The making of a perfect weekend:

• Baja Burrito & knitting night with a really random but wonderful group of women.
• kick-ass (seriously) Jazzercise workout, in which I left with a fully soaked t-shirt.
• doggie bath time... clean pups are the best.
• Little Sister art time
• Christmas party with lots of homemade gifts, wine, delicious food, and wonderful company.
• Sleeping in & making homemade cinnamon rolls... sugar overload.
• Eating lots of homemade apple cider caramels.
• Folk + Free Skool gardening class with friends.
• Dutch Blitz game night, complete with ginger-apple spritzer, caramels, and laughter with two of my favorite women.
• Wrapping presents & putting them under the tree.
• Knitting on the couch with a cat on each side of me.
• Knowing that in less than a week, my grad school friends will be free to hang out with me again (this means you, Sarah).
• Knowing that Christmas is 15 days away!!!
 

Folk + Free Skool

She made this for me. "Jayvea loves Becca as a real sister and mom." 

Corduroy cuddle time.

 

and presents under the tree!

Good Riddance.

The theiving, lying, SOB-of-a-County-Clerk, John Arriola, has finally resigned.

News Story Here.

Farewell. You shan't be missed.

Finally.

After 3 years of an fruitless and somewhat discouraging search for a church, Nathan & I have finally found one that we are eager to make our home. For a while now, we've been trending toward the Episcopal Church; I just knew I couldn't be a part of a demonination or church that excludes people based on gender or sexual orientation. I will never feel a full part of the body if I am in a congregation that doesn't value my sex as leadership material, or that bars my gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered friends from joining in worship. These are priorities for me. And St. Ann's, like many Episcopal congregations, is dedicated to inclusion and social justice.

We visited St. Ann's one time before (where I met Sarah & Lauren, actually!), but we didn't really go back for a while. A couple of Sundays ago, though, we visited again & I had a sense of hope & joy that I haven't felt in church in a really long time. It was exciting. Our friends Allie & Will are actively involved in the church community, and they've been very welcoming. We met the parish Rector & are going to grab coffee with him sometime soon to talk about our interest in the Episcopal Church & confirmation.

I'm really excited to have found a church home; a place where I feel welcome and included; a church I look forward to attending; a church with a diverse congregation where all are welcome. I'm excited to get more involved & learn more about St. Ann's.

Ingredients.

Tonight, Nathan & I watched a film I've been longing to watch: Ingredients, an excellent documentary about the importance of the growing local food movement.

I must say, I am so glad we finally watched it. This film not only pointed out the incredible injustices--economic, environmental, medical, etc--of the current state of food in our nation, but it also showed the hope available in local farming & gardening. Watching this film didn't necessarily teach me anything new... I already knew how unhealthy and inefficient our food system is in this nation. What this film did do is give me a sense of empowerment regarding what I choose to consume. Ingredients reminded me that I have the right to eat well, and with that right comes the responsibility to support my local farmers.

I am so happy that we are supporting a local farm & getting incredibly fresh, organic, sustainable, delicious produce in return... It's really a great deal. And Nathan and I are already planning how we're going to cultivate and support ourselves with the garden we'll have in a month or so. I must say, working in a garden/farm to grow healthy & beautiful food is one of the most rewarding and powerful experiences. Working with Nashville Food Project has been such a blessing, and I'm really looking forward to getting my hands dirty in my own yard.

One other thing I loved about Ingredients is that it acknowledges the financial constraints that making eating locally & organically so incredibly difficult for many Americans. And because our nation, government, and society have not deemed local, sustainable agriculture as a right for all Americans, it has become an upper-class luxury in some regards. But this film directs us toward how to make fresh food possible for all. It must be something that our nation deems worthy of focus. To me, it is vital. I struggle with how to live this out in my own life, when bills seem never ending, and take-out sounds easier than cooking. Yet, I know that I need to try as hard as I can to remember how much I owe it to myself to eat well, straight from the ground.

