November 8, 2018

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No rest for the weary.  OF COURSE the )#($*^&)*^% liar-in-chief continues with his purposeful evil behavior.



I don't know if marching or rallying makes any difference, but I figured I'd better show up and be counted in the effort to protect Robert Mueller and his investigation.



This required an update to my human billboard project -- Yes on 2 was not going to cut it...........

Speed was of the essence.

8:56 am

I have seen other people's sewn-on words that leave all letters unperforated, and in my experience they parse just fine.  But I need to make those 'O's wide........  Those skinny-ish ones in my first draft were not going to be ok.

Straight line letters are easy to draw.  Curvy ones are harder.  You can seem my process above -- the first S was not working, so I started over.  I can draw as many lines as I think I need, in trying to approach a readable letter......  And I can start over as many times as seems necessary.  And the cutting evens everything out..........



10:02

I've only got so much space to work with (my back is only so big!).  W is a wide letter.  I tried a few times to get one that was clear but not *too* wide............

10:03

"NO ONE" only requires three paper letters (re-use the O and the N to make two fabric letters each).

11:53

Setting up on the floor to begin cutting fabric letters.

12:34

That's the ex-polo-shirt, at right below, from which the fabric letters were cut.  I've got pins in the letters, so I know which way was up, and to differentiate the right side of the fabric from the wrong side.

I picked out some fabric to put the letters on, ironed out the crease through it, and pinned the letters down.

2:01

I hate pins.  They are stabby.  I suppose I could use safety pins, if I had enough.  That's a thought for the future............  (Note to self -- put safety pins for basting on the JoAnns list.......)

I had the cock-eyed optimistic thought that I could “just do this” on the 8th, and wear it to the march to protect Mueller.

 😂 😂 😂

Now that we’re all done laughing.......


I did get it basted.  I thought I'd taken a pic after it was basted, but apparently not.  I wish I had -- I'm curious how long that took.  Long enough that I didn't have time to bother to begin to start the permanent sewing before needing to leave at 4:30 so I could walk downtown and arrive at 5:00 as we were told to do.  I bet it took about an hour and a half to do the basting.

Anyway.  I pinned it to my coat, and walked downtown.




The sky over West Park.

It was getting dark when I got to the post office.  There were a bunch of people there.  The light was interesting, as the sky was dark, but some buildings were sunlit.  I don't know why I didn't take any pics, but I didn't.  Maybe I was burnt out on rushing hard to get my billboard sign in some shape to go. 

I believe there were hundreds of us there.  We looked like more when they started marching us around than when we were bunched up at the post office.

It got dark.  There were a couple of young speakers with a crappy PA.   They were inaudible most of the time, and incomprehensible much of the rest of the time.  “We should all go to the border to meet the immigrants, and welcome them.  But capitalism stops us.  We have to go to work.”  Wait.  What???? There’s some socio-economic system that somehow supports everyone, but no one has to work??!?!!!!?!?  Hmmm...................

After a while, they stopped speaking, and marched us up Liberty to campus, and then all the way through the Diag. I wondered where we were going — it was a fairly elderly crowd. Perhaps 30-40% of us over 60? We turned toward State Street at South U, and went back to the post office via Liberty.  We did a bunch of yelling (mostly orchestrated by the young people).  "This is what democracy looks like."  "Ho ho, hey hey, Robert Mueller has to stay!"

The youngsters spoke some more when we were back at the post office.  They told us we had to march every day.  Riiiiiight. 

What *about* that capitalism, making us work and all?  

I took the bus home, even though they weren’t done.  It was 7:00 pm.  I'd been on my feet since 4:30.  (My phone says I walked 4 miles that day.)



I never know whether anything I do makes any difference, so I use a buckshot approach and do a little of a lot of things. Yesterday seemed like a day to put my body out there to be counted......

And a few people told me they liked the sign on my back. I told them how easy it is to do.....


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get out the vote!

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Here's an article about the efficacy of writing postcards to get out the vote, from Tony the Democrat who started (and runs) PostcardsToVoters.

Write on!!!

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November 6, 2018

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In the morning, on November 6, I was reading the Daily Kos Good News, which I can't recommend too highly for any Democrat who needs a spirit boost.  If you google kos good news, you'll find it.

In the roundup for Nov. 6, someone linked in a video of a rock band playing "We Can be Heroes."  (I think that's the right name....)  It goes "We can be heroes, for just one day..."

