27 December 2004 - After completing a vigorous fortnight of research and exams, Grant joined Suzanne (and her brother and his ex-boyfriend) for a road trip to Maine for Christmas with her family. Maine is a wintry place with hugh frozen lakes, blowing snow and lots of evergreen Christmas trees that actually grow freely in the forest - rather than in someone's living room. I'm writing this from Maine where it has been quite an experience to open gifts with eleven family members on Christmas Eve and six on Christmas Day. Yes, sitting by the tree with my family of three just doesn't compare to the uncontrollable energy and excitement of such a crowd. However, Christmas won't be missed in the South.
Suzanne and I will fly out from DC early Tuesday morning and join my family for a Christmas tofurkey (vegetarian turkey) dinner and opening the stockings and gifts as always. It will be another opportunity to sit on the front porch, reminisce about the past, anticipate the future and dwell on my place in time ....new years eve of course. Days of sunshine and warmth, cool comfortable nights� Fireworks! driving aimlessly on rural dark country roads in search of the worst instant coffee with deluxe irish cream! staying in the ghost house!� (that happens to be my parents!) and a visit to the north shore of the beach submerged in a cloudy, misty dusk. Suzanne and I will be in the Deep South Bible Belt heaven for New Years, which means listening to the shortwave signal of the U.S. Government NIST broadcast from Colorado of the atomic clock to mark midnight on the 1st on the top of a parking garage while illegal bottle rockets and streamers go off all around us in neighborhoods through out the city and echoes of cheering� revelers in City Market across town drown out the beep beep beep of the shortwave.
Yes, Suzanne will be along to mingle with my eccentric father, and I'll stay on another week to chill before I jump back into the lecture room seat for yet another year of university that starts 10 January.
Best Wishes to You for a Happy and Healthy New Year!
15 November 2004 - Returning from Florida the day after Election Day, and knowing that the Bush camp had succeeded in making the Sunshine State as Red as the Midwest, was a crummy experience altogether. Yet, the hours on the plane gave me time to adjust my thinking to another four years. We'll keep on fighting...I'll keep on communicating my values...my vision...even when it seems that no one is listening.
Yes, welcome to Bush II, or so "it" is now being referred to (a most uncreative reference for a dour time). Even as our justice system will get some much needed relief from the likes of Ashcroft, the resignation of Powell will mean that the remaining war horses will feel even less restrained. The political prospects for the next administration are scary enough if my prediction of a split Democratic party occurs, the war in Iraq continues and the Supreme Court is altered in favor of the radical right. But nothing would be scarier than the absence of dissent. Despite the devastating blow to the progressive political agenda, I don't plan to let go. In fact, as I finish up my undergraduate education, I'm planning to get more involved in politics in the coming year. Some of us still have faith. I hope we can all find some as easily as W seems to have convinced millions of Americans that he is intimately involved with the Almighty.
27 October 2004 - Grant's mom and dad visited Washington for five days to participate in Family Weekend activities sponsored by American University, and enjoy fine cuisine around the city. Restaurants visited were Heritage India in North Georgetown, Two Amy's in Cleveland Park and Breadline in Farragut West. Excellent eats! Suzanne and Grant played host to mom and dad, and arranged a visit to a fruit and vegetable orchard for pumpkin picking, and had the folks over for an autumn-themed meal of lasagna, cranberry and walnut salad, charcoal grilled portabella mushrooms and pumpkin whoopie pies for dessert. During Family Weekend at AU, Grant and his parents heard the astronaut and politician John Glenn speak, and participated in two bus tours.
Now that Grant's parents have returned to Savannah, he is preparing for a five day effort in Florida to get out the vote in historically low turnout areas of Tampa, and possibly monitor a polling station for intimidation or improper procedures. Grant will be working with members of All Souls Church, Unitarian who have organized a contingency of about 30 workers to travel to Tampa and work through Election Day. The All Souls group will be working with the Florida Consumer Action Network, a coalition of consumer advocacy, environmental and civil rights groups that is based in Florida and has worked extensively to identify first-time and unlikely voters in impoverished and/or minority neighborhoods. Although this effort will be non-partisan (not endorsing either presidential candidate), the All Souls team will be reaching out to potential voters who historically vote for Democrats. Whatever the outcome of the election, Grant will know that he was in Hillsborough County, Florida - one of several counties that was caught up in the 2000 election debacle - on Election Day 2004 when Bush or Kerry will get the next four years.
Voting Rights Campaign
16 October 2004 - Back in DCA and hitting the books again, but the last three weeks have been satisfying...the first Saturday in October I hopped on a courtesy bus to Lancaster, Pennsylvania as the sun was rising. I was going to visit people's homes in the centre of town and ask them if they're registered to vote and to please support John Kerry...or "the Kerry/Edwards team." I teamed up with a man from DC who contracts with the military on electronic database maintenance.� We visited about 60 homes, and spoke to lots of people in their doorways and on the street.
