To tell a person immediately that I'm getting annoyed with whatever they're doing, instead of letting irritation pile up and then blowing up to the surprise of everyone.
Why is that so hard?
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Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Barack Obama in Raleigh!!!
A local TV station airing this morning's speech live estimated 28,000 people gathered in the downtown mall. The line waiting to get into the area stretched for many blocks, doubling back on itself repeatedly. My office partner Carrie waited over three hours and got in.
I walked around outside with my camera, so excited, taking crowd shots in every direction. This place in this moment with the choppers hovering overhead and the news trucks lining the curb felt to me like the center of the world.
Then from the loudspeaker, audible for blocks: Barack Obama, urging people to go straight from the rally to vote. "It's a beautiful day," he said. "Don't wait."
I walked back to my office, only a few blocks away, and listened to the rest of his speech on my computer. I've never felt more patriotic or full of hope for this country.
As I walked through downtown later in the afternoon,everyone seemed to know everyone, strangers speaking to each other as if they'd already met. The dull film that can lie over an ordinary moment was gone.
I want every day to be like that, with that kind of awareness and appreciation of everything. That to me would be a bold life.
At the same time, I can feel in myself a tempering of my excitement, as if that blunting of feeling would protect me in advance from heartbreak if my candidate doesn't become president. That kind of strategy doesn't work; it just gets in the way of the fun along the way. And may well get in the way of the best results. Because full enthusiasm is likely to lead to more action toward the goal.
So, I'm advocating full-tilt enjoyment of this historic moment, which, by the way, does not mean no-holds-barred behavior. Not at all. One thing that impressed me about this morning's 28,000. It was such an orderly and yet obviously delighted crowd.
Indeed, a beautiful day.
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I walked around outside with my camera, so excited, taking crowd shots in every direction. This place in this moment with the choppers hovering overhead and the news trucks lining the curb felt to me like the center of the world.
Then from the loudspeaker, audible for blocks: Barack Obama, urging people to go straight from the rally to vote. "It's a beautiful day," he said. "Don't wait."
I walked back to my office, only a few blocks away, and listened to the rest of his speech on my computer. I've never felt more patriotic or full of hope for this country.
As I walked through downtown later in the afternoon,everyone seemed to know everyone, strangers speaking to each other as if they'd already met. The dull film that can lie over an ordinary moment was gone.
I want every day to be like that, with that kind of awareness and appreciation of everything. That to me would be a bold life.
At the same time, I can feel in myself a tempering of my excitement, as if that blunting of feeling would protect me in advance from heartbreak if my candidate doesn't become president. That kind of strategy doesn't work; it just gets in the way of the fun along the way. And may well get in the way of the best results. Because full enthusiasm is likely to lead to more action toward the goal.
So, I'm advocating full-tilt enjoyment of this historic moment, which, by the way, does not mean no-holds-barred behavior. Not at all. One thing that impressed me about this morning's 28,000. It was such an orderly and yet obviously delighted crowd.
Indeed, a beautiful day.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Race Talk at Brunch
Sunday morning at a small get-together, I had the first direct personal conversation I ever had with an African-American about growing up on opposite sides of the color line in the South.
I'm almost sixty years old; how could it have taken this long?
Surprisingly it wasn't the Obama campaign that started the conversation. It was the movie The Secret Life of Bees, with the black woman in the group saying it was a shallow and unrealistic treatment of the black characters in the story. She called it "a white woman's fantasy."
This friend--I'll call her Jane--grew up with a mother who worked in a white woman's home. I grew up with a black woman helping to take care of me from my earliest memory until adulthood. In only a few minutes, we took a run through some very sensitive stuff: how this kind of arrangement could affect a black kid, how a black nanny might really feel about the white family. A fuller picture than either side typically saw.
During the conversation, I felt as if I were walking a high-wire: easily, but not daring to look down. At the same time, I felt a growing exhilaration and relief.
By the time I was halfway home, though, I was very sad. I didn't feel the connection with the earlier talk; but I knew it was there: how much my privilege has cost people I love, and how little I ever did to shift that balance.
I've come to feel that there's not a lot of point in flaunting guilt, or at least no admirable point; there's plenty to be done still, so I should shut up and do it.
Still, the straight talk was a good thing. For me, anyway.
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I'm almost sixty years old; how could it have taken this long?
Surprisingly it wasn't the Obama campaign that started the conversation. It was the movie The Secret Life of Bees, with the black woman in the group saying it was a shallow and unrealistic treatment of the black characters in the story. She called it "a white woman's fantasy."
This friend--I'll call her Jane--grew up with a mother who worked in a white woman's home. I grew up with a black woman helping to take care of me from my earliest memory until adulthood. In only a few minutes, we took a run through some very sensitive stuff: how this kind of arrangement could affect a black kid, how a black nanny might really feel about the white family. A fuller picture than either side typically saw.
During the conversation, I felt as if I were walking a high-wire: easily, but not daring to look down. At the same time, I felt a growing exhilaration and relief.
By the time I was halfway home, though, I was very sad. I didn't feel the connection with the earlier talk; but I knew it was there: how much my privilege has cost people I love, and how little I ever did to shift that balance.
I've come to feel that there's not a lot of point in flaunting guilt, or at least no admirable point; there's plenty to be done still, so I should shut up and do it.
Still, the straight talk was a good thing. For me, anyway.
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Monday, October 27, 2008
What We Don't Always Recognize as Courage
Some of the toughest kinds of boldness are not so obvious. They include:
*Waiting, when appropriate, and not "jumping the gun." Example: letting a manuscript sit a while, and then taking another look; instead of sending it off the instant it feels done.
*Changing a long-standing pattern. Example: crossing party lines to vote. A very minor example: A devout Democrat, I just voted Republican for the first time ever, on one Council of State race. It felt pretty shocking.
*Being sad when there's something to be sad about, instead of cutting the feeling off immediately with caffeine and busy work.
*Not taking on too much. Rather than overloading your schedule to the point of lunacy.
*Not worrying.
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*Waiting, when appropriate, and not "jumping the gun." Example: letting a manuscript sit a while, and then taking another look; instead of sending it off the instant it feels done.
*Changing a long-standing pattern. Example: crossing party lines to vote. A very minor example: A devout Democrat, I just voted Republican for the first time ever, on one Council of State race. It felt pretty shocking.
*Being sad when there's something to be sad about, instead of cutting the feeling off immediately with caffeine and busy work.
*Not taking on too much. Rather than overloading your schedule to the point of lunacy.
*Not worrying.
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Friday, October 24, 2008
I Like Ike's Kind of Freedom
Monday night I encountered a surprising bit of wisdom from a fellow I hadn't thought about in a while: Dwight D. Eisenhower.
I was a kid when Ike was president. He's the first prez I remember, and I was not of an age to be very politically minded. Curiously, I had fantasies about him calling me up and asking me to play golf with him. (Deluded child!!)
Second surprise, I was watching Jon Stewart's must-see distinctly-lefty satire-on-the-news Daily Show when I ran into word from this '50s Republican military man.
The guest author Eugene Jarecki was talking about his new book, The American Way of War. He said that Eisenhower, five star general and supreme commaner of the Allied Forces in World War II, warned us in his farewell address of excessive defense. Extreme efforts to ward off intrusion from the outside result in destruction from the inside.
As Jarecki elaborated: the cost of excessive vigilance is enormous and damaging financially--and it erodes civil liberties, the very thing we fight to protect. A pretty good description of the mess we're in now.
We need to take reasonable national precautions and otherwise exercise the same boldness we do by getting up in the morning. It isn't risk-free. We know that. And it's better to accept the risk of getting hit by a car on the way to school than staying home hiding under the bed and not getting an education.
Trying to completely guard ourselves is like trying really hard to broad-jump the Atlantic. No matter how hard we train, we'll wind up in the drink. Better to spend the energy some other way.
I like that philosophy. I think it's the only one that can work. Because total security simply cannot be achieved. No matter how much we spend.
I'm with Ike: let's take the reasonable and necessary risks that freedom requires. And no more.
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I was a kid when Ike was president. He's the first prez I remember, and I was not of an age to be very politically minded. Curiously, I had fantasies about him calling me up and asking me to play golf with him. (Deluded child!!)
Second surprise, I was watching Jon Stewart's must-see distinctly-lefty satire-on-the-news Daily Show when I ran into word from this '50s Republican military man.
The guest author Eugene Jarecki was talking about his new book, The American Way of War. He said that Eisenhower, five star general and supreme commaner of the Allied Forces in World War II, warned us in his farewell address of excessive defense. Extreme efforts to ward off intrusion from the outside result in destruction from the inside.
As Jarecki elaborated: the cost of excessive vigilance is enormous and damaging financially--and it erodes civil liberties, the very thing we fight to protect. A pretty good description of the mess we're in now.
We need to take reasonable national precautions and otherwise exercise the same boldness we do by getting up in the morning. It isn't risk-free. We know that. And it's better to accept the risk of getting hit by a car on the way to school than staying home hiding under the bed and not getting an education.
Trying to completely guard ourselves is like trying really hard to broad-jump the Atlantic. No matter how hard we train, we'll wind up in the drink. Better to spend the energy some other way.
I like that philosophy. I think it's the only one that can work. Because total security simply cannot be achieved. No matter how much we spend.
I'm with Ike: let's take the reasonable and necessary risks that freedom requires. And no more.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Southern Civil Rights
One profoundly thrilling part of voting last weekend was the feeling of how far we've come.
I grew up in the South during Jim Crow days. I took segregation for granted until I was 19 or 20, and then the admirably bold civil rights movement brought it to my attention. To my lasting shame, I had never even questioned the obvious and brutal unfairness to "colored people."
But Saturday I got to vote for a black man for president. That man doesn't use race as part of his campaign. But I can't help being proud that my country has come so far.
The reminders of the more racist past are ever close. Note in the picture the Confederate soldier with the American flag at the Chatham County courthouse in the rather liberal and educated town of Pittsboro where I cast my vote. Mostly we don't even see such symbols because we're used to them. It's so easy to not see things.
I devotedly love the South, North Carolina, and the town I grew up in--even though very bad things have been done here. I'm old enough now to have taken some interest in genealogy; I've recently learned that at least one of my direct forebears owned slaves and one of my forefathers was a young doctor who died at the Battle of Second Manassas. I take some pride in the fact that they were prominent citizens of their time and place; I'm not proud--can barely take in--the fact that some of my relatives "owned" people, with all the horrors that entailed. I wonder if there's any possibility that, like me, they didn't see. (Not that that excuses anything.)
