I first came to California in 1966 as a nine year old child. My father was finishing his time in the Air Force at Vandenberg AFB before taking a job in the aerospace industry in Southern California.
Southern California was aerospace central in those days. We were going to the moon, discovering how to walk in space, and developing new passenger aircraft, to boot. In the wake of all this, many new products were developed. It was a boom time, a time of good jobs. I remember it fondly.
It wasn’t the first time California was at the center of a new job creation. In the last century alone, think of the film and entertainment industry that began and blossomed in the California sunlight to Silicon Valley, more recently. California has often seen the start of many things. When it is running well, it is an economic engine that has benefits for the country as a whole.
The next thing that should start there is a boom in green energy technology, something that will definitely benefit the country as a whole.
Who would lead California toward that goal? Jerry Brown. Green tech is something that matters to everyone. It matters to the planet.
This is just one of many reasons that we need to help Jerry Brown become the next Governor of California.
Please donate to the Brown campaign and maybe win a quilt signed at Netroots Nation 2007.
"All Buttoned Up" – photo by Bill Bachhuber
The community signed a quilt in Chicago at the 2007 Yearly Kos. It is, in a sense, a snapshot of who we were then. It could be yours!
Every day in October brings an opportunity to enter a drawing to benefit Jerry Brown’s campaign for Governor of California. Every donation of $10 or more to the fundraiser’s Act Blue page will count for a chance – one chance per person per day. You don't need to spend money to enter, however. If you are not donating, you can enter and have an equal chance of winning by writing an essay of 50 words or less on "Why I want Jerry Brown to be California’s next Governor". Send your essay with a subject line, "Jerry Brown Essay", to communityquilts (at) yahoo (dot) com. If we find your essay topical, it will count for a chance. As with donations, one essay per person per day will count as a chance. Only one form of entry is allowed for a person on a given day.
The winning ticket of the "From Red to Blue" quilt
At the end of the fundraiser period, I will assign a ticket number to each chance and ask a neighborhood child to pull just one ticket. The drawing will be the first week in November.
Drawing for the star quilt
Quilt stats: It is 59" square, made of cotton fabric with a cotton batting. My sister and I pieced it. I hand quilted it. The blocks feature 1930s reproduction fabric (feedsack prints) on one side, and bright, jewel toned contemporary fabrics on the other. The quilt is sleeved for hanging and would look great on your wall!
Here are the signatures, by block number:
1-1A: Shanna
1-1B: Marilyn Rickert
1-2A: shakti
1-2B: Ben Wyskida
1-3A: LeAnne Clausen
1-3B: Peace to all
1-4A: sisterhavana
1-4B: snokat
1-5A: DailyKingfish
1-5B: Randi Scheurer
1-6A: Kainah
1-6B: Littlesky
1-7A: grndrush
1-7B: Tenn Wisc Jan
1-8A: Hope Despite All
1-8B: Xanthe
1-8C: WV Blue Guy
1-9A: Agnostic
1-9B: cocker mom
1-9C: Lauren Swihart & Nick Bailey
1-10A: herding old cats
1-10B: Mooncat
2-1A: LoisNClark
2-1B: Brian Reach
2-2A: Gilda Reed
2-2B: Ultrageek
2-3A: Courtney Sieloff
2-3B: rwreed17
2-4A: Ozzie
2-4B: flautist & Jared Lash
2-4C: JanetT in MD
2-5A: Rick Perlstein
2-5B: Anderson Republican
2-6A: Waterbug
2-6B: Cosmic Debris
2-7A: Kathy Kaufman
2-7B: ntorbett
2-8A: Optimusprime
2-8B: TheDon
2-9A: erinh
2-9B: Dania Audax & Timroff
2-9C: Christy Bowman
2-10: Matt Gibson, Jay Purdy, Jacob Wolf (The Extraordinaires)
3-1A: bendygirl
3-1B Malacandra
3-2A: Daniel Hartman
3-2B: Anne Marie Nicholls
3-3A: Irish Patti
3-3B: DavidNYC
3-3C: Hunter
3-4A: The Werewolf Prophet
3-4B: General Wes Clark
3-4C: Andy Ternay
3-5A: flaxter
3-5B: Michelle Martin
3-6A: spotbrian
3-6B: elfling
3-6C: Marian Nestle
3-7A: AAbshier
3-7B: megabn
3-8A: sharoney
3-8B: TheKK
3-9A: uberblonde
3-9B: Michelangelo Signorile
3-10A: Lane Hudson
3-10B: Jerome a Paris
4-1A: cskendrick
4-1B: Eric Massa
4-1C: Christina Siun O’Connel
4-2A: casperr
4-2B: Melissa McCullough
4-3A: quicksilver
4-3B: David Brock
4-4A: DemFromCT
4-4B: loggersbrat
4-5A: Mrs. P
4-5B: pastordan
4-6A: John W. Dean
4-6B: Ilona Meagher
4-7A: Kos
4-7B: Carla Axtman
4-8A: texasmom
4-8B: javelina
4-9A: janeta43
4-9B: Lilypew
4-10A: Juan Cole
4-10B: Jeffrey Feldman
5-1A: northwesterly
5-1B: everhopeful
5-2A: Kennedy
5-2B: kid Oakland
5-3A: Susan Thistlewaite
5-3B: schmendrick
5-4A: Navajo
5-4B: Melissa S.
