Comments on: 10 actions / 100 days from the Women's March - let's start this

10 actions / 100 days from the Women's March - let's start this

Quietgal — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:50:25 -0800

I went to the Women's March in SF with some other MeFites and found it a great experience, so I'd like to keep doing ... something. The organizers of the march have started a campaign to continue the momentum, with 10 suggested actions over the next 100 days. How about we get together and try out the first of these actions? We'll write some postcards to Congress, drink some beer, and encourage each other to not just crawl under the blankets for the next 4 years.

We'll get together at Peter's Cafe in Millbrae, not far from the BART station, to write some postcards to Congress. I'll bring a whole bunch of printouts from the campaign website, which can be folded into "postcards" for mailing. I'll also bring postage stamps, if anybody can't get to the post office beforehand. Feel free to bring your own postcards, stamps would be helpful, and pink hats would be admired but not required.

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 03:13:50 -0800

Depending on where and when I would be into this.

By: pocketfullofrye

pocketfullofrye — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 07:01:46 -0800

I'm down for this. Let's give it a few days, see what kind of interest there is, and figure out how to proceed from there, since the size of the group will affect how we schedule, meet, etc. Even if there's only 2 of us, I think it'll be worth doing. Like a gym buddy but for political action.

By: Mr. Papagiorgio

Mr. Papagiorgio — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 07:07:48 -0800

I am interested, but live & work near Redwood City. So, ...

By: purpleclover

purpleclover — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 08:21:39 -0800

I'm also on the Peninsula: San Mateo. Following this thread.

By: Gusaroo

Gusaroo — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 09:42:29 -0800

I'm definitely interested but am in Sonoma County. Anyone here?

By: kiripin

kiripin — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 10:58:18 -0800

My schedule is pretty full but I would definitely be interested in making time for this.

By: Strass

Strass — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 14:01:25 -0800

Yes! I am definitely interested in postcards and other action. I'm in Mountain View.

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 14:51:02 -0800

I'm in Marin, and frequently drive in to SF and also to Sonoma. Driving to points further south than SF is also possible.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 19:48:43 -0800

Sounds like we've got the usual split between East Bay and Peninsula folks, with a few northerners thrown in. I propose that, if we keep this going (and I hope we will), we alternate between locations, but to start off let's try someplace on the Peninsula. Maybe a weekend afternoon in a coffee shop? Suggestions for good places to sit around and write and chat would be welcome - I don't really know the area. Places near BART or Caltrain stations would be super. Gusaroo, sorry to leave you out in the cold. Could you arrange to come with a friend or two, to make it worth the drive? They don't have to be a MeFite - we need all the good people on our side. Heck, if they don't want to write postcards they can bring knitting needles and pink yarn and make a hat ;-)

By: Going To Maine

Going To Maine — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 23:00:24 -0800

I could be up for this . Going to turn my account off for a bit to avoid distractions, so my ability to confirm involvement might become sporadic, though. But yes! Postcards & beer sound pretty good.

By: Strass

Strass — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 10:25:51 -0800

Have we arranged a date for this? I'm visiting family this weekend but could host in Mountain View next week pending roommate approval.

By: gloturtle

gloturtle — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:07:12 -0800

I am definitely in for writing postcards. I would also propose while we are at it send one to White House. I'm in San Mateo.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 20:26:01 -0800

OK, how about this weekend, either Saturday January 28th or Sunday the 29th? What's better for folks? Afternoon or evening? We still need a location. Anybody know a nice quiet coffee shop or the like on the Peninsula where we can sit around and write postcards? As a fallback option, we could maybe meet at my place in San Francisco. I'm 3 blocks from a BART station and the scaffolding is gone. The ants are still invading though they're mostly in the kitchen and we could sit in the living room, but if anybody just can't deal with ants, Windex, or diatomaceous earth this would not be a good scene. (Strass, thanks for inviting to host - maybe next time, if your roommate is OK with it, we can meet at your place.) And remember, if you can't make it this weekend we can call another meetup on a different date that works for you.

