duh! I could have done this earlier!

Back just after the election, I was interviewed by a woman named Amy from our nearby community radio station, WERU in East Orland, Maine. She interviewed me on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 4. To say I was a little burned out and sad is the understatement of the year.

Well, as it turns out, I sounded pretty good - at least enough that she could edit and get the non-crying bits to sound worth-while. She submitted her story to a nationally syndicated program called This Way Out, and they used it in their weekly radio magazine for the week of Nov. 11.

They used a clip of what I said at the very beginning, as a teaser, then they go into a bunch of news from around the country and the world, and then they come back to the main stories, of which Maine was the lead story. My interview with Amy lasts about 2 or 3 minutes and I think it went pretty well. You be the judge, though.

As I seem unable to embed an MP3 file, here is the link to download the file so you can hear the program:

http://www.mediafire.com/?yz5qyxlmumt

Oh, and if anyone can tell me how to embed an MP3 file, you know how to reach me. Thanks.

corrections

Oops. I made an error the other day.

In the post where I complain about glbt stuff disappearing from the White House Website, I was wrong. It's still there. It just does not seem as huge as it once appeared.

And the chairman of the Democratic National Committee is Tim Kaine, otherwise known as the invisible/silent man for the low profile he keeps.

Another busty day and I'm pooped. This is all you get. Sorry.

ouch

OK, so I haven't been doing much physical work for the past, oh ... six months, I think? But let me tell you - I hurt today.

Yesterday I built 80% of a shelf/entertainment center for a customer, and today I did a half-day of garden work, followed by a couple more hours at the business end of a leaf-blower.

Now my arms are rubbery and my hands don't want to grab things and hold on with any kind of reliability.

Damn. This working for a living is rough stuff.

More coming tomorrow, too, and Thursday, and again on Friday. I'll be lucky if I can drink out of a cup without using a straw by the weekend. Wow.

I'm off to bed. The NaBloPoMo gods have been appeased for another day.

fishy lessons

lessons learned recently:

1. five sushi rolls, even (or perhaps especially) the home-made kind, per person, is too many.

2. it does not take much fish to fill a sushi roll.

3. like even a half pound of raw fish will fill two very hungry people.

4. that spicy sauce they put on the scallops is wicked easy to make.

5. even light soy will make me very, very thirsty.

6. our cat does not like raw fish, but the dog will tip over the trash can to get at the tiniest sliver of raw fish in the deepest, darkest corners of its recesses.

7. ice cream after sushi requires at least a 60-minute waiting period, like before you can swim after eating.

8. nori paper is perhaps the handiest stuff ever, however freakish the science behind it.

9. do not rub your eyes after handling pickled ginger.

10. or wasabi.

post your comments please

It feels like I hit a wall today.

I was energized and fired up about a bunch of stuff and now I am pooped.

We had an informal post-mortem on the campaign today at a local pol's house, and it seems like we all were in agreement on the basic things that went well, went not-so-well, and what we'd like to do better with in the future. I think it was good to have such a meeting, and I wonder if other groups in the state did the same thing.

I am so tired tonight. I don't know why, but I am. I was fired up and now I'm spent. I guess I just am going to tire more easily for a while. Oh well. Forgive this lame post, but I met my NaBloPoMo obligation and now I'm going to bed.

Oh, if you are so inclined, this fun thing has been flying around on facebook. If you and I woke up in a jail cell together, in FOUR WORDS ONLY, what would you say? Post 'em in the comments section, if you would, please. I need a laugh.

A day for milestones

This felt like a day for milestones.

Bernie passed this morning from this realm into some other. Rest in peace, Bernie. We will do our best to carry the message as you showed us how to do it.

Laura and I have been compiling some numbers and studying them and developing some strategy ideas for how we can do better with glbt issues at the ballot in Maine's Second Congressional District. I've got some ideas and some rough sketches of a plan, and I have secured a meeting with some of the campaign leadership to offer these ideas and strategies for consideration. I am working in channels now. It's kinda scary, to be honest. It's not generally my style.

