Today: Supplies and Shopping Tips

Although I'm talking specifically about kid's rooms here, these tips work for adults too.

Kids of any age can learn to put toys away, but they need an easy system. Bins on shelves is a great answer. Not only are the toys accessible, the bins make the room look tidy. They are worth it for the declutter-factor.

BINS AND BASKETS:

Hence the post title. "Bin there" - get it? I think I'm funny.

Plastic bins are great for storage in kids' rooms. The bins need to be sturdy and have built-in handles. Hold a bin by the handles and try to twist it (pull one handle up and one down). If it flexes, it isn’t sturdy enough for kids (but might be okay for other storage - like yarn - but nothing heavy).

You can use sturdy woven baskets with metal frames, which look nicer if you are storing toys in the living room. They look good forever but can scratch shelves (see below for how to protect the shelf).

Fabric bins are another option, and work well in closets. There are fabric options useful for storing stuffed animals. The fabric gets dingy, so be sure you can wash the fabric. For kids, plastic is easier to clean, and cheaper.

Shoe racks and other closet organizing items can work for storing some things. Make sure to hang these securely, and at the child's level.

The bins need to be the right size. Gallon size is good for most things, and a smaller size is good for smaller toys and art supplies. Bins get heavy filled with toys, so anything bigger than a gallon needs to have wheels. But I’d save the bigger bins for big sets (building blocks, train sets, etc.) or big toys. Otherwise the kid has to take everything out to find things - and the toys are all over the floor again!

Make sure not to overload the bins. Your child needs to be able to pick them up and carry them. It's better to divide items into two bins rather than have the kid drop a heavy bin on her foot.

Get bins with lids if you can. Without lids, you have to dust/wash both the toys and the bins. Yes, dusting. I know. The mind reels.  With lids, you just dust the lid. This isn’t as important if the bins are on shelves in the closet.

Measure the shelves so you get bins that fit.

SHELVES

Laminated melamine shelves are great - easy to clean, and inexpensive. Metal shelving can be inexpensive; look for garage shelving units. Both of these types stand up well to the abuse kids dish out.

If you use wood shelving or bookcases, protect the top of the shelves by lining them with shelf liners (designed to protect plates in the kitchen). The bins won't slide on it, but they won't be able to scratch the shelf either.

Another option: Cut plastic placemats to fit the shelves.

The shelves need to be sturdy enough to support the weight of the full bins. Make sure all shelving units are low and wide enough so they won't topple over. If you use anything taller than three feet, properly secure the unit to the wall. And don’t put anything enticing above your child’s eye level - kids will climb shelves to reach toys. You can use higher shelves for out-of-season clothes (in boxes) or photo albums.

SHOPPING

Try your local Big Lots, Ross, or other discount store first. And then look at Target, Ikea, and so on.

You can often find baskets and shelving units at Goodwill and other charity stores. Garage sales are another good source.

Of course, there's always the off the street option.

Liam has been sleeping in his room since he was about 4 months old - but it also served as a guest room with a full-size bed. This meant there wasn't much room for a little guy to play. Up until the last few months he wasn't really into playing with his toys much anyway. The living room has worked just fine. But lately, he's moving around a lot more and we needed to kid-proof and kiddify his room. So we did.

We gave the guest bed to a family member (sorry Grandma Jennifer, you'll be sleeping on the couch!) and we bought some storage cubes. We found a very groovy train table complete with train set for only $30 at a garage sale! I was stoked to find the same one retailing for $180 new! What a deal. We've been buying Liam kid toys from garage sales - I can't bear to pay FULL price for them when his attention span is that of a fly. I like to buy him the wooden toys - they don't have all that toxic plastic and I've been finding some cool ones for cheap at garage sales.

Jeremy cleaned out all the "baby clothes" that no longer fit Liam and organized them into bins - 0-3 mos, 3-6 mos, 6-12 months etc. The ones we want to keep for a future baby (yes, we plan to have more) will go in the garage. The ones we don't want to keep (we can't keep them all!) went to the consignment shop downtown and on craigslist. I managed to get $50 worth of credit at the consignment shop to buy Liam bigger-sized clothes when the time comes.

I think Liam likes his new bedroom. For the first time ever, he didn't crawl out the minute the door was opened.

I still need to organize the closet which is full of my quilting supplies and photographs - but Liam doesn't need that space just yet, so I suppose I'll get to it. Hopefully it won't take me another year.

Panoramic views of Liam's World.

Liam's cool train table.

