Faith, fact and why MC is singing
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night, felt a knot in my stomach and recognized the worry: about family, deadlines, bills, clients who haven’t paid me for work I did last summer, and a retirement account that equals zilch.
It was pitch black; I couldn’t see a thing, but still I climbed out of bed and made my way down the hall to the fridge for some cold water. I took a long drink and leaned against the kitchen counter, looking out the window, wondering, “How did I get here? – to this point in my life where so many worries had piled up so high, and “How will I find my way out of this mess?”
I’m not alone. 2009 has been a year to rock the faith of even the most earnest believers. (more…)
MC in Sarasota H-T — Nadel Can’t Ruin Our Town
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune ran a column of mine this morning in its Op/Ed section. Page 9A if you’re reading print … online readers can click on the link below:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091214/COLUMNIST/912141004
If you’re interested in commenting on the piece — you can do so by writing to: editor.letters@heraldtribune.com. And, of course, you’re welcome to leave a comment on this blog!
It’s a good Monday for me whenever I’m in print — so Happy Monday!
Alan Grayson Keynotes Dem Club of Sarasota Sunday December 6
“Few Florida politicians have grabbed national attention as quickly and dramatically as freshman U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Sunday Nov. 1, 2009, p.1.
Yep, Grayson was catapulted onto the national stage when he summed up the Republican’s Health Care Plan as 1) Don’t get sick 2) If you do get sick… 3) die quickly!
Guess you know where I’ll be on Sunday, December 6 … and it isn’t in church! Who knows? Maybe it should be … but instead I’m high-tailing it to the Democratic Club of Sarasota’s “Dinner for Progress” at Michael’s on East to hear national scene-stealer, U.S. Representative Alan Grayson ruffle feathers and enjoy just a smidgen of hyperbole with my dinner. A few weeks ago I was on Florida This Week trying to sound smart (ass) about Grayson and now I’ll have to see if he’s got the street cred to bring all that hot air down to earth. Hope to see you there — if you come, swing by my table and say hello to me! (P.S. if you do register, tell ’em MC sent you — that, and a near c-note, will get you in the door, meaning, basically, my name is mud without money! ;))
You can register relatively painlessly online — or take a look at the registration information below.
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The Democratic Club of Sarasota and The Democratic Party of Sarasota County
invite you to A Dinner for Progress featuring Congressman Alan Grayson
Sunday, December 6, 2009
6:00 pm Social Hour • 7:00 pm Dinner
Michael’s On East
1212 East Avenue South, Sarasota
Other speakers include:
Democratic candidates for Florida Attorney General
Florida Senators Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber,
and Florida Representative Keith Fitzgerald
$90 per person (in two checks*)
RSVP by December 1 For more information, call (941) 244-2266
The Democratic Club of Sarasota and The Democratic Party of Sarasota County
invite you to A Dinner for Progress featuring Congressman Alan Grayson
Sunday, December 6, 2009
6:00 pm Social Hour · 7:00 pm Dinner
Michael’s On East
1212 East Avenue South, Sarasota
Other speakers include:
Democratic candidates for Florida Attorney General
Florida Senators Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber,
and Florida Representative Keith Fitzgerald
$90 per person (in two checks*)
For more information, call (941) 244-2266
*******************************************************************************
More $$$ for All Faiths!
All Faiths Food Bank let me know today that even more MC Reality Reader donations have arrived at the food bank — an additional $120 has come in!
That brings this year’s drive total to $1,731! Thanks so much!
All Faiths “Thank you for contributing” drawing winners
As reported a few days ago, MC Reality readers — on this blog and in the Creative Loafing and Pelican Press newspapers — dug deep and donated $1,611 to All Faiths Food Bank in my third annual “MC Reality/All Faiths” fundraising drive.
Late yesterday I received a list of names of those contributors who wanted to be entered into the drawings — which were held today! Four names were selected and I’ve sent emails and a snail letter to those folks to offer them their choice of “thank you for contributing” give-aways — including a guest blog on MC Reality Online, copies of my book Sideways in Sarasota, or having me emcee an event, conduct a writing workshop, a free ad on my blog, or give a talk to a group or organization, within the Sarasota area.
