Progress

Well here it is, after all this time.

A great promise will be fulfilled today when Barack Obama takes the oath of office and is sworn in a as the President of the great nation. And the country is abuzz with the energy of change. Today, we are filled with hope, excitement, anticipation, and gratitude. After so many years of living under the political and media dominance of a group of people who fight tooth and nail for laws and policies which diminish the individual rights and civil liberties for citizens of our nation, as they transfer public treasure into corporate coffers, to see the dawn of this new day fills my heart with joy … and hope!

This day was not inevitable. It has arrived on the backs of the work and sacrifices of countless souls,  from political and spiritual leaders to the unsung volunteers and civil servants, to the parents and grandparents who quietly sacrificed so that their children and grandchildren could have a chance at a better life. Upon their, and our, collective efforts, we have achieved this day: A landmark day in the eternal struggle towards the dream of a world of equal opportunity, of shared sacrifice towards the greater good, and most of all, towards justice.

We are all the beneficiaries of the work and sacrifice of others who’ve led the way here. I can sit here and type some keystrokes into this powerful machine, in the warmth and comfort of my humble abode, only thanks to years of work, discomfort, sacrifice, and the deferred gratification of my elders, and of generations past.

So as I sit here and attempt to grasp the profundity of this day, of the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, of the changing of the collective direction of our nation and the world, and look forward to the immense challenges and opportunities that lay ahead, I give my profound thanks and eternal gratitude to my forbears. We all stand upon their shoulders. And, with this debt of gratitude, we owe it to them to continue that spirit of sacrifice for our collective future and for the futures of all who shall follow us in this world.

Fired up, ready to go!

take off, eh.

Even though life doesn’t exactly adhere to the calendar,  I can honestly say that 2008 did have a unique personality, different than any year I’ve experienced before. Here’s a look back at some of the new discoveries in my life that made a positive difference.

A. Podcasts

2008 was the year I really started subscribing and listening to podcasts. Podcasts are neat because they offer fresh content to your earbuds on a daily basis, at no cost to you! Plus, you have an archive of news or music that you consume as you please – not according to a broadcaster’s schedule.

During the peak of the campaign season, I found a handful of entertaining and informative political and news podcasts. Some of them are good enough that I still subscribe, including these:

• The Young Turks, hosted by Cenk Uygur, is a hilarious and smart show for the progressive audience. Cenk has a knack for highlighting the absurd and offensive antics of the right (or left, when appropriate) and presenting them in a  humorous way.
• Rachel Maddow is the single smartest pundit on TV. A brilliant addition to cable, but her podcast is a better way to consume the show.
• On The Media from WNYC – the smartest media  analysis show. Awesome segment this week covering Bush’s final press conference. Classic shit.
  

Beyond politics, I also found these podcasts to rule:

• Tiesto’s club life podcast offers up a fresh dose of trance each week. Tiesto is considered one of the top 3 trance DJs in the world, so you know that his music selection is strong. Only negative is sometimes he talks a bit too much. Perfect for the gym, or for the pre-party.
• More Apple nerdery than you can handle on The Talk Show with Gruber and Benjamin. Last new episode came out in October. But, it was great while it lasted.
• Real Late with Peter Roseberg comes from uber-station Hot 97 in NYC. Rosenberg is the quixotic DJ who finds – and plays – the real deal hip hop. Not the BS MTV/BET/KMEL stuff. And, he’s funny.
• Edge of Sports host Dave Zirin brings together the people from the sports world and politics. So, I guess it is kind of politics-y, but not really. Intellectual for the sports fan.

B. Other Stuff

I discovered some non-podcast things, too:

• Traveling lunges transformed my lower body workout routine from average to BLAU!
  
• Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz was easily the best book I read in ’08. A book unlike any other I’ve come across.
• Cambria. I had always imagined a town like this  – the quintessential central California beach town – exisred, but never knew that it actually did. In reality, far more magical than I could have hoped. A real treasure.
• The wonders of Yelp on the iPhone ensured I never got lost or ate at a third-rate, overpriced restaurant, no matter what city or neighborhood I was in.
• Keyshia Cole, Immortal Technique, Milosh, and Dining Rooms were the new artists I heard for the first time in 2008 that I played the most.
• Honey Crisp apples. Holy mackerel, where have these apples been all my life! They are sweet, they are crispy, they are perfect. Oh, and they’re organic at my local Whole Foods. Yum.