I always say that organization - or the lack of it- effects everything you do and every choice you make. It's especially true for cooking. If you like to cook, or like the end result, like munching on the chip-laden creations, but hate dealing with the after-mess, then you need to follow some organizing basics.

1. Before beginning, set out all your ingredients and supplies. This keeps you from discovering half-way through that you are out of eggs...or whatever.
2. Store all your baking tools in one spot. I use this bottom drawer. As much as I love sweets, they don't love me so I don't bake that often. If you bake often, put it someplace closer. Having the items altogether prevents frustration from not being able to find the tools, or pieces of tools, like the beater for the mixer.
3. Clean as you go. Keep a sink of warm soap water. Wipe off containers and return them to the cabinet after adding that ingredient. Add tools to the dishwasher as you finish with them. You'll soon be down to a clean counter and just a bowl of dough.
4. Enjoy the cookies. They don't need much organization since they will soon be gone.

I have been pining over the mudrooms in the Pottery Barn magazine for years. I finally have a mudroom of my own that can handle a large piece of furniture but I haven’t won the powerball yet to afford it.
During my yard sale travels this summer I’ve procured 2 wooden pegged coat racks for a $1 each. This along with 3 unfinished shelf hangers from A.C. Moore ($9) and scrap wood leftover from the construction I hacked together this pottery barn inspired mudroom coat shelf in a night. I have to say that I’m pretty damn proud of myself.

1.) First, some Random Weirdness Shopping.

Check this out: Hedgehog Shower Friend. Am I the only one who has trouble believing women are using it to massage their heads? It's good to have friends in the shower.

2.) You can get in the mood for your shower with these hunks.

3.) Marin needs these salt-and-pepper shakers . And so do two of my brothers. As GAAE brother used to sing, "Oh, oh, there's a solution... H2SO4..."

4.) They also have a Frog Turner. In case ya'll have any frogs you need turned. Hey, I'm not judging. Pollyanna is just here to help. 

5.) And here's a plate for your frog - Jane, do you see those?

6.) Of course, after all that showering and frog turning, you may need a rest. And what could be better than this to rest your well-massaged head on?

7.) The frig magnets are for Anna-Liza.

Okay, probably enough from that site. Moving on...

8.) Have ya'll discovered Threadbared.com yet? Lots of mocking of old knitware and other catalogs. Like this one. Bwahahaha! Check out the 60s page. Heh.

Ya'll have to see the Epic of Barbie and Ken. "Put down the crochet hook and come out with your hands up."

9.) Their book looks like a hoot too. Lots of "What were they thinking?!" fun. I wonder if the library has it?

10.) I told ya'll I had super powers.

....

....

You and me both, kitteh.

More tomorrow...

Phew, what a good feeling it is now that I have managed to make "some" walking space in the Craft Studio ( CS ). So I started with assisning drawers for all the packaging materials like : carry bags, cellophane sleeves, envelopes, lace and fabric decorated bags. Have placed all the party decoration and christmas decoration in the large IKEA cartons and placed them behind the plastic drawers. I am a major Ikea fan so almost all my home is decorated with Ikea stuff.  Placed all the large rubberstamps in the new white draws. Wow its been alot and yet the room looks like a crash site !  Later perhaps tomorrow. 

The temperature has been soaring to 51 degrees Celcius. There have been more 50 heat stroke cases. I really pity the poor labours who are so involved in making such lovely homes and roads for us in this furnance like weather. The water cooler we placed out of the house, now empties every single day. Sam has been refilling it virtually everyday. But there's a whole lot of blessing we gather when scores of people come and get cold water in such monstrous temperatures.  

I am in a delimma, whether I should take the kids to Abu Dhabi Fun City or stay home and continue my CS adventure ??  Poor boys, they have been happily taking the back seat over the past 3 weeks, with their new gift, playstation 2 and the new computer with the graphic card and games that they cant have enough off ! Sam is goinna fret and fume when we get this months electric bill !!

This is a picture of my birthday this year at my sister's house.

Left to right : Bilal, Eman, Sawaab .. Naughty, naughtier, naughtiest .. exactly in the same order !!

Now, I am on Microsoft Entourage because it works with my client's email server and I have my Mac Mail/Calendar/Address Book etc. that I use for all my other clients and for my personal life. The good news is that they sync together but for some reason they multiply entries and I get the same appointment listed 5 times or 4 address cards of the same friends. Then my mac syncs up with my MobileMe (formally call "dot mac") and it multiplies some more. Then when it syncs it comes up with conflicts and heck if I can figure out where they all started. And when I try to fix it, inevitably stuff gets lost (like when you're cleaning out your office and you throw out the bag you wanted to save not toss).

