Kat Calvin
Jul 20, 2017 · 4 min read

Insomnia and Chicago and Game of Thrones

It’s 5am and I decided to stop trying to sleep because it’s clearly not happening. Sometimes stress causes me to sleep late because my brain just can’t deal. But too much stress just causes me to toss and turn all night. That’s probably normal. One day we will be fully funded and I will be able to sleep at night and wake up at a normal hour. I hope.

It’s crazy but I only have two weeks left in Virginia. I got here two days short of a month ago and actually thought I would be here longer but I have to go back to Atlanta earlier than I planned. There are not enough months in the year. I am super excited to get to Nashville in late August though, I loooove Nashville and can’t wait to spend some time there.

A few days ago I went to the kickoff of Melissa Dart who is running for the VA56 delegates seat. She is super cool. She’s a mom who decided to run for the first time after Betsy DeVos was confirmed. She won the primary and now is working her butt off to win in a traditionally red district and there is a lot of energy behind her. I really liked her. You should definitely check her out.

I drove to Chicago and back last weekend, which was great because a) I got to drive through West Virginia and I really like West Virginia, b) I got to drive on Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds highway which is the best highway, obviously, and c) I got to go to Chicago which is one of my absolute favorite cities. I also got to hang out with some of my new resistance friends from #VOTEPROCHOICE and Sister District which made it even better.

We were there for the United States of Women Galvanize Conference. USOW was founded by Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen, two former Obama staffers who ran the White House Council on Women and Girls and wanted to continue their work outside of the WH. So they started USOW and Galvanize is their first series of conferences of which Chicago was the first.

The best part was that the amazing Midwest Academy, founded by legendary activist Heather Booth, did a training for anyone in the “grassroots organizing” track, which I obviously chose. I’ve wanted to go to an MA training for a while now but they’re expensive so this was an awesome way for me to get a mini-training for much less money. It was really cool and I learned a lot of things I can start applying to STV. I also got their GIANT workbook which is basically the cornerstone book on organizing and grassroots action so now I can start to make my way through that. I have so much to learn and I’m trying to learn while I work and it’s a lot but worth it if I want to build an organization that is actually going to last and make an impact.

Yesterday I attended a voting rights rally in Lafayette Park. For those of you who haven’t been to DC, Lafayette Park is the park in front of the White House. Everyone protests there always. Because it’s in front of the White House. Except yesterday, when the park police forced everyone off of the park because it was suddenly closed, and then, once they pushed everyone including the tourists onto the sidewalk, they ROPED OFF THE PARK BEHIND US. Unbelievable.

Now I’m in DC, staying at a friend’s Airbnb for the week and enjoying being back in the city that still feels like home, even if it is unbearably hot and I am covered in mosquito bites. #DC Tomorrow I’m back to Richmond, I have a local chapter training in Louisa, Virginia on Saturday, and a lot of work to do.

FUN THINGS:

There is a Game of Thrones pop up in Shaw. It is amazing. I ordered the “Shame” cocktail and the bartender rang a bell and the entire bar yelled “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at me. It was glorious.

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Written by

Founder, Spread The Vote

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