C. The Main Thing

The discovery of the greatest significance, though, was when I realized how much drinking was affecting my sleep. Since my college days, I had suffered from ‘transient insomnia’ and for many years just lived with it. Today, I have no such affliction. Why? Well, thanks to something I discovered during my first alcohol fast, last May: a crash course in the power of sugar. Prior to the fast, I was drinking easily two drinks a night before bed. Sometimes, more. And, almost without fail, after crashing, I’d wake in the middle of the night and then toss and turn, unable to return to deep sleep.

Once I began the fast, I regularly experienced nights of uninterupted sleep. It did not take long to figure out what was going on: the sugar content of the alcohol had been messing with sugar levels in my blood and, thus, my sleep. Wow. That revelation reinforced my motivation and efforts to cut way back on drinking.

The consequences of both of these changes (less alcohol, more sleep) are hard to overstate. I feel better, I look better, I spend less. And there is nothing that can replace, or make up for, a good night of sleep. Psychologically, emotionally, and physically, there is no subsitute for rest.

D. In Conclusion

There were other things, too. I finally listened to Getting Things Done, and instituted GTD principals at work and home. I paid off two huge loans, and discovered the joy of having money in my bank account. I didn’t discover, exactly, my drawing talent. But I did continue to develop it, and that has been a proud personal achievement, too.

All in all, not a static year. And that, above all, is what is important. Life, as they say, is a journey. I don’t want to be in the same place from year to year. To grow is to discover new things – some good, some bad – and evolve. And sometimes, a podcast is just the tool to do that.

Happy discoveries to you in 2009!

Lucas was all over the place, jumping, climbing, walking and I had my arms full of Quinn, so I was following Lucas around as he explored and played. We moved all over the play area and every now and again the woman would come over and start nattering away. She did this to almost every new person to come to the park and there were a few while we frittered away an hour or two. Off to the side of the play area there were some fallen trees and since I like for Lucas to play amongst “nature”, I cajoled him into climbing and playing by the trunks. The woman followed us over there with her grandsons and she started interrogating me. I was doing my best to send out “leave me alone” signals (single syllable answers, looking away, &c), but she was relentless. She started commenting on Quinn’s pale skin and reddish hair (here the warning bells were a claxon). Guess where this went? She said, “She’s so pale?…[Implying (and you're so dark)]…What’s your husband?”. At this I took total offense. My inclination was to revert to salty language, but I was so perturbed by her impudence, I gaped. She behaved as if she took my silence to mean that perhaps I wasn’t married. I told her irritatedly, “She has father. He’s like everyone else, a human being.” She continued in her ignorance, “I guess everyone’s a little bit of everything now a days, I mean there’s all races mixed-up, Scottish, Irish, German, Canadian…”. She went on in this vein, but I’ll spare you.

The next person who comments to me on my children’s skin color and my heritage is going to get an earful. For the record, I think it is totally rude to accost strangers and demand of them their provenance. I understand that people are curious, but I don’t see where their curiosity trumps my privacy. This is all about entitlement wherein the “white” individuals see themselves as the bearers of “regular” and everyone else has to justify themselves to them. I reserve the right to tell these people in whatever language I choose that they have crossed the line. In the past I might have felt just uncomfortable with these situations and left it at that, but the website “Anti-racist Parent” has given me the vocabulary to descibe my discomfort and the inherent problems with this level of human interaction.

Many times since I became a parent I have expressed sincere and deep appreciation for my fortune to be able to put off motherhood until I was ready to be the mother I wanted to be. I have the privilege of being a product of this era. I have a husband who works hard right beside me and takes his role as a partner to heart. I have parents who are always available to assist and have given generously of their time and money to ensure that these kids have everything. My reality was not the norm 70 years ago. There were perhaps a limited number of wealthy women who had access to information and paraphenalia who could limit their fertility, but most women lived at the whim of the men around them (as is the case presently in much of the developing world).

