Catching up again
On Saturday, I went to the rally on the National Mall and was reminded of why I don't often go to large rallies or marches. Yes, I was there, but no, I couldn't understand the speeches being relayed over the speakers. I sat up the night before, making signs. And I brought art supplies to enhance them as needed. It was loud and while I was glad that I was there to be counted as opposed to the current stupidity, I was also glad when we headed off to the National Museum of the American Indian for lunch, and had to leave our signs outside.
I enjoyed a number of the homemade signs, even as I thought some of them didn't precisely speak to what I was trying to say. Okay, I admit it: I've asked why my dad is being sent where the Bush twins aren't, but "Surge the Twins" doesn't send the message I want sent. I don't want anyone to be sent in a "surge", unless it's relief workers who will actually work *with* Iraqis to (*gasp!*) rebuild their country. I did like the one my husband pointed out, though: "Give Peace a Chance! Nothing Else Has Worked..." One that did speak my truth was "The 'Decider' does not speak for MY God." That one was from a church group from Kentucky, I think. And a little kid had a wonderful sign reading, "It's okay to be upset. It's not okay to be mean." Amen.
I didn't make a sign with one of the most apropos quotes from The Princess Bride, though I did think about it: "You've made one of the Classic Blunders! The most well-known is this: Never get involved in a land war in Asia!" The quote I did feature on a sign is from one of my favorite bits of Isaiah: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore." I know my signs got photographed a couple times, before the Smithsonian got them. (I really wish they'd made separate buckets for the handmade signs and the mass-printed ones. Some of those signs were real works of folk art that I'd love to see preserved.)
Although it was pretty neat to be there, it also had an aftermath. Yesterday, my muscles weren't cooperating, and the headache started. I've spent the last couple days pretty much recovering from the headache. Meh. I think I'll be aiming at smaller stuff for a long while.
As for the blanket, it is coming along well. Over in my links, there's one titled "Blanket Squares" that leads to the flickr page of photos of the squares. Wow. Over 40 now, and almost all of them edged, plus some joined together. And I found the square that had gone missing, yippee! (It had decided to hide among the balls of yarn.) I've been putting more together, and edging the ones I have. Wow.
I enjoyed a number of the homemade signs, even as I thought some of them didn't precisely speak to what I was trying to say. Okay, I admit it: I've asked why my dad is being sent where the Bush twins aren't, but "Surge the Twins" doesn't send the message I want sent. I don't want anyone to be sent in a "surge", unless it's relief workers who will actually work *with* Iraqis to (*gasp!*) rebuild their country. I did like the one my husband pointed out, though: "Give Peace a Chance! Nothing Else Has Worked..." One that did speak my truth was "The 'Decider' does not speak for MY God." That one was from a church group from Kentucky, I think. And a little kid had a wonderful sign reading, "It's okay to be upset. It's not okay to be mean." Amen.
I didn't make a sign with one of the most apropos quotes from The Princess Bride, though I did think about it: "You've made one of the Classic Blunders! The most well-known is this: Never get involved in a land war in Asia!" The quote I did feature on a sign is from one of my favorite bits of Isaiah: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore." I know my signs got photographed a couple times, before the Smithsonian got them. (I really wish they'd made separate buckets for the handmade signs and the mass-printed ones. Some of those signs were real works of folk art that I'd love to see preserved.)
Although it was pretty neat to be there, it also had an aftermath. Yesterday, my muscles weren't cooperating, and the headache started. I've spent the last couple days pretty much recovering from the headache. Meh. I think I'll be aiming at smaller stuff for a long while.
As for the blanket, it is coming along well. Over in my links, there's one titled "Blanket Squares" that leads to the flickr page of photos of the squares. Wow. Over 40 now, and almost all of them edged, plus some joined together. And I found the square that had gone missing, yippee! (It had decided to hide among the balls of yarn.) I've been putting more together, and edging the ones I have. Wow.
Labels: art, blanket, peace protest
posted by Plain Foolish | 7:56 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the update and your presence at the protest. I wish I could have been there myself. I watched a lot of it on C-Span.
My husband had been nervous as we set out, as had our friend. There was no room in me for nervousness, only regret that it was too cold out for me to use my metal crochet hook while I was there.
There was no need for anyone to have been nervous. Folks who saw my signs came over to thank me for speaking, or gave the thumbs up, or asked directions to the protest, or just went about their business. The counter-protest apparantly drew maybe 40 people all told, and they seemed to concentrate their ire on the celebrity speakers rather than speaking to the vast hordes of ordinary people who think that this war has damaged our country.
To everybody, I encouraged them to keep the pressure up by contacting Congress to express their opposition to this war.
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