An Unlikely Pundit

What do you say we start from the beginning?

It seems I need a bit of structure in my blogging. So, I have decided that every Saturday, I will make a new post. It could be your basic op-ed, on the news or public policy. It could be a focus on higher political ideals, from a philosophy of Freedom to what Socialism truly is. Others will focus (a great deal) on my life, specifically my fiancée, my work, or anything else. Some will simply be art pieces. But first, an introduction to your humble writer: The unlikely pundit.

I am currently between jobs. I've worked as a sales associate in a fine jewelry store, as an assembly line worker in a digital media factory, as an usher at a movie theater. I've portrayed both Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall on the bad side of town, I've worked under the table doing gigs for my family and friends, and I've registered young voters supporting Obama. But right now, I can't find work. I'd like to get a job that's relaxed and low-key, a job where I make enough to pay all our expenses, a job that I'm proud to work at. When someone invents that job, let me know. Until then, I want anything that will bring in enough money for me to take care of my little family.

My dream job would be one as a community organizer. I want to work for an organization that focuses both on community economic development and on grassroots activism and lobbying. A job that both helps individuals and communities directly, while also focusing on long-term, institutional changes. This job may be sneered by the far right, by the Sarah Palin's and the Rush Limbaugh's and the Michael Savages' of the world, but I think there is nothing more honorable than making a living by doing good things.

I am also an "artist." I don't know if I fit that term. There are two things I see when I hear the word "Artist": one is an annoying putz drinking espresso, trying to show everyone that they're intellectual by using big words; the others are truly and deeply creative, amazing, talented individuals, who's skill I cannot hope to match. I don't want to be the former, and I wish I was the latter. But nevertheless, I will use the term for now, until a better one comes up. I have aspirations to be a film-maker and a fiction writer, on top of my (hopeful) career in community organizing. I love acting. I enjoy getting on stage and putting on a different person, and then using that to communicate with an audience. I would love to write, direct, and preform in films professionally. Apart from movies, mini-series', and short films, I would like a big focus to be on documentaries. I'm also something of a fiction writer. I love writing poetry and short stories, although I'm out of practice. I've planned on one magnum opus, a few novel series, and several short stories, along with several poems, but I haven't had an opportunity to work on either my acting or my fiction lately.

I guess any artist would say both fiction and non-fiction can be used to convey the truth. That's another part of what I want to do with my life. It's another part of my motivation.

I've recently "found religion," if it can really be called that. I recently discovered that I was a Unitarian-Universalist. I believe that all folks find their way to truth on their own, and they make their own peace with God. In that way, I guess I'm an old-fashioned Anti-Nominist. I can't force you, I can't threaten you, you just gotta find what works for you. And that's what a church is for. I've got plenty of my own beliefs about God, about the soul, about spirituality, and about the nature of humanity. But as far as actual religious views, I don't think there's any way any person can claim absolute authority over something that, at the end of the day, nobody knows 'till they shuffle off this mortal coil. My religion is very important to me. Like many other things in my maturing life, it's a routine that gives me comfort.

But the biggest part of my life is being in love. I've found my soul mate. Finding your soul mate doesn't mean you've found someone who is perfect all the time. It means you've found someone is your perfect match. We've both got problems, we've both got issues, we've both got baggage. But we are perfect, in the end, for each other. I love her for a million reasons, but in the end, beyond the little things I love, beyond the physical, beyond her being my best friend, beyond our compatibility, there is a deep draw I feel towards her that I cannot define. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want her to be the mother of my children.

I mention this, because she's the reason. It's because of my partner and our future children that I write about politics. I don't just want to make a better world for myself. I want it for my family. I don't want my children to be raised in the miseries of this world. I want to make a better future for my kids and my partner.

That's why I write. That's why I organize. It's not just my past, my intelligence, my "perspective." It's for Isabella and Tobias, it's for Sophia and Oliver, Adrianna and Isiah, Rosalind and Elijah. It's for Meghan. It's for my grandkids.

If that's not a good enough reason for a revolution, I don't know what is.

So, this is me, and this is my work. Hope you enjoy.

Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.