About

P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER
A Patriot’s Exhibition Advancing Community and Environmentalism,on a Scooter

Many roads lead to common ground.
It’s about a 20,000 mile Peace sign. Community. And you.

IT ALL STARTS MAY 2!!
Last year, I rode 11,000 miles and traced the inside of the peace sign.

This year, I will ride 9,000 miles more and trace the outside.
Why?
I want to know how my neighbors define peace and how they teach it to their children because I think we need to know what Peace is if we are ever to achieve it.

And I want to help out organizations who are also working hard for Peace, Environmentalism and Community.

P.E.A.C.E Happens 2008 America Needs Work. Yardwork.
That’s right, I want to mow at least one yard in each state into a Peace sign! It’s a powerful symbol that represents social change globally. This is simply a free way to use your space to voice your beliefs. Please contact me if you want to see that Peace sign on your yard or if you know someone who does!

The journey continues May 2, 2008.

We’ve got a lot of miles ahead.
Run (or ride) fast to tell your friends and family!
Join me if you can-or host me in your town. But at least stick with the adventures! While I’m out here cruising around our vast, beautiful country, think about Peace with me. Tell me what you come up with. And don’t point one finger. POINT TWO.

Love, Alix

My flickr account is HERE
Youtube account is HERE
Vimeo account is HERE

In 2007 I purchased my first scooter, a 49cc Honda Metropolitan. This was logical progression for me, a two wheel advocate, who had been cycling to get everywhere since 1998. My friend had just bought one, I took it around the neighborhood and decided a scooter was going to save me time without compromising my environmental transportation credo. One spring day in late May 07, after what was my longest scooter ride yet, 30 miles, I decided I would take my scooter around the country to promote Peace.

The week before, at an art exhibit, a John Lennon quote had really affected me. “If a billion people were thinking about Peace, there would be Peace in our world.” So I decided that Peace really needed to be put on the U.S. map. Literally. I announced this idea to my friends and yes, they thought it was just a joke. Within 2 days I had purchased an atlas and began to piece together the route. The next question was to do this on a 49cc or acquire funding for a bigger scooter?

My research led me to the Genuine Scooter Company.

I decided that the amount of miles in the creation of this Peace sign would require a bigger scooter. Possessing little mechanical knowledge led me to a scooter that had won performance reviews and had a 24hr roadside assistance package, 2 year warranty. I began “training” by riding my 49cc 120 miles roundtrip, to Scoot Richmond. I checked out the Buddy125 and knew that was my steed of choice. A letter was penned to the company and within 12 hours of sending it, I had confirmation of Genuine’s assistance. It was a good letter, I guess. (genuine.rtf )

The plan was taking shape, but there was so much work to do. I had no gear, no money, no dogsitter, no camera-just some bizarre idea-that I believed in with all my might. Thankfully, my friends chipped in with their various talents and within two weeks the buzz began generating. Once this website went up, there was no looking back. Within 40 days of the plan’s conception, I was suddenly packed up and on the road!

There I was, suddenly on an open road with 20,000 miles ahead. My mom was panicking; I had no experience long distance scootering and still no funding. Just a plan to ask hundreds of Americans how they define Peace and how they would teach it to their children. Not the most popular time to do this, it seems, while in the middle of a war. To me, however, it continues to be the most necessary time to do this. The idea, “Point Two fingers, not one,” popped into my head.

Instead of focusing on differences (for us or against us) I decided to focus on how we can make a difference. My focus is personal peace-I’m not asking what you think about the war or the next Presidential candidate. You can, of course, leave comments about that stuff. P.E.A.C.E Scooter is just a genuine act of showing love for what we have here in America, despite all the goofs, while asking you what you think this one word, Peace, actually means.

Truly wanting to do my part in improving the world, P.E.A.C.E Scooter is also a fundraiser. What started as a little plan not even one year ago has changed my life. P.E.A.C.E Scooter is many things: an art project, a demonstration, an endurance test, a documentary hopefully, a fundraiser. Simply, it is a way to promote peace with every mile.

My path in life has been a mix of playing very hard and studying, but I’ve always been exposed to alternative ideas and alternative routes.

About Me: Of course this ride isn’t all about me, but I’m a part of it. More than anything it is about US, how together we can improve the world. You might be inviting me into your home, or just be generally curious about me, so here’s some facts about Alix. Just remember that P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER would be nothing without you and your thoughts about personal peace, community and environmentalism.

Dwelling: Charlottesville, VA. Thomas Jefferson’s playground, a progressive oasis in Virginia. We have a wall in the heart of downtown that exists only to be drawn and written on in the name of free speech. Perhaps this wall has influenced my idea that more people should express what Peace actually means to them. This particular town has also deepened my appreciation for community. I am proud of my one mixed beagle-shepherd mutt extraordinaire, named Marco Polo.

Modus Operandi:
Driving 20,000+ miles on a scooter to create a Peace sign on the U.S. map. Fundraising $1 per 1 mile driven, for donation to four 501-3c nonprofits and to help cover trip expenses. To document this experience. I believe that Peace is a way, the way to communicate with all beings on Earth. I have a love of country and people, and a desire to dispose of oppressive boundaries, borders and judgements. I have a desire to spend my time discovering how individuals and communities in America view Peace, and what deliberate actions they take to create Peace. The route is a Peace sign in and of itself, a symbol, an offering, a hope.

Perspective: I’d rather us make history by creating Peace, than become history in its absence. A good amalgamation of scientist and Buddhist. Dedicated student of Integral Theory. It’s not the most popular time to travel and discuss Peace, but I think it is the most important time. I’m frightened that most people don’t have a definition of Peace and so I hope to generate dialog that fosters change. I believe every person helps to make the world better, small acts are not to be overlooked and that knowing what you want helps you to get it.