Our friends Dan and Tyrrell are moving to Bozeman, Montana, of all places, and tonight was their going-away party. Lots and lots of friends and neighbors turned out to wish them well, nearly all I recognized from one house party or another. It felt like half party, half wake. There were lots of hugs and "I'm so sorry"s from everyone, including Dan and Ty. They have been a powerful and influential force for progressive politics in this little section of Maine and they will be sorely missed.

I went to my Friday night meeting after the dinner and heard some good stuff. It feels good to have gone to meetings on each of the last four nights. It sort of feels like I am going to the spiritual and mental chiropractor. The kinks are getting worked out, things are coming back into alignment, and I am feeling better all over.

Now here are a couple of things I want you to watch. There are two videos, they're not that long, but they had to be split up because of the YouTube time limits. Please watch. Many of these people are my friends. The footage is all from the Portland area and was filmed in the last 24 to 48 hours of the campaign.

And now that you've watched, if you're a registered Democrat, it would be nice if you could send a note to both of the following entities. And please write it out, PRINT IT OUT and MAIL IT. E-mails disappear. Written letters on paper must be noted, opened and saved. This is important enough to spend 44 cents on a stamp, for crying out loud.

So please write to President Obama at:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121

And you might want to mention that there is no longer a GLBT page on the White House issues page. There was one when he got elected. There is no longer anything about the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act or that dumb-ass Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Where the hell did our "fearless advocate" go? Hmm?

And to the Democratic National Committee at:
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003

Main Phone Number:
202-863-8000

I thought equality was a solid plank in the Democratic party platform. You're happy to take our money and use our volunteers, but what have you done for me lately?? I mean besides take my money and then ignore me.

I hate deadlines

especially when I don't have enough time between remembering one and hitting that same deadline to write something terribly witty and clever.

Which, of course, is what I prefer to do.

Witty and clever are easy for me. I like the easy stuff. Blood and guts and fear and vulnerability? Eeeeeeessssshhhhhhh, that's tough stuff.

Last year when I did this NaBloPoMo thingitz, I set the bar exceedingly high. The Seven Deadly Sins. The seven Virtues. Oh, and there was a presidential election in there, plus an assortment of things that gave me ample fodder for the copy factory that is my keyboard.

This year, I have yet to find that muse. We just came off a campaign that ate my summer and my life. I stuck my head into it in July and woke up last week wondering where all the leaves had gone. Fishing season is over, too, I understand. Damn.

The truth is, I just don't have the energy level this year that I had last year. Maybe if we won I'd have more zip, I don't know. My gut tells me that I'd be this tired even if we'd won. Although I could be boring you all with wedding plans.

Louise from Pam's House Blend came up yesterday and we had a marvelous visit. She brought home-made pickles and apple butter and fudge and we all went out to lunch at Geddy's and got the nachos on a hubcap and then to Ben & Bill's to buy goodies for the folks back home and then a short tour through the park. We stopped at Thunder Hole, which was not thundering at all (low tide) and we showed her where those people got washed off the rocks into the ocean, and we saw some deer and some nature and it was good.

We laughed and cried a little; over lunch we talked politics and Maine stories and discussed our experiences gutting deer. The young hetero couple at the next table barely blinked. I do love a small, rural town. We talked some more about politics, and came up with some ideas that have had Laura and I doing research and data entry and trying to coalate things so that I can look at them and get what I need easily. I've got some ideas for future campaigns, but I want to have them properly organized before I offer them for public consumption. Stay tuned, though. I'll share them here eventually.

Today I worked, sort of. I did a bunch of prep work and made ready for a nice little project that I think will make the customers very happy. I'll try to take pictures if I can remember, and post them here.

Gads but I wish I had more time to be witty, but I don't. I need to hit publish soon or I won't get to win the zillion-dollar grand prize for having posted every day for a month. Right. I'm planning on that money to retire to an island where there is warm sun, blue sky, blue ocean, white sand, palm trees and scantily clad women. Ahem. Right. Or maybe just pay off my student loans. That'd be nice.

OK. That's what you get today. We'll try again tomorrow for brilliance, but I make no promises.