Well played, Chris Moore

Way to show up and take me to lunch. I’m enjoying this new-found sense of freedom you’ve got. It makes me think about when we first moved to DC and you were unemployed and totally at my beck and call. Ah, the good old days.

I especially enjoyed getting guilt for not going to your birthday party. As always, I came up with the perfect alibi: Uh, I had to go to my dad’s funeral. 

Seriously, if you think for a second that anything but that would have kept me from the rager that was your thirtieth, you’re crazy.

As Blur said, “It’s the end of a century.” Or, at least, the middle of one.

To friends. And Burke’s Dick. (And Dick Burke’s Dick, of course, without whom Burkie would not be even a shadow of the man he is today.) And, to the United Nations.

You were the first person to take care of me when I found out my dad had cancer. We drank margaritas at 2 pm and I was drunk by 4. We talked about death and suicide and life and it was the first time in a long time that I didn’t feel alone. Thank you for being my friend.

In appreciation of a good exhaust manifold

Is there anything hotter?

Also, here’s to ending the night with little kisses. Whatever this strange vibe is, it needs to be pushed in a more positive direction. I think you make me nervous. And I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I was going to write an impassioned defense of being defensive, but instead I’ll just say: You have the best exhaust manifold in Alexandria and I look forward to seeing it again.

Let’s play nice from here on out.

Stand for Security

So, I’m in San Francisco, working on SEIU’s Stand for Security campaign and loving (almost) every moment of it. Security officers in SF are negotiating their second contract … they’ve been working under an expired contract for almost 100 days. Security officers are under-paid, under-trained, and need access to affordable family health care. There are twice as many private security officers as police nationwide. Can you imagine how effective they’d be if trained properly and given fair wages?

This was all thrown into sharp relief yesterday, when two unarmed officers at a bank in Philadelphia were gunned down during a robbery. There are unarmed security officers all over, protecting banks and multi-billion dollar buildings … high-profile targets.

Yesterday, about 50 security officers, community supporters, clergy and SEIU organizers took part in a breathtaking act of civil disobedience. It is one of the most powerful things I’ve seen yet. We marched from 1 Front Street to the intersection of Montgomery and Pine, where organizers used their bodies to block traffic, standing with arms outstretched in the roadway. Others then took their places on folding chairs and sitting on the ground in a circle. It was an amazing visual. We had signs and banners and flags and chanted the whole time. There was drumming and yelling and Pastor Logan (from LA) gave an impassioned speech to those who had chosen to take part in the civil disobedience. Everyone walking by stopped and was taking pictures and joined in the chanting. 

We held the intersection for forty-five minutes. Police showed up, arrested 23 protestors and cleared the intersection. The rest of us marched back to 1 Front and held a small rally.

This really is such fulfilling work, I can hardly stand it. It gets hard and tiring and it’s lonely on the road, especially since the East Coast is three hours ahead and so by the time I’m finally getting back to the hotel, everyone is asleep. But watching the officers and the organizers and the community respond to these events is amazing. I sincerely recommend union work for anyone who wants to make a difference, be involved, and see (mostly) immediate results.

The people working here are phenomenal and we’re already so bonded and tight that it’s going to be hard to be back in DC without them. That’s why I’m signing on to go to LA for their contract ratification at the end of October – hell, yeah!

Tiki is going to be very upset with me.