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 20:31:35 -0800

If anyone feels like Doing a Thing before the date for this gets set and we get together to write postcards and fend off feelings of terror and despair, take a minute and Call Sen. Dianne Feinstein, because she's considering voting to confirm Jeff Sessions to Attorney General. Pasted from a friend's fb (and my own, and you should paste in whatever spaces you share stuff): Senator Feinstein is considering a vote for Sessions. Please read the below and CALL, urging her to oppose his confirmation as Attorney General. One of her staffers said her office received 30,000 calls to impeach then president Bill Clinton, but that, as of yesterday, they had only received 5,000 calls to vote "no" on Sessions. It was made clear that the bar had been set: we need 25,000 more calls! You can call any of the following numbers as long as you live in California. Just give the staffer your zip code. DC: (202) 224-3841 SF: (415) 393-0707 LA: (310) 914-7300 SD: (619) 231-9712 Fresno: (559) 485-7430 I called her SF office and left a message. My script: "Hi, my name is [name] and I'm a constituent in [ZIP code]. I'm calling to urge the senator in the strongest possible terms to oppose the confirmation of Jess Sessions to attorney general. Thank you." Took less than a minute. I'm going to call tomorrow, too.

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 20:39:17 -0800

Um. I did say "Jeff" and not "Jess" but on the phone you probably can't tell the difference...

By: lazuli

lazuli — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 07:50:04 -0800

I'm definitely interested but am in Sonoma County. Anyone here? Me! I'd love to do something in Sonoma or environs. I was actually planning on going to the North Bay Community Engagement Fair this Sunday afternoon, too, so I'll be up in Santa Rosa for part of the weekend. And I work over in Petaluma most days and north or west county Tuesdays. Any of that overlap with you?

By: kristi

kristi — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 12:29:17 -0800

rtha, if you have any way to get back in touch with Sen. Feinstein's staffer, it might help to point out that the voicemail mailboxes are full a lot of the time. From my calls today: SF - mailbox full; can't leave msg LA - can't leave msg SD - mailbox full; can't leave msg DC - busy (Senator Harris's mailboxes are generally full, too.) This is maybe the fourth or fifth thing I've called CA Senators about in the past few weeks; I've gotten WAY more "mailbox full" messages than chances to leave a message or talk to someone. I finally ended up sending faxes with a P.S. letting them know I'd been unable to get through on the phones.

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 16:03:53 -0800

I can't do this Sunday Jan 29 as I'm doing Bella Donna's Lunch & Fix It meetup in Albany. But thanks for getting the ball rolling on this, Quietgal. It's not like the need for this sort of thing is going to go away for the foreseeable future. ("Fellowship" is the word springing to mind, though I hear that more in churchy contexts, but still. Fellowship is what this is. Friends, Mefites, my fellows!)

By: gloturtle

gloturtle — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 16:04:06 -0800

For Peninsula, I can suggest: Cuisinett, a cute French Bistro, less than 1 block away from San Carlos Caltrain Station. or In Millbrae, just across a busy Millbrae Boulevard is Panera Bread. or Peter's Cafe, an old Dennis-style dinner, in Millbrae as well, NE corner of Millbrae Boulevard and El Camino.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 19:13:48 -0800

OK, Peter's Cafe in Millbrae on Saturday it is! We'll start at 3 pm, to avoid the lunch and dinner crowd so we can pull tables together if we need to. We should be done by 4 pm. The cafe is a reasonable walk from the BART station and sounds like it has decent parking for those who need to drive. I'll bring printouts that can be folded into "postcards" and postage stamps for anybody who can't get to the post office beforehand. Feel free to bring your own supplies, of course. If anybody has any particularly pithy messages for Congress, please share them at the meetup! It's surprisingly hard to wordsmith stuff like this (at least for me, which is why I don't have a Twitter account). See you on Saturday!

By: mark k

mark k — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 20:33:16 -0800

Looks like I can make time & location, thanks to quietgal and others who got this off the ground. See you there!

By: Gusaroo

Gusaroo — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 22:06:44 -0800

Looks like I won't be able to make this one as I'm volunteering for another organization that day. But will be following the conversation and looking to attend the next one. I'll also be writing postcards along with several friends up here. lazuli and cybercoitus: want to try for a sonoma co gathering? I'm in Santa Rosa, but willing to go anywhere in the county. PMs to come as well

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 16:37:59 -0800

Yes, let's see about working something out over MeMail. Thanks for suggesting it!

By: pocketfullofrye

pocketfullofrye — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 22:30:35 -0800

I can't make it down to the peninsula this weekend but definitely interested in joining sometime in SF or the East Bay.

By: Sparkling Natural Mineral Water

Sparkling Natural Mineral Water — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 08:48:00 -0800

Same here! I can't make it down to Millbrae today but look forward to joining in SF/East Bay in the future!

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:01:33 -0800

Mark k atI are at Peters Cafe

By: Going To Maine

Going To Maine — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:01:51 -0800

Driving down...

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 19:22:30 -0800

Thanks for showing up, everyone! It was great to meet a few new people and start doing something together. Let's plan to meet again for the second action, when that's posted. See you next time!