Twas the night before Voting...
I haven't had time to update or even read the posts of others since before I left on this campaign. (If anyone out there still reads this, maybe I'll go back and catch up on your LJs when I get back. Do let me know you're out there.) I've only slept through the night twice in over 5 weeks. Mindy & I bicker more often -- about nothing, just because we desperately need some solitude & rest. I miss my cats and my friends.
But... things are going pretty well, all told. We've got this "Presidential Auction" planned for tomorrow. We got great press on our Skull & Bones action yesterday (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2435390. 2 inaccuracies: I didn't say I was disappointed with the response to Nader. The reporter asked me, wasn't I disappointed by all the people who have turned against Ralph since 2000? I said I was definitely disappointed in the celebrities, but you had to look at the other side of it -- the light that comes into the eyes of non-voters when they learn that there is actually something to vote FOR --$10/hour minimum wage, no income tax on the first $50 K of income, Ralph's universal health care plan. I suspect that part was edited out -- the mainstream press NEVER reports Ralph's stance on actual issues. The other inaccuracy is the part about passersby ignoring us. We had lots of cars honking and giving us thumbs up and peace signs. I think he meant that there weren't too many pedestrians because it was snowing again.) I loved that action. It re-inspired both our "Freedom Riders" van and the Utahns for Nader. We got a real message out. We expressed our political voice in a real way, despite being so shut out by the system.
Don't know how things are going to go when I get back. Might have an opportunity to be technical writer for a friend's book project. I still feel that my healing work is a better way to make a living, but I don't know how to market it properly, and I don't have any more slack financially. I'm not sure how I get into this position over and over again. I like political activism, and I'd like to be more politically active when I get back home (especially about instant runoff voting and getting the Green Party back from the infiltrators). But I know first-hand (and not just through this recent experience) that political activism as a vocation generally doesn't let you have much of a creative life. I still want to write my real books. I still need a way to live to be able to do that. I still don't want to waste my energy in the corporate system.
So for now, I will let myself not know. I still have to prepare for tomorrow's action (make props, make media calls), do precinct work tomorrow, and then on Wednesday drive 12 or so hours home. Then I have to sleep for a long, long time. Maybe when I wake up, I will have a better idea for my post-campaign life.
Peace.
But... things are going pretty well, all told. We've got this "Presidential Auction" planned for tomorrow. We got great press on our Skull & Bones action yesterday (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2435390. 2 inaccuracies: I didn't say I was disappointed with the response to Nader. The reporter asked me, wasn't I disappointed by all the people who have turned against Ralph since 2000? I said I was definitely disappointed in the celebrities, but you had to look at the other side of it -- the light that comes into the eyes of non-voters when they learn that there is actually something to vote FOR --$10/hour minimum wage, no income tax on the first $50 K of income, Ralph's universal health care plan. I suspect that part was edited out -- the mainstream press NEVER reports Ralph's stance on actual issues. The other inaccuracy is the part about passersby ignoring us. We had lots of cars honking and giving us thumbs up and peace signs. I think he meant that there weren't too many pedestrians because it was snowing again.) I loved that action. It re-inspired both our "Freedom Riders" van and the Utahns for Nader. We got a real message out. We expressed our political voice in a real way, despite being so shut out by the system.
Don't know how things are going to go when I get back. Might have an opportunity to be technical writer for a friend's book project. I still feel that my healing work is a better way to make a living, but I don't know how to market it properly, and I don't have any more slack financially. I'm not sure how I get into this position over and over again. I like political activism, and I'd like to be more politically active when I get back home (especially about instant runoff voting and getting the Green Party back from the infiltrators). But I know first-hand (and not just through this recent experience) that political activism as a vocation generally doesn't let you have much of a creative life. I still want to write my real books. I still need a way to live to be able to do that. I still don't want to waste my energy in the corporate system.
So for now, I will let myself not know. I still have to prepare for tomorrow's action (make props, make media calls), do precinct work tomorrow, and then on Wednesday drive 12 or so hours home. Then I have to sleep for a long, long time. Maybe when I wake up, I will have a better idea for my post-campaign life.
Peace.