May 2009 Archives

I know, it's many moons till Christmas, but who wouldn't want one of these?

Call this Miss Manners part deux.

For many of us, attending functions, meeting new people is an every day event.  It doesn't necessarily take a Presidential election year to get us out and about, we're already out - so to speak.

From fundraisers, meet and greets, candidate forums, lobby days at the capitol there are always opportunities to meet lots and lots of new folks.   Political events seem to attract more folks who come to events alone than just about any other social situations that I know of. Therefore it is very important to make sure you make the effort to not stand in your clique all night!


While some of us may not always be comfortable with this process, polite society, does require certain behavior. I suppose we could argue that politics may not be polite society...however,  here's what to do when making introductions.


Meet and greet, it's your job to mix and mingle... even if the host or host committee neglects to introduce you to other guests, introduce yourself, but make your relationship to the host clear in your introduction. 

TIP: First, deep breathe. Collect your thoughts... Are you meeting this person for the first time? Are you sure? No one, I mean no one likes to think some one forgot meeting him or her.  If you're not sure, say, the following... "How nice to see you... "

If you're sure you've not met them before proceed with; "Hello, isn't this a nice event, my name is Juliana, I'm a friend of Senator Orrock's. Now stop, take a breathe and let them introduce themselves. If they also know the Senator, you have a easy entry into a conversation, if they don't you might offer them some information about her.

For many of us, activism comes in various degrees. In my suburban middle class world, I don't get that many "take it to the streets, fist up, screw the man opportunities", sadly.  But what I do have is a wide selection of fashion accessories that signal I might have a message I want out there.

Starting with the most obvious:

Political buttons: it's a historic way to wear your politics on your lapel. As we all learned in National Treasure- even George Washington had a button.

T-shirts: although I'm not much of a t-shirt wearing gal, I have a number of message oriented selections. Last week in DC I wore my Feminist Outlaws shirt, it got some decent second looks from folks in the DuPont Circle neighborhood. I also love these folks-it's a simple yet powerful message that anyone can wear. 

But what about other more subtle statements? 

Last year I bought one of these bracelets, it make a wonderful conversation starter- I'm thinking of starting a Banned Book club- let me know if you'd be interested in joining.

I've been trolling E-bay for vintage donkey pins for several years since I'm not a fan of the new styles ( they are cheap and mostly boring) although I don't want to get into a bidding war with you, there have been some really great items for sale for very little money.

Tote bags: in the last 6 months the explosion of reusable shopping totes, make for an excellent way to be your own moving billboard. Great examples here here and here.

I Love Scarves, jewelry, great designs, bandanas and causes. Did I mention I love scarves?

 Oooh it's so shiny I want one, and it's for a good cause! 

For 10 years now I've been boycotting Chinese made items, it's my little effort to not pump money into an economy that is brutally occupying Tibet and repressing it's own population. Very often when I'm shopping and the sales folks ask if they can help me- I'll casually say, I like this, do you have any not made in China? It usually starts a conversation.

If anyone has other great sources please add to the comments.

I mean really...

Kentucky Derby hats on the cheap

Now I realize we are in a deep economic slide-but come on AJC, a story on making your own Kentucky Derby hat with cheap materials and icky pink feathers, oh the horror.

It's a good thing the pool boy was close by to hand me another Mint Julep before I was overcome with a violent case of the HB1 (HagBitch1) flu.

Two years ago  I helped to arrange a fundraiser for the Atlanta Stonewall Democrats with a Kentucky Derby theme, it  would never have occurred to me to get my hat from anywhere but the finest milliner on earth, Philip Treacy as worn by the Duchess of Corwall.


Now, I am about about craft projects-but something about this headline just made me sad.