Welcome to the first postcard writing party and music thread of the new year!
Mousebumples is writing for Patricia Lawton for Pennsylvania State Senate (local news coverage), with #PostcardsToVoters.
If you are writing for another race, chime in. If you are just getting started with postcard writing, folks like Mousebumples and H.E. Wolf (if she’s here) can help show you the ropes with Postcards to Voters. MazeDancer can show you the ropes when her Postcard Patriots group is involved in a race.
Hopefully there will be addressees for postcards for the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
I am not a postcard writer myself, but I am willing to facilitate these threads if/when there is interest and a race to write for.
Assuming there is interest, when there are key special elections to write for, we’ll generally have these posts on Tuesdays at 8 pm.
If you’re writing postcards, chime in to let us know you’re here, and if you’re here to encourage the writers or share some music, jump right in!
Open thread.
War for Ukraine Day 327: Bakhmut & Soledar Grind On
Mousebumples
I’m here! And I sent you a photo of my first 2 postcards, WaterGirl, if you want to share those.
If you want to join Postcards To Voters, you can either text JOIN to 484-275-2229 or email [email protected].
And if you’re not postcarding (*or even if you are, if you can do both at the same time), what are you watching or listening to? I’ve got Bucks vs Raptors on the TV – but I’m looking forward to checking out the different music selections later. 😊
WaterGirl
Postcard from Mousebumples!
H.E.Wolf
Excerpted from campaign materials, with editorial comments in parentheses by me:
“Patricia Lawton is currently an adjunct instructor at Penn State Harrisburg (so she probably knows what it’s like to be exploited for one’s labor) and is working on her dissertation for a Ph.D. in Administration and Leadership Studies.
“She was raised by two Pennsylvanians who served in the U.S. Air Force. She is the granddaughter of a PA farmer/trucker driver and PA railroad worker. She is a long-time speech language pathologist (Pres. Biden would appreciate that). As a former union member and leader, she stands behind workers.”
Pete Seeger can start us off with a classic pro-union song: “Which Side Are You On?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XEnTxlBuGo
eclare
I have been thinking about this scene a lot with Santos, “the bigger the lie, the more they believe.”
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4xbg0
Wendell Pierce is sublime.
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: Love that song!
H.E.Wolf
And on a more general note, here’s Woody Guthrie: “All You Fascists Bound To Lose”.
I’m always startled by the contrast between his squirrelly little voice and his ferocious lyrics. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwcKwGS7OSQ
UncleEbeneezer
Just here to share some good tunes.
Differente- Gotan Project
Mousebumples
Glad to have you here, too H. E. I’m not from Pennsylvania, so I won’t pretend to know what her chances are. But low turnout special elections feel like a great opportunity to boost turnout, and I love supporting liberal candidates
Eta – and great to have everyone else here, too! 🙌🙌
UncleEbeneezer
Brother- Miles Mosely
dkinPa
Thank you, Mousebumples and H.E. Wolf, for reminding me this past weekend of the special election in Pennsylvania at the end of January! I got addresses from Postcards to Voters, and am on my second batch of ten. I had Loreena McKennitt’s Book of Secrets on in the background earlier, and am curious to hear some of the music selections that others offer here.
In the meantime, I still have my decorations and Christmas tree up and would like to have those packed away by the end of the month, too. Everything in good time. . . .
MazeDancer
PostCard Patriots will be supporting important Special Elections all year. The site is re-tooled for that purpose. New free, original PostCard designs useful for all “local” kind of elections will be appearing in the coming weeks.
First race: the WI Supreme Court. Where WI’s future hangs in the balance.
There are 4 candidates running, 2 Dem, 2 GOP. As the race is supposed to be non-parisan, there will be a Feb 21 primary where all 4 candidates run against each other. The top two advance to the general.
Could be 2 Dems, 2 GOP or 1 of each.
So, we want to support the Dems.
WI does not track voters party affiliation. So getting address lists is tricky. Hope to have that ironed out soon.
Happy to answer questions or take suggestions for important future races to support anytime. Site is PostCardPatriots.com. (Or click on my nym.) Email is PostCardPatriots @ the Google mail place.
Mousebumples
@dkinPa: Sounds like you’ve been very productive! 👏👏👏
Election Day is January 31st. I’ll be keeping an eye on returns that night, and hoping our efforts made a difference!
H.E.Wolf
Things I like about writing with Postcards To Voters (other groups are great too; this is just the one I’m familiar with):
1. I like their upbeat attitude: “fun and friendly”.
2. They provide 3 required sentences of talking points, courtesy of the candidate’s campaign (plus a long list of optional items to choose from). Quick and easy to write! Even if you’re like me and need to factor in the time to white-out and re-write your typos.
