The "let’s introduce ourselves” thread

[Lorien]

Tell us a little about yourself (if you are so inclined),and the ways in which you are becoming/ have become an Economic Activist. Also how you have lived, or hope to live a progressive lifestyle?


I grew up in the now troubled state of Ohio (then a liberal oasis), and currently live in the very troubled state of Florida (but I hope to leave soon). I’m a self employed illustrator/ animator, and sometimes college instructor. My parents were very liberal when I was growing up, and I even attended a private school that resembled something closer to a hippy commune than an institution of learning. Learning to think for ourselves was of critical importance, and I feel very fortunate to have had such an unusual educational experience as a child. Most of my fellow students were like me; with academic parents who frowned upon TV and materialism. We grew up in the “simple living” lifestyle; no TV during most of my childhood, grew much of our own food, and never owned much. My mother’s Mennonite roots probably contributed a lot to it too (Mennonites are very similar to Amish).

I flirted with the dark side for a few years when I worked for a film studio. There was a good bit of money floating around, and the entertainment industry tends to be rather superficial and status oriented. I learned a valuable lesson there; own too much and it starts owning you!

Now I’m doing all I can to “vote with my wallet”, since it’s looking doubtful that we’ll be voting legitimately at the polls again (I really hope I’m wrong about that)! I’m hopeful that more and more progressives will feel as we do; we’ll not only be saving our bank accounts and the environment, but we may help in saving our democracy too!

[K8-EEE]

1. Hi, NiceTo Meet You -- We Sure Have A Lot In Common!

I grew up in a liberal oasis too, Los Angeles! I went to Catholic school and although it was strict it was a liberal congregation -- film & TV people mostly and that particular order of nuns really stressed service to the poor etc., we didn't have that punishing type of religious upbringing, it was very "guitar mass!"

My husband is an animator too! Although these days he makes his living more doing timing & direction for animated TV shows.

We started simplifying about 9 years ago. At that time I worked in the TV industry, I didn't have an important type of job really (P.A.) but as you know it's very time consuming. When my oldest daughter was getting ready to go into kindergarten I realized that I was actually jealous of my nanny when I left in the morning. I went over my budget and was shocked to find that if I took care of my own house, kids, cooking, garden instead of paying other people to do it, I would be pretty much in the same space financially! This was a shock.

I gave six months notice and I 've been a stay-at-home mom ever since. Basically while all our friends were "trading up" and going "bigger and better" with everything we decided to stay in our little "starter" house, drove our cars for over ten years and in general gave up on the idea of being upwardly mobile. I've never regretted it.

Now I'm becoming more aware of how the choices we make as consumers really do enable both the good and bad elements in our system. Love this forum and all the encouragement it's given me to try and curb the materialism during this most materialistic time of year!

[Lorien]

3. The TV animation experience is a rough gig!

One of my cousins worked for DIC, another worked on the Simpsons and Futurama. Three of my good friends worked for Hanna Barbara in the 70s. It's rough! You guys rarely got the down time and big bonuses that Feature people received. I remember Jeffery Katzenburg fiercely defending the companies TV animators against some of the snobs in our studio. He said "you guys have NO IDEA how hard they work-without the accolades and appreciation you all receive! Don't you ever DARE look down your noses at them"! I was always glad that he was willing to speak up on their behalf.

P.A.s are undervalued too. We had one that was so indispensable that I doubt any film from the Little Mermaid to Mulan would have been finished on time without him. Far more organized than the production managers!

It's got to be tough living the simple life in L.A. (or Glendale, Burbank-anywhere in that area). Few parts of the US are as focused on acquisition, beauty and status as that area is. How are your kids coping with it?

