Oct 6th 2011 01:01:07 pm

I hadn’t been paying much attention to the Occupy Wall Street protests or news coverage, but then yesterday I started reading We Are the 99 Percent and I became more curious about the movement. I kept clicking around to different news websites reading about it, and then I thought, “Hey, I work for myself. I have a flexible schedule. Wall Street is less than four miles from my house. I should go check it out in person.” So, I did.

I read that there was going to be a march starting at Foley Square at 4:30. I took my camera and headed in that direction. It was easy to find the main group of protesters by following the sounds of drums and chanting. I wanted to learn more about why so many people had decided to protest, so I wandered around checking out all of the different signs. Here are a few of my favorites:

Eventually, I sort of found my way into the march down to the financial district. It was a fun two hours of slowly walking, snapping photos, and talking with the other participants. Everyone around me was friendly, considerate, and excited to have the opportunity to express themselves. The NYPD were out in full force and I actually thought they were awesome — they were respectful and super-accommodating of the march. (I know there have been arrests and reports of abuse, but what I personally saw yesterday left me impressed with New York City and its ability to facilitate peaceful protests.)

There was an extremely diverse selection of people represented in the 6,000-person crowd — young people, older people, NYU & Columbia students, union workers, college professors, mothers with children, non-profit groups — not to mention a VERY wide variety of causes and interests being expressed. I collected leaflets from Libertarians, Socialists, Anarchists, Communists, and just plain, general revolutionaries. There were Obama supporters, Obama haters, vegans, doctors and nurses, family farmers, LGBTQ activists, and war vets, like the two handsome fellows here…

On the micro level it did all seem a bit disorganized and unfocused, but overall, I really felt like there was a consensus about why they (we) were all there: they wanted to express their frustration with the economic and social injustice in the world. In general, they (don’t we all?) want access to opportunity, a more equal distribution of wealth and prosperity, and most of all, good jobs.

I think that we can all agree that the high unemployment rate is hurting our country. Unfortunately, solving the problem is obviously very difficult and everyone has a different idea of what would work. BUT (here comes my optimistic spin) isn’t it isn’t it amazing that we live in a country where we each have the opportunity to express our ideas and opinions?! Whether it is a Tea Party rally or an Occupy Wall Street march, people are frustrated and they want their voices heard. What an awesome expression of freedom and democracy!

What do I personally think about our economic situation? Hmmmm. There is a lot of info, ideas, and opinions out there… but generally? I believe all people are of value and I think all types of hard work should be respected and rewarded. My goal is to help shape our society to reflect those ideals. We CAN figure out this economic problem and create living wage jobs for everyone willing to work. We can create the America we want. I truly believe that.

Want more info about Occupy Wall Street? Here are a few links:

• OccupyWallSt.org
• #OccupyWallStreet on AdBusters.org
• We are the 99%
• An interesting article about the Occupy Wall Street movement by Douglas Rushkoff on CNN
• @1PercentWallSt on Twitter – a satire account
• The Daily Show’s take on the demonstration
• My Occupy Wall Street Flickr set

What do you think? How can we solve the economic crisis?

6 Comments » Categories: New York, politics, Thinking

Jun 28th 2011 10:29:49 am

By now I hope you already know (because if you are getting your news from me, you might be in trouble) that New York State passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage — a huge step in marriage equality and human rights. What an awesome and happy achievement!

When the bill passed on Friday night I was eating pasta with Team in Training friends (Becca, Jessica, Travis, me, and Brian in the photo above) in preparation for a race in the morning — the Front Runners New York Lesbian and Gay Pride Run, to be specific. We all cheered and treated ourselves to more carbs. We had already planned to run the race on Saturday morning, but it felt really good to have a concrete way to celebrate marriage equality.

I truly felt proud to show my support for a cause that I believe in whole-heartedly. It was such a great race and jubilant day! I did my best to keep up with my reluctant TNT pacer and friend, Larry (seen to the right), and we ran hand-in-hand across the finish line like the two goofballs that we are. Everyone got rainbow popsicles at the finish line. Then we all went to brunch. Then we went to Shake Shack for shakes. A Saturday in NYC doesn’t get much better!

The passage of the marriage equality bill makes me happy for infinite reasons, and one of those reasons is that it shows that change can happen. It can take a long time, it can be very difficult, but we CAN work to shape our government and our country.

