Quaker Cellist / Folksinger from Portland, OR to GIve Concert at UFM
On Saturday October 11th at 7pm, UFM will host a performance in the Social Hall by Quaker cellist and folksinger, Anna Fritz.
On a tour of Friends Meetings in the Pacific Northwest, Anna will perform her original songs for cello and voice, touching on themes of gender, justice, spirit, and connection to the natural world. Her performances are intimate and vulnerable and invite audiences to be enlivened, connected, and singing!
Her performance will be preceded by a set of alt/country folk music by Friend Natasha White Marsh.
There will be a suggested donation of $8 - $20 with no one turned away.
Childcare and light refreshment will be provided.
Anna has played the cello and worshiped among Friends since she was a small child in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After decades of classical training and years of touring with rock bands, the 35-year-old Portland-based musician has embraced a leading as a cello-wielding folksinger. The Spirit-led nature of her songwriting and performance have found her work a natural home among Friends.
Although Anna continues to teach and to record with bands like The Decemberists and My Morning Jacket, the heart of her work is to follow the path of her musical ministry. She has performed for Friends at meetings in Oregon and California, including offerings at the Pacific Northwest Quaker Women's Theology Conference and the midwinter gathering of Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns. Her most recent recording is an album of original songs called The Gospel of Tree Bark.
To hear her music and for a full schedule of her upcoming performances, visit http://annafritz.com .
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
The last fuzzy-edged scribblings
RantWoman isn't your brain back from Annual Session YET?
Think of it as RantWoman cleaning some fuzzy-edged papers out of her purse / RantWoman bag
From before Annual Session:
"B-b-b-but he hasn't C-c-clerked anything before."
Turns out, knowing how to manage a room ful of first graders and help the crowd have a good time a bluegrass festival are GREAT preparation for clerking plenaries. And yes, that should summon thoughts of entering the Kingdom of Heaven as a child and RantWoman does not care at all whether that might be too much God / Bible for some people.
Showers:
RantWoman wrote about how awesome her shower was last year. RantWoman was in a different building this year but the shower in her shared suite was equally magnificent. RantWoman has a perfectly adequate shower at home but does not mind at all getting to appreciate the gap between adequate and fabulous once in awhile.
Family Affordability:
At RantWoman's Meeting, discussion of Family Affordability occurred at a Meeting for Business where few people had context to evaluate some of the issues. We gathered what data we could based on the questionnaire but there was a sense of some voices not present in the conversation. At Annual Session RantWoman spoke with Friends from other Meetings who had a similar concern. In retrospect, though RantWoman was happy to let the Family Affordability Committee mostly work without her, it might have been good to hold an interest group about it at Annual Session to see what ideas fed upon each other from people being in the same room together.
Accessibility
RantWoman has different accessibility issues than Endless Accessibility Advocate Friend. Endless Accessibility Advocate Friend, a wheelchair user, was not fond of the most recent Annual Session venue. Endless Accessibility Advocate Friend passed away a few months ago. RantWoman indulged in a few minutes wondering "why are we back here?" On top of that, this year there was construction. There was woe. There was irritation. And you know what:
1. After about the first day together, everyone decided to stop complaining and just celebrate being together.
2. RantWoman made some mental notes about things to pay more attention to next year.
3. Bridge City Friends captured the spirit brilliantly for Community Night.
http://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2014/08/hallelujah-as-rendered-by-bridge-city.html
One interesting Child-themed Datum:
RantWoman listend to the report by age group of people attending and people attending for the first time. A large percentage of Friends in younger age groups were attending for the first time. But only a couple of the 30 or so high school age, Junior Friends were attending for the first time.
Northwest Yearly Meeting
Many NPYM Friends attended NWYM Annual session or held in Light. So even though the Family Affordability Committee never made it onto a plenary agenda, RantWoman was glad for time to hear reports back that sexuality the issue Friends were dividing about is being held in care for 5 years without more planned discussion in that interval, and that sentiments among Friends are considerably more varied and supportive that are sometimes framed.
Minute to end the Authorization to Use Military Force:
RantWoman is really glad Annual Session was able to support FCNL and unite about this minute. RantWoman admits to wondering whether Friends will do anything more about this minute than nod quickly in passing in plenary.