[K8-EEE]

8. Katzenburg!

Talk is cheap Jeff, LOL....him, Eisner, and all the other guys at the top there past and present who lay the animators off a week before Xmas and then give themselves 80 million dollar Xmas bonuses etc., ay yi yi don't even get me started!! My hub works for Diz right now but he's worked everywhere...animators don't get residuals and they don't get a tiny fraction of the pay that the voice talent gets, for much harder work too, still, they're a happy and laid-back bunch, much more so than the marketing/development exex, they are all overpaid but completely miserable, almost down to the man in my experience and very competitively materialistic.

I had a secretarial job once at Paramount and my boss made me go write down what kind of cars were in what number parking spot so he could compare his company car to everyone else's and then go raise hell about it. What a miserable person!

Tough living the simple life cuz it's so EXPENSIVE, even to live in the ghetto....but I think the kids are maybe a bit less impressed with celebrity type stuff since they see it more close up, see a lot of miserable rich industry kids.

[Lorien]

12. Your boss at Paramount

yeah, he sounds like a lot of people I've worked with at Disney (both the artists and the management). Jeffery was a real mixed bag; kind of the Colin Powell of animation-you never know what you'll get. He's been very good to some friends of mine, and horrid to others. Not all animators are poorly paid. I was an assistant to Mark Henn, Alex Kuperschidt, and Glen Keane (among others). Believe me, they did very well for themselves! Weird thing is that everyone was happier BEFORE the million dollar bonuses, when it was just about the art. :shrug:

Another thing about Jeffery; he's one of the biggest contributors in Hollywood to the Democratic party, so he can't be all bad!

One of my friends has a teenage boy who has become obsessed with the fact that their family is now one of the "have nots"; he just can't understand why he can't drive an $80,000 SUV like the ones owned by his friends. Even though the kid has a part time job, he still doesn't understand the value of money. It just seems like raising kids in that environment can be a real challenge!

[PretzelWarrior]

25. you are right about this. My sis used to live in Glendale, CA

and when I visited her it was evident how it affected her and how neurotically obsessed with beauty, surface, money, etc. all those folks were.

Definitely not my way to live.

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. I'm a little different...

I grew up in Austin, Texas, a nice liberal haven, in a decidedly UN-liberal family. My dad was very laidback, and I think it's from him where I get my live and let live mentality. Both my parents voted Republican, mostly just for taxes.

My mom was diehard Catholic while I was growing up, and a blatant racist, as were most of her side of the family. She called Jimmy Carter "that stupid peanut farmer." My dad died when I was 13, so I lost that calm, stabilizing influence early.

I was lucky enough to be the first person in my family to go to college, and fortunately, I chose Denton, Texas, a very liberal school. It was there that I began to question the racism that had taken root in me.

I tried a Pavlovian response, and told me mother that whenever I heard her say the N word I would walk out of the room. After awhile, it finally worked. She stopped using the word. Then, I worked on her attitude about it. I demonstrated that her friends who were black were no different than the ones she denigrated. And when she used the word, she insulted them as well.

I did the impossible. I turned my mother into a Democrat. The woman who always wished gays would "go back in the closet" was helping alongside them at DFT HQ in Austin during the campaign, and when we discussed gay marriage a few months ago, she uttered the unbelievable "Well, it's not hurting me any. What's the big deal?" :wow:

I went through a period where I could not shop enough. I was denied a lot as a young person (long story), and when I was able to afford it, I bought everything in sight. Now I see there is more to life than "things" and have started scaling back, through freecycle, selling books through used bookstores, etc.

I've begun gardening like crazy, started my own compost pile, and reprehensor and I have begun taking notes of EVERYTHING we read about companies, and attempting to tailor our shopping habits accordingly. I haven't set foot in a Wal-Mart in years, but we're getting much more diehard about it.

And I've begun researching like crazy, adding huge chunks of retail, groceries, restaurants, and other entries to the Progressive Pages (mostly Texas, but quite a few others).

