When I was out in Denver the weekend before last for the Netroots Nation in Your Neighborhood conference, Darcy Burner turned to me at one point (after a really fun and raucous dinner with about 20 people from the conference) and to me in a burst of pure spontaneous enthusiasm, "I just love grassroots progressives." What she said.
Being on the road promoting my book is a blast because I get to meet so many interesting people. I wrote earlier about Deb Kozikowski and her organization because I got to spend a lot of quality time with her, but there are so many interesting people you just meet briefly that I'd love to spend more time getting to know some day:
I met a fellow in Boston last night who has been blogging and commenting at Blue Mass Group, OpenLeft, MyDD and Daily Kos (username cos, if you want to check him out) longer, he says, than Daily Kos existed.
Alternatively, I met a terrific young woman named Colleen (didn't catch her last name) who is just starting her own blog. She seemed really smart and really fun, and I'm hoping she will send along some of her posts so that we can cross-post them at OpenLeft. It's wonderful to see great new people getting started in the blogosphere.
At the Northampton, MA Drinking Liberally on Tuesday night with Bill Scher, I met a group of women who have formed what to their knowledge is the only Knitting Liberally chapter in the country. They are hoping other such chapters will be started. Their slogan is "speak loudly and carry two pointy sticks!" I recommend not messing with them.
Another incredibly cool person I met is a photographer and writer named Andrea Burns, who other folks there said was the best photographer in the area. She was late for DL because she was at a Democratic party mtg, and she's been doing some writing about progressive politics at Hampshire College. In addition to mentioning her because I thought she was a wonderful person, I am always impressed by local activists with full-time jobs who still find time to contribute to progressive politics in so many different ways at the same time- through the Democratic party, through groups like Drinking Liberally, through writing and new media projects.
I like telling stories about the great folks I meet on the road- smart, fun, warm, kind, creative activists who are making a difference in all kinds of different ways in their communities. Some of them are just getting started, some have been organizing or blogging for many years, but I am heartened by the folks I meet who are part of the movement. The book tour has been a great excuse to meet a lot of people, I just hope I can figure out other excuses to make the rounds again sometime soon so that I can see all these good folks again.
