2007 Oklahoma Green Party annual meeting

I just posted the minutes of last Sunday’s annual meeting of the Green Party of Oklahoma, along with some pictures I took, on the party’s web site. We had a lot of fun while tending to our pressing business, including ballot access reform, and I think that comes across in the pictures.

They are a small but dedicated group of folks who are selflessly committed to justice and who really love Oklahoma. I feel honored to be working with them.

I drove to the meeting with my friends and fellow Greens, Rachel and James, who happen to be the state party co-chairs. On the way home we took Rt 66 all the way from Stroud to Oklahoma City. Just before sundown, we took a turn on to a strip of the original roadbed of Rt. 66, a section which is no longer in use as a public road. It was kind of wild to see how unassuming and narrow it is. The “Mother Road” is such a huge iconic symbol in America, but the road itself is dwarfed by what highways have become in this country.

Speaking of icons, we also stopped at the new Pop’s soda shop in Arcadia. I’ve got some cool pictures of that place, which I’ll upload later in a separate post.

New DVD set of My So-Called Life to be released Oct. 30

I’m not ashamed to say that I was — and still am — a huge fan of a television drama that was aimed at teenagers.

My So-Called Life was not your average teen series. It wasn’t even average TV fiction. In my opinion, and I’m not alone, it was the best fiction ever made for American TV.

Perhaps you missed it when it debuted on a Thursday night in August 1994; a week or two later, in the same time slot, was the premiere of a little sitcom called Friends. The latter became a phenomenon; the former was lucky to have its 19 episodes all broadcast, rather sporadically, during that TV season.

I was watching that first night, and immediately fell in love — with Angela Chase, her friends, her family and her self-aware, angst-ridden view of her oh-so-fortunate life. The writing was excellent, the acting simply astounding, and the production’s ability to capture and provoke the widest variety of human emotion so exceptional, that those who witnessed it at the time, and not a few who have found it since, were forever changed by it. They still talk about it reverentially, and, like one of the characters says about a particularly moving night, “We had a time.” The series ended with lots of unresolved plot threads, so passion was all the more excited to know “what happened.”

I took part in the discussion board that popped up around the show (maybe it was on AOL, or ABC, the network that broadcast it) and although many of the other participants were in their teens or twenties, the conversations on that board were frequently transcendent. Oh, how I wish they had been preserved. There was a very vigorous effort to save the show, but ABC lost faith in it, and Claire Danes was exhausted (watch the series and you’ll see why) and wanted to do film (she did pick up an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work in the show).

Those original boards may be gone, but a fan web site still exists and is still active; in fact it just was given a complete remodel, so while it is a museum to a past event, it’s a dust-free one.

I recorded (on VHS) many of the episodes as they aired (or when MTV showed them the following summer) and wore those tapes out. Then a couple of box sets of six episodes came out and I bought them, but the production of that VHS series was not completed.

In 2000 or so, a DVD set with all 19 episodes came out, with a very limited number of copies pressed. Since I was on the fan email list, I got the opportunity to pre-order, but the cost was $100 and I didn’t have any money at the time and missed the opportunity. I’ve been looking for a copy of that set for years, but from what I heard, if it was offered, the cost could run about $300 or so.

Well, my wish has come true and the series is finally being reissued in a proper DVD commemorative edition, with interviews with the writers, cast and crew, a book, the whole works. I am ecstatic, to say the least. This is the best news in “my so-called life” in a long time.

I ordered it today (for only $48 — yay!), and will be waiting on pins and needles until it arrives. I feel like Angela, Rayanne, Ricky, Jordan and the rest are family or close friends that I haven’t been able to visit with in much too long. I know it sounds crazy to say about a tv show, but this tv show was Art. So think about a great book that stays with you, and remains relevant to your life. If you are the least bit interested in art (whether tv, writing, acting), or or just the human condition, then you need to check out My-So-Called Life.

There’s no excuse now. It’s on Amazon and all the other places, including (soon) the Netflix waiting list.

A religious calling

This cartoon makes me think of my Quaker friend Christine O’Brien, who died last November ending a beautiful life, deeply lived. We would have had a great conversation about it, laughing, talking about Zen koans, Quaker meetings in which not a word is said, but everyone feels connected and full of love at the end, or about brief but powerful messages, like “Attention” that get everyone vibrating silently. She would bring out one of her little Paragraph magazines, and read a prose poem we both would consider “cosmic”.

And we would sit and watch the light move across her patio and through the French doors into the dining room, playing shadows across art objects, dried flowers, rows of little stones and beads, books, lots of natural wood and wonderful, wonderful food in handmade plates.

What some people call “religious” is just a bunch of noise and anxiety. You really don’t have to say, or hear, a thing to feel connected to something powerful. In fact, the less said, the better.

Exhausted with despair

Boy, I’m wiped out. It was a strange day.

