Talkin' About MORE: Hanging With Julie While Prepping for Fast

If this post suddenly trails off, you'll know it is due to weakness due to fasting. (I am dreaming of tonight's herring in cream sauce).

Tuesday, I spent a few hours with one of my favorite people, Julie Cavanagh, who is home recuperating from an operation. We rarely get together since she has such a busy life since Jack was born so I took advantage of her time off to get a much-needed dose of Julie rationality. I've been questioning my continuing commitment to UFT opposition politics and whether a continuing investment of time in trying to build MORE as a significant opposition caucus that can one day contend for power in the UFT is worth it, considering the realities. I put serious time and energy into the UFT 2016 elections and winning the high school seats was about the best outcome we could expect. Maybe that is enough for now. Maybe for the foreseeable future. I also have had issues with MORE itself over the years and still do but have tried to be a good soldier.

Talking to Julie is always illuminating and clarifying. We discussed some ideas for projects. The movie we initiated 2010-11 was one of our best experiences and how the movie had such an impact far beyond what we expected. She pointed to how well the process worked for the entire team. I would jump at a chance to do something with the same people. We all got together this summer for a soccer game and it was so much fun. There is nothing compelling on the table right now but maybe getting the gang together over some wine and beer will shake something loose. 

I do find myself less interested in going to meetings.  But then I also talked to James Eterno last night and we agree that union politics is in our DNA and hard to walk away from. My immediate project is occasionally putting out an issue of Education Notes at delegate assemblies with information I think people are interested in. Information that MORE doesn't address.

And then there are the other projects like the theater, robotics, gardening, traveling, some Rockaway based projects and exploring new areas of interest.