Also, I ate an asparagus straight from the ground yesterday & it was literally the most delicious asparagus spear I have ever tasted. It was tender, as if I had just poached it. And the flavor was almost unbelievable... It had a nutty flavor I've never tasted in asparagus before. That experience in & of itself alone justifies eating fresh from the ground.

Anyways, you should watch Ingredients. I hope that my generation can help refocus the national attitude toward agriculture. Here's to trying.

Do I sound like a hippie? I know, I know.

Right now.

Here's a short list of some of the things I'm really enjoying in my life right now:

Ani Difranco's live album.
Driving with the windows rolled down, and not caring at all if it messes up my hair.
Dog park dates with Marie & her precious pooch Bella.
Happy Hour with my work friends, and then evening calls from my drunk work friends. :-)
Sleeping with the fan on, the window cracked, and only the sheet over me.
Working in the garden, getting dirty, the sun in my face, eating asparagus straight from the ground, and coming home with fresh-picked cilantro.
Packing.
Modern Family... Funniest show ever (tied with Parks & Recreation)
bell hooks' Feminism is for Everybody, and my soon-to-start feminist book club.
Cats, duh.
Oh, and have you met my partner? He is the best, ever.

Spread the Word!

If you live in Nashville & know anyone who is in need of housing, be sure to tell them about this:

If you work in public service or social work in Nashville, please post this! It's been a while since MDHA has opened applications. Spread the word! Yay, housing!

Women are Awesome.

Last night I was so proud of my incredibly powerful female friends. Marie planned, hosted, & kicked ass at the Office of Women's Concerns' evening for celebrating amazing women in the community. She spoke eloquenty, hosted wonderfully, and was, as always, so much fun to be with. Two other friends, Sarah & Katherine, presented awards to women in the community, and were also wonderfully spoken & poised. Watching my friends speak such truth & power into being a woman made me feel so encouraged & empowered, not to mention proud as can be. I don't know how I got so lucky to be surrounded by such motivated, compassionate, gracious women.

The women who were recognized each had something unique, meaningful, and inspiring to bring to the Nashville community. From the Executive Director of Scarritt Bennett, to two female brewers, to an openly proud Lesbian leading other women to find their voice, each had something remarkable to say about being a woman.

Let's face it, women are awesome.

I met Emmylou Harris

Last night was our big annual fundraiser at Park Center, "How About Dinner & A Movie?" I volunteered to work it, and Nathan came as my guest.... it was a lot of fun, and the whole event made me so proud to be a part of this organization & proud of the work I do every day. We had a HUGE silent auction, with about 60 amazing donated gift items. There were some really killer items, including some beautiful art pieces from local artists & from Park Center members. Aside from the silent auction, there was a tasty dinner, some honoring of Emmylou Harris for her work in the community, and a movie chosen by Emmylou herself. The whole shabang was held at the Belcourt Theatre. Oh it was a very fun evening.

And, as a side note, I got to meet Emmylou Harris & have a conversation with her. Pretty cool, huh?

It was kind of surreal to be in an auditorium full of Nashville do-gooders who care about what I do on a daily basis & want to support our work & our amazing members. That realization, plus several glasses of complimentary wine, and I was on cloud-nine. It was absolutely worth the 14-hour work day.

I love my job.

Hubby came to support.

Nashvillians:

Please, if you live in Nashville, take a moment to research SB 2508, which will essentially make it illegal to be homeless.

I work as a direct care provider for mentally ill adults in the Nashville area, and a great number of my clients have been homeless during their lifetimes. So many of the men and women trying to make it on the streets are mentally ill, which makes it even harder for them to acquire a job, apply for benefits, find housing, etc. More attention needs to be put into serving these individuals and helping them get the mental healthcare they need to be able to function fully in society, rather than criminalizing them and pushing them further away from recovery. The men and women with whom I work are truly good people and have overcome obstacles that most of us have been blessed enough to never face. This bill will not address the problem of homelessness or make it any less present in Nashville; it will only cause more suffering and social immobility for those at the bottom rungs of society.

The house voted on this bill yesterday, and unfortunately it passed. The senate votes on Tuesday.