And now I have a lot of new ways to organize with iPhone applications. Yes, this is a second post of the great choices I have from my iPhone update. I have Evernote that allows me to take pictures of everything to remind me. But I'm nervous about using it. Just another place I have to look to try to find that information that I put where it most made sense at the time, and now I can't follow that same logic path! I have even more programs that help me put together what I want to remember from the web. Stumbleupon, Digg, etc. Where do I want to save these? Do I just want to bookmark them and then I have to create new folders because this page doesn't fit the categories of my folders. I have resolved the note issue with NoteBook by Circus Ponies, so if I have my laptop with me I can put together all my notes, research, pictures, and anything else I used to put elsewhere. But now there's this Evernote. I can just take a picture of everything and don't have to scan, or write notes. I can take a picture of someone holding their business card so I can remember them after a convention. It sounds cool, I just hesitate having yet another place to look for stuff.

I guess organization is just a state of mind and no amount of tools can help you if you don't remember to put your keys (or files or photos or anything else) in the same place so you can find them again.

Get a ‘sneak peek’ at this exciting new program, and sign up for the priority list at:  http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=2492016

A couple days ago I took the kids to The Scrap Exchange, in Durham, North Carolina to look around. (www.scrapexchange.org) I found a great bag of beads for only $1! I bought a number of other things there as well... things that are really not entirely describable, but very cool looking! So, today, since I had a coupon, I went to A.C. Moore to get some jewelry making tools to start working on my bamboo tile pendants. My husband comes home with the camera tomorrow, so I hope to have a number of items to try listing. I've seen some things that I thought were pretty ugly sell on there, why not my stuff? LOL. Isn't that what everyone thinks probably? I've finished a couple milk jug toy totes and I'm almost done with three pendants, just waiting for them to dry so I can finish assembling them. 

Unfortunately, after I take the kids to bible school this evening I have to try and mow the grass. Bummer. It is rather like a jungle out there though. I have to take the our bulldog, Gordo, out to the bathroom a number of times a day and I'm getting tired of wading through knee high weeds. Here's a picture of him.

That's about all we have in the yard, weeds. Weeds and dirt. There are only a few small patches of actual grass. We hate it, but it is a rental so we aren't going to pay money to fix up a yard that doesn't belong to us. 

Beginning soon, I'm going to start listing some technique ideas on a daily basis. I was spending my time at the library while the kids were playing on the computers brainstorming for some starter ideas for my ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). I figured I'd pass these along to others who may be struggling for some inspiration. Especially since the techniques will work for many other things besides ATC's. 

Until next time!

August 2
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Planning to attend the upcoming protests against the Republican National Convention (RNC) in the Twin Cities? Wondering how you will fit into the plans for shutting down the convention? Wondering about logistics?

Unconventional Michigan is hosting a planning meeting for folks who are going to be attending the protests. It will be an opportunity to meet radicals across Michigan to discuss how we can work together to shut down the RNC and articulate a radical vision for the future.

TO ATTEND, RSVP TO UAMICHIGAN@RISEUP.NET

MORE ON THE PROTESTS: HTTP://UAMICHIGAN.WORDPRESS.COM

Last Friday, the 11th of July, anarchists and anti-authoritarians from the around the Pacific Northwest met in beautiful Tacoma, Washington with the goal of adopting one of the 7 sectors of St. Paul, Minnesota, utilizing the handy map proposed by the RNC-Welcoming Committee and many others at the pReNC 5.3, which we had originally found at:

http://www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org/2008/05/29/3s-sector-map-of-downtown-st-paul

The Pacific Northwest has a rich history of intense and well-organized blockades, having often witnessed various types of road and bridge stoppages during numerous forest defense actions, and more spectacularly, intersection lockdowns during the 1999 WTO conference in Seattle. In the southern Puget Sound area especially, calls to resist critical military infrastructure have prompted the mobilization of anarchists and others to blockade commercial ports, often using "hard" or material barricades, during three military shipments over the last two years.

FROM THIS MOMENT DESPAIR ENDS...

Keeping some of our collective strengths in mind, a Grey Coast Cluster has formed to adopt Sector 6 in St. Paul, an area marked by six bridges and at least three critical intersections. Our main goal for Day One of the RNC is to establish and hold blockades at crucial points throughout the sector, hopefully contributing to a total disruption of the political spectacle being planned for the city of St. Paul on the first day of September.

