LJ Idol - Season 8, Week 2 - "Three Little Words"
The first three words that came to my mind when I read this week's prompt: Occupy Wall Street.
It's kind of awesome, this little movement that could. I remember when it began. I'd only heard about it from Vince. For those who know Vince, he's an aging hippie/yippie who's very much a fixture back in my hometown. If there's something that needs protesting, or something that he can chain himself to, you can bet that Vince will be there. So getting facebook invites from Vince didn't exactly make me expect that this was going to be the movement to watch. Boy was I wrong.
It began around the same time as Rosh Hashana, and I was not there in the early days primarily because I had other things to do. Classes. Shows. I missed Day 1 because I was on the other side of Lower Manhattan, performing with the NYC Gay Men's Chorus in a mini flashmob. And then something funny happened around the time that the cops moved in to bust some heads and put an end to this thing: People started to take notice.
Maybe it was the memory of Egypt last February, or more recent demonstrations in Libya. Either way, the press went (and I'm stealing this joke from John Stewart) from "blackout" to "circus." Suddenly, there was Geraldo in his leather jacket, his windswept moustache glistening in the light of the TV camera.
Maybe it's because I'm still somewhat traumatized from my own trip to jail, but I've not really spent any time down there. I went to the Occupy Times Square demo, but snuck away before they started bashing heads in earnest.
Last night, on my way home from the Matthew Sweet show, I very randomly ran into holzman and his wife on the subway platform. They were coming from Occupy Wall Street, having been there with Steampunk Emma Goldman. I'm starting to feel less than noble for my lack of participation. I'm thinking I need to be doing more than just signal boosting online.
It's kind of awesome, this little movement that could. I remember when it began. I'd only heard about it from Vince. For those who know Vince, he's an aging hippie/yippie who's very much a fixture back in my hometown. If there's something that needs protesting, or something that he can chain himself to, you can bet that Vince will be there. So getting facebook invites from Vince didn't exactly make me expect that this was going to be the movement to watch. Boy was I wrong.
It began around the same time as Rosh Hashana, and I was not there in the early days primarily because I had other things to do. Classes. Shows. I missed Day 1 because I was on the other side of Lower Manhattan, performing with the NYC Gay Men's Chorus in a mini flashmob. And then something funny happened around the time that the cops moved in to bust some heads and put an end to this thing: People started to take notice.
Maybe it was the memory of Egypt last February, or more recent demonstrations in Libya. Either way, the press went (and I'm stealing this joke from John Stewart) from "blackout" to "circus." Suddenly, there was Geraldo in his leather jacket, his windswept moustache glistening in the light of the TV camera.
Maybe it's because I'm still somewhat traumatized from my own trip to jail, but I've not really spent any time down there. I went to the Occupy Times Square demo, but snuck away before they started bashing heads in earnest.
Last night, on my way home from the Matthew Sweet show, I very randomly ran into holzman and his wife on the subway platform. They were coming from Occupy Wall Street, having been there with Steampunk Emma Goldman. I'm starting to feel less than noble for my lack of participation. I'm thinking I need to be doing more than just signal boosting online.