Prepare well-crafted invective for the powerful person you are trying to reach, but be kind to the person who answers the phone.
Use the on-hold music as an opportunity to practice loving kindness.
Ryk Groetchen
General Strike!
While I do believe that individuals have influence, I see that we live in a society where actual power is accumulated in the hands of only a few individuals.While I do believe that peaceful protest has an influence on the powerful, I see that peaceful protest without the participation of individuals with accumulated power has…
ADHD Journey: Self-assessment, peer assessment
I have gotten my ADHD diagnosis from Kaiser. In talking with other friends about their experiences with this process, it’s clear that no two stories are alike. I’ll be describing my experiences, but it’s probably best to assume that your assessment process will look different should you choose to try it. I called Kaiser to…
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organism
There is a place between sleep and wakefulness, where we recognize our thoughts, but also see things that are unfamiliar. There is a space between thinking and feeling, where shapes represent processes, an itch can appear connected to a firecracker going off, and a mental picture can place itself in both the center of our…
An early dream
TW: scary clown, childhood terror. I’m pretty sure everyone has a scary clown story. Here’s mine: 1968-69: My eyes opened. I was in my bed. The first things I took in were the walls. My bed was set into an alcove. The wall of the alcove was to my left, and the head and foot…
Why we make music
I recently worked up an arrangement of Sunny by Bobby Hebb for my uke students. I always like to do a bit of research about the songs I share with students, being that we are in a time of cultural reflection and shift. Some songs that I am initially enthusiastic about I end up shelving…
The stillness
Feb 14, 1976: I had done something wrong. I don’t remember what, but I had been sent to my room. It was after dinner. I was almost 10, but not quite. Being sent to my room was not the worst thing that could happen. Sometimes, when I did something wrong, I got the belt, or…
Artist-in-residence
During a weekend trip up to San Francisco from San Diego in the mid-80s, my girlfriend and I stopped at Caffé Trieste in North Beach for cappuccinos. It was early evening, and the the place was pretty packed. We were enjoying looking at people, checking out their style choices, listening to the mix of music…
Finds
Great find at the Little Free Library today! I’ve been wanting to read these.
Reminiscing
Winter 1978: I lived in Klamath Falls Oregon and attended 7th grade at Brixner Junior High School. I was a band geek–I remember playing The Theme from Evergreen in band, and I still get the closing bars stuck in my head a couple of times a year. I was the only boy flute player. That…