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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Obama Visibility in Union Square

I attended my first “visibility” event for Barack Obama yesterday, in Union Square, right in the midst of the Greenmarket, a perfect location to both be seen by and talk to a pretty diverse range of New Yorkers. There were approx. 20 of us spread throughout the Market, armed with “Obama ’08” signs and, with the deadline to register to vote in the Feb. 5th primary having passed, sign-up forms for people to pledge their support for him and offer to volunteer to help the campaign. I signed up 12 people during the 2.5 hours I was out there (including three potential volunteers), got a thumbs up from a few dozen more who said they were already supporting him, and had interesting discussions with a handful of people, including one who was tentatively supporting Hillary Clinton but keeping an open mind.

As a former Jehovah’s Witness, the whole steup was very familiar, and within about a half-hour, I was pretty comfortable being out there, not missing a beat when I bumped into a former co-worker, something that had always felt awkward back in those days of, um…campaigning for God. One of the things I learned back then was to read body language and faces and eyes, to discern between those who don’t see you and are actively avoiding seeing you, and those instincts were still pretty strong yesterday.

Interestingly, and purely anecdotal and subjective, most of those I saw who openly supported Obama — either by signing up or offering encouraging comments — were white, while a lot of the black people who passed me by either noticeably avoided making eye contact or had looks that I interpreted as an odd mix of melancholy and wistfulness. Of the various people I spoke to, several of them, all intending to vote for whomever the Democrats ultimately put forward, spoke of a deep distrust of the Clintons, one in particular whose comments were so outlandish I had to not-so-subtly shoo him away.

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Carbon Offsets Not Just an Indulgence

Even though I self-identify as a progressive and/or liberal — and definitely am on specific hot-button issues like same-sex marriage and abortion — overall I’m probably much more of a moderate, and when it comes to environmental issues, while I enjoyed Happy Feet and every one of Carl Hiaasen’s novels, my opinion on them has generally mirrored my concerns about cancer when I was a regular smoker: I basically ignored it.

Not because I don’t care, of course, but because there was seemingly nothing I could do about it. While you can usually quit smoking with some effort and self-discipline — and I eventually did — unless you’re wealthy, it just isn’t easy living green, especially when it comes to cars.

I’d love to be able to bike to work, but it’s simply too far, so I take public transportation, which is fine. Salomé would have to leave home around 6am, though, in order to get to work on time, which isn’t fine, so she drives the 6 miles each way, every day. On the weekends, we run our errands, maybe take a trip over to Nyack, or out to Jersey or (less and less these days) up to New England.  Throw in a trip or two down to my mother’s in Virginia and we’re still barely hitting 10,000 miles/year, putting our estimated carbon footprint at 6,984 lbs carbon dioxide last year, according to TerraPass, well below the national average of 19,564 lbs (based on EPA estimated national average of 231 miles/week per vehicle).

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Borders’ Open-Door Poetry

Borders -- partnering with The Student Publishing Program, one of the top high school writing programs in the country -- has launched an interesting new online program promoting poetry called Open-Door Poetry: "Open-Door Poetry" is for anyone who has ever wanted to communicate to others in some way while opening the door for viewers to become active participants. Each compelling episode features seven to 10 "spoken-word" and "academic" poets giving writing advice or reciting poems live from locations ranging from the streets and rooftops in New York City to the living room in the home of the poet. Each episode…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Spindle State of Mind

It’s kind of hard to believe it’s 2008 already and that Spindle‘s official launch is less than 36 hours away!

I spent a lot of time this weekend preparing the content for Tuesday’s update, sending off the last of a handful of acceptances and rejections, the latter of which have gotten no easier since the first one — though my basic rejection letter has gotten a lot nicer, if more impersonal — especially when it involves people I know personally.  One of the biggest differences between running a reading series vs. a publication is that the latter is less welcoming by definition as there is no open mic. Whatever I accept for publication is not just a reflection on Spindle and myself, it’s also a reflection upon everyone else whose work I accept and I want to ensure that Spindle is viewed as a quality outlet for a variety of work and not someplace that publishes just anybody. It’s something I take very seriously and can make for some awkward moments when rejecting people I know and respect.

Some acceptances and rejections happen immediately upon first reading, and some I come back to several times over a few weeks, or more. Most are purely my call while some poems get passed on to my editors for their opinions — and some, eventually, will come directly from their own solicitation efforts — especially when it comes to certain forms as I am not a big fan of formal poetry. Or rhyming. That said, I bring the spirit of the open mic to my reviewing of submissions, being as open to everything as I reasonably can be, and have already published a few poems that at first glance I wouldn’t have thought I’d liked.

