Unrelated to Weather.. or much of anything.

Whenever i read or hear the word Hamas, I don't think "terrorism" or even "Palestine." When I hear Hamas all i can think is, "delicious with pita bread."

WTF, Mate?!

This Midwest weather is crazy, and the Midwesterners seem to think this is normal. I think they've had too much corn.
After writing a paper for several hours, i went out last night. When i came home at about 5 a.m. the weather was nice. It was breezy but the temperature was about 55 degrees. The high yesterday was 63, and i was wearing shorts and a t-shirt all day. I went to bed and woke up a couple hours ago to a frigid draft coming in the window above my head. I turned on my computer and checked the weather - knowing it was cold outside and i didn't want to use the trusty stick-your-head-out-the-door method of weather analysis - and it is 18 degrees and the windchill makes it feel like it's 4 degrees. 4 degrees?! The low tonight is going to be 5 degrees (not windchill). Flex some super-simple math muscle: that's a nearly 60 degree swing in less than 36 hours. I'm thinking this is bananas and my friends are like, "welcome to Kansas" as if this is some normal gig. Weirdos.
Oh, and to top it off, yesterday was the anniversary of Icepocalypse. Don't remember Icepocalypse? Here are some pictures from last year's electricity ending event:

My Body is Awake

Do you think it's a sign of some sort of metal illness when i start rewarding myself with basic human needs (i.e. sleep)? 

If you're a good boy and you write x pages then you can go to sleep for three hours before you have to wake up and do it all again. 

I think anorexics do something similar with food. I hope you're properly preparing for an intervention. Good nightmorning.

Proposition 8

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Mr. Clean

My apartment is spotless!! John (my neighbor and fellow soc grad student) bought a new wireless router, so we were messing with it to see if i could get the signal in my apartment. After a little moving of things around, and a whole lot of cleaning inspired by the moving, i have a good signal. This means i can cancel my internet and just pay for half of his. We're saving money now!
I got a new couch too. Some might even say i'm civilized.

Coach of the Year?

'Nuff said.

The Sky is Falling!

To all of my people in Utah who are panicking and comparing Barack Obama to the likes of Hitler and promising to move to Canada,
First, Canada? You're not going to move to Canada. Canada's Conservative party makes the Dems look like Rush Limbaugh, so you just plan on staying put and we'll let you know about your new tax increase. I know it sucks, but we're gonna make you help people who are less fortunate.
Next, i give you this:

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Results Rolling In

First off, this is an amazing day! As a people, Americans have made the first step towards change, and now it is all of our responsibility to stay active and make sure that we get the change that we elected. Obama's speech was amazing. He's no longer rallying; he's leading.
Now, onto Oregon and my own vested interests!
Oregon Live!
As i write this, every single race that PolitiCorps '08 worked on is being led by the candidate that we worked for!! Check them out and i'll keep my fingers crossed that the few that haven't been called work out in our favor:
OR HD 18 - Jim Gilbert (too close to call)
OR HD 26 - Jessica Adamson (too close)
OR HD 29 - Chuck Riley
OR HD 30 - David Edwards
OR HD 37 - Michele Eberle (Emily Kintzer is her campaign manager, but it is still too close to call)
OR HD 49 - Nick Kahl!!!!!111!!!1!!!!!11!1!! Fuck yeah!!!11!!!!
OR HD 50 - Greg Matthews, yeah, he's a firefighter.
OR HD 51 - Brent Barton
OR HD 52 - Suzanne VanOrman
OR HD 54 - Judy Steigler
Furthermore, we helped out with the Partnership for Safety and Justice's Yes/No campaign on Ballot Measure 57 (Yes) and Measure 61 (No). They both passed, but Measure 57 has passed with a larger vote total which means that it will become the law and the other will not. Another victory!!
As long as Jeff Merkeley wins (which PC didn't work on), Oregon is in great shape moving forward. With what looks to be a 41 seat majority (of 60) the Dems will be able to pass budget legislation that will potentially allow them to make great change.
I'm so very excited today. I love everyone that i worked with this summer, and i'm so proud of us as a group. A special congratulation and bit of pride goes out to Drew who went on to be Nick Kahl's Field Director.
Dani went on to be the Field Organizer for the No on Prop 8 campaign in San Francisco. It's not looking good right now, but i'll be up for awhile awaiting the results. This could be the one big disappointment of this election cycle. This is by no means a reflection on Dani. That campaign is so lucky ot have had her. She's amazingly hard working and inteligent. I hope that someday we'll get over our bigotry and homophobia, but for today the message is of progressive change. It's a big step. We'll keep fighting for the rest.

