Monday, February 29, 2016

Happy Belated Anniversary of the Nisqually Earthquaker 2-28-2001

Resource: The disaster Resistant Communities website

Specific item: Spiritual Care
http://www.drc-group.com/project/jitt-spiritualcare.html

Okay, so it's Presbyterians. Got a problem with that? Take it up with God!

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Exciting Quaker United Nations Office--Geneva Opportunity. Apply NOW for Summer 2016

Every time RantWoman has encountered Quaker United Nations Office activities in either New York or Geneva, a really important part of the work has been creating space for people who have political barriers about talking to each other to actually talk to each other. RantWoman enthusiastically endorses this kind of activity and encourages anyone in the target age group in the announcement below who is interested in this kind of witness in the world and who wants to stretch themselves beyond their home community and beyond their country's borders to consider applying to this Summer School!

And if the "it's expensive but..." sounds daunting, RantWoman's experience is that way can open. One place to look is at http://questforadequacy.blogspot.com  RantWoman apologizes for not being able to point to the specific posts which list resources Friend Ashley has drawn on, besides her local Monthly Meeting or church and Yearly Meeting. RantWoman thinks there are other resources too and simply notes that probably Way Can Open.

Exciting opportunities for 20 - 26 year olds, but you need to act fast! You are invited to consider applying to the Quaker United Nations Summer School, July 3 - 15, 2016 in Geneva. Application packets available from www.quaker.org.uk/events/quaker-un-summer-school-2016 . Application deadline March 7, 2016.

Yes, it is expensive, but a fabulous opportunity.

More information about the Quaker United Nations program, go to www.quno.org .

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Happy 49th Birthday Kurt Cobain, with help from AyseDeniz Gokshin

It's possible RantWoman should just offer the following items and skip the rest of the threads weaving herself onto the path to this amazing composer's rendition of #KurCobain songs.

An article
Turkish Composer AyseDeniz Gokshin does Kurt Cobain for classical piano

One of the clips with options for download through iTunes.

Friday, February 19, 2016

The healing power of popcorn

RantWoman is a VERY Bad Friend. RantWoman's mind is full of Quaker events from her week but she is also sitting with preparations for the upcoming First Day.

February 2016 Adult Religious Education
Theme: DEEPENING OUR WORSHIP
Child care will be available for each of the sessions.
Feb 21st Ministry During Worship –

When moved to speak, where do the words come from? Are they from your preoccupations, or do they come from a deeper Spirit?

Do we give time between speakers to consider what was shared? We will share experiences we have when vocal ministry deepened the Spiritual character of our worship. 
Names of two presenters who, please forgive RantWoman and pray RantWoman is wrong, are good at offering their own testimony but do not leap to RantWoman's mind as good at drawing out others. God is going to have to take care of it?

In the meantime, RantWoman is feeling terribly contrarian and meditating about when rather than waiting with measured spaces in between, God has served up popcorn, buckets and buckets of popcorn, so much popcorn that really one should just add butter and salt,  or tamari,  garlic powder and nutritional yeast, or whatever is one's preferred popcorn condiment!

RantWoman has been reflecting on popcorn, Meeting for Worship and otherwise. Otherwise as in all sorts of popcorn kernels which just might burst if even a little steam is applied.

Popcorn kernels in the soul
Popcorn RantWoman intended to turn into
gooey sticky popcorn balls but
wound up just munching

Remember this post?

Popcorn Factory Minority Report

That post describes the worst popcorn Meeting for Worship RantWoman had ever attended, to that point.

The New World Champion Popcorn Worship NPYM 2014   Ai-yi-yi. RantWoman meant just to dip her toes in and find the description of the popcorn part and out clattered a bunch of stuff RantWoman would not have minded NOT revisiting just now.Ugh.

Speaking of Zebras...I do not care whether... thought at all

RantWoman is STILL feeling tender and exasperated in a couple directions. Still as in mental tape:

"...that could not possibly have been what that Friend meant."