I do not get overly political on the internet. Mostly because I work extremely hard to stay positive. I have no desire to add to the constant negativity, hurtfulness, and criticism that seems to be unending online. I do appreciate the importance of critical thinking and constructive criticism, but I personally choose to try to emphasize the positive when possible. Probably this positivity comes across as simple-minded to some, but even though it is sometimes hard to resist, you will not (hopefully) find me ranting on politicians I do not like. Instead I’d like to celebrate the things I do support… like my president… my governor… and marriage equality in New York! woohoo!

5 Comments » Categories: Exercise, Feeling Happy, Friends, history, love, politics, running, Team In Training

Jun 3rd 2011 06:20:58 pm

I went and saw the documentary film, !Women Art Revolution, today with my friends, Jessica and Lydia. Lydia is an art advisor and suggested the outing to the IFC theater. I am glad she did.

The film by Lynn Hershman Leeson was a great refresher on the feminist art movement of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It re-introduced me to artists like Judy Chicago (whose Dinner Party is seen above), Carolee Scheemann, and Ana Mendieta. It also reminded me of the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous art activist group that played a considerable part in my undergrad education thanks to my awesome professer, Julia Franklin. (Below is one of the Guerrilla Girls posters that they created to bring awareness to the lack of female artists in major institutions.)

I enjoyed the movie. It refreshed my thinking in regard to recent art history and feminism. It showed how systematically the contribution of female artists has been excluded from art history and how much work women have done in an attempt to reduce sexism and discrimination in the art world. It was a good reminder of the importance of supporting female and minority artists, but it also reminded me why “feminism” seems to be a bad word for some women in my generation.

I consider myself a feminist. (I believe women — and all people — should have equal rights and opportunities and be able to choose their own paths and fulfill their potential in any way they choose. I also believe that women should have equal representation in our government.) But I can also see why others may not. Sometimes the feminist movement can come across as militant and hateful toward men. And even if that is absolutely NOT the central focus of feminism, I can see how women who love and admire the men in their lives (like I do) and who do not have the desire to be confrontational may have a hard time identifying with the movement.

!Women Art Revolution addresses this conflict and the problem of the less-than-positive view of the feminist art movement by younger generations. Contemporary artist, Alexandra Chowaniec, is quoted explaining that “there’s a fear within my generation that identifying with feminism is a limitation and not a foundation.” A hope expressed in the film (and which I share) is that we can work to re-define “feminism” so that it can be a more uniting and inclusive term.

The film is not perfect, nor is it an exhaustive history of women in art, but it expresses a very important point of view that is still very relevant today. All people are of value and everyone has the right to fight to have their voices heard – that is the message I take from the film. I hope !Women Art Revolution will be shown in all art history classes alongside all of those male-dominated text books.

Shades of Alice, a piece in the collection of the American Craft Museum, New York, by Faith Ringgold, one of the artists interviewed in the film.

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Read more about !Women Art Revolution at ArtInfo and the NY Times. All of the footage shot for the film, including the hundreds of hours that weren’t included in the final cut, can be viewed here. And, definitely check out the new RAW WAR online archive of art by women. There is still work to be done.

7 Comments » Categories: Art, politics, Thinking

Mar 17th 2011 11:29:18 am

reading: The Hunger Games and Catching Fire – I am LOVING these (young adult) books. A strong female main character, a post-apocalyptic world, romance… basically my favorite combo ever! I will definitely be writing a full blog post about this series once I finish Mockingjay.

drinking: Starbucks Tribute blend. I bought it with a gift card and have really been enjoying it freshly ground and brewed at home. yum!

playing: Tiny Wings! It is totally the new Angry Birds.

also playing: This blast from the past. I love you, hero.

mad at: Sarah Palin. I was never a fan, but her recent comments about NPR, the National Endowment for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Humanities being “frivolous things” feels like a personal slap in the face. Especially since the amount of money spent on her “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska ($223 million) far outweighs the entire annual federal arts agency budget ($161 million). Ouch.

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Past Currentlies: November 2010, February 2009, April 2008, January 2008 – Just a little historical reference for you.

3 Comments » Categories: Books, Currently, Favorites, Food, Just for Fun, politics

Jan 26th 2011 02:13:41 pm

My favorite part of President Obama’s State of the Union:

“We should have no illusions about the work ahead of us. Reforming our schools, changing the way we use energy, reducing our deficit –- none of this will be easy. All of it will take time. And it will be harder because we will argue about everything. The costs. The details. The letter of every law.

