January Mold

Am I the only person who suddenly notices mold in the corners come January? The corner behind my desk starts growing mold in January. The wall behind my mom's bed. The window sill in the living room behind the couch. I swear it's not there in December. But suddenly one day in January every year I notice spots of mold. It seems to surface about the time I'm getting worn out by the cold and never being home when the sun is shinning. It's a long six weeks of cold weather we get in San Diego that keep the windows closed and the heater running.

I can't get to spring until I rid the corners of mold. Not that it's a big job, but fitting it into an overworked schedule is tough. It bumps the project to clean out the kitchen cabinets and has side tracked my filing job.

I long to be done with January mold and have my arms in the soil planting brocolli.

I Don't Deserve This Moment

My entire life has been lived in the world of cultural change. As a child, I experienced the changes unfolding in the world and as an adult I've tried to move the change forward a few inches. Yet today, on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the eve of the inauguration of our first African American, Black, Negro president, Barack Obama, I feel like I'm reaching the top of the mountain and I truly don't feel I deserve the celebration or the joy I am feeling.

Not that I haven't been harmed by racism and inequality, because I have, because we all have. Not that I haven't tried to help others understand why racism is wrong, because I have, because so many of us have. But I haven't been beaten, arrested, denied a job or prevented from being with the one I love because of the color of my skin (or my sexual orientation for that matter). Listening to our American heroes from the big like Congressman John Lewis to the 90+ year old set of African American civil rights foot soldiers talk about what this day means, makes me feel like an impostor, like I haven't suffered enough to enjoy the celebration.

And yet.... Tuesday morning I'll be watching it live on television and, no doubt, I'll be crying like a baby.

Be the change you which to see in this world.

It's Official, I'm Crazy

I'm applying to a Ph.D. Program in Myth and Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. If I am accepted, I have the privilege of spending three years taking classes and two years writing a dissertation. I already have two full times jobs so I ought to have my head examined.

I'm attempting this because I want to write stories that help humanity progress in a conscious way and that illuminate the great works done by all the heros I know that are saving the planet or teaching peace or feeding people or growing organic food. I'm lucky that way, I know a lot of heros.

Since when is public dissent terrorism?

For those of you who somehow missed this, in the weeks leading up to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis last summer, people were planning to engage in peaceful assembly outside the convention center. Now I don't pretend to know all the stunts that were planned - stunts designed to draw attention to issues and causes, but if someone tries to tell me any of these people were planning on doing anything more than clog a street or two, I'd say go see your shrink.

To make a long story short, there were a lot of meetings where people discussed how they could make their voice heard in the media circus that is a political convention. Before the convention even started, eight of the organizers were arrested and charged with a host of crimes that could result in more than ten years in prision including conspiracy to riot in the 2nd degree in furtherance of terrorism, a felony which is the first ever use of Minnesota’s PATRIOT Act.

Since when is a convention more important than the constituction? Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald need your support.

If you are in the area on Sunday January 25th, please attend the
Defend The RNC8! Town Hall Meeting from 3 PM to 6 PM at Walker Church: 3104 16th Ave S. Minneapolis.

If you can't make the meeting, sign the petition to dismiss all the charges. What happens here is critical to the rights of all Americans to engage in civil disobedience, peaceful assembly and public dissent.

Featured Speakers on January 25 include:
*Coleen Rowley--Retired FBI agent, TIME Magazine's 2002 Person of the Year
*Phyllis Kahn--MN State Representative (DFL-59B)
*Peter Rachleff--Professor of History, Macalester College
*Michelle Gross--President, Communities United Against Police Brutality
*Meredith Aby--Anti-War Committee
*Mordecai Specktor--Publisher of American Jewish World, Father of Max Specktor

Speakers will be followed by small-group sessions and participatory discussion, with a focus on action! The event is free and open to the public. Snacks and child care will be available.