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I'm playing at Adam's with Sam
December 26, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 I'm playing at Adam's with Sam. We're making up a pirate song which goes a little like this: It's hard to be a pirate, you never get to play/ you're always working on the ship all day/ and when you get some booty, you spend it all on grog/ when you wake up in the morning, they call you scurvy dog/ it's hard to be a pirate, a-slaving on the seas/ always working on the deck a-swabbing on your knees. I'm having a great time, obviously.
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I'm also trying to arrange for some high scho...
December 14, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I'm also trying to arrange for some high school friend time this break. This is the crazy run-down of what my old pals are doing:
Conor Reidy is getting his JD from UVA.
Kyle Lamb renounced consulting, moved home and is taking pre-med classes at the U.
Meghan McMorrow is also back in the Lane County working with Pier One.
Sarah Wheeler is still selling the best vegan lube in the nation.
Alan Bergland is getting a doctorate at Brown studying mosquitos.
Morgan Munro is dating a very special South Eugene High School alum who saved me from failing pre-calc my junior year.
Katie Freund is using all her debate team skills with Earthjustice in DC.
Sara Spettel has yet another dog and is still happily married to a pastry chef (and who wouldn't be?).
Marshall Clement is living it up in Brooklyn and doing justice reinvestment.
Jenny Minnity Shippey's name still has that musical internal rhyme, which she is using to her advantage getting a masters in creative writing.
Jim Bergland is engaged to be married.
Luke fired himself and took a trip to Baja Mexico.
Ashley Harris-D is researching allergies and asthma in children at National Jewish Medical and Research center in Denver, CO.
And I thought my life was exciting!
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Anna and I are getting ready to go on our res...
December 13, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna and I are getting ready to go on our respective holidays, madly brainstorming the re-use of those last crusty Thanksgiving leftovers. Work is slowing down, and I'm spending my waning days at work looking over grant funding for a community project that a few community members and I are dreaming up. Nothing special, but a nice change of pace.
I also finished making my secret snow monster gifts for my secret people. As a childless aunt, I have more freedom to take that "personal touch" to whatever creative place I want to without robbing a child of their dream Moon Boots or Ultimate Princess Pack. That's what parents are for.
And as for Emma's urge to say thanks, I too have been satisfying a similar urge at home. Anna lets me hold hands with her and wish all the migrant workers who picked our vegetables the best of luck. I think it makes us more mindful eaters.
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In response to Seraph, a funny little thing I...
December 12, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
In response to Seraph, a funny little thing I found about the 40-hour work week. This is from the people who read what the people and McSweeny's bring you (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/openletters/12workday.html):
AN OPEN LETTER TO
THE EIGHT-HOUR WORKDAY.
June 13, 2005
Dear Eight-Hour Workday,
Before I was hired at a 9-to-5 job, I had no idea how long you were. I skipped along blissfully through life, never questioning the sanctity of each moment. The phrase "9 to 5" was merely a metaphor for "people who have real jobs." Now that I have arrived in this world of suits and scheduling, I know the truth. Eight hours is an eternity.
I have decided that, with the amount of people in this country working eight hours a day, this society should be much farther ahead that it is. We should have flying cars that are fueled by used cooking oil from McDonald's. We should have a creative and well-funded education system. We should have universal health care.
What if you devoted eight hours a day to something like origami? To working out? To learning? You'd be the smartest, buffest paper folder this world has ever seen.
Granted, when we say "eight hours of work," we don't really mean eight hours. There's the time it takes to take off your coat and say hello to co-workers. There's walking from the desk to the water cooler. There are at least seven or eight bathroom breaks a day. And we mustn't forget sustenance. Shoot, when you think about it, an eight-hour day really comes down to a good four hours and 54 and a half minutes, give or take.
I guess I'm ignoring part of the equation here, and that is that, as human beings, we are not capable of concentrating on anything longer than The Legend of Bagger Vance, let alone eight hours. If a writer sat at a computer and worked on a novel for eight hours nonstop, she would have a whole lot of crazy in the end (not that I would know). There are limitations on the human mind and body that must be addressed. If a person needs a Minesweeper break every hour on the hour, then, by God, it's about time for the next game.
I've strayed. The crux of everything I've said here today is that eight hours is a freaking long time. In my day so far, I've e-mailed several people, applied for a credit card, done a few things for work, and written this letter. I still have four and a half hours to go. I guess that means I still have several bathroom breaks to cash in.
Olivia Roth
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As the Christmas season crushes us, I thought...
December 08, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
As the Christmas season crushes us, I thought you might be interested in this website, which chronicles quite a few companies' labor and environmental practices: http://www.responsibleshopper.org/
I'm plowing through the week, waiting for students to give in to finals and then disappear for winter break. Until then, they keep me on my toes. And I love them for it. But as I was hauling 96 bottles of "wellness" odwallas to a refrigerated space for tutor thank-you brain-food bags, I wanted (just a little) for a more consistently paced job.