Closing Worship:
RantWoman continues to reflect about the dance between the social good of marijuana legalization and the challenges of substance abuse. RantWoman thinks it would be just awesome and terrific if some of the revenue stream from legalization in WA were to be used to help fund more badly needed mental health services and spiritual care. Hold that thought in the Light.
Think of it as RantWoman cleaning some fuzzy-edged papers out of her purse / RantWoman bag
From before Annual Session:
"B-b-b-but he hasn't C-c-clerked anything before."
Turns out, knowing how to manage a room ful of first graders and help the crowd have a good time a bluegrass festival are GREAT preparation for clerking plenaries. And yes, that should summon thoughts of entering the Kingdom of Heaven as a child and RantWoman does not care at all whether that might be too much God / Bible for some people.
Showers:
RantWoman wrote about how awesome her shower was last year. RantWoman was in a different building this year but the shower in her shared suite was equally magnificent. RantWoman has a perfectly adequate shower at home but does not mind at all getting to appreciate the gap between adequate and fabulous once in awhile.
Family Affordability:
At RantWoman's Meeting, discussion of Family Affordability occurred at a Meeting for Business where few people had context to evaluate some of the issues. We gathered what data we could based on the questionnaire but there was a sense of some voices not present in the conversation. At Annual Session RantWoman spoke with Friends from other Meetings who had a similar concern. In retrospect, though RantWoman was happy to let the Family Affordability Committee mostly work without her, it might have been good to hold an interest group about it at Annual Session to see what ideas fed upon each other from people being in the same room together.
Accessibility
RantWoman has different accessibility issues than Endless Accessibility Advocate Friend. Endless Accessibility Advocate Friend, a wheelchair user, was not fond of the most recent Annual Session venue. Endless Accessibility Advocate Friend passed away a few months ago. RantWoman indulged in a few minutes wondering "why are we back here?" On top of that, this year there was construction. There was woe. There was irritation. And you know what:
1. After about the first day together, everyone decided to stop complaining and just celebrate being together.
2. RantWoman made some mental notes about things to pay more attention to next year.
3. Bridge City Friends captured the spirit brilliantly for Community Night.
http://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2014/08/hallelujah-as-rendered-by-bridge-city.html
One interesting Child-themed Datum:
RantWoman listend to the report by age group of people attending and people attending for the first time. A large percentage of Friends in younger age groups were attending for the first time. But only a couple of the 30 or so high school age, Junior Friends were attending for the first time.
Northwest Yearly Meeting
Many NPYM Friends attended NWYM Annual session or held in Light. So even though the Family Affordability Committee never made it onto a plenary agenda, RantWoman was glad for time to hear reports back that sexuality the issue Friends were dividing about is being held in care for 5 years without more planned discussion in that interval, and that sentiments among Friends are considerably more varied and supportive that are sometimes framed.
Minute to end the Authorization to Use Military Force:
RantWoman is really glad Annual Session was able to support FCNL and unite about this minute. RantWoman admits to wondering whether Friends will do anything more about this minute than nod quickly in passing in plenary.
Closing Worship:
RantWoman continues to reflect about the dance between the social good of marijuana legalization and the challenges of substance abuse. RantWoman thinks it would be just awesome and terrific if some of the revenue stream from legalization in WA were to be used to help fund more badly needed mental health services and spiritual care. Hold that thought in the Light.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Word Nerd Light Walking
Un chiste andaluz, a joke from Andalucia which came to RantWoman while RantWoman was on the last walking leg of her weekly trip to Meeting.
Word nerd digression: Andalucia is a region in Spain. The adjectival form above translates Light walks. RantWoman simply wishes to note that and will TRY to resist the temptation to further Word Nerd delving. RantWoman will try.
RantWoman has told this joke in 3 languages in several different countries. A LARGE percentage of the time, the verdict is "Don't quit your day job." Hold that problem in the Light. RantWoman posts here in faith that if the joke also needs to appear in person, people who have read it will be able to bear with repetition. Also hold in the Light that both parties in the joke below agree that the fly is there.
Two guys are walking along a road.
