so much to say, so little motivation to say it...i've been doing a lot of living lately, and my focus is elsewhere as i try to sort through all my obligations: little things, big things, little parts of big things, little things with big impact and vice versa. NOLA pictures are up on flickr, though they give no indication of the amazing people i met down there. hardworking, earnest, generous people who are trying to move forward from almost incomprehensible upheaval and turmoil, and with very little assistance from anyone. i have to write something for the school about the work i did; maybe i'll copy that here whenever that gets done.
the anti-war march today ended up being inspiring. i went down with people from my school, who were serving as legal observers for the nlg. i spaced on the training for that, so i just went down to march and help them out. the pre-march rally mostly annoyed me, frankly. it was primarily populated by career protesters, shrill and irrelevant ists (social-, neo-lenin-, etc., whatevs), apple-cheeked 19 year-olds shouting about the people's revolution, nutjobs in costumes. notable exception: the kid from iraq veterans against the war. jesus christ. and kathy kelly, who changed the name of her group now that the violence in iraq is more than economic. she brought up the plight of the many refugees of the war, which i'm ashamed to admit i haven't considered very much either.
the actual march, however, was a different story. and the fact that it was actually, finally on michigan again (no small victory, symbolic or otherwise, after the giant civil rights violation that was 4 years ago), made it feel like some sort of impact may have been made, for once. ugg-booted mothers and daughters, art-damaged college kids, church folks, old-timers and everyone in between (people of color, even! i sound snarky, and yes, that is a commentary on the (often-understandable) (non)appeal of liberal activism to minorities, but also on the super-scary presence of the chicago p.d., to be explained shortly) all marching down FUCKING MICHIGAN AVENUE at dinnertime. to a man, every cab driver honked in support. and you know, the cops were alright, as i have mostly found to be the case at these things. they joked with us, and each other, we joked with them and ourselves. they're on overtime, they're doing what they have to do. but the riot cops, of which there had to be two or three hundred, were just plain unnerving. not their conduct, which was totally hands-off, but the sheer presence, for blocks and blocks. the masks obscuring their faces, the big wooden canes. you don't see that in new york, even. i can't think of any recent march i've attended or been in the vicinity of that wasn't the same way (last year this time, the immigration rally)--or rather, any march since 4 years ago. it's an obvious message. daley doesn't like surprises. period. i'm glad i went. it's sick that this war has gone on so long that i can compare and contrast ANNUAL marches. it's sick that it ever began. i finally read the seymour hersh article from three new yorkers ago and it made me fired up. and sad. and really, really confused.
on another note, and apropos of nothing, ted leo and i have the same favorite stereolab song! i only listen to that album maybe once a year, if that, but i have that song in my head at least once a week. probably because something in my life feels out of control at least once a week. soothing and fortifying. in the context of the album as a whole, i guess it sounds like pop neo-marxism, but independent of that, the lyric is just, like, the best advice ever.
related to that: i was so busy crushing on andrew bird that i forgot dude's album came out today too! it was a pleasant surprise.
ok, i'm going to go try and fight the good fight against stress-induced insomnia now. laters.
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heh....i liked this entry. in portland, any time there was something close to a protest the cops all donned their riot gear - you could tell they loved it. and they also loved to use pepper spray. it was quite lame, seeing as it's portland, an over-grown college town! but there you go. at any rate, seeing a bunch of faceless people like that is very unnerving, i agree.
remind me to tell you a funny andrew bird story on wednesday!
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