At any rate, you can see what I carried with me to vote this time. I wish Ethel Gilchrist, the black woman who was my third parent, had lived to vote this year. I'm glad that I have.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
James Taylor Making Music in Carolina
James Taylor -- the real one, not a recording -- is singing outside my office window as I write this.
Taylor is a local boy--we claim him--who is giving concerts to celebrate Obama. I don't need to tell you who Taylor is. Everybody knows. Years ago in India, I stopped at a one-table restaurant next to the Ganges. Three rangy twenty-something guys were sitting in three of the four chairs at that table. I sat down at the fourth.
Turned out that they were from Argentina and were working in Italy and had come to India on vacation. I said I was from the U.S.
"Where?" one asked
"Outside Chapel Hill."
One of them responded by singing a line of "Going to Carolina in my Mind." I smile now to think of it, how that pulled home and India, and Italy and Argentina together for me in an instant.
This morning, when I first heard Taylor's silky voice through the window glass, it was well before the concert hour. My office partner Carrie Knowles and I walked the two-and-a-fraction blocks down to the square. Taylor and his crew were doing their soundcheck an hour or so before the performance.
It turned into an intimate performance, with him singing "Suzanne," etc. and occasionally stopping to get an adjustment in "tracking." People had gathered, but it was still possible to get close, for him to chat with audience members only yards away.
I remember hearing him live back when he was a young long-hair, as was I at the time. That has been more than thirty-five years. His voice, singing the same songs, brings then and now together.
(Oh, he just started into "You've Got a Friend," a great campaign song)
Just now in the park, watching his hands close-up riffing on that old-style guitar-- It was like watching a Zen master performing a ritual done countless times. The automatic straight-from-nature half-aware look of his performance made me think of the truism: that it takes 10,000 hours of practice before we become good at our art.
He's good. And I'm now back at my desk typing; couldn't spare time to go to the whole concert, but it's floating through my window, inspiring both perseverance and ease.
That ease with the music that's grooved into his brain: that can free an artist to be bold.
Carrie went back for the formal concert, took this picture; she could no longer get close enough to see who was singing. But there was no question whose inimitably distinct voice it was.
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Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday I Went Out Voting....
I've never before voted early. I've never before even known it was possible, except for expatriates, etc.
This past weekend, I put on somewhat-better-than-the-usual-Saturday-gardening clothes and my Obama button and went (as promised here last week) to my county seat (pop. 2,226) of Pittsboro, NC, and eagerly cast my vote. (They wouldn't let me take a picture of my ballot, no doubt fearing I would duplicate it and stuff the ballot box.)
I've never been more excited about voting and that's saying something because one of my own brothers has held statewide office elective office here for eight years and I still have the campaign hats and buttons to prove it.
Here's the big news: There was no line. Which is one big reason to do it now. I was voter 1028 at that site, but I still didn't have to wait. Where I usually vote, at an AME Zion Church just down the dirt road from my house, I've been as low as number 17, and I don't tend to get up early. So there's an exciting lot of action going on, and voting early lets you enjoy it.
For a Democrat, I discovered, Pittsboro is a fun place to vote: lots of like minds. I just did a little research on the place. Fascinating trivia:
"Pittsboro is known for its large population of single adults. (59%!)
Approximately 36% of Pittsboro is non-white. The town boasts a diverse population for North Carolina, with several racial groups well-represented among the population.
There is an unusually large share of women in the town."
Lot of arts and crafts and granola and live music and garden supplies, too, as you might imagine.
All of which is to say: the weather is finally crisp new fall, it's a new season, so take part in it by voting now. (And please consider voting for the candidate who will bring us a much-needed fresh new season: Senator Barack Obama.)
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Thursday, October 16, 2008
Vote Early and with Passion
Early voting has begun. Here's why to VOTE NOW instead of waiting:
*Voter turnout is expected to be larger by magnitudes. If you wait until election day, you may face a multi-hour line at a time when you don't have two hours free to wait. If that happens, your candidate could lose your vote.
*Less confusion on election day is likely to mean less chance of errors and contested results.
*Early voting is quicker for you as a voter.
*Once you've voted, your candidate will spend less of his resources in trying to get your vote.
*Voting is exciting. Why wait? I talked with a Brazilian-born woman this morning who became an American citizen about a year ago. She's about to vote here for the first time, and is thrilled. I like her example. This is no time to take the right to vote for granted.
*Taking immediate action on behalf of your good cause is immensely satisfying, even good for the health. See (once again) The Healing Power of Doing Good by Allan Luks with Peggy Payne.
Here's how: info on your early voting polling places. (This is an Obama-sponsored site, but gives you your sites no matter who your candidate is.)
I'm voting tomorrow, Saturday, in the charming little town of Pittsboro, NC, county seat of rural Chatham. Lot of interesting stuff in that downtown: a store with French/African crafts, an excellent thrift shop, a retro drugstore. I plan to make an event of this outing.
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*Voter turnout is expected to be larger by magnitudes. If you wait until election day, you may face a multi-hour line at a time when you don't have two hours free to wait. If that happens, your candidate could lose your vote.
*Less confusion on election day is likely to mean less chance of errors and contested results.
*Early voting is quicker for you as a voter.
*Once you've voted, your candidate will spend less of his resources in trying to get your vote.
*Voting is exciting. Why wait? I talked with a Brazilian-born woman this morning who became an American citizen about a year ago. She's about to vote here for the first time, and is thrilled. I like her example. This is no time to take the right to vote for granted.
*Taking immediate action on behalf of your good cause is immensely satisfying, even good for the health. See (once again) The Healing Power of Doing Good by Allan Luks with Peggy Payne.
Here's how: info on your early voting polling places. (This is an Obama-sponsored site, but gives you your sites no matter who your candidate is.)
I'm voting tomorrow, Saturday, in the charming little town of Pittsboro, NC, county seat of rural Chatham. Lot of interesting stuff in that downtown: a store with French/African crafts, an excellent thrift shop, a retro drugstore. I plan to make an event of this outing.
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Gandhi Again--and a Thank You
One of the boldest and toughest bits of good advice I know, especially in a campaign season, is Gandhi's idea of working full-tilt and then, at the proper time emotionally letting go of the results.
In short: do the work and then step back.
I've written about this before here. I, for one, need to think about it again.
The campaign alone is causing me to throw down ridiculous numbers of snack-sized Three Musketeers. This is not helping anyone--outside of retailers and manufacturers of chocolate and I hope they appreciate my efforts. (I have a friend who is headfirst into not only chocolate, but butter-on-everything.)
Here's to giving one's best effort, alternating with periods of worry-free relaxing. It's not a bad time to start dividing the daffodils and such, for example. This is very good therapy for a cluttered head.
And now about the thank you. I want to say I appreciate the tolerance that non-Obama readers have shown here. I have been nigh-onto unrestrained in some of my political commentary. Y'all have handled my enthusiasm with considerable generosity. So I thank you for that.
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In short: do the work and then step back.
I've written about this before here. I, for one, need to think about it again.
The campaign alone is causing me to throw down ridiculous numbers of snack-sized Three Musketeers. This is not helping anyone--outside of retailers and manufacturers of chocolate and I hope they appreciate my efforts. (I have a friend who is headfirst into not only chocolate, but butter-on-everything.)
Here's to giving one's best effort, alternating with periods of worry-free relaxing. It's not a bad time to start dividing the daffodils and such, for example. This is very good therapy for a cluttered head.
And now about the thank you. I want to say I appreciate the tolerance that non-Obama readers have shown here. I have been nigh-onto unrestrained in some of my political commentary. Y'all have handled my enthusiasm with considerable generosity. So I thank you for that.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Patriotic Spending
My local paper published this weekend a list of 101 ways to save money: don't go out to eat and things like that.
I certainly do understand that. And at the same time, there's a strong argument for going out to eat, if possible, as much as usual. Because if all the restaurants in town go out of business, that's not going to help the economy a whole lot. Restaurants failing will hurt every other business in the community as well, thus leading to more layoffs.
Me--I'm going to keep on buying that 99-cent BLT at the Cookout drive-thru down the street. I consider it bold and patriotic.
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I certainly do understand that. And at the same time, there's a strong argument for going out to eat, if possible, as much as usual. Because if all the restaurants in town go out of business, that's not going to help the economy a whole lot. Restaurants failing will hurt every other business in the community as well, thus leading to more layoffs.
Me--I'm going to keep on buying that 99-cent BLT at the Cookout drive-thru down the street. I consider it bold and patriotic.
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Monday, October 13, 2008
The Groom Changes His Name
The wedding section of my Sunday paper carried a wedding announcement that said: "The groom is taking the bride's last name."
Now this bride, in traditional white gown and veil, was a debutante. The Reverend Doctor father of the groom officiated at the ceremony.
And the son and husband-to-be (who was Phi Beta Kappa in college) changed his name!!
Can you imagine the first conversation on that subject with his parents? His father and grandfather? Hoo-ey! Not to mention anyone else who knows him.
This man is bold. I've kept my maiden name instead of taking my husband's. And even in these enlightened times, I get a surprising amount of "feedback" about this. So I can just imagine what he faces and what he has been through. I expect he can handle it.
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Now this bride, in traditional white gown and veil, was a debutante. The Reverend Doctor father of the groom officiated at the ceremony.
And the son and husband-to-be (who was Phi Beta Kappa in college) changed his name!!
Can you imagine the first conversation on that subject with his parents? His father and grandfather? Hoo-ey! Not to mention anyone else who knows him.
This man is bold. I've kept my maiden name instead of taking my husband's. And even in these enlightened times, I get a surprising amount of "feedback" about this. So I can just imagine what he faces and what he has been through. I expect he can handle it.
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Friday, October 10, 2008
GASP! Girlfriends Appalled about Sarah Palin
Here's the latest report from the three-week-old organization that's turning into a Raleigh, NC, campaign phenom. Their results are even better than I'd reported earlier. This group is beyond bold; they're on fire.
Greetings Fellow Gaspers!
Thank you for the phenomenal turnout on Wednesday night at Megg Rader's house, where we pledged to each other to truly make a difference in this, the most important presidential election of our lives.
GASP! originated from a meeting two weeks ago where a few friends gathered to vent their anger and frustration at John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. We decided that we could not sit quietly, but should -- some of us for the first time -- play an active role in electing Barack Obama as our next President. The next week, 60 more women chimed in and this past Wednesday, 110. The spirit of GASP! (Girlfriends Appalled about Sarah Palin) goes far beyond Sarah Palin herself. We're much more about being for Obama than against McCain. But it was that one, profoundly cynical and insulting choice that hit a raw nerve for hundreds, probably thousands of women here in Wake County. We are moved to action!