Train Xing

I like my bike and riding it on trails.

I have a thesis topic/plan.

Little Italy

Even more pictures! 

A black squirrel!! There were grey ones too, but i didn't get a picture. In Kansas we only have the red squirrels.

Elizabeth St. there were lots of reminders in NYC of my baby sister.
Little Italy

This concludes the pictures from New York City. Maybe i'll work on getting some fall in KS pictures up soon. Until then, i'm going to go watch baseball. Go Sox? I guess. Go purple Wildcats!

Graffiti to Graduate School

More photos starting with the Brooklyn Bridge.

This is a Banksy that we just stumbled upon in SoHo, and i believe it was later in the same day that we saw Frida and Dali. A very good day.
Myself, Dan, and Kristen at Pinkberry.

Pinkberry is pretty good. It's an acclaimed frozen yogurt place that i'm pretty sure started out in Los Angeles, but i'm not sure that anything could live up to its hype.

Meanwhile, back in Kansas, i have my thesis idea in hand and i sent out a book review yesterday that should be my first publication ever. Things are going well. 

MoMA is where ALL the Raves Happen!

On the way to the MoMA we just happened across this rave on 53rd Ave, so we stopped to party for a second and take a picture for Sister. 

I saw my favoritist painting ever. I've loved this one since i tried to draw it when i was in a  seventh grade art class.

YAY!!

There was also a moment with a Frida Kahlo painting that i'll never forget.

This is just the first set of pictures from NYC. I'll post some more in the next couple of days. There's a whole series of traders on Wall St. just wandering around crying and reading The Communist Manifesto. A very bizarre experience.

Oh yeah, i think i might have a thesis idea.

Kaufman Stadium

As promised:

You can see all of the construction in the outfield.

The really big outfield tv.
Here's the cool fountains. I was stoked to get to see them in person and not on a Sega Genesis baseball game.

I thought they were going to win the World Series after i showed up, but apparently the Kansas City Royals are still just as bad as we thought and they couldn't make up being 16 games out of .500 in only the handful of games they had left after this one. Jeremy and I had a lot of fun though and the Royals did beat the White Sox on that night to go 8-2 in ten games. They finished the season strong. As we Tigers fan often say, there's always next season.

Bailout like Maverick from an F-14 Tomcat!!

I'm going to post some pics from the Royals game in the next couple of days.
Also, i've found the new bike that i really want. One problem: it's last year's model which should make it quite fun trying to track down. Specialized Langster Chicago.

Level your Measurement

If didn't mention it already, i probably won't update this blog very often while i'm in Kansas. Two reasons: i can call all of you now or have time to email/message, and i'm busy so it seems kind of time consuming without all of the convenience.

I wanted to make a correction of the record: Kansas does have NPR. I found it. 

Also, today Vicente Fox spoke on campus. I didn't go cuz i was busy correcting papers but i did record the webcast. I think he loves America more than i do.

I'm having fun teaching the research methods lab. I'm very unsure that i'm actually teaching them anything, but i think that's sorta how this goes. Especially seeing that i mixed up ratio and interval levels of data in lab last week. doh! I just spun it into a good example of why you need to practice the meanings of levels of measurement. They really are easy to mix up.

Updates: I ride my bike a lot and i love it, i'm back to working a little harder than last semester, and i plan to write my thesis and get out of Kansas as quickly as possible.

Okay, i'm off to stratification.

What IS the Matter with Kansas?

I miss Portland. I want to go to New York.

My internet isn't working, so if i haven't called you, it is because my phone doesn't work without the internet. Also, my drug dealer phone has been turned off.

Hannah is coming to stay with me tomorrow night and she's brining Dizzy (her French bulldog) too! PolitiCorps Fellows should just move to Kansas to keep me company all of the time. That would make me happy. 

Okay, if you haven't picked up on it, i'm genuinely unhappy about being back in Manhattan, KS. In response, and completely against the advice received from PolitiCorps staff, i am making a brief list of shit i noticed today that i hate about KS. I give you my gripes in no particular order:

• There is no recycling program in Manhattan, KS. You can recycle, but you have to save your shit and haul it to the recycling center, which is not exactly a convenience especially if you don't own a car.
  
