Marching in the streets, again

I just got back from a rally and march for trans* and queer liberation and in support of immigrants, starting at Boston City Hall. This definitely felt more left-wing than the other protests I've been to since the election, as well as being smaller. (The speakers were all community organizers, not elected officials, and there were people carrying both black and red flags as well as the rainbow flag and lots of signs.)

We (cattitude, adrian_turtle, and I) left before the end of the march, rather than going to the community meeting/further organizing part, because we were worn out and my feet were cold, but we were there for most of it, including a lot of the march.

On the one hand, I can't believe we still have to protest this shit. (That's a sign I've seen a couple of times this year; I don't know whether it was literally the same sign both times.) On the other hand, I know how to do this, even though most of my experience protesting has been in warmer weather. One of our chants today was "we're here, we're queer, we're fabulous, don't mess with us" which is an update I like (it's a long time since I heard the original "we're here, we're queer, get used to it"). Cattitude commented that he's always wanted to be a fabulous beast.)

I had thought I would be doing this alone (the event wasn't finalized until yesterday afternoon), but when I told Cattitude last night that I was doing this, he said "I'm coming with you," and when I mentioned it to Adrian this morning, she asked for details and then told me "I can't be there until 12:35" because she was teaching this morning.

quotidian

I know some people are skipping political posts (which I understand: I have a "lower-stress" filter for days I need to do that), so a couple of notes on the rest of my life:

I'm keeping up with the exercise routine, sometimes by doing one exercise and coming back an hour later to do the next one. "Keeping up" at this point means doing the half-dozen PT-related ones at least twice a week, and adding other things on no particular schedule. My cell phone has an exaggerated idea of how much walking I'm doing, because its steps-to-miles (or kilometers) conversion is for someone who takes longer steps than I do, but I look at the numbers anyhow, on the theory that the actual conversion is consistent enough that if it says I walked twice as much Sunday as Saturday I probably did.

I now have a printed MBTA map in my daypack, which I picked up earlier this afternoon, several months after someone told me that they're available at Park Street. This isn't the first time I've walked past the information booth on the Green Line platform, but it's the first time I noticed and remembered that they might have a map. (In New York City, the printed maps are very easy to come by; in Montreal they are easiest to find at the airport; and in Seattle they don't seem to exist.)

Having realized that I don't own enough non-cotton socks, I just used a $10 promotional gift card from LL Bean to order a pair of fleece socks; I'm willing to spend $6.95 to find out whether these are a good idea, and if they are I'll get a few more. (I recently bought a pair of smartwool socks, which fit okay but are relatively thin, so I'm not sure about buying more.)