Ok, due to some thoughts and requests on the I Remember When diary, I am puffing up my muscles and dragging this big old Welcome Wagon in here today….Was it missed?
Here’s the deal, whether you just came here a week ago, a month ago or have been here from the beginning, come over here now and tell us all about you, or what you care to share. Remember, newbies don’t know about you if they just got here, so tell again, if you’ve told before…
Also I am happy to announce that our welcome wagon gift baskets are all lined up and ready to give out, they are filled with all kinds of goodies…
Me, I’m a little old lady in Pasadena, er…..Santa Ana, but nearly the same. 62, semi-retired and about to undergo a move of my own soon, that will be new and different and I feel a great change in my life for the good. In previous versions of my life I was an antique dealer, a mother of 5, grandmother to many, executive in a Trust Administration Firm, nanny, and oh so many other things…Didn’t identify as a Dem. until Clinton, not an early liberal, wanted to be independent and besides I came from a solid Rep. background..I like to think they would have all turned to if they lived to see the day.
So enough about me, let’s hear about you, and I mean all of you……please!!!!! 
Hey folks, notice this diary and come on over.
Someone has to start and get this off the ground, oldtimers, you remember the drill right.
Old or new…
There ya go!
Hi Diane-
I’m Eve, I’m here from Kos. It’s gotten a little ugly over there lately. I like what I’m reading here, I’ll probably flit back and forth.
I registered here some time ago but just started reading and commenting. It strikes me as a saner more friendly place.
I live in NYC.
Well hi, nyceve, and I must press you to tell a bit more if you don’t mind…now your screen name makes sense, nyc eve…
Welcome to the site, jump right in and splash around, the water is fine…
Picture from Janet Strange’s back yard.
Yes, that’s the reason, I live in NYC. My friends think it fits me as well, I’m also known as Nice Eve.
I went to Barnard College, graduated with a degree in economics.
I do many things. I work in real estate with European investors. Maybe I’ll do some hair raising diaries about the bubble–and it is a bubble. I’m also a writer. I come from a family of writers and journalists.
Thanks for the warm welcome.
welcome Eve. It is so good to have you here with us in the pond. <<<shakes frog foot>>>>;o) Am interested in what you have to say.
Me too!
Wish that was in my back yard. Or that my back yard was the kind to have such pretty things in it. Mine is mostly dog play area, with a veggie garden carefully protected from dog depredations by a fence.
It’s sort of my “back yard” since I took the pic at a nursery in San Marcos, about 35 miles down the road from Austin.
btw, I am officially acknowledged to have been the first BooTribble to have used the phrase “frog pond” for our place here. Although I stole the idea from sjct – it’s in this diary.
I couldn’t find the comment where BooMan did that official acknowledgement (while pointing out that I stole it from sjct), but while I was looking, I came across DuctapeFatwa’s classic What Women Cannot Do – the link to which I am posting for the newbies who have not yet had the pleasure. Still one of the funniest diaries I have ever read here.
Janet, thanks so much for the link to Ductape’s diary. I saw a reference to it earlier on either this thread or the “I Remember When” thread, and I was going to go trawling laboriously through his old diaries, because I love Ductape’s writing, but you saved me the trouble.
What a great giggle! Wish I’d been around then to contribute.
Hey Eve,
You are the one who has been posting those incredible diaries about health insurance at DKos–am I right?
Just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated those diaries and the light they throw on the abysmally sorry system of healthcare in the US.
Hi Poco-
Indeed that’s me. I intend to keep doing the diaries. I’m thinking of a new one on the problem known as patient dumping.
I’m mulling it over, doing a bit of research. But thanks so much for your kind words.
Eve
You are welcome. And I would be really interested in reading about real estate in NY.
I used to live in Brooklyn, but my landlady decided to sell the apartment, couldn’t afford to buy it even though I loved, loved it, looked around and realized that I couldn’t really afford to rent in Brooklyn either, have moved to Queens recently with a rather heavy heart, (I am a Brooklyn person at heart, what can I say?) So yeah, the bursting of the real estate bubble would be of great interest to me.
Hi Eve and welcome…anything to do with health insurance/health care system is something I’m intensely interested in and will always read and usually recommend.
and I’m glad that you are here…
Like many I followed to Women Kossacks, and to OurWord.org…you are an amazing writer and amazing person! RL and work limits the amount of participation I get to do so most of it’s here…damn work – just kidding mostly!!
Looking forward to reading more and more from you.
Thanks Diane, for giving us all the chance to get to know each again and to welcome the newcomers. You are such a lovely person to do this……hugs
Hi Diane, I just wanted to say that we were neighbors once. I lived in Santa Ana for a year while I attended U.C.Irvine. Other school year stayovers included Newport Highs, and Irvine. After that, after I dropped out of UCI for the proverbial lack of funds, I ended up in Costa Mesa for three years before leaving So.Cal completely.
Oh, and I grew up in Mission Viejo – but not because my family was wealthy. When my parents moved us there (in ’67), it didn’t have so much as a post office or a freeway off-ramp. To go to the grocery store, my mom used to drive the back roads to Costa Mesa.
Oh, I just turned 43, and I now live in Tasmania, with my partner (who posts here as myriad), my very large white dog Luna, two rabbits named Albert and Henry, and five Muscovy “ducks”.
“Facinating” factoid, I’m 5’7″ (169cm), and I used to wear a shoe sized 5 1/2 (really small, for those of you unfamiliar with American shoe sizes). Then at 30, my feet started growing again and I now wear a size 8 or 8 1/2.
Keres, I had no idea, my kids went to harbor High, and we lived in Costa Mesa for years and years, since 70′, and only recenlty moved to SA.
We still have big connections with Costa Mesa, since three of my kids were born and lived there till they were in their 20’s…Hey I lived across the street from harbor High, in early 70’s…..used to hate trying to back out of the driveway during school comings and goings hours.
I first came to Orange County in about 63 and lived in HB for a few years, then Hawaii, then SA, then Costa Mesa, and back to SA.
Thanks for sharing that Keres, do you think we might have passed each other in the night, or day..
I can say, with a great deal of certainty, that we were both on the same stretch of the I-5 and/or the 55 at same time, at some point during those years. I drove a burgandy Nissan pickup, with a white fiberglass shell on the back, if that helps. 😉
And, speaking of freeways (and who in California doesn’t), I’m so glad I left before the highways became complete and utter gridlock.
Or the 405….yes we may have even been in the same stores at the same time. Like Stater Bros. on Newport Blvd. or Hightime Liquor.
Yeah the darned old freeways, I do hate to have to get on them at all anymore and mostly I just stay at home but daughter always pulls on to the Freeway with me in the car, as I hang on to my seat for deer life. Is that deer or dear, not sure.
But I do remember the days of driving to Inglewood, on surface streets taking a couple hours each way and the absolute joy we felt when the 405 was built.
Too bad they gave up the red car line so early in our history.
Here goes: Live on SSD/I and other social programs after tbi. TBI happenned at former employer–used to manage a lawn and garden center–was smacked on the back of the head w/3 post hole digger. After tbi rehab, got a divorce and attended grad school after winning scholarhip. Couldn’t do old job or what I was studying for due to aftereffects of tbi.
Repeatedly tried to get life back together and it just hasn’t worked out yet. Keep telling myself that the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train, but it is sure one hell of a long tunnel. Currently go online at library as computer is down, damn it! Pissed off dem voter now giving 3rd parties a serious look. LOVE TO WRITE!
Also the Street Kid is somewhat misleading, as I am female. Didn’t know wtf else to use when I first registered, so I went w/that. True story: Used to live in SW Detroit (rough part of town) when I was in grad school (295.00 per month, heat included). Now live in the burbs. The Street Kid actually came from a time when I was out w/a buddy of mine (he’s from Flint, similar neighborhood.) We started bsing/comparing notes and he said, “We’re both a couple of damn steet kids!”
That’s it in a nutshell!
Well Hi, street Kid and a hardy welcome from me, here’s your gift basket, enjoy…
So that’s how you got TBI, I have been wondering about that since I first saw your tag line…so sorry about that injury and that you are disable as a result.
You will find many disabled or partially disabled on this site, we have done previous diaries on this, and there are many. I have my own disabling injuries, among them my back, but I still can work a little, but not outside of family business, where I can do this and work at the same time.
I would have guessed you as male, thanks for letting us know.
My sis lived in Detroit for a year while going to Wayne State U. passed through the town on the way to ca. in 1960…
OMFG!!!!
