Tent State V
Wow, I've been crazy busy lately. So much so that I've kinda stopped sleeping, and not even in my usual sleep-2-hours-a-night-for-two-days-then-sleep-16-hours-in-one-go way. And yet somehow I'm still behind on my work, because much of this busyness has to do with Tent State. I'm not technically a part of its organizing committee, but they got me to sign up for tabling anyway, plus I am peripherally involved in like ten different lefty-groups, and that adds up to a lot of volunteer time. Sunday, as I already said, I had my Food Not Bombs meet and preparation, and then Monday I put in 2-3 hours getting people to call their legislators to demand more funding and went to a Homeland Security meeting that ended up not really taking place, and probably some other stuff. Then today I helped run the Socialist Reading Circle group class, and then held the fort at the Rutgers Against The War table for a while, and in the evening had another meeting to discuss counter-recruitment strategies. And tomorrow I think I intend to volunteer at Art City and maybe table a bit more. Whew!
It's a great lot of fun, though. I don't even regret not sleeping. The weather is beautiful, people are relaxing and mingling on the lawn, and it's a lovely social event all around. Walking around, I see all the people I know from the aforementioned lefty groups, and it's like a big friendly family gathering. In between the tabling, I get to pet dogs, read in tents, draw, meet new people, play ball, eat free food, watch fire spinning, and listen to live music. It also allows me for non-committal volunteering, the kind I like best. That is, even when I am not explicitly committed to a particular activity, I will run into someone I know from one organization or other, and they'll ask me to help out, and I can just do it on the spur of the moment. It's the kind of opportunity for enjoying the moment that I rarely allow myself nowadays, and yet is really what life should be about.
The best part of every Tent State is in the evening, after classes are over and it switches from a hub of activism to something more of a hippie festival. That's when the organizational tents close down, food and the fire spinners come out, and bands take the stage as people come out to wander around, make art, dance, relax and enjoy the mood. It's a bit disappointing that this year's Tent State is smaller-scale than last year's, but it's still nice. Last night I had been in a rush, so couldn't stay for very long, but tonight I decided to make time for it, because dammit, it's April and it's such a shame to waste the weather. I caught up with one of my friends whom I only see at protest rallies and Tent State (well, she did go abroad this fall), and we chatted and danced in silly ways and jumped on a trampoline, and I drew my signature peacock on her chest. Then a boy I'd met briefly during my legislative tabling stint came over to talk with us, and it was all nice and low-key, and the type of unencumbered personal interaction I hadn't had in a while. After a while, my friend had to leave, but I stayed behind and continued hanging out. Funnily enough, more people came out as it got later into the night, and then there was a drum circle that went on forever and people smoked flavored hookah, and a hippie dude named Bear who said he got stranded here after his car caught fire on his way somewhere came by to join us and show us his dance moves, and it was pretty awesome.
Now I gotta go to bed and wake up in 4 hours and repeat. But hey, Natural Breakdown is playing this evening! Hurrah! That is definitely something to look forward to.
It's a great lot of fun, though. I don't even regret not sleeping. The weather is beautiful, people are relaxing and mingling on the lawn, and it's a lovely social event all around. Walking around, I see all the people I know from the aforementioned lefty groups, and it's like a big friendly family gathering. In between the tabling, I get to pet dogs, read in tents, draw, meet new people, play ball, eat free food, watch fire spinning, and listen to live music. It also allows me for non-committal volunteering, the kind I like best. That is, even when I am not explicitly committed to a particular activity, I will run into someone I know from one organization or other, and they'll ask me to help out, and I can just do it on the spur of the moment. It's the kind of opportunity for enjoying the moment that I rarely allow myself nowadays, and yet is really what life should be about.
The best part of every Tent State is in the evening, after classes are over and it switches from a hub of activism to something more of a hippie festival. That's when the organizational tents close down, food and the fire spinners come out, and bands take the stage as people come out to wander around, make art, dance, relax and enjoy the mood. It's a bit disappointing that this year's Tent State is smaller-scale than last year's, but it's still nice. Last night I had been in a rush, so couldn't stay for very long, but tonight I decided to make time for it, because dammit, it's April and it's such a shame to waste the weather. I caught up with one of my friends whom I only see at protest rallies and Tent State (well, she did go abroad this fall), and we chatted and danced in silly ways and jumped on a trampoline, and I drew my signature peacock on her chest. Then a boy I'd met briefly during my legislative tabling stint came over to talk with us, and it was all nice and low-key, and the type of unencumbered personal interaction I hadn't had in a while. After a while, my friend had to leave, but I stayed behind and continued hanging out. Funnily enough, more people came out as it got later into the night, and then there was a drum circle that went on forever and people smoked flavored hookah, and a hippie dude named Bear who said he got stranded here after his car caught fire on his way somewhere came by to join us and show us his dance moves, and it was pretty awesome.
Now I gotta go to bed and wake up in 4 hours and repeat. But hey, Natural Breakdown is playing this evening! Hurrah! That is definitely something to look forward to.