Out On The Stoop is my exploration about things to know, talk about or experience these amazing times. The Stoop mantra is Think, think, it ain't illegal yet.
We kick the weekend off proper with the Impressions. There are many impressions that linger from the past week. Some I am still trying to shake. Maybe that is the point. Impressions can be fixed or fluid. They can change.
For you Southern California votes that live in the 19 counties that have early voting you still have a shot at it. It will continue Saturday November 1st from 8am to 8pm and Sunday November 2nd. from 8am to 4pm.
The registration and poling places have been swamped so to be sure you can dot your spot kick on over to www.lavote.net and see if you are on the rolls or to find out where your polling place is located. You might want to check yourself out just in case. There is going to be enough people pitching a fit and you don’t want to be one of them if you don’t have too.
I'm aching for November 4th so it can be November 5, 2008. There are lies, damn lies and the truth has gone in to a witness protection program. I keep on saying it and will continue to do so. We are not electing the first African American, Geezer American or Vaginal American.
There is the office of President and Vice President. Not the messiah, not the warrior king or MILF/DILF potential stand-ins. This country is in such freaking bad trouble we only know the tip of the situation. Whoever walks into the Oval office is gonna catch hell on Day 1. There will be no Honeymoon.
So, does it really matter who sits in the chair? That is up to you and me. But once installed in office I do promise this. I’ll ride you like a bad suit if I don’t like what you are doing and let you know if you got it right.
It is an impossible job but you asked for it. There are those of us who really meant it when we said we want change. It can’t be like it was before. We do know how to network and those of us with sense have different beliefs can work together. Mr. President, all you have to do is ask. Or not.
If you don’t ask we are going to tell you what you need to be focusing on and how to fix it. We will be silent no more. Good luck and Spirit help us all.
For more information about The Impressions you can visit their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame page or you can listen to some of the most notable work at Last.FM
Gotta bust some salt to put in my wounds. It is your choice. It is your right and if you can't vote Presidential RepDem there is Green, Peace & Freedom and AIP. There are other issues that require your attention. Like freeing the California chickens. You want to talk sister solidarity, un-cage those hens!
I want to start sharing some of the amazing documentation that is out their regarding problems with voting, independent voices and a reminder of a certain Declaration.
Voter Machine Problems In West Virginia From West Virginia citizen Virginia Matheny tells of the problems she had with touch screen voting.
Independent Voter Voices There are other political parties in America. And there are people to do not cleve to a specific political party. This is an opportunity to hear from Jackie Salit, with a potential new vision of participation of Independent voters.
Young People Speak Old Words We finish with the next generation giving a recitation of some of the lines in the Declaration of Independence.
I don't know what to think about this. Seriously. I appreciate that everyone has a voice. Certainly these actors and the characters they portrayed on television are embedded in our collective pop culture history.
I am move moved by how passionate people on all sides of the political spectrum feel about this election. I hope after the election we are still equally motivated to get in their and begin to do the hard work of restoring our nation. That isn't a political act, that would be one of community.
So I'm going to let the fellas have their say as I get ready for work.
Mercy, this election is gonna drive political scientists and historians nuts. h/t Huffington Report
This comes under the heading know before you go. You do not have to show identification before you cast a ballot in California. That does not mean that you will not be asked. Now all you have to do is produce your copy of the office Sample Ballot and Voter Instruction guide, flip it to the back cover and bada bing end of story. Your name, address and polling place appear, that means you are registered.
Well, no. If this is your first time or there is a problem you might need to show some form of identification. There are at least 30 forms of voter identification that is acceptable. You can check out Barclays Office California Code of Regulations located at the California Secretary of state web site. It is a .pdf file and just jump down a few pages to see the list.
Here is just a sample, the full list is in the .pdf:
(A) driver's license or identification card of any state; (B) passport; (C) employee identification card; (D) identification card provided by a commercial establishment; (E) credit or debit card; (F) military identification card; (G) student identification card; (H) health club identification card; (I) insurance plan identification card; or (J) public housing identification card.
There is a heck of a lot more. Do not expect your poll worker to know all 30 forms of acceptable identification. Take no chances. And if you hear one giving misinformation to another person do the right thing and tell that person (or have a printout) of what is acceptable for casting a vote.