We know there are countless other women like us, who -- banded together in a great cause -- can launch Obama to a double digit victory in Wake County. And we believe that as Wake County goes, so goes North Carolina. As North Carolina goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the world.
Last week, we collectively contributed over 200 hours to the campaign
and over $3,000. It's a great start, but there's much more to do!
We have a rare opportunity here, and only 25 days left to seize it. So our commitments to each other can not be taken lightly. Until we meet again next Wednesday, we have challenged ourselves to:
· Volunteer in the Obama Campaign at least 2 hours. Canvas, phonebank, feed volunteers, stuff envelopes. Email Anne Franklin at annesfranklin@mindspring.com if you need help getting connected
· Contribute at least $5 to the NC Obama Campaign (https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/ovfnorthcarolina). Put "GASP" in the "Referred By" box.
· Invite at least 5 friends to attend our meeting next week and bring a bottle of wine to share.
· Work on at least one Gasp "Big Idea" such as our benefit concert with the Swingin' Johnsons on Oct 23rd. Contact Elizabeth Benefield eabenefield@aol.com to sign up.
· Expand our reach to include more women of color. Our fight is their fight and we should stand together in this historic time. Email Megg Rader at mrader@bellsouth.net to strategize about this work.
· Reach out to Garner and Cary and North Raleigh to band with other women's networks all across Wake County. Contact Carol Lawrence at cjlawrence@nc.rr.com
· Tirelessly promote the early vote (Oct 16-Nov 1). We will tell our families, our neighbors, our cashiers and bagboys and anyone else who will listen! http://www.wakegov.com/elections/onestop/default.htm
· Donate or lend tables, chairs, computers, office supplies and phone sets to the new Obama field office at 600 St. Mary's Street. Call Leah Cowan at 802-8164 to arrange a drop-off.
Our next meeting will be:
Wednesday, October 15
at 7:00PM (1/2 hour earlier this week so we won't miss the debate)
at the new Obama field office at 600 St. Mary's Street (formerly Mitchell's)
BRING 5 FRIENDS, A BOTTLE OF WINE AND A LAWN CHAIR.
Homemade signs are optional, but wonderful if you have the time!
We will sing, laugh, whoop, vent, share and welcome our newest members. We will pose for an historic GASP portrait. We will be entertained by amazing women! We will tally our accomplishments and set our next goals even higher.
It is an inspiration to be part of such an energetic and passionate group. I can't wait to see you all on Wednesday and hear your stories.
All the best,
Carter Worthy
carter@carterworthy.com
919-961-3595
Never doubt that a small group of energized Girlfriends can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has…
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Greetings Fellow Gaspers!
Thank you for the phenomenal turnout on Wednesday night at Megg Rader's house, where we pledged to each other to truly make a difference in this, the most important presidential election of our lives.
GASP! originated from a meeting two weeks ago where a few friends gathered to vent their anger and frustration at John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. We decided that we could not sit quietly, but should -- some of us for the first time -- play an active role in electing Barack Obama as our next President. The next week, 60 more women chimed in and this past Wednesday, 110. The spirit of GASP! (Girlfriends Appalled about Sarah Palin) goes far beyond Sarah Palin herself. We're much more about being for Obama than against McCain. But it was that one, profoundly cynical and insulting choice that hit a raw nerve for hundreds, probably thousands of women here in Wake County. We are moved to action!
We know there are countless other women like us, who -- banded together in a great cause -- can launch Obama to a double digit victory in Wake County. And we believe that as Wake County goes, so goes North Carolina. As North Carolina goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the world.
Last week, we collectively contributed over 200 hours to the campaign
and over $3,000. It's a great start, but there's much more to do!
We have a rare opportunity here, and only 25 days left to seize it. So our commitments to each other can not be taken lightly. Until we meet again next Wednesday, we have challenged ourselves to:
· Volunteer in the Obama Campaign at least 2 hours. Canvas, phonebank, feed volunteers, stuff envelopes. Email Anne Franklin at annesfranklin@mindspring.com if you need help getting connected
· Contribute at least $5 to the NC Obama Campaign (https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/ovfnorthcarolina). Put "GASP" in the "Referred By" box.
· Invite at least 5 friends to attend our meeting next week and bring a bottle of wine to share.
· Work on at least one Gasp "Big Idea" such as our benefit concert with the Swingin' Johnsons on Oct 23rd. Contact Elizabeth Benefield eabenefield@aol.com to sign up.
· Expand our reach to include more women of color. Our fight is their fight and we should stand together in this historic time. Email Megg Rader at mrader@bellsouth.net to strategize about this work.
· Reach out to Garner and Cary and North Raleigh to band with other women's networks all across Wake County. Contact Carol Lawrence at cjlawrence@nc.rr.com
· Tirelessly promote the early vote (Oct 16-Nov 1). We will tell our families, our neighbors, our cashiers and bagboys and anyone else who will listen! http://www.wakegov.com/elections/onestop/default.htm
· Donate or lend tables, chairs, computers, office supplies and phone sets to the new Obama field office at 600 St. Mary's Street. Call Leah Cowan at 802-8164 to arrange a drop-off.
Our next meeting will be:
Wednesday, October 15
at 7:00PM (1/2 hour earlier this week so we won't miss the debate)
at the new Obama field office at 600 St. Mary's Street (formerly Mitchell's)
BRING 5 FRIENDS, A BOTTLE OF WINE AND A LAWN CHAIR.
Homemade signs are optional, but wonderful if you have the time!
We will sing, laugh, whoop, vent, share and welcome our newest members. We will pose for an historic GASP portrait. We will be entertained by amazing women! We will tally our accomplishments and set our next goals even higher.
It is an inspiration to be part of such an energetic and passionate group. I can't wait to see you all on Wednesday and hear your stories.
All the best,
Carter Worthy
carter@carterworthy.com
919-961-3595
Never doubt that a small group of energized Girlfriends can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has…
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How To Be Bold Now
1. Ride out the stock market situation. Hold on to any investments you have. Trust that the value will come back. It's the gutsy and right thing to do for ourselves and each other.
2. Continue to focus on your work, the substance of it, what you're here on earth to accomplish.
3. Enjoy the feeling of solidarity: for once, we're all in this mess together. And those of us who are artists have some familiarity with money worries; this time the English majors who decided to go to law school instead of being novelists are worrying with us.
4. Spend some time outdoors in the enlivening fall weather.
5. Indulge in some small luxury that makes you feel rich. (I'm personally keeping the Hershey's organization alive.)
6. Give some time or money to the needy. (See The Healing Power of Doing Good by Allan Luks with Peggy Payne.)
7. Campaign. (For Obama.)
8. Pray. Seriously. It helps.
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2. Continue to focus on your work, the substance of it, what you're here on earth to accomplish.
3. Enjoy the feeling of solidarity: for once, we're all in this mess together. And those of us who are artists have some familiarity with money worries; this time the English majors who decided to go to law school instead of being novelists are worrying with us.
4. Spend some time outdoors in the enlivening fall weather.
5. Indulge in some small luxury that makes you feel rich. (I'm personally keeping the Hershey's organization alive.)
6. Give some time or money to the needy. (See The Healing Power of Doing Good by Allan Luks with Peggy Payne.)
7. Campaign. (For Obama.)
8. Pray. Seriously. It helps.
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Hotheaded is Different from Bold
From Robert Greenwald, documentary director and producer, and his Brave New Films:
"During (Tuesday) night's debate, John McCain said we need "a cool hand at the tiller," but McCain has proven to be a loose cannon. He has accosted his Congressional colleagues on both sides of the aisle on everything from the federal budget to diplomatic relations. He is known for hurling profanities rather than settling disagreements calmly. His belligerence is legendary. Even conservative Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi has said, "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."
When someone earns the nickname "Senator Hothead," the public ought to call his character into question. McCain's propensity to explode undermines his abilities as a rational decision maker, particularly on national security issues -- which could prove disastrous considering our country is already involved in two wars."
See the video.
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"During (Tuesday) night's debate, John McCain said we need "a cool hand at the tiller," but McCain has proven to be a loose cannon. He has accosted his Congressional colleagues on both sides of the aisle on everything from the federal budget to diplomatic relations. He is known for hurling profanities rather than settling disagreements calmly. His belligerence is legendary. Even conservative Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi has said, "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."
When someone earns the nickname "Senator Hothead," the public ought to call his character into question. McCain's propensity to explode undermines his abilities as a rational decision maker, particularly on national security issues -- which could prove disastrous considering our country is already involved in two wars."
See the video.
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Support Group
Last night I went to the Raleigh Arts Commission's awards ceremony for the annual Medal of the Arts and came away inspired to do things! make art! persevere!
I also heard about an informal campaign group I was initially asked to join: a bunch of women getting together to ponder how to support Obama. At the time I said: I'm already doing all I have time to do; in truth I could have made time for more.
Last night, I heard about how, after two meetings, this group has evolved. It went from a few women to 60-some between meetings one and two. The name is: GASP. Girlfriends Appalled by Sarah Palin. And as my friend at the party told me, "we aren't just bitchin'." They're all taking assignments to register, drive voters, take food to volunteers, etc. It's impressive.
Which brings me to my point: the support of the group. My campaign efforts have faltered, I think, because I feel like a solitary clipboard wandering the streets. No fault of the campaign's; I just haven't attended the get-togethers that I could have.
Whereas, for my writing I've always had the support of various groups. From parents and teachers in my childhood, to my writer-buddies and my weekly writing group now.
It makes a huge difference. So, if you find your bold creative efforts faltering, if your commitment seems to be fraying, try getting a few kindred spirits to cheer you on. It's amazing what booster rockets a few knowledgeable buddies can be.
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I also heard about an informal campaign group I was initially asked to join: a bunch of women getting together to ponder how to support Obama. At the time I said: I'm already doing all I have time to do; in truth I could have made time for more.
Last night, I heard about how, after two meetings, this group has evolved. It went from a few women to 60-some between meetings one and two. The name is: GASP. Girlfriends Appalled by Sarah Palin. And as my friend at the party told me, "we aren't just bitchin'." They're all taking assignments to register, drive voters, take food to volunteers, etc. It's impressive.
Which brings me to my point: the support of the group. My campaign efforts have faltered, I think, because I feel like a solitary clipboard wandering the streets. No fault of the campaign's; I just haven't attended the get-togethers that I could have.
Whereas, for my writing I've always had the support of various groups. From parents and teachers in my childhood, to my writer-buddies and my weekly writing group now.
It makes a huge difference. So, if you find your bold creative efforts faltering, if your commitment seems to be fraying, try getting a few kindred spirits to cheer you on. It's amazing what booster rockets a few knowledgeable buddies can be.
