needs update

our people at Occupy Wall St need blankets, rain gear and warm socks! this wet, raw weather is rough. help them out if you can. it doesn't have to be new, just clean and in good condition. the address again:


UPS Store 118A
Re: occupy wall st.
Fulton st #205
New York, NY, 10038

occupy wall st. UPDATES

if you are behind those on the ground....in whatever city they are
occupying....but you can't be there, here are some other ways to help:

"Where: Liberty Square (How to get there)
Help & Directions: +1 (877) 881-3020
General Inquiries: general@...
Press Inquiries: press@...
Watch: This 10-Min Documentary
Read: Latest NYCGA Minutes
Mail
The UPS Store
Re: Occupy Wall Street
118A Fulton St. #205
New York, NY 10038
Money orders only please, cannot cash checks yet. Non-perishable goods only. We
can accept packages of any size. We're currently low on food."

here is the home page for info and updates:

http://occupywallst.org/

here are ways to donate. they need food. scroll down on below link to see
restaurants that will take phone orders and deliver. you can order an occu-pie
pizza on-line at the links provided.

http://nycga.cc/donate/

i don't have a lot of funds, so i sent a care package of non-perishable foods to
this address:

UPS Store 118A
Fulton st #205
New York, NY, 10038
Non perishable, no checks (money orders okay) , any size package okay

i sent nuts, dried fruits and veggies from storage, ramen noodles, foil packets
of salmon, trail bars, stuff like that.

it looks like they added a ticker at the bottom of the donate page which expands
it to the needs of occupiers across the country.

thanks!

kate

occupy wall st.

a quick link for those looking for info. i can't be there, so i'm sending support in the form of some non-perishable foods from the stockpile.

https://occupywallst.org/

some info from that site:


"Where: Liberty Square (How to get there)
Help & Directions: +1 (877) 881-3020
General Inquiries: general@occupywallst.org
Press Inquiries: press@occupywallst.org
Mail
The UPS Store
Re: Occupy Wall Street
118A Fulton St. #205
New York, NY 10038
Money orders only please, cannot cash checks yet. Non-perishable goods only. We can accept packages of any size. We're currently low on food."

there are apparently some restaurants and food services that are taking phone/credit card orders to deliver food also. check these out before you use them....


added: it's spreading, so if you can't make it to New York, check here. remember, they all will need support!


http://occupytogether.org/

thanks, and more later!

kate

a constant stream of good things coming out of Portland....

the town is rockin' out in portland. all the time. this is some of the latest goodness to be coming from there. please read this, and pass it on. before it's too late.....

http://blog.whereareyourkeys.org/2011/04/18/you-are-about-to-become-obsolete-forever/

the orchard / 10,000 ways

upon request, this is a reprint from a post i wrote at Vandwellers to a newcomer, trying to find his way.....


Hey, R, welcome to the tribe! I am very impressed that you already have a
plan and a goal and the ability to save to meet that goal. Good for you! You are a good example to many of us here.

I say go for it. Listen to your heart. Keep your mind open to ALL the
possibilities out there. Cause as you are reading here, they are unlimited.

Life is like an orchard full of every kind of tree in existence. Some of the
fruit on those trees is sweet and nourishing. Some will give you the sh!ts like
you wouldn't believe, even though some folks can eat 'em all day long and
exclaim "these are the best fruits in the world!"

10,000 fruits! (10,000 ways to live) what do you eat?

I can't tell ya that. I can tell you DON'T CUT DOWN ANY OF THE TREES! Let them grow, whether they look appetizing or not. Someday you may find that you just love that fruit. And it'll be right there for the picking.

The good thing about this group is the wide range of experiences we can share
and draw upon. The bad thing about this group is we sometimes are so caught up in what works for us that we forget that there is no one right way to live our lives. Then we kinda get stuck on the details and try to figure out who's right. It's usually the ones not talking :-)

I graduated from nursing school when I was 30. Gave me some of the best
experiences of my life. I never heard the end of "you'd a been a great doctor".
Did I wrongly cap out at a nursing salary? Don't know, don't care. I made a
difference in the world. And I did it when I was ready to do it.

Prune and water the whole orchard, richard. And don't be afraid to try the
fruit......

Kate

P.S. And if a fruit does give you the sh!ts, don't do like I often did, and eat
it anyway (waaa, but I LIKE that fruit!).....move on to a different fruit!

timelines

it's not very often i read something that moves me to tears. not just the blurry eyed, flick-away-with-a-finger-move-on-to-the-next-blog-post kinda tears, but the heart-squeezing-purging-grief-i had-forgotten-was-there kinda tears.

i have alot of friends on the internet. in my wanderings around the country, i have had the joy of meeting so many of them, and deepening those relationships. it has been a hard road, finding community in my life, something to do with knowing from an early age that the world had another story, that there was another way to be....it has been through this "artificial" means of cyberspace that i have cobbled together my community, my tribe. however far-flung they may be, whether or not we have met in the flesh, they are as real and solid as any i have had in my life. and there is something particularly binding in the shared beliefs.... the knowing....that draws us together.