Know your rights, know the issues and then go vote.
First of all a big shout out of love and affection for those that donated to the Appalachian History Donor Challenge. The project was fully funded on October 15, 2008. No one has asked me the question but I'll answer it. Why would an African-American woman sponsor a history project for an Appalachian school?
Because I am an American. And all sectors of this country must know their history and then share that history. Knowing about the Irish in America is my history. Knowing about the Chinese experience in America is my history. It is not just about what happened in Independence Hall.
Look at this way. It is like always feeding a staving man a piece of bread. He will eat the bread. Now put some jam on the bread. There is now a choice. Knowing your history and other people's history gives you choices. It expands the ability to think beyond yourself.
Speaking of choices, I couldn't just pick one video so we got a double header this week with Miss Peaches herself, Miss Etta James. This first video is from 1966 and Etta rips it up with a live version of Something's Got A Hold of Me.
Like I said, I couldn't just pick one so we do a little time traveling a few years to 1980. My girl puts the hurt on the Tom Snyder show with her version of Take It To The Limit.
As for the coming days, all I can say is hang on. Scared people are slipping into the Wakadoo zone and saying all kinds of stuff. You don't have to follow them; just keep an eye on them from a distance.
Do the best you can. For those on the pray and affirmation tip I think we can spare some for a grandmother in Hawaii and her grandson. For those on the other side of the belief system a random act of kindness will do just fine.
For more information about Etta James you can visit her RCA/BMG web site where you can get glimmer of her biography and discography and if you go to the soundroom page you can sample some of her work from her 2006 album, All The Way. You can also read a tribute to Etta by Bonnie Raitt at RollingStone.com
I have spent some time visiting in a place called the Dark Nights of the Soul. It is place where you know bad things are happening, you are doing what you can but you are very careful not to make a mistake.
You can handle what you've got but not one more thing. So you go to the essentials and the necessaries but you don't risk anything more. Hense, the lack of actual videoblogging here. I have good reasons but that is not the point of the post.
This is a photo slide movie of the L.A. Chocolate Salon held in Pasadena, CA. The music is from Donovan McLean called Chocolate a la naraja which I just discovered I misspelled in the video that I have already uploaded.
See! Imperfection! Jebus, I goofed. But it is ok. The world still spins. I have my blanky and my bed. It is ok. I'm not taking it down. It took three weeks to get it up without judgment.
Not that I haven't shot video. It just was more than I could handle to edit it. I had editor's block. I also had a lot of "life events" happen at the same time. So I tried to keep that title of a wonderful book by Anne Lamott, Bird, by Bird in my head.
I can write. But that comes from a different creative union in my head. Video cells said strike, writers union say things like "Hey, why is that guy walking around with a butt cheek for a back pocket?" It was the color of a light rose that had been spanked.
So I try again. In small steps. For the record, it takes as long as it takes to journey out of the Dark Nights of the Soul. Don't let anybody bully you or bum rush you out faster than you are ready to go.
Mr. Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops has made his transition from this world to the next. I was struggling to find an appropriate tribute song. The events of the day seem to keep me in an hovering state of rage. When I heard of Mr. Stubbs’ passing the song came right to me.
From the 1970s this is a slide show of how four men worked, sang and loved together for 40 years.
I always liked this song and the instrumental version, Still Waters (Peace) as well. My past is ebbing away and parts of me as well. It is better to look forward I supposed. I'm looking forward to the end of the election for sure.
And if a certain gentleman gets elected then indeed still waters run deep and we will have a new national model for developing our own still waters cuz it gonna get rough.
If the other guy wins then we will indeed need to find our own personal still waters. Gotta find out if there is any U.S. territories on the other side of American Samoa?
Then again, I hear British Columbia is kinda cool but might be a little too close to Alaska than I would feel comfortable visiting at the moment.
I know a few of y'all are talking New Zealand but I'm thinking the whole planet might be a little pissed at us at the moment. I ain't too happy with some of my fellow Americans either. But that is for another post for another time.