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Tuesday, October 07, 2008
"A Writer's Struggle for Emotional Freedom"
A couple of years ago, I posted about a tactic I was using to help myself keep writing through a sticky place in my novel:
"...When I was feeling shocked by what I was writing, I read bits of an autobiography by a friend, Lucy Daniels, With a Woman's Voice: A Writer's Struggle for Emotional Freedom , which was startlingly personal and disclosing. I kept thinking: if she can do this, I can surely keep on spinning this fiction."
Tonight I'm going to the ceremony for Lucy to receive the Raleigh Arts Commission's Medal of Arts for 2008. Boldness rewarded!
I'm telling how I used her book for encouragement on a documentary about her career that they'll be showing. (Which I haven't seen yet, and I'm indeed curious.)
Again, the technique, which worked very well: About every 45 minutes or so, when my courage would be fading again, I'd stop work on my own book, and read a few pages of Lucy's, and think, "Well, if she can do this...."
You probably know of a book or piece of music or some such that has done or could do the same thing for you.
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"...When I was feeling shocked by what I was writing, I read bits of an autobiography by a friend, Lucy Daniels, With a Woman's Voice: A Writer's Struggle for Emotional Freedom , which was startlingly personal and disclosing. I kept thinking: if she can do this, I can surely keep on spinning this fiction."
Tonight I'm going to the ceremony for Lucy to receive the Raleigh Arts Commission's Medal of Arts for 2008. Boldness rewarded!
I'm telling how I used her book for encouragement on a documentary about her career that they'll be showing. (Which I haven't seen yet, and I'm indeed curious.)
Again, the technique, which worked very well: About every 45 minutes or so, when my courage would be fading again, I'd stop work on my own book, and read a few pages of Lucy's, and think, "Well, if she can do this...."
You probably know of a book or piece of music or some such that has done or could do the same thing for you.
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Monday, October 06, 2008
Send Message: Big-Time
In my neighborhood thrift shop, clothes are grouped, not by size, but by color. So it takes a while to shop, but the gradations of yellow to orange, etc. are mouth-wateringly appealing.
I was taking my weekly wander-through recently and the print skirts section seized my eye. Here's the one I bought: pansies made large. Even the modest little face of the pansy can be monumental.
When you want to go bold, super-sizing is the no-brainer of techniques. And it's oddly easy to forget the no-brainer.
I did some research once on how to write about the sacred. Theologian Rudolf Otto in his book The Idea of the Holy suggested that among other things, making a symbol big is a good start toward representing the holy.
I was doing that research in order to give a lecture on Moby Dick at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. I wound up writing my novel, Sister India, which I was researching on that trip, about a woman who weighs over four hundred pounds.
I didn't set out to do that. It was the Ganges I was thinking about as the sacred in the novel, and certainly it is large. I wound up with a character on the same scale. Obviously, Otto got his message across.
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Thursday, October 02, 2008
Just Breathe Here
Oh, you must try this. I just happened across it. It's a breathing room online. A site where you can breathe in concert with everyone else who goes there, so there's a companionable feeling. And it slows the breath, relaxes the body (a bit), and helps to clear the mind. Wow! All this and I can still stay online.
I have the synchronized world breath in my ears now. My shoulders just relaxed--even though I'm typing!!!
(It's hard to be bold in an effective way, if you're not fundamentally calm and operating from your solar plexus. My shrink husband Bob is ever saying to me: Breathe! Breathe!)
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I have the synchronized world breath in my ears now. My shoulders just relaxed--even though I'm typing!!!
(It's hard to be bold in an effective way, if you're not fundamentally calm and operating from your solar plexus. My shrink husband Bob is ever saying to me: Breathe! Breathe!)
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Laptop Gone Wild
The mind of my laptop has taken off on its own. I don't favor this in a laptop. I want absolute fidelity from all my machines.
What's happened is that when I type "e," what shows up is both "e" and the letter next to it, so that I get "ew." Which is not always what I want to say.
And it's happening at scattered locations all over my keyboard.
(If anybody knows anything about this problem, I would love to hear from you!)
Otherwise, I'll be writing at a public computer in the Chapel Hill Library, as I am now. Or I'll be writing items like this:
It'sd sdomewtimnewsd vewry sdifficult to dsesal ewith thew inmdsewpewnmdsewnmcew of othewrsd.
Translation: It's sometimes very difficult to deal with the independence of others.
Especially those as close as one's computer.
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What's happened is that when I type "e," what shows up is both "e" and the letter next to it, so that I get "ew." Which is not always what I want to say.
And it's happening at scattered locations all over my keyboard.
(If anybody knows anything about this problem, I would love to hear from you!)
Otherwise, I'll be writing at a public computer in the Chapel Hill Library, as I am now. Or I'll be writing items like this:
It'sd sdomewtimnewsd vewry sdifficult to dsesal ewith thew inmdsewpewnmdsewnmcew of othewrsd.
Translation: It's sometimes very difficult to deal with the independence of others.
Especially those as close as one's computer.
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Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Writing: Bold Characterization
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When I teach character development in fiction writing, I rely on an exceedingly clever (personally assembled) acronym, TOADS.
To show what a character is experiencing from the inside, use that person's:
*Thoughts, in the ragged language of thought
*Observation, what the person notices
*Action
*Dialogue
*Sensation
What not to do: explain and summarize the person's personality.
I like to make the TOADS point clear in the most vivid, bold, and tangible way. I've done this before by bringing a live toad to class and setting the little fellow loose.
Lately I've been gathering a collection of thrift-shop toy toads, to give students or clients as memory devices.
Here are a few of them on my arts-and-crafts spot at home, irresistibly colorful and distinct, every one of them a real character.
In addiion to offering writing advice, any one of them can be a desk toy reminder to be one's own vivid self.
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Dream Up an Innovative Response
Grabbed a tape I'd had for years yesterday to listen to riding in to my office: "The Wild Woman Archetype" from Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves.
The tape is billed as "Myths and Stories about the Instinctual Nature of Women."
Now, I'm one who thinks that guys are pretty instinctual, too.
But it's also true that women historically have had much less freedom to exercise their/our instincts. The sexual double standard of my growing-up years, for one annoying example.
What stuck with me from what I listened to was about how to react in a crisis, or a situation where you're stuck with severe limits. What Estes advises is: don't be a martyr, be innovative. Stick with your dreams and plans and passion, and figure out ways to get where you're going, or as close as you can, even though you may be working with some tough conditions. Like financial pressure, burdensome obligations, illness, any of that stuff.
If we can't use it, we gotta figure how to work around it.
Get where we're going, anyway.
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The tape is billed as "Myths and Stories about the Instinctual Nature of Women."
Now, I'm one who thinks that guys are pretty instinctual, too.
But it's also true that women historically have had much less freedom to exercise their/our instincts. The sexual double standard of my growing-up years, for one annoying example.
What stuck with me from what I listened to was about how to react in a crisis, or a situation where you're stuck with severe limits. What Estes advises is: don't be a martyr, be innovative. Stick with your dreams and plans and passion, and figure out ways to get where you're going, or as close as you can, even though you may be working with some tough conditions. Like financial pressure, burdensome obligations, illness, any of that stuff.
If we can't use it, we gotta figure how to work around it.
Get where we're going, anyway.
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Monday, September 29, 2008
Handling Fear of Whatever
Inspiring encouraging on-line play-anytime WebTalkRadio.Net interview on managing fear successfully:
Diane Brandon, formerly of Raleigh, now of Tennessee, on her show "Vibrant Living," talks with Jacqueline Wales, Scottish (faint but lovely accent) author of When the Crow Sings and the forthcoming Fearless Factor, as well as being the host of her own radio show, "Fearlessly Speaking."
This not-so-long conversation is a good thing to listen to in a time of dramatic economic crisis.
Wales talks about what she has been through--leaving home at 15, drugs, giving up her three-month old baby, and more-- then facing her fears to have a child many years later.
Both she and Brandon have a spiritual base to their thinking, both referring to a belief in an ultimately (though not instantly) benevolent universe, which can be a great cushion in dealing with fright.
A couple of other thoughts from Wales which I found memorable:
* "Love yourself and watch others love you more" because you're not seeking their approval and reassurance.
*"Fear is our passion dying to get out."
*Be kind to yourself when you're scared. No harsh self-talk.
And more.
What are your tactics for bold living in the current uneasiness?
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Diane Brandon, formerly of Raleigh, now of Tennessee, on her show "Vibrant Living," talks with Jacqueline Wales, Scottish (faint but lovely accent) author of When the Crow Sings and the forthcoming Fearless Factor, as well as being the host of her own radio show, "Fearlessly Speaking."
This not-so-long conversation is a good thing to listen to in a time of dramatic economic crisis.
Wales talks about what she has been through--leaving home at 15, drugs, giving up her three-month old baby, and more-- then facing her fears to have a child many years later.
Both she and Brandon have a spiritual base to their thinking, both referring to a belief in an ultimately (though not instantly) benevolent universe, which can be a great cushion in dealing with fright.
A couple of other thoughts from Wales which I found memorable:
* "Love yourself and watch others love you more" because you're not seeking their approval and reassurance.
*"Fear is our passion dying to get out."
*Be kind to yourself when you're scared. No harsh self-talk.
And more.
What are your tactics for bold living in the current uneasiness?
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Forgetful?
I did something so breathtakingly empty-headed I can't even believe it.
(This has nothing to do with being bold at all. Just following up on my boating adventures.)
I lost my boat. My sweet little inflatable kayak, in which I have traveled as much as 8 miles in an afternoon.
I lost it by walking off and leaving it, forgetting to put it back in the trunk of my car. It always takes me two trips to get the boat and gear from water's edge back into the car. On this occasion 2 weeks ago, I simply forgot to make the second trip. Instead I got into the car and drove off.
There's some excuse in the fact that I was a little addled, because the boat had sprung a leak. I discovered about 50 feet from shore that the right side was deflating fast. It was not a convenient day for swimming because, in spite of the 80+ degree weather I was wearing knee high rubber boots because I had a cut on my leg that wasn't supposed to get wet. But I got to shore with no problem because I was close and the wind and water were strongly heading that way.
I hadn't realized that if one of the compartments of the boat were to go flat, it would no longer be a boat, it would be a sort of raft. So perhaps I was unconsciously feeling "let down" and annoyed and thus walked off.
Sure didn't mean to leave it there.
Now I've posted signs at the boat ramp, called four government agencies, felt like a crestfallen fool. Somewhat forgiven myself.
The other excuse in this matter (other than aging) is that I take a wee bit of medicine for obsessive compulsive disorder which is supposed to help a person not check locks and burners over and over. Well, it can also keep a person from checking once. I override this with extra care in anything that has to do with work or driving, making sure not to get Drano confused with a soft drink. But I didn't know I had to use extra care to remember to pack up my boat. Damn!