• Speaking of which, this is the least bike friendly city i have ever stepped foot in. There are no bike paths anywhere. We're in the process of building a new parking structure on campus, and you can't find anywhere to park on a Friday night in Aggieville, but no one would want to ride a bike. Oh, and let's not forget this is a city that is literally no further than six miles across. Google Earth says so!
• The music here sucks. I went to a concert tonight that was actually kind of cool, but mostly it just highlighted that everything else i've seen here totally blows.
• It's humid.
• There isn't an independent movie theatre or a sushi restaurant anywhere in town.
• Sororities and fraternities (no offense Jacob, you know i love you).
• No NPR on any station and no ESPN Radio unless it's Saturday ("game day").

I'm done complaining. Sorry Drew. The only good things i can think of are my friends, sociology, Pathfinder which is a cool bike shop, and La Fiesta's delicious salsa.

Lastly on the news report, i'm building a fixed gear conversion bicycle and i'm using a stolen Bianchi frame that i found abandoned in front of my apartment (it had a summer's worth of dust on it, so i do not feel bad at all). This project makes me happy.

Farewell for Today

I just walked home in the rain to let the Northwest seep into me, as if it hadn't already.

My new shoes are finally broken in enough that i can wear them without socks.

Our evaluation retreat was amazing. I breathed a cloud at the timberline of Mt. Hood! On Thursday, we spent a lot of time together and just hung out talking about what was going to happen after we all go our separate ways. It was a high quality experience. Plus, we got some great feed back about what we've been working on all summer. I was told i complain too much, but that i'm a teacher and a uniter of people. I worked hard at being able to go between what became subgroups of Fellows and trying to relate with everyone. I'm glad it paid off.

Graduation was fun. There are so many pictures of us all lookin' steeze-tastic. It's almost ridiculous. I'll see what i can do to get as many of them online as humanly possible. Governor Kitzhaber was there though he wasn't as well-dressed as any one of the Fellows. He has a tendency to wear jeans and cowboy boots everywhere. He came to christen the new bus before it left for the DNC in Denver. After the governor left an intentional dent on the rear as a tribute to the accidental denting of the original bus during its christening, his son got the first crack with the champagne bottle. Little Kitzhaber took a shot at it a couple of times to no avail. The governor stepped in and beat on the rear hub until a piece of steel broke off. I'm not sure if anyone bought that part, but it looks like we will be asking for a donation to pay for the replacement. Then we all partied for the rest of the night and took even more self-promoting pictures of our beautiful faces.

I miss my friends already. Miles leaving was tough because he's the most outspoken of our group and one of my favorite people. Tonight i had to say goodbye to Mollie who grew on me so much over the course of the summer. I love her. Some people left Friday night's party assuming we'd see each other in the past couple of days, but some of them haven't seen me. I kind of like those goodbyes. They're easier. Leaving Noah and Drew tomorrow is going to be really hard too. I love our group, but some are going to be more noticeably absent from my day-to-day life. The LQ will be missed greatly.

I'm already working on getting brought out for Trick or Vote.

It's been one of the two greatest summers of my life.

P.S. Rumor has it Joe Biden is VP. har har

A Few Very Unrelated Thoughts

First, i was on the radio last week doing an interview with Genna and Jefferson on KPOJ. The station hosts a lot of different talk radio shows about progressive politics in Portland. Here's the link:

KPOJ interview

We're on about halfway through the show.

Next - i alluded to this in my last post - i'm starting to check out of Portland. We've nearly reached all of our goals and i feel like i'm starting to distance myself from things. Most of the time it's unintentional and i'm sure it's a defense mechanism. I'm going to be sad to have to leave. Bouncing from place to place is very difficult.

Finally, i've been considering the role of violence in social change. I watched the documentary The Weather Underground today. It was half a day off. It has me thinking about social change, and i'm sure this discussion will continue in the depths of my mind for months to come.

Special 1000

We're going to reach our goals! It's official, we're working on our day off, but it looks like we'll actually hit the very lofty goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the summer:

• knock on 20,000 doors for candidates
  
• ID 5,500 voters
  
• register 4,000 new voters
  
• of these 4,000, register 1,000 voters from "underrepresented" communities.
  