If you would like more information about The Four Tops check out the following:
This is the 43rd anniversary of the federal program known as Head Start. The program was designed to do two important things. One of the first goals was to provide a range of services to low-income families such as education, access to health care, and parental involvement and parent education. Later the Early Head Start program was added that addresses the needs of infants and toddlers as well as their families. Yes, babies now go to school too, accompanied by one of their parents.
The second goal was to fight poverty by giving students the necessary skills and by helping their parents by connecting them to the available community resources that would help parents gain employment.
Now some would argue that programs like Head Start and Early Head Start are programs that throw money down the drain. That these types of programs are “nice” in theory but there is little or no return on investment. The money could be better spent.
Not so fast, this is not a political piece of pork barrel whimsy. There was a long term study done of the first students who attended the program and a control group of those children that did not attend a Head Start program. The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40, shows the effects and benefits of providing early education and parental support.
So when these children and the family become involved in a Head Start or Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) program the long term effects seems to be less crime, increased income, better ongoing school participation and you get a smarter kid by the time she or he gets to Kindergarten.
And those that did not attended? Not so good and the cost of continuous incarceration is much more than the cost of educating a small child, which in FY 2008 was $7,326. Additional studies and evidence have proven this is a wise, sane investment for the entire country whether you have children or not. There is a downloadable summary of the report that goes into detail on findings of the study.
Everybody Wins Right?
Well, no. There has been increased funding for the program but only half of the eligible students gets to go to Head Start. And if your income exceed your local poverty level your kid doesn’t have access to the services of Head Start or Early Head Start. So the truth is half of the intended population does not get access to Head Start. Working poor and middle class families that could also use the help are not eligible or cannot afford the co-payments to the non -educational components of Head Start and Early Head Start.
Homeschool Options
Over at Contented Baby is one mom’s chronicles of searching for the right books, tools and skills to help educate her daughter. Stay At Home Mommy has a bit of frustration at finding home schooling toddler lessons and plans. Joanna at Is That So offers tips on home schooling at two year old.
Faith Based Pre-K Option
What if you as a parent want your toddler to educated but to be introduced to the tenets of your faith? There are faith based Pre-K programs. One that make good use of blogging is the Noah’s Ark Early Childhood Education Program in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Parents can get day photos and updates on what the children and staff are learning in the classroom.
Montessori Pre-K and Early Childhood Education
This is a 10 minute video that show the Montessori teaching system as applied to infant and toddler education. It is an experiential as opposed to a structured approach.
To be honest, I did not know about this approach to education so I sought out information at the American Montessori Society's FAQ page. Any educational philosophy that starts out with "The aim of Montessori education is to foster competent, responsible, adaptive citizens who are lifelong learners and problem solvers." is alright with me. Susana at Montessori Candy and Montessori Mama are two mom bloggers who support this method of instruction.
Whose Got The Money?
Yes. It does come down to the dollars. I doubt that there will be an increase in the federal budget that would allow for full funding of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs. There may need to be more public/private partnerships but those are going to be harder to archive with the economy in flux.
The Inside Pre-K blog is written by folks that actual teach the Pre-K population and their opinions on policies that shape access to education. This blog and the Pre-K(Now) web site is promoting the establishment of a voluntary Pre-K program that would be available to all citizens.
It may be time for communities to consider creating their own versions of educational support programs and work with governmental, non-profits and foundations to insure that their children make it to age 40 safe, sound and self-supporting.
Speaking of supporting education, The Appalachian History Donor's Challenge is a go! Thank, you, bless you and kisses and hugs. As of October 15, 2008 we met the challenge and the project is fully funded. Wow! Let it be known that we can fight the forces of darkness with illumination.
This post originally appeared on BlogHer where I am a Contributing Editor.
It might be too late but at least you should double check to make sure that you can vote. If your are African-American, Latino/a American, Asian-American or you have a name that you have to spell more than three times make sure you can vote.
Those that are in process of losing their homes, I know you have much more important things to think about and voting isn't one of them. But the bastards are kicking legal voters who are in foreclosure off the rolls and that isn't right. When you get settled get your registration taken care of, if you just got paroled in California you can vote if you registered.
