Sunday 1/18/15 Seahawks win over the Green Bay Packers in overtime in one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history to win the NFC Championship and win the right to go to the Super Bowl! A "memory cocktail".
Saturday 1/17/15 S&PS Kos meet up with Navajo, Meteor Blades, Joan McCarter and Monique Teal. Another "memory cocktail"!
Yesterday, football fans in Seattle, Washington, the nation and the world witnessed one of the momentous, if not the greatest, NFL playoff comebacks in the history of the game. The Green Bay Packers and their fans were stunned while the Seahawk team and fans erupted in jubilation showered in the sweet joy of victory. Fans flooded the streets, waving their Seahawk's flags as motorists honked their horns passing by them. New rounds of drinks were bought and toasts were made in countless sports bars around our great city and beyond in tribute to the determined and successful effort the Seahawks mounted. It was a super game sending the Seahawks, once again to the Super Bowl.
Twenty four hours earlier, inside the Pyramid, the most famous sports bar in all of Seattle, in a room with windows looking out at that stadium where that game took place, another kind of super event occurred. The 2015 kick off meet-up of the Connect! Unite! Act! group Seattle and Puget Sound Kos.
Football aficionados know the importance of planning and training the game of football entails. They know the importance of developing the appropriate strategy to win against their opponent.
But most of all they realize, first and foremost, that it is a team sport. Every single player on the field plays a vital role in the success of the team. Everyone on the field of play must do their job to the best of their ability and with the greatest energy they can muster for the team to achieve success.
In the same vein, this last Saturday, Seattle and Puget Sound Kos was reminded of the importance of planning and training. We were reminded of the importance of developing the appropriate strategy to win against our opponent. But most of all we were reminded of the importance of teamwork, and that every single player on the team performs a vital role in our group's success. Everyone needs to perform their role to the best of their ability and with the greatest energy they can muster.
My wife, Kathy, has coined a wonderful expression that captures moments such as these. She calls them "memory cocktails". She believes, as I do, that for a life to be lived to its most fulfilling maximum, a person should strive to create as many "memory cocktails" as possible. For me, this last Saturday's meetup ranks as a "memory cocktail" of the highest order. I hope for all those who were in attendance you felt the same.
Follow below the orange squiggly hairpiece for a recap with plenty more pictures of our event.
In attendance:
Our special Kossack guests:
Joan McCarter - Senior Policy Editor
Meteor Blades - Senior Political Writer
Navajo: Director of Community Building
Monique Teal - Member of Daily Kos' Activism Team
ActOnClimateNow, Bleeding Blue, CaptainSnagger, Charles Curtis Stanley, Creosote, doingbusinessas, Eagle Keeper Grey Fedora, jessical,jgoodfri, John Crapper, Kitsap River, LarisaW, mlharges, momomia, N in Seattle, noemie maxwell, Piren, ratcityreprobrate, RonK, seaboss84, smrichmond, Tbone Apollo, James Wells, Suzanne (friend of Capt. Snagger), Colleen (friend of momomia), Kathy (JC's SO) and Andrew V. (founder and Executive Director of Northwest Progressive Institute).
We were unable to get a group photo as our numbers were too large. I hope I've got all who where there listed. If not please let me know.
People started arriving as early as 12:15 PM. For the first 30 minutes, as the crowd grew, people mingled, said hi to old friends while sipping on the favorite drink and had a chance to meet our guests.
At around 1:00 we all sat down to eat lunch. The room was buzzing with conversation as people awaited the arrival of their food. As usually happens as the food was served the noise level died down as each concentrated on devouring their food. I heard many comments on the food's delicousness and portion size. The Pyramid and now familiar server Amanda, as usual, did a fantastic job making us all feel special.
A little before 2:00 I stepped up to the mic to say a few words.
EagleOfFreedom
First, I had to address why our group's founder, Eagle of Freedom wasn't present. Three days prior I had received a message from him informing me that his company had rescheduled his business trip to Seattle to a later date but that it was all good as he had also been promoted. He asked me to say hi to everybody. He wanted everyone to know how disappointed he was he couldn't be with us.
Next, I acknowledged the existence of the previous Seattle Kos group and asked those in the crowd who had been part of it to stand.
Then I just had to say a few words about each of our esteemed guests as introduction just to remind all what we were about to experience and enjoy in the next hour. Then I shut up and handed the mic over to our first speaker.
Navajo was first to address our group. As the Director of Community Building she heads up Daily Kos's efforts to establish Kossack groups in every Congressional District throughout the country. She outlined new tools being developed for groups will be able to use enabling them to target market and advertise their events to the readers of Daily Kos.