Well, now I'm alerted. Have stepped up the mindfulness meditation.
Here's a photo from a few weeks back of my little kayak. Do let me know if you see it.
I keep telling myself that a needy family with 18 children found it abandoned and patched it and is enjoying it so much that I wouldn't even want to reclaim it if I could see them.
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(This has nothing to do with being bold at all. Just following up on my boating adventures.)
I lost my boat. My sweet little inflatable kayak, in which I have traveled as much as 8 miles in an afternoon.
I lost it by walking off and leaving it, forgetting to put it back in the trunk of my car. It always takes me two trips to get the boat and gear from water's edge back into the car. On this occasion 2 weeks ago, I simply forgot to make the second trip. Instead I got into the car and drove off.
There's some excuse in the fact that I was a little addled, because the boat had sprung a leak. I discovered about 50 feet from shore that the right side was deflating fast. It was not a convenient day for swimming because, in spite of the 80+ degree weather I was wearing knee high rubber boots because I had a cut on my leg that wasn't supposed to get wet. But I got to shore with no problem because I was close and the wind and water were strongly heading that way.
I hadn't realized that if one of the compartments of the boat were to go flat, it would no longer be a boat, it would be a sort of raft. So perhaps I was unconsciously feeling "let down" and annoyed and thus walked off.
Sure didn't mean to leave it there.
Now I've posted signs at the boat ramp, called four government agencies, felt like a crestfallen fool. Somewhat forgiven myself.
The other excuse in this matter (other than aging) is that I take a wee bit of medicine for obsessive compulsive disorder which is supposed to help a person not check locks and burners over and over. Well, it can also keep a person from checking once. I override this with extra care in anything that has to do with work or driving, making sure not to get Drano confused with a soft drink. But I didn't know I had to use extra care to remember to pack up my boat. Damn!
Well, now I'm alerted. Have stepped up the mindfulness meditation.
Here's a photo from a few weeks back of my little kayak. Do let me know if you see it.
I keep telling myself that a needy family with 18 children found it abandoned and patched it and is enjoying it so much that I wouldn't even want to reclaim it if I could see them.
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Friday, September 26, 2008
Relaxation Strategy: Letting Go a Little
The single boldest thing I could do (that would be useful) would be to get rid of my "Don't Tread On Me" reflex.
It would increase the back and forth between my inner and outer worlds, which is awfully good for a writer or a person.
But I've always liked my DTOM reflex, which makes it all the harder to let it diminish a bit. (I almost said "get a grip on it.")
However, I think I've made my point with that stuff now, and would do well to ease off.
The advantages would be:
*greater ease of mind
*less tension of neck, shoulders, and jaw muscles
*energy to spare
*maybe fewer book drafts, maybe more forceful writing
*no unpleasant incidents at the dentist's, or need for expensive nitrous
*maybe fewer allergies
The disadvantages:
*possible weight gain due to loss of tension
*possible need to eat less chocolate because of weight gain
*no excuse for drug trips while having my teeth cleaned
*I might get invited to more committees and parties and have to say "no" more
*loss of a familiar way of being
Irrational reasons I haven't done this already:
*someone might infiltrate their wrong opinions into my head
*if I'm not sufficiently separate, I might blur with other people and they'd get all the credit for anything good I do--or just not notice me enough
*I might lose my originality
*someone might drag me into stuff I'm not interested in or cause me to run late or make some dreadful error
Well,you get the idea... In writing this, I'm starting to get it too.
But getting the idea is different from actually relaxing my inner sentry system that I'm not even conscious of.
My strategy for getting rid of the Don't Tread On Me reflex:
*trusting that mere intent will help some
*meditation every day
*vigorous exercise (15 mins of jump rope a day)
*not letting too much build up unsaid
*noting how unappealing wariness is in others
I'll think of other things later, I expect. But that's enough to keep me busy for now.
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It would increase the back and forth between my inner and outer worlds, which is awfully good for a writer or a person.
But I've always liked my DTOM reflex, which makes it all the harder to let it diminish a bit. (I almost said "get a grip on it.")
However, I think I've made my point with that stuff now, and would do well to ease off.
The advantages would be:
*greater ease of mind
*less tension of neck, shoulders, and jaw muscles
*energy to spare
*maybe fewer book drafts, maybe more forceful writing
*no unpleasant incidents at the dentist's, or need for expensive nitrous
*maybe fewer allergies
The disadvantages:
*possible weight gain due to loss of tension
*possible need to eat less chocolate because of weight gain
*no excuse for drug trips while having my teeth cleaned
*I might get invited to more committees and parties and have to say "no" more
*loss of a familiar way of being
Irrational reasons I haven't done this already:
*someone might infiltrate their wrong opinions into my head
*if I'm not sufficiently separate, I might blur with other people and they'd get all the credit for anything good I do--or just not notice me enough
*I might lose my originality
*someone might drag me into stuff I'm not interested in or cause me to run late or make some dreadful error
Well,you get the idea... In writing this, I'm starting to get it too.
But getting the idea is different from actually relaxing my inner sentry system that I'm not even conscious of.
My strategy for getting rid of the Don't Tread On Me reflex:
*trusting that mere intent will help some
*meditation every day
*vigorous exercise (15 mins of jump rope a day)
*not letting too much build up unsaid
*noting how unappealing wariness is in others
I'll think of other things later, I expect. But that's enough to keep me busy for now.
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Clay Gay and Talking
No one has the moral obligation to announce his or her sexual orientation to People Magazine.
However, I think it's a cool thing--i.e., admirably bold--that singer and local Raleigh boy Clay Aiken has just done that. His reasoning: he just had a baby (in vitro fertilization with a friend), and he wants to set a good example. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things," he says in the new issue of the magazine.
Coming out these days might seem like a low-impact decision--if you're not gay, famous, and a born-again Christian. Aiken is all of these, and may lose some Clay-mates, as his fans are sometimes called.
"'We congratulate Clay for making this decision and for setting an example for others and his family,' said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. 'As we're seeing, more and more gay people, including celebrities, are living openly and honestly, and this has tremendous impact in terms of creating awareness, understanding and acceptance.'"
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However, I think it's a cool thing--i.e., admirably bold--that singer and local Raleigh boy Clay Aiken has just done that. His reasoning: he just had a baby (in vitro fertilization with a friend), and he wants to set a good example. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things," he says in the new issue of the magazine.
Coming out these days might seem like a low-impact decision--if you're not gay, famous, and a born-again Christian. Aiken is all of these, and may lose some Clay-mates, as his fans are sometimes called.
"'We congratulate Clay for making this decision and for setting an example for others and his family,' said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. 'As we're seeing, more and more gay people, including celebrities, are living openly and honestly, and this has tremendous impact in terms of creating awareness, understanding and acceptance.'"
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Nervous Campaigning: Part 2
So I set out with my clipboard yesterday to go door-to-door looking for Obama supporters who would like to volunteer. (Would you like to volunteer? If so, click here to get started.)
I was pretty uneasy about it. And it turned out to be both difficult and fine.
First, I had wrongly and embarrassingly assumed that I was assigned to a druggy street just because it was in a generally low income area of the city.
Wrong! I apologize! This was prejudice on my part! Prejudice I foolishly didn't think I had!
It was a quiet, pleasant, largely black neighborhood, with a pedestrian traffic of mothers and babies in strollers and college students from the nearby campus. There were no bars on any windows. And the only person on my list I could find was a fortyish man who was patient enough to answer my questions and tell me he supports Obama, though he was too busy to do any volunteering.
The difficult part of my job: most of my list turned out to be the college students. And the only address I had for them was the street number of an entire campus, the historically black Shaw University. No actual housing addresses. A girl on campus told me the best time to find students between classes and who to call on the staff for help. But it's a big school.
This would be an easy job if I'd been asked to find any twenty students, but I'm looking for a particular twenty.
I enjoyed my clipboard expedition. And I'm working on figuring out how to do this.
I do have one remaining hesitation: is a 59 year-old white woman the most inspiring person to rally these students to volunteer?
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I was pretty uneasy about it. And it turned out to be both difficult and fine.
First, I had wrongly and embarrassingly assumed that I was assigned to a druggy street just because it was in a generally low income area of the city.
Wrong! I apologize! This was prejudice on my part! Prejudice I foolishly didn't think I had!
It was a quiet, pleasant, largely black neighborhood, with a pedestrian traffic of mothers and babies in strollers and college students from the nearby campus. There were no bars on any windows. And the only person on my list I could find was a fortyish man who was patient enough to answer my questions and tell me he supports Obama, though he was too busy to do any volunteering.
The difficult part of my job: most of my list turned out to be the college students. And the only address I had for them was the street number of an entire campus, the historically black Shaw University. No actual housing addresses. A girl on campus told me the best time to find students between classes and who to call on the staff for help. But it's a big school.
This would be an easy job if I'd been asked to find any twenty students, but I'm looking for a particular twenty.
I enjoyed my clipboard expedition. And I'm working on figuring out how to do this.
I do have one remaining hesitation: is a 59 year-old white woman the most inspiring person to rally these students to volunteer?
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Monday, September 22, 2008
My Nervous Effort to Campaign
You remember that list of doors to knock on I downloaded from the Obama website? I said I was all excited about getting out and doing this.
Well, I'm going out again for the second time in a few minutes and I'm not excited. My first foray was locked doors and no answer, except for a woman who answered a buzz over a speaker but didn't say anything I could understand. Not very fruitful. No big help to my cause.
My other addresses--19 of them--are all on one street and it's a bars-on-the-windows kind of street about six blocks from my office. If I had good sense, I'd get somebody to go with me, but that's a lot of trouble and I just want to get this list done, and go back to the comfort of campaigning by phone and blog.
The Bold thing would be to get set up to do this canvassing right, with a partner, going at the best time of day. Which is not how Bold is usually envisioned.
But at least I'm going to get it done.
Unless I change my mind.
I'll let you know tomorrow.
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Well, I'm going out again for the second time in a few minutes and I'm not excited. My first foray was locked doors and no answer, except for a woman who answered a buzz over a speaker but didn't say anything I could understand. Not very fruitful. No big help to my cause.
My other addresses--19 of them--are all on one street and it's a bars-on-the-windows kind of street about six blocks from my office. If I had good sense, I'd get somebody to go with me, but that's a lot of trouble and I just want to get this list done, and go back to the comfort of campaigning by phone and blog.
The Bold thing would be to get set up to do this canvassing right, with a partner, going at the best time of day. Which is not how Bold is usually envisioned.