I got through it by singing really loud to an Artichoke song that goes like this:
do you know Mary Anning? born on a southern shore/her father Richard was a cabinetmaker
and Richard died too early and left the Annings poor/but lucky Mary Anning found an icthyosaur
by circa 1820 she ran a fossil store/she put the bones together for the collectors
and science was the province of men of noble birth/but I'd take Mary Anning over those stuffed white shirts
ancient life that sleeps as fossil
she was walking the cliffs on her own by the sea/she was wondering if there were shapes underneath
there were men with their cash but that's not what it took/she could read every line on the ground like a book
she assembled the bones of the past in cement/and she sold them in town for a couple of pence
and she showed all the men how the bones could connect/though at first some would scoff they would grow to respect
(repeat first verse)
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Oh the joys of snow
December 04, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 Oh the joys of snow. While Anna and I had planned on making a cuboidal snow robot, this little bundle of joy is what appeared.
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As promised, here are the most beautiful sh...
December 04, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 
As promised, here are the most beautiful shrunken apple heads that Williamstown has ever seen. They were a big hit between Anna and me on Halloween, although a passing trick-or-treater's mom did ask if they were actually apples. I like to interpret that as an expression of delight and awe at some fine-looking heads.
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This morning, Anna heard that her granmother ...
December 02, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 This morning, Anna heard that her granmother passed away. We had expected it, but had a little quiet morning because of it noetheless. Hopefully, all of Anna's mom's family will still gather in Phoenix every Christmas, even withiout its matriarch. It snowed all day today.
In other Anna news, she's playing fiddle for a Celtic dance group in our fancy new theatre this evening. Should be fun.
This is the beautiful wreath that mom sent. She's the best.
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Anna's mother's favorite dessert to make, apa...
November 30, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 Anna's mother's favorite dessert to make, apart from tart Oregon cherry pie, is caramel apples. Anna found the particular mother-approved caramel apple wrap brand a few months ago in our local supermarket, and we've been hording them ever since. On special occasions or when I'm not in the lady's favor, caramel apples are made. And since nothing else worth mentioning has happened in Williamstown, MA, let it be known, that we had apples last night, and I am again in the lady's good favor.
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This morning while rummaging through the radi...
November 28, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 This morning while rummaging through the radio station's huge vinyl selection, I came across The Point soundtrack. The Point was a short animated film that Adam, one of his college girlfriends, and I watched in mom's basement when I was in grade school. Released in 1971, The Point is an animated feature about a boy with a round head who is banished from the land of Point, subsequently to go on a journey and sing a series of catchy and sad tunes about tolerance. As you can imagine, I was delighted and highlighted the record's narration and song on my show this morning. I am now whistling "Think about your troubles," which is so lovely that I've posted the lyrics below.
Sit beside the breakfast table/ Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea/ Then think about the bubbles
You can take your teardrops/ And drop 'em in a teacup
Take them down to the riverside
And throw them over the side/ To be swept up by a current
Then taken to the ocean/ To be eaten by some fishes
Who were eaten by some fishes/ And swallowed by a whale
Who grew so old/ He decomposed, doo, doo, doo
He died and left his body/ To the bottom of the ocean
Now everybody knows/ That when a body decomposes
The basic elements/ Are given back to the ocean
And the sea does what it oughta
And soon there's salty water/ Not too good for drinking
'Cause it tastes just like a teardrop/ So they run it through a filter
And it comes out from a faucet/ And it pours into a teapot
Which is just about to bubble/ Now think about your troubles, now
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And a happy birthday to Sam!
Love,
Team...
November 25, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 And a happy birthday to Sam!
Love,
Team Superbad.
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It continues to sprinkle this morning
November 25, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 It continues to sprinkle this morning. Here is me in front of the house this morning with the Miller family remedy and cure-all. Mmm... Coffee. 
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Like Adam, we made Challah for Thanksgiving! ...
November 25, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 Like Adam, we made Challah for Thanksgiving! Here is our Challah and its suckling babe. Anna was at Thanksgiving, too. 
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Happy Thanksgiving! Anna, Noah, Leon, Katie a...
November 25, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 Happy Thanksgiving! Anna, Noah, Leon, Katie and I had a great feast yesterday, and it even snowed for us.
Leon and Katie are staying at a local bed and breakfast all weekend, and Noah is staying in our guest room. It's a real treat to share Williamstown with them.
I hope you all are having a great rest! I miss you terriby and am so excited to have two weeks with you for Christmas
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Robert Greenwald, the maker of Wal-Mart: The ...
November 22, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Robert Greenwald, the maker of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices spoke in Eugene to a crowd of over 700 at Lane community college! I showed the movie with the Williams Greens at Images Cinema, and it had a great reception. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a great film!
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I finally bought my ticket home for the holidays
November 16, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I finally bought my ticket home for the holidays. I'm arriving in Eugene on Thursday, Dec 15 at 9:58 pm and leaving on Friday, Dec 30 at 8:17 am. Hoorah! Let the orch battles and snuggle fest begin!
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Happy Happy belated birthday, Seraph!
I ha...
November 14, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 Happy Happy belated birthday, Seraph!
I had a great time at Highlander this weekend, although the Smoky Mountains look quite a bit like the Berkshires. It made me feel very very lucky.
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Oh, my, God, Sadie
November 09, 2005 by Jamie in Sadie & Greg
Oh, my, God, Sadie...you just made my day! Thanks for the great laugh therapy ;-)
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Please, dear family, stop me from advancing m...
November 09, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Please, dear family, stop me from advancing my career in telemarketing.
The Office of Community Service is running a winterization project of local homes, which involves me cold calling fifty families a day to try to convince them that I'm giving them something, not selling them something. Sigh.