3. Minimum number of cards is 4. See “quick and easy”, above.
4. You have 3 days in which to write your cards, and if you ask for addresses on a Thursday, you get an extra day (Sunday). Nice for slowpokes and procrastinators (I am both).
eclare
@dkinPa: No worries, I think the deadline for putting Christmas decorations away is Easter.
H.E.Wolf
@MazeDancer:
MazeDancer is in the house!! Our go-to person (and wonderful impressario) for PostCardPatriots, another great postcarding organization!
UncleEbeneezer
Some J-Pop: Shukumei- Official Hige Dandism
Mousebumples
@MazeDancer: Glad to hear you’ll be doing Wisconsin addresses! There’s an open State Senate seat that shares election days (primary – though only 1 Dem is running, and then the April election date) in the Milwaukee area, if you are able to focus geographically at all. (Alberta Darling is the Republican who just resigned.) Not my district, but I’m rooting for injuries on the Republican side and hoping the Democratic candidate can flip the seat!
MazeDancer
@Mousebumples: Will definitely be a Milwaukee centric list.
Because WI doesn’t track party affiliation, one’s only hope is to order a list from a completely Dem district. Working on that now.
@H.E.Wolf: Hey to you, too!
UncleEbeneezer
Found this one from the Dickinson soundtrack.
Baby When I Close My Eyes- Sweet Spirit
eclare
https://youtu.be/isuMCkKhTsU
A great song for something soothing in the background. Fingers crossed the link works.
Mousebumples
@MazeDancer: Yeah, that makes sense. 😊 And given November turnout numbers, I think Milwaukee area probably has more room for turnout growth than, say, Dane County.
And my first 10 of the night are done! Time for a snack break. 😊
NotMax
For any Californians, Handel’s Water Music.
Bonus Scarlatti track for general consumption, just because.
UncleEbeneezer
Some 80’s vibes: Fifteen- Goldroom
H.E.Wolf
I just sent WaterGirl a copy of one of my struggle postcards for Patricia Lawton – I fought my fountain pen to a draw on the capital-letter sections, it sure didn’t want to cooperate. :)
I wrote a mighty 10 cards this week. If even one out of those recipients decides to vote, who didn’t plan to before, that’s another vote banked for the Democrats.
It’s like small $ donations: when lots of people each contribute a tiny amount, it adds up. And this is an excellent campaign with which to dip your toes into the water: short sentences, thank you campaign publicist.
I may throw my fountain pen into the back of the drawer and write 5 more with plain ol’ ballpoint.
[ETA: It may take me the full 3 days, but no one on the receiving end will know that!]
dkinPa
@Mousebumples: Keeping fingers crossed! I was frankly shocked (and delighted) that the Dems took over the PA House in the midterms. The Republicans have ruled the roost here for a while. I think women voters in PA finally realized that Republicans in red states are serious about restricting abortion access and realized it could happen here.
UncleEbeneezer
Some Western-inspired jazz by one of my fave guitarists: Call of the Canyon- Julian Lage Trio
Leslie
Books instead of music: I’m pretty sure it was someone here who mentioned the Thursday Murder Club series, and thank you to that person. I have torn through the first three books and am impatiently awaiting the fourth.
dkinPa
@eclare: I’m in good shape, then! LOL
Enjoying the music selections — there’s always something new that I’ve not heard before — thanks, guys!
NotMax
Shifting gears, Big Daddy, a cappella.
prostratedragon
@UncleEbeneezer: Love that one, and Gotan generally. The words are very close to “What a Wonderful World.”
WaterGirl
Postcard from H. E. Wolf!
Mousebumples
@H.E.Wolf: No matter how much you had to fight with your pen, those look awesome! 😍
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: @H.E.Wolf:
I like the message:
WaterGirl
Appreciating all the music!
WaterGirl
Looking good, you guys!
How many people are writing postcards tonight? Chime in if you’re here.
Delk
This one is dedicated to the house republicans
MazeDancer
@H.E.Wolf: The VA Dems, who have a great PostCard program, did research that indicated PostCards boost turnout by 3 to 4%.
But you can’t look at your personal number of PostCards, you have to look at the aggregate. How your 5 to 50 for a candidate become part of this larger momentum.
If all the writers combined generate 100 PostCards, that could mean 4 extra votes. Elections have been won on less.
