Deviant Dispatches

Source I loved  Madison Mahdia Lynn's  suggestions, so I'm writing them out here. If you're feeling like a bit of flotsam in a sea of tears, give this a try for yourself - feel free to start from my list. Also, it's often the case that others can see you more clearly than you see yourself. Do you have insights for me? Let me know. STEP ZERO: Give yourself a moment to breathe. This was the first two weeks. Now I need to multitask. STEP ONE: Make a list of what you’re good at. Writing (incl. coming up with effective slogans and bringing humor) Knitting/crochet Empathy Patience Baking Listening Attention to detail Discount shopping Using the phone Passion for ALL THE THINGS STEP TWO: Make a list of your limitations. Public speaking (I can do it, and I might be good at it, but it's emotionally taxing) Inability to directly confront problems ... which is going to be fun for me Constraints due to having a toddler (time available, time of day issues) Li...

Source The next four years will be hard for this country. Our rights will be hacked at with ice picks, machetes, toothpicks that introduce cracks in the foundation. It is Day 1 and the White House's climate change webpage has already disappeared , along with the LGBT , civil rights , and ACA pages. Trouble is not brewing; trouble is here. So what can we do about it? Groundwork has some great starting points on their site, and I listed a few details more below. Artist Haley Gilmore Educate yourself . What issues matter to you? Learn about them. What issues matter to others? Learn, and then fight for those too. " A healthy society is one in which those at the center scream in agony when those furthest away are cut." Make calls . Phone calls are the most effective method of contacting elected officials. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to call on a regular basis. Keep your senators' contact info  bookmarked (or on speed dial) so you don...

This has been one hell of a week, and it's only Thursday. On Sunday night, I got very little sleep. Monday morning, I learned that come September, I will be forced to work five extra hours a week for no extra pay, right after we had this extravagant remodeling done, when we were told there would be no pay cuts. (I hate being salaried, I hate sliminess, and I hate, hate, hate technical truths.) Monday afternoon, I either caught a cold or had a sudden onset of allergies that is still around now. Tuesday was fairly mediocre, but on Wednesday, a coworker backed into my car and left a "dent" the size of both of my hands, spread out. He's covering everything, but this is already an obnoxious headache - plus the car is still new to us, since we've only had it for one year. All of these things could be worse, of course. There are no layoffs happening, I don't have a flesh-eating virus, and my car wasn't hit hard enough to fall over the embankment and roll in...

Dear Owners of My Apartment Complex, You're outlawing sidewalk chalk? Really? I can think of no more asinine, meaningless way to spend one's time than to remove an element of pure joy from a child's life, just because you don't want to clean the carpets. It's chalk  - it will wash off. Your recent letter to tenants looks an awful lot like a tantrum to me. Sure, maybe some kids got out of control with it and drew on the buildings. I still see no reason to make drawing with chalk a crime. A smaller measure should have been taken in between these steps - something like contacting the parents and asking them to supervise the kids more closely. (Which I doubt you did, since you won't even call me back to let me know when the A/C will be fixed.) I've watched two six-year-old kids play out front with their chalk since the weather was nice enough. They've had a blast imagining so many different things, and I - yes, I, a 27-year-old child - liked watching...

Everywhere I look online, I'm seeing the word "occupy" appear. At first, it was just "Occupy Wall Street." We Are the 99 Percent's website features posts from people who are in the enormous bottom segment of income in the United States: people who aren't making enough to live on and are involuntarily in hopeless situations. And with almost every post came that phrase. I had no clue what it meant. That was two days ago. Yesterday, I saw it again, in links on Facebook. Occupy Wall Street is a social/political movement (somewhat connected to the group Adbusters ) that some are comparing to the recent Middle Eastern revolts. The purpose is more or less to stand up, as the lower-class majority, and stand against a country run by the top one percent of money holders. According to the website , they have "an interest in returning the US back into the hands of it's individual citizens." (Guys, I love the idea, but you need a copy editor. I volunte...

I am afraid of many things. I am afraid of change. I am afraid of sharp objects. I am afraid of things without shape and questions without answers. But I shouldn't have to be afraid of walking a block and a half across a nice campus on a Tuesday night. The bookstore held a poetry event on the local campus tonight. Spousal Unit and I also live on said campus, so it was a hop, skip, and a jump away for me to walk home - a much shorter walk than usual. Several coworkers inquired if I would like a ride, and I assured them I would be fine and went on my merry way. Two steps after leaving them, I called Spousal Unit, as I always do when walking home. Yes, I call him because I love him, but I also call him just in case someone who sees me should have mischief on his mind - something I learned while living in Chicago. My being on the phone sends an immediate signal that if you mess with this girl, someone will know right away. It says "pick a less obvious target" without my havin...

Dear Scott Walker, I'm really trying to wrap my head around this. I am. But I just don't get it, and can't find any reliable Republican sources (meaning not Tea Party) who could explain it to me. Please tell me why all but one Republican voted to remove collective bargaining at last night's shotgun meeting, rather than doing as they are required by their posts and voting the will of the people. I really don't understand why they would want to so completely demolish the opposition, when Wisconsin has been a swing state for years. Doesn't the Republican party have any interest in winning fairly? In properly representing the people, who are clearly not all Republican? Please tell me why it wasn't good enough that the unions agreed to every fiscal element of the former budget bill. You insist that unions are a bad thing, by citing obscure examples, or examples taken out of context . The bottom line is this: teachers are not bad for the economy, and you are destr...