One of them says to the other "Look. See that very tall tower way off in the distance. There is a fly walking on the windowsill."
The second guy responds: "I cannot see the fly in spite of these thick glasses I am wearing, but I am sure it's there because I can hear its footsteps."
This joke makes both RantWoman and Ferrener Husband laugh and laugh. If why and further digressions are needed, the topic of "passing" will come up. As will learner's permits and learnign to drive.
It's possible that RantWoman should just leave the joke as is, like a spiritual smoke ring hovering here.
RantWoman famously does not know when to quit and will tread cautiously forward.
Recent dialogue
"RantWoman, you talked to much"
(elaboration on concern; RantWoman chose to hear as "We need your cooperation")
"So I have been told"
("Okay, let's cooperate.")
How about you, group leader, articulate some norms like people waiting to be called on and leaving space between offerings?
See RantWoman is sometimes a jumper-inner.
RantWoman usually is not the only such sinner in the room. In this case, the norms were articulated. The discussion moved forward. That is, the first time a query was posed to the room, about three people jumped in without waiting to be called on. Can anyone guess the gender of the three people?
RantWoman managed enough demure to put her hand up and wait to be called on before suggesting that "You and you and you" need to wait to be called on.
Many things went MUCH better, including elements of presentation that invited people to speak to experiences and generated different experiences to start from. Now RantWoman would like to hear the verdict of others in the room.
Another word nerd visitation to Planet RantWoman: besides all the entanglements of the word "Oversight" around Quakerdom, among those who shepard meaning back and forth between English and Russian, "Oversight" exists in a meaning cloud with administration, supervision, and several words. The words and meanings clump differently in the two languages and the meaning shepards can dither for hours about which word is right for a given context.
Okay, RantWoman tries not to overdo this. In fact, the midlife vision meltdown rather severely impedes RantWoman's capacity to obsess in this way. Unfortunately the midlife vision meltdown does not always impede RantWoman's desire to investigate and fuss.
Recently RantWoman was in a conversation explaining her one unresolved monumentally fixated issue remaining from Meeting's effort to rename the Oops Well Committee: Research was done. The names this committee is called in several places were listed. WHY OH WHY was Rantwoman not happy?
RantWoman asked Not Nearly As Much of a Word Nerd Friend in Business Meeting for what she hoped might be a tiny bit more commentary about whether Oversight comes with the same baggages as Overseers. Somehow the question got lost, lost from notes, lost from minutes, disappeared entirely from subsequent presentations.
RantWoman heard all three other people in the recent conversation go "Ohhhhh."
Not Nearly as Much of a Word Nerd Friend was also busy, busy, busy keeping many hats on her head, tending to important family medical matters. Clearly this Word nerd momement, this moment fantastically important to RantWoman, this point RantWoman had VERY little capacity to research on her own, this very point just went winging right by Not Nearly As Much of a Word Nerd Friend
Now, months later, what might help RantWoman just "Get over it" or at least move on to the next opportunity to be true to Light / er , get monumentally stuck over something?
Spoken ministry.
Spoken ministry from someone who kept wondering why it was important enough that the topic came back and came back and kept coming back to Business Meeting. Spoken ministry about how the coming back and coming back and coming back made someone think a LOT about privilege.
Can you still hear the giant long "ohhhhhhhh...." from RantWoman? There would also be some mumblings of gratitude to whichever Friend(s) helped tend the conversations about privilege.
Hold this all in the Light.
Word nerd digression: Andalucia is a region in Spain. The adjectival form above translates Light walks. RantWoman simply wishes to note that and will TRY to resist the temptation to further Word Nerd delving. RantWoman will try.
RantWoman has told this joke in 3 languages in several different countries. A LARGE percentage of the time, the verdict is "Don't quit your day job." Hold that problem in the Light. RantWoman posts here in faith that if the joke also needs to appear in person, people who have read it will be able to bear with repetition. Also hold in the Light that both parties in the joke below agree that the fly is there.
Two guys are walking along a road.
One of them says to the other "Look. See that very tall tower way off in the distance. There is a fly walking on the windowsill."
The second guy responds: "I cannot see the fly in spite of these thick glasses I am wearing, but I am sure it's there because I can hear its footsteps."
