Gohlkus Maximus

I wonder if anyone in the Bush administration has read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I went to the peace rally in San Francisco this past Sunday. It was pretty great to see so many people there—apparently even more than the last time. I actually spent most of the time I was there (about 3 hours) sitting at the CLCV table. I got there about 3 or 4 hours after my co-worker Josh did. We (and Sara & Betty Jane, two other people I work with) handed out 1,000 “Action Alerts” asking people to call Gov. Davis (very much a freak) and ask him to sign a particular environmental bill (AB 10x) that would require that polluting companies actually pay fees to fund environmental cleanup programs. In a more perfect world, of course, they already would.

Funny, reading the analysis of the bill, I discovered that such luminous entities such as the National Aerosol Association and Sherwin-Williams (you know, “Cover the Earth“) have registered their formal opposition to the bill. That’s practically reason enough to support it.

I also hurt my back again the other day. No big deal. I think it’ll slowly get better again. I ordered an extra foam pad to put on top of my (inadequate) futon. My advice: don’t buy a cheap futon mattress, because you’ll pay for it later. In my case, I’m paying in pain. And in dollars (which I don’t have). Ow.

I’ve recently begun reading Divorce Your Car! (reviews here), a book I bought when I lived in Minneapolis but never quite got around to reading until now. (Obviously, getting rid of my car is a much more practical idea for me now that I live in the East Bay rather than chilly, public-transportation-challenged Minneapolis.) I’m thinking about it. But how will I make those late-night grocery and fast food runs? I hate to admit it, but I’m beginning to think that the idea of “planning ahead” is just the slightest bit foreign to me.

Senator Robert C. Byrd, Jr. of West Virginia is famous for his oratory and is the last of a dying breed. He made an impassioned speech to the Senate Wednesday that, in my eyes, makes him a true hero and patriot. (Here’s what he said about the Homeland Security Bill in December.)

Meanwhile, here’s what some of the rest of the English-speaking world thinks about our scheduled war:

• Armed with everything except moral authority.
• “Sounding increasingly like an Old Testament prophet rather than a 21st-century world leader, Bush continues to blur the lines not just between church and state but between the will of God and the will of George W. Bush.”
• Fear-mongering at its worst.

I thought September 11th was frightening, but this is much, much worse. I’m extremely angry that our selected president is rushing us headlong into a glorified family feud and a war for oil. No one can really predict right now what the almost certainly dire consequences will be. (Hyperbole? Naah.)

Happy Valentine’s Day.

See you at the peace march on Sunday.

I sure picked a great time to quit my job. Oops.

The Other State of the Union. U.S. Knows Its Condition—Lousy.

I added a Flash intro I started on Friday. I think it’s one part Daily Show, one part Zombo.com.

Just when you least expected it, I redesigned the site again. This is essentially version 3.0, and it doesn’t bother me the way that the last couple versions did. In fact, I think I like it. I’m using the same basic color scheme, of course, with fewer unnecessary boxes and textures. What did those boxes and textures really communicate, anyway?

I applied for some jobs today. The response rate to my previous job inquiries has been simply dreadful, including those that I’ve followed up on.

Speaking of jobs, I updated the non-existent non-profit job fair page.

p>200,000 march on San Francisco for peace. Don’t believe the corporate media estimate of 50,000. There were more than that in San Francisco on January 18th. I was one of them. Saturday was easily the best day I’ve had since coming back from Wisconsin.

I’ve been back for a week and a half. Going home was absolutely necessary for me. I think I was going a little crazy (okay, “crazier“) with the continued stress of being in a new place and of, well, canvassing.

Welcome to 2003, the year of the cyber-athlete. Actually—I’m sorry—that was 1999. I apologize for the misrepresentation.

I write to you from slightly snowy Hartford, Wisconsin. My last two weeks have been only mildly illuminating. Since the 23rd of December, I’ve celebrated the holidays and visited nearly every place I’ve called home for any length of time. Tomorrow, I’ll spend time with more of my family—my brother and I are here at the same time, in our mom and stepdad’s house, for the first time since about Christmas 1999. Wednesday at 4:30, I’ll fly back to Oakland International.

Wisconsin and Minnesota are pretty much exactly what I expected. The Midwest, in a wide arc stretching from Minneapolis to Chicago, feels like home to me. No surprise, really.

2003 having recently begun, I have ahead of me the traditional task of setting the year’s goals. Last year I blew almost every one of them except for moving to California, and where has that gotten me? (“California,” you might answer, to which I would reply, “Ask a stupid question….”) The effort of preparing to move across the country took a lot of energy away from some of the other things I wanted to do in 2002. I think that I need to listen to myself more this year.

To be honest, one of my first thoughts every morning these days is “I can’t believe I quit my job.” Don’t bet that I’m going to be making that mistake again anytime soon. I know I shouldn’t be obsessing about the past, even (or especially) the recent past, but it crosses my mind rather frequently.

I also like what I did last year, picking out the top ten moments of the previous year. I’ll probably do that again.

In a shocking development, 2002 ended, as have most recent years, at the end of December. Wide-ranging speculation posited that 2002 would continue on in the new, media-friendly month of Smarch, which never materialized, to the disappointment of millions.

Pictured above is my ticket stub from the movie event of the year: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. 4:00 am is an extremely odd time to see a movie, but it was well worth it. (Clearly the ticket is misprinted: I actually saw the movie at 4:00 am today, not yesterday, which would have been impossible, as far as I know.)

The movie was great, great, great. Better than the first one, on first viewing.

Despite not planning to do so, I’ve ended up staying up all night the last two nights and sleeping during the day, before my 5:30 canvassing shift. It ended up working out perfectly. Actually, I wouldn’t have minded seeing the 2:00 am show, but it was sold out.