Jumping head first

posted by Melissa Baumgart

Who wouldn't want to jump into the blue waters?

On again, Off again
Yesterday I did not run.  Amy and I spent the day making a flier and handout to support the Occupy Wall Street movement that is spreading in our country.  We printed out the document drafted by occupy Wall Street called the 99 Percent Declaration, in which they propose creating a National General Assembly.  The NGA will be comprised of 870 delegates, one woman and one man from each of our 435 congressional  districts across the country.  These delegates will compile a list of grievances from their constituents and present hem to the President, Congress and the Supreme Court before the 21012 election.

We also prepared ourselves for a night of sitting with those at Occupy Seattle, at Westlake park downtown.  Unfortunately, we did not spend the entire evening.  I completely support this movement, but I did not want to support the behaviors of those camping out last night at Westlake.  They were provoking and calling the cops names, and quite frankly I did not think they were upholding the proposals voted on during the 3 hour General Assembly just prior.

I hesitate to post this.  Because, one, I don't really feel this blog is a political platform.  And, two, I don't want to bad mouth this Occupy movement.  I believe in it.  I am inspired by its potential.  I just do not see how the actions of those protesters at Westlake last night are going to propel this movement positively into the future for our country.

I read a post by Naomi Wolf this morning about her recent arrest in NYC, surrounding the Occupy Wall Street protests.  She is very well versed in US history as well as our rights to protest and have our voices be heard.  I would suggest and strongly urge anyone who is interested in affecting some positive change to educate yourself.

I am going to be reading Wolf's book, Give Me Liberty - A Handbook for American Revolutionaries.  In it she sites historical references and gives tactical plans for things like staging a protest, direct-action activism, and organizing a town hall meeting.  Things we should know, as Americans that want to actively engage with our country and government.

I know, I jump head first into everything.  I bet if you look at the pattern of this blog, you would see an interesting graph line distributing the time spent toward the blog clumping together in excited magnetic propulsion.  And then, of course, the lull of doubt and contemplation about life and where I am heading with it all.

So, yes...On again, off again.  With the blog (sometimes it's all I think about!), with the Occupy Seattle protest (now doubting, thinking I just don't support what appears to be a radical anarchist takeover of the Wall Street protest), and likely, with the Kardashians (hey, I miss them, and yes, sometimes I would rather be them, swimming in the clear blue waters near the Hilton in Bora Bora)...if I am to be completely honest.  Which I tend to be.

-Melissa

Educate Yourself

posted by Melissa Baumgart
After days of sloth and anger towards the system, I am stepping out, back into the world.

I ran today and yesterday.  I feel very, very good about that.  Especially since I did not want to do that at all.  Today's run was fun, and dare I say....effortless.  OK, not effortless, but moderately easy.

There are lots of things on my mind though, lots more than just running.

Getting an Education
I mentioned before that I was forced to quit school for this quarter.  I found out today that it was completely due to the fact that I was not informed about a Worker Retraining orientation that EVERYONE in the program is required to attend.  No one ever told me about it, and there happened to be essential information about how to fund my studies while on unemployment (because I was laid off at my job).  If I had attended this orientation, I would have had the tools to make funding available for myself this quarter.  Did I mention, I was 3 weeks into my classes when I finally found all this out?  And that I have been carrying a 3.98 GPA?  But, whatever.

There were a lot of other critical points of misinformation, due to too many people giving me the information,  in regards to the lack of funding for my schooling.  But I really don't need to get into all that.  I'll just leave it with this quote from my new advisor, "I am so sorry you have had to go through all of this.  It is not OK, at all.  And I will make sure this gets back on track and you get funding for winter and spring quarter."

"Thank you," I replied.  "It totally was not OK."

Before this meeting, I was in a place of not wanting to blame.  I was willing to accept total (well, kinda) responsibility for my lack of funding.  Today's meeting left me feeling better about myself and worse about the system, and it's lack of cohesiveness.

Getting an Education: Part II
Today I went to my first protest.  I joined the Occupy Seattle movement at Westlake.  I also attended the General Assembly (GA) this evening at 6:30pm.

It had a sense of cohesiveness for some time, and then it went off-topic.  We voted Yes on the proposal to not have any other proposals on the table for the rest of the meeting. We voted to spend the rest of the GA focused on an open-ended discussion as to where the people that were committed to sleeping in tents would sleep at night.  (There seems to be a lot of opinions about where to set up the permanent Occupy site of tents etc.)

After numerous announcements by the various working groups, some late-comers (the People of Color Caucus) chose to shift the GA to a conversation about racism and police presence.  It was difficult for me to take it all in, and to feel safe with my 6 year old in tow, as the comments grew more and more passionate.

Getting an Education: Part III
Tomorrow I will rejoin the Occupy Seattle movement.  During the day, my kids are in school, and I am not in school or working.  So, I can stay home and clean my house, or I can get out there and fight for something that affects myself and so many others I love.

I am in the process of learning more about the history behind what is happening in our country.  I admit, I am not one that has kept up with economics and government.  But I also know, inherently, that I feel something is not right.  I have felt it for a long time.  And maybe, just maybe, the powers that be had me dropped out of school to support this cause.  Not to sit on my couch and watch the Kardashians.

But, seriously, let me get real for a minute.  How is it that I can fall in love with Keeping up with the Kardashians in two episodes and still feel tied with my heartstrings to this Occupy movement?  The 1% is SO seductive!  They want us to love them; they survive off of us loving them and wanting to be them.  BE YOURSELF!  As much as I love you, Kardashians, I quit you.  Forever.

I am going to create my own fun family and enjoy my life.

Rant officially over,
Melissa