This joke makes both RantWoman and Ferrener Husband laugh and laugh. If why and further digressions are needed, the topic of "passing" will come up. As will learner's permits and learnign to drive.
It's possible that RantWoman should just leave the joke as is, like a spiritual smoke ring hovering here.
RantWoman famously does not know when to quit and will tread cautiously forward.
Recent dialogue
"RantWoman, you talked to much"
(elaboration on concern; RantWoman chose to hear as "We need your cooperation")
"So I have been told"
("Okay, let's cooperate.")
How about you, group leader, articulate some norms like people waiting to be called on and leaving space between offerings?
See RantWoman is sometimes a jumper-inner.
RantWoman usually is not the only such sinner in the room. In this case, the norms were articulated. The discussion moved forward. That is, the first time a query was posed to the room, about three people jumped in without waiting to be called on. Can anyone guess the gender of the three people?
RantWoman managed enough demure to put her hand up and wait to be called on before suggesting that "You and you and you" need to wait to be called on.
Many things went MUCH better, including elements of presentation that invited people to speak to experiences and generated different experiences to start from. Now RantWoman would like to hear the verdict of others in the room.
Another word nerd visitation to Planet RantWoman: besides all the entanglements of the word "Oversight" around Quakerdom, among those who shepard meaning back and forth between English and Russian, "Oversight" exists in a meaning cloud with administration, supervision, and several words. The words and meanings clump differently in the two languages and the meaning shepards can dither for hours about which word is right for a given context.
Okay, RantWoman tries not to overdo this. In fact, the midlife vision meltdown rather severely impedes RantWoman's capacity to obsess in this way. Unfortunately the midlife vision meltdown does not always impede RantWoman's desire to investigate and fuss.
Recently RantWoman was in a conversation explaining her one unresolved monumentally fixated issue remaining from Meeting's effort to rename the Oops Well Committee: Research was done. The names this committee is called in several places were listed. WHY OH WHY was Rantwoman not happy?
RantWoman asked Not Nearly As Much of a Word Nerd Friend in Business Meeting for what she hoped might be a tiny bit more commentary about whether Oversight comes with the same baggages as Overseers. Somehow the question got lost, lost from notes, lost from minutes, disappeared entirely from subsequent presentations.
RantWoman heard all three other people in the recent conversation go "Ohhhhh."
Not Nearly as Much of a Word Nerd Friend was also busy, busy, busy keeping many hats on her head, tending to important family medical matters. Clearly this Word nerd momement, this moment fantastically important to RantWoman, this point RantWoman had VERY little capacity to research on her own, this very point just went winging right by Not Nearly As Much of a Word Nerd Friend
Now, months later, what might help RantWoman just "Get over it" or at least move on to the next opportunity to be true to Light / er , get monumentally stuck over something?
Spoken ministry.
Spoken ministry from someone who kept wondering why it was important enough that the topic came back and came back and kept coming back to Business Meeting. Spoken ministry about how the coming back and coming back and coming back made someone think a LOT about privilege.
Can you still hear the giant long "ohhhhhhhh...." from RantWoman? There would also be some mumblings of gratitude to whichever Friend(s) helped tend the conversations about privilege.
Hold this all in the Light.
Monday, September 15, 2014
No New Youth Jail in Seattle: Hearing September 18
Campaign against the construction of a new youth jail:
The Planning, Land Use and Sustainability Committee of the Seattle City Council is holding a hearing to decide whether or not to grant the permits that are needed to build the new youth jail. Up until now, the "community input" that King County has gathered has been from an all White group of neighbors. The current design reflects the cosmetic needs of this group and ignores the voices of those who will be most deeply impacted. Tell the City Council to listen to community and VOTE NO on all youth jail permits.
We are rapidly approaching a critical opportunity for community members to
raise our concerns publicly about the new youth jail. Youth Undoing
Institutional Racism, End the Prison Industrial Complex & European Dissent
need YOU to speak out in front of the Seattle City Council THIS WEEK.