Last weekend, Suzanne and I went to Maine, and in Lewiston -- a small, economically struggling mill town -- I did the above all over again, but this time a lot of people had moved or weren't answering their doors. It was sad to hear the graceful hourly chimes fill the air from the cathedral at affluent Bates College, as I stepped into the entry to a three-story apartment building that reeked of cat piss, had plywood for floors that were littered and stained with years of dirt. There were a lot of those infamous "undecided voters" in both Lancaster and Lewiston. They liked Kerry and were ready for change, but they still didn't know if Kerry could keep us safe from terrorism...likely story...and so true according to the polls.
In Maine, Suzanne and I spent time with her large family. She has two siblings who live in Maine and have children. Suzanne's parents live on a refreshing, clear-water lake, lined with a mixture of seasonal and evergreen trees. The fall colors were near peak - in their bright reds and oranges - and the air was humid but cool. We visited some of Suzanne's favorite eateries - like Pat's Pizza for great CHEAP thin crust cheese pie, and Whipper's for an Italian...but this time served without the meat. Suzanne's folks took us to see Land's End - where the road just ends at the edge of the ocean, and a rural, unlicensed bakery that operates out of a leaning shed - complete with roosters running wild --� and bakes delicious breads and pastries. It's even unattended...you just walk into this little space warmed by the large oven, choose your bread and put your money in a cookie tin.
This coming Thursday 22 October, my dad and mom are flying up from Savannah for a four day visit. This has been a much anticipated multi-day visit, since the last two years ago. We'll be spending some time on the campus of American University for "family weekend" where the school tries to impress the parents with all the academica and the fact the school is just over the line from Maryland and can claim to be a "Washington, D.C." institution....highlighted by the "historical DC bus tour." All is well...Suzanne and I are planning to serve dinner to my folks at our place one night, and catch my folks up on all the things we've been up to over the months...all for now.
30 August 2004 - After two months of idleness and late nights, Grant faces a full-time semesters of rigorous coursework. However challenging the workload might be, Grant still expects that these studies will better reflect his career interests.
With ambitions to combat U.S. drug control policies in their present state, Grant hopes that courses dealing with issues of personal freedom versus the authoritarian state, the justice system and public policy, and the practice of psychiatry as a tool for social control will sharpen his understanding of the intricacies of an issue where people make personal decisions to buy and consume controlled substances provided by an elaborate, but illegal capitalist market that rivals most legal product markets.� Since the beginning of the 20th Century, the U.S. has largely employed law enforcement, criminal law and the criminal justice system to counter drug demand and supply. Grant believes that drug demand is best reduced through treatment, honest education, and decriminalization. Grant hopes to have a career in legislative research and advocacy for these policy reforms.
Previous semesters at American Univ and Armstrong State College offered more general studies in politics and the American legal tradition. Never before has Grant had the opportunity to sit in a course that deals specifically with questions relating to drug control.
Of course, Grant is also interested in Congress and the legislative process, so he will be taking a course on political and organizational leadership as well. In all, the courseload is:
Political and Organizational Leadership
Justice and Public Policy
Comparative Systems of Law and Justice
Critical Issues in Justice
Deprivation of Liberty
Additionally, Grant is looking forward to another church year at All Souls, with plans to sing in the Jubilee Choir. The American University campus also supports a small Unitarian Universalist group that has some promise of growing this year as well.
Grant participates in informal gathering to support marriage equality on the eve of Amendment vote
July 12, 2004 - The threat of a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to introduce discrimination into a document meant to preserve the freedoms and protections of Americans gave Grant something to think about during an otherwise uneventful summer in D.C.�
After encouraging Unitarian Universalist young adults in the Washington area to participate in the city Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade in June, Grant set a date and location for a gathering to support marriage equality for all people. The U.S. Constitutional Amendment -- that is backed by most GOP leaders and right-wing religious and secular groups -- was turned down by a procedural vote in the Senate before the actual amendment to define marriage as only a "union between a man and woman" would get a Senate vote. A similar bill to advance an amendment looms in the House and would still need approval from 38 U.S. State assemblies before it was added to the Constitution.
The gathering for Washington area UUs took place on July 12th during rush hour and a particularly steamy summer afternoon. Nonetheless, the casual demonstration drew about sixteen people from as far away as Laurel, Maryland.
Most participants brought signs demonstrating their support for marriage equality (or opposition to the amendment) as a UU. We had good visibility on the corner of two major intersections about 1 block from the U.S. Capitol and two blocks from the Senate Office Buildings.