If, over a week or two, people can aggregate 1000 PostCards, that’s 40 people to the polls.
Studies also show canvassing a district can add 3 to 4% to turnout. If you get a big enough group to do both PostCards and canvassing, you’re adding 6 to 8%. That’s landslide territory these days.
If everyone manages 10 PostCards, it adds up.
H.E.Wolf
@Mousebumples: Thank you! The white-out doesn’t show up at all in the image. :)
And yours are awesome too. I love the jaunty letter J’s. 😍
WaterGirl
I have had a super long day and I have to get up at 6 am tomorrow, so I’m gonna turn off the laptop and watch some TV.
Omnes Omnibus
Something from the ’80s for you.
H.E.Wolf
@MazeDancer:
Great info about the power of small margins – thank you for the clarity of your explanation!
@WaterGirl:”How many people are writing postcards tonight? Chime in if you’re here.”
I bet we have some lurkers who are writing. Standing ovation for the quiet folks!
Thanks also to all the music providers. Good stuff.
MazeDancer
@H.E.Wolf: You said during the midterms that you enjoy using special stamps on your PostCards.
Excellent job, again, on the ones you chose tonight. The stamps, alone, will get your card noticed. And the card itself is great.
As a former Santa Fean, that turquoise necklace stamp has long been a favorite.
Mousebumples
@H.E.Wolf: & @WaterGirl: Thanks to both of you! I’m looking forward to doing more of these threads. 😎
UncleEbeneezer
Also apt for the GOP, a Jazz rendition of Still Crazy After All These Years- Brad Mehldau Trio
prostratedragon
More Gotan Project, with Cecilia Roth:
Unless your writing turns into votes!
Joy in FL
I have a class on Tuesdays from 7-9. The series ends at the end of Jan, so I hope to join the party after that.
But I will write some postcards this week because you all are so awesome and encouraging.
Thanks for the music. I didn’t realize how good listening to Woody Guthrie is for my soul.
eclare
https://youtu.be/8QZvoOqUkqw
Late. But hope it gives some inspiration. Fight the power!
Mousebumples
@Joy in FL: Sounds like fun! Care to share the class topic?
And I think WaterGirl would be willing to share some of your postcards next time, if you want to send her a photo. Happy postcarding! 😁
H.E.Wolf
@MazeDancer: Thank you for the compliments! What a nice coincidence that the turquoise necklace stamp has special meaning for you.
Anyone who wants to use vintage stamps – and doesn’t mind licking stamps, because the older ones aren’t peel-and-stick – wait about 1 week for the new USPS rates to kick in, and then go to Etsy and search for “US vintage postage stamps”. The price is usually a bit less than current USPS price.
It’s very much potluck. Most of the stamps are fun to use, but not all. I exchange chatty postcards with one of my friends, and we use the questionable stamps on cards to each other. (From the point of view of GOTV, the Richard Nixon stamp was bad; the commemorative stamp for the inventor of the Pap smear was worse.)
MazeDancer
@prostratedragon: Wonderful!
Joy in FL
@Mousebumples: Sure, I’ll share the topic. It’s called Tarot and Psyche. It’s a Jungian approach to tarot. It’s quite good; the teacher is well-prepared and knows her material.
Elizabelle
@H.E.Wolf: Cool idea about Etsy for vintage stamps.
Have so many floating around the house. Time to corral them.
@MazeDancer: Good explanation. Highly motivating!
H.E.Wolf
@Joy in FL: So glad you dropped in after class! Always great to see your ‘nym. [ETA: That sounds like a fascinating class!]
*All* of this – the music from so many contributors, the conversation, the activity in service of a worthy goal – is good for my soul. Thank you, everybody!
I’m planning to be mostly offline for the rest of the evening. Since there are so many women here for this blog post, I’ll link to Joan Baez and her younger sister Mimi Baez Fariña, singing “Bread and Roses”. I’ve always loved its connection with the women in the Lowell, MA, textile mills, who created the first USA union for working women.
https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/lowell-mill-women-form-union
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqJHUkOTLOQ
MazeDancer
FYI PostCard stamp prices increase 4 cents a stamp on Sunday.
MazeDancer
@Joy in FL: What deck does the course use?
Riodawg
Just now discovered The Coathangers on Sleater-Kinney radio. All female punk band from Atlanta!
mvr
@MazeDancer: Thanks I signed up for some cards using your link.
BigJimSlade
@Omnes Omnibus: Who knew a Heaven 17 song would get more current than it was in the 80s? Not that I gave it much credit at the time, except for sounding like the 80s.