I went with my friend and co-revolutionary James to promote the GI Rights Hotline outside the big hoopla send-off for the poor National Guard troops who are being deployed to Iraq. But we had to make stops for sign supplies, then got caught in bigtime traffic — there must have been 10,000 attending at the Noble Center at OU. Anyway, we were late, had to park in a field, but we did get maybe half an hour of holding our signs. I’ll post or link to the pictures James took once he gets them off his phone.

Meanwhile, in route, we had major discussions about the organizations we work on together, which is good, but also rather draining to me since I’m so backlogged with all that organizing work and feeling somewhat negative about how some things are going.

Finally, get home, and while fixing a dinner of leftovers that my mother is giving me major grief over, try to get caught up with the news, which is horrible, with major losses on S-CHIP, and privacy, and the soon to be new AG pretty much condoning the president to not only torture, but just not obey any law he doesn’t agree with (which he’s doing anyway, but jeez, they’re not even pretending to be lawful anymore.

Insane, but I’m too tired and disgusted to be coherent here, though I did respond quite nastily to a fundraiser letter the Democratic Party sent me today, with the audacity to headline it “Elections Matter”. I shouldn’t have even been on that mailing list, and have no idea how I got on it, since I’m not a Dem, but I was allowing it to continue just to see what they were up to. Well I unsubscribed today (and read some comments on Daily Kos from real Dems who did exactly what I did).

I also sent Chris Dodd a thank you note, since he stood up and put a hold on the telecommunications amnesty nonsense. Though still more bad news when it turns out Harry Reid is going to go around that somehow. He likes those checks from AT&T, I’m sure.

Man, this once-great country is so screwed.

I’m going to bed early. Maybe I’ll wake up and it’ll be Nov. 1970-whatever and Nixon is being prosecuted in federal court, and Gerald Ford has kicked out all the sorry Nixonian asses like Cheney and Rumsfeld into the dustbin of American history where they fade in ignoble shame. Cuz that’s how far back you’d have to go to really begin to fix the disaster this government, and the media that covers it, has become.

Computer shopping

Warning: Geek alert!

I found a “new” computer on OKC’s Craig’s List and will get it tomorrow.

Intel pentium 4 2.4ghz 1 gig ram dvd/floppy/wireless kb

I bought a “new” computer less than a year ago, a used one, but an upgrade from the previous one, which was slow as hell and ran Windows 98. I got this one because it was quite a bit faster (1 ghz compared to 300 mhz) and I thought (and the seller assured me) that it could handle several memory upgrades. It started with 256 and I plugged in another chip for 512 total pretty quickly. Grooved along on that for a while, but performance was declining as I added various utilities and then Evernote — which I love — really started dragging it. No problem, I thought, now I get another 512 and be good for another year.

But turns out the motherboard maxed out at 512, so when I added more, it refused to function. GRRR. Well, at least the guy that lead me astray took the unusable chip back.

So I’ve been looking around while my machine is slowly (literally) driving me nuts. Sometimes it takes 20 seconds to get the damn cursor to move.

You better believe I made damn sure this new machine can last me a while. It took about 10 emails back and forth, and the seller initially claimed that because there were four slots, it could go to 8 gig. I got four slots now, so I know that means nothing. He ended up contacting the local company that built it, and found out my concerns were justified, it can only go to 2 gig.

He came down a little on the price, and after checking a few more details, I decided to take it. One gig now will seem lightening fast to me, and I can do up to two more 512 additions before it’s maxed out.

Maybe by then, I will get that check from George Soros and be able to buy what I really want.

P.S. I think I’m going to wipe the old machine and install Linux and play around with that. Hey, I said geek alert!

Hurricane Erin dumps on Oklahoma, revealing El Reno’s best feature

Last night the “remnants” of Hurricane Erin came through Oklahoma, directly through El Reno. We got 7-1/2 inches of rain in 5 or 6 hours. Our electricity went out about 1 am and didn’t get restored until about Noon.

Mom, who’s got a bladder infection now added to her escalating neuropathy symptoms, was in great pain all night, and I slept even less than she did, maybe an hour total.

At some point, I got up to try to identify some banging from outside, which I never did, but I did discover the living room ceiling leaking.

And we were lucky. My friend James at JMBzine links to some of the horrible news stories (and some pictures) from the storm, including the drowning death of three women in one family, relatives of Kiowa chief Billy Horse. Today, CNN and other cable news stations were showing the flooding in Kingfisher, just north of El Reno.

Noting the nearby flooding, my brother said that El Reno can handle water runoff better than any town he’s ever lived in. Frankly, he hasn’t lived in all that many towns, and maybe he said more than any town he’s ever seen (we were in the emergency room of the hospital with my mother, so forgive me for being unclear) but he has lived in El Reno a long time and drove a truck around the Southern Plains for years, so I’m going to trust him on this one — for one very important reason: I have now found something to like about El Reno.