Think of Florida. Think of Ohio. Not telling how to vote mind you That is up to you. Take it back. Take your country back!
I want to encourage folks to support the Appalachian History project at DonorsChoose.org. To be honest, it was tough to pick just one. This particular project has life changing possibilities. Mrs. L's class needs 15 books on Appalachian history and culture. The transfer of cultural information is a crucial element in visualizing success in your future.
If you know that your ancestors journeyed thousands of miles and established themselves in a new country it does wonders to help young people to take the next invisible step. A well rounded cultural image helps to inoculate your from those that disrespect you and determine your worth just by looking at you.
I want to share two reasons why I think this is a good community investment.
The Foxfire Books
My high school was hooked on the Foxfire Books. You could learn how to skin a squirrel, camp out in the holla or read oral histories of life in Appalachia. The documentation was done by high schools students who went out into their communities and recorded the events, experiences and skills necessary to live in the region. Mind you, we were city kids and not a one of us had any desire to skin anything. But we did connect with the writers of the magazine and the book compilations.
I felt a connection because my grandmothers had to do similar things to feed their families. So when I would read about how much work it took to slaughter a hog and how every part of the animal was used I began to understand about real world reuse and recycle issues. Thirty years later Foxfire is still going strong. You can visit the current Foxfire's educational and cultural history project.
Bloggers Rally Against Media Presentations of Appalachian Life
If you think about it, what do any of us know about "Appalachian Life?" The Clampetts and Mayberry's Ernest T. Bass? How about Hee-Haw and Lil Abner? The Coal Miner's Daughter gave us one view but then you have a movie like Deliverance. That had to put a crimp in tourism for a few years.
Many of the above examples where created or fashioned by people who did not know anything about the area. Worse still, they played up or enhanced stereotypes that we hold to this day. I know that I get steamed when someone creates a TV show, movie or a so-called news story that bears no resemblance to the people that I know.
Hillbilly Savants is a team blog that take the time to look at the small and the large picture of life in the area. Redhen at Brambleberry Blog keeps it almost lyrical. The quality of the light of day, the food she has harvested and what she is doing almost reads like a prose poem. There is Mullet Pride at Mullets of Appalachia.
Not all of the residents are red to the bone; Some are but then you have Left Wing Cracker. Easy Bake Coven is waiting for you with her sense of irony and Raging Red is very blue – politically speaking. RedNecromancer, I don’t know where to start. From cultural attitudes about negativity to the explanation of what the word cracker means and what it really means when you have to deal with one.
I could go on and on. There is some damn fine writing and photography taking place up on and around the ridge. But I want to leave you with a musical balm that I hope will inspire you to drop some cash at DonorsChoose. We only need 11 more people to contribute $20 and one person to contribute $2.17. Do what you can but you have 28 days left to do it. Make that move!
This is a video of musicians Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko combining Appalachian and African styles of music to create a joining place. The song is called Yelemane.
Now after you’ve made your donation go on over to Jayme’s site and soak up more goodness.
I have decided to get off the fear merry-go-around. The financial one anyway. I have been waiting for someone or a group of golden parachute troopers to step up and accept that they made a huge mistake. Or admit they didn’t look at the zig when they were grooving on the zag.
But you cannot start a blessing without having a tragedy or two. Well you can but they tend not to get notices near as as much. Americans are hard headed and this is the universal equivalent of a baseball bat upside the head.
We need to start over on how we do business. How we live our lives. How we relate to each other. This is Tracy Chapman and the tune is Make A New Beginning.
Tracy is doing fine. She has a new album that is coming out in November. From what I can gather, she performs most of her musical dates in Europe cuz they got the good sense to appreciate singer/songwriters.
We have temporarily lost our good senses but there is a lot going on. This is an opportunity to clean up our acts. Pay down our personal debt. Put some money in a bank and a credit union and a secret stash (not the mattress!)
Watch out for the flim-flamers who are popping up on late night television and Bus TV. You don’t need their help that will only serve to take more money from you.
You don’t have to listen to doom and gloom about the financial news. Once ever three days will do just fine. If it is really bad three or more people will come running to you to tell you about it anyway. Reduce the auditory toxins.