She stressed the need to have at least three administrators in every group. She emphasized the importance of members' participation both in the group itself and in their communities. She encouraged all to take the time to talk about the benefits of Daily Kos to their friends and invite and encourage them to join. Although we did not have to take an oath she did deputize us all to perform these tasks.
Navajo has been and continues to be a tremendous source of support and help to me personally in as the coordinator of Seattle and Puget Sound Kos.
Next to come to the mic was Monique Teal. As a longtime activist and now part of the activism team at Daily Kos she spoke about the critical importance of community organizing. She highlighted in particular her past extensive work with Democracy for America and shared with us some of her past agonies of defeat and joys of victory. She offered to share her advice and wealth of experience with us at any time and to help us in any way she could going forward.
As Monique took her seat and Meteor Blades stood up and came towards the mic, I could feel the pace of my heartbeat quicken. Being an environmental blogger, to be witnessing the man who, in my opinion, is the most knowledgeable and prolific environmental blogger on the site getting ready to speak to us was thrilling. I remember thinking to myself, "in just moments the man most responsible for increasing the visibility and readership of environmental posts at Daily Kos was getting ready to address our group." In the first-hand knowledge of the tremendous amount of work I know he's been doing in the environmental area alone, coupled with an even greater amount he's been doing in mulitiple other areas I was awestruck as he approached.
Meteor Blades (U.I.D. 6) did not disappoint. In his unassuming, guy you've just met but you feel like you've known all your life sitting on the barstool next to you style, he proceeded to share some of his life's experiences and offer some sage advice. He briefly mentioned going to prison for refusing go go to Vietnam receiving applause from the crowd. He spoke of some of the major environmental stories he was responsible for breaking while working at the Los Angeles Times. He mentioned his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. But mostly he focused on his successes in organizing and conducting get out the vote efforts over the years.
He emphasized the importance and effectiveness of old fashion, tried-and-true, neighbors talking to neighbors, boots on the ground work. He advised us all to identify and familiarize
ourselves with the issues important to our neighbors, identify the candidates campaigning for the proper resolution of those issues and knock on our neighbors' doors and talk to them about it.
In his concluding remarks he looked at all of us and stated, "we will never outspend the Koch brothers but we can certainly out organize them.
Then it was Joan McCarter's turn. Standing before our group was the Senior Policy Editor and one of four Senior Political Writers at Kos with close to 9,000 diaries posted under her name. Her mission has been to give us the news while sharing her editorial take on things. She's been doing it since 2006.
Grabbing the mic and addressing us in her warm and friendly manner she immediately began speaking about the tremendous power and influence the Daily Kos community has both at the local and national level. She flatly stated that Daily Kos is now the most effective and powerful political site in the country. As proof of this fact she cited the recent example of Net Neutrality and the successful campaign that has been recently waged submitting comments and how it has turned the tide. Then she informed us that Daily Kos has been responsible for 60% of the total.
She thanked all of us for being part of the Kos community as she attributed it to being responsible for creating and giving her the opportunity to do her the job of her dreams.
But, her concluding comment reminding us that although the online work being done by the Kos Community was resulting in many successes nothing could serve as a substitute for old-fashioned get out the vote door-to-door efforts.
Immediately following was about 30 minutes for an "ask us anything" session and as usual there was no shortage of good questions. The time, as always, went much too fast.
As the meeting came to close and I was bouncing around on cloud nine trying to say goodbye to all and thanking them for coming, I was heartened by the numerous comments I received offering help and support going forward. I want each of you to know it means the world to me because as Navajo said more than once "I need help." Actually, now that I think about it, that can be taken two ways and with both ways being equally valid.
What a wonderful couple of memory cocktails I now have filed away in my memory bank!
A wonderful meet-up and a wonderful Seahawks win!
After the Seahawks' game this last Sunday, I stuck around to see Russel Wilson being interviewed afterwards. He was in tears of emotional joy thanking his god and everybody else he could think of for the team's success.
I didn't have a TV camera in front of my face after our event but I have to admit after I was home alone with my wife for the first time, I had tears of joy running down my cheeks too, giving thanks to my god and everybody else I could think of for our success! With your continued support and help I will strive to bring our group many more "memory cocktails" throughout 2015!
Now let me say it again - THANKS TO ALL! And I want to give a special thanks to my wife, Kathy, for her limitless help and support and for being there by my side to share so many wonderful "memory cocktails" together as we travel through life! It has been and continues to be one hell of a journey!
Seattle & Puget Sound Kos is the hub of a wheel with spokes emanating from that hub. A place where people can share their reasons for being part of Daily KOS. A place where people can inform others of their activist efforts so like-minded individuals can connect. A place where we can invite others to join our community. A place to make new members feel welcome and connected. And a forum giving us the opportunity to hear from our local leaders and us a chance to share our ideas with them. And a place to gather and have a good time.