There's Rita. And who's Ed?

Ye gods, how does one follow up Rita? My own adventure to get to this point is quite something, and will come out in pieces as I write. Have you ever noticed that when you watch an adventure movie, or read a novel, they're epic and amazing... but when you're living one, they can really suck sometimes/most of the time/the whole time? I think they cut the bad parts out of the novels. Those where the medieval character hasn't bathed in weeks. You know, icky stuff.

Anyway. I have a reputation for being a bit of a rambler. A bit wordy. Extremely opinionated. Usually I'm hearing that I'm being expected to shut up by the state party. That I have "anger issues". My response to that is that you only have an anger issue if you lash out at random against people who mean you no harm. When you go up against scheming political insiders, though, of course you're angry.

Rita and I are such good friends because we're such completely opposite people, but with the same goals. We both want an open and inclusive Democratic Party, as its platform states, and as it proclaims to be. And it certainly is more open than the Republican Party (I should know, I was one). How we got there is so different, though.

Rita is a long-term planner. She thinks of where we'll be twenty years down the road. I'm thinking of twenty minutes from now. She's ever the diplomat, always polite and respectful. I'll inform people as to which orifice they can insert a foreign object into. I've never seen her curse in an e-mail in my life, and I can drop the F-bomb once a blog post at minimum, and if I'm writing about something really heated (like that screwup of a state convention we had) try every sentence. (And Jason wants me to write here. Has he read TMB?)

As you begin to read Rita's and my work, you will also begin to notice some threads about our lives, and how we managed to get to the same place, but be two completely opposing forces. She will write about her deep experiences within the Pagan community and how they have brought her into politics. I will write about how I am a political activist who also happens to be Pagan. She is a priestess of the first grove in Maine to be recognized as a nonprofit. I am a solitary practitioner at best, and mostly just try to live as a Pagan should, with respect toward our world and her creatures.

The Pagan worldview is often unwelcome in politics, because of the nature of the two things. I intend to write in (sometimes angry) depth about how my (and our) views collide with those of the Democratic Party insiders. I intend to write about why Pagans can be Republicans and feel welcome there because of the same worldview, despite how odd that seems. I will cross-post some of my Turn Maine Blue work that I feel would interest this readership. And beyond that, I want to write about what you want. I am a political blogger, I am not a Pagan blogger (although technically, I'm both!). So what do you want to know?

Finally, I will make one fundraising ask. I'm going into debt to go to this convention, as it is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I cannot and must not pass up. I will make the ask the last day of the convention. It is customary for a blogger on a large site to have what is called a "tip jar", in which positive ratings are placed. If you read this work, and find you were glad that this blog existed- leave a tip. I hope to write things that are tip-worthy.

(Update: Rita's introductory post has relocated now that Rita has taken over her account... so this used to make a little more sense. Oh well, you get the idea.)