so i saw a showing of 'wal-mart: high cost of low prices' listed in the weekly, with discussion to follow, at the planned parenthood, gratis. i walked there in the rain, unsure of what to expect. i ended up in a conference room with about 15 other people from various political organizations, drinking complimentary mineral water, asking me who i was affiliated with. they actually seemed quite delighted when i said i'd read about it in the paper. we sat around conference tables and watched a 20-minute version of the (very biased, akin to michael moore; i fucking despise wal-mart but the one-sided presentation made me rather squirmy) film. afterwards the various attendees spoke: about how 80% of the workers use state-funded health care rather than the company's exorbinant $1000-deductible plan; part-time is anything 39hrs/wk and under; they do not dispense plan B, the 72-hr pill, nor do they cover contraception in their health insurance; they get around $2 billion annually subsidized from the govmt for building new stores, while the businesses they bankrupt get nothing; etc. there were people from NOW, LAMBDA, the janitor's union, the legislature... and me, wearing a ripped sweater and a stupid rainbow scarf...heh. i mentioned the wal-mart skirmish currently underway in yelm: there were multiple public hearings about them building, but public dissent was prohibited: people would be kicked out of the meeting. they are officially building one this fall, a superstore, on the edge of town with one lane in each direction. never mind that there's one in lacey, a mere 15 miles away. this is another good thing about seattle: wal-mart is not within the city limits.
it is nice to stumble into situations that, in reality, i had no business being a part of.
i went to golden gardens today, the beach near ballard. it was grey and seagulls were blowing sideways across the sky. the tide was in and no one was there. i immediately walk right to the edge of the water whenever i go to a beach; i don't know why, but it's something i've done since i can remember. there were no creatures to investigate, just silty bits of shells that came in with the waves. i love how wet sand looks when i step on it. ducks and crows were hunkered down in the wind, looking collectively miserable. a train went by. i think i set fireworks off in the bike tunnel there once. when i left today there was a man playing guitar in there.
there is a completely hot song playing here: big band sound, but more modern... "i'm feeling good" is the refrain. when the queue at the counter dissipates i shall have to inquire.
the problem with this medium: i find myself thinking 'blog' when i am going about my day. i suppose i have always done that to some extent... or 'oh, ____ would love this song' when i hear something fitting. my prosaic life has taken on a new and exciting tint, one i feel like writing about, never mind the minutae. note last sentence as a brilliant example.
i saw my grandmother last night. we had a fun time. i truly feel like i can tell her anything... and i do. we watched clips of the golden globes on her computer. she is sculpting again, which delights me. she gave me a glob of clay to take home. i always shied away from 3-d mediums because i felt like i had much less control over what i was doing... might as well change that. if nothing else, clay feels happy when i touch it. when i was little i had a fantasy about getting a huge bag of rice or similar and just burying my hands in it. come to think of it, why haven't i done that yet?
10 intensely splendid memories:
1. laughing so hard on the interstate in oregon that i almost vomited
2. sun on my bare shoulders at el-jem
3. being kissed while crawling backwards up the stairs to the bed
4. absinthe, the v.i.p. lounge, and sunshine
5. reuniting at the paris airport
6. driving in slush through turnagain pass, listening to 'blood on the tracks'
7. running through the sprinklers at seattle center
8. ECSTASY
9. the beach in nice at night: either drinking 3 bottles of wine with rickie or listening to new zealanders sing crowded house songs
10. the hitchhiker on the way into girdwood having to listen to "let it all hang out"
more to follow.