PUBLIC HEARING
Thursday, September 18th 2:00 - 3:00pm
600 Fourth Ave. Seattle, WA 98104
City Hall Council Chambers
600 Fourth Ave. Seattle, WA 98104
City Hall Council Chambers
The Planning, Land Use and Sustainability Committee of the Seattle City Council is holding a hearing to decide whether or not to grant the permits that are needed to build the new youth jail. Up until now, the "community input" that King County has gathered has been from an all White group of neighbors. The current design reflects the cosmetic needs of this group and ignores the voices of those who will be most deeply impacted. Tell the City Council to listen to community and VOTE NO on all youth jail permits.
What can you do?
- Attend the hearing on Thursday, September 18 from 2:00 - 3:00pm at City Hall
and share a 1-2 minute testimony about why you oppose the building permits being
issued.
- If you cannot attend, write a brief statement about why you oppose the
building of the new youth jail.
- Help us with outreach and forward this email widely (flyer attached).
Talking points:
Incarceration harms young people. There are many
alternatives to incarceration that have been utilized in other places such as
Multnomah County. We should be working towards a future in which
caging our children is not necessary rather than continuing to pour money into a
broken system.
We need community accountability. Community
accountability has been completely lacking during the process of deciding to
build and design the new youth jail. Those who are most affected by the juvenile
justice system have a critical perspective that has been silenced.
An anti-racist approach is needed. 8% of young people
in King County are Black. The current youth jail is 42% Black. The
disproportionality of our current youth jail is the result of systemic racism.
The King County jail will continue to incarcerate youth of color at higher rates
unless we fundamentally change the system.
Questions? Contact James Williams at Jamesatdu@hotmail.com (253) 883-9548
Saturday, September 13, 2014
A Sign?
Free Will Astrology for the Week of September 10
CANCER (June 21–July 22): If you surrender to the passive part of your personality, you will be whipped around by mood swings in the coming days. You will hem and haw, snivel and procrastinate, communicate ineptly, and be confused about what you really feel. If, on the other hand, you animate the proactive side of your personality, you are likely to correct sloppy arrangements that have kept you off-balance. You will heal rifts and come up with bright ideas about how to get the help you need. It's also quite possible you will strike a blow for justice and equality, and finally get the fair share you were cheated out of in the past.
Hmmmm. RantWoman can either invoke the long departed memory of Friend who made Xylophones and give herself a lecture about the silliness of astrology OR RantWoman can grab whatever initiative she can get. Hmmm.
Meanwhile RantWoman is thinking about Friend Who Made Zylophones. He was a Co-worker of a long departed Blind Friend from RantWoman's meeting. He had a wife and daughter, but he was always particularly attentive to Blind Friend's needs around Meeting. RantWoman will hold this memory in the Light.
RantWoman will also discern about what initiatives to grab. In other words, RantWoman is a difficult student.
CANCER (June 21–July 22): If you surrender to the passive part of your personality, you will be whipped around by mood swings in the coming days. You will hem and haw, snivel and procrastinate, communicate ineptly, and be confused about what you really feel. If, on the other hand, you animate the proactive side of your personality, you are likely to correct sloppy arrangements that have kept you off-balance. You will heal rifts and come up with bright ideas about how to get the help you need. It's also quite possible you will strike a blow for justice and equality, and finally get the fair share you were cheated out of in the past.
Hmmmm. RantWoman can either invoke the long departed memory of Friend who made Xylophones and give herself a lecture about the silliness of astrology OR RantWoman can grab whatever initiative she can get. Hmmm.
Meanwhile RantWoman is thinking about Friend Who Made Zylophones. He was a Co-worker of a long departed Blind Friend from RantWoman's meeting. He had a wife and daughter, but he was always particularly attentive to Blind Friend's needs around Meeting. RantWoman will hold this memory in the Light.
RantWoman will also discern about what initiatives to grab. In other words, RantWoman is a difficult student.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Pronoun NUMBER
RantWoman is still getting used to someone she knows having a new pronoun gender preference. RantWoman is doing okay about pronouns and is nowhere near being smooth about nouns.
RantWoman is still getting used to the pronoun gender preference and now RantWoman gets more publicly to bend her brain around someone's pronoun NUMBER preference.
Amazing Artist Friend is coming to town.
