Clare Consultation, LLCYear Three Begins: Change in Everyday America
Two years ago, today I was interviewing Kate and Georgiana, #s 002 and 003 on the EX:Change. They are both women in the middle of their careers. They are both artists and teachers. I was interviewing them about change, the word and the concept that had gained such notoriety in the 2008 presidential election. Kate said this: “It’s really my strength and my weakness, this penchant for change. I can get impatient… Read More
Procrastination and a Nation’s Hostility Habit: When a Congresswoman has Been Shot in the Head
It is shortly after 1:00 in the afternoon in the Starbucks on 28th and E. Burnside in Portland, Oregon. It’s Adam’s last day as a barista here. He’s off for a full-time gig in a fusion restaurant downtown. My friend Doug just walked by and came in for a chat. He’s a bartender who, for the first time in two decades, didn’t have to work New Year’s Eve. “Nothing more renewing than… Read More
Just Listen
Yesterday I came home, grabbed the blue nylon bag I use for light trips to the grocery store, and took off in search of … well … Rice Dream. Really – borderline hippie; soy, dairy and gluten free. It’s my latest answer to the love song of my sweetest tooth. To walk to the grocery store, I take the back steps and follow the sidewalk around to the front of the house. … Read More
Because I Knew You Then, I Can Listen to You Now
I spent the last week with a friend I had not seen since we were both 15 – a friend I met when we were 6 and in elementary school in Sweetwater, TX. By the time we were 12, serendipity of some wild Texas variety had turned circumstances so that we both showed up in Mrs. Southerland’s English class in Peterson Junior High School, Kerrville, TX. His family had moved to start Gibson’s, an early version of discount stores now dwarfed… Read More
Delta Park Powwow: Fathers’ Day for a Change
“It will always be important to have a community of people who support each other and work together for the struggle, I guess. Yes, for the struggle for all people.” Bruce McQuakay It took a bit of coaxing by the emcee, but today, 50 or so fathers made their way into the dance circle at the center of the Delta Park Powwow gathering for the honor song led by the Four Directions drum… Read More
Change: Who Cares?
So here we are, lots of us feeling somehow betrayed with many of the most vocal folks on both ends of the conservative/progressive spectrum heavy into tape loops of public diatribe. The change just isn’t right. It falls short. It isn’t giving the same feel we signed on for during the campaigns. The pressing issue here in the middle of the EX:Change project is finding the right words to answer a question… Read More
Voices in the Change: Health Care Reform
“The principle of taking care of our children is vital. I can’t accept that we wouldn’t want to take care of our own children. As a country, they are our children. They are our future. If we take care of them, we’re making our lives better.” Rudy Suwara San Diego, CA 03-21-2010 “And now the House is coming into session. Thanks for being with us.” CSPAN commentator “The long waiting is over. … Read More
American Connections
“It’s as old as humanity itself. Literature is filled with stories about the warriors who come face to face and discover that they’re actually destroying themselves.” Andy Walton This morning I had separate conversations with a sustainable energy professional, a poet, a Starbucks barista, a wildlife biologist and an ex-offender. All are Americans. All spoke of matters central to their lives. They were regular conversations, nothing special. The kind of chit chat… Read More
EX:Change 2.0
He could say, “We need change. We need change. I’m going to change this.” He can say all he wants, but actually without the people out here, nothing’s going to change. Art Garcia Jan 21, 2009 A year ago today headlines read: “Antarctica Is Warming,” “Relatives Say Peltier Beaten Following Prison Transfer,” “Israel Completes Gaza Withdrawal,” “Brazilian Midfielder Kaka Stays Put,” “Sen. Kennedy Hospitalized After Suffering Seizure.” Then there were… Read More