1. Friend, RantWoman has been TRYING to come up with more care and tenderness about how to say it, but if you cannot see how RantWoman might have gotten there...maybe it's just a really good thing you have retired from a job that, RantWoman guesses, sometimes required you mentally to go places which were other than you yourself would describe them.

2. If you cannot see ... black and white in email.... RantWoman has NO desire to point out what IS going on in her (RantWoman's own) head.

3. Honestly RantWoman does not care what the Friend we are talking about thought. RantWoman does not care whether that Friend thought AT ALL. The point is how it landed for RantWoman.

Fast forward a long time. RantWoman articulates something in public ...and...someone HEARS RantWoman. Someone specifically hears the point stabbing most deeply into RantWoman's soul. Finally! Now RantWoman can also say "The Friend who wrote that is already on RantWoman's forgive in advance list and if that does not work, the Friend gets a GIANT astrology discount for being the same sign as RantMom.

Oh Wait, Giant Astrology Discount?

Yep.

Giant Astrology Discount? What's God got to do with that?

Ahhh, what does God require of ...  Is God even required...? May we please just  GO WITH THE ASTROLOGY DISCOUNT?

CISPES Part-time Fundraising position

RantWoman is posting this as a favor to a friend, without further commentary:


Hey friends!

CISPES (the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) ishiring part-time fundraisers in Seattle. This is a great opportunity to learn grassroots fundraising skills at a national organization fighting US military and economic intervention in El Salvador and throughout Central America.

For the complete job description and to apply now, here's the Craigslist ad:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/npo/5440542154.html. Please contact me at
jed@cispes.org with any questions. The job description is copied below.

Warmly,
Jed Walsh
West Coast Organizer, CISPES

Fundraising Collective Member - hourly (10-12 hrs/week)
Location: Seattle, WA
Start Date: March 7th, 2016
Application Due: Friday, February 19th, 2016
SALARY: This position is hourly (10-12 hours/week) with compensation of $14.37/hour

Put your fundraising skills to work with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) - a unique national organization dedicated to grassroots mobilization and cross-border solidarity!

This position is an exciting opportunity to:
* Support struggles for social and economic justice and against US imperialism in Latin America
* Develop your skills as part of a team of dedicated fundraisers
* Raise money to fund our movements!

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND:
Since 1980, CISPES has been working in solidarity with the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) and the Salvadoran social movement to promote an alternative to the oppressive US-backed policies of the Salvadoran right-wing.

Our current campaigns focus on:
1) Supporting the revolutionary social programs of El Salvador's first-ever leftist government.
2) Continuing to challenge multi-national corporations and U.S. governmental institutions that attempt to undermine this transformation.

Local CISPES committees across the country also play an active role in
coalitions to:
* Advance struggles for immigrant rights
* Accompany the leftward shift in Latin America
* Oppose US military intervention, including under the banner of the "War on Drugs"
* Build a broad-based movement to challenge corporate-driven globalization

Fundraising Collective Members will be part of the national fundraising team. FunK members are responsible for bringing in funds for the national organization as one of our primary grassroots fundraising programs. The main role of this position is to make calls to our grassroots phone list, update supporters on our campaign, and pitch them to increase their financial and political support of CISPES.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
* National Phone bank: Calling a portion of our list to update supporters and ask them to donate over the phone. The schedule is flexible but calling takes place on evenings during the week (weekend shifts are also available).
* National Collaboration: Regular coordination meetings with the FunK Coordinator and participation in monthly fundraising planning and strategy  meetings as part of the National Fundraising Team.
* Record-keeping: Maintain thorough records of fundraising phone calls, credit card donations and check pledges, send pledge reminders at the end of each call shift.