Nevertheless, it's going well enough so that talking about it on TV tonight. We've had local paper articles and such, which is nice. When I say "TV", I mean public access. I'm becoming one of THOSE people on public access, droning on about legalizing ganja and giving out guns. CNN 2, here I come!
The funniest thing I've ever seen: Weight Watchers cards from 1972 on www.candyboots.com
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Another full day of meetings with meadville c...
November 04, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Another full day of meetings with meadville community leaders. Amazing. I'd love to set up Community Development Corporations when I grow up.
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Meadville is a much more complex and rich cit...
November 03, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Meadville is a much more complex and rich city than I remember it as a ten year-old. I'm sitting in an old bank now wireless cafe and gallery after siting in on a city planning meeting, community leader meeting, and interesting talk by Jody Ktezman, whose simple message can be summed up by "find what makes your community's glass half full instead of half empty." A profound shift for many communitites, Meadville included.
Seeing Danica, Dorothy, and Amara has been such a blessing. I feel so lucky to be able to put this family roots trip on the college's bill.
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Sadie, you make my life much more cool than i...
October 29, 2005 by Jamie in Sadie & Greg
Sadie, you make my life much more cool than it really is. You go girl! Thinking of you, Jamie
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A chilly but dry Halloween weekend is upon us...
October 28, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 A chilly but dry Halloween weekend is upon us, and our shrunken heads and jack-o-lanterns are ready for mobs of trick-or-treaters. Our neighborhood, originally the working-class area of Williamstown, is full of sidewalks and duplexes- ideal for greedy little goblins. We have a few friends coming in for Anna's Berkshire Symphony concert and some harvest festivities. There may be a burlesque show involved. Should be a good time.
I'm driving to Meadville, PA on Wednesday to go to a community asset mapping conference. Dorothy is putting me up, but I'll get to spend plenty of time with Jed, Amara, and Satchi as well. It will be so exciting to see Meadville from the eyes of a community organizer! I'll report back on my findings.
And if you're dying to hear my radio show on Monday and Friday mornings from 9-10 EST (6-7 PST), we have online streaming at wcfm.williams.edu! I take requests!
Hogs and quiches!
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Anna found this very interesting article
October 24, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna found this very interesting article. The author is a big advocate of energy conservation over energy efficiency, and has some interesting ways of explaining his thoughts in this article:
http://www.kilawatt.com/articles/NCSA%20presentation%20EFF%20INC%20RES.pdf
He emphasizes that the best things in life aren't necessarily the most efficient. An excerpt:
The products and processes that are the most valuable to us are, by necessity, inefficient. Examples are democracy, raising children, learning, loving, art, manners, and even nature itself, which H.T. Odum estimated was only 2% efficient. Respectively, we can make each of these more efficient through dictatorship, child labor, cheating, pornography, mass production, selfishness and genetic engineering – all with repercussions. Increased efficiency destroys the things we value most and yet adds value to the more quantifiable products and processes that harm our environment.
He also suggests a "Reverse Peace Corps" that brings ideas from less efficient but more sustainable societies back to our crazy consuming country. Enjoy!
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Anna and I are in the local coffee shop, eves...
October 21, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna and I are in the local coffee shop, evesdropping on a really loud conversation about a management ladder. I'm pretending that it's an inside peek at the bureaucracy of a regional prostitution ring, which makes it much more exciting.
This is the weekend of tourist leaf-peepers, and the coffee shop is full of foreign voices using the restroom. They're much quieter than our American neighbors, who are now nearly yelling about making money. Even the women from the Women's House of Peace executive committee, had a crescendo of passion about meditation space in their conversation. I myself love to know that other people can hear my intimate witticisms- a bizarre American egotism, I suppose. Anna, having spent a year of her childhood in France, is somehow exempt from this boisterous public volume. How that woman keeps me in line.
However, she couldn't keep me from painting the living room red yesterday. It looks amazing, and I'll send pictures soon.
The weather and the leaves have responded beautifully to the tourists' attention and are in full flame. Williams called Mountain Day today, so all the students are picking apples and frolicking in the woods. It's a lovely day for a mocha, advil (the Miller remedy for all ills, mine from yesterday's paint fumes), and a little walk in Williamstown.
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After torrential rain and major flooding, the...
October 17, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
After torrential rain and major flooding, the sun has finally come out, and it's looking like a proper New England fall. Ah, the crunching leaves.
Love to all!
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Anna and I are working collaboratively on a m...
October 13, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna and I are working collaboratively on a mini-energy audit and winterization program for households who receive emergency fuel assistance from the Berkshire Community Action Council. It's exciting to get to do something so concrete that links together our local community assets and needs and broader national and international energy issues.
I'm also working on a few other big and exciting projects, which keep me manic and distracted.
But despite making myself invaluable, my position at the college is seemingly more tenuous than it’s ever been. Of course, I've never been able to be found on the college web directory, but I always liked the outsider position. I never actually felt like I was kept out of the loop on the vision of the office or the institution. On the contrary, I felt closer to student action and college administration than a hired community service director would feel. But there is a subtle and illusive shift that I can't quite place, but which seems to spell change led from above.
Now, my loving and sensitive family, you know me well enough to know that I tilt at windmills half the time. I am an intuitive and romantic person that spends more time talking about the texture of fog than the 3 school district tutoring database I'm negotiating into creation.