But at least I'm going to get it done.
Unless I change my mind.
I'll let you know tomorrow.
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Sunday, September 21, 2008
Hockey Mamas for Obama
Report from Alaska:
"...In Anchorage , if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there ... we'll be doing good....
Never have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.
... Passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered....
So, if you've been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage!"
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"...In Anchorage , if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there ... we'll be doing good....
Never have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.
... Passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered....
So, if you've been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage!"
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Friday, September 19, 2008
The Courage of a Real ER Doctor
It takes a bold man to be an ER doc. Paul Austin works rotating shifts in a Durham, NC, hospital emergency room. His book, Something for the Pain, just out from W.W. Norton, tells not the TV version, but the real grit of what that work is like. And what it's like to have that job and a family too: wife, three kids, one with Downs.
I confess to a bias because Paul has gotten some feedback from me over the years through my consulting services for writers. I've loved this book from way back.
And this writer-doctor is astonishingly bold. If he's not telling the whole truth, I can't imagine what he's holding back.
I just met his wife last night for the first time at his debut reading at Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books. I said to her, "I feel like I know you...." She said, "A lot of people feel like they know me now."
To mention details of his story, from idealism to hard-boiled callusness and back, would almost be reductive. You need to read this, see it all in the context of sleep deprivation, with death ever near, and on long shifts in which every second makes a difference. And some of the patients are angry, some are hoping to get drugs, some are violent, some have devastated families, one had no one (even his mother wouldn't come pick him up.)
Someone from the audience asked Paul how he managed worry over making mistakes. He said he used to worry when he worked at a pizza place that he might burn the pizza. Since he was going to stay keyed-up and tense anyway, he might as well go for broke, do something where the worrying made more sense, and all that effort and angst could go toward a better cause.
Helen Keller said much the same thing: essentially, it's all risky, so get on out there and do the interesting stuff.
And read this book: Something for the Pain by Paul Austin.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
I confess to a bias because Paul has gotten some feedback from me over the years through my consulting services for writers. I've loved this book from way back.
And this writer-doctor is astonishingly bold. If he's not telling the whole truth, I can't imagine what he's holding back.
I just met his wife last night for the first time at his debut reading at Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books. I said to her, "I feel like I know you...." She said, "A lot of people feel like they know me now."
To mention details of his story, from idealism to hard-boiled callusness and back, would almost be reductive. You need to read this, see it all in the context of sleep deprivation, with death ever near, and on long shifts in which every second makes a difference. And some of the patients are angry, some are hoping to get drugs, some are violent, some have devastated families, one had no one (even his mother wouldn't come pick him up.)
Someone from the audience asked Paul how he managed worry over making mistakes. He said he used to worry when he worked at a pizza place that he might burn the pizza. Since he was going to stay keyed-up and tense anyway, he might as well go for broke, do something where the worrying made more sense, and all that effort and angst could go toward a better cause.
Helen Keller said much the same thing: essentially, it's all risky, so get on out there and do the interesting stuff.
And read this book: Something for the Pain by Paul Austin.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Palin-bin Laden Debate
Here's the promised argument I received by e-mail about why I shouldn't have posted an item two days ago which I titled "Osama bin Palin." (The idea was that both Palin and bin Laden want to force their world-view on others, though they use different means.)
"The problem with this pointed association of the ideology of Sarah Palin to Osama bin Laden is that - so far as we know - Sarah Palin has only threatened to squelch our liberties, but she hasn't actually committed genocide. There is probably no one who dislikes or despises George W. Bush more than I, but when I read the diatribes of well-meaning people of his favorable comparison to Hitler, I have to just accept that the thought the diatribe is intentional in its passion, it misses the opportunity for intellectual discourse with others that leads to problem-solving. It shuts a definitive soundbite door on the opportunity to use logic to evaluate the problem and determine a logical way to address it.
...It's the same sort of rhetoric Conservatives use to make their points - fill people with succinct opinions and do it all in just a few words ... the more dramatic, the better. I realize the title "Osama bin Palin" is yours and it is overtly funny. But the comments inherent in the title and the sentiments are sensational and unsubstantiated in a way that discredits the very smart and savvy nature of your blog (I respectfully submit)."
Now, I do favor good pithy soundbites. I want them to be true and memorable. They make a difference in campaigns.
However, I don't want to rant; it isn't effective.
Thoughts from you on what is decently bold in a campaign as important as this one?
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"The problem with this pointed association of the ideology of Sarah Palin to Osama bin Laden is that - so far as we know - Sarah Palin has only threatened to squelch our liberties, but she hasn't actually committed genocide. There is probably no one who dislikes or despises George W. Bush more than I, but when I read the diatribes of well-meaning people of his favorable comparison to Hitler, I have to just accept that the thought the diatribe is intentional in its passion, it misses the opportunity for intellectual discourse with others that leads to problem-solving. It shuts a definitive soundbite door on the opportunity to use logic to evaluate the problem and determine a logical way to address it.
...It's the same sort of rhetoric Conservatives use to make their points - fill people with succinct opinions and do it all in just a few words ... the more dramatic, the better. I realize the title "Osama bin Palin" is yours and it is overtly funny. But the comments inherent in the title and the sentiments are sensational and unsubstantiated in a way that discredits the very smart and savvy nature of your blog (I respectfully submit)."
Now, I do favor good pithy soundbites. I want them to be true and memorable. They make a difference in campaigns.
However, I don't want to rant; it isn't effective.
Thoughts from you on what is decently bold in a campaign as important as this one?
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Campaign Anger
I got an email yesterday from a reader who wished I hadn't written such an aggressive post as the previous one titled "Osama bin Palen". Here's how I responded:
"You're right, of course. And I hesitated to post the piece, and then re-hesitated over my choice of inflammatory title. But I lately I've been getting exhausted by behaving judiciously in dreadfully galling circumstances.
I don't think the post did any good for the Obama cause; I don't think it did any harm either. I think it would only affect people's opinion of me, not of my candidates; and I decided I didn't mind that on this occasion. I took some pleasure in letting off steam.
Yes, it's resorting to some of the tackier tactics of opponents. No doubt about it. Guilty as charged. And for me, I do see it as an aberration -- a low-impact bit of bad behavior -- not a career strategy.
I also think that Jane was right in her specific comparison. Both Palin and bin Laden seem to want to push their own restrictive world-view on others. Their means are very different, of course.
How I wish reasoned discourse could affect this election in the next few weeks! (I like very much what Peder Zane had to say on that subject in the most recent Sunday News & Observer.) I don't think it will. I think getting out the vote is what will make the difference. And maybe Tina Fey's marvelous Saturday Night Live parody of Palin.
I do agree with you philosophically about the high road, even in matters of style. And I very much appreciate your writing. No need to hesitate at all. I expect most, if not all, reasonable people would on their best days agree with you on this. There was a notable absence of comments to that post.
(And a question: may I post your email on my site with this reply from me? I would love to continue this discussion there and perhaps get others involved Either way, thanks for pondering this and for your very thoughtful message.)
Peggy
If I do get permission, I'll post that email. And I invite and welcome continuation of this conversation here. I very much liked what Peder Zane had to say on this in Sunday's News & Observer. And I received a little while ago a piece from a psychologist arguing that Obama's idealism sets our dark side loose--our feelings of anger, resentment, etc.--leaves all that unattended. I think that's true. What we need to figure out is how to use that huge energy in a good way for a good cause. Doris Lessing has done some excellent writing on this in Prisons We Choose to Live Inside; she argues that public schools should address the fact that we all contain some angry and violent and intolerant impulses. She says we all contain some evil and need to be aware of it and educated in how to manage it nondestructively.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much
"You're right, of course. And I hesitated to post the piece, and then re-hesitated over my choice of inflammatory title. But I lately I've been getting exhausted by behaving judiciously in dreadfully galling circumstances.
I don't think the post did any good for the Obama cause; I don't think it did any harm either. I think it would only affect people's opinion of me, not of my candidates; and I decided I didn't mind that on this occasion. I took some pleasure in letting off steam.
Yes, it's resorting to some of the tackier tactics of opponents. No doubt about it. Guilty as charged. And for me, I do see it as an aberration -- a low-impact bit of bad behavior -- not a career strategy.
I also think that Jane was right in her specific comparison. Both Palin and bin Laden seem to want to push their own restrictive world-view on others. Their means are very different, of course.
How I wish reasoned discourse could affect this election in the next few weeks! (I like very much what Peder Zane had to say on that subject in the most recent Sunday News & Observer.) I don't think it will. I think getting out the vote is what will make the difference. And maybe Tina Fey's marvelous Saturday Night Live parody of Palin.
I do agree with you philosophically about the high road, even in matters of style. And I very much appreciate your writing. No need to hesitate at all. I expect most, if not all, reasonable people would on their best days agree with you on this. There was a notable absence of comments to that post.
(And a question: may I post your email on my site with this reply from me? I would love to continue this discussion there and perhaps get others involved Either way, thanks for pondering this and for your very thoughtful message.)
Peggy
If I do get permission, I'll post that email. And I invite and welcome continuation of this conversation here. I very much liked what Peder Zane had to say on this in Sunday's News & Observer. And I received a little while ago a piece from a psychologist arguing that Obama's idealism sets our dark side loose--our feelings of anger, resentment, etc.--leaves all that unattended. I think that's true. What we need to figure out is how to use that huge energy in a good way for a good cause. Doris Lessing has done some excellent writing on this in Prisons We Choose to Live Inside; she argues that public schools should address the fact that we all contain some angry and violent and intolerant impulses. She says we all contain some evil and need to be aware of it and educated in how to manage it nondestructively.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much
Monday, September 15, 2008
Osama bin Palin
From my friend and former newspaper colleague Jane Albright:
"Sarah Palin believes that she is on God's side, so everyone else is
wrong. This puts her firmly in the same camp as Osama Bin Laden. She,
too, would like to impose her narrow world view on everyone, much as any
radical Muslim fundamentalist does.
This isn't the American Way...."
Nor is it a courageous way. No-guts living is to try to require everyone else to be and do just like me. If my way is good, it can stand comparison to other ways. It can coexist.
I like Gandhi's philosophy: "I do not want my house to be walled in on (all) sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."
I first saw this quote on a poster in the airport terminal in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, India, when I arrived there to begin my three-month stay to research my novel Sister India. It has stuck with me.
I know that I open myself here to the charge of wanting Sarah Palin to think like me. Not so. I want her to be as different from me as she wishes. I just don't want my way made illegal.
Please consider voting for American freedom.
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"Sarah Palin believes that she is on God's side, so everyone else is
wrong. This puts her firmly in the same camp as Osama Bin Laden. She,
too, would like to impose her narrow world view on everyone, much as any
radical Muslim fundamentalist does.