Makes me feel better. :-)
FSC

[Lorien]

4. Kudos to you for helping your mother to see the light

Not many have been so successful! My liberal parents have really changed over the years too, but not for the better. My born again mom (she was an Atheist when I was a kid) is still registered DEM, but I'm pretty sure she votes repug. My dad is still a Democrat, but he's become pretty racist since working for the state prison system (he's a psychologist).Maybe I'll have to try your method with him.

The Progressive Pages is a brilliant idea! There are plenty of self publishing places out there; maybe after it's reached a certain size, you might consider printing it?

[fudge stripe cookays]

6. That's been my intent all along.

Like the gay pages or the Christian pages. The online rating thing kind of came as a surprise to me. But it appears to be working so far!

Thanks for the attagirl. It's been one of the great victories of my life.

:-)
FSC

[K8-EEE]

9. Good For You!

That really is impressive how you helped your mom from the dark side.

I've been gardening like crazy lately too!

[Cats Against Frist]

11. Cool to hear about your mom

My story is similar, but it was more like I KEPT my mom from changing into a Republican when the South re-aligned. She could have easily ended up a whack-jobber, but thanks to her daughter, I kept her in the right. She too, was a force during the election, at least in the small town from which she hails, and where I grew up. She can still lapse into a little racism from time to time, but she thinks that gay marriage is "totally fine," -- why? She saw a show on the Discovery Channel where two gay men had a surrogate mother deliver them a baby. She called me crying, "oh, and it was so sweet -- they were so excited, and they loved that little baby so much!!!"

My mother loves children, and it was through them that I mostly helped her see that what is best for children isn't necessarily simply rooted in conservative institutions, but what we make of our individual families -- whatever they may be -- and society. She hates Republicans because she thinks that they want to punish poor children for the actions of their parents, when those that have so much waste so much.

My mom isn't the best activist in the world, though -- she still loves Wal-Mart and American Idol and McDonald's beef-tallowed french fries -- and she has a giant Chevy Tahoe -- and it's hard to actually GET her to do anything productive -- she was raised a consumer, and her and my dad OFTEN speak in "commerical phrases." It's kind of scary. But, even though it has been harder to connect with her that her ACTIONS enable some of the things that she deplores, at least her heart and her vote is in the right place, which is more than I can say for some.

I guess my mom is the democrat that you never imagine is the democrat -- giant car, embroidered teddy-bear vest,
God Bless the Troops" sign in her window. Why is she, though? Her heart. Her conscience.

I'm more of an anarchist, myself, but I haven't tried to push her too far -- it's good enough for me that she's not a GOP lap dog, like so many around her.

[Lorien]

19. She sounds like a good soul

the other parts just take time. My dad is the same way; he loves buying new gadgets, and eats way too much beef (any is too much to me, but I'd be happy at this point if he cut his consumption down to three steaks a week)! He also watches a lot of TV now that he's got one for the first time in his adult life. I think that has a lot to do with it.

So how did you manage to pull away from that influence? What showed you that there was a different way, or did you always see things differently?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. My story

Brought up in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the 1950s and 1960s when those states were economically liberal and socially conservative, with a very homogenous population. My father was a Lutheran pastor in the days when churches felt that they had to keep their clergy humble and poor, so we often lived on canned goods at the end of the month.

Growing up in an affluent suburb on a low income was hard, but in retrospect it was a gift, because we had to gain satisfaction in other ways. I became an avid reader and explorer of music.

I attended a Lutheran college that is known among Lutheran colleges (and even nationally these days) for its sense of social responsibility. This was the Vietnam War era, and the school was experimenting with things like reaching out to nearby urban Native American and immigrant communities, placing students in internships in community organizations, and holding classes in prisons where half the students were prisoners and half were regular students from the campus.

I went to graduate school at Cornell and Yale, and since I was an impoverished student for about nine years, I never got into the whole Martha Stewart-like shtick that so many of my contemporaries got into. At the age of thirty, I had never owned real furniture, and I bought a used car at the age of 29 only because I had taken a temporary teaching job in a rural area.

