Rainy Day: Pull Up a Chair

crossposted at firedoglake 17 oct 2009



"Into every life, a little rain must fall"

Good morning pups, I hope you are in a nice dry place waiting for these heavy rains to pass! Wasn't it just summer? The dour Scottish part of me rather likes these days, an opportunity to be indoors, if we're fortunate enough to have indoor work, and to contemplate life.

It's a chance to think about how things grow and change, how we can go through the storms and come out on the other side.

A lot of people are under heavy weather economically this year, and it looks like unemployment - a lagging factor in any economic recovery - seems destined to rise a little more before we get real relief.

If ever there was a need for community, this is it. Many folks here are struggling, and we all know friends and neighbors who are shocked to realize the safety net didn't include them. We need to share ideas.

I would like your thoughts and suggestions about how to reach out to our family members, neighbors, friends, and strangers in need during this economic storm.

We need to rethink our participation in the local food bank and other agencies that are there for us all when we need it.

This would be a good time to gather up warm clothing and especially coats that we are not using, and donate them to a local organization that will get them to people who will be cold without them.

There may be elderly in your neighborhood who need extra help as the friends they have counted on slip away from age or infirmity.

Pups, let's be there for each other. Folks who have never commented before - a special invitation to you, we would love to hear from you in the comments.

I've got fresh-baked blueberry muffins along with some hot tea and coffee and cocoa with extra little marshmallows, so let's gather together and think what we can do. Pull up a chair....

*****

photo by .faramarz

Evolving Dreams

crossposted 9 august 2008 at firedoglake

"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true"

I love this photo with the combination of dark skies, calm lake, and stunningly bright rainbow -- a double rainbow for good luck.

It's tempting to get trapped in the dark and think it will be like this forever, whether politically or personally. To get beyond that it helps to reconnect with your dreams -- your childhood dreams, your young adult hopes, your current vision for the future.

To be at a point of transition, when one set of dreams has come to fruition, but the next set are waiting for the muse, is a special challenge.  I think a lot of us are experiencing this disequilibrium politically if not personally.  Our ideas about the way things are supposed to be have been shaken. Developing new ideas, new dreams, takes time and creative thought and way more patience that I can find sometimes.

Would love to hear from you pups about where you are in your evolving dreams...are you living them, considering new ones, basking in the joy of completed ones, despairing that you won't ever have them come true, where are you?

Come on in, have some coffee or tea and homemade cookies, and pull up a chair.... 

photo by Nicholas_T at Minsi Lake, Northampton County PA

O (Don't) Look, Everything is Fine

crossposted 7 may 2008 at firedoglake

Your money is safe and the banking system is fine! No need to worry. All is well. And I'm sure it's just a little ripple, a little glitch, that emergency loans to banks are going up by 50% this month.

My previous post House of Cards talks about how we got to this precarious place.

The government got rid of the speed limit and the brakes and all the guardrails, and woohoo! Anything goes in the financial markets.

Mortgages were given to people who couldn't possibly pay them back, bad debts were put in a dress and high heels and resold as speculative financial instruments, and now everybody owes everybody. But I'm sure everything is fine. "The housing crisis is over"! Pinky promise!

I am completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfectly.

And surely we can rejoice at the latest manufactured employment figures, where four months of hemorrhaging job losses has no impact on the unemployment rate. Why? Because they use a model that let them add 267,000 "jobs" on paper last month, including 45,000 in construction, for "seasonal adjustment."

Seriously? Do you know any area that is actually net hiring for construction?

Folks at the Fed are doing a careful job of letting the air out of the balloon slowly, but make no mistake, the wealth of the nation is shrinking.

I know everything hasn't been quite right with me, but I can assure you now, very confidently, that it's going to be all right again. I feel much better now. I really do.

But not to worry! The very people who got us into this mess are the ones who are going to lead us to the Promised Land. Just as soon as their big cat buddies get all their money out first.

I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.

You've Got A Friend

crossposted at firedoglake 17 november 2007



This early James Taylor, with Carole King on piano, is dedicated to old and new friends at the Northern California pup meetup from this afternoon.

We struggled bravely thru an enormous amount of appetizers, entrees, and desserts including one which we dubbed The TRex:


Thanks especially to the wonderful Suzanne who shared her redwoods, her creek, and Token, the cutest dog in the world with us.

The firepups:
Mary McCurnin
punaise
Teddy
spurious
newtonusr
egregious
newspaperbrat
writer/musician Sahra
and the one, the only, Freeway Blogger: scarlet p.

*****

Added: Teddy's pictures

July 4: Everybody Can Do Something

What to do:

Everybody can do something:

Lead. Follow. Support. Teach. Learn.

See something that's not being done? Give yourself a battlefield promotion: you do it, or organize a group of people to get the job done.

See somebody else being an effective leader? Follow their directions and their guidance.

Are there people and groups doing amazing this that you admire? Support their efforts with funds, publicity, and words of encouragement. Hint: firedoglake fundraiser in progress to support the next chapter of Janevision and Marcyvision.