AND TACTICS BEGIN - 7.26-27 SPOKES-COUNCIL - OLYMPIA

We encourage any Northwest anarchists and anti-authoritarians planning to crash the RNC to organize affinity groups and participate in a spokes-council in Olympia, Washington, on the 26th and 27th of July, the exact location of which will be communicated during the vouching process necessary for such an event. Recognizing that the time-frame provided by the proposed dates is very short, the constituents of a Grey Coast Cluster have decided to borrow the Solidarity Assessment model, as outlined by some members of the proposed Midwestern cluster, for those who cannot make it to the spokes-council in person. As our counterparts in the Midwest have already (sort of) said:

"A solidarity assessment is easy as vegan pie to create. Follow the instructions below and you'll be done in no time.

Step 1: Get on a public computer.
Step 2: Create a brand new email.
Step 3: Write an email to: no.rnc.nw@gmail.com expressing your affinity groups/clusters solidarity and commitment to holding SECTOR 6, including an estimate of your numbers.

(Please do not include specifics. The internet isn't a safe means of communication.)

TRUE COURAGE TAKES PLANNING

Folks are highly encouraged to send in their proposals ahead of time to kick 7.26 off with a bang!

Please send proposals to the contact email below.

THIS IS/WILL BE A VOUCHED FOR EVENT PLEASE SEND AN RSVP WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK IF POSSIBLE

CONTACT EMAIL: NO.RNC.NW@GMAIL.COM

More information will be released as it is received."

in and for total revolt,
with boundless fury,
ANARCHISTS OF THE GREY COAST

Monday, September 1, will be a day of civil disobedience and direct action to shut down the opening of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) will join these actions in opposition to a two-party system incapable of meeting basic human needs that is bankrupting and decimating our communities through a culture of war and fear.

The RNC Welcoming Committee (RNC-WC), a Minneapolis-Saint Paul-based group, has been publicly organizing to shut down the RNC through a three-tiered strategy of blockades. Dividing downtown St. Paul into seven sectors, the RNC-WC is asking groups to adopt an intersection or sector. POG has decided to coordinate blockades for Sector 1 and shut down the intersection at 7th and Wall St. We invite you to join us in Sector 1 on that day.

Why Shut Down the RNC?

Many rightfully point out that this convention is a spectacle since the result is already a certainty. This is a coronation, not a decision-making event which outsiders can influence. If we shut it down, they could always meet a week later in a secluded location. However, this is exactly why and what we're protesting.

The current system doesn't survive because of a decision made by a party or politician. It doesn't survive because parties calling themselves "The Republicans" or "The Democrats" say they represent the people. It survives because of corporate control of the means of mass communications that limit the scope of the political discourse. It survives because people give the system "legitimacy" through their participation (with activities such as voting) and refusal to demand more. It survives because it prevents the rise of-and has successfully delegitimized-alternative means of decision-making in the popular imagination. In the end, people have few choices on a limited set of questions that never get at the root of where power rests. This is not enough. Our goal isn't to push a more centrist or even a more liberal candidate. It isn't to strengthen government power in the hopes that can curtail corporate power. Nor is it putting into power a new brand of left-wing elites. Our aspirations are to change the fundamental structures of society to decentralize power and decision-making so all those impacted by a decision have a say in its outcome, to change the economic question from "what is profitable?" to "what is necessary, desirable, and sustainable?" and to expand the concept of liberty and the pursuit of happiness from simply "freedom from" to include "freedom to."

Conventions, elections, and debates are events that promote the false idea that people are freely participating and freely choosing who best represents them. They mask who has power and obscure the reasons why certain people have power. In this way, the RNC and DNC represent the idea that it is legitimate for John McCain and Barack Obama to be the only realistic choices to head a vast hierarchy ruling over the lives of hundreds of millions of people and affecting the lives of billions.

The positive result of shutting down the Republicans' convention, much like shutting down a trade agreement summit, does not primarily reside in the decisions that were delayed or the meeting that couldn't take place. It is in the loss of legitimacy the institution suffers as it becomes controversial and alternatives demonstrate popular support. It breaks a cycle of propaganda that has lulled people into believing "the way things are" is natural, desirable or inevitable. It reaches out to the half of the population that chooses not to participate in electoral politics to say, "There are people searching for something different and we need your voice." It reaches out to the other half that does participate to say, "We know why you vote. We know that who rules us can be life or death within this system. But we also know that our future rests in figuring out how to break out of the trap of accepting bad rulers for fear of getting worse rulers."

