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to tell us what you're working on, share your show & tell, vent, whatever you want...
...this is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.
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Who was the most mysterious woman or man you ever knew?
Night or day, she almost always wore sunglasses.
I knew her for almost seven years, but I never really knew her-not her age, her real name, or what she truly ever believed about anything.
Times were tough. I found myself unexpectedly living back here in the USA. I had an infant son and his non-English speaking mother to take care of. Overnight I had hit the tarmac running as a family man. Two-thirds of my new little family had no papers. I wasn't prepared for any of that. The trajectory of my life had suddenly been turned 180 in less than a week.
At that time an acquaintance approached me and offered me some part-time work. Said he thought I seemed adept at working with different cultures and under pressure. Wanted me to meet the lady (always described as the "lady") he worked for. I met her in a restaurant for a job interview. That should've been the tip-off right there.
First time I saw her I thought of Norma Desmond.
Anyways, she was 20-40 years older than me. Her clothing, her make-up, and just the Victorian way she carried herself prevented me from ever getting a firm grasp on her age. Couldn't tell if she was older and effecting a younger age, or younger and effecting an older age. She seemingly had no mannerisms of speech that could tie her to any particular generation or culture.
She explained that her clients were wealthy people and mostly from one particular country in the Middle East. Many were of royal blood and with diplomatic ties here. Their children were here to study and needed "guidance." I was to be part of a very professional team that would supply that guidance. That meant in school and out.
I was to begin by doing research, and in the beginning that was all I did. I did hundreds of hours of research on nearly as many topics. That probationary period was over in a month.
I'd listen to the grandoise plans, list my doubts, & then finally succumb.
Then I was summoned to a second restaurant meeting. I was now offered a project with a specific graduate student. I met a young man who seemed straight out of the 19th Century. Said he'd remain a virgin until he married. Very religious. Little interest in anything else-school, business, or even a social life. Soon a second student was added in. This one was almost the exact opposite of the first: witty, urbane, and very intelligent. Then a third student was added. I was shuffling six different graduate students before my second month with the lady had passed. By the third or fourth month I was making over $10K monthly (a lot back in the '90s). That was nothing though compared to what came next.
Here I'd better pause to describe the lady in a bit more detail. For one thing, she never seemed to spell her name exactly the same. Night or day, indoors or out, she wore sunglasses. On rare times when she took off the glasses, I avoided her gaze. Her jet black hair was always at least partially shrouded by an elegant scarf of some sort. When later we began to have regular meetings at her residence, I saw many photos of her from over the years dressed the same way. Her rooms were filled with expensive and lavish art-seemingly placed to overawe the visitor.
Before I knew it, I was flying all over the country on different assignments. As an "advocate", I'd meet with administrators, deans, chancellors, counselors, professors, students, landlords, attorneys, doctors-you name it. Suposedly a mentor, in reality I worked as a repairer of reputations. A fixer. Sometimes just an errand boy. Sometimes much more. Sometimes my work represented the truth, but more often I was participating in, or constructing myself, a complex web of phantasmagorical (and mostly non-existent) achievements designed to give wealthy young people the appearance of intellectual and moral sainthood...as though they were (or would be soon) candidates for public office in their own country.
It was shady work. The lady I worked for was shady, classy-very classy, but very shady. It was shadow work-working for a shadowy figure. When I look back on that period of my life I feel like I'm peering into one very deep shadow. At the heart of that shadow was a "lady" who was never ready for her close-up.
What about you? Have you ever known a shadow? Ever know anybody who struck you as truly mysterious?
Latest Updates on Kossack Regional Meet-Up News Below the New Day sunrise cloud
:: COMMUNITY BUILDING UPDATES ::
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Let's build communities!
Every region needs a meatspace community like SFKossacks.
We take care of each other in real life.
I urge YOU to take the lead and organize one in your region.
Please tell us about it if you do and we're here for advice.
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THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
>>>Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
NEW GROUPS IN THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZING:
Send a Kosmail to the organizers and ask for an invitation to the group.
• Northern Indiana Area: Kosmail Tim Delaney
• Long Island: Kosmail grannycarol
• Northern Michigan: Kosmail JillS
• Nebraska: Kosmail Nebraska68847Dem
• Westburbia Chicago Kossacks: Kosmail Majordomo
• Caprock Kossacks (Panhandle/Caprock/Lubbock/Amarillo area) : Kosmail shesaid
• West Texas Kossacks (including Big Bend Region and El Paso) : Kosmail Yo Bubba
• Las Vegas Kossacks: Kosmail miracle11
• Vermont Kossacks: Kosmail 4Freedom
Note to the above new leaders: Feel free to leave a comment any day reminding readers about your new group. Also, tell us about your progress in gathering members. Kosmail me when you've chosen a good name for your group and have created a the group. Then I'll move you to the NEW GROUPS LIST. When you've planned a date for your first event I'll make a banner for you to highlight your event in our diaries and your diaries.