Have you figured out a little of what is going on? Teach others, whether children or adults. Most people do NOT know how far things have gone. Explain it to them.

Do things seem really confused? Learn more. Maybe things will still be confusing, but at a much higher level.

Everybody can do something.

*******

Libby sentence commuted

Message to fellow firedoglake pups, 8:45 this morning

Fifteen minutes til the White House switchboard is open. Please be kind to the operators, who face a brutal day.

As do the people we are savaging in Iraq.

As do the people we are neglecting in the U.S.

Anger = energy. Use it. Focus.

*******

It's hot today: tempers

The drip, drip of revelations about the Bush/Cheney nightmare can become water torture at times.

I've watched a number of my blogmates at firedoglake become outraged today, as more is revealed about our abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Regulars making hot comments, people dredging up old spats and trying to gain points at the expense of others. The temptation, as with family violence, is to strike out at the nearest available target, someone nearby who has made you angry.

Unfortunately, that has us sniping at each other instead of focusing on the real problems.

There are guaranteed to be more revelations of scandal, corruption, incompetence, and deceit at the highest levels of government. It is our challenge to bring the temperature down and remain calm as these situations develop.

Let's stop the friendly fire. Hold your tempers. Cool it.

"Are you from...THAT BLOG?"

At court yesterday SEVERAL people came up to me and whispered—

“You’re from... [looking around]... THAT BLOG right? I just wanted to let you know that I and lots of other people read you very carefully and thank you for what you are doing. I’m in profession X.”

It got to be where I could tell on approach whether they were coming over to compliment my Louboutins or firedoglake. I think my favorite compliment, from a female reporter at a Well Known Newspaper, was "Killer shoes!"

It's been an interesting experience to be in the courtroom and in the media room. Other journalists [notice how I promote myself, a humble citizen journalist, into their number] are seeing that we are not the rabid lambs of the left. We are real, human, interesting, funny. It makes it harder for them to dismiss us when they are laughing at our remarks.

Being a journalist, even a humble citizen journalist, means trying to be aware of our audience and what they need from us. There is a great hunger for the truth, a desperation. Not everyone who works for mainstream media is blind to what is going on. In fact I think you would be surprised at some who express sympathy for what we are doing.

Several members of the public are in the courthouse, following the trial. No one has bothered to interview them, to get the story of why they are there. Just brief conversations show that they care deeply about what is going on with our government, and want to be there to observe. It's a problem that reporters tend to either stay in the media room or go sit quietly in court. Why not interview all these concerned citizens and get their stories?

We are here on behalf of those we represent, including the readers that we know and love, and those who furtively approach us in the hall.

Yes, lots of people are reading us. But they are afraid. Hmm wonder why. Maybe they see the same monster we do. It's ugly.

We have truth and beauty. Our weapons.

*******

Rest? What would that be like?

No verdict today in the Libby trial.

It's been fun, in a manic kind of way, to share this waiting experience with thousands of FDL folk. I'm feeling happy about being given a set of keys to help behind the scenes. I have a set of keys for our department at the children's hospital in Russia. It makes me feel that I am included and needed, both important to my psyche.

So many comments made me laugh out loud. When I suggested that sufficient pacing would constitute aerobic exercise, Rayne said she was at that moment trying to figure out how to connect her laptop to her treadmill. Commenter squirrel hiller asked who else had a blood pressure cuff right by the keyboard. Looseheadprop and littleprop talked about prosecutor mom jumping 10 feet every time the phone rang. HAHA I typed rant. It's a habit.

It's been that kind of a day.

So when the news came, no need to keep the vigil until Monday, all of a sudden I was SO TIRED. I have several interesting projects for this evening which have mostly lost their appeal. I don't want to do anything. Well...maybe some puzzles :) But all other plans will apparently have to wait until tomorrow.

Is this what other people experience, the setting down of work, and the adoption of, what do you call it, rest?

I am the mother of three. The oldest of seven. The daughter of a bipolar parent. The founder of a charity that literally saves lives. If I ever knew what rest was, I have forgotten.

Rest, relaxation, re-creation. A different set of keys. I need them too.
.

I'll be live blogging the Libby trial

Including in the courtroom. Tomorrow. Be there.

My hillbilly father/HLS would be astonished and proud.
You hope yr children will go beyond you, as I hope my
children will. For my dad, I think we're there.

The next Einstein

A comment by T- at firedoglake about Marcy Wheeler's new book gets me to thinking. T- says "This is a hell of an idea. All you redstaters: Call every single public library in your state and request this book. They are all right next to each other in the phone book. No excuses.

[opens THE cabinet looking for phone book and sh** falls out all over the place]"
end of T- comment

My response:
You sound like me. In my case both the creativity and the stuffed to overflowing cabinets are ADHD. Our creativity will save the world. If we can find what we need.

The idea and desire to contact every single library...that's ADHD. We can accomplish miracles, under the right working conditions. Getting the right working conditions, that's the bane of our existence. If you know somebody like this, brilliantly creative but disorganized to a ridiculous extreme, help them. You may be helping the next Einstein. Or at least the next egregious.

[My first use of colored text! ADHD-esque excitement.]