Rally for Health Care in Times Square (with photodiary)

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Saturday August 29, 2009 · 7:06 PM PDT

2009/08/29 · 19:06

I went to the rally for health care in Times Square today.

It felt really powerful to be out in action for a cause that I believe in and that affects me personally on a daily level. My biggest stressor over the past year has been my lack of health care. Yes, I care dearly about gay rights, and I march for gay rights, but I know that my marriage has already been sanctioned by the government and society at large. Yes, I oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and have protested in opposition to the wars, but they are somewhat abstract for me even though they are painful realities for the people that live them, both here and abroad. Health care reform, and the lack thereof in these United States, is an issue that directly and explicitly affects me on a daily basis. I need health care. My husband needs health care. Neither of us have it.

The political is personal.

bria

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Tuesday January 20, 2009 · 5:03 AM PST

2009/01/20 · 05:03

Today has been a long time coming and I'm so ready. This nation, collectively, is so, so ready.

May we all be as happy with President Obama in 8 years as we are today, if not more so. He will not be a perfect president. He will make decisions with which I, and many of you, may disagree. But I do trust that he will be a wise leader, that his decisions will be driven by a respect for the rights of the American people, that he will be right far more than he is wrong. I believe that he will seek out advice rather than blazing a stubborn path of going it alone. I'm looking forward to seeing what he makes of his administration and feel as though we all have a stake in it.

Last night, I went to the Planned Parenthood Bon Voyage, Bush! party and signed up to be on the Activist Council. It felt really good to be in a room with such intense energy and optimism for the future, where speakers were proud to be community organizers and ready for change. We were asked how many of us had volunteered for the campaign and over half of the hands in the room went up.

bria

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Friday January 09, 2009 · 12:20 PM PST

2009/01/09 · 12:20

I'm disappointed.

I voted for Sheila Dixon proudly, both in the Democratic mayoral primary and in the general election. I supported her in my personal blog. I defended her to friends who felt that she was too divisive and that feared that she was another crooked politician. And now I feel like I've been served a big heaping helping of "I told you so."

I was piddling away on the internet and vaguely ignoring the television when MSNBC filled me in: 4 counts of perjury, 3 counts of theft, 3 counts of misappropriation, and 2 counts of misconduct. That's a lot. The Baltimore Sun has more detail, but the site crashes my iMac when I try to load it. Perhaps you'll have better luck.

bria

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Saturday December 06, 2008 · 1:00 PM PST

2008/12/06 · 13:00

I have been on the job market since April and have been unemployed since August. I have sent out a total of 140 applications and have had 14 interviews. I finally this week got an offer for a part-time position without benefits (scaled down from the full-time position that was posted). I accepted it and am looking forward to my 14 hours/week of work, but it still doesn't get me out of the woods financially.

At nearly all of the interviews, I've encountered some skepticism towards why I would want the position for which I've applied rather than something more advanced or higher-paying. I give clear answers that play upon my assets and emphasize that I aim to strengthen my employment experience, but employers just aren't buying it. The more this happens, the more I realize that being overqualified is one of the hidden costs of higher education. I've seriously pigeonholed myself by too much schooling.

bria

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Saturday November 15, 2008 · 2:48 PM PST

2008/11/15 · 14:48

I just got back in from protesting Prop 8 down at City Hall. The weather held, despite it having been raining when I woke up this morning. Large swaths of tourists on double-decker buses cheered. I like that NYC-style civic engagement incorporates incidental spectators from far-flung corners.

A friend came to visit last night and this morning. Her views are generally leftist but she's not very politically aware. I had to explain to her both what the RNC was and why it was a Big Deal that it was held here in New York 4 years ago. My husband had to explain that people can and do get illegally arrested and detained for peaceably protesting. She was a little confused that we were heading out to a protest and didn't see why anyone would do so in the rain. As we said goodbye to her at Penn Station, she told us to have fun and asked me to let her know if this changed anything.

The more I think about it, the more that comment gets to me.

bria

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Wednesday November 05, 2008 · 12:09 PM PST

2008/11/05 · 12:09

I spent the first 23 years of my life in Georgia. My family still lives there. Georgia politics are near and dear to my heart and I've got loads of support for some great politicans who've hailed from Georgia: Max Cleland, John Lewis, Sam Nunn, Cynthia McKinney, and others.

I'm glad that the senate race is going to a run-off and I'm hoping like hell that Saxby Chambliss is ousted. I've already called my mother to make sure that she marked December 2nd on her calendar. Part of me wants to fly down for the weekend before to participate in the GOTV efforts. But beyond the very real chance that we have for picking up the Senate seat, I think that we should look a little more closely at the allocation of Georgia's 15 electoral votes.

Here's some math to back me up.

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Rally for Health Care in Times Square (with photodiary)

Happy Inauguration, everyone!

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon indicted on 12 counts.

Overeducated and underemployed.

NYC Proposition 8 Protest at City Hall (with pictures)

Georgia is far from settled.