this month i celebrated 26 years clean and sober. i've spent some really peaceful time reflecting on those years these past few weeks, and the nightmare years that preceded them. this is as opposed to all the times i have agonized with guilt and shame, wishing for a different story. to really embrace the path that brought me to this place, this now....that is the miracle of my life today.

i made a new friend recently on facebook. i have already learned much from him, in his postings and links, but did not know much about him: his story. he gifted us all in a big way with a blog post on his birthday, and he has given me permission to share this with you here on my blog.

his story is real and raw and in so many ways my story, our story.  *"i am he as you are he as you are me as we are all together"*  it was a sharp reminder to me of all the years, so often lost in the blur of time, that are simply moments strung together, like bread crumbs left in the wilderness in order to find our way home.

thank-you Danny, for this gift of your story, to not only  know a deeper you, but also a deeper me. i believe this connection is the only thing that can save us in the end.

here is what he shared:

http://fire-eater.tumblr.com/post/3925441727/my-name-is-danny-and-i-turn-34-today-i-still



*"I am the Walrus" spooky tooth*

the value of empty

i get a daily meditation from the tao te ching. todays was especially meaningful because it speaks to me on so many levels.

"Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that allows the wheel to function.

We mold clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.

We fashion wood for a house,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes it livable.

We work with the substantial,
but the emptiness is what we use."

when i first read this, i thought of my van. on my first couple cross-country trips, i was proud of how much i could fit in all the nooks and crannies, and how many valuable, useful things i could haul along while remaining organized. on my last trip, though, i began to realize the value of emptiness.....of useable space. for many of us, downsizing is an ongoing project, a renewable goal. 

the last few months have been a downsizing in many other ways. i have been doing things more mindfully and with greater focus than i am usually capable of.   it is very hard for me, slowing down the inner turmoil and the cacophony of thoughts tumbling around in my head. even when those thoughts are positive or cheerful, as they often are, the are tiring. my mind does not always feel like my own..... it is crowded and busy and all to often self-absorbed. i said to a friend not long ago "i will really attain minimalism when i can downsize my brain".

i thought of that statement again after re-reading the above meditation a few times. "we work with the substantial but the emptiness is what we use". it hit me this evening how meaningful that is to me.  i don't think i have come close to understanding it....if anything, i don't want to overthink it, and miss the whole point. for now, i'm just going to let it be what it is.

i've been really scarce on the internet lately, been on a kind of digital diet. i have been practicing slow-down kind of things (i am reluctant to use the word "meditation" in the same blog post that references my thought processes!) and i have been having some success which delights me no end. i have fallen in love all over again with knitting and have taken up colorwork which involves counting and following charts.....mindful and purposeful and satisfying.  i am appreciating simple things in a way i haven't in a long time. i am grateful for the snippets of stillness that i stumble over, when i least expect it, and i have no doubt that there will be more........

rubber tramp rendezvous

the first annual Rubber Tramp Rendezvous has been set for this coming january near Quartzsite, Arizona. there have been alot of gatherings of vandwellers of different sizes and in different places around the country, but this will be slightly more structured (as much as you can structure a bunch of nomads) and hopefully a larger gathering than any before.

January 13- 23, 2011
on BLM desert land near Quartzsite Arizona

you can read more about it here, at Bob Well's site:

http://cheaprvliving.com/Renezvous.html

hope to see you there!

the truth about truths

the other day i was looking for a cd case. i have two of them....a small blue round one, and a large grey square one. i keep them both in the rondyvan.
well, i wanted something in the small blue round one. i searched and searched and searched the whole van for the small GRAY round one. couldn't find it anywhere. note that i said gray. in my mind i had transposed the colors. once i had identified that i wanted the small gray cd holder, that became my "truth". i could not see anything else. the darn thing was right on the dashboard, and i couldn't see it.
just thought i'd share that experience.

one of my favorite sayings:

 "just because someone speaks the truth, does not mean he knows the truth"

something i have to remind myself of now and then!

american nomads

photo taken labor day 2009 at the blue ridge rifles rendezvous

wayne and john discuss the future of the colonies

i've been thinking alot about the 'voo this week. hunkered down in this cold weather, i just finished "Centennial" by james michner, and am halfway through "american nomads" by richard grant.


my buddy brian recently recommended "american nomads", (click title above for amazon link) and i got it with the intention of reading it on my way west. since the trip was postponed, it didn't take long for me to cave in and read it to stave off my longing for the road. it did the complete opposite.

-----------------------------------------------------

from the preface of the book:

"A Tibetan dignitary, visiting America for the first time, sits by the Green River in Utah, looking over the mountains and the high windcarved plateaus. His name is T.T. Karma Chopel. He has come to America to study the workings of its democracy, but that is not in his thoughts now.

Something about the landscape and the great sweep of sky reminds him of his homeland. He thinks of yaks and yak herders, making their endless migrations across the Tibetan plateaus.

He knows there are no yak herders in america but he assumes there must be some equivalent. "who are your nomads?" he asks.........."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

this is a book to be savored. i read a little bit at a time, trying to make it last. the comforting thing while reading these stories is knowing that in a few weeks, i will be on the road again, making my own stories, and hearing yours.....