My year in Japan was another pivotal experience. I lived in a one-room apartment with no central heating, but it was one of the richest and most unforgettable years of my life.

After three years of struggle, which were NOT happy years, since I would have been on the streets if it weren't for my parents, I began getting real teaching jobs.

The most financially comfortable years of my life were some of the most miserable, because I was stuck in a town that I hated among colleagues with whom I didn't have much in common.

In 1993, I lost my last teaching job and became a free-lance editor and translator. In order to save money, I moved to Portland and gave up my car. For ten years, I didn't own one. Fortunately, Portland's enviable transit system made this easy.

In 2003, I realized that Portland no longer worked for me on a personal level, and I knew I needed to relocate. Since I didn't want to relocate to a city where I knew no one, my two choices were Tokyo and Minneapolis. However, I couldn't figure out an affordable way to qaulify for a visa as a free-lancer, so Minneapolis it was.

I currently live in an apartment in a neighborhood that is like a village, containing a natural foods co-op, four restaurants, a locally owned hardware store, a bakery, a locally-owned coffee shop, a public library, an organic butcher shop, and a vitamin/supplement store. I'm on a bus line to downtown and a major shopping mall, but bus service here is so poor that I've been forced to drive. Fortunately, I was able to take over an otherwise unused old car from my mother and stepfather. Since I drive as little as possible, I hope it will last a long time.

[Lorien]

20. I've heard wonderful things about your city

the former residents I know miss the cultural scene there, especially the music. How does it compare to Portland politically?

Your college sounds fascinating. I don't know much about the Lutheran church; the only person I know who joined one is part of a hardcore fundamentalist branch of the church-not at all like what you've described (but then her church isn't like many that I've heard of outside of the Southern Baptists)!

You're experience in Japan sounds amazing too. Must have been a bit of a culture shock at first!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Quite similar to Portland politically in that

it went 70% for Kerry and rarely elects Republicans to anything. There are even two Green city council members.

However, it is way behind the curve in both public transit and urban planning.

I can see "urban planning racism" in the way that renovations of more affluent areas result in attractive street lamps and upscale stores, while "renovations" of poor areas result in rows of tacky-looking big box stores and strip malls with vast parking lots being plunked down in poor neighborhoods.

My college was from a branch of the Lutheran church that was very socially conservative and very politically liberal and which has now merged into the ELCA, the mainstream Lutherans. 1967 (the year before I arrived) was a pivotal year: the college both removed the compulsory chapel requirement and allowed dancing on campus. By 1972 it had coed dorms.

I went back as a part-time instructor ten years after graduating, and once again, I was struck by the family atmosphere that prevailed among the faculty and staff. It is the only college I have ever been at where the faculty treated the clerical and support staff as equals and actually socialized with them.

An incident that epitomizes the spirit of the school occurred during my two years as an instructor. I was having coffee with two of the full-time professors in their shared office on a snowy day, when one of them glanced out the window and said, "They've got Jerry shoveling snow!"

"Oh no!" said the other one. He immediately picked up the phone and called the head of maintenance. "Look, I know you're new here, so perhaps you don't know that Jerry has a heart condition. .... Well, he probably didn't make the connection..." (Jerry was retarded.) "So please put him to work doing something else. Thanks."

Having taught at four other colleges, I cannot imagine a scene like this anywhere else: two full-time professors knowing that one of the maintenance men, who is retarded, has a heart condition, and more importantly, intervening on his behalf.

[vinessa4freedom]

7. greetings

I'm really new to activism, except for being outspoken about liberal issues my whole life. Now I'm writing about them, and getting involved anywhere I can. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. I'm learning a lot here and I really appreciate everyone's input. I can't say my lifestyle is 100% progressive yet, but I'm working on it.

[Cats Against Frist]

10. I live in Iowa

but I used to live in Seattle -- before that, Illinois, Indiana and Sweden.