5-4C: DBunn
5-5A: Tracy Joan
5-5B: fabooj
5-6A: thereisnospoon
5-6B: Ann Reed
5-6C: JZola
5-7A: Tullia Fidei-Bagwell
5-7B: memiller
5-8A: Silence is Complicity
5-8B: Jesselyn Radack
5-8C: Spiral
5-9A: One Pissed Off Liberal
5-9B: Bodhisattva
5-10A: Booman
5-10B: Cali Scribe
6-1A: Jill Richardson
6-1B: soyinkafan
6-2A: 42
6-2B: athenachrome
6-3A: silverleaf
6-3B: Susan McCue
6-3C: murphy
6-4A: highfive
6-4B: Edgewater Joe
6-5: MsSpentyouth
6-6A: ArgosRun
6-6B: Digby
6-6C: Sundayhighway
6-7A: Scott Kleeb
6-7B: Larry Grant
6-8A: noblindeye
6-8B: diceepur
6-9A: ProduceMan
6-9B: Oakroyd
6-10A: xysri
6-10B: fghPA
6-10C: George Lakoff
7-1A: ttobba
7-1B: Josh Sproat
7-1C: PlantingLiberally
7-2A: NinthElegy
7-2B: Susan S
7-3A: Common Sense Mainer
7-3B: Bill in Portland Maine
7-4A: SanDiegoDem
7-4B: Christy Hardin Smith, Taylor Marsh
7-4C: kaye
7-5A: Sean Robertson
7-5B: Vicki
7-6A: Bonddad
7-6B: Virginia Simmons
7-6C: worldpiece17
7-7A: rickeagle
7-7B: suz in seattle
7-8A: teacherken
7-8B: Rev. David Beckmann
7-8C: sra030
7-9A: Hlinmo
7-9B: Blog Active
7-10B: gloriana
7-10B: boofdah
8-1A: Ellicatt
8-1B: Dreaming of Better Days
8-2A: Frederick Clarkson
8-2B: DHinMI
8-3A: wanderindiana
8-3B: Frankenoid
8-4A: videogirl
8-4B: Delaware Dem
8-5A: Robert Losner
8-5B: Anathalie Sugiva
8-5C: BAC
8-6A: virgomusic
8-6B: raines
8-7A: Spencer Overton
8-7B: shermanesq
8-8A: Atrios
8-8B: Will Bunch
8-9A: Reality Bites Back
8-9B: Dante Atkins
8-9C: MBNYC
8-10A: sdorn
8-10B: Perseus
9-1A: Brian Keeler
9-1B: Irene Yacobson
9-2A: synesthete
9-2B: Carol Barnes
9-3A: Glenn Greenwald
9-3B: Rachel Griffiths
9-4A: Cenk Uygur
9-4B: Poemless
9-4C: Safir Ahmed
9-5A: Sam Seder
9-5B: Garance Franke-Ruta
9-5C: David Boyle
9-6A: China Parmalee
9-6B: Elizabeth Compa
9-6C: Kevin Huyge
9-7A: Sydney Blumenthal
9-7B: Steve Novick
9-8A: David Sirota
9-8B: Max Blumenthal
9-9A: Danish Brethern
9-9B: Sara Reed
9-10A: Espresso
9-10B: Kelly Gordon
10-1A: Charles Brown
10-1B: Gary Trauner
10-2A: Timroff and Dania Audax
10:2B: maxomai
10-3A: Bill Richardson
10-3B: Joan McCarter
10-4A: Pam Spaulding
10-4B: Linda Perlstein
10-5A: Madame de Farge
10-5B: VB Dietz
10-5C: Dan Seals
10-5D: Marianne Wood
10-6A: Delia
10-6B: Lanie
10-6C: JCHFleetguy
10-7A: Canyoubeangryandstilldream
10-7B: Major Danby
10-8A: Robert Geiger
10-8B: Anthony Romero
10-8C: Lithium Cola
10-9A: brillig
10-9B: mik
10-10A: Sara Robinson
10-10B: Darcy Burner