• knock on 5,300 doors to fight a mandatory minimums ballot initiative
  

Save one, I think we'll meet them all. We will not be able to register 1000 "underrepresented" voters. There was quite the discussion about this the other day, and the conclusion that I came to was that it's not possible because we didn't define what underrepresented actually means. Turns out it's hard to measure something you don't define, and that it's hard to target some ambiguous thing that you can't measure (see also: terror). When we were in the committee to work that definition out, I was the one trying to come up with a hard definition but it didn't happen and now that goal is up Fucked Creek. I hate to say it (sort of), but I told you so and I wish we could have done better.

This weekend we went to Bend, OR to canvass for Judy Steigler. She's going to win that seat.

It was a bazillion degrees out this weekend. Bend is a high desert like SLC, but not half as bad ass. That city is pretty damn lame. However, they do have the Deschutes River which runs right through the middle town. We went tubing and I jumped off a bridge into the water. The water is like glacial run off, so it's a bit chilly even when it is a hundred degrees outside. But fun. 

We spent the night in the Deschutes County Dems office. It was nice. Interestingly it was probably a nicer homestay than is the Latin Quarter. I stole everyone else's sleeping stuff because I don't own a sleeping bag and didn't bring a pillow. That might have been why it was so nice.

On the ride home from Bend the new bus was sucking wind in the Cascades. We stopped at one point and got to go swimming in Tridium Lake. It was beautiful up there, but then a lightening storm started to come on so the park people made us leave. We made it home with as much in-the-aisle dancing and silliness as possible. I tried to tune out.

More Blue Oregon

Someone at Blue Oregon posted another blog about the Bus Project. There's even a cool video of our Bus Trip from last weekend. I'm pretty sure that i'm in that video, but that's not so much the point as is the fact that the Bus Project is getting love.

The Most Meaningful Week

I probably should start out by saying that i wrote this first part the day that this actually happened (8/4/08):

Today’s morning discussion may have been one of the most meaningful experiences of my time here in Portland.
Jefferson Smith started the Bus Project, and he is now a presumptive Representative elect for the Oregon House of Representative. He won both the Democratic and Republican nomination in his district’s primary several months ago.
This morning Jeff comes in to talk to us about Multi-Issue Politics (we barely spoke about this). He started out by posing a scenario where we were supposed to decide whether or not a candidate should take PAC (Political Action Committee) money. I know a lot more about PACs after being here than i did before.

I write this in hindsight:

PACs are not always the evil slimy things that i previously considered them to be. There are plenty of PACs that support good causes and good candidates. In fact, this is one way in which people with little room for financial expenditures pool together resources and have a positive effect on the political process. The Bus Project has its own PAC.

Okay, all of that said, we had a discussion about this scenario. First we were given a set of conditions, then allowed to ask questions about the potential PAC donations, and finally, we were told advice that was given by different people (i.e. the only person in the House to not take PAC money, a former governor, and the campaign staff).  

As we were having our discussion with Jeff, it became more and more obvious that we were talking about him and his campaign. It then became one of the most meaningful discussions that we've had all summer. I argued against taking the PAC money. Ben Cannon (the only person in the House to not take the cash) suggested taking it because he felt like it damaged his credibility within the caucus and his ability to pay his caucus dues. My point was that if Jeff didn't take the money then there would be two instead of one, and that maybe opens the door for number three and four to do so sooner than later. We voted on the idea and the tally was 17-7 in favor of taking the money and using it to establish a "Robin Hood" PAC that redistributes the money. Jeff seemed to really be making the decision with us and our opinions seemed to really matter to him. It was great. It's very likely he's going to take the PAC scratch, but he told us that he would continue to fight for campaign finance reform and do his best to help Ben and his marginalized status.

This is how our entire week went. The following day (Tuesday, 8/5) we met with Kate Brown who is the presumptive Secretary of State elect and she had a very interesting conversation with us about electoral reform and how we would try and increase youth voter turnout as well as the likelihood that young people would actually run for office. The recurring theme that kept coming up was creating citizenry through service. Some people suggested student loan repayment, but i was rather partial to the idea of mandatory terms of service in the military or some other citizen building organization like AmeriCorps or the PeaceCorps.

It has been a very good week and i'm happy to say that i reached my goal of registering 100 voters, and i have already knocked on more than 500 doors for several candidates this summer. 