QUALIFICATIONS:
* Experience fundraising
* Comfort and confidence in asking individuals for donations over the phone
* Basic understanding of the political and social issues of Latin America,especially the US role in Central America militarily and economically, neoliberalism and labor issues in Latin America and the US
* Political beliefs that are compatible with the goals of the organization
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, particularly on the
phone and among a collective
* High level of organization
* High level of initiative and self-motivation; ability to work effectively with minimal supervision
* Willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends
* Strong conversational English
* Commitment for at least 6 months
PREFERRED:
* Fundraising experience with phone banking and/or canvassing
* Experience with grassroots organizing and/or solidarity work
* Administrative skills
* Knowledge of CISPES and the history and politics of El Salvador
* Bilingual English/Spanish speaker
CISPES is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. People of color, women, queer folks, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

TO APPLY: Please send a cover letter, resume and three references' contact information by email or by regular mail to: Jed Walsh, FunK Member Position, 606 Maynard Ave S, Suite 102, Seattle, WA 98104.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Strengthening Quakerism Discussion February 18

Kathy and Bob Runyan, the co-directors of the Ben Lomond Quaker Center will be in town in February before doing a workshop for Salmon Bay Friends Meeting, and want to meet other Quakers in the area.

South Seattle Friends have organized an after-dinner dessert potluck for Bob and Kathy on Thursday February 18 from 7 to 8:30pm at Jackson Place Cohousing (JPC)  , 800 Hiawatha Place S. The general plan is to have dessert, followed by Worship then a discussion about strengthening Quakerism.

Everyone is welcome.

We won't arrange childcare, but there is a playroom at JPC, and we can informally take turns with the kids if needed. Jackson Place Cohousing, 800 Hiawatha Pl S, is located on the SE  corner of Hiawatha Pl S and S Dearborn St. There is street parking available in the area. We have a small visitor parking lot off of Dearborn street (between Hiawatha and Davis) for use by limited mobility guests.

The entrance to the common spaces is on the third floor, accessible via the courtyard opposite the visitor parking lot. If you know you are attending, an RSVP would be great,(leave a comment and RantWoman will forward)  but you can come even if you don't RSVP.

RantWoman is clear in a call to offer additional non-car-centric directions.

Metro routes 7 and 9x stop at Rainier and Dearborn. Walk east from Rainier up the hill to the parking lot described above.

Metro Route 48 stops at 23rd Avenue S and Dearborn. Walk downhill  to the parking lot described above.


Friends who would like a walking or biking route less likely to cause even mountain goats vertigo might want to consider riding the 48 to Judkins and 23rd Avenue S, following Judkins W until it curves into S Norman and then Norman connects with Davis.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Help Fund a 'Cello-powered Folk Album

Is your valentine someone who would be impressed by a contribution to music in their name? RantWoman has just the ticket. Even if you don't have a valentine in whose name to contribute....

Full Disclosure:

1. RantWoman used to play the cello, not nearly as well as Anna which is one reason Anna should make the album instead of RantWoman.

2. RantWoman has no money to contribute but if an in-kind contribution invoice for some marketing consultation would help get things over the top, RantWoman is happy to write such for the email she has composed about tweaking various aspects of the fundraising communications.

3. RantWoman is all for performers making a living at their craft. RantWoman lifts up the daughter of two college housemates. Daughter is off to study next year at a conservatory where Financial Literacy for performers is built into the curriculum. RantDad really could have used this when the Righteous Rev. RantGranddad was all worried about RantDad's financial future.

4. RantWoman definitely encourages readers to contribute as you are able!

Hi friends!

On a High Hill is 38% funded with 100 backers! We're well on our way to making this new album a reality but I need your help for this steep part of the climb.

Once we reach 50% in pledges, many others will jump on board for the final avalanche, but if we don't get there this week we risk loosing all the pledges that have been made.

We have just 10 days left to make it the rest of the way, so I need your help now to make it happen!

In addition to copies of the new CD there are some pretty awesome rewards you can pledge for: vinyl records, an exclusive Anna Fritz song-book, your own custom cover song, a homemade pie, a care package of goodies from Portland artisans, hand-knitted hand warmers, even a private house show!