But intuition is a hint of some material reality. So let me lay this out in shadows that my intuition, but perhaps not yet the institution, is pulling together.
First, my boss, the part time chaplain of the college and part time coordinator of community service, is getting a doctorate in some wing of divinity. These elite certificates seem to tip balances in administrations, and I suspect that they could tip him into becoming the full-time dean of religious life of Williams College. In that case, we'd need a full-time coordinator in the office of community service.
Second, the college must be getting nervous about its civic engagement ranking, and the deanery and president's office might do something about it in a way that is not very consultative or collaborative. I suspect (possibly) that they may subject the office to the administrative powers of the dean's office or the campus life office. In my mind, the possibility of being absorbed into the campus life office is immediate death. Becoming part of the dean's office sounds almost as terrible. The best possible, but possibly least probable, merger would be of experiential education, the Office of Career Counseling, and the Office of Community Service. This umbrella organization for these college offices is not uncommon. Allegheny, for example, has an umbrella office for these groups. Would all the queens of the various offices (including myself, of course) be able to work collaboratively? Certainly not. But the Office of Community Service has an endowed fund. So we don't have to.
Which leads me to the next problematic that makes my office seem like it's at the edge of some weird precipice. We have money in the form of an endowed fund, but no staff. What would happen if the chaplain became a full-time chaplain/dean of religious life? Who would administer the fund? A college would not allow some young uneducated whippersnapper to doll out money. With the current hiring freeze (yes! Even at Williams College), the best possible way to have a staff person would be to get an existing position, or existing part-time position, to take over the coordinating role.
So, we have Paula Consolini, PhD, the part-time coordinator of Experiential Education, and we have those lost souls that are shifted into dean's positions by invisible strings from above. I cannot imagine that these options are ideal. Paula should be full-time, but working soley on experiential education, which should be more robust anyway. And isn't is obvious that a dean would not come to student meetings at 9:30 pm on a Wednesday night?
But perhaps we can simply hire a new position for the coordinator of Community Service,
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Anna is fine
October 07, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna is fine. And laughing next to me as I sketch our little place, which is, of course, as unbiased as a Texan Supreme Court nominee.
This morning's walk to work was obscured by a fog as this as pea soup. I've been consumed by work lately, returning home frazzled and ocassionally missing limbs. Now I know why every social justice-y conference has a workshop on "taking care of the caretaker." My whole office is addicted to caffiene and weary pauses.
On the homefront, the house is shaping up beautifully, and we're almost ready to accept our first non-family guest to stay this weekend. If you knew where our guest bed was from, you would not think me neurotic to have spent all day airing out bedding.
The gruesome and exciting realities of co-decorating are thick at 72 Linden.
New Carpet: 3 hours to choose
Fabric for matching (but not too matching) curtains: 1 hour to choose
Making a living room we both think is nice (but not out of a catalogue nice): priceless.
I think this newfound labor makes up for the fact that everything in the house that wasn't taken from a garbage heap was bought at a thrift store. On sale.
Much love and happy leaf peeping!
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Saturday morning with coffee, catalogs, and s...
September 24, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Saturday morning with coffee, catalogs, and stolen wireless from some nearby home- have I found shangrila? Honestly, the east coast in late September is a little bit of heaven, but only compared to the rest of the seasons. It couldn't hold a candle to the Willamette valley, of course.
Today begins the Hurricane Relief Coalition's Week of Solidarity and Action. I'm going into the office to paint big canvases with the coalition's logo this afternoon. Fortunately, the hundred and fifty Williams tutors are almost placed in the local schools, so I have more time to help out.
Then Anna and I may go to see Luke Newton, who is at a weird philanthropist's conference in upstate New York. Yeah!
Mom, I have your comment about Rick Steves as my screen saver marquee. Adam, I love the image of coffee fueling your puppet body, like the tin man squeeking for oil in The Wizard of Oz.
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Happy Intaaaaaarnational Talk Like a Pirate D...
September 19, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Happy Intaaaaaarnational Talk Like a Pirate Day!
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Last year, in Germay, Megan Wells-Jamieson me...
September 17, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Last year, in Germay, Megan Wells-Jamieson met a South Eugene grad, fell in love, and is going to visit him in his hometown in a week (before he goes off to Cambridge for his PhD... of course). As Adam remembers, the last time she saw Sam, he was two and she wasn't wearing any clothes. Please ply her with sweet Eugene breads if she knocks on your door in a week or two. She's as lovely as ever.
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Three weeks into a cripsly perfect September ...
September 16, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Three weeks into a cripsly perfect September (weather that that craves tweed and turtlenecks), we're barreled back into crumpled linen by humidity. I am frizzy. But it's Friday, so Anna and I have big plans. They'll probably involve leftover curry, a rented movie, and the shrunken apple heads we made last night.
Ah, the domestic life.
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Oof! The flurry of September's activities (re...
September 14, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Oof! The flurry of September's activities (replacing the fourth of our thirty group heads who graduated last spring, organizing the hurricane releif coalition, placing three hundred tutors in the local public schools, recruiting for our Scholarships for Service positions, etc.) is a little overwhelming at the moment. It is nice to feel needed, of course. Just makes me a little punchy.
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It is eerie to begin doing the things that I ...
September 06, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
It is eerie to begin doing the things that I did last year over again, coordinating the same programs, and seeing my old students in this new, little-bit-more-experienced context. It's equally wonderful to feel myself changing at least as quickly as they are. Despite the madness and failures and complications, my students are rock stars, and I am greatful for this new year.
