Saturday, November 12, 2005, 08:03 PM - Politics
Saw Stephen Hawking speak today. It's been a long time since I wondered about the not-taken life path as an astrophysicist. I was Adam's faux date for Cambridge in America Day 2005 - interesting presentations on history of philosophy but I admit I was more engaged in a psych presentation on the science of well-being. Some discussion on indices being developed to measure community well-being, movements to include those indices along with economic indicators as measure of overall progress of societies. As one would expect, democracies result in more happiness for their constituents, but I doubt that the Swiss experiment Prof. Huppert mentioned holds here - they found that more referenda resulted in greater happiness...IO can't imagine that's the case in California politics. Brings me back to my ongoing low-level interest in how mental health indicators and particularly psychiatric medication impacts political engagement; I'd love to study how our polity is being changed by all those antidepressants....Friday, November 11, 2005, 08:09 PM - George, Friends
It's being very much assisted by certain communications, like the note I got in the mail from my dad yesterday:
I was a little hurt about your love life. Better over before you become really deep.
Life has its cruel way of answering questions - Why? Who can guess them. All I can say is there is another street car. If it stops, get on.
I love my dad way too much. And someone else had this to say:
you are lovable, sexy and super-fucking smart. not to mention bold and spunky.
translation: dream date
My friends are the best.
Friday, November 11, 2005, 07:52 PM - Dancing
Is an instant classic. I can't believe Fatass got shut down at the Makeout last night...we could have danced for hours longer. So nice to see the East Coast contingent and both White brothers in one place. And the advance copy of the new CD is always a nice touch...;)
Thursday, November 10, 2005, 05:46 PM - Politics, Technology
So I attended three things over the last two days that I think fit together somehow...
The first was the first Net Tuesday hosted by Net2 - a project of techsoup that's trying to involve the nonprofit community in web2.0 - obviously a worthwhile concept, interesting plans, all very preliminary at the moment, potentially a very nice fit with dotOrganize. Crowd was very technoriffic, as expected, but which also brought home the yawning divide that still exists between people. And cute as flock was, I'm not sure it's the mechanism by which to bridge the gap.
Yesterday morning I got up terribly early to go see Malcolm Gladwell give UCSF grand rounds. The most interesting components of his message centered on how less information often leads to better decisions - somewhat anaethema to an enlightenment/technocratic sensibility, I think, but borne out in my experience of creating decision models on the campaign last year. More variables do not, I believe, always lead to better decisions, especially in a time-pressured context. There is a limit to regression as a tool, and it's too easy for the academic side of life to take over and value results that are significant but not important.
My last event was my first blogger call - with Chuck Schumer on the DSCC reaction to the election. (Why, pray tell, was I the only woman?) Although there were some interesting questions at the end, I'm not sure that people took full advantage of the situation - I certainly didn't. But the different levels of access that are available in the world, if you know who to ask always amaze me. And really, I wouldn't mind taking back the Senate. I do have to say my reaction to the call confirms my suspicion that my strenghts are all in structure, not content.
Thursday, November 10, 2005, 01:14 PM - Dancing
I rarely remember my dreams. Obviously evidence of my undeveloped relationship with my unconscious mind. Not so this morning: first I was some sort of hotshot archaeologist, and I discovered this beautiful ancient (greek? trojan maybe?) boat at the edge of an ocean. Then somehow things morphed into a stadium rock concert/ someone's wedding and I was waiting for my high school friend Kevin McMahon (huge guy, my favorite cigarette chicken partner) to show up. Then he came but he was really Andrew Boyd, and he was wearing this forest green with wide gold pinstripe velvet suit, and he was line dancing with a bunch of strangers.
My unconsious is notoriously unsubtle with its symbolism - do you think I need to rediscover my core value and inherent worth/ beauty? And that I'd really like to have a great relationship/ fantabulous party wedding?? At least I save money on analysis this way.