If you've already pledged your support, thank you so much! Please take a moment to share this project with your friends. They deserve cello-powered folk songs too!

I'm grateful for all your help. This is how independent music gets made!
with love,
Anna

P.S. The button below works now! Sorry, link gremlins. :-/
Take me to Anna's Kickstarter!
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Copyright © 2016 Anna Fritz, cellist / folksinger, All rights reserved.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Resources from Better Silence Better Ministry Call

RantWoman, eldering someone she specifically encouraged to participate but who did not:

Honestly worship and the community belong to all of us. I do not always know what that means for particular people at particular times, but maybe part of the point is to think
about that.

You too can enjoy the fruits of this Western Friend conference call  I really liked both the queries Mary created and the ways different people framed what happens or how they
interpret what happens in worship. Does anything rise for you from any
of this? Are there any ideas you might like to know more about?



 A dozen Friends from Pacific, North Pacific and Intermountain  met online yesterday evening for a deep conversation on:
Strengthening Vocal Ministry
for Meeting for Worship

We'll hold similar conversations on the second Wednesday of "every" month. (See more below.)

And remember:
You can join Western Friend online for real-time

Lunch-hour Meeting for Worship every Thursday.
  • 11:30 AM Pacific / 12:30 PM Mountain
  • 60 minutes
  • Arrive when you can. Depart when you must.
  • In the “Family Room” of
    Western Friend Connect
    (See description below.)

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Who Nominated Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace Prize?

Definitely a blog as filing cabinet item with numerous interesting looking links!

Chicago Crusader article about AFSC Nominating Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace Prize

Invitation for event TONIGHT specifically reposted for seekers not already on a mailing list


Join Western Friend in an online conversation this WEDNESDAY evening.

Strengthening Vocal Ministry
for Meeting for Worship

  • Wednesday, February 10
  • 6:30 PM Pacific / 7:30 PM Mountain
  • 90 minutes
  • Please arrive on time.
  • In the “Workshop Room” of
    Western Friend Connect
    (See description below.)
       In this conversation,
       we'll explore two broad questions:

  • How do we keep ourselves aware that “silence is not just the space between messages, but a deep and living communion with the ‘Spirit that gives life’”? (Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 2007)
  • How and when ought we ask certain Friends to use more restraint in sharing vocal ministry?
Follow this link to find a collection of quotations about expectant waiting worship and vocal ministry.


Also:
Join Western Friend for real-time, online
Lunch-hour Worship every Thursday.

  • 11:30 AM Pacific / 12:30 PM Mountain
  • 60 minutes
  • Arrive when you can. Depart when you must.
  • In the “Family Room” of
    Western Friend Connect
    (See description below.)

And:
Join Western Friend in sharing written worship messages any time in our new online Worship Forum.

  • To post written messages in the Worship Forum, you will need to log into the Western Friend website.
  • Please notice the "Log in / Register" link in the upper right corner of our web pages, which allows you to log in or to register for a new login account. It may take a few days for us to "activate" a new login account that you register for; we will notify you by email when we have done so.
  • Also, please note that we plan to install a more "user-friendly" interface in this forum within the next couple months.

Stay tuned for possible RantWoman annotations / elaborations...!

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

An obit RantWoman does not quite know how to handle

One of the peculiar gifts for RantWoman of Facebook has been contact with the present and past selves of people she went to high school with, in many cases people RantWoman completely did not connect with in school.

One gift of Facebook has been to see who went to kindergarten with each other and when other figures entered the picture. Sixth grade (RantWoman) definitely trumps say 11th grade English and orchestra (a friend of RantWoman's).

But another peculiar gift is obituaries. This one is sad but striking.

Cassie D Barnard Kautzmann obituary

Monday, February 8, 2016

Staying alive? The Zombie Apocalypse? Coded Correctly?

