Monday, April 25, 2011

Inch by Inch, Motherfuckers

Here's Worldwide Hippies News & Stuff. I'm on just after 4:20 talking about Peaceful Uprising and Power Shift 2011. I sound kind of goofy because I talk funny in the first place and apparently when I'm slowing myself down, I talk even funnier. But, it's coming along.



Joe is pretty bent about Charles Schumer and the Drones in Syracuse.

I'm still contemplating my name especially now that we have this latest manifestation of self on Worldwide Hippies. I feel like it's okay for my name to be P.E.Nolan but everybody calls me "Trish." I haven't gotten specific yet, but it's kind of like packaging yourself for internet consumption.  You have to consider your google search results.  That may be the sort of thing they talk about at Netroots Nation.  I had a passing fantasy that I went to Netroots Nation, but in real life that should be about the time I'm moving.  Fortunately Punk Patriot is going, and he'll be sending back reports.

Once I get settled into my new home - which will be in New York City somewhere, but I haven't gotten specific about that either.

PeacefulUprising is going to Appalachia to address Mountaintop Removal.  One of the women who was arrested for disrupting Congress that I mentioned in News & Stuff is working with Friends of Blair Mountain.  There's an event in June during the anniversary of a battle fought between Workers and Owners in 1921

The story on their website begins:
Blair Mountain in Logan County, West Virginia, was the site of the largest open class war in U.S. history. In 1921, after a generation of violent suppression and exploitation of the people in the southern coalfields of WV, 15,000 coal miners rebelled in an attempt to overthrow the control of coal barons.
If you're going to be in that part of the country June 5 - 11, you can find out about the activities at the Facebook page (March on Blair Mountain).



I can't go to this event either because school won't be out, and I'm still having to move - and there's the mystery of my shoulder to consider.  That's how it is when you're a Mom.  I'm proud to be an Activist Mom, though.  We may have obligations and ailments, but we can be very supportive nevertheless.  I always remember that Florence Reece was "just a mom" when she wrote Which Side Are You On?

We don't sing that song with the kids at school, but we sing Inch by Inch



When I heard all those Teabaggers saying liberal schools and teachers indoctrinate the children with socialism, I thought, "That's right. Inch by Inch, Motherfuckers."

I'm excited to have met, via internet, these brave and enthusiastic activists.  I'm betting there were plenty of supportive parents and dedicated teachers in their lives when they were growing up.  Keeping up with what these kids are doing also helps me feel closer to Buster (nee Velvet).  He called in from Utah, and we talked for about ten minutes or so.  He was talking fast because he had a lot of ideas in his head.  One night while they were hiking in the Anasazi territory in a canyon in Utah, the instructor read a passage to the group from a book by Edward Abbey called Desert Solitare: A Season in the Wilderness.  Buster was so captivated that he has read the whole book.

Now, I call that a thing of beauty.  Thing of Beauty #08-101
My kid reads a book all on his own AND
#09-101:  Meeting inspiring people via the internet.

12 Comments:

Blogger VV said...

I need a miracle like that for Jr. Glad Buster is doing so well.

April 25, 2011 at 10:34 PM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Thanks, V.V.
I'm excited for him. Don't know what the summer will bring. He swings back and forth between staying in the city and doing something else almost as much as I do. I kind of hope he does work at the Hippie Dippie Quaker Camp in Vermont, though. I think it would be best - but who knows?

April 25, 2011 at 11:08 PM  
Blogger mac said...

I heard about the teabaggers claims that teaching kids to share was socialistic. I was floored.

When did learning to share become a bad thing? It's ricockulous, that's what it is!

April 26, 2011 at 1:01 AM  
Blogger Susan Tiner said...

Patricia, I always enjoy tuning in to see what you're up to. Look at you on world wide hippies news & stuff, getting your message out there!

I do think change starts small and local, but stumping a message in public isn't my thing.

My women's group from church met tonight to discuss a book -- Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese. It was a lively, informed discussion. Thinking about Ethiopia, or Africa in general, is hard. The problems are so complex.

There are many ways to engage.

April 26, 2011 at 1:04 AM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Susan, there has to be many ways because there are so many wonderful individuals. One size never fits all. I would wager that we have the most lasting influence on each other during real conversations with real friends and neighbors - like your book group and around kitchen tables. The interplay of ideas is the thing.

I like the WWH gig for lots of reasons, especially because it's giving me chance to support all that activism without having to get out of my pajamas. Ultimately, though, we can never lose sight of the fact that I'm open to a relationship these days which means I'm looking for a man. It's my ultimate ulterior motive. There's got to be a single man in my demographic out there somewhere. They're very rarely in preschools which is where I generally hang out.

mac, I'm going to refer your question about sharing to Rand Paul since he allegedly admired Ayn Rand so much he decided to call himself Rand instead of Randy. Silly Aqua Buddha.

April 26, 2011 at 6:31 AM  
Blogger Mr. Charleston said...

Hey Trish, why not use your blog name, Menopausal Stoner, for a web name. It certainly is unique.

I watched the film about the miner's uprising again the other day. It's what we need right now only today, it may well be impossible. We would have to burn Wall St. just to get some attention.

April 26, 2011 at 6:31 AM  
Blogger intelliwench said...

Bravo you! If I ever decide to grow up, you'll be my role model ;-)

April 26, 2011 at 6:56 AM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Mr. C - for one, Menopausal Stoners has an S because it's actually a loose affiliation. You're one, you know - or you're a MANapausal Stoner. But I agree that Menopausal Stoners has a ring to it.

I'm thinking PENolan is just called Trish or Tricia, like "This is PENolan reporting from Menopausal Stoners World Headquarters in New York." Kind of LONG, however. I can manage it on my WWH bio, and I'm sure something will evolve.

For now, I'm off to get a flip cam with my tax return. There's a demonstration on Wall Street on May 12 for tax equality. Maybe we really WILL burn it down ;)
www.onmay12.org

Intelli - we really have to get together one of these days

April 26, 2011 at 7:23 AM  
Blogger okjimm said...

oh, what's in a name.... Trish sounds good, but I don't think it would work for me. I jsut don't look like a Trish.

April 27, 2011 at 11:43 AM  
Anonymous Jennifer said...

I think you talk great.

And agree about the inspiring people / thing of beauty.

April 27, 2011 at 12:31 PM  
Blogger Cali said...

I'm proud of being a menopausal, stoner, activist Mom, too! I'm proud of being on mailing lists and supporting all sorts of causes like environmental concerns, women's right to choose, animal welfare (But not PETA, some of the stuff they do is just wacky. I mean, calling fish "sea kittens? Come on, really?) several gay rights organizations, Amnesty International, Progressive Democrats of America and, yes, Power Shift. I can only rarely attend in person, but I can sure pass the word on to others who are younger and/or have fewer health issues than I.

I even made my son the hero of his Friends of the Refuge club at his college because I got endangered species condoms from the Center for Biological Diversity. He passed them out at the membership drive. Between his art making their booth stand out in the crowd and the condoms I got for him, they voted him the public relations officer.

I'll keep how I'm feeling about him at this moment to myself as I was told as he walked out the door 20 minutes ago that I don't do anything. Why is it that kids don't think their parents have any right to have feelings until they become parents themselves?

May 4, 2011 at 11:14 AM  
Blogger PENolan said...

Whew! that's a big question, Cali. I know my whole perspective about my mother's "insanity" changed the day I gave birth.

Cool about the endangered species condoms, however.

May 4, 2011 at 7:58 PM  

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