This isn't the American Way...."
Nor is it a courageous way. No-guts living is to try to require everyone else to be and do just like me. If my way is good, it can stand comparison to other ways. It can coexist.
I like Gandhi's philosophy: "I do not want my house to be walled in on (all) sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."
I first saw this quote on a poster in the airport terminal in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, India, when I arrived there to begin my three-month stay to research my novel Sister India. It has stuck with me.
I know that I open myself here to the charge of wanting Sarah Palin to think like me. Not so. I want her to be as different from me as she wishes. I just don't want my way made illegal.
Please consider voting for American freedom.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
How to Use Your Anger
If you're feeling outraged: Use your anti-Palin pro-Obama energy to call 25 people or knock on 25 doors. I just got my list and I'm excited. Here's the info. They give you everything you need: maps, numbers, names, scripts, etc.
Taking action is good for the cause, of course; it also helps relieve the teeth-grinding discomfort of anger.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Taking action is good for the cause, of course; it also helps relieve the teeth-grinding discomfort of anger.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Facing Serious Danger
The following piece is by Eve Ensler. It reached me through American history professor and author Peter Filene. I don't have permission to republish it, but I am convinced by the piece itself that Ensler wants it as widely distributed as possible.
Whatever you might think about Ensler, Filene, Palin, offshore drilling, or me, I hope you will read this. It is blunt, bold, and well thought out. I especially like this summary sentence: "I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover."
Here it is:
Drill, Drill, Drill
Eve Ensler
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a
member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned
and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for
Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact
that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or
touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice.
Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life
trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against
them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin
choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this
choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to
Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the
earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening
our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous
choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the
fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that
America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact
that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a
joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be
elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In
her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better
or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the
arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise
of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar
bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here
to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and
plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be
taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task
from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who
are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a
right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I
imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies
that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has
tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people
who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity
and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next
president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse
populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She
has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of
wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But
when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared
in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the
end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America
has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in
our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of
the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies
to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will
determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or
whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It
will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest
our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and
destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and
healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will
determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place
of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to
get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin
spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of
drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I
think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the
brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of
the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and
peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
Whatever you might think about Ensler, Filene, Palin, offshore drilling, or me, I hope you will read this. It is blunt, bold, and well thought out. I especially like this summary sentence: "I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover."
Here it is:
Drill, Drill, Drill
Eve Ensler
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a
member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned
and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for
Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact
that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or
touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice.
Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life
trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against
them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin
choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this
choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to
Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the
earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening
our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous
choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the
fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that
America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact
that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a
joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be
elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In
her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better
or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the
arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise
of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar
bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here
to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and
plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be
taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task
from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who
are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a
right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I
imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies
that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has
tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people
who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity
and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next
president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse
populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She
has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of
wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But
when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared
in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the
end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America
has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in
our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of
the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies
to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will
determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or
whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It
will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest
our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and
destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and
healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will
determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place
of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to
get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin
spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of
drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I
think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the
brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of
the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and
peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
TMI
This post is Too Much Information. So be forewarned.
Today, while reclining in a dental chair, I vomited with such force that my dentist (I later learned) dashed to the bathroom and shampooed her hair. I only half knew what was going on, because I was so doped on the nitrous that was supposed to relax my gag reflex.
Barely conscious, I'd felt only a little gurgle in my throat, then heard my doc say, "That was spectacular." What I knew was that I was damp and unhappy and people were dabbing at my clothes. I felt like a sick person being trundled through a carwash on a stretcher.
When I woke up, I learned how truly spectacular the event had been. I will spare you further details except to say that I borrowed a lab coat to wear and a plastic bag for my clothing. While I was in the bathroom "freshening up," staff had gathered in the front office to marvel at my capabilities and to see me off.
On the way back to my office, I stopped at a thrift shop to buy a top so I could change out of the medical outfit that, I then discovered, I had snapped up all wrong.
Now to wring meaning from this, which I like to do, especially with unpleasant experiences.
Here's what I've come to: a brief glimmer of the freedom of not being fully responsible.
I go around acting civilized and in charge about 98% of the time. This morning, by contrast, I felt undone, literally swamped, back to chaos and primordial slime. While still zonked, I had the thought: this is how it would feel to be sick and dying, too weak to do anything, but still aware. I felt how close and huge the universe-of-what-I-don't-control is all of the time. I felt amazed that it's ever possible to forget that. (See Ernest Becker's thrillingly profound Denial of Death for more about this sort of thing.)
So throwing up on my dentist simply brings me back to the old mortality thing, the business of being temporary. I've been here before very briefly. Most of the time I find a gut awareness of death to be Too Much Information.
For one thing, it's a bit insulting, since I go to so much trouble to keep my shoes lined up in my closet, and my email all answered.
I do see the potential, though, for the awareness to be liberating, not having to be in charge, but staying interested in the ride. All of which is much easier to think about in clean dry clothes.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Today, while reclining in a dental chair, I vomited with such force that my dentist (I later learned) dashed to the bathroom and shampooed her hair. I only half knew what was going on, because I was so doped on the nitrous that was supposed to relax my gag reflex.
Barely conscious, I'd felt only a little gurgle in my throat, then heard my doc say, "That was spectacular." What I knew was that I was damp and unhappy and people were dabbing at my clothes. I felt like a sick person being trundled through a carwash on a stretcher.
When I woke up, I learned how truly spectacular the event had been. I will spare you further details except to say that I borrowed a lab coat to wear and a plastic bag for my clothing. While I was in the bathroom "freshening up," staff had gathered in the front office to marvel at my capabilities and to see me off.
On the way back to my office, I stopped at a thrift shop to buy a top so I could change out of the medical outfit that, I then discovered, I had snapped up all wrong.
Now to wring meaning from this, which I like to do, especially with unpleasant experiences.
Here's what I've come to: a brief glimmer of the freedom of not being fully responsible.
I go around acting civilized and in charge about 98% of the time. This morning, by contrast, I felt undone, literally swamped, back to chaos and primordial slime. While still zonked, I had the thought: this is how it would feel to be sick and dying, too weak to do anything, but still aware. I felt how close and huge the universe-of-what-I-don't-control is all of the time. I felt amazed that it's ever possible to forget that. (See Ernest Becker's thrillingly profound Denial of Death for more about this sort of thing.)
So throwing up on my dentist simply brings me back to the old mortality thing, the business of being temporary. I've been here before very briefly. Most of the time I find a gut awareness of death to be Too Much Information.
For one thing, it's a bit insulting, since I go to so much trouble to keep my shoes lined up in my closet, and my email all answered.
I do see the potential, though, for the awareness to be liberating, not having to be in charge, but staying interested in the ride. All of which is much easier to think about in clean dry clothes.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Necessary Courage
From Samuel Johnson (first found on a website I can't seem to get to identify itsef):
"Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice."
The part of that I'm focused on is that courage is basic and daily, not just for firefighters and paratroopers.
It's also crucial for life for the rest of us, at our desks, in meetings, in the car, in the kitchen, on the phone.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
"Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice."
The part of that I'm focused on is that courage is basic and daily, not just for firefighters and paratroopers.
It's also crucial for life for the rest of us, at our desks, in meetings, in the car, in the kitchen, on the phone.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Steinem on Palin
Gloria Steinem, mother of bold, speaks to Hillary Clinton supporters in an article in the L.A. Times.
"To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'"
This comes from a woman who knows about protest, and what kind works, and what kind doesn't.
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"To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'"
This comes from a woman who knows about protest, and what kind works, and what kind doesn't.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Seeking Divine Intervention
Here's an item of a sort that I usually hesitate to speak of:
Last night I decided to ask God to help me take better care of myself, and to ask often. This change I'm after has to do with small daily practices like not having coconut popsicles (only) for dinner, skipping exercise, and generally runnng short on sleep.
The decision in itself relaxed me, which is large. That alone is a serious benefit.
I'm very curious to see how it goes from here.
I write about this, not because I think it's a bold move, but because I have to take a deep breath in order to say it aloud here. And maybe there's good reason for that. I'm not sure. But I thought I'd test the hesitation.
Making declarations of goals public usually helps to make them happen. We'll see.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Last night I decided to ask God to help me take better care of myself, and to ask often. This change I'm after has to do with small daily practices like not having coconut popsicles (only) for dinner, skipping exercise, and generally runnng short on sleep.
The decision in itself relaxed me, which is large. That alone is a serious benefit.
I'm very curious to see how it goes from here.
I write about this, not because I think it's a bold move, but because I have to take a deep breath in order to say it aloud here. And maybe there's good reason for that. I'm not sure. But I thought I'd test the hesitation.
Making declarations of goals public usually helps to make them happen. We'll see.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Cheating Is Chicken
An interesting correlation: college students who score highest on tests for courage are also least likely to cheat. I like that connection. The non-cheaters are the ones who are spunky enough to travel under their own steam.
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If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Getting Me to Do Right
Boldness is everything, at least on this blog. For me, all other virtues fall under this label.
I realized that when I decided what I wanted to write today: this weekend's big "bold" move. It was not going kayaking when thunder started rolling.
That might seem to be simply a reasonable decision (not to mention a reflexive one) rather than bold.
But I had my boat pumped up (as you see) and ready to go. I was pretty pumped up about getting out there myself. I was so tempted to go out for a few minutes anyway.
I'd heard one little rumble a while earlier, but decided it was an anomaly. Then I saw boats start coming off the lake just when I was starting to push in. One guy was wading ashore to get his car and trailer. "Did you hear thunder out there?" I asked him.
"I sure did," he said. "Some real slappers. My daughter said, 'Get me out of here.'"
So I pulled the plugs, deflating both kayak and would-be paddler.
This might seem like elementary wisdom, rather than boldness. But if I thought of it as wise or reasonable, I might not be persuaded, since wisdom can seem rather tedious to a late-middle-aged adolescent like me. If instead I think of the necessary, wise, and reasonable choice as bold, then it's easier.
Does that make sense? I'm simply making the right choice and coding it as "bold." This could work for a lot of things, I now realize. The technique definitely has possibilities: i.e., only the truly bold individual finishes returning all her phone calls today.
Parents use this sort of thinking with children: "only big girls get to...make up their own beds..."
Well, I'm starting to see the potential for using it on myself. For an artist, or anyone self-employed or working at home, skills of self-management, however seemingly silly, are crucial.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
I realized that when I decided what I wanted to write today: this weekend's big "bold" move. It was not going kayaking when thunder started rolling.