Undergrad and grad school at Wayne!!!
Late sister also attended WSU in the ’60’s, as did brother-in-law!
Amazing isn’t it how we connect, paths traveled and all that, travellers that we all are.
What years did you attend WSU?
Btw has anyone ever used Classmates.com for connecting…I tried to connect with classmates from Oakmont, Pa. and it seems no one remembers me, not even one of my best friends from Highschool, she coudl vaguely recall me upon pressing.
Undergrad: 1981-1985.
Grad: 1993-1995.
Also have tried to look up a few people from the past w/similar results. Guess I wasn’t that memorable…
(Or those that I did hang w/were too stoned at the time to give a damn!)
I began teaching at WSU in 1993 (still do – psych).
Out of curiosity, was it thru the college of ed or psych dept?
Some years are vague, when you consider the era that I grew up in!
It’s great that you are here….really enjoy your writing and comments.
Remember the light at the end of the tunnel is a friendly dragon and not a train!
Thanks SallyCat! Really glad to be here and really enjoy this site. Glad you’re here too! Looking forward to meeting the friendly dragon!
Basically, that sums me up. In my teens, I was a civil rights activist, an anti-war protester, a dope-smoker, acid-dropper and card-carrying Young Republican all at the same time.
In my early 20’s, I was a fashion model, lounge singer, spender of night’s with rock stars. By the end of the 70’s, my first husband and I were rich; I drove a Mercedes, had a Calvin Klein wardrobe and had bloody mary lunches with my friends.
In my early 30’s, I left all that and traveled around the UK and Europe in a Scottish Highlander bus that I converted into a luxury motorhome. My kids were the first on their block to see the Eiffel Tower and hike around Dartmoor.
By the end of the 80’s I was back in the States and started up a successful graphic design/advertising/printing company. Eventually, I ended up being the graphic production director for a Fortune 500 corporation and I earned over a $100K per year.
Then I got sick. And sicker. And sicker still until I ended up in public housing being supported by SS-I. Hmmm, do you see a pattern here? I get rich. I get poor. Rich again. Poor again. Right now, I’m middle-class. Maybe I’ve attained balance at last?
Thru all of this life, I’ve been a writer, an artist, a metaphysical deep thinker, and a political activist for which ever side represents Power to Individual People.
Six years ago I married a man who loves me even tho I’m still sick and have daily pain. He’s an old Marine turned IT wizard. I joke that we both fought the Vietnam war — he was in the jungle and I was in the street.
The past year, we have been in trauma as his employment has been threatened. We left the suburbs of Atlanta and moved to the VA foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains six months ago. Now, because his job is on the block once again, we’re moving to armpit coastal NC.
The thing that has kept us from going completely suicidal has been our dream of building a self-sufficient, organic smallholding. All of our time in VA was limbo, waiting for the house in Atlanta to sell. Now, we’re moving on 12/7 into a brick rambler with three fireplaces — even one in the kitchen — with a barn and a flat half-acre of sandy loam waiting to be tilled. I’m going to have a big garden and a flock of chickens. If everything works like we plan, Hubby will even get the Jersey milk cow he wants.
So if Western Civilization will just wait until I have a pantry full of Mason jars filled with organic veggies before collapsing, I would appreciate it.
Well Mrs.sjct, I always love to read anything you write, you are among the best…and there were tidbits in there I did not know before so thanks for adding some new dimensions to your personna.
And your Findhorn story is still being read, nearly everyday on VB…proving what a great writer you are.
I envy you your chicken and garden future, my future will alas not contain either of those, but will continue on with my container gardening and vicariously live that life through you, so I am expecting lots of words from you on that.
Extra special big giant hugs to you today!!!
Love the image but I love the garden you describe better!
This winter I started my first organic veggies – lettuce and peas – here in No.California. Maybe we should start an vegetable garden diary in the spring…planting seeds to planting in soil?
But not on weekends…that’s when the fingers need dirt! Maybe a weeknight??
I’m glad the path you are currently on has led you to us!
I am going to have sooooo much to do getting the house in order, laying out and tilling my veggie beds. I’ve already developed a planting schedule and lay-out for what goes where, when. If everything goes according to schedule and budget, I’ll be planting a perennial bed of asparagus the first week in February.
I’m hoping to start this Diary Series with a explanation of how to create a planting schedule, how to prepare soil and literally stake out a lay-out. I’ll include a non-denominational Blessing of the Seeds ritual for Imbolc/Candlemas as well.
As per your excellant suggestion, I think I’ll aim to post these diaries on Thursday nights to prime folk for the weekends.
Blessed Be*
Excellent ideas! I love including the blessing of the seeds!
I’ll dig out some of my notes for moon planting guides if some may want to try those as well.
Your garden sounds exciting – and I understand the hard work part! We spent part of the weekend discussing building a small greenhouse at our retirement place in the mountains. There is snow there until mid-to-late May so a greenhouse space attached to the shed will be awesome.
Thursday nights – I’ll be there!
I came over in the “Pie Exodus”. I liked the way the lily pads floated and stayed. I don’t comment much, mainly lurk.
I am a 26 year old stay at home mom of one gorgeous 2 year old boy.
Haven’t been around any of my favorite haunts lately because of RL. (mother-in-law is getting increasingly ill etc.)
I have missed you guys so much though! I did promise Manny that I would do a diary soon…and I will! Still trying to sort out the time for that one!
RL sometimes can take a toll…we are here to listen and give hugs if you need them.
Besides we LOVE baby pictures in the Cafe’!
Glad you are here and comment when you can…
in more than one way. Old timer as in age(well not THAT old-late 50’s)and old timer as to being here at the Frog Pond from the beginning.
And as much as diane has tried and asked pretty please for me to do diaries of my own I’ve managed to resist her siren song and have yet to do one of my own.
Hard to even give a thumbnail portrait of yourself when you get to be this age..to much has happened in your life usually for any short outline.
I can say I grew up catholic(kindergarten through one year of high school)and now am pretty much agnostic or atheist-haven’t quite decided. Grew up poor(very poor even though relatives paid for catholic school)…married for 11 years way back when….had health problems that no doctors believed in and instead tried to make it into mental problems…went back to school in my 30’s and graduated at the top of my class at a Jr. college with several scholarships and then had to forfeit them due to the medical problems because I couldn’t get the help I needed to be able to continue college as in wheelchair ..which once again was told that I had none and simply didn’t want to go on to 4 year college(yeah that’s why I worked so hard for the scholarships). Anyway to skip a whole bunch I ended up on SSD in the 90’s but not for my real medical problem although finally in 1997 I was finally diagnosed with a hereditary neuro-muscular disease-explaining my lifelong problems and reasons why my physical life had been so severely limited(and not all in my head).
Bad part is that this disease is barely known to most doctors and many still want to believe that it’s all in my head-even though nerve conduction tests show massive nerve and much muscle damage…also making me basically a shut-in. It may be a gross understatement to say that I detest doctors and the medical profession.
And anyone who knows my signature here also knows that I tend to write much much more if I’ve taken extra pain pills for the day-as I’ve done today…or running of at the mouth might be another way of putting it.
I’m always automatically for the underdog, in general don’t like cops and don’t trust them. I’ve been called names more than once for dating outside my race and also for dating people much older or younger than myself(last boyfriend was 25 years younger than me)…and really don’t understand prejudice at all. Don’t like organized religion, despise Walmart and don’t believe you ever get anywhere by trying to shout someone into your point of view. Love movies and movie trivia and think libraries are sacred places. Frank Sinatra was the greatest singer ever and Green Day rocks. If you’re not a feminist or humanist then you’d better start paying more attention to the world around you. The Native American set of commandments beats the Christian set of commandments by a country mile-no comparison.
Man oh man the pain meds are working overtime right now aren’t they…maybe to much info so will hit post.
.
Your first comments @BooMan
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
Hey Oui, thanks for that link..after all who doesn’t like to read their own words..and I wasn’t to embarrassed by reading some of my early deathless prose/comments here at the Pond.
wow chocolate you wrote 2204 comments, I hate to think how many I might have written, gabby as I have been at times.
ha..diane I didn’t even pay attention to that particular fact..then again maybe not doing diaries left me open to more commentating, huh. And like I’ve mentioned probably too many times actually that I tend to write more when I’m a wee bit flying from the extra doses of pain meds(that I really shouldn’t be taking).