Amazing Artist Friend is on her way to:
The 2014 Trauma and Dissociation Conference.
http://igdid.org/
Amazing Artist Friend frequently refers to herself / selves as "we" and "us." RantWoman is clear: being friends with Amazing Artist Friend means being friends with all of who are she. Amazing Artist Friend says RantWoman has met some of these. RantWoman has not been able to tell and is, to say the least,, curious.
RantWoman is glad to have an air mattress and to live near the Light Rail. Stay tuned.
RantWoman is still getting used to the pronoun gender preference and now RantWoman gets more publicly to bend her brain around someone's pronoun NUMBER preference.
Amazing Artist Friend is coming to town.
Amazing Artist Friend is on her way to:
The 2014 Trauma and Dissociation Conference.
http://igdid.org/
Amazing Artist Friend frequently refers to herself / selves as "we" and "us." RantWoman is clear: being friends with Amazing Artist Friend means being friends with all of who are she. Amazing Artist Friend says RantWoman has met some of these. RantWoman has not been able to tell and is, to say the least,, curious.
RantWoman is glad to have an air mattress and to live near the Light Rail. Stay tuned.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Shameless Book Plug: Warm cup of wisdom. Dori Jones Yang
Full disclosure: RantWoman learned of this bookthrough her college alumni network. RantWOman has something else more pressing on her mind from the college alumni network and may or may not make it to the in-person author event in a couple weeks. But a fast skim of the website and the eBook options land this book smack on RantWoman's mean-to-read list; RantWoman would be thrilled if the promo inspires some else to read the book and share whatever makes the biggest impression.
http://www.booksbydori.com/index.php/books/warm-cup-of-wisdom
- Inspirational Insights on Relationships & Life
Imagine you could have a cup of tea with some of the wisest people you know. They are a lot like you, except a generation older. You can ask them tough questions to help prepare for what comes next in your life.
For Warm Cup of Wisdom, Dori Jones Yang interviewed nine women she admires and asked them to share their wisdom about issues we all think about: joy, anger, loss, forgiveness, hope and peace. With humility, honesty, and humor, these wise women opened their hearts to her with warm advice and touching stories. She also asked life questions about finding your calling, midlife transitions, aging, and making a difference, as well as relationship questions about raising teenagers, relating to adult children, making marriage last, and dealing with difficult people. Their answers, she found, were both insightful and inspiring.
This book may inspire you to start your own "wisdom project"!
Warm Cup of Wisdom is now available in paperback and kindle, through Dori's store. Yes, this is Amazon. They give some publishers a hard time, but they are wonderfully supportive of authors. If any of you want to support Dori and indie publishing, please post a review on Amazon (if you like this book!) If you prefer, you can order a NOOK version and review it there. It's also available in other e-book formats through Smashwords. (Click here.)
For Author's comments, check out Dori's Wisdom blog.
To see what questions Dori asked, click here.
http://www.booksbydori.com/index.php/books/warm-cup-of-wisdom
Warm Cup of Wisdom
Imagine you could have a cup of tea with some of the wisest people you know. They are a lot like you, except a generation older. You can ask them tough questions to help prepare for what comes next in your life.
For Warm Cup of Wisdom, Dori Jones Yang interviewed nine women she admires and asked them to share their wisdom about issues we all think about: joy, anger, loss, forgiveness, hope and peace. With humility, honesty, and humor, these wise women opened their hearts to her with warm advice and touching stories. She also asked life questions about finding your calling, midlife transitions, aging, and making a difference, as well as relationship questions about raising teenagers, relating to adult children, making marriage last, and dealing with difficult people. Their answers, she found, were both insightful and inspiring.
This book may inspire you to start your own "wisdom project"!
Warm Cup of Wisdom is now available in paperback and kindle, through Dori's store. Yes, this is Amazon. They give some publishers a hard time, but they are wonderfully supportive of authors. If any of you want to support Dori and indie publishing, please post a review on Amazon (if you like this book!) If you prefer, you can order a NOOK version and review it there. It's also available in other e-book formats through Smashwords. (Click here.)
For Author's comments, check out Dori's Wisdom blog.
To see what questions Dori asked, click here.
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