "good ole boys with pickup trucks" who make a living taking found metal to sell at the junkyard. being a social scientist, he's more 'n a collector of amusing anecdotes; he sees our social history reflected in the stuff we throw away, and danger in the tendency of municipalities (like houston, where it's against the law to lift the lid of a dumpster) to criminalize scrounging. def food for thought 'n' another book to add to my list of ones to read the next time i take va-ca.