Talents: A human equivalent to the duckbill platypus. Activism. Communication. Production Management. Vegetarian Cooking. Writing-papers, reviews, articles, rhymes, shorts, haiku’s.
Driving: Forklifts, dump trucks, fast cars, scooters, bicycles, golf carts, Big vans. Rock hopping. Prankstering. Organizing. Candling. Floor tiling. Archery. Laughing. Chess. Surviving. Scheming. Rune Reading. Making T shirts, not silkscreening, yet. Learning. Remembering numbers. Multi-tasking. Highly adaptable, enjoy taking on new perspectives and integrating them. Design conception. Knowing it, saying it, loving it.

Enjoy: Alternative Transport: Scooters, skateboards, bicycles, trains. Bike lanes. Well planned cities. Quality-good coffee, home-brews, good shoes. Resourcefulness. Sharpie marker collections. Collecting images. Anything to do with my dog. Doodling. Long conversations. Rabble rousers. Old-school Hardware stores. Technology. Floating in the ocean. Aromas, many aromas. Making good cappuccino foam and latte art. Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Ken Wilber. Conscious hip hop. Documentaries! How else would I keep up with all the injustices, random people and story lines of the world? Top Five right now: The Future of Food, Manufacturing Consent, Iron-Jawed Angels, This is what Democracy Looks Like, and 10 mph.

Up for: getting down. Dance parties. Yoga: kundalini, hatha, bikram, Glenn Black. Experiments. Basketball. Martial arts. Traveling. Live music-all kinds. Chess. Local food, preferably organic. Hiking. Swimming, but no more lifeguarding. Things to read in the bathroom. Bringing a book bag to the store instead of using a plastic bag. Art: making it, viewing it. Rock, paper, scissors as a decision maker. Catching customers off guard at the coffee shop. Fitting the square peg into the circle. Thumbwrestling. Sunsets. Bubble Baths. Dancing like no one is watching. D.I.Y. projects, like making my own sprouts. Bull riding and Bull shitting. Full moon bike rides. Aimless walks. Drum circles.

Tunes: Music means so much to me. Briefly, top rotation right now: Sound Tribe Sector 9, Spoon, Lucinda Williams, Ani Difranco, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Mc k-os, The Abyssinians, bhangra music, Brass Bands, Fela Kuti, Bjork, DJ Shadow, Deltron, Saul Williams, Shpongle, MOS DEF, Trees on Fire, Jazz Music, StereoLab, The Avalanches, BassNectar, Stevie Wonder…..

Best live shows:
Greatful Dead/Las Vegas/ May 16, 1993
Sound Tribe Sector9/Electric Factory/2006
Ani Difranco/Pier 47/1998 or Jazz Festival/NOLA/2000
Tool/Pensacola/2002
Camp Bisco/Hunter Mountain/2006. Aside from all the dirty hippies running around and the fact that the festival was at a ski-resort. Who can dance on hills? Or enjoys lugging gear up a ski slope?

Lifestyle:internal I take care of body and mind. Lots of exercise. Eat really well. Fast not furious. Prefer to eat raw foods, lots of vegetables. Guilty pleasure: Boca Breakfast Sausage. Milk grosses me out. Tangential Thinker. Breathwork must extend below the upper chest to live right! I chant a lot too, sometimes riding the scooter-I just OM over and over. Preventive lifestyle, pop the Vitamin C daily, get the goods from juice and veggies, eat for my body type. Love me some Spirulina.
Lifestyle:external Make my own shirts mostly….would rather be a bulletin board for things I celebrate than big corps. Thrift or bargain shop. Farmer’s Markets. Outspoken. Tattoos of my milemarkers. One 8 gauge piercing in the ear-conch. Get nervous about little things you wouldn’t expect. Hum. Sing out loud, off key, I like to hear my voice singing-you might not.

Homesteads:

Birmingham, AL (74-78)
Kansas City, MO (78-80)
Washington, D.C. (80-81)
Richmond, VA (81-93)
On the road (93-97) Cross country 7 times…never seen the Grand Canyon. Four states left to visit: Maine, New Hampshire, Alaska, North Dakota.
Richmond, VA (98-2004)
Rhinebeck, NY; Oberlin, OH; Maui, HI; San Fransisco, CA (2004-2006)
Charlottesville, VA (2006-?)

Schoolin’: I graduated with two awards-the Principal’s award for journalism and the Richmond-Times Dispatch award for it as well. Holding the title of school newspaper editor didn’t hurt either, so ‘92 held a lot of promise for me in the media industry. I landed an internship through the NBC local news affiliate and was accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University as a Journalist Major. I proceeded to evacuate Richmond, VA in the middle of my freshman year. The impetus? A class assignment- an investigational interview with a big wig at NBC. Right then and there, every nerve in my body screamed to do something different with my future. So, I headed out of town to figure it out. Seven years later I returned to VCU, four years after that I walked with my B.S. in Political Science. Throw a bunch of Womens Studies classes in there, along with a certificate in Non Profit Administration and you’ve got the overeducated philosopher without a real job.
School wasn’t over yet though, I took the learning to the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. I lived and worked in a community where people visit from all over the world. I spent a lot of time developing my yoga and meditation practice. I was also exposed to hula-hooping, devil sticks, chakras, drawing, Reiki Level One, Spanish Guild, Tai Chi, Massage, a great sauna and Lyme’s Disease.

thank you for reading, Love, Alix,