I'm starting to prepare myself for my return to Kansas. I need to get a few more ducks in a row, but the summer is quickly coming to an end. I'm kind of sad that i have to leave, but i'm excited about seeing everyone in Manhattan. 

Suicide Attempt on the Hawthorne Bridge?

Everyone has heard the nickname "Rose City," but Portland is often referred to a bunch of other names. One of the obvious ones is Bridge City. Why, you ask? Because there's a bunch of bridges crossing the Willamette River and connecting the two sides of the city. It all makes sense now, right?

On Bus Trips, we get together at the Eastbank Esplanade to have some breakfast before we all pack into the bus and go canvass for whomever wherever (today it was for Nick Kahl and Greg Matthews in East County). The Eastbank Esplanade is right on the Willamette River beside the Hawthorne Bridge. Yesterday morning we showed up there and were doing the usual routine only this time a guy decided to jump off the Hawthorne Bridge into the Willamette River. No one saw him jump except for Christina.

Quick side story: we have been discussing for days now if it would kill you to jump off one of the bridges into the river. Our conclusion was that it wouldn't kill you unless you landed awkwardly and broke your legs then drown. Are we morbid? Yes, but we're smart people and this was the consensus. Well, the verdict is in: you will not die.

The guy treaded water for something like seven minutes while the emergency vehicles showed up. We have no clue if it was a suicide attempt or a stunt, but he was definitely alive. He must feel stupid if it was a suicide attempt. The emergency operator even asked whoever called if it was suicide or a prank, and the person who called was really puzzled by the question because how were they supposed to know after the guy had already jumped and was 300 feet away in the water?

I must say one final thing. The best part of this whole event was that Ian - the Bus Project's media relations guru - was on the Fox 12 news people to get them to cover the Bus Trip seeing that they were already onsite. He was working hard to capitalize, and i'm not going to lie, it was pretty damn funny and he's the shit for trying.

I wonder if there's some link to Flugtag. Maybe that guy saw the other stupid white people dunking in the water and decided to give it a go the next day.

Flugtag

First, and most importantly, check out this website: Pandora Radio. If you like music at all, you should have a great time with that website. If you already knew about it, then why the hell didn't you tell me, cool guy?

Yesterday was Flugtag and we went there to register voters. Some people killed it. I did good for me, which is bad for most everyone else. Voter reg is not really my cup o' tea. I was shocked out how enthralled people were by watching what are basically parade floats be pushed off the edge of a "launch pad" into the Willamette River - wow, i'm just realizing that i haven't explained Flugtag in the blog. It's an event hosted by Red Bull where people build "flying" machines that are then pushed into the river. It's ridiculous but kind of fun to watch. Oh, and as a side note: the Willamette River is not clean by any means. Sections of the Willamette are still a superfund site and the federal government is arguing with whomever is going to clean it up. I hope no one gets cancer because of this little event.

Anyway, there were about 50,000 people out to watch this dunking of the mindless. I only got a handful of voters registered because every time i would approach someone they were pissed that i was interrupting them watching falling objects splash. It was so ridiculous. "I'll tell you when they're getting ready for splashdown. Just fill this card out!"

P.S.

Miles has more of a calculator brain than i do. It's awesome.

Last Thursday

Last night i went to "Last Thursday" and had a really good time. Last Thursday is a street festival on the last Thursday of the month. The people take over Alberta St. using signs and ridicule to keep cars off the street. They block off the road for about 15-20 blocks and people have several different concerts (techno, bluegrass, dark synthesized weirdness, and dance party), sell art, drink beer, and eat food. It's basically the Oregon Country Fair (see previous post) in Northeast Portland. But, more fun. There were people on stilts, a fire juggler, and belly dancers. This place is so weird. It's like a city full of theatre majors. If i didn't love it here so much, i'd really hate this place.

Bad news: my credit card expired, so i'm not really sure how i'm supposed to have any access to money.

Good news: i already bought a nifty pair of headphones (noise canceling: not Bose but supposed to be comparable except in price) and they should be here tomorrow.

This morning we had to be here early, so i've been dragging ass all morning, but we got to learn about advanced targeting. I fought so hard to stay awake during class, but it wasn't because i was uninterested. Afterward, i introduced myself to the guy doing the presentation, Kevin Looper, and told him about some of my stats background. Caitlin, our program director, told him that i want to be the next Josh Berezin. Kevin is Josh's boss at Our Oregon and Josh does all kinds of data management and cool statistical analysis. I think his official title on their website is "Data Geek." Kevin's response to Caitlin's comment was, "We're in need in that area." He gave me his card, so i will be emailing him today. It's nerdy, but i think it's a cool in, doing good work, and there may even be a little bit of money to be made. During his presentation Kevin got a call from the Secretary of State. That has to be pretty bad ass, right?