I became something of a "minimalist" in 1994, except for a three-year relapse (1997 - 2000), in which I visited "the dark side."

I'm actually an anarchist/libertarian more than a democrat, so I'm attempting to become that "perfect" a/l citizen. My program is as thus:

1. Everything in moderation -- Swedish "lagom."
2. Keeping as healthy as possible.
3. Being a discriminating laborer and educated consumer.
4. Deriving pleasure out things other than consumerism.
5. Charity -- in both money and physical work.
6. Contributing something to society.
7. Participating in the arts.
8. Recycling and saving energy.
9. Purchasing only things that do not have a national brand name.
10. NEVER, NEVER purchasing anything priced too far outside its use value.
11. Buying secondhand, whenever possible.
12. Buying organic whenever possible.
13. Eating whole, simple foods that don't take lots of energy to produce.
14. Helping to support an extended family member.
15. Living in a "local sphere," and participating in local government.
16. Learn a variety of things that you can make and do yourself.


So, I also have to say that I'm not PERFECT at it, but I hope to someday be, and I'm changing my lifestyle to accomodate these things, and saving up for my eventual solar and wind-powered farm. I believe there has to be a conspiracy as to why more people are not using solar and wind power to at least SUPPLEMENT their energy usage.

I'm not really an activist, I guess -- I just try to change myself and a few people with whom I've come into contact that envy some of my guilty-conscience-free living habits. Someday, I would like to write a book about the "one-person government," but that would be after I was much better at this, and had it all down to a science. Maybe someday.

[JaneDoughnut]

13. Hello

I'm a technical writer, music critic, poet and publisher. Depending on what day of the week you catch me on. College graduate, redhead, blah blah.

I grew up, and am still mired in, Shreveport Louisiana. (Really, it's not so bad, it's just VERY red.) My folks did not talk politics, at all, and so I didn't develop much awareness of it untill I was on my own. In high school I hung out with the spooky kids and eventually got more interested in punk culture than punk music. I love Jello Biafra.

I think my first brush w/ economic activism was eliminating most animal products from my diet. And the more I learn about factory farming and eating low on the food chain, the more convinced I am this was a good decision.

Now I am taking baby steps to get the other areas of my life in order. Sometimes I feel powerless to stop the plunder of the Earth, but this is one way to assure that I'm not part of the problem. I expect DU to be a great resource.

Good to meet you guys!

Cassie
www.redriverink.com

[mdmc]

14. hi

I'm a NY leftie. Dean was to my right, but AI liked the way he opposed the war.

I'm curt due to a bad day at work.

[JaneDoughnut]

15. Well, I hope you enjoy the holiday.

[NMDemDist2]

16. Love the new nick Lorien, great idea to introduce ourselves

i don't know where to start. I became an activist in 1968 watching the Demo Conv in Chicago and realizing those cops could be beating me or my friends. my ex marine ex stepfather got really mad at me crying

I got tear gassed in the bay area more than once protesting VietNam and marched with the United Farm workers when they were trying to unionize the vineyards in Lodi, California

Worked the "Friends of the River" when I was a river runner and supported Greenpeace for years and years

Got arrested for protesting Gulf War I and refused to pay the fine, insisted on doing community service

never had a credit card or a car younger than 10 years old til I was almost 40

my latest hubby was a consumer born and bred, but he has seen the light

we gave up one car and now have one only, have researched our local stores and found the progressive ones. he has finally learned the joy of thrift store shopping... he switched from cigarettes to a pipe and needed a pipe stand so I took him on a "treasure hunt" and found the perfect pipe stand (once he "modified" it which was part of the fun)

The man who used to drag me to the mall (I have always hated malls) to "see the XMAS decorations" now is planning which thrift stores we need to hit for the next "treasure hunt" ROFL, we need a music stand/astronomy book stand so we are off on a hunt next week :)

between following Eloriel's fung shui thread and "decluttering" my house, I am happy to say my partner is a willing (enthusiastic actually) participant in this new (to him) lifestyle

I am just back to my comfort zone, I hated being in debt and I hate shopping and next spring we are planting some tomatoes (he just doesn't know it yet) and maybe zucchinis if I can figure out how to grow them here in Phoenix.....

