Author: Ruby Sinreich

First, the bad news

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First, the bad news I was going to wait to post this until an official announcment was made to my colleagues, but as usual our leaders are mum about big decisions, so here goes… I found out two weeks ago that I will be laid off from my job on June 30! This is not as bad as it seems.

The real losers in this story are my colleagues and my self-esteem. My career will probably turn out to be the winner. In retrospect, a change was clearly in order. As much as I like what I do at PPFA (and love how I am compensated for it), there are limits to what you can acheive when the decision-makers don’t think your work is all that important.

A great illustration of the problem with my job is the fact that other organizations value my wisdom enough to pay me to lead workshops and presentations, but I couldn’t even get on the agenda at our own conference. Something is wrong with this picture.

So, what’s next for me? Professionally, I have a number of options, and right now I am wide open to the possibilites. I may go back to the nonprofit consulting that I did for 3 years before I had this job, but doing a lot more than web development this time. I may consult for political campaigns to help them be more network-centric, if I can stomach working with mainstream Democrats. I might just get another job, I’ve applied for two so far. Or I might do something else that I haven’t thought of yet. Can I get paid for blogging and speaking at conferences? 😉

Lest I sound bitter about my job, let me say how incredibly fortunate I have been to work for PPFA these past 26 months. I learned a ton about the national political arena, I helped make possible tons of progressive, state-based, political advocacy, and I also had the chance to prove myself and my ideas. I was especially lucky to have a great boss who understood my strengths and weaknessess, was always supportive and constructive, and who really stood up for me in a sometimes-unfriendly workplace.

Next week I will post the good news.

The photo on this post is a mural on the wall of El Centro Latino in Carrboro.

Happy birthday to moi

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Happy birthday to moi Here’s a picture of me looking out the window of the plane this morning. Today is my actual birthday, but the Birthday Extravaganza Week started Friday night at Donna’s with alabama slammers and heated debate on whether an atheist can love someone who belives in god. (Personally, I think love conquers all… but common values make a good partnership.)

Saturday I went bowling and had a delicious vegetarian dinner with the Graysmith family. Then Brian and I saw Kung Fu Hustle, which exceeded my already-high expectations. We both loved this director’s last film, Shaolin Soccer. KFH was similar but with less cheesy (and more expensive) effects, better acting, and a better script. I highly recommend it.

Then we went to a party with beer and a bonfire where I ate lots of guacamole. I heart guacamole.

Yesterday I had a productive and satisfying day and never even left the house. I mowed the lawn, installed shelves in the kitchen, made my specialty tempeh burritos, and upgraded OrangePolitics.org from WordPress 1.2 to 1.5.

So today, on this least-festive day of my Birthday Extravaganza Week, I’m 34. It’s pretty good. Stay tuned as the Extravaganza continues…

Sen. Santorum opposes public safety

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Here’s some grist to stick in your craw this weekend. This just in from Wonkette (among others):

To better serve the public, Rick Santorum (R – PA) says the National Weather Service must stop offering weather information on the Internet. Last week, he introduced a bill to make it easier for commercial weather news providers (which make millions using federal weather data underwritten by taxpayers) to compete in the free market of Internet weather news, and harder for everyone else to actually get free weather news.

And it’s probably just a coincidence that commercial weather service AccuWeather is a huge donor to Santorum. The sad thing is that this pales in comparison to the scale of most Republican corruption. Next to the Iraq war, this combination kickback/threat to public saftey seems like a minor problem.

Good thing it’s time to start drinking! The Birthday Extravaganza begins now.

Holy Crap. Literally.

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My friend Ethan said it best: Holy Shizzit, they elected Hitler Youth Cardinal Ratzinger to be Grand Inquisitor Pope Benedict XVI!

I guess I was naive thinking that this was an opportunity for the catholic church to begin to contemplate the implications of the 20th century. I can’t say I’m too disappointed – this will surely hasten The Vatican’s swirling ride down the toilet of history. Good riddance.

Birthday extravaganza begins Saturday

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It’s time for me to mark the 34th year of this life! It gets more interesting every day. The past few weeks have been quite intense. I will probably report more on some big transitions for me soon.

Last year I was a little busy on my birthday, so this year I will make up for it with a whole week of fun:

The week-long celebration begins Saturday, with bowling and dinner for Luke and my 34th birthdays. We were both born in April 1971, the last time we celebrated together was our 30th.

On Monday (my actual birthday) I will be running up to DC for a meeting. That may not sound exciting, but it promises to be interesting and is also a chance for me to see some of my favorite colleagues. Maybe I’ll snag a tuna burger from Legal Seafoods while I’m at my second-favorite airport with my least favorite name.

On Tuesday, I’ll be having Cocktails for a Cause with my local (and favorite) Planned Parenthood affiliate at La Residence. I think the last time I went to La Rez was over 20 years ago!

Then Friday is the opening of the new Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, whose trailer indicates that someone actually “gets it.”

Just in case you are dying to commemorate my 34th year, her are a few gift suggestions:

New York state of mind

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Us My mom Aunt Adele

I think this weekend was my shortest trip to New York City ever, and we did it by car! After stops in Virginia and and Maryland on Friday night, we got to the City at lunch time on Saturday. Once we got there, the agenda was something like this:

1. Had lunch at Rice, a great Thai place in Park Slope.
2. Dropped off our stuff and our car in DUMBO.
3. Met the Rakoff women near Times Square (ug), and chatted for a few hours.
4. Ate delicious dinner made by Suzie with friends currently and formerly from Chapel Hill.
5. Slept a bit.
6. Enjoyed the very incredible riverfront park in DUMBO between the bridges with fantastic views of Manhattan.
7. Went to my Great Aunt Adele’s 90th birthday party in the historic village of Roslyn, one of the first settled areas of Long Island with homes and mills dating back to the 17th century.
8. Drove the hell home. Asleep by 4am Monday morning.

Sure we could have flown. We would have been $400 poorer and about 15 hours richer. But we had a good time in the car.

EWR

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EWR

Here you see planes (including mine) waiting in DC to take off for Newark where we’re told they have serious
“traffic” problems. If you look very closely you should see our nation’s capitol in the middle of horizon.

Al Franken

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Al Franken
I’m listening to Al Franken speak at breakfast at the Carolina Inn. So far he likes grits and hates Coach K. Pander much?

You can listen listen to him broadcasting live from Chapel Hill from noon to 3pm on WCHL 1360 AM today. Chapel Hill Towncouncil Member Mark Kleinschmidt will be om the show at 1:30. If you don’t live near hear, I think you can listen online somehow.