PERSONAL NEWS #59

On Monday evening, June 13th, I joined several other NYC Chapter Dept of Peace board members [ie: Karen, Ellen, Liz, Maria & Thea] in tabling a Marianne Williamson event at the Holy Innocents Church on West 37th Street. The event was held via "Learning Annex" and about 300 showed up. Sadly, Isaiah Hall, in the church, didn't have air conditioning. Only large and small fans with the doors wide open provided some relief. We really could have used air conditioning, as it was such a humid day and it didn't cool off much in the evening. Between Marianne's terrific lecture, intermission and Q&A segment the event ran about 3 hours. We did really well at our DoP table. Gave out lots of literature and discussed the DoP Bill with many individuals. Karen and I talked with Isaiah Hall manager [John A] to garner info on possibly doing future DoP events. Overall, despite the warm conditions in the church, it was a terrific and productive evening. I also lent Liz my Richard Bach books on the Ferret Chronicles. [Smiling]

Thursday, June 16th, was the monthly NYC Chapter DoP board meeting. Even though we only had half [ie: Joe, Liz, Karen, Ellen, Maria & I] of our board members at the meeting, we covered alot of territory and ate some yummy cookies brought by Joe. Carol was out of the country on vacation in South Africa, as well as working with an organization to help people in the region. She'll be back end of the month and I look forward to hearing about her experiences. We only have two more board meetings before the "Peace Conference" in Washington DC takes place in September. I'm already registered for the conference and so looking forward to attending.

Friday, June 17th, had to make an emergency morning visit to my doctor at local health clinic. The morning before, while getting ready for work, I noticed a nasty rash over a good portion of my legs. I immediately stopped taking the medication for the UTI, as the pharmacist said it may cause a rash. When I awoke the morning of the 17th, the rash covered alot more of my body and was even on my scalp. It even affected my ears and lips, in that they swelled abit and were warm. Like I had a temperature, but I didn't. Ugh! I'd had both types of Measles when I was a child and Chicken Pox when I was 30. So I knew it wasn't anything like that. But it was still freaking me out, plus still no feedback regarding my respiratory troubles. I called work and said I wouldn't be in until that afternoon, as I had an emergency doctor visit. Thankfully Dr Richheimer was at the clinic and they told me to be there at 9am. Had a good long discussion with my doctor and apparently I'm allergic to Sulfur. Also conveyed to my doctor that I wasn't at all pleased with Dr Rodriguez, who handled me last time & via phone calls. Never again! Anyhow, I was given a six day supply of Allegra to take care of the rash, which didn't start to go away until the evening of the 18th. Richheimer also went over the respiratory situation with me. He wasn't happy with the X-rays and scheduled me for a catscan early Monday morning. Oh joy! Back at the house I changed into suitable work attire and headed into the office at 12:30pm. Plus assured my co-workers that my situation wasn't contagious, just a nasty allergic reaction to medicine. Mon dieu!

Saturday, June 18th, fellow NYC Kucitizen [Cielito] joined me at my office around 4pm. We went over 2003 Microsoft Excel and printing out the extensive tutorial for it. She’s studying up on it for agency tests and temp work. Afterwards, we headed down to Greenwich Village to have dinner at Saints Alp on Bleeker Street. Only to find out that restaurant has closed. This really bummed me out, as I so liked the place and learned about it via the Tea Meetups. Cielito knew there was another Saints Alp in East Village [ie: 39 Third Avenue], so we hopped a taxi to whisk us over that way. Ordered funky tea concoctions, some appetizers and caught up on lots of topics. One of the topics being on her recent trip to San Francisco. Since the weather was that of a perfect early summer evening, we meandered around the Village and stopped by some street vendors selling books. I picked up a few ... such as "Angels & Demons" by Brown, the French translation of "Tristan & Iseult", "Walden" by Thoreau and "Old Goriot" by Balzac. When we got to Astor Place, Cielito remembered she had to check out some possible places further east to hold a fundraiser. So we trekked off to Avenue A to check things out. One of the places I suggested was the 11th Street Bar. NYC Friends of Kucinich had utilized this establishment several times during the congressman’s presidential campaign in 2003/2004. So we were familiar with the layout and knew it'd work well for the fundraiser. Worked details out with the manager [ie: Johnny] and set the date for June 29th. More on how that fundraiser turned out in another "personal news" update. By this time it was getting late ... we were both beat ... main thing is it turned out to be a fun, productive evening.

On Sunday, June 19th, had a terrific workout session with my personal trainer [Marie] out in western Long Island. She really puts me through the paces and I really need it. Her hubby Joe [also a DoP member] was also at the gym. One takes the Long Island Railroad, from Penn Station, for a 30 minute ride to destination. Another really nice day and by this time my rash was pretty much gone. Amen! Also discussed with Marie about a healthier diet and less carbs. I've been feeling abit rundown and groggy over last 7 months or so. So a healthier diet will do wonders for me. As I type this I do feel lighter, lost some weight, and inches too. How can one tell ... I gage my weight loss or gain by how my clothing fits. I so dislike scales!

P.S. More "personal news" coming soon ... stay tuned.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM "BROOKLYN PARENTS FOR PEACE" -- Action Alert: Protest Military Recruiting on July 14 at 5:00pm to 7:00 pm

We Won't Go!!! Mass leafleting at Fulton Mall/Flatbush Ave. Recruiting Station
Thursday, July 14 from 5:00–7:00 pm
Military Recruiting Station
41 Flatbush Ave. between Fulton St. and Lafayette Ave.
Brooklyn Trains: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins ... A, C, G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn ... B, Q, M, R to Dekalb ... D, N to Pacific ... F to Jay St. /Boro Hall, change to A, C to Hoyt Schermerhorn

See a map: http://m1e.net/c?42034710-eBQE5l7suDz/k%401080443-OXJjPkHv2WPoo

We will be leafleting and getting petition signatures to demand:

1] Parents be adequately informed that they can opt out of disclosure of their children’s contact information
2] Recruiters out of our public schools
3] An end to the war in Iraq

Your assistance is needed to reach as many people as possible in downtown Brooklyn. Please join us and help spread the word about this important event.

Sponsored by: NYC Counter-Recruitment Campaign
Participating groups include: Brooklyn Parents for Peace, Brooklyn Peace Action, Campus Antiwar Network, Educators to Stop the War; UFTers to Stop the War.

In the face of deepening opposition to the war and occupation of Iraq, the military has stepped up its recruiting efforts, much of which is concentrated in the public schools. Recruiters are given students' personal information, and most parents don't know they can Opt-out of this disclosure. Preying on the lack of jobs available for young people, particularly people of color, and the rising cost of college tuition, recruiters promise a way out. They usually fail to mention that less than one-third of soldiers ever receive money for college, or that more than 1,900 soldiers killed in Iraq. Yet despite these efforts, recruitment numbers continue to fall. According to Major General Michael Rochelle, the U.S. Army’s recruiting commander, "Today’s conditions represent the most challenging conditions we have seen in recruiting in my 33 years in this uniform." The fundamental problem is that recruiters are required to sign up new recruits for an illegal, immoral and unethical war that is based on lies. And more and more young people and their families are saying NO!!! Please join us on Thursday, July 14, 5 to 7 pm.