Wednesday, November 9, 2005, 12:48 PM - Politics
on Prop 73. But nonetheless successfull. I'm not really sure how to react to a post-election morning without agony, but I'd like to get used to this feeling.Tuesday, November 8, 2005, 05:02 PM - Politics
It's astonishing to me that it's only been a year since Election Day 2004. Thankfully I will not be standing in the rain in Copley Square tonight, but instead comfortably ensconced at Mighty, hopefully drinking to the first-ever defeat of a parental notification initiative. I so so badly want to feel the tide turning on restrictions on abortion, especially given what's likely to happen at the Supreme Court in January.
What should be in place by next year to make congressional and senate transfer of power possible?
- better coordination between national, state, local parties on list management, fundraising, etc.
- more sophisticated and personalized targeting (especially for non-party reg states and for independent and unlikely voters)
- improved media strategies that make use of diverse communication channels
- mechanisms developed to link the power of lateral, spontaneous organizing to infrastructure/ resources
- a voter mobilization project that incorporates online dating
- systems to link grassroots organizers to each other
- systems to facilitate events and DIY voter turnout, persuasion, and contact that also offer opportunities for community-building
- coherent strategies for disaffected sub/exurbanites. We have to be able to come up with something more appealing than the local megachurch, right?
- a better understanding of individuals' choices around party affiliation, trends among DTS/independents
- a simple and coherent progressive message to counter the self-serving corrupt greed of the hyper-elite. We need sexy, connected, positive, responsible.
- oh, and maybe a decent candidate or two??
Some of these things are in process, some already exist, some need lots of work. If I'm responsible, I'll try and look more deeply at each of these elements soon.
Monday, November 7, 2005, 01:43 PM - Dancing, Technology
So it has to be a good sign that the auto-generated word that came up when I submitted this little project to google was "ravers", right? Oh, if I had only taken a screen shot. I guess it's possible they've gotten much farther ahead than I would have imagined with profiling my innermost characteristics....Monday, November 7, 2005, 01:36 PM
So I'm sure, absent reader, you've been wondering (?) where my feisty little title came from. There's nothing like misremembering lyrics to create an interesting confluence. I was one of the many enthralled by Dr. Atomic this fall, and have had the passage and music from Muriel Rukeyser's Easter Eve 1945 whispering in my head ever since.
Wary of time O it seizes the soul tonightBut of course I can't resist nastifying things a little... you wouldn't think I'd just take a Catholic poem at face value, would you?
I wait for the great morning of the west
confessing with every breath mortality
Moon of this wild sky struggles to stay whole
and on the water silvers the ships of war
I go alone in the black-yellow light
All night waiting for day, while everywhere the sure
death of light, the leaf’s sure return to the root
is repeated in million, death of all man to share.
Whatever world I know shines ritual death,
wide under this moon they stand gathering fire,
fighting with flame, stand fighting in their graves.
All shining with life as the leaf, as the wing shines,
the stone deep in the mountain, the drop in the green wave.
Lit by their energies, secretly, all things shine.
Nothing can black that glow of life; although
each part go crumbling down
itself shall rise up whole.
Now I say there are new meanings; now I name
death our black honor and feast of possibility
to celebrate casting of life on life. This earth-long day
between blood and resurrection where we wait
remembering sun, seed, fire; remembering
That fierce Judean Innocent who risked
every immortal meaning on one life.
Given to our year as sun and spirit are,
as seed we are blessed only in needing freedom.
Now I saw that the peace the spirit needs is peace,
not lack of war, but fierce continual flame.
For all men: effort is freedom, effort’s peace,
it fights. And alone these truths the soul goes home
Flies in its blazing to a place
More safe and round than Paradise.
Night of the soul, our dreams in the arms of dreams
dissolving into eyes that look upon us.
Dreams the sources of action, the meeting and the end,
a resting-place among the flight of things.
Muriel Rukeyser Dr. Atomic
Monday, November 7, 2005, 01:28 PM - Dancing, Friends
Made me very very happy. Who would have thought those Stanford GSB folks had it in them?? Susie, apparently, is a punk rocker now. Back Next
