Tonight G and I jump in the car and start driving East with abandon. This may be my last post...
Leonids. Meteor showers. We're going to head East, either on I-84 or 26, and see if we can't find a patch of clear sky and a stretch of flat desert from which we can view little pieces of heaven raining down upon us. I've thrown blankets in the back of the Svan; there's a good chance we'll simply sleep wherever we end up.
Saturday (Nov. 15) I hosted a movie party here: "Soylent Green" and "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover". I didn't go fancy on invites, but if it had been titled I might have called it the "What's on the menu?" party. Leopoldo, mph, Alison, Neinmeyer, J, E, & G were in attendance. Only Leopoldo and G stayed for the second film.
After the movies were done, I wrangled a meeting of Leopoldo, G, and Carl at The Fresh Pot (inside Powell's) on Hawthorne. Finally, the key players in my plot to establish a movie-making group, all in one place! With further "how about now?" comments from yours truly, I led our intrepid fellowship back to my house... With a quick drive-thru at Taco Bell for sustenance. My treat.
Back at the Butte, I roughed out a quick storyboard of a series of shots that had just then occured to me. We shot footage, took the cam up to the workhorse, and in under 2 hours, had completed a 40 second film: "Gretchin's Thirst". The nay-sayers will complain that it lacks plot -- but me, I'm thrilled with the results. There are 7 shots strung together, nicely composed, and flowing together so well that it doesn't even occur to you that they might not have. Plot, schmot.
Youth lib stuff is bubbling right now. NYRA is discussing a plan to raise big money via hosting a benefit concert, and I contributed meaningfully to the conversation. I've been wrangling with Adam Fletcher of freechild.org for a face-to-face meeting. [We were going to meet this Friday, but it looks like that's changed.] A woman just now founding an "education for adult allies" (my words) group in Eugene just contacted me today. I get the impression that she wants me on the board of directors (!). ...And today I gave mph the necessary information to get my second YL blog ("Notepad") up and running. Wheeee!
Things I keep meaning to get back to for further explination: the 8 year anniversary with J at Breitenbush, my birthday celebrations back on the 1st.
Sunday I helped G pick up a free (free!) light table in Gresham, using the Svan. Stayed for the rest of the afternoon at her place, helping to de-scuzz the thing. Now it is a sight to behold. Feeling very pleased with myself for the help I've rendered, toward making G's art room a good place to work. [As you may recall, a month or so ago I helped clear the space of boxes.]
Looks pretty certain at this point that I'll be doing Thanksgiving with G. A tag along of a tag along. But, hey, Thanksgiving is a holiday where that can be OK. Just need to do what's necessary in advance to make sure that the whole veggie thing doesn't cause undue awkwardness.
...Y'know, Tofurkey puts out a nice option (stuffed with stuffing even!), but for my money the Qorn brand Turkey substitute has better flavor and texture. Oooh -- I'll have to make my famous cranberry sauce. That'll win friends and influence people for sure.
Post-mortem on some Crisis Line issues. The staff has unionized under the IWW, and at last night's board meeting we voted to recognize that representation. The birthday event only brought in $250, and had low attendance (40?). Barbara was dismayed, but I wasn't too surprised. I'll use this to further my push to quit hosting events and move into member recruitment strategies.
I'm finally beginning to be able to read the PWCL budget somewhat. The "income" section is what concerns me most, of course. I was surprised to see that around 80% of our money comes from government grants. The percentage coming from events and individual donations is not big at all. I'm thinking I need to do a pie graph, just for my own sake, to get a better sense of just how important or insignificant the fundraising committee really is.
I've just learned that work on the grant proposals is not on schedule. This is bad, and I'm worried; I don't think other folks realize just how crucial those grants are right now. ...But after last night's meeting, I'm left wondering if I've been misled about the "$30,000 by the end of the year or we fold" line. The person who told me this may not be as reliable a source of information as I first thought.
Instead of really focusing on the grants, people are talking about the mass-mailing donor letter, now re-slated to go out on Dec. 1. I'm dubious that it will bring in much money, especially with our mailing list in such disarray -- but I've been assured that this strategy has worked for PWCL. We'll see.