How long has it been since you have been to the ocean or the mountains? Visited a real park? Stared up at a moonlight sky? Gone for a good long walk without thinking about your problems?
Tonight in the northeastern section of Los Angeles the Eagle Rock Music Festival 10. will kick off at 5 p.m. The focus of this year's festival is giving exposure to local musicians and groups that are bubbling under the surface of so-called fame and fortune. It is free to all that want to attend.
This is a good opportunity to find out that Los Angeles is far more than Hollywood, Rodeo Drive or starlettes lost in transition. Eagle Rock worked hard to transform itself from being a pass through point from Pasadena to Hollywood. It is home and community to so-called middle Americans and the increasing ranks of the broke folk nation. Some drink beer, some sip wine and as for me, a smoothie will do nicely, thank you very much.
Some of the performers will not be on your local radio playlist because they don't fit the format. That alone is recommendation enough to attend. But wait, there's more!
Folk and Experimental music is over at the American Legion Hall where the Cobra Lilies, The Antarcticans and Emily Lacy will get to strumming.
For those on the Dub vibration there is Dublab and Very Be Cool on Casper and Colorado.
If you are willing to step out on the composers edge there will be classical and contemporary music from Renaissance Arts Academy at 1800 Colorado.
You want some blues or jazz with your chow? Head over to Columbo's for your fix.
Indie Rock is setting up camp at American Tire Depot and the Eagle Rock Bowling and Drinking Club.
HipHop is over Casper and Merton with DJ Grainshifter, Bambu, Akasha and more
The first note drops at 5pm and wraps up at midnight. As always I encourage you to take Metro but this is gonna be a little tricky. If you can take the #84 or #81 that will get you as close to some of the performers but you are gonna have to walk, there will be detours.
Those taking the #180/180 same deal, you can get into Eagle Rock but you might have to walk a block or two extra to find your peeps. Those of you using DASH to come to the festival know you will have find another way to get home, otherwise it is going to be a long walk back to the Highland side.
Go Metro and plan your route defensively. This means that you want to plan more than one way to get home.
I was so tired by the past week. I was hurt. I was being lied to and grown people tried to tell me that putting two new wheels on a busted economy would work just fine. I think Don Hendley and Bruce Hornsby on piano nailed it solid. So sit back and nod one more time with misty eyes The End of the Innocence.
Identity politics and the hatred of the intelligent, code word elitists is being held up as a banner by people claiming to speak for middle America.
We didn't have Hockey in my neighborhood. Black folks would not have been allowed to step foot in the arena that held the games. Never heard of Soccer. We had Stickball, Double Dutch and much later the Roller Derby on Saturday afternoons. Moms & dads would sit on the porch and talk about the world as they knew it and the changes happen so fast they could not believe it.
No air conditioning, no 24/7 spin doctors just real people talking about where to find work or a job. What was happening at the school. They did care about this country just as much as those who had playgrounds in there neighborhoods and Soccer for their kids.
We have grown up. The world is more complicated than it is made to be. There are different responsibilities now that call for attention, information and being aware of the truth of the situation. I keep harping on that. I don't know what else to do but hope we take the scale off of our eyes and face the fears before us. We need to deal with them.
I'll stop now. The crickets in the back yard are calling.
I was messing around the NY Times site. I like to keep an eye on what David Pogue and Mark Bittman are up to, specially Bittman. He really does make simple food look good but I'm thinking it took him 25+ years to make preparation look that simple.
Then again it is that bald thing. I like smart talented bald headed men. Where was I? Oh yeah fiscal crisis. So like I was saying I was fiddling around and watched this video from BloggingHead.tv
Yves Smith and Megan McCardle were talking about the situation before the passing of the bill. But I think Yves was spot on that this sucker is a palliative and the drug will wear off in weeks.
So when some folks talk about cleaning up Wall Street I think it means getting the hookup so that you too can start a job, be let go after three weeks and get to keep your $7.5 million sign-up bonus and your golden parachute.
Who said bankers were dull? I want to be that dull. Living the dull life. There is a song in there somewhere. Remember, this was after the first version tanked and before the passage of the second version of the Bail Out Bill.
