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Nattering Social Justice Cook: How to Prepare to Protest

Picture of Cat Rambo
And we’re off!
If you are one of the many of us going off to protest, to bear witness, to object, then I want you to be prepared.

Beforehand:

  • Make sure someone knows you are going, and that they will check in if they haven’t heard from you by the end of the night. Preferably someone who would be willing to come stand bail for you in a pinch. Have their phone number memorized; not just in your phone.
  • Know what your rights are. Review these cards and have them on you so you know how to deal with the police.

Things to Take With You:

  • A bottle of water
  • Food
  • Comfortable shoes
  • Layers
  • A fully charged phone, and preferably a backup battery
  • A backpack that includes a first-aid kit, any medication that you cannot do without, and whatever basics you might pack for an emergency overnight trip, water-based baby wipes, eye drops
  • ID
  • Enough money to buy food/make a phone call, whatever
  • A sealed plastic bag containing a bandana soaked in vinegar in case of tear gas.
  • Notebook and paper.

Do not take anything with you if its loss would be devastating.

If you are planning on being on the frontline:

  • Wear goggles or shatter-resistant glasses. Rubber bullets are real bullets, encased in a rubber coating. Pepper spray has been used on protestors here in Seattle. Other possibilities are tear gas and fire hoses.
  • Wearing a backpack on your stomach with some padding, such as a change of clothing, will give you some small protection if police are jabbing batons in order to push people back.
  • You may want to think about a gas mask. Here is a simple DIY one. Here is a reasonably priced one on Amazon. Be aware that wearing that mask unnecessarily may make you a police target.

How to Act:

  • Do not respond to provocation.
  • Pick your battles.

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What I'm Working On: The SFWA Cookbook

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Watermelon cake: cake or watermelon? I don't think we'll have this recipe, but among what's been promised is tobacco-infused tequila hot chocolate (Kevin Hearne), Muddle-in-the-Middle Mojito (Kay Kenyon) and Elf BBQ (Jim Hines).
Beside all the convulsions of moving and prep for travel, I’m doing the usual writing (working on a YA novel and have a slew of stories I’ve been asked for), but I’m also working on a nonfiction project of a type I never thought I’d work on: a cookbook, which I’m co-editing with Fran Wilde.

It’s a SFWA project, and I’m excited about it for a number of reasons.

  1. It’s following in a SFWA tradition. There were two previous cookbooks, both edited by Anne McCaffrey, Cooking Out of This World and Serve it Forth.
  2. Next year is SFWA’s 50th anniversary, so this will be part of the celebration. Accordingly, it’s a party-themed cookbook with sections on savory snacks, sweet snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and dishes to take to potlucks.
  3. It’s a (hopefully) noncontentious effort that celebrates SFWA’s community, a community which is for me one of the benefits of being a member.
  4. It’s a great chance for me to touch base with a lot of fellow members. I’m fairly certain I’m SFWA’s next vice-president (barring the event of a successful write-in campaign for Randall Garrett) and it’s wonderful to have a reason to interact with them other than problem-solving. I’ve been contacting a few members in advance (there will be a general solicitation to the members next month) and it’s been a lot of fun seeing some illustrious names in my inbox. I’ve talked to a few who I didn’t know had left, and I hope that maybe it’ll persuade some to give the organization another chance.
  5. We get to test a lot of very interesting recipes.
  6. As with so many SFWA projects, I’m learning a lot in the process.
  7. Who doesn’t like a party?
  8. It’s a chance to share my Welsh rarebit recipe with the world. 😉

We’ve got a lot of cool plans that will be revealed over the coming months, so stay tuned.

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Folly Blaine reads "Zeppelin Follies" from Near + Far

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The excellent Folly Blaine reads one of the stories from Near + Far, “Zeppelin Follies.” I’m hoping that link works; WP is being recalcitrant about hosting large files.

Here’s the afternote for the story:

This story was written for Clarion West, during the week that L. Timmel DuChamp was our instructor, and is my attempt at a screwball comedy, combined with the idea of the Bodys, which was inspired by a long walk in which my foot began to hurt, making me think about what it would be like to be able to switch body parts easily.

The story appeared in the final issue of Crossed Genres, a magazine which I was pleased to support during its existence and which went away far too quickly (although at the time I’m writing this, a Kickstarter projector looks as though it may succeed in reviving the magazine.) “Long Enough and Just So Long,” which appears in the Near volume of this collection, was originally written for a contest of theirs, but got purchased before I could send it to them.

“Zeppelin Follies” remains a story I’m fond of, particularly since I can remember the three am, story-due-tomorrow moment that led to the line, “Look, is that a zeppelin?”

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