The change we can believe in lies in direct, participatory democracy, built on strong social movements that oppose interconnected oppressions and expand individual and collective freedom at the expense of the forces, government and corporate, curtailing it. We believe that in this desire for true freedom and true democracy, we have much in common with the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul and very little in common with the John McCains and Barack Obamas of the world.

POG's Role in the RNC-WC Strategy

Over the past year, the RNC Welcoming Committee has worked with people from all over the country to create a strategy for shutting down the RNC. The result was a three-tiered strategy of blockades, the division of St. Paul into seven sectors and a plan for blockading known as the "3S Strategy" (Swarm, Seize, Stay). With this in mind, the RNC-WC has called for groups to adopt sectors and to block intersections. POG has decided to adopt Sector 1 and organize a congestion blockade at 7th and Wall. As articulated by the RNC-WC, adopting doesn't mean POG is blocking all the intersections in our sector, nor are we assuming responsibility for recruiting and ensuring other groups do so, it simply means we're making ourselves available as a point of contact for groups interested in operating in Sector 1. In this way, we will provide an open avenue for participation, and help disseminate information and coordination.

We will announce a Sector 1 launching point, place and time later this summer. In conjunction with the RNC-WC, we will organize a Sector 1 spokescouncil meeting the weekend before the actions. On Sept. 1 participants will collectively swarm the sector, seize key intersections and hold them for as long as possible.

We hope this call will provide an inclusive way for others to participate in the action and help build the success of the mobilization. We see a public gathering point as important for groups to utilize for their planned actions and it provides an easy way for smaller groups and individuals to plug into the actions. Through clear articulation of our underlying motivations and goals we hope to dialogue with other groups and the general public about why and what we're protesting.

At the 7th and Wall congestion blockade, we will collectively resist any attempts to dislodge the blockade through our numbers and determination. Though we hope to avoid it, participants should understand this action has the risk of arrest and the possibility of police violence. In addition to the normal police arsenal of weapons, the Twin Cities have recently passed new protest laws restricting the rights to assemble. A chart of the new policies is available here.

We are working on how to facilitate an initial gathering point for groups operating in Sector 1 and will post updates on our website. Regardless of assembly restrictions it's important not to let other sectors down. Groups should be prepared for the possible necessity of reaching their intersection alone. Plan accordingly.

To Get Involved with Sector 1 "Direct Action for Direct Democracy": If your affinity group or organization is interested in publicly endorsing this call, participating in the blockade of 7th and Wall, or blockading another intersection in Sector 1, contact us at rnc@organizepittsburgh.org to coordinate.

As we've already mentioned, not all the information is available yet. We will be releasing another call closer to the action. Check our website at www.organizepittsburgh.org/rnc to keep up with updates and get information on our plans and the situation in Sector 1.

For the official call to action and other info see www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org.

Outside those doors, however, so many will exclaim, smash and sing a harmonious "no." We have little time for poetry; we have little patience for progress. We will go home to our communities after this Summer, and it is in our communities that the effects of the broadening ecological crisis, the crash of the economy and the implementation of security-as-a-way-of-life will take hold. Whether it is the right wing of capital or the left wing of capital, capitalism will continue to structure our lives and dissolve every inch of autonomy we carve out.

To the contrary of the common narrative of defeat and despair, we notice that it
is also in these communities that our affects take hold. It is within these
circuits of support--both material and emotional--that we produce ourselves as
powerful. We go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and to the
Republican National Convention in Minnesota's Twin Cities with this epiphany in
mind.

Everything for Everyone: A Small Demand

On the evening of August 25, the night of the Democratic Party's fundraising events, we will manifest ourselves not as a focus group but as a force: Against capitalism and in solidarity with those who fight against policing on a daily basis, (in memory of Paul Childs and Frank Lobato both murdered by the Denver police); against the destruction of the planet and for our own needs for a total transformation of society. At 6 p.m. gather as a Black Bloc at Civil Center Park in downtown Denver. Wear black tops and blue denim bottoms. Bring flags and banners. Be materially prepared. We do not seek a mere march against capitalism but rather a communication mechanism to inquire of others a modest question: "We want everything. Do you?"

