me

the combination of a long and hot friday combined with the jet lag, i think resulted in me waking up on saturday morning feeling pretty bad, so rather than hauling myself back into the city, i chose to lay low at the hotel. better to fend of any illness than push thru and end up being forced to miss part of the convention: the whole reason i’m in philadelphia to begin with.

so, on to day three….

by sunday i was feeling better, which was fortunate, because there was a “climate change march.” i’m not usually keen on marches, as i find them little more than pep rallies that do little to actually advance a particular cause. however, given the timing and location of this one, i thought it important to participate, if only to show solidarity with other so many other progressives who turned up.

it was huge! it’s hard for me to guess how many progressives and bernie supporters participated, but it was easily several thousand. plus, a few of us wandered into the march after it had already begun so i’m not sure may people had started ahead of us.

it was what you’d expect, so there’s not much more for me to say and here’s a couple clips (sorry it’s a bit shaky) and some pictures can be found below:

the march found it’s end at the mall between the constitution center and independence hall.

by sunday, volunteers from the dnc were in force spread out across the city to answer questions, offer assistance, and promote “politics week,” a series of events, meetings, and programs. it also provided free access, for credentialed delegates, to some of the museums and special exhibits. so a few of us got our passes for the week and spent some time in the main exhibit of the constitution center.

though it was an interesting place and i’d recommend it to folks, there was nothing that struck me as particularly great or memorable. as much as anything, it was a chance for us to get out of the stifling heat and humidity that had descended on philly.

as the day was moving into the afternoon, we decided it was time to grab a pint and a bite to eat. i had been told the day before by one of the dnc volunteers who lived in the area, about a few good micro-brews and foodie spots, so we decided to check out strange loves. it happened to be not far from where we were, though the heat made the walk feel long…. though the food was ok and served its purpose, i thought the beer was pretty good.

while there, we heard from reed, who had been the bernie campaign staffer who had “parachuted in” to hawaii with a handful of staff in february to help us organize and prepare for our caucuses in march. though the rest of the “gladiators” had moved on to other jobs and weren’t able to join us in philadelphia, it was good him. he’d spent the day volunteering with the bernie campaign and offered to drive us back to our hotel, where we talked story for a while before he went back to his parents’ house, where he was staying, and we turned in for the night. monday promised to be a long, busy, and emotional day.

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this is getting posted much later than i had intended. and i had wanted to post something everyday while i was here, but clearly that boat has sailed….

i arrived in philadelphia on thursday evening. after collecting my bag, i found my ride to the valley forge doubletree, checked in, and then made my way across the street to pick up some dinner.

i woke up friday morning, had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then prepared to head out for a day of sight seeing. my efforts were initially stymied when i couldn’t figure out the philadelphia public transit (SEPTA) app on my phone. first, i attempted to board the wrong bus, only to be very politely corrected by the bus driver. then, frustrated, i decided to walk to the closest train station, which is a little over a mile away. though google maps said the route was walkable, i quickly learned that while technically true, doing so would have meant braving highway-like traffic.

finally, i boarded the correct bus, having wasted more than an hour walking back and forth in the hot and humid weather. 45 minutes and some terrible traffic later, i was in “center city,” downtown philadelphia.

my first stop was at the city hall; a huge building with some, in my opinion, very nice architectural design. i took some pictures, refilled my water bottle and moved on to a nearby train station at which i could purchase a couple of all-day transit passes. then i moved on to my top priority for the day: independence hall.

i’ve never thought of myself as a history buff, but i was so thrilled to have the opportunity to see the place, step inside it, and experience the sort of closeness to history. to be in the very same room, the very same building where shining historic american figures (i still tend toward zinn’s version of the founding fathers) was remarkable. though the tour guide we had from the parks service wasn’t great, he still shared a lot of very interesting information.

next it was on to the liberty bell. admittedly, i was less interested in the bell, but given it’s iconic status in american history, i felt it was important to see in person. i got one or two decent pictures of the bell, but i found far more interesting the rest of the exhibit about the bell and its history.

after that, i moved on to benjamin franklin’s grave and then the philadelphia history museum. i enjoyed both, but independence hall was the highlight of the day.

then, as i was walking to find a pint, i bumped into another bernie delegate from hawaii and the bernie delegates he was walking around with. so, instead of beer, i made my way with them to the “love” sculpture. i was vaguely aware of the image, but hadn’t know it was in philly. so i hung out with them on the way to the sculpture too some shots of all of them.

by then, it was getting on in the afternoon. so i parted ways with the small bernie contingent and made my way back to the hotel.

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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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