These are the groups that have started since * NEW DAY * began. Please Kosmail navajo if you have started a group before that.
NEW GROUPS LIST:
• California Central Valley Kossacks - Formed: Jul 29, 2012, Organizer: tgypsy
• New England Kossacks - Formed: Aug 6, 2012, Organizers:
Clytemnestra for Lower New England (Conneticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island)
nhox42 for Upper New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont)
• Houston Area Kossacks - Formed: Aug 7, 2012, Organizer: Chrislove
• Kossacks in India - Formed: Aug 14, 2012, Organizer: chandu
• CenTex Kossacks - Formed: Sep 9, 2012, Organizer: papa monzano
• Central Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Sep 26, 2012, Organizer: VetGrl
• Kansas City Kossacks - Formed Oct 15, 2012, Organizer: [Founder stepped down]
• Phoenix Kossacks - Formed Oct 16, 2012, Organizer: arizonablue
• Chicago Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2012, Organizer: figbash
• Koscadia the Pacific Northwest coast from Northern California to Alaska
- Formed Oct 17, 2012, Oganizer: Horace Boothroyd III based in Portland, OR
• Boston Kossacks - Formed: Nov 7, 2012, Organizer: GreyHawk
• Motor City Kossacks South East Michigan (Detroit) Area - Formed: Nov 10, 2012, Organizer: peregrine kate
• Pittsburgh Area Kossacks - Formed: Nov 12, 2012, Organizer: dweb8231
• Salt Lake City Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: War on Error
• Twin Cities Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: imonlylurking
• Dallas Kossacks North Texas - Formed: Nov 21, 2012, Admins: Catte Nappe and dalfireplug. Please contact them to join the group. An Event Organizer needed.
• The Southern California Inland Empire Kossacks - Formed: Dec 3, 2012, Organizer: SoCaliana
• Los Angeles Kossacks - Formed: Dec 17, 2012, Organizer: Dave in Northridge
• Northeast Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Jan 16, 2013, Organizer: GenXangster
• Kansas & Missouri Kossacks - Formed: Jan 17, 2013, Organizer: tmservo433
• I-77 Carolina Kossacks who live from Columbia, SC to north of Winston-Salem, NC. - Formed: Jan 30, 2013, Organizers: gulfgal98 and eeff
• Indianapolis Kossacks - Formed: Feb 6, 2013, Organizer: CityLightsLover
• Southwest Ohio Kossacks - Formed: May 10, 2013, Organizer: Dr Erich Bloodaxe RN
• Northern Arizona Kossacks - Formed: Jul 5, 2013, Organizer: Sam Sara
• Mexican Kossacks - Formed: Apr 14, 2013, Organizer: roberb7
• New York Hudson Valley Kossacks - Formed: Oct 27, 2012, Organizer: boran2
• North Carolina Triangle Kosmopolitans - Formed: Aug 2, 2013, Organizer: highacidity
• Silicon Valley Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2013, Organizer: Glen The Plumber
ESTABLISHED GROUPS LIST: (List will grow as we discover them)
• SFKossacks Founded by navajo, Formed: May 2, 2005
• Maryland Kos Founded by timmyc, Formed: Feb 23, 2011. Contact: JamieG from Md for a group invite.
• New York City Founded by Eddie C - Contact the group organizer for meet-up events: sidnora
• Baja Arizona Kossacks, Event Organizer: Azazello
• Three Star Kossacks Tennessee, Founded by maryKK, Formed: Apr 8, 2011
• Nashville KosKats, Founded by ZenTrainer Formed: Jan 30, 2012
• Virginia Kos Founded by JamieG from Md, Formed: May 3, 2011
• Kos Georgia Founded by pat208, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• Colorado COmmunity Founded by Leftcandid, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• New Mexico Kossaks Founded by claude
• Philly Kos Founded by mconvente Formed: Aug 29, 2011
• DKos Florida Founded by ThirstyGator, Formed: Feb 14, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail Vetwife to be included in next event.
• Oklahoma Roundup Founded by BigOkie, Formed: Feb 13, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail peacearena to be included.