In a similar vain, all of us got offers to do PolitiCorps Year. They have to choose from whoever would be interested. The program is basically a year long term of service of what we've been doing. I'm sure that it would make me far more of an expert in some aspect of politics/campaigning than i already am. There's even opportunities to go work with other groups that are part of the Bus Federation. I explained to Caitlin that it's a must that i go back to finish my MA (see entry bellow), but she said that the offer would be open for me when i was done. Networking is the most important part of college because it is the most important part of success/job searching. Aunt Mary and Uncle Jay, look at all of these Plan Bs! Love you guys. All of you.

Terror, The Warriors, and Death Before Dishonor

Last night i went out to do some voter registration at the Terror show. I had very little success because the scene here is so young and there weren't nearly as many people there as i would have expected had the show been in SLC. I ended up wandering the streets registering voters here and there so that i could go and just have fun at the show. It was a lot of fun but quite different than it would have been at home. Death Before Dishonor was super dope. Made me miss shows and home a little bit. Shai Hulud is on Thursday and i'll be there building some more votes.

I finally got my financial aid stuff cleared up for the fall. In case there's any confusion or wonder about my plans, i am going back to Kansas State University to finish my master's degree. That is absolutely not in question no matter how much i love Portland (a lot). I can't remember if i mentioned it previously, but i've been assigned to teach the SOCIO 520 - Research Methods lab. Should be cool because i'll get to cement some of my methods knowledge, but also i'll get to work with Spencer who is pretty bad ass.

Oreback

Midsummer retreat survived! I didn't get eaten by a black bear or a mountain lion, but had i been attacked i would have stayed big and fought back because that's what the informative black bear and mountain lion pamphlets told me to do. Ah, nature.

It was absolutely beautiful up in the mountains. We went up there to complain at one another about inefficiencies in our program (irony?). The rest of the time, which was a good amount of time, we played touch football, ultimate frisbee, swam, watched Predator starring not one, but two future governors, and ate some delicious and free food!

I'm sure some good things came out of our bickering - including a small scuffle - but more importantly is a story from our football playing. I was on a team with some faster guys who didn't realize that the big boy mustard could roll, so for the most part they were busy playing catch with each other while i played D and made big sacks (you know how we do!). There was one play where i was tossed the ball on a dump because whoever was playing quarterback was getting their skinny as run. Needless to say, i start rumbling down field. Hannah - who is a better athlete than most of the guys, and can throw a spiral like nobody's business - squares up with me in a two-hand touch game, and not even thinking i dropped my shoulder and bowled her ass over without being phased. Had it not been a touch game it would have been the most bad ass play because i could have strolled to the endzone, but as it was i felt really bad. She bounced up and we took a slight bit of a penalty for that move even though i'm not sure what the rules are. I thought you weren't supposed to tackle on defense, but this wasn't me on defense and she didn't tackle me. That became the story of the last couple days. 

Yesterday, we had to do a "trust exercise" and we were blind folded and led through the woods. Guess who my leader was. Just guess. Yep, Hannah. I was so convinced she was gonna run my ass off a cliff or face first into a tree, but she did no such thing and was an excellent leader of cult-looking blindfolded people.

We'll Strike Gold at Silver Falls

I leave for our midsummer retreat in about six hours. Rumor has it that we're going to Silver Falls, OR to hang out, tell each other what we think about the program, cuddle gently, and then play a bunch of schoolyard games. I'm most excited about kick ball. Kick ball is a gladiator sport.

Speaking of which, we got our faces stomped in playing kick ball against some hipsters on Saturday. It was supposed to be the death of irony, but instead it was the day that democracy cried. We had fun though. We should have beat them at tug-o-war, but instead we were all getting ready to go back to Bus Central (HQ).

Sunday i didn't register hardly any voters at the 3-on-3 tournament, but i did see a little kid wearing a Stockton jersey. He was a bad ass little kid. I saw another kid wearing Stockton shorts, but they were in no one way branded. That was less bad ass and more unfortunate. The tournament had a slam dunk contest with about half the people not knowing how to dunk. It was shit.

