entroverted

Twins

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:57:19 -0800

Twins

Morning in the City

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:39:48 -0800

Morning in the City

The Possible Cool

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

The Possible Cool

Wrecked

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

Wrecked

"Anything that doesn’t take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing."

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

“Anything that doesn’t take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing.”

- Cormac McCarthy

via DF

Mos Def & DJ Honda, “Travelin’ Man”

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:05:17 -0800

Mos Def & DJ Honda, “Travelin’ Man”

Star bright

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:52:08 -0800

Star bright

Lights undercover

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:20:39 -0700

Lights undercover

Blue on blue

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:52:23 -0700

Blue on blue

"Justice is fairness tempered with empathy."

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:03:58 -0700

“Justice is fairness tempered with empathy.”

Squares

Sat, 30 May 2009 14:31:50 -0700

Squares

"Nickelodeon, and it’s mortal enemy The Disney Channel…"

Fri, 29 May 2009 09:52:48 -0700

“Nickelodeon, and it’s mortal enemy The Disney Channel…”

- An NPR story on how the classic sitcom is reemerging in children’s television

Slow down and be quiet

Wed, 27 May 2009 20:35:00 -0700

Slow down and be quiet:

It’s good for what ails ya.

Connecting

Tue, 26 May 2009 23:24:49 -0700

Connecting

"Love is as much a feeling, as it is an action."

Fri, 22 May 2009 15:01:51 -0700

“Love is as much a feeling, as it is an action.”

- PJ Goetz, StoryCorps 106

Clinging

Thu, 21 May 2009 08:21:20 -0700

Clinging

Spring’s Promise

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:12:16 -0700

Spring’s Promise

Describe any leadership, internship or work experience; personal and/or political beliefs; and/or...

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Describe any leadership, internship or work experience; personal and/or political beliefs; and/or campaign or political experience that demonstrates your commitment to progressive values.

Throughout college I had always leaned to the left. I thought poverty and war were bad. I had been an Eagle Scout and loved my time outdoors, so I was in favor of environmental protections. I graduated and got a job as a computer programmer. By 2005 though, I was pretty bored with programming, and was looking to earn more money, so I was looking at law school. But then two things happened.

The first was JustFaith. JustFaith “aspires to enable people of faith to develop a passion for justice, to express this passion in concrete acts of social ministry, and to expand the work of social ministry in their faith communities.” Over the course of nine months I had my eyes opened to what the Gospels I had professed to love all my life really meant.

The second thing that happened was the death of my youngest brother at age 20. Seeing how his death affected my family demonstrated to me how much suffering goes on in this world day after day, hour after hour. And seeing how our family and friends rallied around us demonstrated to me how powerful and necessary community is for any of us to get through this messy life.

These two events opened my eyes which had been blinded by a life of first world privilege and instilled in me the belief, as Anne Lamott puts it, that we have a moral obligation to save the world.

I no longer was going to law school because I was bored and wanted more money, but to learn skills vital to making a positive, lasting impact on my community. Law school saw me honing my legal skills at the public defender’s office. It saw me take my first steps in the world of lobbying and campaigning in favor of gay equality, and I got my toes wet as a community organizer working on issues of racial justice and reducing youth crime. Since graduating, I was able to spend time last fall working for the Obama campaign in my home state of Wisconsin, and have been working this spring to bring marriage equality back to California. In short, I want to spend my life seeking out and righting injustices so that everyone has a chance to live a life that allows them to flourish.

The happening part of town

Wed, 13 May 2009 15:46:17 -0700

The happening part of town

Tell us about an experience where you have seen racism, sexism or cultural/class frictions get in...

Tue, 12 May 2009 22:48:40 -0700

Tell us about an experience where you have seen racism, sexism or cultural/class frictions get in the way of an organizations work, and your thoughts on how that situation could have been improved or avoided.

Last summer I had just moved to Los Angeles and started volunteering at my local “No on 8” office to work to keep same-sex marriage legal. From the start though, I could see that something was wrong. The organizers all assumed that everyone who showed up to volunteer was super liberal and was there to “redefine” marriage, when many people there weren’t necessarily liberal, they just had a gay person in their life whom they love.

This pattern was repeated throughout the campaign. The No on 8 folks couldn’t seem to understand why their volunteers showed up, so they always seemed desperate for help. They couldn’t seem to understand what motivated undecided voters, so their ads didn’t connect. And instead of a landmark victory, the No on 8 folks went to a close, but crushing defeat.

Their problem wasn’t lack of passion, or money, or skills. It was a lack of empathy. On a campaign you have to understand why your friends are friendly, why your opposition opposes you, and what undecided voters are thinking. Empathy enables you to do all three. It cuts across race, gender, sexual orientation, and class to let you stand in another’s shoes. And once you understand someone, you can connect with them.