10 (More) Things About Me

I’ve been tagged by the Crone Report, who I’ve known since the mid-1970s at college. According to Ms. Report, the rules of the game are thus:

Post 10 random things about yourself.

Choose five people to tag and a reason you chose them and make sure to tell them.

Don’t tag the person who tagged you.

She’s right that I’ve probably done this before; hope I haven’t repeated these (and if so, not too often). These are in chronological order, from oldest to newest.

OK, here goes:

1. I fell down the flight of steps between my grandparents’ apartment and ours when I was three. There’s still a scar there under my lower lip where hair does not grow, giving me soul patch potential before the term was invented.

2. In high school, I was president of our Red Cross club.

3. In May of 1972, the US mined Haiphong harbor, thus, we believed, escalating the Viet Nam conflict. There was a demonstration at the draft board in Kingston, NY, and the board closed in anticipation of our arrival, though it was a peaceful protest. The next day, the front page of the newspaper, the Kingston Freeman, had a picture of me and a couple other people sitting in front of the building. The quality (or reproduction) of the photo was so poor, though, that I didn’t even recognize myself.

4. My college friend Alice and I were hitchhiking from New Paltz to Hornell, NY to visit a friend of ours who had been injured in a fatal car crash. Some guy picked us up west of Binghamton and proceeded to give us a lecture about the sin of miscegenation; we weren’t a couple. We wondered what his reaction would have been if he knew she was a lesbian.

5. As a direct result of the person who tagged me, I went through a brief period of wearing berets. But not red ones.

6. Six women and I went skinny-dipping.

7. I worked as a telemarketer. But in those days, we only called people who had had a relationship with the product; e.g., people whose TV Guide subscription had lapsed or the annual for those people owning encyclopedias.

8. I once drove a car from Schenectady to Albany, about 10 miles, without a license or even learner’s permit. The owner of the car was too drunk to drive. (The statue of limitations on this has passed.)

9. I saw Anita Baker perform at the Palace Theatre in Albany in the late 1980s. Afterwards, my friend Karen introduced me to her – very pleasant woman – and we were allowed to go backstage, where boxing champ Mike Tyson and “Ironweed” star Jack Nicholson were hanging out. (The story of Ironweed by William Kennedy was based on Albany, and part of it was filmed in the city.)

10. I did not do it often in any case, but the last time I drank alcohol thinking that I might get inebriated was on my 39th birthday. My friend Marion, who was in the choir and a book club with me, died on March 4 of that year of cancer. Her husband asked me to be a pallbearer and the funeral was on March 7. Worst. Birthday. Ever.

OK, the dreaded who to tag:
Eddie, so he can get out of the rhythm of posting music videos;
Librarian 2008, because she needs to put more personal stuff on her blog;
Uthaclena, because I’m curious whether any of ours will intersect;
Kelly, because she seems always game for a game; and
Anthony, because it would give me an opportunity to know him better.

ROG

DMV and Immigration QUESTIONS

If you’re not from New York state, you may not be familiar with this issue. If you ARE from NYS, you can’t help but know about it.

From a September 21, 2007 press release by the governor:
“Governor Eliot Spitzer and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner David Swarts today announced an administrative policy change that will give all New Yorkers the opportunity to apply for state driver licenses without regard to immigration status. Tied to the policy change, the Governor and Commissioner also announced plans to implement a new regime of anti-fraud measures to increase the security of the licensing system as a new population of New Yorkers comes into the system.”

What this means is that Spitzer’s new DMV procedures will allow illegal immigrants to get driver licenses, which would, among other things, increase their employment opportunities. This has set off a firestorm of criticism, some of which has been captured here.

Basically, the reductivist positions are that those opposing the measure are racist xenophobes who want to keep marginalizing the immigrant population, while those supporting the proposal are not only weakening a well-recognized form of identification, but making the country safe for terrorists.

One religious collective, ARISE, sent out this notice this week:
Gov. Spitzer’s rule change around immigrant access to a New York State Driver’s License has, as I am sure you have heard, generated a political firestorm and a flood of anti-immigrant rhetorical venom.

ARISE clergy made public statements supporting Gov. Spitzer on moral, religious, legal, security, and economic grounds at a press event last Monday, October 1, in Albany, and received pretty good coverage, but since then the anti-Spitzer forces have been very successful getting their anti-immigrant message into the headlines with heated but unfounded claims about security, legality, and terrorism.

To provide a measured and thoughtful reply, and to amplify rational and humane and fair messages about the overheated driver’s license controversy, ARISE is participating in two events:

1. PRAYER VIGIL FOR FRANK MEROLA, leading spokesperson for county clerks opposing Spitzer’s rule change.
Friday, Oct 12, 10:30am
Rensselaer County Clerk’s Office
Across from Emma Willard statue, near 2nd & Congress in downtown Troy
This event is co-sponsored by NY State Labor Religion Coalition, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Emmaus House, Capital District Worker Center, and ARISE (list in formation).

2. STATE PRESS CONFERENCE for allies supporting the driver’s license rule change: good for public safety, good for homeland security, good for legal process, and good for working families in NYS
Monday, Oct 15, 12 noon
LCA Press Room, 130 Legislative Office Building

A prayer vigil: love that tactic.

But here’s the thing: I see both sides. Changing the driver’s ID may be problematic, especially when the state is trying to make the case to the federal government that the driver’s ID is as good as a passport when going to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. On the other hand, allowing people a better chance to earn a living wage is a concern for me.

So what do YOU think?

(Hmm, today is the traditional Columbus Day.)

ROG

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