For the destruction of capitalism and the state,

--A precarious workers-council of Unconventional Action, and comrades from the West Coast, Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, East Coast, the UK, and Europe

July 25th-27th, Chicago is hosting a regional anti-RNC Consulta that is being organized as a weekend long event of sharing direct action tactics for use specifically at the RNC & DNC this coming September. It will work as a space for activists and organized groups to gather and network for the RNC, specifically. Unconventional Action Chicago will be holding the Anarchist Olympics on Friday & Saturday night, which will offer fun, active and skill-building street games for the whole radical gamut! Those organizing the consulta are dedicated to fostering a safe environment open to all opposed to imperialist and repressive agendas, and who are dedicated to mobilizing against the RNC & DNC and furthering the cause of peace and justice for all people.

Workshops/Sessions include:

How to Form An Affinity Group, Armor DIY/Safety and Defense, Street Medic/Guerrilla First Aid, Blockading Tactics/Conditioning, Strategizing Sessions, Presentations from Bash Back!, UA, Anarchist Black Cross, and many more!

Free housing for out-of-towners, some vegan meals, and childcare (with advanced notice) will be provided.

You MUST RSVP as soon as possible to: chicagoconsulta@riseup.net

Please include any housing needs (womyn space, queer space, etc), childcare needs, and any other needs in your RSVP. If you have any questions, you may email us at that address.

We hope to see you all soon!

Love,
ROAR (Radicals Organizing Against the RNC) & Unconventional Action Chicago

The DC organizers will be coming out with a more extensive report back, but here are some observations and experiences related to the convergence.

The schedule for the UA-ECC was tight with a lot of really amazing workshops running simultaneously. For those who came with affinity groups, this was the perfect opportunity to learn more about your role and gain skills to bring back to your community. Those who came alone may have had a harder time picking and choosing where to go. That, however, is so often the nature of having so many things to talk about and such a limited amount of time to be face to face. One of the most frequent overall criticisms made of the convergence was that there wasn’t enough time set aside for caucuses. This meant that caucuses ended up taking place during social time and so individuals had to choose between attending a caucus and networking.

The Direct Action 202 workshop was a highlight and crammed as much information as possible into two and a half hours. Obviously it still just scratched the surface, but made space for actual practice (which doesn’t seem to be happening enough), and got people excited to learn more.

At the UA-ECC, there was a lot of talk about messaging for the conventions. There were concerns that there was a lot of work going into a strategic framework and not enough work going into a messaging framework. Beyond that, the messaging that currently exists focuses on what we are against and not what we are for and doesn’t acknowledge that (whether we think it is misguided or not) for many people this election will be a historic event. An example of this is taking about “false hope” and calling progressive rhetoric “bull shit”. While we as anarchist understand this critique, for many who are feeling hope for the first time in a long time, these words say “there is no hope”. It was suggested that perhaps there is a way for us to alter this and say, “I’m glad that you feel hopeful but true hope comes from people not
presidents”. This is, of course, more applicable to the DNC where the attendees actually preach “change”. There was a suggestion of creating a national messaging discussion. An idea is to have locals from the Twin Cities and Denver work with/endorse a national working group that will help create a national messaging framework for both conventions. This
group could call for literature, posters, slogans etc that fit within the developed messaging framework and host a website that could make these medias available for perusal, reading, printing, and distribution. Keep your eyes open for ways to plug in.

Thanks again to the DC organizers for their hospitality and a special thanks to all the presenters, the friendly criticism, and all the support coming out of the Mid-Atlantic.

With insurrectionary dreams,
A Representative of The RNC Welcoming Committee

Learn to let the phone go until YOU can choose the time that you want to handle calls.  If you jump up every time the phone rings you are letting the other person on the other end of the phone determine your schedule.  If you set aside the time to get something accomplished, do as the manager does.  Let your secretary, (your answering machine) take your phone calls until you can return them.  When I was homeschooling my children I put a message on my machine that I didn't return phone calls until after noon each day so all callers knew when to expect a phone call from me.  It freed me from distractions during the specific time I was busy with my kids.  You can do the same.  If you are worried that you will miss an important phone call give your spouse/friend a signal that they can use if they REALLY have to get through to you.  Perhaps, have them ring the phone 2 times and hang up, then call back.  

It will change your life if you put into practice this skill.  I would love to hear from you after you have tried this because I know it will make a big difference in the amount you get done each day!

In my previous house (with no stairs) I clocked how many steps I took in a single day and it turned out that I walked on average 5 miles a day just in my daily activity. Now on top of that, I’m training for a marathon and my new house has two sets of stairs. So needless to say, I get enough exercise in a day, no need for unnecessary trips up and down stairs. To keep my house organized, I put baskets at the top and bottom of the stair cases and it’s expected that passersby’s grab anything within the basket and take it either up or down with them. It saves mucho time and mucho steps.