Please, please take a moment to e-mail Governor Haslam, your senator, all the senators, whatever you can do!

For a list of senators & their contact info, click here.

Saturday.

Saturday was my kind of day. I started the day with a Nonviolent Resistance Movement and Social Justice Committee with some incredible Nashville leaders. We discussed how to restore civil rights in Nashville, which is a very daunting task. It's empowering to be sitting around a table with amazing individuals who are committed to social justice and willing to share their wisdom with me. Though I do enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays, it's worth waking up at 7 to get to start my weekend this way.

During the day Saturday, I relaxed, napped, cuddled with cats, and worked out. Then, a wonderful Saturday night happened. Now, normally Nathan & I are getting ready for bed around 9, but Saturday we were getting ready to go out. Big for us. I got Nathan tickets to see Ani Difranco at the Cannery Ballroom (where we had our wedding reception), and we've been anticipating this show with bated breath! Ani Difranco is an incredible musician with a strong female voice and a strong opinion about social justice. She's probably one of the most bad ass women ever. Her show was everything I expected & more. I enjoyed it so much. And the Cannery is a lovely venue for a concert, too! It was a great night. We got out of the apartment and did something out of the ordinary for us; we let lose. And, we enjoyed the concert holding hands and sharing a couple kisses, while couples around us did as well. Same sex couples, hippie couples, straight couple, it didn't matter. There was something very freeing about being in an environment like that where we could all be ourselves (aside from the normal indie-pretense that happens at all shows in Nashville). That's the kind of crowd Ani Difranco attracts, which makes me love her even more. Granted, she is very intense, slightly gritty, and obviously different from me, but I have a great deal of respect for her. And, her music is amazing.

National Black AIDS Awareness Day

Today is an important day for awareness of the AIDS epidemic disproportionately affecting the Black community. One of the worst things we can do is to ignore AIDS and ignore the impact it has had among Black Americans.

"While only representing 14% of the U.S. population, Blacks account for 44% of all new HIV infections, according to the most recent information collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2009. We are the most disproportionately impacted racial/ethnic group across all sub-populations (e.g., men, women, youth, MSM) in the United States – at all stages of the disease – from new infections to deaths." 

-NationalBlackAidsDay.org

Get informed, Get involved, Get tested. 

There are plenty of free HIV/AIDS testing sites around Nashville. Park Center offers free testing, and we also have a case management team specifically for Black HIV/AIDS-at-risk adults. The First Response Center, founded by the awesome Ed Sanders, is also a great resource.

Let's all stop ignoring the subject and start working together to erase stigma and erase HIV/AIDS in our communities.

A few sites to visit: Greater Than AIDS, National Black AIDS Day, Black Aids Institute

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Oh, where to start? I actually don't really have that much to say (that's a first). Nothing terribly exciting is happening at the Dryden household. Althou, there is one thing i'm pretty excited about...

I had a recent interview with Big Brothers Big Sisters because I've applied to be a Big Sister! I have a training in a couple of weeks, after which time they'll let me know if I've been accepted into the program. I've been dreaming of things to do with my little... Going to the park, baking cookies, doing crafts at my apartment, playing with the cats, going hiking, playing at the playground, painting our fingernails, watching movies, volunteering at the animal shelter (aka playing with puppies), lots & lots of conversations, helping her with her homework, and so many other fun things. Oh I really am so excited and eager to get my little! The whole process is very intentional, which I respect. They asked me a series of personal questions in my 2-hour interview, partly to make sure I'm safe & respectable enough to entrust with a child, and partly to find the best possible match. I'm glad there is so much energy and thought put into finding a Big for a Little and vice versa. I actually had the option of having a Little Brother because there simply aren't enough male volunteers. I have no problem with little boys, but part of what excites me about being a mentor is the challenge to empower and encourage a young girl and remind her what strength she has as a female. That's just not told to girls often enough, and the images/messages told to them instead can be seriously detrimental on individual and societal levels.

All that to say, I can't wait to be a Big Sister. It's an incredible organization, please check them out if you have some time to spare to empower a kid.