I'm occasionally frustrated by advocates for good causes who make a lot of noise but aren't effective. And there are others who choose apathy and feel powerless when seeing that. I offer below a quick course in effective political communication. This is not regarding elections and voting but in working with those we've elected. The point is to have an impact, to be effective, rather than simply complaining among the choir.

Three main points: - All Politics is Local (the representative or official cares about how it will effect their district)
- QUALITY of communication is important (be concise and focused)
- Build a long-term relationship (we're all humans here!)

The mindset here is to be strategic; to ask, "What will it take to get X to happen?" Then you plan backwards, thinking about the laws and regulations that might have to change, who you'll have to reach to make that happen, and what points of leverage you have. Obviously there are other powers in play, so I'm not saying you can win all the time . . . But there ARE some things you can achieve.   more »

I'm adding some of my favorite links I've discovered lately:

Pandora (from the Music Genome Project) - This is being written to the accompaniment of music streamed from Pandora. You give it an artist you like and it proceeds to set up an internet radio channel just for you serving you songs it thinks you'll like that are similar - not based on "genre" but on harder to quantify (but they have) elements like tempo and lyrical quality and emotion. It's now my favorite musical listening means except for live music.

Emerald Stream - I've sung with this group, covering the Vermont repertoire of shape note tunes, gospel, Balkan, Georgian and other worldwide traditional songs, led by Mary Cay Brass. This link gets a CD offering from CD baby that includes downloadable music that is worth hearing.

Business 2.0 - Smart, hip, technologically aware, interesting. To me.

Barbara Micheals - My friend Barbara is a smart thinker who uses art to elevate people and society. This is her new home page. Yes, you should hire her! She's good.

And here are some I'm especially excited about but I just don't have the categories for yet:

CouchSurfing.org - You share your home, your coach with travelers and stay with others when you go afield. What makes it cool and different is that it has social networking features so everybody has a profile and can leave recommendations (or not) for each other. So it becomes safer and more fun and more of a community.

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If you want to be well informed about railroading in New England, get Atlantic Northeast Rails & Ports.  There is nothing else like it.  You'll know the scoop before anybody else, and more accurately.
http://www.atlanticnortheast.com/

I took today to rest. In several ways . . . I'm having a fast. Which is not an easy thing, at least not for me. I'm pretty hungry right now, weak, and fairly well preoccupied with food. But my body was calling out for this fast and I thought it would be a good idea to give my systems a rest. Actually, this recent trip was fairly stressful on me, especially because I didn't sleep well. Along with working hard and travel anxiety and the general disruption of being in a new place. Mostly it was just work, this trip, but I learned things and had some good times. I'm also taking a day of silence with my fast. Fasting from the stress of connecting.

I believe in rest. The good book says God rested on the seventh day and we should do the same. It seems to be written into the design of nature, as fields benefit from rest as well. There is a time for work and a time for play (to quote the same source!). At Kripalu they say it is "integration," which is to say that there is stuff happening below the surface, necessary to complete the change you make with your outward effort.

As a culture we do not believe in rest. We value hard work and working late and we work more than most other countries. And our spirituality is more intense, more driven, as well. But a more intense and driven spirituality does not actually make you more spiritual (although it may make you more religious, and indeed we are a more religious country than many, at least when compared to Europe). I don't have the space or longing to do it as much as I could, but I practice sometimes several types of fasting, not just avoiding food. There is avoiding computers and computer screens. Avoiding people (perhaps silence), avoiding being scheduled, avoiding a particular issue for a day. I believe that laying fallow for a day gives one part of me a rest, lets changes happen under the surface and is therefore very beneficial.   more »