My free caregiver that I had arranged for my father so I can afford to attend CPAC told me yesterday that his job requires him to be in Richmond this week so he is no longer available. That means that I have to pay for someone to care for my father. I sold some items over the weekend so I can pay my expenses for Thursday, Feb. 9. However, the cost of a caregiver, gas, tolls, parking and meals is about $250 per day for Friday and Saturday. Please donate to help send me to CPAC.
The most important thing I can do at CPAC is to meet other bloggers because that un-demonizes me. The word “lesbian” is heavily stereotyped on the rightwing. Just meeting in person lifts that almost entirely. I am 58 and at my age, as Lincoln observed, your face shows your character. My face is sweet and my manner is friendly and kind because that is who and what I am. I can form friendships and build bridges in person that would be impossible to create in the rough-and-tumble of the virtual world of the blogosphere. Please donate to help send me to CPAC. I thank you in advance with all my heart.
UPDATE, 2/9/12, Thurs.: THANK YOU, readers of Instapundit and Transterrestrial Musings (and the people who tweeted whose tweets I’m too tired to find to link right now) — you have made it possible for me to attend CPAC! Late Wednesday morning enough donations had come in for me to figure I could squeak through if I brought my Glucerna meal bars and ate at McDonald’s. My plans came together and fell apart many times over the last 36 hours, but finally by noon on Wednesday I not only had someone I trust to provide 24-hour care for my father but also a place to stay that’s only about a mile from the hotel.
I would have written all my thank-you e-mails immediately but it started snowing and I thought it was wiser to get my errands done before it accumulated. (One-to-two inches had been forecast — I will write them after sleeping a few hours.) When I got home I had to bake low-sodium bread and prepare food to leave for my father, then do laundry and de-squalorize the litterboxes and bathrooms. The caregiver came after midnight and I had my father stay up so I could show her his bedtime routine. It’s 3:15 am right now and I’m just getting to sit down. Oh, and thanks to the donations that came in this evening, I’ll be able to buy food! I’m tickled pink about that and too punchy to figure out how to phrase that in a way that doesn’t sound pathetic — I just don’t care if it does, and I’m truly delighted. Thank you!
You’re doing a great job with the weight loss. Keep it up!
Thank you! I will! I think I’ve lost another 10 pounds since that photo was taken.
I don’t know about Conservatives, but you are certainly welcome in Libertarian circles! My drinking buddy (and one of my housemates) in grad school was a lesbian bassoonist. Now I could tell you some stories about others I ran into as a musician in the seventies… they were often rather nasty towards men. Of course they were rather hard leftists so I presume that had more to do with it than anything.
As I recall, there was no shortage of men in the 70’s who were unpleasant to women, particularly on issues of equality. And we had more actual barriers to cope with then. Plus, it was not a safe time to be openly gay. I think that is why many lesbians in the 70’s were hardened in their manner, or even nasty.
I do appreciate the welcome in Libertarian circles. I am still trying to come up with a short definition of Libertarianism so I can explain it to Leftists.
Regarding lesbians and the Left, my perception is that social conservatives have been very active architects of the Left by running three groups out of the conservative movement, even though their interests are best served by fiscal conservatism or Libertarianism: lesbians and gays, women and Jews. The first two groups they ran out over reproductive liberty, while Jews were run off for refusing to convert to Christianity.
Glad to hear you will be going to CPAC. I am very jealous of your weight loss success. I was doing well until circa the holidays. We learned of your blog via HillBuzz.
Thank you! I’m working on a book for Kindle on how I did it, so stay tuned — I hope to have it out in a month — I believe I have some tips that will make you successful, too!
Thank you! Stay tuned — I will be telling my weight loss secrets sometime in March.
So glad you could make it. I came through Instapundit and Trans-Musings both. We need all the fiscal conservatives we can muster.
didn’t find you until afterwards but glad you were able to make your trip
Thank you!
also my dad has someone who comes by in the evenings it is more affordable.
Thanks! Look for our reunion page on Facebook and re-connect with everyone. We went to high school with a great group of people.
Inquiring minds need to know = what kind of horn is that? A Fox?
It’s a Selmer. I think Schreiber made maple wood bassoons for Selmer’s brand, but I’m not sure. It belongs to the community band I play in. I lust after a Puchner or top-0f-the-line Moosmann, or, in my wildest dreams, a Benson Bell or Heckel — all with two or three Heckel bocals matched to the bassoon, of course!
For a Fox bassoon, I would have to fall in love with the particular instrument. Although, of course, every bassoonist wants a plastic Fox (with high D and E keys) for playing outdoor concerts where it could rain. Fun fact: no bassoonist who has to pay for the repairs of their own instrument — whether wood or plastic — plays outdoor concerts when it is very cold, since the contrast between the cold air outside and their warm breath entering the wing joint will crack it.For non-musicians: the bassoon is the most expensive instrument in the concert band and rivals the cost of professional-quality string instruments in the orchestra. So a used bassoon from the manufacturers above goes for $10,000 to $30,000 (the Bells and Heckels are at the top of that range). Heckel bocals now seem to be running around $900 to $1,000 each.
Thank you Cynthia for your wonderful reply. I started at age 12 and even so your reply contained some things I didn’t know.
I am fortunate to own my bassoon, which my parents generously purchased, even if a student bassoon (made in Czechoslovakia which is kinda cool) that has no high D or E. I can reliably squeeze a C out of it and on a good day with a good reed even a C#.
I think most bassoonists are familiar with the movie “Never Cry Wolf” in which the protagonist is playing a bassoon outdoors at the Arctic Circle with snow falling all around with wolves listening attentively. Okay yeah that’s uber cool but it’s also totally ridiculous.
Perhaps one day we will be at the same event – I will bring my horn and we can form a group! Bassoon army?
Sure! Funnily enough, it was my promise to bring my bassoon to an anti-protester protest that Joy McCann, aka Little Miss Attila, was planning for CPAC 2009 that led to her inviting me to coffee at CPAC, which led to my registering for the whole conference, which led to my making friends and getting acquainted with so many conservative bloggers that, well, here I am today!