Today is not yesterday, so we fast forward, and i got a new phone today. That should be up and running proper like.

Also, i created a Flickr account for all of us PolitiCorps fellows to upload our pictures. There are quite a few up already, so you guys can take a look: PolitiCorps Flickr.

back to falling asleep... in bed.

p.s. while i'm out finding gold in Silver Falls i probably won't have any way to get a hold of anyone. no interweb. i'm exhausted..

Dark Knight: Good

Trying to wake up in four hours and still have some zeal for democracy: bad.

Despite the movie, i think it's obvious i still have a firm grasp on my moral compass. Good night.

Timbers Army

My phone sucks balls. Tried to call grandma and dad and got hung up on about 5 times. It's not the service itself. The problem is with the phone, and i'm still not sure what the solution is. I'll figure it out.

Last night i went and did voter registration at the Portland Timbers' game (soccer). The Timbers Army is their "supporters club" a.k.a. firm, and they are so fucking awesome! If you did not know, Portland has a huge beer culture - particularly micro brews. Beer culture + non-Mormons + football = a fucking great time! I only got to stay for the first half and then i had to get back to the work of actually registering people to vote, but i am very excited to go see them play Seattle in a big rivalry game on one of our days off. The good news is that they won, and i registered an all-time single day high of six new voters. I do well with the street kids, but not so well with the hippies or the lame ass consumer culture folks at the mall.

Bike Helmets are for Pussies

Uneventful day.

I went out today to try and buy a bike helmet. Turns out my head is fucking huge and i couldn't find one. I bought lights for night riding, which will be useful back in kansas as well, but i will be taking my life into my own hands as i ride helmetless. I figure it can't be any worse that rolling around on my scooter with no helmet. 

I shaved my hair off. It's very short again and i love it.

My suit should be pressed tomorrow and ready to wear. Pictures coming soon.

Also, I will have a cell phone for the rest of the summer as of tomorrow. The number is 503-933-8000. Not only is it a shifty Cricket phone for drug dealers, but the number is actually 933-8000. If that doesn't sound like a drug dealer number or a sex hotline then i don't know what does. Oh, and when i went to try and buy a phone the place that was listed in the phone book turned out to be shut down and converted into a garage that is probably a chop shop. Nothing says shifty like Cricket.

Not much new or exciting on the PolitCorps front. I feel like our article in the Times misrepresented us a bit. Oh well. National coverage never hurts.

I'm taking my sunburnt scalp and i'm going to bed.

It's like Woodland Creatures and Fairies Built a Festival in the Forest.

The Oregon Country Fair is hands down one of the most bizarre experiences i've had in my entire life. My sister would have loved this shit. I say that because apparently at night they have a silent rave. I will provide two mini stories to try and help you understand this place. First, Drew, Peter, Olivia (Pete's girlfriend) and myself all drove to Eugene on Friday night and stayed with Drew's friend Miles so that we wouldn't have to wake up crazy early yesterday to get there. We got to Eugene late and played some bolo (best yard game ever!) and Miles described the country fair by saying, "It's like woodland creatures and fairies built a festival in the forest." I didn't have my camera with me, so there's probably no way it can be better conveyed than through that one sentence. That is hands-down the best description ever for something indescribable! Next, the next morning we got on a bus to get from Eugene out to the middle of nowhere forest, and when we got off there were people wearing multi-colored dog outfits on stilts, barking, and telling stories about the magic that awaited you inside. It was like Disneyland on acid.
We had a lot of fun, ate some good organic hippie food, registered some voters (not nearly as many as i had hoped), and became part of the magic. The magic included: lots of drugs (obviously, not for me), dread locks, multi-colored everything, tie dye, fairies, sweaty people, shirtless women with body paint, shirtless women without body paint, drum circles, poetry readings, and voter registration. Minus the shirtless women and voter reg it was not my scene, but i had a good time and it was a hell of an experience. I probably could have even been talked into staying for the silent rave because i heard the night time fiesta was off the scale wild and some people did stay.
Today is my day off and i'm doing laundry. The internet isn't working in our apartment, so i probably won't be able to call anyone. I miss every single on of you who read this. I'm having a great time and learning a ton.