I wonder how long it'll be now til G arrives?
Leonids. Meteor showers. We're going to head East, either on I-84 or 26, and see if we can't find a patch of clear sky and a stretch of flat desert from which we can view little pieces of heaven raining down upon us. I've thrown blankets in the back of the Svan; there's a good chance we'll simply sleep wherever we end up.
Saturday (Nov. 15) I hosted a movie party here: "Soylent Green" and "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover". I didn't go fancy on invites, but if it had been titled I might have called it the "What's on the menu?" party. Leopoldo, mph, Alison, Neinmeyer, J, E, & G were in attendance. Only Leopoldo and G stayed for the second film.
After the movies were done, I wrangled a meeting of Leopoldo, G, and Carl at The Fresh Pot (inside Powell's) on Hawthorne. Finally, the key players in my plot to establish a movie-making group, all in one place! With further "how about now?" comments from yours truly, I led our intrepid fellowship back to my house... With a quick drive-thru at Taco Bell for sustenance. My treat.
Back at the Butte, I roughed out a quick storyboard of a series of shots that had just then occured to me. We shot footage, took the cam up to the workhorse, and in under 2 hours, had completed a 40 second film: "Gretchin's Thirst". The nay-sayers will complain that it lacks plot -- but me, I'm thrilled with the results. There are 7 shots strung together, nicely composed, and flowing together so well that it doesn't even occur to you that they might not have. Plot, schmot.
Youth lib stuff is bubbling right now. NYRA is discussing a plan to raise big money via hosting a benefit concert, and I contributed meaningfully to the conversation. I've been wrangling with Adam Fletcher of freechild.org for a face-to-face meeting. [We were going to meet this Friday, but it looks like that's changed.] A woman just now founding an "education for adult allies" (my words) group in Eugene just contacted me today. I get the impression that she wants me on the board of directors (!). ...And today I gave mph the necessary information to get my second YL blog ("Notepad") up and running. Wheeee!
Things I keep meaning to get back to for further explination: the 8 year anniversary with J at Breitenbush, my birthday celebrations back on the 1st.
Sunday I helped G pick up a free (free!) light table in Gresham, using the Svan. Stayed for the rest of the afternoon at her place, helping to de-scuzz the thing. Now it is a sight to behold. Feeling very pleased with myself for the help I've rendered, toward making G's art room a good place to work. [As you may recall, a month or so ago I helped clear the space of boxes.]
Looks pretty certain at this point that I'll be doing Thanksgiving with G. A tag along of a tag along. But, hey, Thanksgiving is a holiday where that can be OK. Just need to do what's necessary in advance to make sure that the whole veggie thing doesn't cause undue awkwardness.
...Y'know, Tofurkey puts out a nice option (stuffed with stuffing even!), but for my money the Qorn brand Turkey substitute has better flavor and texture. Oooh -- I'll have to make my famous cranberry sauce. That'll win friends and influence people for sure.
Post-mortem on some Crisis Line issues. The staff has unionized under the IWW, and at last night's board meeting we voted to recognize that representation. The birthday event only brought in $250, and had low attendance (40?). Barbara was dismayed, but I wasn't too surprised. I'll use this to further my push to quit hosting events and move into member recruitment strategies.
I'm finally beginning to be able to read the PWCL budget somewhat. The "income" section is what concerns me most, of course. I was surprised to see that around 80% of our money comes from government grants. The percentage coming from events and individual donations is not big at all. I'm thinking I need to do a pie graph, just for my own sake, to get a better sense of just how important or insignificant the fundraising committee really is.
I've just learned that work on the grant proposals is not on schedule. This is bad, and I'm worried; I don't think other folks realize just how crucial those grants are right now. ...But after last night's meeting, I'm left wondering if I've been misled about the "$30,000 by the end of the year or we fold" line. The person who told me this may not be as reliable a source of information as I first thought.
Instead of really focusing on the grants, people are talking about the mass-mailing donor letter, now re-slated to go out on Dec. 1. I'm dubious that it will bring in much money, especially with our mailing list in such disarray -- but I've been assured that this strategy has worked for PWCL. We'll see.
I wonder how long it'll be now til G arrives?
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