CLOSE the SOA

i hope everyone's holiday was sweet and happy, and travels were safe.
i've been on the road an unprecedented amount the past two weeks. i went to st. louis, and louisville, with jacob to his family for thanksgiving, which was great.
the weekend prior i rode on a bus to georgia and back with Veterans for Peace to protest at Ft. Benning, where the US Army spends your tax dollars to run a school for foreign military. the imperialist notions that everyone should be like us should be reason enough to shut the place down, but the methods of torture, intimidation, and murder taught there have led to it's nickname of the School of the Assassins. you've heard of this place and its works, even if you haven't known it. 900 dead in el mozote; 6 Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter executed at the University of Central America; 4 churchwomen raped and butchered (more, admitadly propaganda-ized, information here)

here are photos of my trip... it was moving, and envigorating, even in the face of the horror you're trying to extinguish.

we left at 9:30am on friday, from the veterans' hospital in minneapolis. it was a 26 hour bus ride each way.


sunset in illinois (above) and sunrise in alabama:





saturday is an all day rally at the gates of Ft. Benning, and sunday morning there is a solemn procession, with the known names of victims read, while protesters carry crosses bearing names.




an organization i am honored to have been affiliated with...

the main gate, a focal point of the protest in years past, was covered by the Army during the day on Friday in order to thwart the protester's attempts to re-assign value to its symbols (you'll see in a moment how that worked out for them):




these buddhist monks walked 150 miles from atlanta

emily saliers of the indigo girls

from our bus, the mother and sister of mary swenson, a founding activist in the movement to close the SOA, who died this year.... and below, people from our minneapolis bus wait for the funeral procession to begin


i don't know these people, but their cranes were so vibrant and intense


hear the music? "this little light of mine, i'm gonna let it shine..." these women are nuns and sisters from our bus, and we got good and warm in the early morning mist on sunday

signs from both days....



(local response, although generally supportive and welcoming, has also generated a counter-protest in recent years, called "God Bless Ft. Benning Day" --this was the rearranged sign we passed on sunday morning)







sunday morning's funeral march....this is what 19,000 activists looks like.


the procession is lead by pallbearers and a puppet


followed by a reading of the names of victims. the crowd raises their crosses and responds: "Presente!"


the procession leads to the gates, where the pallbearers have become victims


even shrowded in Army-issue brown plastic, the gate becomes a monument to loss and hope:


as an act of civil disobedience, some protesters who have prepared for civil action, and had to travel a ways from the main gate, crawl under the fence. military police waited for them, cuffed and removed them from the area... one of the most moving stories i heard was of a blind man who crossed the line and how gentle the mps were with him

first minnesota snow!

yes, it's different than illinois snow. no, i'm not as excited about it as that exclamation point implies.
it snowed last night, and today it's twenty degrees with a stiff wind that must drop that figure significantly. my boots are warm, but also strange to walk and drive in as there's less ankle flexibility than...not wearing boots, i guess.
i've come to a new cafe today for internet access, the tea garden on hennepin, where there are indoor fountains on either side of the door bursting with fake lotuses and chrysanthemums. the tea is good, but the decor doesn't fool me, i know how cold it is out there.
to combat the cold (not really, i have better reasons) i've decided to go to georgia for the weekend, to participate in the protests there. i'll be gone from friday to monday, and turn around on tuesday to head to st. louis for a week over thanksgiving. two sets of travel, equally important emotionally but substantially different in content. it's recently occured to me that prior to grad school, there was more to my individuality than costume design (doesn't seem like much of an epiphany, but it was a pretty bright light to me) ...and as it's clear that i won't make a comfortable living off of design in this town this year, perhaps i can apply what my temp agency considers to be brilliant data entry abilities to an office i believe in. so i'm looking for paid (office type) work in the not-for-profit sector....suggestions would be welcome. i'm hoping the more than 24 hours of travel in a bus with the group Veterans for Peace will lead to some connections, whether profitable or otherwise. i'm looking forward to being able to meet people who will widen my experiences here in the cities.

ahhh, unemployment.

well... it's getting colder and more blustery, but no snow yet. actually, right now it's very nice out.
the weather's conducive to curling up in my dad's armchair and reading, and i've started both a collection of Kate Chopin's short stories (which i'm re-reading), and a book i bought a year ago but was somehow not in the right headspace for until now, "The Business of Theatrical Design" ...i'm not so far into yet, but i'm finding it interesting and useful.
everyone seems to be slowing down just a little and we're all reconnecting with each other --last sunday i ate with lora and lacy at this totally awesome st. paul place called "mickey's diner" and last night katie, courtney and jon took me to cleaveland wok for chinese. i was expecting "good, considering it's buffet" and it was just plain awesome. outstanding potstickers and garlic green beans. it's been good to feel not so overwhelmed that i can't talk to or see anyone.
now i just need some income!
this business of finding a way to be comfortable in my skin and happy in my work continues...somedays the path seems a little better lit than others, but overall it's ok.
how are you?

signs that it's cold and will be colder...

* squirrels have recently tripled in size. i swear i saw one take down a yorkshire terrier yesterday.
* you can see your breath until NOON (but you're so cool that you're still wearing a heavy sweater, scarf and cap, no coat)
* you can judge the hour by the shade and tone of the grey sky, you suddenly have the impression that you haven't seen any blue in days and days.
* it gets dark at five o'clock. (ok, not yet...the sun goes down at 5 though)
* you spend a pre-apportioned chunk of pay check on boots and do a little happy dance when zappos.com tells you you've been randomly selected for faster shipping.

ok, that list seems weak. i'll work on it. have to run now, but find some sunshine and send it to me!!!!

reviewed in CITYPAGES

i think this review is pretty concise.... of course, they weren't wearing any clothes, nor were the scenery, lighting or props significant. but nonetheless, it's a review...

thanks for the support, again.

yesterday i called opera theatre st.louis, and they have hired someone else for the position of costume design assistant. so someone else gets to go to st.louis and have my dream job....
on a brighter note, i got a parking space behind my building. so there you go.