Any resemblance between the following item and either an actual Meeting for Worship, psychology terminology, or metaphors piled up around the psychic landscape on Planet RantWoman is purely accidental.


How vulnerable is your state?
Zombie Risk map


Seek God First?

And if the Zombie Apocalypse shows up, at least code it correctly?



Today, God or at least Facebook sent RantWoman an item launched on its internet journey by one of RantWoman's college housemates:

Can't wait to use this new ICD 10 code: V95.41XA: spacecraft crash injuring occupant, initial encounter . Can't find code for injuries due to zombie apocalypse however.

Comments

So sad and so true !!! What kind of people come up with these codes????

What would that be for a neurologist?? Emergency brain termination due to zombie contact?

Brain consumption by zombie, incomplete, initial encounter. Excludes non-zombie cannabalism and attacks by other undead creatures. Attack by undead creature, not otherwise specified.

For spaceship crash, they don't specify modifier for human vs alien. Will be critical to have this code if Bernie gets elected and we get Universal Coverage. Won't have to find extraterrestrial remittance address for the bill.


Umm, yeah, and RantWoman thought "sucked into jet engine, follow-up visit" was already too much.




Thursday, February 4, 2016

And yet God Makes Buffalo


A bison!

Oh look. God or at least Facebook sent RantWoman a buffalo, possibly the perfect avatar for a RantWoman does not know when to quit moment!

God also sent RantWoman 1,2,.. N signs that she needs to continue to be true to her Light about dragging people along on the RantWoman Blindness tourism journeys to exotic Planet RantWoman.

In the zone of RantWoman not knowing when to quit, it is not obvious to RantWoman that other readers will think they need the following riff on providing services people did not expect to ask for. That would be part of the point of the buffalo, large, unwieldy, and there whether asked for or not! And yet, God makes buffalo!

RantWoman had a wonderful conversation recently with someone who is color-blind. RantWoman LOVES color-blind techies because most of the ones RantWoman knows are VERY forthright about telling their employers they get free usability consulting whether the employers ask for it or not.

There are LOTS of ways to design webpages that color-blind people cannot read and fixing those issues also tends to increase other accessibility issues. As with all accessibility issues, not to mention language access issues, learning about transit ... there tends to be need for continuing revelation, ongoing, repeated mentoring and other themes RantWoman is called continually to speak about and to speak about whether or not the topics can cause others around her to break out in hives.

Example signs:
There are LOTS of ways to design documents and printed materials. Some of them are visually lovely and completely unreadable for screen reader users. For example, RantWoman received something from someone who admits she LOVES text boxes. This person is getting paid to do a number of things she does MUCH better than RantWoman. We will not discuss this person's job title; we will simply note that willingness to learn is a pretty important part, in rantWoman's view of what she is getting paid to demonstrate, and that job description means graciously receiving input from Volunteers, not continually shunting off the volunteer input.

Understand, these problems are not unique to Quakers. HOWEVER people who have recently attended Meeting for Business at RantWoman's Meeting MIGHT be called to meditate on a concern about what gets into people's job description and whether people who have repeatedly turned down volunteer input in the past over multiple episodes can be expected to receive volunteer input about  more than one big concern RantWoman considers important.

Hold that problem in the Light and enjoy hanging out with the buffalo!

 

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Online Meeting for worship daily 7:30-8:00 am Pacific Time

Hot tip from a bus stop conversation:

Check out daily online Meeting for Worship through Ben Lomond, 7:30-8:00 Paciific Time
http://www.quakercenter.org/meeting-for-worship/

RantWoman loves the idea of this occurring.

RantWoman finds the possibility of being centered enough at that hour to hold online worship intriguing; RantWoman wishes she were confident that level of centeredness is realistic.

RantWoman does not own a Braille device and takes it on faith untested that the chatroom would work with needed software, but RantWoman is finding herself intrigued by the thought of being able to touch people's names as they sign in.