I also have to mention again the fact that I felt comfortable here from the start due to boo making sure that women were not second class citizens as far as having valid and insightful opinions on more than just ‘womens issues’. And by the way that’s a term I hate..I think all issues effecting people are human issues and shouldn’t be categorized as male/females issues.
By the way diane, a fun diary you had up way back when was what did people wear when they were blogging and also why people picked the names they did for their sigs..might be fun to ask those questions again with so many new people here.
I was thinking of that too, about what you wear when blogging, yeah I should do that one again..
Boy these two diaries have kept me typing all day today, haven’t done this much for ages.
Though not here nearly as long as you Diane. I swear, I can’t remember anything about Jim Morrison. It’s not fair you all tittering about those old diaries without giving us a link. I know my memory is lacking in some areas, but certainly not that one.
I’m just lucky we’re all wearing name tags.
Alice, you crack me up! 🙂
I suggest you check her diary page, don’t think she has written too many diaries, forgot what the title was, but I think you will know when you see it…
My comment was titled wowzer….is that any clue…
I think it may have been written in our pre 500 days, but I have to warn you, to paraphrase Paris Hilton, it is “”””HOT””””
Ok, I will go and get the link for you..be back in a sec…
Ok here is the link
Thanks – I read it first thing in the morning on Monday, so if you think I’m a little off this week you’ll know why. What a brave girl sjct is! I couldn’t go on a trip without making sure to go to the bathroom first and surround myself with friends and to never go indoors. And people would say I was a wild one at nineteen. I knew I was a bit late to the party, but I had no idea! Now I’m a dedicated student of history, with a little help from my friends.
OK, female, 62, live in small town in NH where I am an elected official, and co-chair of town Dems. Got started in town politics on a committee to help negotiate a new cable TV contract, I wanted good internet access. Ended up doing all sorts of committees and then ran for selectman and am finishing up a three year term, wasn’t going to run again, but people want me too (!!!!).
Started in other politics with the Dean campaign, trying to keep the town Dems organized and working. Just found out from Democracy for NH (our offshoot of Dean for America) that our town is going to have to change voting machines, or go to hand counts, which is preferable and possible in a town of 2300 voters.
As you can see, politics is top on my list. But I am married, second time, 22 years, mother of two daughters, grandmother of two grandsons. (Yesterday morning I got an e-mail from Patrick, 11, with the heading, “don’t worry, I’M OK” and a brief video of him going over the handlebars of his bike and writhing on the ground. Took a while to find out from his mom that he hurt his knee, but is in one piece.)
I work on land use issues, environmental issues, women’s issues – I am a long time liberal, if nothing else Nixon convinced me never to trust a Republican.
Have I seen you at dKos under another name? Small town Selectwoman sounds familiar…
I myself am in small town Claremont. I’m planning on moving to the Nashua area in the spring, because I need more human interaction at his point in my life. This point being an almost 36 year old divorced woman currently living in a town with nothing to offer. My ex- and I are best of friends again, which is very good. He lives in the town next door, but as goes with the BTDT line of thinking, it’s time to move on…
That’s me. Northwood, half way between Concord and Portsmouth.
welcome bloomingpol. pleasure to meet you…
second that.
I’m a Democrat and a democrat. I’ve always thought of myself as a centrist (who doesn’t), but the more I see of what corporations and corporatists have done to our world, the more Green I become.
I’m an eclectic humanist. I take wisdom where I find it. The more I learn about the role organized religion has played in the history of the world, the less I want any part of it. I think reason and science offer our best hope for understanding the world and our place in it.
I first got hooked on Daily Kos after seeing Markos in an interview on C-SPAN I think. I think if you’re a progressive or a liberal and you care about what’s happening to our country under the current regime, you just about have to care about what’s happening at dKos.
I followed a link from one of Booman’s diaries at dKos to this place and liked what I found. I think of dKos as a rowdy gathering at a bar. BooTrib is more like a friendly gathering at the student union. From here it wasn’t hard to find European Tribune. I visit other blogs from time to time, but those are the three I read every day.
I chose my screen name with some care. It’s a not very clever play on the term innocent bystander. I can’t claim innocence, by any means, but I freely confess my ignorance, and I’ve been a bystander for far too long.
welcome bystander. so good to have you here with us.
I posted this a couple of days ago on a similar diary at EuroTrib, but the diary was probably too old to have any readers. This might be my first post here. I’ve been reading for a long while.
I’m a 28-year-old (eek, almost 29) person originally from Finland but currently living in the Netherlands. I’ve lived most of my life in Helsinki. As a kid I was interested in everything, and as an adult (?) I am interested in almost everything – and this is sometimes a problem, since I’ve studied different subjects for years, not being able to focus properly. Hence, still haven’t gotten my Master’s.
I’ve been on the very far left when I was a kid, then have drifted towards the ‘regular’ left and am now hovering somewhere between the Finnish left wing party and anarchy. No, just kidding.
In Helsinki I worked as a systems administrator. I took care of large-scale e-mail systems, usenet news servers, and such. I love tinkering with computers but I never thought it would become a career. I was supposed to work part-time to finance a nicer way of life but ended up working full time and then some, getting stressed in the process. I was thinking of leaving and doing something else but inertia (and lovely coworkers) kept me in my place. Until my husband got a job offer from a university in the Netherlands and suddenly we moved here.
I’ve now lived in the Netherlands for only three months and at the moment am spending most of my time trying to learn the language. Also, I’m trying to understand at least some of what’s happening in the Dutch society and politics. Thanks to those who write diaries about the Dutch political issues (on EuroTrib), I’ve learnt a lot!
What else.. I love photography, and if I could choose, I’d make it a career. I’m just not sure that it is a viable career choice. I also love books, and documentary films, and travelling. I’ve backpacked around Europe a few times and trains are my preferred method of travelling. I like technical stuff, computers, taking things apart and trying to put them together again.. I also like cooking, and eating well, and good beer, and having people over.
Good to have you here and welcome, I hope you will spash around in the pond more. Our dear Oui lives in the Netherlands as well…oh you’ve probably read him on the Euro trib…
you are up late correct or would that be early.
You seem to be having a very interesting life and you do English very well, good to have you here..
Yeah, I’m up late – will be having trouble getting up in the morning!
Thanks for the warm welcome – and thanks for complimenting my English, now if only my Dutch was better..
.
Somewhat like mañana in the Spanish and Mexican culture ::
tzt = te zijner tijd, het komt wel.
I do write regularly about Dutch society more than Dutch politics. For the latter see excellent diaries by koenzel @EuroTrib. For learning the Dutch language, perhaps a group EuroTribe language course.
I am glad to see you read here at BooMan’s Place. BTW a number of nationals from Finland have been swimming in the pond for a while.
WELCOME!
Info: Watersnoodramp 1953
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Hey, I did not know that! Tzt comes from my old university e-mail account name. Thanks for telling and thanks for the suggestions.
welcome tzt…good to have y ou here…
long winded person? I hope not. I love Bootrib. I have been here since the pie wars. I am an academic and should turn off the computer right now and go and grade some essays. I know so much more about what is going on in the world because of Bootrib, and before that, DailyKos. I think SusanHu is great! And all of you others too. You are so smart, funny and kind.
By the way, you can call me “time waits.” I am waiting for this horrible presidency to be over. Not that we won’t have problems then, but come on. . How stupid can people be? Too stupid.
Glad you came to the frog pond….
With so much going on in the world without blogs like BooTrib to help funnel some of the information I think we’d all be on informatoin overload.
Lots of us came from DailyKos – I still go dabble periodically to support BooTribbers or friends that are still there. Time and distance helps put our involvement there in perpsective.
Now the only pie we’ve got is left over pumpkin!
Hi there. I am a 64 year old female who divorced my husband of 40 years, packed up the dog and drove to southern Mexico where I have lived for the past 3 years. I am finally living my dream! I came here from Kos and mostly read and learn. A liberal dem for many years and mother of 3 and grandma to many. Thanks for this blog. It is very comfortable and welcoming. Nice to meet all of you.
Hi Sheila, thanks for posting and good for you for making that move, is that Mexico as in country, or new Mexico…I think living the dream life comes for a lot of us in late 50’s early 60’s, I too am living my dream life, spiritually that is…would prefer to live in a greenhouse in the woods, but haven’t manifested that yet.
It is Mexico. I live near Manzanillo on the beach.
Hi Shelia, so good to have you here..
