maarmie's musings

Friday, May 12, 2006

Throwing money toward the Kos

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT AN EXACT TRANSCRIPT FROM A CONVERSATION I HAD EARLIER TODAY BUT IS MERELY AN APPROXIMATE RECOUNTING OF ACTUAL EVENTS. IN ANY EVENT, I HOPE, AT THE VERY LEAST, THAT IT CONVEYS MY DEEP SENSE OF SHAME AND REGRET.



maarmie: Um. Would you mind if I take a photograph of you? It's for my blog, just so you know.

Markos Moulitsas Zuniga: Absolutely. I mean, not absolutely I mind, but absolutely...

maarmie: Yeah. Ha, ha. Absolutely I can take the photo or absolutely you mind me taking the photo? Ha, ha.

Kos: I mean absolutely you can take my photo. (insert charming smile here) That's absolutely fine. (insert charming smile here)

maarmie (with a trembly voice): It's for my blog. I don't want a photo of us together, though. I'm anonymous on my blog.

Kos: Oh, yeah? (insert feigned interest here)

maarmie: Yeah. (excited) I'm a monkey!

Kos: Oh? (insert furrowed brow here)

-----------------------------------------------------

I'm guessing that part of the conversation should have been shorter by about two or three sentences. Really, I'm so totally smooth. I'M A MONKEY!? My god! I mean, here's this cute, smart, politically savvy writer/blogster (albeit a married one) standing in front of me posing for a photograph and signing my copy of a book he co-wrote, and what am I doing? I'm blathering on about my pathetic little blog and rather proudly proclaiming that I'm a...a monkey? I'm telling you, a red-letter day for my self-esteem today was not.

In case you're wondering, Markos (Daily Kos) was in Tallahassee today to push his book Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics and to speak to law school students at Florida State University. In between gigs, he had time to preach to the choir at the Tallahassee Progressive Center where copies of his book were sold at $25 a pop to benefit the center that, like all other progressive causes and endeavors, will likely soon tank due to lack of funds and/and any semblance of organization.

Markos (Mr. Zuniga?) was smart and serious but he was also funny and completely approachable as he talked about the state of affairs in this country and a change that needs to be made to turn it all around. Democrats (I'm assuming he was including anyone to the left of zero in this category, though most people who frequent the Progressive Center start at Green and go lefter) need to band together and form a movement to one day overtake Republicans for control, he said, and new media is a communication tool that can help bring about such a movement and such change. He also blasted Democrats for turning their backs on liberal candidates whose every belief doesn't exactly match their own and talked about Stephen Colbert's antics at the little soiree where elite members of the press rub elbows (and private parts) with the president, how Colbert's remarks weren't disseminated right away because the mainstream press has been bought by the current administration and how that's not such a disastrous thing now that people don't rely on one or two sources to get the facts because the masses have access to information like never before thanks to blogs and other sites on the internet.

The power of mass communication, said Markos, has been handed over to the people. Hm. Maybe to some extent, but, as the days go by, the video of the Colbert speech has gotten harder and harder to find. Something about copyright infringement. Blah, blah, blah. Glad I've already seen it.

Markos signing my copy of his book:




Markos talked about more than what I've already mentioned and answered questions afterward, but I don't remember what he said or at least don't feel like recounting it right now because that was at 2 p.m. and it's now 1:25 a.m. and, in the interim, I've had a surprise visit from a very-serious-ex-journalist-soon-to-be-law-student who took me out for a steak dinner and left me with a whole bottle of Jack Daniel's which I will undoubtedly drink later today in its entirety before throwing up and/and passing out in my bed after crying myself into oblivion. Happy birthday to me.

Very-serious-ex-journalist-soon-to-be-law-student before partaking of the aforementioned steak dinner:


7 comments:

Annie said...

Okay, now I'm worried about your liver - if you really did finish off the bottle of Jack Daniels!

Did you really celebrate your birthday? If so, Happy, happy Birthday to you.

I always enjoy reading your posts and this one was no exception. You have a fine edgy wit and you use it with all kinds of topics.

maarmie said...

No. I had one drink last night. The rest of the bottle is just waiting...

Thanks for all your nice comments about my writing. The best birthday gift ever...

(egg) said...

HA! "I'm a monkey!" You made me snort very loudly at work -- this completely kills me. It's totally exactly the kind of thing I do when I'm trying to prove I'm cool. Lordy, that's still making me giggle.

maarmie said...

I'm not sure I'm reading your comment right. Are you saying I'm not cool? I'm cool, right? Right...?

Anonymous said...

WAIT A SECOND. It's NOT really your birthday!

By the way, took a little drive down fourth street. That's one fine bank going up over there.

Anonymous said...

Dangit! I forgot your birthday. I guess we're even. Maybe I'll mail you a crockpot. Oh well, hope you had a good birthday. Don't forget: you're a superstar every day.

maarmie said...

Yes. It WAS my real birthday.