On Friday, I went to Kinko's and did $15 in copying of the Peace Alliance's DoP poster and flyer. This financial commitment on my part, trivial to some but significant to one of my financial status, is to symbolize/initiate my commitment to "go public" with my language and musical talents.

I have been active for about two months on the internet promoting the propeace agenda on mainstream forums and promoting unity on the alternative forums, but I know that's not enough. I must get out there in person. It's ironic that the most competent people to do this are too busy earning a living and raising families, and those of us with the time and sense of purpose, like me, are incompetent or handicapped in some way that makes them (us) ineffective.

So I'm using a device I've used in the past to prepare myself psychologically for speaking in public in spite of my long-standing aversion to that task. It's no magic or secret. I learned it from my father when I first started teaching. It's called overpreparation.

My first talent is language, so I've started mentally organizing and rehearsing my talk. It will start with the premises from Bleep that we create our own reality, and that there is power in intent. Then there will be a two-minute silent meditation on those concepts, and then the information part. I've downloaded the bill and have read it carefully twice. There's actually much more there than meets the eye in either the one-page summary (which says very little; I wish I had been around to write that document!) or the flyer.

The flyer is dense enough with information to act as a foundation for any talk I may have to give, especially since I intend to distribute it and will want people to be intimate with its content. I will probably do some writing about the bill - perhaps a two-page summary, by me and for me, that I can use as a resource for answering questions that people will ask at meetings where I speak or at events where I table.

Finally, my meeting will end with an expression of gratitude for any support they are able to give. Obviously, I want to work the song in there, too - perhaps as a way to end the meditation!

Music is my second talent, and I'm planning to publish "Blue in a Red State." It looks like the first week of May is the soonest I can make it to Asheville to get it recorded and copyrighted between other commitments and financial necessity. A trip to Asheville costs about $50, and I will need the same amount for the song itself - $25 for a session at Jimmy's studio (and hopefully one session is all I'll need) and $25 for the copyright itself.

I will ask Jimmy to mix me down five copies: one each for me, Jason, Turo Dexter (webmaster at www.kucinich.us), Judy Collins, and the copyright people. If the campaign wants to produce other copies for use on a national level, they'll have to buy the song from me, or pay the studio cost of mass-producing the CDs, or collect the down-load fee if we distribute by means of the website. Perhaps they will be willing to do that if I pledge a percentage to furthering the campaign. I'll have to ask Jimmy what he thinks is appropriate. I'm hoping that Jimmy will be interested in giving me significant help in obtaining the copyright, advising me on publication, and giving me musical assistance in the form of acting as recording engineer, co-vocalist, and rhythm/lead guitarist. I guess he'll need a percentage, too!

It will be a simple recording, all acoustic. I'll do the scratch track vocally with the metronome and then record the bass line with Jimmy's hollow-body bass guitar. Jimmy also knows how to do that high tenor bluegrass harmony, and if my own contralto lead vocal doesn't sound good enough, I'm sure I can find someone to do those honors. (But the fewer people I involve, the more likely it will be a one-session effort.) At the moment, I'm not planning any percussion other than my little egg rattles and maybe some hand-clapping for the first two lines of the first verse, where we take back our flag, and the last verse, the call to action.

My head is in a better place today regarding the campaign; I've been so blissed-out lately about finally finding something that jolts me out of the doldrums and moves me to action in my post-PTSD life. I've evolved into the head-space of me with a full-time job to do, and that's much more comfortable given all the duties and responsibilities I'm taking on - and given the inevitable sluggishness of the political process. It is certainly a different sort of job than I've ever done before - ugh, politics! - but I'm viewing it as a learning experience, and as my responsibility as a "tribal elder" to my progeny.