That might seem to be simply a reasonable decision (not to mention a reflexive one) rather than bold.
But I had my boat pumped up (as you see) and ready to go. I was pretty pumped up about getting out there myself. I was so tempted to go out for a few minutes anyway.
I'd heard one little rumble a while earlier, but decided it was an anomaly. Then I saw boats start coming off the lake just when I was starting to push in. One guy was wading ashore to get his car and trailer. "Did you hear thunder out there?" I asked him.
"I sure did," he said. "Some real slappers. My daughter said, 'Get me out of here.'"
So I pulled the plugs, deflating both kayak and would-be paddler.
This might seem like elementary wisdom, rather than boldness. But if I thought of it as wise or reasonable, I might not be persuaded, since wisdom can seem rather tedious to a late-middle-aged adolescent like me. If instead I think of the necessary, wise, and reasonable choice as bold, then it's easier.
Does that make sense? I'm simply making the right choice and coding it as "bold." This could work for a lot of things, I now realize. The technique definitely has possibilities: i.e., only the truly bold individual finishes returning all her phone calls today.
Parents use this sort of thinking with children: "only big girls get to...make up their own beds..."
Well, I'm starting to see the potential for using it on myself. For an artist, or anyone self-employed or working at home, skills of self-management, however seemingly silly, are crucial.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Obama the Mensch
Did you watch last night? I found Obama's acceptance speech so exciting that I was almost afraid to be excited. It made me proud of us, I know that for sure. We've come a long way since my childhood in Wilmington, NC.
And now we have a real leader in Barack Obama. He presented big bold ideas; he said flat-out what he means to do. He was specific. He didn't pander or equivocate.
He has both warmth and gravitas, natural persuasiveness and presidential bearing, the kind of courage that looks sunny and relaxed. Obama the Bold. I like the sound of that too.
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And now we have a real leader in Barack Obama. He presented big bold ideas; he said flat-out what he means to do. He was specific. He didn't pander or equivocate.
He has both warmth and gravitas, natural persuasiveness and presidential bearing, the kind of courage that looks sunny and relaxed. Obama the Bold. I like the sound of that too.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Hail Hillary!
She did the right thing when she asked the delegates to the Democratic convention: were you in it for me, or for the wounded soldier, the single mother of autistic kids...?
That question has to make a voter sit back and think. And then, I hope, vote for Obama.
Update just in case you haven't been on this planet this week: Hillary Clinton gracefully and generously asked her 18 million supporters to vote for Barack Obama for president. She did it like a champ!
I can only begin to understand what it must have taken to do that, when I think about giving my new novel away to be published as some other writer's, just to get the work out to the world. I don't think I'd do it.
My admiration and thanks to Senator Clinton who did.
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That question has to make a voter sit back and think. And then, I hope, vote for Obama.
Update just in case you haven't been on this planet this week: Hillary Clinton gracefully and generously asked her 18 million supporters to vote for Barack Obama for president. She did it like a champ!
I can only begin to understand what it must have taken to do that, when I think about giving my new novel away to be published as some other writer's, just to get the work out to the world. I don't think I'd do it.
My admiration and thanks to Senator Clinton who did.
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Encouragingly Bright Color
"Sitting with someone in the hospital gives one many day and night hours to think. About color. About colorful." This is from photographer, writer, accountant Mamie Potter's blog.
I admire the fact that sitting in a hospital room brings color to her mind. That's probably not everyone's response to such a situation.
In musing about this, she has posted some boldly colorful photos on her blog. On this post. And this one.
Do go gaze upon them; they are emboldening.
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I admire the fact that sitting in a hospital room brings color to her mind. That's probably not everyone's response to such a situation.
In musing about this, she has posted some boldly colorful photos on her blog. On this post. And this one.
Do go gaze upon them; they are emboldening.
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Hillary Kennedy Obama
TV has been setting us some good examples recently.
First came the Olympians, who have persevered for years in their sport and competed, for all to see, against the best in the world.
Last night came Michelle Obama, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. Each of them, in their different ways, has come a long, long way.
Ted Kennedy hauled himself out of the hospital to to make a speech on behalf of both Obama and the good causes he has championed in his own 46 years in the Senate. I certainly don't see Kennedy's life as one of perfect virtue; as a 20 year-old intern, I wrote a fairly damning editorial about him in the Wilmington, NC paper on the morning after Mary Jo Kopechne's death. But he has gone on from that night, persistently doing good, for the public and for his vast family. That takes guts.
Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who has endured more losses than anyone should have to face, introduced him, saying he has taught his nieces and nephews and their 60 children, "how to chart our course, take the helm and sail against the wind."
Then came Michelle Obama. She and her husband Barack have both traveled a long way from their beginnings, and she told their stories with such grace.
I want to see one more example of boldness and grace at this convention. I want the admirable Hillary Clinton to say to her 18 million supporters: Honor me now and in November by voting for Obama; for the good of my country, that's the gesture of support I want.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
First came the Olympians, who have persevered for years in their sport and competed, for all to see, against the best in the world.
Last night came Michelle Obama, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. Each of them, in their different ways, has come a long, long way.
Ted Kennedy hauled himself out of the hospital to to make a speech on behalf of both Obama and the good causes he has championed in his own 46 years in the Senate. I certainly don't see Kennedy's life as one of perfect virtue; as a 20 year-old intern, I wrote a fairly damning editorial about him in the Wilmington, NC paper on the morning after Mary Jo Kopechne's death. But he has gone on from that night, persistently doing good, for the public and for his vast family. That takes guts.
Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who has endured more losses than anyone should have to face, introduced him, saying he has taught his nieces and nephews and their 60 children, "how to chart our course, take the helm and sail against the wind."
Then came Michelle Obama. She and her husband Barack have both traveled a long way from their beginnings, and she told their stories with such grace.
I want to see one more example of boldness and grace at this convention. I want the admirable Hillary Clinton to say to her 18 million supporters: Honor me now and in November by voting for Obama; for the good of my country, that's the gesture of support I want.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Edgy Art: the Luminarium
Friday night Bob and I strolled through the mist-filled tubular corridors of something called a luminarium. It was, in short, a mighty balloon with a flap door, sitting on the ground in downtown Raleigh for a festival called Art on the Edge. The pictures in the paper had looked like people were wandering through Gulliver's internal organs.
The pictures didn't prepare me for entering that flowing glowing trembling labyrinth, full of shifting colors and soft music. It's titled Levity III and billed as being a bit like a cathedral, a bit like a mosque. In any event, it's other-worldly.
At the same time, it feels like something alive. Visitors leave their shoes at the entrance, explore the dim interior with bare feet. The floor and walls feel like cool flesh, they have a kind of "give" that invites further contact. We were among the many to lie down for a while. (That's Bob in the cell phone picture I shot.)
I emerged feeling mentally and physically refreshed, delighted by an experience entirely new to me. Downtown seemed more vivid than when I'd entered the balloon. And nobody was pumping any mind-altering smoke in there. This was just a piece of art, doing its job.
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Derrida on the Fear of Writing
I'm sure you've heard of Jacques Derrida, inventor of the theory known as deconstruction. Highly controversial guy--a skewed translation of his thinking wrecked a few good English departments for a while there.
His idea--simplistically, that we have no one piece of solid ground to stand on to observe an objective reality (I think I have that right)--was somehow turned into a basis for treating literature as primarily a demonstration of political and cultural assumptions.
Aside from that wild misapplication, this theory is so sound an addition to what we know that it seems like a no-brainer: as if, surely, we always knew that. The name Derrida and the idea itself seem to have been in the atmosphere forever, like the Metropolitan Opera or St. Patrick's Day.
And so I was very surprised to run into Derrida on Youtube, of all places, talking about the fear of writing. The short version is: he is full of fire and conviction while he's writing and full of fear of what he's doing in the moments when he starts to go to sleep. Doesn't seem to have gotten in his way; he's published 45 books.
But it's an interesting version of the experience that most of us deal with in one way or another, well worth listening to. I'm always interested in the kind of conversation between the conscious and the unconscious that he describes. Also,he speaks French (with subtitles) slowly enough to be understood (especially with the subtitles) by a struggling American French-speaker.
Furthermore, I'd sort of assumed the guy was dead. Not a bit. In fact, he seems rather a hottie. So the video undermined at least one of my false assumptions. Who knew the iconic Derrida was cute?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
His idea--simplistically, that we have no one piece of solid ground to stand on to observe an objective reality (I think I have that right)--was somehow turned into a basis for treating literature as primarily a demonstration of political and cultural assumptions.
Aside from that wild misapplication, this theory is so sound an addition to what we know that it seems like a no-brainer: as if, surely, we always knew that. The name Derrida and the idea itself seem to have been in the atmosphere forever, like the Metropolitan Opera or St. Patrick's Day.
And so I was very surprised to run into Derrida on Youtube, of all places, talking about the fear of writing. The short version is: he is full of fire and conviction while he's writing and full of fear of what he's doing in the moments when he starts to go to sleep. Doesn't seem to have gotten in his way; he's published 45 books.
But it's an interesting version of the experience that most of us deal with in one way or another, well worth listening to. I'm always interested in the kind of conversation between the conscious and the unconscious that he describes. Also,he speaks French (with subtitles) slowly enough to be understood (especially with the subtitles) by a struggling American French-speaker.
Furthermore, I'd sort of assumed the guy was dead. Not a bit. In fact, he seems rather a hottie. So the video undermined at least one of my false assumptions. Who knew the iconic Derrida was cute?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Lift Depression (Literally)
"The next time you are feeling a little depressed, try looking up. That's right, look up. Reach your arms overhead and let your eyes follow. You may be surprised to find that it is impossible to stay depressed while looking up into the air. You see, looking upward engages our visual sensory files, that part of our mind that sees pictures. Depression is usually a result of something we are hearing us tell ourselves." from blogger Ajay Kumar K.S. at Life Is a Quest to Find Something (Someone)
I love the simplicity of this technique. I don't know that it's the answer to major clinical episodes. But I will try it the next time I'm feeling low, should that ever happen again. Because it's been my experience that a depressed person is never as bold as she could be.
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I love the simplicity of this technique. I don't know that it's the answer to major clinical episodes. But I will try it the next time I'm feeling low, should that ever happen again. Because it's been my experience that a depressed person is never as bold as she could be.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Quailmail Courage
I'm trying something new in getting feedback on a manuscript. I'm putting out a call on the Quailmail e-newsletter of Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books asking for a few readers-who don't know me in any way and aren't writers or editors--to read my novel in progress and tell me unsparingly what they think.
Should be interesting. Wish me luck and honest readers.
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Should be interesting. Wish me luck and honest readers.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
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