Hey, I’m Ann Marie, co-founder with Stacco Troncoso of DisCO.coop and Guerrilla Translation/Media Collective, working on re-centering trust and care in cooperatives through practices learned from the Commons/P2P, open source, open value accounting and feminist economics.
I’m old enough to remember rotary phones, home movie projectors, and cigarette ads on TV, and young enough to believe that change is possible. One of my favorite quotes is, “Wherever you go, there you are”. It describes all of my experience in every career. No matter what official positions I’ve ever had, I’ve ended up the go-to editor and secret confidante. I finally wised up and made these my features, not bugs.
Five Questions
If you had your human head, but the body of an animal, what animal would you pick?
I’d reverse that, and have an owl’s head on my body. Actually, why not just go for the entire owl body, too. Let’s just do this.
What is your favorite magical, fictitious or mythological creature?
Dragons and sea-monsters, especially as illustrated in old maps. And all of the creatures and creature-like structures in Hieronymus Bosch paintings feel like family to me (what can I say, I’m adopted). My great tattoo dreams are to have the fountains from the Garden of Earthly Delights on each of my forearms.
Where would you time-travel, if it were possible?
A pre-verbal human society, anywhere and anytime. Gestures, facial expressions and dance really feel like authentic communication to me, even though I’m very verbal (one of my family nicknames was “chiacchierona“).
Are you a good dancer? How do you know?
Yes indeed, and I know this because I always get a lot of enthusiastic encouragement, probably because I haven’t changed my moves much since 1973. It ain’t broke!
What is your favorite smell and why?
The seashore, especially near my birthplace. I love the deep and sometimes difficult blend of living and dead things mixed with sea spray and wind. I’m still not used to living in landlocked places, so when I get to the shore, I feel like the air is alive, it seems like a living creature.