Local Harvest

From Friends of Live Earth, an email about “Eating Green” with info about a web site where you can find local farmer’s markets, producers, whole food restaurants, etc.for anyplace in the U.S. Local Harvest shows 197 listings in Oklahoma, including the fantastic Oklahoma Food Cooperative founded by food and community activist extraordinare, Bob Waldrop.

At this point in my life, I’m not making my own shopping or eating choices: I live with and care for my 86-year-old mother, and must cater to not only her culinary tastes, but also her obsessive bargain shopping. So most of our groceries are from the local … Walmart. I do penance for it, and look forward to the day when I can go back to real, unvarnished and non-corporate food.

New glasses

I finally got new glasses today. I’ve needed them for a long time, but couldn’t afford to get them. It got to the point of emergency, as I was getting headaches added to the annoyance of not being able to see much of anything close up.

But I got progressive bifocal lenses, and I’m now thinking I made a big mistake. Only a small area in the center of my line of sight is in focus. Everything else is way worse than it was with my old glasses. They say it takes time for your eyes to get used this arrangement, but I’m feeling very anxious about my decision.

Historical perspective: I was nearsighted for years and started wearing glasses when I was 10 or so. As I got older, my eyes gradually became farsighted. Nearsighted is way better.

Oh, and though I like the frames, they don’t fit right. I had the woman work on them for 15 minutes but she didn’t seem able to adjust them properly and I didn’t want her to keep bending them if she didn’t know what she was doing.

Shit, now I’m really depressed. I can only see in a tiny pinpoint. I feel like my world just shrunk by about 90%. And for a progressive living in Waco, Texas, this is not a good situation.

Chinese Kitchen and Coffee Grinder Espresso Bar & Gelatoria

Grabbed a late lunch today at an established chinese buffet, Chinese Kitchen, on Valley Mills, and after doing some shopping (including food and supplies for my new canine companion) had a quick dessert and coffee at a new coffeehouse, the Coffee Grinder, at 824 Hewitt Dr.

Chinese Kitchen has a cozier atmosphere than the Summer Palace, which I have also been to a couple of times now. Both have a good variety of entrees, including non-chinese items. Chinese Kitchen had warm, fresh servings, even in the middle of the afternoon, unlike Summer Palace.

During my first visit to Chinese Kitchen, I liked the fried oysters, but today, they were made special for our party, perhaps in a rush, and I actually didn’t enjoy them due to the oysters being a bit slimy. But their Lo Mein Noodles are really fantastic — I could really just have that each time and be happy. The rice noodles are also excellent. I also had Pepper Beef (?) and while it was a tad spicier than I prefer, it was tasty. The Sesame Ball was an odd thing, and I took one bite and left the rest. Not bad, but not for me (what’s in there anyway?)

I had Vanilla Cake for dessert — not really a cake, more like a firm pudding — which I really recommend. It’s a light, not too sweet confection that is appropriate when you’ve really already eaten too much.

At Coffee Grinder I had to ask what a gelatoria was and the young, friendly staff answered my question without making me feel like an idiot; I appreciate that since I guess I’m the last to know about this particular food treat. It’s Italian ice cream. But they didn’t have any, as the place is new and the freezer isn’t working. Probably better for a warm day, anyway. So, today, I had a slice of key lime pie, which was really perfect, very smooth, not too tart, not too sweet. I got a cup of Moka Java (yes, that’s how they spell it), one of the daily featured blends, but wasn’t impressed with it. Could have been smoother and mokier.

The prices for the coffee drinks here are quite reasonable, so I’ll definitely be back by there, as the Hewitt area is where I do most of my Waco shopping.

By the way, these reports of my food experiences should not be interpreted as anything but personal accounts of where I’ve eaten and how I felt about it. I’m not by any stretch of the imagination a food critic, or even especially adventuresome.

6.0 forever

Michelle Kwan left Turin today, the Olympics, and her competitive career. I’m feeling bittersweet — so sad for her, but so proud of her dignity, her sacrifice, and her perspective – to say nothing of her grace and dedication to skating.

I guess I’m an unlikely figure skating fan, it’s a pleasure and obsession that none of my friends or political cohorts share. But I try to catch every competition (the exhibition skating events aren’t interesting to me), and have certainly been glued to the tube for every winter Olympics skating for as long as I can remember.

I watched Michelle Kwan bloom into the ulitmate skater, and of course felt for her for the past two Olympics when younger skaters took the gold. It was really a long shot this year, since Michelle has sat out the past season. But there was still hope, and Michelle has come from behind so often. It is not just her longevity that gains her so many fans; it is her calm steadyness in the face of disappointment and her clear joy and passion in skating.

I will still watch the games this year. Irina has her own dramatic story that will be played out in her performances. Sasha Cohen is a stunning talent. But it won’t be the same without Michelle. Right now I can’t even stand the thought of her being in some silly fluff like Stars on Ice, though of course she has earned the right to go where her heart leads her, and where she can earn the fortune she deserves.