P.S. Oh, i almost forgot that the Bus Project and PolitiCorps made the Times. Yes, we were in the NY Times. Nate Gulley is my roommate, but i wasn't interviewed. Check it out: Times Article. I think they referred to us as out supporting Obama, which isn't true at all, but still very cool.

Balance?

Work time is fucking awesome! We've been told since we got here that eventually we would be given time to take care of work. That time is now and it is great. I don't have a committee appointment until next week because for the last week i was working on the Research Committee, which means that i don't have much to do right this moment. In thirteen minutes from now i'm going out to spend the evening registering voters. I need to get my numbers up so i'm trying to get excited about it.

I was feeling very frustrated about things the last few days, but i'm feeling much better today. We had a interesting discussion about balance today and i think that helped some. 

After we get done tonight, i am going to Eugene to the Oregon Country Fair (Alex calls it "advanced research in the sociology of white people." it's got a ring to it.) to register voters tomorrow. I'm going down with Drew tonight to meet some of his friends and party before we have to work. This fair is supposed to be an interesting hippie fest that is ripe for voter registration so i'm excited to get there.

Next point, Blue Oregon (a blog about progressive politics in Oregon) posted an article about the Bus Project today so you should all go read it. Here is a picture of me (a couple more are in the Blue Oregon article).

Presents

I got mail today and it wasn't free food.. but, still good. I got a package from Keely with reading materials i probably won't have time to look at until at least Sunday, but it was very nice of her to think of me and send me fun book/magazines. I also got a pocket square. Not from Keely.

I'm going to bed before i fall asleep on the couch while typing. wow, i really did just pass out and type a huge line of Ss and Ds.

NOI Training - Day 1

NOI training is about as much fun as it sounds. End.

However, they did give us free breakfast and lunch! As Shannon pointed out in her comment, free food tastes better than paid for food, but is especially delicious when you're poor and living with two/three other dudes who have little-to-no interest in cooking. Some fellows have host families who cook all kinds of goodies for them and Nate and i are extremely jealous of those people. Nate just said, "I could not be more jealous." Some fellows also have host peoples who do their laundry, and this makes some of them uncomfortable. However, again, it makes Nate and i full of envy. Aunt Mary, i could not miss you more. I love you.

Tonight we did some canvassing for Brent Barton. Our turf had already been stomped out once (maybe twice) before, so it seemed super redundant and most of my contacts (60%) were "hostile" and refused to talk to me. Kind of a drag. The good news is that it made things go quick, so Jake (a fellow i was canvassing with - he's from Long Island and a super cool and slightly misunderstood dude) and i hit up a pub, drank beer/RC cola, and played a little bit of pool while we waited for our pick-up.

I have to wear long sleeves on turf . . . shower time!

Day Off!!

A little preface for this blog: it's not stylistic writing. In fact, it's only to keep the people i care about a little more in tune with what i'm doing in the Northwest this summer. My phone will not be working, so this is an effective way to keep people posted.

More background for you guys: for those who don't know, i'm doing a fellowship with PolitiCorps this summer. PolitiCorps is the leadership development ("drive leaders") aspect of the Oregon Bus Project. It is a political "boot camp" where i work 70+ hours a week canvassing for local candidates, registering voters, and eventually we'll be working to defeat a mandatory minimums initiative that is a horrible piece of legislation for several reasons (ask if you want to know). We also do classrooms where we learn different aspects of campaigning and leadership.

Today was our first day off in two weeks. Needless to say, we spent it doing laundry, cleaning, and finishing unpacking. Noah, my roommate from Kalamazoo, MI, was brave enough to clean our kitchen. Alex is our host. He is also a super busy staffer at the Bus Project who is almost never home. He sleeps at his girlfriend's place most of the time and owns next to nothing, and if you walked in our front door, the place looks like you would expect. Nate is my other roommate from Cleveland who attended the University of Oregon. We cleaned until Nate invited Mollie (another fellow) over and then the three of us went to snag bubble tea while Noah stayed home to call his people. We met Carol (yet another fellow) at Fat Straw and just hung out there until i got hungry enough to walk back home and eat some Cheerios. We all drove to a barbecue that was held for the fellows. Great food! Free food! It was amazing, and i only regret not having eaten even more because despite receiving our stipends at the barbecue i'll still be broke until it's deposited in Utah (probably Friday or so).

I'm going to bed because i have New Organizing Institute (NOI) training tomorrow. They're going to feed us breakfast and lunch. More free food!!