PERSONAL NEWS #126
Wednesday, May 30th, I joined a few other NYDoP Core Team members [ie: Jade, Marni, Dorine, Karen & Carol] at a Marianne Williamson event at the Hilton. The Hilton is on 6th Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Before our group could even do any tabling, we had to deal with the hotel on exact location, plus other particulars. Once those minor things were taken care of we were able to set up. Marianne Williamson is part of the Peace Alliance and invited NYDoP to raise awareness for the Dept of Peace campaign. Her lecture events usually sell out and many individuals stopped by our table to inquire about the Dept of Peace legislation [HR808] and campaign. Jade and I manned the table while Marni, Dorine and Karen sat in on Marianne’s lecture. My only gripe is that the hotel had the air conditioning jacked way up. After two hours or so I felt like a popsicle. Overall a good evening and I enjoyed my conversation with Jade while manning the table.

On Saturday evening, June 2nd, my friend Cielito invited me to dinner at an upper Westside apartment she was tending to for several weeks. Also in attendance was her cousin Gloria, plus Engel and Maggie, good friends from Crown Heights area. Last time I saw Engel and Maggie was at a fascinating party two years before in Crown Heights. Cielito was also taking care of the apartment owner’s four cats. We spent the evening drinking wine, eating yummy Thai food, noshing on heavenly cake, listening to music, lots of laughs and talking about all sorts of topics. The apartment was a large, nicely situated place and views of other apartments in buildings nearby afforded us some “entertainment”. We all had a fun evening and I even got abit tipsy.

Wednesday, June 6th, was the monthly DFNYC meetup in Brooklyn and the usual crowd was in attendance, plus hosted by Josh. As always it was held at Ozzie’s in Park Slope. Some of the topics on the agenda were occupation of Iraq, working towards clean elections in NY and I shared info on the Kucinich Presidential campaign. Plus, I inquired with Josh about voter registration forms and how to obtain them for the Kucinich Meetup team. To learn more about DFNYC, go to: www.DemoncracyforNYC.org

The following evening, June 7th, was the monthly NYC Kucinich meetup in Manhattan at Bonobo’s. [A vegan café near Madison Square Park.] This was also my first meetup as new organizer of the NYC Kucinich Meetup team. There were issues with the last organizer [ie: conflicts] and Kucinich campaign headquarters was brought in to help with the situation. Many thanks to John, Vin and Mike. About six of us attended the meetup and one of them being my friend Thomas. He’s more involved in activism than I, plus Thomas is far more articulate. I sometimes get abit shy, tongue-tied or lose my train of thought. The meetup turned out well; plus topics of discussion were on Iraq, impeachment, voter registration, petitioning, delegates, NY state primary, media and distributing flyers to NYC voters. My main concern is getting enough volunteers to help with ballot petitioning around NYC in the fall. We need to get the congressman on the ballot for the primary on February 5th. To learn more about meetups, go to www.meetup.com

On Friday evening, June 8th, my friend Cielito joined me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see a costume exhibit on early 20th Century French fashion designer. The fashions on display were lovely, intriguing and perfect for women with boyish figures. I enjoy hanging out at this museum on Friday evenings. It’s a great way to wind down after a work week. Afterwards we sat on the steps outside the museum and talked about several topics, including the Kucinich meetup and my concerns regarding it. The weather was warm with a strong breeze. After awhile we walked to Cielito’s car and drove over to the upper Westside. Once there it took over 30 minutes, but we finally found parking and then had dinner at a nice Thai restaurant.

Saturday, June 16th, I headed up to Yonkers to help out Joanne at the ferret shelter. I hadn’t been in awhile and it felt good to be there with the furkids. [What I term my “ferret fix” or mini therapy session.] I sure do miss the wee ones. It was a good volunteer visit and nothing major happened. Many of the ferrets were very active and inquisitive, which is a good sign of a happy healthy furkid. I sure hope many of them get adopted and go to loving homes. During tea break Joanne and I, as always, caught up on news and gossip. We’ve both been busy with our respective volunteering projects.