Serendipity, Beauty, Unity: A Day at the Capitol

Monday, March 6 was Transgender Advocacy Day, and the ACLU provided buses from Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston to those interested in going to the capitol to speak to their legislators. Tuesday, March 7 was Abortion Funds Advocacy Day, and the Texas Equal Access fund provided transportation from Dallas. This meant I was blessed with the opportunity to ride to Austin, receive info, training, support, and lunch from the ACLU and to meet up with TEA Fund Tuesday to do the same and catch a ride home.

The final cherry on top was a ride to my car Tuesday evening from another advocate who said it was on her way home instead of my having to call for a Lyft.

Monday evening, Danielle Pellet brought me along to a cookout for some of the advocates that day, and I got to meet so many amazing people, including New Hope Mayor Jess Herbst. Dani also gave me a ride to my friend’s place to crash that night.

I went to boot camp before dawn with my host, and she was kind enough to offer me a ride to the capitol so I could save the cab fee. With her work schedule, though, that put me 2 hours early for meeting up with the abortion party.

This gave me some time to roam the capitol and catch Pokémon. I had the pleasure of running across Johnny Boucher in the halls to chat a bit and offer a hug and encouragement. His family drove down from Dallas that morning to testify against SB6, Texas’s own “bathroom bill.” They signed up and waited over 18 hours before leaving near midnight. A friend said their names were finally called at 2 or 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Tuesday was also Space Day Texas, celebrating space exploration. I asked one person at a booth what the event was about and whether I could have one of those spiffy astronaut-shaped stress squeezy things on the table. When he said “Yes, of course,” I told him that silly thing really made my day. He alluded to the stress of the day to come (what with over 400 people spilling into the halls as they waited to testify on SB6).

I remarked that I teared up when I saw so many people here for that, and he responded, “And that is exactly how it should be.” I knew he couldn’t say anything explicit about the issue since he was on the clock representing his company, but we shared smiles and well wishes for the day. Then I nearly cried again at the beauty of such a serendipitous encounter with a stranger.

And the day had barely even begun.

AAC. pt. 3

I'm too lazy to write more for now, so I'll just link someone else's post.

Here are some of my pics:

Old friend I ran into, Bonaboo

New friend Jj

Condom demonstration: definitely big enough

BATS!

American Atheists Convention, pt 1

The American Atheists Convention and 50th Anniversary was quite an experience. I won a grant from Surly Amy to cover the cost of my registration and drove down Thursday evening. A friend’s friends gave me crash space in their spare room, and we went out for pizza that night and then shared new music while they smoked hookah back at the apartment.

I got up nice and early to go to the first speech of Friday morning and locked my key in the trunk before I got to leave. I’ve never done that before in the decade since I learned to drive (locked ‘em in the cab once before and a few times in high school when the car was at the house with my mom and the spare just inside), so I felt pretty silly, but not terribly put out. The weather was lovely and cool, and the locksmith arrived in 20 minutes and quickly opened it up.

Once I got on the road, I had to try the Magnolia Café, which happened to be between the apartment and the hotel. It was very crowded but very quick. And I really enjoyed the Love Migas made with garlic butter. The convention was at the Hyatt only a mile from the café (three from the apt), but I circled 15 minutes in the wrong direction searching for the entrance hidden by the construction of a parking garage. Which meant there was little to no on-site parking, with valet at $15/day. I happened to find an unmarked lot a mere two blocks away and walked over.

As soon as I signed in and got my name tag, I heard someone call my name and looked up to see an old buddy from marching band, Bonaboo, whom I probably haven’t seen in at least 6 years. We were both surprised to see the other, and he was thrilled to run into me. He said he brings a Bible to every convention he attends. I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to sign it?” Oh, yes! He’s gotten some cool signatures and defacings from people he meets including some of the well-known speakers. What a neat idea for an autograph book, huh?

The prospect of spending the weekend alone surrounded by a thousand strangers had been pretty daunting, so hanging out with him and new friends we made was a welcome relief. We caught one speech and then headed out to find lunch, bumping into a Canadian couple also in search of the legendary food trucks a few blocks up. It was a warm day with a nice breeze, and we learned along the way that the couple was touring the US in their motorhome and this was their first convention, as well as mine and Bonaboo’s other friend there too.

Heading back, I saw a guy with a cat sitting on his backpack and asked if I could take a picture. We were confused as he hastily shook the cat off and then said he asks for a dollar or two, any loose change. “Oh, alright,” and we kept walking while he whined angrily about needing/expecting money from us. I shrugged it off but my companions were shocked that he was so rude about it. I asked nicely, but I don’t care that much about a cat picture; now I’ll just tell people about the asshole bum I met in Austin. If I’d had change in my pockets or hadn’t been in a rush or he hadn’t been such an entitled jerk, maybe I’d have gotten that picture.

The afternoon continued with more speakers, somewhat interesting but pretty dry. I got to meet Amy and thank her for the grant and peruse her jewelry but couldn’t decide on just one piece then. Bonaboo, Jessica, and I didn’t attend the $55 dinner and costume party, instead opting for pizza downtown before heading our separate ways early that evening. The lot I parked in was blocked off with an attendant charging for evening parking, but my car was there and safe, and I left with no problem. I killed a little bit of time at an adult novelty store down the block from the apartment and then got a delicious smoothie at a juice bar and began reading Good Omens before meeting up with my hosts and chatting a little bit before turning in.

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Pictures and speech details coming soon.