For photos and video of the event (provided by participant Mark Cornick) click on the links below:
Photo gallery of marriage equality gathering - (from Mark C) July 12, 2004
Photos of Pride Parade - (from Mark C) June 2004
Demonstrators across from U.S. Capitol grounds
June 3, 2004 - In what was a surprise opportunity, Grant travelled to Rapid City, South Dakota for a five day canvassing effort to elect a Democratic U.S. House Representative to replace Bill Janklow - who was convicted of manslaughter.
Stephanie Herseth won in the June 1st special election by a narrow 2% margin over a Republican challenger who championed political experience in the state Senate. Stephanie grabbed about 2,000 more votes in the heavily GOP state. Swing votes from Native American reservations and independents helped to tip the balance for Herseth. South Dakota - with a statewide population of about 750,000 - has only one U.S. House Representative.
Grant canvassed neighborhoods for four days to GOTV (Get Out the Vote) for Herseth. With lists of registered voters who had expressed an interest to previous canvassers, Grant - along with five team mates - hit upwards of 750 homes per day, urging South Dakotans to exercise their right to vote, and support Herseth.
Grant received word of this opportunity from a friend who was familiar with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) efforts to restore a Democratic majority in Congress
Overall, about 300 volunteers from DC participated in the South Dakota canvassing effort - hitting over 80,000 homes statewide. Canvassing efforts included visits to upscale neighborhoods, mobile home parks, town centers, rural areas, retirement complexs and apartment buildings in Rapid City, Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead, Black Hawk and Spearfish, South Dakota.
Rep. Herseth - who was sworn in as a Member of Congress on June 3rd - will serve the remainder of Bill Janklow's term and be up for re-election in November for a regular two year term
More Information:
Herseth for Congress
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
Grant meets Rep. Herseth in DC
Grant participates in the March for Women's Lives and calls on men in opinion piece to let women make personal reproductive decisions
On April 25th, Grant joined more than 2,000 Unitarian Universalists - and over 800,000 marchers - for the March for Women's Lives. The demonstration aimed to protect a woman's right to reproductive freedoms - a neutral government and safe access to abortion and family planning, comprehensive sex education, equal access to health care for women and access to birth control.
Grant specifically participated in events at All Souls Church, Unitarian, which included a gathering, keynote address by Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun and a worship service and procession before the march.
On April 26th, the student-run independent newspaper of American University, the Eagle, published an opinion piece that Grant submitted, which calls on men to let women ultimately decide whether or not to exercise reproducive freedom. Moreover, Grant urged men to understand a link between a male-dominated society, male sexual aggression and the majority of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The opinion can be read here.
Unitarian Universalists (myself included) emerge from All Souls Church and proceed to the March for Women's Lives
I had already been steaming about the Bush Administration's policies - both foreign and domestic - when in the last two days, support for an amendment to add discrimination into the U.S. Constitution, and Greenspan's assertion that the record $500+ billion deficit established in the past four years under Bush now threatens Social Security benefit rollbacks in time for my mother (not to mention everyone younger who is paying in) to collect what she deserves.
The Bush scheme was to cut New Deal era programs, and he is succeeding through the deficits he is running up for the younger generations to deal with.
For these reasons, I am considering participation in a Get Out the Vote campaign this summer to educate citizens and/or monitor polls on Election Day. I would work in the East Coast corridor and preferably Georgia where votes count (and not D.C.). Other considerations for this summer include working full-time and spending some time in Savannah.
-2/25/04
I was one of the FEW who gave the pilot episode of the X-Files a chance to entertain me way back in September 1993. I was 13 at the time. Well, the show captured my attention and held it through seven seasons. But the seventh season of the X-Files seemed to be the stopping point for my interest, and I stopped watching it all together in early 2000.
When I heard that Mulder had "disappeared" and that agent Doggert had filled his place, I checked the show again sometime in 2001, but was deeply disappointed.
Time passed, the show's finale came and went in May 2002 (I can't remember if I watched it or not - I think I saw the finale of season eight, however).
Then, fast forward to the beginning of 2004. I am taking another look at X-Files, and particularly the ones I missed in the seventh through ninth seasons.
I'm starting with seventh season, disc one on DVD and moving on up, one disk at a time.
I can't help but stay up some weeknights to catch two back-to-back hours of X-Files on TNT. It's kind of bittersweet, however, as the cable station notorious for priding itself in showing reruns of hit network shows runs annoying ads in the lower portion of the screen during X-Files, and then chops it up with more ads than FOX ever did!
I miss the days when X-Files was fresh and current. However, they stand to be personal favorites for the remainder of my days.
-2/10/04