I am new – brand new. Just look at my user ID and you’ll see that I joined about the same time that today’s “I Remember When” diary went up. I’m a 46 year old gay man; an L.A. transplant living with my partner in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am a systems analyst for a large faith-based (Catholic) health care system and I am an atheist. I am a blue dot in a sea of red and I thrive on reminding the people I work with that other world views exist. I linked here from Dkos after reading something about BT being a haven for disgruntled Kossacks. Whatever. I have no aspirations of flaming anyone for their opinion. I learn so much from other people and so far… this looks like a great crowd to learn from.
I’m a bit south of you in Austin, TX — I salute you in OK!! I am looking forward to hearing from you from your perspective there!
Hey back – Brinnainne. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Austin being 180 degrees from the rest of Texas. I’ll have to visit some day and compare it my only other Texas experience – East Texas. I drove through there on my way to New Orleans to do volunteer animal rescue after Katrina. And I thought Tulsa was the capital of the Bible Belt!! Sheesh – was I wrong!
I did part of my growing up in Tyler (serious East Texas) and still have relatives there so I go there pretty often. It is a Very Bizarre place.
Austin, on the other hand, where I have lived since 1970, is best described by Kinky Friedman as, “Austin is not so much in Texas, as surrounded by it.”
Welcome to the Frog Pond, Bodean!
Janet – I did most of my growing up in Longview, Texas – just a hop and a skip from Tyler! Now that’s some red territory. I don’t get back there too often. Most of the family has migrated to Dallas and I escaped to the blueland of Minnesota.
While I was cruising through KP’s links, I came across your comment about your family. East Texas really is beyond “red” – it’s pathological, in a lot of ways. Lucky for me, my family, although most of them vote R, are really good, loving people. If deluded, politically. But I can’t stay in Tyler more than a couple of days without feeling like I’ve gone through a really warped looking glass.
And Dallas! I spent 3 years there in college before escaping to Austin. When I go there (more relatives) it feels like the Temple of Materialism. Like the entire city is a giant mall. Ick. With, of course, a lot of the charming social attitudes that spill into it from being too close to East Texas. If you have to do a family visit to Dallas, try to work in a day or two for Austin – you can stay with me and we’ll try to disinfect the Dallas cooties before you head back to blueland.
What a sweet offer Janet. I’d love to take you up on that.
And boy-howdy, do you have Dallas down or what?!
I’m having a little trouble gathering my thoughts about the kool-aid crowd down there today. My parents just came up here for Thanksgiving. As I mentioned many times before, they’re not just Republican – they are card carrying members of the religious wingnut division. They watch a lot of news – but only from the faux news channel.
I always feel a little crummy after being with them. We didn’t talk any politics or religion this time. But its just so sad to see how warped their worldviews are. And its part of how they cope with life in general – not just politics. Hard to explain, but its just sad.
I lived in Longview, where my Grandma lived with her second husband. Baby brother was born in Tyler, wait…Gilmer? I think that’s right. I was young though. Only 9, but even still have remnants of beyond red residue lurking in the deep cortex. My teacher hated my f’in guts cause my hair was long. So much that my Mom had to go to bat for me and get me switched to another class. Another fond memory is fishing in a cypress? swamp from a jon boat for alligator gars :o) Interesting fish. On one of these trips with my new Grandpa I got a lecture about how Jesus was a “godamned hippy” :o) I think he was a little torn ;o) I used to watch him drink his homemade wine, skins and all, on the carport. Everyone had a carport. I remember chasing the mosquito truck in the evenings with my brothers, which come to think of it, might explain some of my less than normal brainwave mis-firings ;o)
The last time I saw him in ’84 was when he a Grandma visited me in NY. After he had gone home to Texas I found a bag under my bed that was full of Jehovahs Witness Lit :o) He meant well and had a BIG heart, as big as Texas. At the core he was a good man, with good intentions to say the least.
Thanks for generating the memory hole ;o)
Oh yeah, his name was Harley….perfect ;o)
Hey Supersoling – a little 6 degrees of separation to the Longview connection.
Have you heard Molly Ivins tell her story about the guy who ran for the Texas legislature from Longview? Apparently he was one to rant about the pinko communist who was running against him. During the course of the election, he was shot in the arm and blamed it on the pinkos. Turns out he had hired his cousin to shoot him so he could blame it on the libruls. Molly usual ends the telling of this story by talking about the foresight of the Texas legislature in passing a law that makes asking someone to shoot you a crime!! So the guy lost his seat in the legislature and went to jail. Imagine that!
A friend of mine worked for Joe Ely for a while. She told me that he used to joke that the reason the Flatlanders (Ely, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore) got along so well is that they were all similarly crazed from chasing the mosquito trucks and breathing in all that – was it DDT? – when they were kids growing up in Lubbock.
And alligator gar – yikes, what a scary fish! I can’t imagine fishing for them on purpose. Don’t tell me y’all ate them. Yuk.
Hi there brand new member, good to have you here, quite a move from Ca. to Tulsa, to DK to Bootrib…Atheist working for a faith based business, I love it.
Are we a haven, for awhile we were a refugee camp, but since have closed that down, yes I think we may be a haven and not just for disgruntled DK’ers, but for anyone who wants a little community along the path we are all on.
Here is your gift basket, hope you like all the contents….
I especially love the fresh fruit and the bubble bath in my welcome basket!!
Tulsa is quite different than L.A., but the BIG BONUS has been that my progressive world view has become much stronger and better defined since I’ve moved here. I have to defend it quite often and without the education I’ve received on lefty blogs, some of the wingnuts I work with would roll over me. Instead they realize that I can hold my own. I’ve even had one or two of them admit to me – privately, of course – that some of their views are becoming more liberal. It’s not because of me… I think they’re starting to wake up a see what’s happening.
Anyway – nice to be here. I’m looking forward to the rest of my basket. 😉
Hey Bodene. It is great to have you here. Welcome
Hi Diane,
I went exploring in the way-back machine and found it’s only been six months since I posted this introduction at the pie war refugee and triage center. It seems like a lot longer ago! It all is basically still true, except everyone is a year older.
Some autobiographical bits (mostly comical) recent folks may have missed; a sampling of the fun we have at the frog pond:
Philly Barbershop Story (my first Booman comment!)
A Blogger and His Dog (first Thursday Dog Blog photo)
Funny Food Stories
What happens when you take an old lady to the National Art Gallery in D.C.
Life Imitates Dilbert
Screaming in the city of the deaf
First time I got front-paged (with funny poll)
Me, Kansas, and Katiebird recall the midwest floods of 1993
Blueneck, BrendaStewart & me discuss life in the South
This was just really funny
And thus, a monster was unleashed on the unsuspecting BooPond, Bwahahahahaha.
Boo & me discuss city versus suburban childhoods
Mrs. K.P.’s Wholesome American Family
Me & Catnip have a snarky discussion …on fire ants!
Boston Joe & me share happy memories of old cars and childhood beatings
a pedantic and snarky discussion, LOL
bingo terrorists
I have so much fun here, it’s a wonder I get any work done for my employer at all, LOL!!
The Philly barbershop story is actually one of my favorites. I thought I was just weird. 🙂
While we’re recycling, this Friday Happy Hour from July was pretty silly…
I remember that story, LOL – because my first name is Al!
Good thing you’re not a web guy?
Firstly, I want to say a big WELCOME to each of the new arrivals. I am so glad to meet each of you. BTW, am glad to be here with the older one too….;o)
I came over from the other place during the pie war.
I am 60 y/o female with military background. A hemodialysis nurse of 5 years. I have been a nurse since I can ever remember to dream. I am an Independent, always have been one, but lean towards the progressive democratic ways of thinking. I am a mother, grandmother and am divorced.
I love ppl and life. I love to learn and will listen always but may not like my reaction to info…;o) I think I am way to opinionated but have to deal with it carefully to not become obnoxious..;o) Hugs around the pond and glad you chose a lilypad to bring to us your expertiese of thoughts. ribbit ribbit….
whoops, I am a hemodialysis nurse of 15 years…a nurse for 37 years. In the medical field since 18 years of age.
A nurse for 37 years!
That should qualify you for sainthood, bless your heart!
Too lazy to rewrite another one, so I’ll just steal the one I used a while ago, under the subject line, “Reclaiming my inner hippie.”
I teach biology at a community college. Anatomy, physiology, cell and molecular, lately. I’ve also taught microbiology, organismal (you know, bugs, algae, ferns, mushrooms, lobsters, lichens – if it’s an organism, it’s in that course) and critical thinking.