I posted this to Instagram on the morning of Nov. 6:

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If we can be heroes for just one day, let it be today. Let’s get out there and save our democracy.

🇺🇸 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 🇺🇸 💙🌟💙🌟💙

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What to wear, when going to vote on November 6, 2018?

Blue Wave Socks, of course.  :-)  These socks have Hokusai's blue wave.

It was busy when we got to our polling place at about 11:30, but when we left at ten after noon, there was no line at all.  That was disconcerting...........  Where was everyone?

We walked to and from the jr. high where we vote.

Bright shrub.  I have a sense I ought to know what this is, but I'm not coming up with a name.

I picked up trash on the way home..............................

We went to Zingerman's Bakehouse for lunch.  It was a wet day.  Not pouring, but not not precipitating.  Drizzly, with some sprinkles.

The Bakehouse refurbished its outdoor eating area this summer, and put down this gray-on-gray patio.  A Japanese maple was planted.  Don't these leaves look great on this patio?

Self-portrait, with maple leaves.

Email to me from PostcardsToVoters.org on Election Evening -- thatsa lotta postcards!  Pleased to have been one of the writers of same.  DOING SOMETHING helped me feel, well, like I was doing something!

Closeup of the people supported by PostcardsToVoters.  I put stars next to the names of people I wrote for. 

I don't do facebook, but there is content on facebook that we facebook-rejecters can see, including at least part of what is on the PostcardsToVoters site.  They have an audio thank-you note from Adrienne Bell, and a video thank-you from Aftab Pureval.  :-)

I don't know how many votes we flipped into the blue column, but I am very pleased that at least some of these candidates knew we were writing.  I am pleased to know that we boosted their spirits by supporting them from all over the country.

Aftab said he knew we were writing, because he got a card from us.  :-)



Some of these people were really strong candidates who did not succeed.  This time. 

I surely hope we will hear from most of them in the future!

(As I write this on November 12, not all the votes have been counted for at least a handful of the candidates on this list.  I hadn't realized how many races would not be finished for days or weeks after election day!  Hoping that all the Democrats who are waiting for results are victorious despite ongoing despicable activity that is intended to subvert the process!)

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November 5, 2018

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Good ol' petunias, hanging in, despite the colder weather.

In another pot beside the same front walk.  I think this is verbena.  Almost the identical color as the petunias.

Another big maple leaf with a really long petiole.

November in Michigan.

Taking that skewed sign and attempting to straighten it out -- straighter, but clarity suffers.........

Yes, please.

We beleve:
  Black lives matter
  no human is illegal
  love is love
  women's rights are human rights
  science is real
  water is life
  injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

Yes.  I need a sign like this in my yard................




Japanese maple.

Blue sky (and the first bare trees....).

Cherry.  Aren't these nice?

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November 4, 2018

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The leaves were starting to come down on November 4.  The streets, under trees, were carpeted with leaves.

Lots of leaves on the sidewalk, too.  Crunching through the leaves; stopping at the end to pick up trash.....

Savoring some individuals. 

Japanese maple.

"Regular" (but *large*) maple, with the same leaf as above.

Another Japanese maple.  I don't remember seeing a pale yellow Japanese maple before.  (All the leaves I saw from this tree were this color.)  I prefer the scarlet of the previous one.

Love these colors........

This is the biggest maple leaf I've seen this year (maybe ever).

Three of the leaves we've already looked at, with my size 8.5 shoe for scale.  That is a BIG maple leaf.........

Yet another maple.  I think this one is a swamp maple.

I really don't know what this is.  The substance and color make me think it's an oak, but it's so skinny....  (I tried uploading an image to Google, to see what it thought, and its best guess was that it's a moth.  NOPE.....................  *Pretty* sure I can tell a leaf from a moth, particularly after I've picked it up!)

Oak.

Here's that brilliant maple leaf again, taped to the fridge.

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sourdough library

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November 3, 2018

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The last daisy.  With sedum Autumn Joy.

Odd to see coneflower buds at this time of year.  All the rest of the coneflowers in the neighborhood have long since gone to seed.

This garden, with the coneflowers above and this weigela, just got planted this year.  I wonder if the plants are desperately trying to get some seeds set this year.

It's not unusual to see blooming dandelions now.

Japanese maple.

Walking on a football Saturday afternoon.   See the blimp?  I suspect it's over the stadium.

More of Nature's amazing seasonal carpet.

November in Michigan.

Maple on asphalt.  This is really what this leaf looked like.  Just as bright as this.

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