Now if I can just get him to understand how important it is not to let the water just run and run while he shaves and brushes his teeth.....

Baby steps ya know?

[Kenneth ken]

17. Hi - I am a misfit

I grew up in a non-political one-parent household. We were kind of (well maybe a lot) poor, so among other things I didn't have a lot of tv influence. I got my political leanings primarily from the music of the 60s. When I was about twelve I started noticing a disconnect between what I was being taught in school and what I was seeing in real life. I also started noticing I didn't fit in very well.

In my early adult life, I drifted in and out of various groups, druggies, bar-scene people , etc. and kept not finding anything that worked for me. At the same time I was still trying to understand the disconnect between the ideals of America and its reality.

I struggled with vegeatarianism; liked the idea, couldn't find anyone else who valued the ideals. Eventually, I started to understand and make the connections between corporatism and consumerism, and how that warped America away from the ideals, and into the reality. The more I understand that, the more I understand why it is I don't fit in to this culture. And so, for me, it becomes really easy to reject the culture.

edit to add: I have owned one tv in my adult life; I was trying to woo a woman, and thought it might help, since she was very fond of movies, and tv in general. Didn't work, and then I was stuck with a tv. :(
Been tv free for about a dozen years. </edit>

I'm glad I stumbled onto DU, because there are many voices here who think at least similarly to me. And I'm doubly happy to have this group, and the veg group, because they both fit even better than the broader DU to how I view life. I might even start to feel like I fit somewhere. :scared: :D

:loveya: ALL for being here!

[K8-EEE]

22. I Love Misfits! And, Adventures In Fasting

But I think you fit in perfect! Hey are you still doing the Wed fasting? I am! I was doing Tues/Thurs but guess what I found out last Thurs. That if you are having a filling done you cannot be to hungry because your mouth produces too much saliva, my dentist couldn't keep the tooth dry enough to fill and was furious to learn I hadn't eaten that day (it was late afternoon.) So I decided it's easier to just switch to Wed and not make any appointments or social anything on that day. Definitely no more dentist on fasting days, uhg, it wasn't too fun!

[Kenneth ken]

27. Thanks

That's good to know about the dentist. Maybe I'll even remember it next time I go. Though typically, I try to schedule all my outside-the-house business for Mondays, so it might not cause me problems. Sorry it did for you.

Yep, I'm in my second week of Wednesday fasting. I'm doing a marginal adjustment; I'm chewing gum today. I was kind of grinding my teeth a bit last week. Guess my mouth thought it needed to chew something :)

So far it's going well; I don't think I'll have trouble making it to midnight, and then I'll have two weeks in a row - almost a habit!

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. My name's Nadin

I am a freelance writer, and my first move was to get a new computer, (how could that be? And it was over two years ago I think) This new computer is a tablet PC and as a writer you may understand I can go through lots of paper preparing a manuscript. No more, I can write and edit directly on the screen and though I may hate Microsoft, they have made my dream of close and hard editing on the screen a reality. I know ironic.... but I have gone down from an average of two reams a month to.... a ream a quarter... think of trees saved

Then I had not gone into a place like Wallmart for years, but now I have new purpose not to go there. I realize that we need to retake the country, and only way we will retake it is by killing them as in the corporate structure.

This is a war, and I know people will get killed and hurt, but this is what it will take.

Some of the things I have done since the election.