Choice is a word that gets thrown around. I am glad that the days of compulsory pregnancy are waning and that I’ve been able to take charge of my fertility. I have the privilege of a broad education, parents who encouraged me to read widely and answered my many questions. I have access to many types of support in my community providing me with information and appurtenances as needed. Not everyone has these advantages therefore I feel it is a necessity in a tolerant society that women control their fertility and have, as a means of controlling their fertility, the ability to choose a safe and legal abortion.

Over the last few years it has become apparent to me that the POTUS has a limited effect on my life. In the past I had rejected other Democratic nominees because they were not liberal enough. I finally realised that true change comes from the bottom up and stopped looking up for that change.  After seeing who has been nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States over the last few decades and under the impression that the next president will appoint at least one justice in his term, I became a one issue voter. Then we saw McCain make his famous air quotes gesture as he spoke in the last debate about the health of the mother. I was even more horrified to consider that he might be president and make those appointments. Any time someone wanted to debate one candidate’s qualifications over the other’s I would revert to my stubborn stance and repeat ‘The next president will likely be making appointments to the SCOTUS and I want the person making those appointments to trust women to make their own decisions.’

I want my daughter to control her fertility. PERIOD.

I want women around the world to enjoy the privilege of choosing when and how they become mothers. We need to extend sex-education, brith control, equal rights, and for now, some women might need the option of abortion. For them it should a safe and legal medical procedure.

Every Vote Counts, or so we are reminded each election season. Factually, of course, this is not true, since many votes are never counted. But in spirit, the notion is indeed true. Aside from the occasional RNC-inspired vote-suppression shenanigans we’ve witnessed in Ohio and Florida in recent years, in general this country has fair and honest voting process. Not saying it’s the best, just saying it works.

And because it does, every single citizen of the vast nation of more than 300 million souls has a stake in where we go as a country. It is a profound feeling to sense that, whatever small part my vote may play, that together, it truly is the people – and not just the powerful and wealthy – at the helm of the U.S.S. U.S.

The ritual of voting is so important! For it is true that, in practice, a single vote is not going to have an effect on the outcome. But casting my vote gives me a sense of participation, a feeling of ownership in my government. It means that, along with the rest of you, I have a stake in the race, a dog in the fight, and I did something concrete to let it be known. I am so thankful that, whatever shortcomings and failures this great nation has, at the very least, I know that yes, my vote does count.

…

As we stand today at the conclusion of the most epic, grandest, most expensive, overwhelming, and longest political campaign the world has ever known, the truth is it all comes down to 140 million or so people like you and me, casting their ballots, taking part in this democratic experiment, exerting their right to vote, and then waiting, anxiously, full of fear and hope, of dreams and dread, until we learn, finally, the results of this election.

GOBAMA!!!

He sings snippets of the songs that we sing. He reads books devotedly much like Mommy and Daddy. I find him at the computer manipulating the mouse more and more frequently. When Wade pulls out his violin to practice, Lucas runs for his own wee violin case to join in. When I knit, he demands his own set of needles and some yarn (although his woolen creations are amorphous and his attention wanes quickly). Today when I futzed around taking care of our tiny garden bed, he joined in stretching out his attention span to its very limits while we went through the process of creating homes for some seedlings. If we are in the kitchen cooking, he drags a stool in and perches atop while he watches and attempts to grab the various implements as he too wants to mix, chop, saute, and bake. So it was inevitable that when he found my absentee ballot neglected for a few moments that he would take pen to paper to vote himself.

Yup, he marked my ballot up and now I have to rise very early tomorrow morning to get a replacement ballot so that I too can make my contribution to this historic moment. I hope that we do make change happen. Tomorrow can be a brighter day.