And yet, as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth. “

I get caught up in the negativity sometimes and want to abandon worrying about politics altogether, but this reminds me how lucky we are to be able to argue with everyone — even our leaders — and to have the freedom to express ourselves and shape our government. Go USA!

3 Comments » Categories: Feeling Happy, politics, Thinking

Nov 1st 2010 10:07:33 pm

Just a friendly reminder that for many of us, tomorrow (Tuesday, November 2nd) is voting day.

(Above is a postcard I made for the Vote on Nov. 2 Postcard Swap on Swap-bot.com.)

No Comments » Categories: New York, politics

Nov 1st 2010 04:20:07 pm

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you already know that Travis and I spent the weekend in DC. We traveled south to our nation’s capitol for the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally for Sanity and/or Fear. I wasn’t sure what to expect… was it going to be worth it to travel all the way to DC for a three-hour event? Would anyone else show up? Would only college kids show up? Would the rally actually be entertaining? I didn’t know the answers, but I am such a huge fan of Stewart and Colbert, that I felt compelled to attend.

Travis and I decided to make the weekend into a little vacation and arrived in DC on Friday night. We tried our best to get up early on the morning of the rally in order to stake our claim on a prime audience spot, but we didn’t leave the hotel until around 9am. The subway ride to the National Mall was the most crowded I have ever been on — we were squished in so tight that no one could move, plus, everyone was carrying signs. Luckily, we arrived to the Mall early enough to get a reasonably good spot (behind the third of four sets of jumbo screens that were spaced out a distance away from the actual stage) and we set up camp. Travis held down our little blanket and tote bag fort while I went and checked out the scene. People were pouring into the Mall by that point and it was almost too crowded to move. I picked up a few political stickers that were being handed out and then decided that it would probably be best to wait for the start of the rally at our spot.

We had intended to meet up with friends at the rally, but the cell service was completely overwhelmed. I couldn’t even get a tweet out, let alone contact our friends! I was disappointed because I had hoped (like probably every other attendee) to “live-tweet” the event, but I am actually glad that I was able to put the phone away and just enjoy the afternoon.

We saw so many awesome signs!! Some people are so clever. My sign was not funny, but instead sincere. It said “I love my president” in glitter letters. I thought it was cute, but it didn’t get me on tv. darn. I was hoping President Obama would see me with it and invite me to the White House. ha! Ya, right.

Other blogs are featuring a lot of the anti-tea party signs that were seen at the rally, but I was not a fan of those. I liked the signs that were positive and smart. I don’t like anything that is hurtful or divisive, and for me, the rally was a way for those of us who aren’t really into the drama and shouting of political television to express our love of America, and yes, our reasonableness. Of course, one might argue that anyone who puts the effort into making a sign to hold up at a rally has a flair for the dramatic… drama and extremism, or not, it was a just a really fun event!!

Jon and Stephen did an awesome job and they surprised us with so many cool guests! I am sure anyone who is interested has already watched the footage on Comedy Central, but my favorite parts of the rally were:

• The Roots – What an amazing band!! I love that they are the house band on the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon (and I love Jimmy about a million times more for having them on his show), but as a tweet I saw said, “they should be the house band for everything!”
• Mythbusters – So fun. They came out to warm up the crowd and they had us making noises and jumping around and doing the wave. I had thought that the crowd was going to be mostly college kids, but where we were standing it was all families and older couples, and the Mythbuster guys had us all participating!
• Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) – What an amazing surprise. I started crying when Yusuf took the stage and started singing Peace Train. It was just so wonderful, and this may be cheesy, but the song just seemed to express my reasoning behind being at the rally … but then Colbert came onstage to stop the “hippy rainbow choo choo” and announced Ozzy Osborne who came on singing Crazy Train. Eventually all the performers came to a compromise and the O’Jays took the stage signing Love Train. It was an amazing mash-up of a performance!
• Jon Stewart – It seems no one knew what to expect from the Rally for Sanity and no one knew how political it was going to get. Obviously, it was a liberal-leaning event, but jokes were made about extremists from both the right and the left, and no overtly political preaching was done. (I actually was hoping they would do more to urge people to vote on Tuesday, but they didn’t even do that.) The only serious time came at the end when Jon reminded us that the media does not get to determine what American is or isn’t, and that people of differing opinions and ideas work together every day to get things done — it doesn’t have to be “us or them” and we shouldn’t believe anyone who says otherwise. What a great message! It reminded me to keep a level head when it comes to politics, and to keep faith in the fact that our country continues to move forward thanks to our diversity, not in spite of it.