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I'm in the eye of the storm of the Where Am I...
September 05, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I'm in the eye of the storm of the Where Am I?! orientation, and other than a few blips, things couldn't be going more smoothly. Hurrah! The new house is shaping up beautifully, and we almost have everything on the walls and in the closets.
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Funny story: I'm setting up the Flying Garban...
August 18, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Funny story: I'm setting up the Flying Garbanzos for the Where Am I?! orientation on the first evening of the program. Having prepared for a few concerts in my time, I asked what equipement they would need, expecting a long list of mics and amps and such. They responsped with "We'll need three armless chairs (folding chairs are fine). I think that's it." These are my kind of people. So it looks like out first event will be a very homey acoustic outdoor contra band concert with a bonfire and s'mores. I wish you could all be there.
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Happy birthday to Jordan!
I had a little v...
August 15, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Happy birthday to Jordan!
I had a little vacation in my own home this weekend, as my friend Kelly visited from Boston, dragging me to a series of farms and museums that I would never go to without feeling like a tourist. But it was great for me to enjoy the Williamstown Theatre Festival celebrities with new eyes, see all those famous paintings crammed in the Clark, and take a long drive to Pittsfield, just for corn and a few farm tomatoes. I think it was nice for her to leave the bustle of the city for a place where one can spend all day reading a novel without feeling like life is passing one by. She finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and I finished The Little Women- a rich little gem that mirrors Little Women by L.M.A. enough to make it thrilling, but unique enough to make you happily outraged when something new happens.
It has finally cooled down. My boss is finally back from his vacation, and I feel myself constantly singing his praises and amazed that I get to have him for another year. That I were as much a pleasure to work with as he... I hope I'll learn to have patience and a longer view once I really dedicate myself to the long haul. But I had a great meeting with state rep Dan Bosely, who is so supportive of my work that I feel doubly impatient to get the college on board. Sigh.
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While I absolutely hate all forwards, this on...
August 12, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
While I absolutely hate all forwards, this one actually seemed useful:
A REMINDER**
On August 15th, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you'll probably start to receive sales calls from them. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS! To block telemarketers from calling you, you have to call 888.382.1222 directly from your cell phone. It is the National DO NOT CALL list.
It only takes a minute and your number is blocked for five 5 years. Please pass on this public service message to your friends.
You may also register online at
http://www.donotcall.gov/
Adam's comments:
While there's some truth in this (the phone number listed above really is for the do not call list), there's no plan for anyone to start doing what's suggested in the e-mail. For more details, you can visit this site. It probably won't hurt to put your phone number in the do not call list, but I don't think it's that big a deal.
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Oh, Adam, you should cut Emma some slack
August 04, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Oh, Adam, you should cut Emma some slack. Sometimes I NEED a beer too. It is miserably hot and humid here, but I get to go to Amherst (near Northampton) to have dinner with a friend. She just started her VISTA job at UMass Amherst. Ah, nothing like driving an hour and a half for a burrito. Tonight is an Irish session (jam) at a Noho bar called The Basement, which I might go to, for Anna's sake. She used to drive down just to play on Thursday nights.
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If you're interested in hearing more about An...
August 01, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 If you're interested in hearing more about Anna's journey, she's actually blogging for Education for Development at http://annaefd.blog.com/. This is a photo of the road to Namirama.
Upstairs, the Jewish chaplain and cantor is singing an open-mouthed, deep, minor prayer that carries through the house. It sounds like the Orthodox prayers sung behind the doors before communion.
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More news from Anna: she is very well, enjoyi...
July 25, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
More news from Anna: she is very well, enjoying the rural life with lots of family and friends in Bukhaweka and Namirama, and says this about the school project's status:
"Workers have dug the foundation for the school (even though I have not yet paid them), and the transport man tried to bring "hard core" (big rocks) to the site on Saturday. Everyone is very eager! Unfortunately, one of the bridges that he must cross to get to Namirama is not yet finished, so workers are hurrying today to complete it. Apparently, someone contacted the government to say that we needed the bridge fixed so that we could get building materials to Namirama, so this is why they are working on it now. Otherwise it would have remained broken, because it was not in the budget for this year. Although communication is very slow here (not many telephones, very few cars), people seem to manage. The concept of messengers is still very real here."
Wonderful news, in my humble opinion.
Williamstown is beautiful, and I'm furiously redecorating the entire house before Anna comes home and puts here two cents in. I'm aiming for a country pirate look.
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I just talked to Anna for about five minutes,...
July 21, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I just talked to Anna for about five minutes, and she's alive and well in Mbale, Uganda! She'll be moving to Bukhaweka soon, so will be without electricity while she works with the even smaller and more rural Namirama village community. I suppose our plan to send Williams computers to the new school isn't quite as practical as I had thought. Life is dreadfully dull and hot without her, but I'm trying to do exciting stuff at work to keep me (and the administration) on my (and its) toes. As far as I'm concerned, if I don't get one tentative East Coast warning that I may be pushing the private school town gown barrier a little too far, I haven't done my job.
My friends Alexis and Kelly are probably coming west from Boston for a little vacation and art extravaganza in early August. Hooray!
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May you live a hundred years, may you drink a...