• DKos Asheville Founded by davehouck, Formed: Feb 13, 2011 - Organizing Assist by: randallt
• San Diego Kossacks Founded by La Gitane, Formed: Nov 18, 2011
• Massachusetts Kosmopolitans Founded by mem from somerville, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
by Dave in Northridge ♥ for Los Angeles Kossacks
Nice turnout for the lastest gathering:
L-R, Front: jakedog42, flowingone, deniserobb, mvanier and son,
San FernandoValleyMom, MugWumpBlues, Dave in Northridge,
susans, joemarkowitz, optimistic pizza.
Rear: Shockwave, Gay CA Democrat, otoelbc, Lisa, Richard (Mr. Lisa)
~Photo Courtesy of SanFernandoValleyMom
Please visit Dave in Northridge's diary for MORE photos! Enjoy! You can join Los Angeles Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to Dave in Northridge.
by CityLightsLover ♥ for Indianapolis Kossacks
CityLightsLover pulled together another Indianapolis Kossack event. This time at a Mexican restaurant complete with her orangey Daily Kos tablescapes and schwag she produced herself.
Here's their group photo:
Lol. ONLY THE SHADOW KNOWS... Use your imagination and guess what these Kossacks really look like. L-R: maryabein, MKDAWUSS, Tim DeLaney, CityLightsLover, im2004Lurker, Mrs. Mokurai, Furbabies2013, Dragon5616, Mokurai and MITHRA666
Please visit CityLightsLover's diary for many MORE photos of those Daily Kos tablescapes and food pr0n! Enjoy! You can join Indianapolis Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to CityLightsLover.
by randallt ♥ for DKos Asheville
Asheville, NC gets out the vote!
The following is a brief roundup of the DKos Asheville Voter Registration Project's fifth outing. We've been setting up every Tuesday for the last five weeks at Earth Fare, a natural food store at Westgate Shopping Center in Asheville. We have a nice spot on the patio outside the store. This week with no icy wind and much more moderate temps. Oh it was cold alright, just not stupid cold. Back to having three of us was great. LamontCranston, David and Myself received many thumbs up and "thank you's" from passers by and shoppers and more than a few questions as to why we were doing this now. "Didn't we just have an election?". We officially re-registered one voter and took advantage of the interaction to do some Daily Kos evangelism. And here is a tease for next week. It involves llamas!
LamontCranston, our new Salvation Army bell ringer friend, randallt and davehouck
You can join DKos Asheville by sending a Kosmail to randallt.
by tmservo433 ♥ for Kansas & Missouri Kossacks
Organizer tmservo433
~Photo Courtesy of Michael Bersin
tmservo433 delivered a great event. Almost 30 people attended what tmservo433 calls the first session of the evening that lasted until 11:30 P.M. The second session of the evening included about ten more people lurking outside the door and some working as hotel staff inside the room. So after the meet-up ended, on-lookers from the hall and hotel service people wanted to talk about what they overheard coming out of the ballroom. For example, the round table discussion about the importance of increasing the minimum wage resonated with the waitstaff and they chimed in about that with strong opinons. A ballroom dancing couple applauded the progressive discussion they could hear on the other side of the partition. This event united progressives within its reach!
Please visit tmservo433's diary for written details on this terrific event! You can join Kansas & Missouri Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to tmservo433.
by tmservo433 ♥ for Kansas & Missouri Kossacks
L-R: Some where in this photo are Kossacks Glitterscale, Man Oh Man and tmservo433.
Please visit tmservo433's diary for a description of the rest of the attendees which were mostly non-Kossacks, but folks who should be there, such as, State Legislator John Wright. tmservo433 gathered a great group of Progressives and hopefully we can get a few more of them to join us at DKos. Kudos to tmservo433 for reaching out and uniting like-minded folk in Missouri!
You can join Kansas & Missouri Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to tmservo433.
by navajo ♥ for SFKossacks
L-R: SFKossacks meeting at the home of Andrew McGuire in the Wine Country
You can join the SFKossacks by sending a Kosmail to navajo.
:: Events Currently on the Books for ALL Kossacks ::
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Date Moving to January 2014
Connecticut Kossacks Meet-up!
TIME: TBD
LOCATION: The Shamrock Pub & Grill
210 Meadow St. • Waterbury
The Shamrock is a short walk from the MTA Metro North Station. If anyone wants to take Amtrak, thankgodforairamerica can pick you up in Meriden and drive you to the event.
ORGANIZER: Send thankgodforairamerica a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. thankgodforairamerica
2. gchaucer2
3.
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Maybees:
annieli
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Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Send navajo a kosmail if you post a diary about an event so we can update our round-up.
Okay. Floor's open.
Tell us what you are doing on this NEW DAY?