Oh, I promised some VBS pictures, but I realized in reviewing them that every single one is a picture of kids who attended.  Now, their parents are ok with us using these for church purposes, like on the screens on Sunday or in a newsletter, but I am not sure it would be appropriate to share them here since I know some parents prefer not to have images of their children online.  It's one thing for a parent to post their children's pictures, quite another for me to do it without their knowledge.

I just realized my father in law occasionally stops by to read, so if you are reading today...stop...this isn't the blog you're looking for. ;)

There's a great blog that I just discovered recently, chock full of tips and this month she's doing some giveaways.  The Tip Junkie is exactly as it sounds, she's got a blog full of some great ideas from readers and other bloggers.

One of the tips that caught my attentions was this great gift idea from a bride to be named Laura.  I am going to attempt to make these for MC's grandparents for Grandparent's Day.  Please note I said "attempt" so that I don't actually have to provide a finished project.  I'm reading how easy peasy it is and I'm pretty sure positive that I will find a way to make this the most difficult project ever.  Trust me, I can...don't challenge me.

We are all stuck inside laying about like a herd of seals as it is too hot to exist.  It's quite thick and soupy muggy out there and I'm enjoying my a/c today.

Stay cool!

The Northern California Media Workers Guild-Communications Workers of America filed unfair labor practice charges Tuesday to protest last Friday's retaliatory firings of organizers and other anti-union actions against the newly formed Bay Area News Group-East Bay unit of the Guild.

The union's charges were filed with the Oakland office of the National Labor Relations Board following the layoff of 29 members of the 230-member BANG-EB bargaining unit, which includes the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune. Among those targeted was Sara Steffens, newly elected chair of the unit and the main Guild organizer in the Walnut Creek newsroom of BANG-EB.

"I think they wanted me out of the newsroom," Steffens said. "They wanted to keep me from continuing to engage co-workers as we push for our first contract and they hoped this would send a message to scare people away from further union activity. But they made a big mistake -- so far it's only made our newsroom understand why it's important to have a contract to protect us."

Guild Representative Carl Hall said the union plans to present evidence showing a "clear pattern of anti-union discrimination" against the bargaining unit. At least 20 of the 29 who were fired had been visibly supportive of the Guild organizing. No active opponents of the unionization effort were let go.
The union's charges include three key violations by the company: selecting employees for layoff in retaliation for their protected union activities, discontinuing its merit pay system without bargaining with the union, and soliciting employees to waive their rights under the National Labor Relations Act in order to be eligible for the severance package.

The BANG-EB unit voted for Guild representation in an NLRB-supervised vote on June 13 following a 10-month campaign. During the drive, company managers conducted surveillance, held captive-audience meetings, and made no secret of their hostility, threatening to cut benefits and freeze pay if the Guild was voted in.

Union activity is federally protected under the National Labor Relations Act.

The BANG-EB management denied the firings were motivated by anti-union policies.
Representatives of the union met with management prior to the dismissals and presented alternative ways of cutting staff. The Guild did not argue against the need or timing for staff cuts.

The Guild and management also agreed on a minimal severance package for those let go, including one week's salary for each year of service up to 12 weeks, along with three months of health benefits. The dispute at hand concerns how employees were selected for layoff.

The NLRB will now embark upon an investigation of the Guild's charges. If the agency determines the charges have merit, it could issue a complaint seeking reinstatement and back pay for those improperly laid off.

Isn't it more important to just start than to spend too much time fretting over where to start?

Sometime, that is the message I impart when I coach people through organizing big projects or very cluttered spaces.

If you dig and start, you'll soon find an order to the process. Your mind will jump naturally to the question of what should I do next. It will keep you moving. But, standing in a doorway, looking at stacks of clutter, gets you nowhere. Lying in bed at night, visualizing the amount of steps or work to be done on a project and watching them swirl around and around, gets you nowhere.

So just start.

Go in that room. Pick up the first item on the first stack you see. Get going!

OR

Grab a pen. List every single thing swirling in your head about a big project. List them all. Don't worry about what kind of order they are in. Don't worry about what to do first. Choose one item and do it. Along the path of doing it, you'll figure out what to do next.

Even for a professional organizer, sometimes an organizing task can be daunting.  Business growth has led to natural changes. Those changes need to be reflected in my website. The more I thought about the changes, the larger they loomed. The more one change led to another and to another. The task became so overwhelming that it led to the classic situation- not being able to start because you don't know where to start.