I spent my 20’s being a good-for-nothing slacker hippie, rebelling against the world I grew up in in the 50’s – materialism, sexism, racism, homophobia, nationalism, war. I’m still rebelling against all of those.
After my daughter was born when I was 32, I figured I’d better get my work-type shit together so as to set a good example for her. Back to school. My BA was in English, but I ended up getting a Ph.D. in zoology, developmental biology (embryology) to be more precise. Did my graduate work on kidney development in chicken embryos, mainly trying to figure out how cells move and how they know where to go.
My best friend kept telling me that I ought to teach at the community college, “You’d love it!” but I kept resisting. Community college – ugh. Pure snobbery on my part. But she was right, I do love it. I love (most of) my students, and I love being able to teach all kinds of subjects. I get bored pretty easily, so when that happens, I just start teaching a new course. Couldn’t do that if I had followed the usual academic path.
infidelpig’s talking about growing his hair long again made me start thinking about reverting to hippie youth when old age is looming up ahead. A couple of years ago, I started growing my hair again, quit wearing makeup or shaving my legs. I’m in the “if you can’t deal with it, tough” stage of life. I also dance in public.
Yellow shirt, long gray hair, that’s me. Oh, and 56, single, one best-kid-in-the-world daughter, two dogs, three cats.
Oh, and I’m 57 now – funny how that happens.
I’m an almost 36 year old divorced woman. My ex- and I are such best friends because of it. We had no kids, so that definitely helped in the process. It’s just me and the Jasper doggie now. Living in a condo, which I was thankful enough to buy less than two weeks before I lost my job. Living on unemployment for the moment, though I am interviewing and needing a job again soon…
I’m in NH, my immediate family is in CT. I can’t handle CT… too dense. Density of population and density of mind. I was just there for the T-Day holidays.
I consider myself an extreme progressive, though I am a registered democrat. Womens’ issues and reproductive issues are currently at my forefront. Stay the fuck out of my house, my bedroom, my body… I’m quite passionate about that there.
Just beginning to get actively involved. Came here from dKos… still frequent there. There’s a lot of info there. I’m actually volunteering with YearlyKos and going to Vegas in June. The beginning of what I feel I need to start doing… I’m mostly in C&J over there, being a snarky soul and such. Have met a handful of east coast folks in person, and love the connection I feel with them. I never used to be a ‘people’ person, but then I never knew myself before I got divorced, so this is all good.
I’m highly selective in my friends, in my life, I’m finding, and that is OK. I like sex. HAHAHA… Who doesn’t? I’m finding myself being more open and honest than I have ever been before, and I am so loving that about me. It’s good to like me these days. I have my moments, very much so, and can get quite moody, but overall, I have faith in humanity, in myself, in my friends… In life and in love. Love is all that matters… I so believe that to be the ultimate truth.
…but I’m going to repost a revised version of what I wrote over at Political Cortex earlier today.
I used to hang out at kos, then relocated to My Left Wing where I spend the lion’s share of my time. Still, I do poke my nose in here every now and again and probably have some comments on ice in the archives somewhere.
I’m a graduate student in medieval history and closer to being a socialist than a liberal. Hmm. A socialist medievalist…can you say, marginal?
I believe in the numinous and indeed have caught glimpses of it through art and especially music. I believe that there’s more to this world than meets the eye, whatever you choose to call it–beauty, the numinous, God, what the fuck ever. I have trouble understanding why this should be so controversial.
I love the Yankees and the Beatles. I hate the winter.
When I find time later in life I’ll return to learning the cello, which is inarguably the most celestial of instruments.
As must seem obvious, I’m way more drawn to what’s eternally real than I am to the hustle-bustle rancor of politics. Although I don’t shrink from a contentious debate, I’d rather be listening to Mahler, figuratively speaking, of course.
It’s for the sake of justice that I a care about politics. In a just world, everyone is liberated, supported and encouraged to pursue the perfection of their own souls as well as the forging of loving families and communites.
Politics to me is thus an unsavory but necessary means to a utopia where each and every one of us is free to be who we really are, liberated from the base demands of servile labor.
So I suppose that’s who I am today.
If you want to see who I was a month ago, along with a picture, feel free to check out MLW’s Who’s Who. Click on Community Info and scroll down. (Sorry, I’d provide a link but all that gobbledy-gook down below intimidates me.
Anyway, thanks for having me, however rarely.
hi, I’m a 49 y/o guy from Sacramneto, Ca. Grew up outraged by Vietnam & Watergate, & somehow haven’t yet lost the capacity. I’ve been lurking here since the summer & have recently been leaving some comments & posts.
From a soon to be 50 y/o women – outraged by Vietnam and Watergate – welcome to the Frog Pond. There are lots of us here that fought the fight in the ’60s and ’70s and are still fighting.
Glad you are here….I’m down in Marin County so we’re kind of neighbors (by CA standards!)
We’ll look forward to more comments and posts from you!
Thanks. I’m still trying to figure out if I ‘belong here,’ as they say, or not.
I don’t really identify as a Democrat, even though I’ve held my nose & pushed the chad for ’em more often than not (there’ve been some local Peace & Freedomand Green candidates I’ve supported). 1980 was really the year I started to really pay attention to national elections — so much seemed at stake then. There was, & we’re still paying for the changes Reagan initiated. Every election after that has been a huge disappointment. At any event, g’morning.
All types of progressives are here at the pond. There isn’t a total push for “Democrat” regardless of their positions. Labels don’t make the candidates…issues do.
I’m a registered Dem but will always vote for the best candidate…and that has been Green, Libertarian, independent, Democrat…and Republican.
Follow the diaries for a while…I think you’ll find they are issue oriented and candidates need to pay attention to the issues. My feeling is that we are the net roots / grass roots activists that have kept the candidates on their toes for many years….and we will for many years to come!
Well, this entry anyway.
I live in Seattle.
I work in software development.
I like most kinds of music as long as it’s not off the deep end. This means overdone rock, super-twangy country, avant-garde classical, and what a friend once described as “jazz that’s hard to listen to.”
I play (at) the banjo, thereby making music of my own.
I have a wife, three kids, and approximately four grandkids, one of whom we are raising and who is therefore more like a daughter.
I was completely apolitical until a couple of years ago. Now I find it hard to shut up about politics. There’s the legacy of the Bush administration for you.
I Like baseball and hockey, but I’ve never played either one and in fact suck at competitive sports of any kind.
And every so often, I’ve been known to tell stories. Stop by on a Sunday morning and you just might hear one.
My experience was similar, except that I was a cynic, fairly well informed about politics, but completely disengaged from the political process. I heard some of John Edwards’ speeches and suddenly found hope and became an activist and optimist instead of a cynic.
Was there any positive push, either a prominent figure or someone personal in your own life, who led you to become more involved/interested in politics or was it only the negative spur of the Bad Bush Stuff?
I am very interested to know because I’m working on a piece that addresses this subject: how to attract more activists from the crowds of disaffected, cynical and uninvolved people.
There were two spurs, really.
The first was positive. I don’t own a car and therefore public transportation is a subject I take a great deal of interest in. I figured with all of the projects going on in the area at the time — Sound Transit, the now-dead Seattle Monorail Project, local light rail efforts, funding for King County’s Metro bus service that was threatened by misguided public initiatives, and the like — I was going to have any kind of say in them I was going to have to register to vote.
The other was more negative. Immediately after 9/11 — and I mean within 48 hours — people who I thought were my friends were calling me a tool, a traitor and worse for trying to convince them that carpet bombing everything from Casablanca to Jakarta (as some were suggesting at the time) would only make us worse terrorists than those who planned and carried out the bombing of the World Trade Center. I saw these friends go off the deep end with their jingoistic attitudes and willingness to back any plan that involved killing lots of people who were different from us because they went to a different church, or spoke a different language, or lived in a different corner of the planet.
Soon after that the Republican cabal began enacting things like the PATRIOT act, laws criminalizing copyright violations and enabling wiretaps and search warrants with nothing more than vague suspicion of possible cause, and other privacy- and rights-destroying legislation. Even though I was never political before I always took the Bill of Rights for granted, and here they were chipping away at every single article of the Bill of Rights (including as much of #2 as they could get past the NRA, no doubt — I don’t think they wanted an armed citizenry any more than they wanted a citizenry that spoke out against their plans). The people behind this push appeared to be in the unelected upper fringes of government. Specifically, I remember thinking of John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld as being behind the push. I knew there was no way they could accomplish this without at least the tacit approval of the President; it wasn’t until I started looking harder at the big picture that I figured out that it was apparently happening with his explicit blessing.