July 20, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
May you live a hundred years, may you drink a hundred beers, don't get plastered you baaaad boy, happy birthday to you!
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I'm sorry to hear about your friend, mom
July 19, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I'm sorry to hear about your friend, mom. He sounded like an important part of your life, even if he was only a short-term gift to you.
Anna is safe and sound in Kampala, overstuffed by the glorious international airplane staff and her kind and attentive host, Michael. I will keep you updated on her progress with the school. I can't believe the amount on her plate with this project- who is expected to build a school in five weeks? Of course, there is no real expectation for the school to be finished when she leaves, but she is expected to establish the process, far more complex than the actual building of the school, in my mind. Such an exciting, difficult, and worthwhile project.
I finished the new Harry Potter yesterday, the only nice thing about living as a bachelor again. My ability to fend for myself in the kitchen has, of course, fallen short of Anna's recent creative cooking endevors. I haven't had popcorn for dinner yet, but I don't think it will be too long until I'm chewing on dry tortillas covered in peanut butter.
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Sign Oxfam's ONE campaign petition
July 06, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Sign Oxfam's ONE campaign petition.
We believe that, in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves, now is the time to join with other countries in an historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty.
We recognize that a pact including such measures as fair trade, debt relief, fighting corruption and targeting an additional one percent of the US budget towards providing basic needs -- education, health, clean water, food, and care for orphans -- would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries.
We commit ourselves -- ONE person, ONE voice, ONE vote at a time -- to make a better, safer world for all.
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I've attached a picture of me, Anna, and Maur...
June 17, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 I've attached a picture of me, Anna, and Mauricio, my close friend here from Urugay. He flew home last week, with a masters in development economics in hand, is getting married on July 9th, and then flying with his new bride to Italy to start a PhD program in political economy. Sigh. He was such a great part of my time here, and I wanted him to be on adamandjamie.com....
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It's good to see that Emma continues to explo...
June 15, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
It's good to see that Emma continues to explode the gender binary, and she's only two! What a sophisticated feminist. Anna and I are also excited to hang out with the ladies and lady-identified family members (that means you, Dad), and hopefully everyone else will kid-watch while us "girls" go for cocktails on Friday night. We're having a bunch of the Williamstown young Turks to play music and drink beer tonight. Much bawdy sailor fun is bound to happen. Anna goes in for a job interview tomorrow in New Lebanon, NY, at a small woman-owned firm that may be right up her alley. I'm very excited to be a kept woman, and she has promised me a mink for every day of the month. Hopefully the summer will be a cool one. Much love from the other (east coast) Northwest.
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Generic Heading
June 14, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
One more week!
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Oh! I just checked and got all your wonderful...
June 12, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Oh! I just checked and got all your wonderful Happy Birthday messages! Thank you! I feel especially old because I chose to spend my birhtday in a suit at a conference. All is well in Mass, and counting the days until I'm with ya'all.
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Ta Da! I'm alive! I can't say the training we...
May 30, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Ta Da! I'm alive! I can't say the training went without a hitch, but I think all the hitches were teachable moments for myself and the WAI leaders. I've read through all the assessments, written all the thank-you notes and apologies, returned most college vehicles to their rightful places, and am very much ready to move on.
It's heartbreaking to say goodbye to all the students who accidentally became my confidantes along the way this year. I sent them all off last week, nearly dry-eyed and almost professional. Under the circumstances of the mythologized but delicate young teacher/student relationship, I can't know if they know how much they've taught me.
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In one hour, I'll be beginning the four day W...
May 23, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
In one hour, I'll be beginning the four day Where Am I leader training, with Rick in Bolivia. I'll have some help from a student and my colleague Matt, but I'm supposed to be the lecturer/preacher/inspirational speaker for the training. I'm terrified beyond belief, as my leadership style leans toward desperate enthusiasm, not calming visualizations. But the Outing Club's director came in this morning and reminded me that the only thing I have to do is get the leaders to just be here now. I'm still working on being Here Now myself.
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Anna's stuff has officially moved into my apa...
May 18, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna's stuff has officially moved into my apartment! While she is still deciding between a plethora of summer options, she has decided to grace me with her presence for a few more days... then off to Michigan. She'll return to Williamstown in a shiny Honda Civic where that old maroon Windstar used to be. She has a semi-job working on the curriculum of a senior engineering course, and then she might go to Uganda to help build a school for a month or find a job. Is she feeling the pressure? Maybe a little.
Work is all planning and coordinating for the Where Am I? leader training next week. It's a little crazy, but there is the cutest chipmunk outside my window right at this moment. Summer in Williamstown brings many gifts.
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I am currently listening to Johnny Clegg and ...
May 07, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I am currently listening to Johnny Clegg and Savuka's Cruel Crazy, Beautiful World, which I found in the radio station's impressive library. It reminds me of my siblings' musical influences, which I am still putty to. Work is crazy and has encrouched on ocassional stillness of the weekend, but I'm taking most of next week off for Anna's graduation, so I can't complain.
Hope all is well.
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This weekend, Anna had her final violin recit...
April 25, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
This weekend, Anna had her final violin recital, which was wonderful- I'll get a copy online as soon as I can get my hands on one. She'll be sweating blood this week, the last of her college career, which should be exciting, albeit sleep-deprived. Her final engineering presentation is on Friday.
Work is busy- we're planning for the Where Am I?! leader orientation in May. Just crept up a little sooner than I thought.