Putting pen to paper, listing every possible issue was the way to start. Just picking one and doing it created a natural progression.

So, just start. No matter if you are organizing a desk, a space, a room, your time or a project, it is more important to start than to worry about where to start.

Today I attended a screening of the above movie at the Brecht Forum, an event hosted by GoLeft.org, and also attended by the film's co-writer Jeremy Pisker. GoLeft describes themselves as a group of "activists and pop-culture whores" that attempts to figure out how to make activist politics more palatable.

A necessary goal - I am taking up an oath to never once more chant "What do we want? [insert demand]!!! When do we want it? NOW!!" or "The People, united...." or other such chants at rallies or protest, on principle because of triteness and political impotency. The fundamental mediocrity of so much protesting almost hurts, and recycling halfhearted chanting makes that pain almost too much to bear. the Bulworth event sparked some interesting ideas -

What if the Left Media Bias Was True? - Any serious analysis of the news easily picks apart the claim of a left-leaning slant in reporting, but that doesn't mean that activists can't find useful tools in mass media. In the book Dream, Stephen Duncombe deconstructs a McDonalds commercial to discover arguments for shorter workdays, improved education systems and a clean environment - a 'bias' not evident in the ads funding or intent, but implicit in its appeal to the 'good' in people's lives. The amenability of corporations to greenwashing and other forms of consumer activism (organics, Whole Foods, other such shit) demonstrates the underlying aesthetic of consumption in the fulfillment of human desire - it is this aesthetic of dreaming that progressive politics must attach itself to.

Make sure your people are enjoying themselves - A basic philosophy of new age corporate management is to treat your employees like volunteers. This means respecting them as human beings, and creating a work environment that is its own reward, rather than a mere means to an end. In my experience, too many left organizations don't even treat their volunteers like volunteers. Folks show up to pay their moral debts, pontificate, or make very stern faces for news cameras. The desire to stop something usually incites this type of masochism. Making protests/actions/organizing interesting in and of themselves might improve the saliency of their appeals. Someone in the audience tonight put it thusly: "we must be beholden to the value of human interaction" a fancy way of saying "talk with people like its fun to talk to them, not because you necessarily want them to do something for you." This idea might also lead to the result of making every action organizations pursue an end in themselves - producing awareness or sparking new activism, even if their explicit demands aren't met.

Last, the role of mass media. The screenwriter Pisker said something interesting in the Q and A (which was remarkable all around - he was engaging and thorough with every question, and showed a real regard for everyone in the audience). He expressed concern about a proposed ending to the film, which would have Warren Beatty's character abandon politics to become a community organizer, as "too preachy." This caught my eye because commentators (on the right in particular) level the 'preachy-ness' complaint against most celebrities/Hollywood types that become politically active. The fact that Fox distributed Bulworth created no slight ambivalence for the screenwriter as well - in response to a question I asked, he said that 'if I wanted to devote my life to political change, I wouldn't be in this industry' - a comment that suggests difficulties for anyone trying to create a mass mediated revolution. From the perspective of a viewer, I'm not sure I agree with his dismissal. I think mass media entertainment products can create change within limited boundaries, while providing lessons to organizers who want to create more radical change. Here's the lesson I took: organizers should make entertaining a priority as high or higher than that of a carefully crafted message, so that the message becomes relevant, popular and accessible.

So, one of the niggly finishing touches that just hasn't hit the top of the list in the past decade has been my unfinished pantry shelving. I'm almost embarrassed to post this photo, but it's hard to appreciate the finished project without seeing the before:

Shudder. Now you've seen the reality that was my pantry, we'll move on to the inspiration. I've had the pantry re-do on my weekly list for several months, just kept moving it to next week...and next week...and next week (I love Outlook--makes it so easy to move things to next week!), until a month or so ago I really looked at the task and decided to take a little time and think about what I'd need to actually DO the job. Baskets! Cute ones! Because if I'm going to re-do the closet, I want it to look pretty for at least the first week. Here's what I found:

A stack of these wire grocer's baskets sat in my bedroom for several weeks more while I moved that job to next week...you get the drill...and then last week I finally decided it was time to get the job done. I hauled everything out, slapped several coats of white paint on every surface (I thought about doing some fun color, but decided it's a PANTRY, and I want bright and clean), had panic attacks every time I walked through the messy kitchen, and then finally, at long last, my closet looks like this:

Sigh. Much better. Now I'm going to take a nap.