As I did more research I found some other things too. For instance, I go to church and consider myself a Christian, but it didn’t take more than about five seconds’ thought to realize that the religious forces behind the Reactionary Right didn’t approve of my church’s teachings, and if they gained power discrimination against any religious body that didn’t look, waddle and quack like Southern Baptistry was going to have persecution against it institutionalized.
The sum of all this finally pointed to one inescapable conclusion: The only way to reverse these trends was to get Ashcroft and Rumsfeld and the religious reactionaries and their ilk out of the seats of power, and the only way to do that was to get George W. Bush out of the President’s office. Everything else sort of fell into place from there.
my response was to immediately move back to Canada… but that’s just because I could 😉
Unfortunately some of us aren’t so lucky.
I’ve thought it over, and I’ve come to the conclusion that — for the time being at least — this is MY home, MY city, MY state and MY country, and I should stay here and fight to get them back. If things were to go on with the Republican cabal much longer I might have to think it over, but for now at least I plan to stay.
Canada is a great place and has wonderful radio. 🙂 But it’s not an option at the moment.
There are some circumstances under which I would move immediately, of course. One could be summed up in two words: “President Dobson.”
Was the name “Furry Jester” inspired in any way by a song titled “I Wish I Was”?
Oh yes 🙂
I loved Davinci’s Notebook.
I used to be able to make my ex laugh no matter what bad of a mood he was in, by singing the dog verse. 🙂
You know, if it wasn’t for Doctor Demento I would never have heard of Da Vinci’s Notebook, and if it wasn’t for the Internet I would never get to hear Doctor Demento.
Just before DVN went “on hiatus,” they appeared here in Seattle. How they ended up in Seattle I don’t know; it seemed like the entire audience that night was made up of transplants from the DC area, and me and my wife (who I dragged along on the promise of “more songs like Another Irish Drinking Song”). It might have something to do with Paul having relatives in the area. I’m glad I got to see them in person; they put on quite a show, complete with prizes for the audience (they went to local kitsch warehouse Archie McPhee’s and bought about 300 Indian deity night lights for something like $10).
Would you like a link to an interview with Paul and Storm? Tom Rockwell, a/k/a Devo Spice of rap comedy group Sudden Death, had them on his Manic Monday podcast a few weeks ago.
I was introduced to them by a friend who dragged me to one of their northern Virginia performances. He is a Dr. Demento fan so maybe that’s how he knew of them. I remember being so extremly pissy that I had to be awful company, on the way to the concert, and completely forgetting whatever had me so upset by fifteen minutes into the show.
Also, Paul is totally cute. I would love a link!
Here you go:
Manic Monday #28: The Paul & Storm Interview
The link goes to The Mad Music Archive, a Dr. Demento fan site that promotes silly music in general, and is a mirror for Manic Mondays. You might want to check out Sudden Death’s home page as well. I’m not much of a rap fan but Tom (who basically is the group) produces some hilarious stuff, including a diatribe-in-rap about email spam and a meditation on why dead rappers are making more money than he is.
And in this thread I’ve probably revealed a lot more about myself than went into my original mail. Very sneaky, Diane101! I bet you didn’t even know you were doing it. 🙂
I’m a rare visitor here, but I got an ancient number
I was around when this place was just a bunch of raindrops. I’m glad it worked out for y’all
I’m a Kossovonian troll hunter, just here investigating some things, thought I’d say Hi to any former Kosmopolitans I might know
I must have beat you here during the early days by one or 2 days max!
I miss the troll hunting days late at night on the other site with you….and a few others. There were, and are, some good things about the orange site. I drop by often enought to maintain my TU status. Now when insomnia strikes I sometimes drop by to see what you’ve been up to! ;^D
I’m glad you dropped by for short visit. Maybe one late night troll hunt we’ll see each other again!
Too lazy to type it again….
Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…
OK, sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’ve been reading BT for a while now, probably at least once a day. Some of you may remember me from DKos. I haven’t posted there in ages… most because it’s just so damned crowded.
It looks like it’s proper etiquette to introduce oneself here in the FBC before throwing comments around so here it is. I don’t consider myself a lurker so much as I just don’t have the fucking time to post anywhere regularly. Hardly even call my Mom enough to keep her happy. Then again, who does?
Anyhoo… my name is Jim Savage. I’m 41, divorced, and have an ALMOST 16 year old son. (Don’t dare call him 15 anymore, no siree.) I work for an oil company, in an east coast oil refinery for the past 13 years and I am the Grievance and Negotiation Chair for our ~650 member Local. Think you’ve got tough? Try being a Union Rep, working for an oil company, during this particular administration. Ugh.
I was a Dean supporter, still am, and spent countless hours, dollars, and energy trying to get him the nomination. Even took a week vacation to go to Iowa and wear a ridiculous orange hat. OK, I’m lying. I didn’t really wear the hat… it’s a “souvenir” now. Once Kerry won the nomination, I worked my ass off for him. Even though he’s wrong on the war and even worse on health care. Won’t do that again, I don’t think. I don’t mind working my ass off for a losing cause (remember I’m a Union Rep working for an oil company during the Bush administration), but I do like to be able to fucking sleep at night.
I’m a veteran of the United States Marine Corps… four years, infantry. I’ll talk more about that in the future, I suppose.
Anyway, it’s good to be here among friends and I look forward to getting to “know” everyone.
Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.
by Savage on Sat Nov 26th, 2005 at 07:27:51 PM EDT
[ Reply to This ]
Thanks again to everyone at BT for the warm welcomes…
he forgot to mention how sexy he is
have to shove the women out of the way just to say hi when i see him at an event
Ah-Nah!!!! Been too long, my friend… much too long. Didn’t even know you “hung out” here.
…n’er were spoken.
I haven’t posted there in ages… most because it’s just so damned crowded.
Nobody, it would seem, goes there anymore.
It’s too crowded.
Still go there almost daily, just hardly post anymore. Obviously, a lot of somebodies must still go and post there… hence the crowd. 🙂
Hi!
I’m in my late 20s, and I live in northern Virginia, just outside DC, in my best friends’ basement. I have a job – a good job, a stable job, a job with health insurance and even tuition benefits. I can go to the doctor whenever I need to. If I can get all this paperwork dealt with, I’ll be able to (finally) finish my education. Not that I lack for knowledge and understanding, and I’m getting more every day, but I never did get all the right official courses in the right official order to get that damn piece of paper. That makes me second class to many people whose opinions bother me, even if they shouldn’t.
Blogs can be a colossal waste of time. But they can also keep us sane. I know I’m not the only one who is horrified beyond speech that we are having a debate over whether it is okay to torture people. I know I’m not the only one who sees our obsession with profits and markets as utterly mad.
I am an apprentice activist. Organizing is one thing that it’s hard to learn from books, so I’ve had to learn new ways of learning. One day I had an epiphany and recognized most of the lessons I had been learning as being right out of How to Win Friends and Influence People which I’d read in high school, and not really understood.
I am a precinct captain. My precinct did very well in our election earlier this month, but so many other people worked so hard, that the praise I’ve been receiving is embarrassing.
I desperately want to be more important than I am. Not to have power for its own sake, but to have power to change the world for the better. That’s what I’ve wanted ever since I was old enough to want anything. I am learning that confidence and what you claim about yourself often matters much more than what you are and what you’ve done.
So I am an organizer and an activist. I recruit and inspire and motivate volunteers to do together what none of us can do alone. I am a teacher. I explain and encourage and I show through example how it is that individuals act to make a difference in their world. I am a scholar. I watch and listen; I read and study; I think and write. Having talked to thousands of voters at the doors and on the phones, I know more than the talking heads do about why Tom Daschle lost in South Dakota and why Stephanie Herseth won; and why Tim Kaine won in Virginia; and what we Democrats need to do to win everywhere. I know what the American people are hungry for: leadership, ideas, integrity, and a willingness to go beyond the soundbites and the bullshit and to talk about real issues, honestly – and leaders who will act, when action is required, regardless of the implications for the leader’s political future.
I will bring it to them. This is my mission. This is who I am.
Good morning!
We are glad there are apprentice activists like you out here! Although with your experience I’d hesitate to call you an apprentice…you describe some skills most of us would love to learn.
Glad you are at BT!
Thank you. 🙂
Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should claim November 8, 2005 as my journeyman project.
