me

in roughly 30 hours, i’ll be on my way to philadelphia for the democratic national convention!

it’s hard to describe how i feel. there’s always an apprehension that builds in me the day or two before i fly and a little more so this time because not only am i traveling to a new city, but i’ll be doing so on my own (at least for the first few days), which will be a new experience.

but for some of the same reasons, i’m looking forward to the trip. philadelphia is one of a few cities in the US that i’ve always been interested in seeing. i’m definitely eager to see independence hall, the liberty bell. i’ve heard good things about the history museum there, as well as the art museum. and doing this on my own, at my own pace and on my own schedule will be very nice.

then, of course, there’s the democratic national convention; the whole reason i’m going to philly in the first place. it’s my first national convention and to be able to participate, especially as a delegate for bernie sanders, is a privilege and i can’t wait to cast my vote for him.

in addition, and partially because of the huge groundswell of support for sanders, there will be numerous activities, meetings, forums, and events, put on by and for some great progressive organizations. these represent opportunities to network, meet, and talk with progressive activist from across the nation. while i intend to my delegate responsibilities seriously, it is these events about which i’m the most excited and interested.

there are still a lot of details about which i’m still unsure and any amount of information i still need to sift through, but one way or another i’m going to be prepared as best i can come next monday.

upon arriving in philadelphia and leading up to and during the week of the convention, i will endeavor to post regular updates here; i may look into some kind of live-tweeting plugin for my wordpress. i won’t promise anything, as i have no doubt it will be non-stop craziness, but i will try for my family and friends back here in hawaii and around the country.

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earlier this week bernie sanders, sadly, endorsed hillary clinton for the democratic nomination for president. i, like so many other bernie supporters was disappointed to hear the news. rather, i had hoped to see him take the nomination fight to the convention.

still, to call bernie’s endorsement of hillary a sellout i think is hyperbolic. it’s impossible to know the details, the nuances of the conversations and agreements made between bernie and hillary. it seems to me the “bernie-or-bust” folks who have turned their ire on their one-time hero and leader is egotistical and, maybe, short-sighted. bernie hasn’t called it quits on the “revolution.” quite the contrary, in fact.

we have to remember that bernie’s been fighting the good fight longer than many of his supporters have been alive. as for myself, i’ve been navigating the ebbs and flows of local and national politics as an activist for a decade and i won’t presume to judge the strategic decision bernie made to endorse his former rival.

but let’s take a look at what bernie’s actually saying.

has it called off the revolution? nope. in fact, despite his endorsement of hillary, his campaign hasn’t officially been suspended and it continues to actively engage its supporters, particularly those who have been elected delegates to the national convention.

the contrary is actually true; he’s talking about next steps and about how to transform the presidential campaign to a long-term enduring movement for economic and social change. from the beginning he’s told us it’s not about HIM, it’s about US.

he’s talking about working and channelling our energies into congressional races and local races in which there is a progressive candidate that share’s bernie’s, shares OUR ideals. it’s not as if a magic veil would have lifted and all our hopes and dreams would be realized if bernie were the next president. this work that would have been necessary even if he were to be the nominee, even if he were elected the next president.

sure, with clinton as the nominee and potentially the next president our work may be more difficult, but no less important. nothing ever truly worth-while came without hard work and a long-term commitment; in politics, forward movement comes in excruciatingly small steps. don’t give up, don’t be angry with bernie. instead, stay focused on the issues.

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i’ve been going through pictures recently, attempting to organize them and store them online, and it occurred to me the other day that now that (nearly) all my photos are online somewhere, they’d be relatively easy to share.

here is one of the oldest pictures i have in digital form; scanned from a photo long-since lost.

DadandtheGang.JPG

i liked hats even back then….

this was taken, i believe, in the spring of 1998 at my grandparents’ 60th anniversary celebration, though i can’t recall if it was in st. louis or kansas city. i’m there on the left next to my step-mom, sister, brother, and my dad on the right.

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as i begin, yet again, to try and post regularly, i’ve been giving some thought to the kinds of things i’d could write about. in addition to personal matters and glimpses at my life, i think it might also be good to share my thoughts on current events, politicts, etc. i had originally set up a entirely separate blog for that purpose, but years later i’m not sure it’s valuable.

to that end, i’ll be closing down and migrating my other blog, peoplesdialectic.com, to this site, and forwarding the domain. maybe making it a sub-domain of this site, though i’ll need to do some research to ensure that’s the best choice.

in the meantime, i’m looking for good new agregators. though facebook is my default, a recent announcement to what it prioritizes in our newsfeeds, has sent me on a search to find an alternative. initial searches suggest flipboard may be the best option, based on how it functions and some of my own personal preferences.

still, i’m curious what sources others might use, or if, similarly aware of facebook’s announced chagnes, if anyone has found other interesting new aggregating alternatives.

as an aside, now that my flickr account is easily accessible via the blog, i’m hoping to share more photos, both recent and not-so-recent. so come back occasionally and take a look.

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so, in an attempt to breathe some life back into this site, as well as lay some foundation for sharing older and future pictures i’ve taken and get some more use out of my flickr account, i installed the photonic plugin. below is my first attempt at fiddling with the settings….

i’m not sure yet what i think. i’m not sure i want galleries embedded in my posts as opposed to having a link to the galleries, but i’m still debating.

let me know what you think, keeping in mind much of the customizable settings have been touched yet. oh, and enjoy a handful b&w photos i’ve taken over the years.

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