The entire event was incredibly fun — like a concert with a ton of comedy thrown in. I loved it and it was totally worth the trip to DC. I also loved being a part of the diverse crowd and interacting with people from all over the country. (I’ve heard that there were 200,000 people there and that a good portion of people were so far back that they couldn’t even see or hear the rally at all, but they stuck around just to be a part of it all.) The only thing I would have done differently is pack more snacks!!

(p.s. Here is Travis’ version of the weekend.)

5 Comments » Categories: Just for Fun, politics, Trips

Nov 7th 2008 04:14:47 pm

So…. it turns out that I am totally burnt out on obsessively keeping up with political news. I just can’t refresh The Huffington Post homepage even one more time, or listen to CNN’s coverage of the president’s dog. This morning, all I wanted to do was have fun on the internet. These are the incredibly random things I found and enjoyed…

• Holiday season here already? Check out Anthropologie’s fun ornament display.
• Organic beauty products – I think I am going to try to make a slow transition to beauty and cleansing products that are more natural and less full of toxic chemicals and carcinogens. It is tough because it is really hard to know what is in stuff (even when using the Cosmetic Safety Database), but I think it is worth it to try to be a little more natural for myself and for any future humans that may end up growing inside my body.
• Everyone is already linking to this story, but it is so fascinating that I have to join in: Newsweek’s Secrets of the Campaign series. It is an in-depth look at the presidential campaign. It is long, but the 1/3 of it that I have read so far is extremely interesting. It shows the human side of all of the plotting and planning.
• I can’t get enough of yellow, yellow, yellow.
• I am loving the acrylic rings by Dillon Designs on etsy. In fact, I might just have to purchase one right now…
• I ordered new business cards and postcards for Swap-bot and they finally arrived today. I can’t wait to send them out in my swaps and what-not!
• Travis loves his Kindle. He is reading it constantly and trying to convince me to buy one of my own. I happen to like real books, but I might have to borrow his to check it out.
• The other day over my lunch break I went slightly insane and bought a too-expensive pair of boots over the internet. However, everything worked out because they are just about the greatest shoes ever! They are great over jeans and totally comfortable.

3 Comments » Categories: Accessories, design, holidays, Just for Fun, Lovely Things, Make-up & Beauty, politics, Shoes, Swap-bot, Travis

Nov 6th 2008 11:45:30 pm

One of the great things that happened during this election season was my discovery of 23/6, a political comedy website. The site has tons of funny content, most recently the leaked Obama cabinet notes and Eight ways to fill the empty void in your life where all that poll data used to be. My favorite thing on the site is the Get Your War On series of videos. I totally lol at them! I found out about 23/6 through my other go-to spot for political news, The Huffington Post. I think the two sites are in cahoots… or maybe it is just a liberal media support system.

What are they going to report on/make fun of now that George Bush is leaving the White House?

No Comments » Categories: Just for Fun, politics

Nov 5th 2008 11:22:24 am

In January, I jumped on an internet trend and chose a word to carry with me and remember throughout the year. I chose HOPE: “but not the feely-touchy, ‘hope is the song of my spirit’ type of hope – more like anything is possible. I mean anything and everything actually is possible. I plan to make big plans all based on the HOPE that any, or all, of my goals are possible. HOPE is a belief in a positive outcome. And that is all you really need.”

What a perfect way to explain how I am feeling this morning! I am old enough to have voted in three presidential elections and I always stood behind the loser… until now. I am so happy for President-elect Barack Obama, but I am THRILLED for all of the people who worked and struggled for this. I am a middle-class, white woman from the suburbs of Kansas who watched the news coverage last night with nine other middle-class, white people and we all had tears of joy in our eyes while listening to Obama’s acceptance speech. If it means that much to us – people whose lives really are not affected much from president to president – how much does it mean to all of the people whose lives will be dramatically different thanks to this change? I think this is bigger than we know.

For fun, check out all of the newspaper covers from today.

3 Comments » Categories: Feeling Happy, politics