Hi. I’m Scott. I just got here over the holiday weekend. I’m almost 27, live in Durham, N.C., and presently studying French Literature at Duke University. I lived for a little while in Cambridge and Somerville, Mass., went to college in beautiful Middletown, Conn., and was raised in bustling Manchester, N.H.
You’ll hear from me every now and again when I’ve got something to say, either in comments or in my diary. It’s paper season here in studentland, so I’ll likely be somewhat quiet for the next week or two, but I reserve the right to speak up without warning. Thanks to everyone who gave me such a warm welcome over at Susan’s Tom DeFrank/detached WH thread yesterday afternoon.
I’ve long been a lurker and occasional participant at another blog, which I still intend to visit regularly, but I think I’m moving over here for a little while. When I came to N.C. from the Boston area, I quickly grew to love the atmosphere of a small town and, although I loved the big city, find that I don’t much miss it. This electronic move is not so dissimilar.
I’m interested in: language (that’s how I got into literary studies) and how it’s used in political discourse; environmental issues, and how they can be turned into winners for the Left; music; and other topics. Once I get moving, I’ll probably talk about those things. Or maybe other things.
Thanks again for your hospitality and once the semester is over, I’ll be back more regularly.
Good luck with the papers in studentland…
We’ll look for to you regularly dropping in an sharing comments with us – and diaries as well we hope!
How many papers have you bagged so far? 😉 I’ve never been a hunter but I have a friend whose family kills deer. She told me all about how you get two tags per season. Wouldn’t it be nice if paper season worked the same way?
Environmental issues can be a winner. I think that the way environmental activists talk about them, should broaden and branch out. This has never been my top concern. It’s not that I don’t care about the environment: I do. And intellectually I understand the importance of protecting our air and water and natural resources. I understand it personally too; I have asthma. But for whatever reason, it’s always been economic injustices, poverty and the perpetuation of it, that got me steamed up and moving.
So one day I read Fast Food Nation and I discovered the way we operate our food industry in the US isn’t just bad for “the earth,” it’s bad for labor. I haven’t eaten a bite of fast food since. Then I realized I couldn’t even eat meat. I got a salad for lunch that had chicken in it. I looked at that piece of chicken on my fork and remembered what I had read about poultry farms and I realized that I could not put this product of worker exploitation in my mouth.
Around the same time I read a book on activism in general that used as an example a campaign against an incinerator. As a side issue this book touched on the way in which plants and such with nasty environmental outputs are often located in low-income areas. They’re sure not putting them on the rich white side of town.
Anyway, this is the key to pulling together our often-so-divided liberal/progressive coalition. Find the points at which these issues touch, and talk about them. All the moralizing in the world about how we have a duty to protect the earth because it nurtures us doesn’t touch me because the idea of the earth as a quasi-person with rights of its own doesn’t resonate with me. But if you talk about how exploiting the earth and exploiting people go hand in hand… I’m on board.
Well I do ramble on. Good luck with your papers. 🙂
Earlier, furryjester wrote:
Bingo! This is where I think that the environmentalists have in large part missed the mark and why they in turn have been so marginalized. The personal is the political is the economic is the social is the environmental. The environment is no more a niche issue than workers’ rights, civil rights, foreign policy or health care (the Left’s other big winner). There’s no such thing as an environmental issue! There are only issues with environmental components. They’re all interrelated. And it’s by helping people connect the dots that the Left can work to make America better.
Back to work….
People get so upset that others do not see an issue in exactly the same way they do, that they overlook allies!
Boomer (b1948), attended seminary to be a priest, joined the army, went to Vietnam, survived, joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War, became National Coordinator, indicted for conspiracy to incite a riot at the Republican Convention in 1972 (Gainesville 8), had best friend turn out to be FBI informer who testified against me, acquitted, spent rest of 70s in drug-induced haze, dabbling in the sexual revolution, became Executive Director of NYC Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, raised $ to build memorial, became investment banker, fired from Wall Street, went to live in Russia for ten years, now pot-bellied, middle-class non-profit bureaucrat living in Boston, father of a son, 10, and a daughter, 8.
What a long, strange trip it’s been!
Hi left vet, I am still trying to catch up on all these new entries….You are the same age as my ex and he also was in Vietnam, left in 70 or 71, out of Pendleton, Ca.
Another interesting life, so many stories here in the naked Booman Tribune city..
Your best friend? Damn.
That sounds like a hell of a story. Have you ever written it out?
Sorry about your friend.
Here’s a link to a diary I did awhile back, which somewhat tells the story.
link
people are so interesting…i love reading these intros…esp the long ones where you really get to know something about a person…i tend to try and keep a low profile on these public boards but im going to break my rule and really share who i am here.
the theme of my life has always been metamorphosis…ive been thru a few and im in the middle of a huge one right now…its exciting and scary at the same time.
i was born in delaware county pa outside philly….moved back to south philly when i was young and i claim that as where im from….im a south philly girl all the way thru….ive lived in kentucky, tennessee, south carolina, and nj….right now im in delaware and trying to decide how long im staying.
i was in the south to go to college….murray state in ky and grad school at clemson…my degrees are in agriculture and horticulture….my specialties were historical botany and native plants…my activist days started in high school but really blossomed in college, in the bible belt, in the reagan years….i brought wendell berry to an earth day celebration i organized at murray state in 85…my favorite all tie quote is from him – “Denounce the government, Embrace the flag”….it was traumatic being in the bible belt during those times….i was in complete culture shock…the night john lennon was murdered, reagan had just been elected president (i worked on the anderson campaign- always with the loser it seems)and someone on my dorm floor asked who is john lennon? this gave me one of my first political insights….you cant discount the moron vote….after i heard this woman who was an honor student and voted for reagan but didnt know who john lennon was i just realized life was going to suck for a long while because they let morons vote too….i did my first acid trip an hour later.
while i was in the south getting my degrees, i also got preganant, made a decision to have my daughter, alone, worked, did lots of political organizing, and finished school….i took a few months off to hook up with the great peace march and went to a few protests in georgia and florida then i got my dream job creating community gardens in camden nj, recently named once again americas most dangerous city….i loved that job and my life there but i got tired of being shot at while driving my city truck and having my block burned down house by house till mine was the only one left, so i left the city and the socially responsible life and moved to the suburbs, found a husband and another daughter, bought a few flower shops, got a mortgage, and lived that suburban housewife thing….the only activism i did was when i wrote checks to my favorite causes….fast forward thru terrible depressions, eating disorders, several more businesses, recovery, prozac, layoffs, daughters illness with no medical insurance, bancruptcy, foreclosure, and the long haul back from economic ruin.
a few years ago, at the tail end of my mental and economic depression, i went into menopause early and something happened to me….i wanted to have sex all the time….i met a bunch of people who were kinky and started organizing parties which morphed into the largest alternative sexuality organization in the country…i became a sexual freedom activist, owned an SM club, started teaching classes on how to improve your sex life and your intimate relationships, started writing, and pretty much threw myself into the world of sex…..i still stayed married for convenience (and health benefits) but i was free to be with whom i wanted….and i wanted to be with many people…safely of course….i also was continually bombarded with offers to perform my sexual things professionally…..and so it started…my life as a professional sex worker although i prefer the term professional eroticist…i dont actually have intercourse with clients….my thing is all about either erotic domination or tantric techniques that overcome dysfunction….ive developed some amazing skills….and i love what i do….i know most people dont understand that but i meet the most amazing people and give an experience that feeds both of our souls….its all about touch really…people arent touched enough….i will tell you one story that epitomizes what i do and why i am so proud of my work….i had a client come to me almost a year ago…older man….went thru the session….it was unremarkable really…..the usual….afterwards we were sitting in the jacuzzi and he started crying…this is not unusual for my clients esp their first time….i told him it was ok and he said you dont understand, im a priest, and no one has touched me in 42 years…i cant imagine going 42 hours without being touched…i dont know what kind of hell it is to live a life of 42 years where no one touches you….and i hear this over and over…..mostly married men who are dying inside because they dont get that need met from their partners…and they of course think its sex but its really touch.
enough about sex…back to metamorphosis…one of the big changes im going thru is with my body…by the time i was finished with years of depression and eating disorders i was a mess….my weight was out of control and my body image was a disaster…and i do a very popular body image workshop all over the country but i couldnt get over mine….so i spent a few years doing research and getting over my fears of surgery and finally had gastric bypass….that was 2 years and 260 lbs ago….some of you who remember me from the dean blog may remember me posting the night before my surgery….what a mess i was….my best friend had just died from the same surgery and i was totally freaked out by it…well i lived and it worked and then i had a new body image issue to deal with….hanging skin….blech…i have already had one tummy tuck and im going in for another, and new boobs, and new thighs and probably a pelvic recon to tighten up everything inside too….i have to hurry up because im going to lose my health benefits eventually when my divorce goes thru…as for my body image i FINALLY have gotten over it…and it was the sex work that did it….more than years of therapy and meds and support groups….i just finally realized im a fucking goddess, changed my attitude, and all my body image baggage and those old tapes went away.
as for right now…im living in delaware in a kinky version of Friends….my daughters are off on their own….my husband is dating (with my help)…my boyfriend is being loaned out to one of my girlfriends tonite cause she is horny…my cardiologist is coming over to have a little bondage fun…i have a few clients this week but im mainly taking it easy and catching up on writing, drawing, and shopping….and im going to visit my ex boyfriend who is now almost a girl to bake some cookies and check out her new boobies.
oh and im going to write my weekly rant to biden….thats mostly what my activism has come down to…writing letters to politicians who are behaving like assholes.
wow that was long
That’s it?