For example, about a week ago he found some ‘Lightning McQueen’ stickers at the craft store. I really don’t like the whole merchandising phenomenon that surrounds these types of studio movies, but he loves the movie ‘Cars.’ However I don’t mind buying stickers, so when he brought me the page of stickers that he wanted I relented and allowed them in the cart. We brought them home and he forgot about them until the next morning when he requested the page. He was perusing the various images that he could affix to his t-shirt and was about to go for the largest Lightning McQueen sticker on the page when I suggested that he might want to save that one for last and furthermore only use one sticker per day (I’ve watched him blast through a page of stickers in 15 minutes and the lingering malaise that afflicts him after one of these binges is a sight to see) . He paused after I made my suggestion. I could see that he was really thinking about my suggestion, browsing one by one the multitude of stickers and carefully selecting just the right one. He lay the page before him and told me that today he would wear the ‘Sally’ (one of the characters – I think Lightning McQueen’s love interest) sticker and that he would wait to use the big Lightning McQueen sticker. Each day since he has taken a moment after breakfast to thoughtfully choose his sticker for the day and apply it to his shirt. Yay, he is learning to defer his gratification and savor things rather than glutting himself.  This rather big lesson is making its first impression on his little brain.

This same lesson is one that is having rather troubling ramifications in our world today or rather the lack of our having learned this lesson is causing major problems. Basically for the last 30 years or so, we’ve had representation in power, running our government, telling us that no, they weren’t going to raise our taxes. In fact they were going cut taxes and provide services at about the same rate i.e. regular janes and joes would see little or no difference in their day-to-day business.  If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. From the housing bubble to the recent stock plunge mixed up with the deficit, today we find ourselves in a HUGE financial mess that is going to takes years and years to unravel. Most people that you and I know that is 95% of the janes and joes out there are going to take a massive hit to their financial well-being. This is the beginning of our HAVING to put off gratification in order to ensure that future generations have some chance to enjoy what we have taken for granted.

I have heard people rant about welfare and socialised medicine and meanwhile drive home on the socialised freeways that allow them to live far away from the city’s core. It’s funny how people go crazy when you take “their” money and “give” it to someone else, but when you take “someone else’s” money from those other people and “give” it to them, they don’t mind too much. Social welfare gets people in a lather, but corporate welfare seldom stirs up anyone’s emotions. This election day we have a chance to take some fiscal responsibility. Since our politicians hate taxes, they have been foisting off their job on us. How’s that? Well, all these bonds that have gotten so popular in California these last few years are simply taxes under a new name. Take out your property tax bill and look under “Your tax distribution”. There you will find a little dirty secret. Instead of raising taxes, politicians have been convincing us to finance needed adjustments by refusing to do their jobs and funding our schools and water improvements, so that we the voters will say ‘By golly, our schools shore do need some $$$. Let’s vote for this here bond and funnel some money to those poor kids.’ Doesn’t sound too bad does it? Whatever, right? It’s just taxes under a new name. This is what’s wrong with it: almost half of the money goes to the financing of the bonds. If our politicians would have some gumption they could say ‘Hey, look people, instead of hocking the cow to buy a horse just bite the bullet and ALL of the money can go for this very important thing.’ But very few politicians care to go that route and all of us with our eyes and ears closed to the truth go along and say ‘Gee, that sounds like a good deal!’ Eventually this house of cards will come crashing down, perhaps it’s already starting.

Hasn’t anyone else wondered why California, a state that was enjoying a relatively prosperous period, has had so many budget crises within the last few years? Shouldn’t there have been a surplus? Where is all this money going? Why are we paying taxes and getting so little in return? Much of that tax money is going to service these bonds, which are basically state-size mortgages. Incredible. This is why I urge you to read all the wording of the bonds before us this year and vote NO across the board. Many of these projects are noble efforts, but we need to pay cash for them or else we are looking at further undermining our collective financial well-being. Austerity, now.

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*Thank to my co-blogger for the link to Juan Enriquez’s 10 non-partisan financial commandments for the President elect above

Heretofore, my political activism has been sporadic. In college, I didn’t do much, if anything. I attended rallies (we were faced with a bunch of anti-immigrant state initiatives back then), and probably signed a few petitions. In 2000, I campaigned for Al Gore in the last month of his campaign for the presidency. In 2002, I attended a few anti-war marches. Mostly, that was about it. Not much of a showing.