Williamstown is happy to have me another year, and I'm happy to keep working on my projects, knowing it'll be a little easier the second time around.
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This weekend was the Run for the Cure, which ...
April 19, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
This weekend was the Run for the Cure, which I DJd for with another WCFM kid. Then Anna picked me up and we saw Dar Williams in Northampton- a ten hankie show. Today's highs are 79F, so I'm finding it difficult to get anything done with such brilliant weather. Seeing the throngs of students playing frisbee and sunning themselves outside my window, I don't think I'm alone.
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I spent Saturday in Cambridge at a Young Peop...
April 11, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 I spent Saturday in Cambridge at a Young People and Social Justice conference, which rocked my socks. Unfortunately, I have to go back to Boston tomorrow, and a six hour (round trip) commute doesn't make me exactly excited to do twice in three days. The weather is beautiful here, and I've totally forgotten that a few weeks ago the ground was covered in blackened dreg.
Anna is looking for jobs in Boston and the Williamstown area, and I've promised to transfer to a Boston school if she can't find anything here. Rick, my boss, is extremely supportive, but warmly suggests new avenues for her carreer in Western Mass every day, bless him. I do love this place. Especially without snow.
My ticket home is from June 24th to the 27th, which doesn't sound like much time, but we'll do our best.
I miss you all!
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My friend Jenny Minnity-Shippey just got acce...
April 07, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
My friend Jenny Minnity-Shippey just got accepted into an MFA at San Diego State University and will be starting this fall! We're all very excited for her, as she's always been a SoCal girl at heart.
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This morning Kerry and I were chatting it up ...
April 01, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
This morning Kerry and I were chatting it up about my home state, and he said, "Sadie, why don't you ask your family to call Senator Smith about the plan to make President Bush's judicial nominations immune to a Senate filibuster? It would mean so much to me. I'm counting on them to ask him to oppose Senator Frist's dangerous plan to deny millions of Americans any meaningful voice in decisions vital to America's future."
I said, "hey, John, anything for you... Even though I voted for Kucinich."
Kerry gave me his famous 6-foot-four-inch one-arm bear hug and said, "Oh, Sadie, you little tease. I'll check adamandjamie.com and make sure you give me a shout out."
Senator Smith's office can be reached at:
Portland Metro 503-326-3386
Eastern Oregon Regional (Pendleton) 541-278-1129
Western Oregon Regional (Eugene) 541-465-6750
Southern Oregon Regional (Medford) 541-608-9102
Central Oregon Regional (Bend) 541-318-1298
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Ah! I just did my own taxes! I'm finally an a...
March 29, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Ah! I just did my own taxes! I'm finally an adult!
(From Jamie: Admittedly, this has impressed me more than any of your numerous achievements as a member of the grown-up club. What does this say about me? All too practical I guess. Way to go, kid, and may I say that we miss you around here!)
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One more week without the college kids
March 28, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
One more week without the college kids. It's raining cats and dogs today, but Easter was beautiful. Thinking of you all.
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May the thoughts of an athiest prove as power...
March 21, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
May the thoughts of an athiest prove as powerful as prayer today as I think and think after the Mellors.
Students are finally on break, and the weather is warming into a thick, soupy mud puddle. In honor of spring, beer cans and puke, frozen since Homecoming, are resurfacing on hills across campus. The grass looks splotchy and bruised, but not as dead as it could be. I'm wearing yellow in anticipation.
David Jacobs-Strain, a Eugege kid blues musician, is opening for Taj Mahal on Stuarday, April 2nd at 8:00 at the McDonald Theatre, and he blows my socks off. Check it out.
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Anna is on spring break and driving up to Wil...
March 16, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Anna is on spring break and driving up to Williamstown as I type. Due to inclement February weather, we postponed our B&B anniversary trip, but St. Patrick's Day is the big night. On Friday, we're going to see Sweet Honey in the Rock at Mass MoCA and generally enjoying four days together. I have a slew of meetings and panels on Thursday, but other than that, things in the office are quiet enough to sneek away a bit.
Williams students are pushing through midterms at the moment. I'm a little antsy about the silence between projects. I'm in the very formative stages of pushing for a big HUD grant, which should be wonderfully consuming.
It's starting to be sunny, though snow's still on the ground in piles and patches.
And for the final final say in penguins:
www.gaypenguinforamerica.com
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I've had a great week, despite the blizzard l...
March 09, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I've had a great week, despite the blizzard last night. It's sunny now, and in honor of the spring that may someday come, I got a haircut. I also finally rented Manor House, which was wonderful and affirmed all of my lefty sensibilities.
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In honor of Wendell and Cass, the penguin lif...
February 24, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
In honor of Wendell and Cass, the penguin life partners, Anna gave me two truffles in the shape of penguins for our third anniversary. Aww.
Things will slow down in a couple of weeks, but right now work is running and running. I love it. Today I wrote up a self-review of everything I've done so far. It seems like things began in slow motion as I was learning the job, and now it's in fast forward. I need to think and worry less about things before I do them- ah, experience!
I just got four cds in the mail from Lohring- the Donnas and Trick Pony, and have been rocking out all day. I feel very loved.
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Sniff
February 17, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Sniff. The New York Aquarium in Brooklyn had a fairly well-known pair of boyfriends: blackfoot penguins Wendell and Cass never showed any interest in female penguins, and were a mated pair for about 10 years, said aquarium spokeswoman Fran Hackett.