How conventional ;o)
Curious… Which ‘largest alternative sexuality organization in the country’? I myself am just starting to dabble… And seriously considering starting a sex/sexualtiy/relationship type of blog, for my own personal reasons. I just love talking about sex these days. And it’s so uncouth… I hate that.
Behind The Scenes
we are still somewhat active and doing a few events here and there…but mostly i have let things go.
there is a directory of organizations at http://www.domsubfriends.com that is organized by location
if you want to meet people the best way is to join an organization and volunteer….most people dont realize that sex clubs etc do a lot of socially responsible things like toy drives and charity fundraisers…it is abosolutely the best way to meet people who share your thoughts and feelings….and who get together for more than just orgies.
I was just reading last week in a NCSF alert about a Philly sex club raiding a swing club. Am I correct to remember that the initial complaint to the licensing board was based on surreptious video tape that was recorded by one of the local TV stations? San Francisco can let one forget just how different the climate is other parts of the country. (NIce to see another kinkster here.)
yes that was the city shutting down one of the local swinger clubs….based on complaints from the local business association….total bullshit but its hard to fight them at the level of licenses and inspections…you need political clout and they dont have any….which i blame partially on them….they have had 5 years to build their political capital and they havent done a thing..no donations to politicians running for office, no volunteering for campaigns….that wasnt a smart thing to do.
A fucking Goddess and and an historical botanist. You’re the best, my friend.
Anna! Welcome home Goddess! Glad to have you here at the pond.
Many hugs. . .And I so know what you mean about touching. That’s how I became the Crusading Hugger. Haven’t met a loved one, friend or stranger yet that I don’t want to hug the dickens out of.
We seem to be in the same kinds of work. . .sort of.
Big hugs and Brava to you!
Shirl
viva la differance
I’m a 50-year-old writer and web editor (I’ve worn a lot of different hats over the years); I have a background in graphic arts (the old fashioned kind, before computers!), and I’ve written everything from security guard procedure manuals to role playing game supplements to vampire fiction. I also enjoy making things, usually with fabric — puppets, stuffed animals, costumes, doll clothes, stage props, whatever. I live a few miles due north of the White House, just over the DC city line in Maryland. Single, never married, no kids; I share an apartment with a long-time (non-political) friend.
I started reading blogs (other than friends’ LiveJournals) last summer during the election campaigns, and I’ve been hanging around at DKos and the frog pond for a while, and sometimes I drop in over at My Left Wing and Street Prophets. I like the atmosphere here — the water’s warm and there’s always plenty of food, and the company’s great. And it helps keep my blood pressure down to know there are other sane folks in the world who get as pissed off as I do at what’s going on in the government and the world today.
I probably won’t be around as much for the next week or two — I am currently facing a ominously looming deadline in the current fiction project and I must focus attention on that during my “free” time outside my regular job — but I shall be back in the water soon! (Current project is a novella for a supernatural gothic horror anthology — I’ll let you know when it’s coming out, which should be some time next spring, I hope).
Hello All
I’m a newbie to all the Internet and blogs. I’m still trying to understand the dynamics of each place I’ve visited. I’m a recent Grandfather and retired from the Air Force. I’ve traveled all over the US and Europe and love both places.
After thirty years of being gone I’m currently back in my hometown in Alabama helping take care of my 80-year-old Mother. She just doesn’t get around like she used to and I wanted to spend some time with her. Both my daughter are grown and own their own. By the way let me mention again I’m a Grandfather :). I just don’t see how people can’t love kids and grandkids.
Anyway I’m fairly new to politics. I guess like the masses I didn’t much care for a long time. However, after moving home I found that my Mom has a high dislike for the current president. I think I came to realize how things were going wrong when the Patriot Act came up. I just don’t like the idea of someone coming into my house, dragging anyone out, and giving no reason what so ever. Luckily I’m surrounded by family, unfortunately I think my Mom and I are the only Dems.
I live in a small college town and my family has been here for ages. It actually is a pretty little town. When I was younger all I could think of was getting out of here, but I guess as you get older the familiar is what you yearn for. I spent five years in Germany and fell in love with the country and people. I wasn’t sure how I would like it since the only thing I had to go on was old WWII films. Needless to say, it’s nothing like that and the people were wonderful. I was sorta adopted by the German family I rented from and spent most of my time with them. The Grandfather in the family told me one time he had visited America. I asked him if he enjoyed it. He told me he did, but it would have been better if he hadn’t been a POW. He then went on to tell me how happy he had been to be captured by the Americans instead of the Russians. I guess I bring that story up because that’s another thing that bothers me with what’s going on now.
So far I like the tone of everybody I’ve seen commenting in the pond. I’ve always felt if you have to start yelling or degrading you’ve already lost the discussion. So I have no patients for that.
If I didn’t say so earlier I came here to learn, and I’m a Grandfather :)(again). From the diaries I’ve read here and at kos I am overwhelmed by the intelligence of the people writing. I hope that one day I might be able to contribute in a similar fashion.
Well I’ve taken a jump into the pond and thank you for listening.
Hi there Family Man and good for you to jump in and post….there are many of us older folk here, and a lot fairly new to blogging, lots of us started last summer or in the fall during the election. I just couldn’t go through that last election alone…Didn’t say too much till I came to Booman, where I felt free to stumble around till I figured it all out.
Very interesting life you’ve had.
Welcome to the frog pond and be sure to check out the Froggy Bottom Cafe, a daily feature of the site where we just chat…
Thanks Diane. You’ve already made me feel at home and the water is good.
Older than the Sun and younger than the rain. . .I AM Xena. . . oops, Shirlstars, The Warrior Mother here!
I am the 65 year old kick ass lesbian Goddess of web-footed-trib-participants. . .And I love all of you, old, new and middle point nutcases more than I can say. . .but you know I keep trying!! If I could just find the words. . . .(and for those of you that haven’t met me yet, [is that possible?] you will soon see what most can say in 25 words or less, I will make a 10 part diary series out of). . .No one has ever mentioned my name in the same breath as the word brief.
I live in the SE wonderland outback of Idaho in a very small rural community. I am the ultimate radical bleeding heart progressive socialist liberal or URBHPSL!! And have been since I was born this time around. I am the resident Metaphysical loony and I don’t mind expressing my far out spiritual opinions any more than my far out lefty political opinions.
I have been most every there, and done most every that over the years, and I have posted the multi-part series telling more than you ever want to know about it all over the blogs for your entertainment, dining and dancing pleasure. BooMan has been magnanimous in allowing me to hang around the Frog Pond and I remember many of you from the orange place and helped work Triage during the refugee days.
diane101 took me in early on and has been working on me ever since, but I have this stubborn resistance to becoming respectable. She tolerates me anyway. I have adopted some of you cutiepies here, I have wild crushes and imaginary affiars of the heart. . .eh hem. . .with some of you here (you know who you are) and most of the time I am just in awe of this whole collection of bright, funny, articulate, amazing, loving, caring, pissed-off, determined group that calls BooMan Trib home.
The boring stuff: Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am educated in Psychology BA, Religious Studies(MA) and if I ever can stay off the blogs long enough just about finished with my Piled Higher and Deeper in Metaphysics. . .just goes to show you. . .they’ll give them to anyone! LOL!
My often humorously intended comments are missed by some (diane), so please don’t take offense at anything I write. If it sounds offensive 97% chance I was trying to make a joke.
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Everyone.
Big, Big Hugs
Shirl