Not watching ANY MSM.
Will not give gifts for Christmas... (we are Jewish but still), we got some cards for the family, (don't ask) from the AFL-CIO site, that is my splurging on Christmas.
We will cancel our credit card from citi as soon as it is fully paid, which is soon.
We will keep living well within our means, as we have done for some time.
Oh and did find a local craftsman to give my hubby a gift for our aniversary, which falls very close to Christmas. They are also democrats, so doubly good.
Our great splurging is getting our kids (our birds) their toys and food, well for two of them, the third one eats what I eat.
I am sure I can find ideas here as well...
Oh and getting groceries at Trader Joes, a California company selling natural goods and it is great.

Oh and activism, well some went to the Peace Corp, others did the army, what have you. I worked for ten years as a Mexican Red Cross Medic. I did such with no pay, while getting my college degrees, as a way to pay the country of my birth for accepting my father after WW II. Yes I grew up in Mexico, became a US Citizen in '98 and I think I have been quite political for many years. It was at the height of the war on drugs (If you have seen Traffic the movie, all of that happened ok... and yes it was war, unlike O'Leilly I have been on the receiving end of automatic fire... and what can I say? It is not something I look forwards to, as in the nightmares that come with it... on the other hand I undersand the troops in a way I wish I did not)

I knew I made a difference down there, and ironically I will not do it here, due to the lawsuits and the greed. I now know what is going on, We have had a complete breakdown of the ethical system in the country and reading "The Origins of Totalitairanism" by Hannah Arendt I now feel I have to bear witness, take notes and try to make the world a better place.

With no further,

nadin

[K8-EEE]

21. TRADER JOES!!!

Yeah baby!! I'm a TJs regular myself.

Mexcian Red Cross Medic? That is really impressive. Interesting take on the War On Drugs.

My hub actually makes our Xmas cards, he does pen & ink drawings every year and we have them copied, anybody who wants one send me your address :o) Great to meet all the nice people on this thread!

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Well it was war

when I met my husband he said... that I had that certain look in my eyes, which he shares. He has been under fire himself as a member of the Armed Forces... so we both have a very quirky sense of humor... coming from that.

Only one correction, there were changes in traffic, to protect the guilty... such as names, they could not use the Felix Arellano Cartel since they had not been INDICTED at that time... so they changed the name

The cop that goes in teh end to the US... it s collation of three cops I knew... and the dolls that disolved into coke base... well yes they did make them...

Oh and Trader Joess is a great place... a great place.

[WolverineDG]

26. hi, i'm dg

i come from a family where if, in the past, you asked what political party we belonged to, we'd say "independent." of course, that means "republican." however, my parents brought me up to believe in civil rights, treating people equally, looking out for the environment, contributing something positive back to society, etc. needless to say while i did vote republican twice ('84 & '88), by '92, i began to notice that the "values" espoused by the gop were not those my parents brought me up with. clinton won my vote during the debate where bush sr. brushed off that lady's question & he (clinton) went up & actually put his arm around her. i was stunned. i had never seen that before. i saw him in 1992 & witnessed bush supporters there cursing the crowd full of families & kids when it was over. that was the end of my affiliation with the republican party. those aren't my values!

this was the first presidential campaign i ever felt i had to get involved in, both monetarily & activity. i actually put bumperstickers on my car & signs in my yard. needless to say, i was in a deep funk nov. 3, and am still depressed somewhat. i haven't ever done anything close to resembling "activism," but this "buy blue" "starve the beast" campaign has given me something to do with my time & focus my energy on & i feel like i'm actually DOING SOMETHING. :)

i've started cutting back on stuff...i've turned the damn tv off except for olbermann, my soap opera, the amazing race (anyone wanna be my partner & race around the world?) and the apprentice (i love watching donald trump, who votes dem btw, yell at stuck-up yuppies). as soon as my house is re-wired, cable is getting cancelled & i'm getting a satellite (dish, natch). once i get broadband/dsl, i'm getting an internet phone & telling aol & sbc to kiss my butt. in the meantime, i'm buying citgo gas, avoiding walmart, & buying organic where i can.

keep up the good work, y'all!! :)

dg