Sadly, Cass passed away recently, Hackett said, and in keeping with penguins' tendency to mate for life, Wendell hasn't taken up another companion.
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It's Monday afternoon, and the snow is threat...
February 14, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
It's Monday afternoon, and the snow is threatening to cover any possibilities of spring. I spent a wonderful weekend in Northampton, buying used cds and stocking up on other metropolitan basics. My friend Annamo and I went to the Vagina Monologues on Saturday and then to a great blues bar called the basement. I requested a song, and the muscicians were incredulous that I knew the Candyman Blues. After my friends assured me that that was a compliment, I felt pretty good about it. Work is only somewhat hideous right now, with tutor coordinating wrapping up. Soon I can go back to my little exciting projects.
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Generic Heading
February 06, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Happy birthday, Dez!
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I empathize with Adam's exhaustion from email...
January 27, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I empathize with Adam's exhaustion from email communication. I myself communicate almost completely through email, which enables a huge volume of communication to happen in short periods of time. Unfortunately, my brain doesn't have the capacity to actually keep up with that kind of efficient relay of information, so I end up all fuzzy at the end of the day. And actually seeing the people I email is a little like when you run into someone from high school in another country. A disjuncture in the time/space continuum.
The tsunami relief coalition has raised about $9,500 this month and my winter study class assessments are rolling in today. I'm going on a service trip to New York City next week, which should be cool. It's been a big month.
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I took a great digital storytelling workshop,...
January 21, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I took a great digital storytelling workshop, which I think all of you would have enjoyed. Once I get the story back, I'll post it online. Today I had a public speaking workshop, and tonight I get to collect donations for tsunami relief at a basketball game. As I think of all of you with babies and cars, I realize what a luxury it is to give myself to community-based learning and action.
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Here is a very cute email from Sara Spettel, ...
January 19, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Here is a very cute email from Sara Spettel, which I thought you all might like:
By now you should all have received your save-the-date card. So please re-schedule your poker nights accordingly for June 25th. Anyway, here are some things that I need to do (Alina’a magazine’s all say these things should have been done about 17 months ago. In fact I believe you are supposed to hire a florist before you ever start dating) and I decided I would ask all my good friends who either currently or once resided in the good state of Oregon to help me out.
1) Photographer. Any suggestions?
2) Florist and a wholesale flower market. I don’t think I’ve ever bought flowers in Eugene.
3) Officiant. (otherwise known as the person who stands up and feeds us our lines.) Now, many people take the easy route and get some religious figure to fill this role. Unfortunately the Quakers just sit silently (you think I’m kidding than you haven’t been to a Quaker wedding) and the Muslims (at least Alina’s kind) do this sortof praying/contract signing with just the fathers and men. Not what we had in mind. And while we’re both unset that we’re not marrying Jews, I think we’ve come to terms with it. So I’m raking my brains for someone, suggestions welcome. Here are the requirements:
1)Can’t be related to either of us
2)Can’t be/ or be related to one of our ex-girlfriends
3)Must be able to not mention god, how “brave we are” and not touchy feely
4)Let me repeat: No touchy-feely
5)Ideally someone a touch older who is a good speaker
6)I’ve tried to think of teachers I’ve respected and haven’t pissed off too much. Any help?
4) DJ
5) Volunteers to host the poor recent grads when they come to Eugene. No, I’m not pimping out my friends now, that comes later. But if you or any of your parents wouldn’t mind a kid or two in the guest room and/or your bed, I’m sure it’d be appreciated.
Sara
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Ha
January 13, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
Ha. Accidental charity. My class is going to clean out a basement today- now that's committment to community solidarity. Williams Tsunami Relief Coalition is making bank with its fundraising efforts, and I'm tempted to send the money off to small business development in North Adams. The tragedy of industrial flight in Western Mass feels more real to me, but I'm pretty into the local right now. So we juggle.
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The snow was falling thick and wet all day to...
January 12, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
The snow was falling thick and wet all day today, and I have half a mind to go home and nap until my 7 o'clock meeting this evening. Tomorrow is our adventure to Holyoke to work with Nuestras Raices (Our Roots). We're cleaning out their basement in solidarity with the cool work they do. I'm so proud of my students for doing all this crazy stuff I have organized for them.
Anna's in D.C. learning about science and technology policy with other undergraduate women- sounds interesting. It struck me that so many medical researchers she met in the FDA changed their research to 'terrorist defense' from inconsequenstial things like AIDS vaccines. I hate hate hate hate hate the government I work for. The government is an enemy of the bill of rights and the constitution. Had to be said.
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I'd love to kid sit
January 07, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I'd love to kid sit. Send 'em over. The Informational Technology people came over and gave me a new computer- very exciting! It's very quiet and sleek. My first section of the winter study course I'm leading went well, and I'm hoping for a good turnout on Tuesday. Other than that, I brainstormed with a student about her new fundraising group on campus and futzed around. Fridays in January rock.
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I am safe and sound in Williamstown, graduall...
January 05, 2005 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
I am safe and sound in Williamstown, gradually recovering from jet lag and quite busy with all the projects at work. I had such a smashing time that it's as hard as ever to be of two hearts on two coasts. It was 40 degrees yesterday! Strangely Eugenian weather.
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