Whether you wanted your name entered into the drawing or not — HUGE, BIG, GINORMOUS thank you for everyone’s contributions to this year’s drive!
MC Reality Readers Make a Real Difference this Thanksgiving!
“Wow!” That was the headline from the email I received from All Faiths Food Bank earlier today letting me know that as of about noon today, MC Reality readers — here at this blog, at the Pelican Press, and at Creative Loafing — dug deep into their already economy-affected wallets and pockets and still found room to send donations to the food bank to help those in need.
Amount raised? A fabulous $1,611.23!!!! Add that amount to the drives since 2007, and that means Reality Readers have donated an incredibly generous total of $10,484!
Want to know how many Thanksgiving dinners that amount could supply to families of four or five — including turkey and all the yummy trimmings? — 134!! One hundred and thirty-four!
Want to know how many individual meals that amount can buy for the hungry in our community now as a result of your generosity? — If I’m doing my math right — it’s a staggering 2,557 meals!
(All Faith’s website says 159 individual meals can be provided with just $100, so I extrapolated from that; someone correct me if my math is wrong — hey, I’m a writer, not a math genius!.)
They haven’t had time to get the names to me for the drawing, but believe me, as soon as they do — I’ll report the drawing results right here at MC Reality online!
I don’t know how to thank you all — each and every one of you — for pitching in for the third year in a row to this little drive of mine. A couple of people have said to me “Oh, wow, you did a great job with the drive this year!” But I know it wasn’t me — it was all of you … making a difference.
Thank you.
Sarasota County — A+ in responsiveness
You know me — always (or at least usually) complaining in some form about errant Police Chiefs and odd goings on in connection with acquisition of parcels for big league baseball … yada yada yada.
But I have to give credit where/when credit is due. And yesterday — it was due to Sarasota County.
Below is an email I sent yesterday to Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson who represents the District I live in; unbelievably I heard back from Commission Patterson that same night and from another Commissioner the next day. Color me impressed by the responsiveness from the County — from the phone call to a nearly-anonymous call center operator to the headline-making folks that help run the county — it was a very gratifying experience, and I really appreciate the insight into some very good things about the County. (more…)
All Faiths donations up to $571 as of last night!
Whoo hoo! So far, we’ve raised nearly six hundred dollars for All Faiths Food Bank in the MC Reality drive 2009! On the All Faiths website it says that $500 will provide 794 meals — so that means we’re easily helping to give at least that many meals to the hungry men, women, and children of our community. Or, if you think of it in terms of Thanksgiving dinners (including turkey, stuffing and all the usual trimmings!) for entire families — well, our collective $571 will provide nearly 50 Thanksgiving dinners!
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! (more…)
Sarasota (and beyond) feeding the hungry — All Faiths Update!
All Faiths Food Bank let me know today that three REALITY readers have already donated $160 in the MC Reality Readers annual All Faiths fundraising drive to feed the hungry. Donations have come from as far away as Phoenix, Arizona! Big thanks to both local and far-flung readers!
That $160 will provide 93 meals, according to All Faiths — can you believe that!?
At the request of one reader, I’ve decided to also offer another thank you gift to the mix — I’m adding a Guest Blog. So that’s another option for a thank you gift And I’m going to add one more drawing — so instead of the previous three names being drawn, there are now four chances to “win” a thank you of your choosing. As with the other thank yous, the guest blog will be subject to editing by me and I won’t run anything that’s off the charts (and yes, it’s solely up to my discretion). (more…)
Economy from the edge …
Monday, November 2 — “On the Edge with Economist Dr. Ayse Somersan: An Economic Forum.” Event hosted by the Southwest Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice.
Featuring Waldo Profitt, political editor emeritus at Sarasota Herald Tribune; Chris Wille, editorial page editor at the Bradenton Herald; Dr. Frank Alcock, political science professor at New College; and of course, Dr. Somersan, professor emeritus and dean of University of Wisconsin.
The Forum will be co-moderated by Augie Schmitz and Rob Lorei (of WMNF and the same elegant man who moderates Florida This Week).
Golden Apple Dinner Theater — 586.6839 or swfcpj.org. Cost is $20 and that includes hors d’oeuvres. See you there!