Then in 2006 I started getting my feet wet in the real work of activism. Thanks to prodding from my cousin Nicole – working at the time as an organizer for the Contra Costa County Democratic Party -  I spent a weekend canvassing door-to-door for – the first time I’d ever done work like that. It was a fantastic experience and one that convinced me of the value of doing the old ‘shoe leather’ kind of political work.

Since then, I have continued to remain active – in local Democratic events, fundraisers, campaigns, and party politics. It’s been a wonderful, and educational experience. And with each new experience, the fires are stoked and the sense of really taking part in the wider community, of taking responsibility for not just my own life but for our democracy as well, it is something that has value and meaning. And I want to do more.

What am I going to do?

I love what I do professionally, and I feel gratified that I have actively pursued and achieved a career in the field that I chose. It gives me pleasure, and I beyond being a profession, web design enables me to help my family and friends express themselves online, as well. I love that.

But there is more to do. I will soon be launching a political blog, and working on ideas for tools to help the netroots community spread our ideas. I expect there will be many long nights, a lot less free time, and possibly some moments of doubt as to what the heck I think I’m doing. But I know the value of and meaning in connecting with other people in my community and across the country who are working to create positive, progressive change for our world, for our future. And I mean to do my part.

For the 1.7 regular readers of this periodically forsaken blog, you may still have a vague recollection of an earlier era (may even have been when we still went by The Duologue!) when a significant portion of my blog entries (there were more then) mentioned national political issues. Lots of stuff about little Georgie boy, Darth Cheney, and the rest of the Bush clowns.

Eventually I came to feel that OM was not really the best place for me to “ventilate those” grievances. So for the most part I ceased and desisted when it came to high political punditry.  It wasn’t because that part of my voice, brain and heart had atrophied, though, but rather because I knew I needed a proper home for them. Though I dropped politics as a topic here, those needs were sated elsewhere, via leading progressive blogs, where I’d  occasionally participate, and more recently, via my new best friend Twitter, and even real-world campaign activism!

That activist fire, which is what led to my once-frequent political snarking, was far from extinguished and despite my efforts to pipe down, still showed up here every once in a while. But I felt deeply that this is not the right venue to wax political about issues, media, and electoral issues. Nay.

The Actual Story

Today I arrived in Austin, Texas, where I am attending the Netroots Nation first annual convention. Or the third, but until this year it was known as Yearly Kos.

Why am I here?

I love politics, period. I care deeply about the policies and impacts of government upon the populace (citizens & not). And when I care about something, I usually get a strong itch to be involved in it. Politics is no exception. And one of the great things about politics is that it is a participatory sport. Now, since I have no desire to be a candidate myself, the next best thing is get involved in the grassroots.

That is what I am doing here. I am looking for my niche, my space, my voice. I desperately want to find a way that I can make some unique contribution to the throbbing ecosystem of ideas, movements, and actions that are politics in this country. Is there a particular issue, tribe, or format that calls to me? That I have the chops for? I really can’t say yet.

But I do know that I am invigorated, energized, and very thankful to be here, among people who give a serious damn about the world we all live in together. These people aren’t sitting idly by, yelling at their TVs and then drowning their sorrows in a pitcher of spud lite. Nope. Here we have union organizers, NGO communications directors, political operatives, and, yes of course, tons of bloggers. (I’m a big fan of bloggers, btw).

What am I doing?

I’ve been to a bunch of conferences, in a number of roles. At some, I’ve sat in the audience, maybe asked a question or two, tried to spark up a conversation here or there, and then gone home. With some new ideas in my head (or, less pleasantly, things I wanted to forget), yes, but not necessarily new connections with other human entities are certainly not feeling empowered to lead a better life.

But here, after a single day of attendance, interaction, speech-listening, and then drinking with my Netroots Nation cohorts, I am feeling just that: excitement, connection, and a very tangible sense of possibities that lay before me. That is just why I came and that is just what I’m doing.