I never intended to be a Spinster. I thought that I would get married I never for a second thought of myself in the image of an "Old Maid." Hair in a bun, sucked up cheeks and bifocals. I'm older and a wee bit wiser. I have removed the last of the illusions of finding Mr. Right or "the one and only." I have even moved pass finding a somebody to love. I accept that it may or may not happen. In any case, I am done collection frog memories.
Cultural Sanctioned Images of Spinsters
When I started thinking about my concepts of spinsterhood I had a lot of powerful images and media messages that flooded my consciousness. Spinsters are old and ugly and they turn mean or unstable without a man.
My mind can see cartoons with the Sea Hag and Alice the Goon as spinster role models. The many variations of the shushing sexually repressed librarian. The Jane Austin books that put the word out that you better hook up with someone or you might have to depend on the kindness of flipped out relatives or dark, powerful but aloof men.
I'm thinking there has got to be a positive spinster image somewhere in my mind. Here is an example with Bette Davis in "
Um, for those that haven't seen the movie it is a wonderful film but to tell more would spoil it. But the way she looked in that scene? Spinsterville.
From the theater there is that poor soul in Tennessee William's Summer and Smoke, Rosalind Russell in the movie Picnic where she practically begs a guy to marry her to keep her from being one of the "unwanted." and a boat load of Katherine Hepburn movies that start her off as a spinster but some how she gets hooked up with her unexpected man by the end of the movie. Sometimes he will even let her be what she dreams of, so long as she make room for him.
A Little History & Positive Cultural Images of Spinsters?
I needed help to understand what was going on. I found an article by Deborah J. Mustard, California State University Los Angeles entitle: Spinster: An Evolving Stereotype Revealed Through Film. It was originally written for the Journal of Media Psychology Winter 2000. She did a good job of giving me a context to understand why I was having so much trouble being able to visually positive images of unmarried women.
"Modern American culture has raised generations of women who believed that their true and most important role in society was to get married and have children. Anything short of this role was considered abnormal, unfulfilling, and suspect. This female stereotype has been exploited and perpetuated by some key films in the late 40’s and early 50’s. But more recently we have seen a shift in the cultural view of the spinster. The erosion of the traditional nuclear family, as well as a larger range of acceptable life choices, has caused our perceptions of unmarried women to change.
The film industry has reflected this shift with updated stereotypes that depict this cultural trend. The shift in the way we perceive spinsters is the subject of current academic research which shows that a person’s perception of particular societal roles influences the amount of stress or depression they experience when in that specific role. Further, although the way our culture perceives spinsters and the way the film industry portrays them may be evolving, we still are still left with a negative stereotype."
Film and theater reflected the culture identities and society themes that came from religion, from paternal institutions and from women themselves. Having a husband and family (if you wanted that) was desirable, it is desirable if that is what you want. Really, not knocking happy families. Need more of them.
But if you didn't want that lifestyle, if you wanted to pursue a career or an adventure or you just needed solitude in your life it took a lot of moxie for women to get around that huge cultural imprint. So are there any positive movie images of Spinsters?
Well, kinda. Rachel, Rachel from 1968 about a 35 year old school teacher in a small town that has choose the way she wants to live her life.
In 1978 there was An Unmarried Woman who, technically is not a spinster but does have to recreate her life after her husband drops her for another woman
More contemporary in 2008 is a movie called "Single, A Documentary Film" that talks about recognizing that millions of us will not be married.
Yo, What About Bloggers Eh? Another Working Mom did a review of three movies with spinster-ish themes.
There are vast number of women bloggers reclaiming the "S-word" and holding it as a badge of honor. The Spinster Girl's Guide to Life on navigating this world coming into view. One way is by telling your unfiltered story.
Over at the Women's History Project blog there is an brief interview with Charles J. Shields of a biography of To Kill A Mocking Bird's Harper Lee. What do we know of her life? Well she lives it on her terms, in her own self determined privacy. She may or may not be a Spinster.
SueBob Davis At Red Stapler has a few words to say about the men she has known and how she managed not to get married.
So what movies or plays have you seen that culturally influenced your thought about being single or married or any permutation in-between?