All in all, the “soft launch” has worked out better than I hoped it would as the past six months of tweaking the site — first behind-the-scenes and then, as of September 12, 2007, live with regularly updated content — have paid off not only in it being ready for primetime on January 8th, but in there being more strong content already posted than I imagined I’d have at this point.

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

I Believe, and I’m All In

I’m asking you to believe

Barack Obama pulled off something special last night with his impressive victory in the Iowa caucuses, and while I’m always reluctant to declare “history in the making” while still in the moment, it’s hard not to get caught up in the glorious potential of that moment.

This moment.

“Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.”
Abraham Lincoln

“I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”
Robert Kennedy

“This was the moment when we finally beat back the politics of fear, and doubt, and cynicism; the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up. This was the moment. Years from now, you’ll look back and you’ll say that this was the moment – this was the place – where America remembered what it means to hope.”
Barack Obama

I supported Dennis Kucinich in 2004 even though I knew he had no shot, because he was the candidate closest to my beliefs, the one who represented a real change from the status quo. I made my first political donations ever to his well-intentioned but ill-fated campaign — approx. $200 over three donations, IIRC — and made tentative steps towards getting involved in his campaign by attending both a MeetUp and a fundraising event before he was completely pushed to the margins once it became about Kerry vs. Edwards.

2004’s results broke my heart a little bit, though, and my spirit, and I was planning to sit on the sidelines during the primaries this time around, fully expecting to have to cross my fingers and hold my nose again while pulling the lever for whichever compromised candidate the Democrats put forward, the faintest hope that Mayor Bloomberg would decide to join the fray keeping total despair at bay. I ignored the phone calls and emails from Kucinich’s campaign requesting my support again; ignored most of the coverage of the other campaigns until last month; ignored my gut instinct that this election was too important to ignore…

Barack Obama, though, has given me the unique opportunity to support a candidate I can wholeheartedly get behind and who actually has a chance to win. Of course, I don’t agree with him on every single issue, same as I didn’t agree with Kucinich on every single issue, but I admire the passion, the sincerity, and most importantly, the urgency he has brought to his campaign, to this election, to this crucial moment in American history where we have a legitimate opportunity to choose between jumping off the cliff once again or carving out a new path.

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Accepted: Gnome

This just in: Guy: I will accept "Change of Direction" for the next issue of Gnome (http://gnome.asteriusonline.com ) best for the new year, JCE Since I submitted this back in November, I'll count this as partial credit towards my 2008 goal of having three poems published (or accepted) by the end of December! Yay me!

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Obama, I Choose You!

Back in 2004 I discovered an election sim called President Forever via a random Google ad on my old blog, bought it and spent many a late night frustrated over my unsuccessful attempts to lead Dennis Kucinich to simulated victory over Dubya. No surprise, really, but it was still a fun game that nicely married a few of my favorite things: politics, simulation and strategy games, and fantasy sports. (That same heady mix of total control and total lack of control that often gets me in trouble in real life!) It was when I couldn’t get Kerry or Edwards over the hump after several tries, though, that I began to get legitimately worried about reality; and the rest is sad, sad history.

So of course, after saying just a couple of weeks ago that I wasn’t going to become emotionally invested in this year’s election — to the point where I was purposefully limiting my exposure to any of the candidates, avoiding some of my favorite shows like Hardball and Meet the Press, only skimming relevant posts on my politically vocal friends’ blogs, effectively being the dreaded Average American — I caved and started researching the so-called Big Three Democrats: Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

Then I discovered Talking Points Memo and their Election Central coverage, and it was pretty much over.

Register to Vote: Rock the Vote, powered by Credo Mobile

I was still on the fence between Obama and Edwards at that point, but the combination of this Vanity Fair interview with Obama’s wife, Michelle, and Kucinich’s latest “second choice” ploy in Iowa — the same move he pulled in 2004 that put Edwards on my radar to begin with — knocked me off and I am now officially and fully in Barack Obama’s corner. So much so, I’m going to attempt to change my party affiliation back to Democrat in order to vote in the primary next month, something I didn’t even do for Kucinich back in 2004. It might be too late for me, but it’s not too late for YOU if you’re not already registered.

*ahem*

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