The magazine is done!  Now…  the business of getting it uploaded beautifully for your eyes. 

In the second issue of Rogue Attitude, I’ll be accepting advertisers.  (Artisan image ads).  If you’re operating a business in Southern Oregon, please come back and check out the magazine and ad rates.  I think you’ll be intrigued.   

I am.   :)

     We don’t see his face much nor hear his name, but there’s a man from Southern Oregon who’d been photographed in 1870, (19 years after Oregon’s first white settlement), and he’s got a story.

     I’ll be introducing this Native American in the online magazine, Rogue Attitude, which is coming soon!

   There’s no landing site yet for Rogue Attitude, so please don’t type the address into your browser.  Because this online magazine hasn’t been uploaded, you’ll end up in an unlit part of cyberspace.  Or inundated with links to Nissan’s new car.  Do ya really want that?  :)

     This is one of several newspaper ads that will run when the magazine is up – and flippin’.

     It’s been a lot of work researching, writing, laying out and designing Rogue Attitude.  But I’ve been blessed throughout the process with that wonderful, and sometimes illusive thing, called “inspiration”.  

     In one inspired moment, Spock managed to wiggle an appearance into issue 1.   I was happy to see him!  (Who knew he could wiggle like that)?

     I believe in good vibes – so can’t help feeling you’ll sense the fun I’d had in creating Rogue Attitude.  I hope you do.

     Even as I’m awaiting instructions from, well, I’ll call them “the flip-book people”, and working on ads and a press release, I’m excited about issue 2.  I have some really great stories lined up.

     If Spock could mind-meld with the people from Southern Oregon, I KNOW what he’d say.

     “Fascinating.”

     I add, “Kick-ass”.

     Ironically, it’s been my love of writing that’s kept me from blogging.  I’ve been working since about the middle of November on a local quarterly magazine I will be launching soon, called “Rogue Attitude”.

     Not coincidentally, I live in the Rogue Valley of Oregon, where the wild and scenic Rogue River flows.  On the cover (above) is Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, (a picture I took at a Town Hall in November), and a Native American from the Rogue River Tribe.  (Hoxie’s picture is from 1870). 

     I’m not sure if the eagle has a name.

     I went to my first Town Hall meeting and wrote down my observations for Rogue Attitude.  (Senator Wyden, by the way, was bright, caring and surprisingly quick-witted).  I also researched the tribe of Native Americans who’d lived along the Rogue, finding an interesting story inside the story.  Writing about some of my favorite downtown Grants Pass businesses was easy, because there’d been no shortage of good things to say.  There’s a full-page cartoon, local lore and rumors and factoids.

     Here’s a sample factoid:  There are still over 300 miles of visible wagon wheel ruts along the Oregon Trail.

     The magazine has been created for residents of Southern Oregon, but if you’re interested in Oregon history and what it’s like here now, by all means, check it out. 

     I’ll have the link here soon with Rogue Attitude as an online magazine.  I’ve made an appointment with a local web designer to see if I can present it uniquely.  

by Dianne Reum

  Truthfully, I’ve never cared for the concept of zombies nor been a fan of horror movies.  

  About a month and a half ago, though, I was invited to participate in my Oregon town’s “Thrill the World” event, chockful of zombies.  The side of zombies I’ve since come to know have fun, love to dance, and are excited to be part of something bigger than themselves.

  Thrill the World is the brain child of choreographer Ines Markeljevic, an alumni of New York University’s dance department.  Counting down at the same time, (a feat in itself), people from all over the globe dance to the same steps in an attempt to break the world record for largest simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.

  I probably wouldn’t have participated, had it not been for my knowing Melissa Tally, my town’s event coordinator and dance instructor.  (That’s Melissa in the picture below, on your right).  

  Melissa isn’t really a zombie, but she may be Superwoman, putting together something this successful while managing a family, job and leading step classes at the YMCA.  This is my Oregon town’s first year participating in Thrill the World and – because of Melissa - we had 161 enthusiastic and diverse people show up. 

  The biggest surprise about Thrill the World was how much I got from participating.

  As my new friend, (because of Thrill the World), Rebecca Leaverton, blogged, “…there is something intensely powerful about moving in unison with a large group of people. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until one of my new friends explained it perfectly and simply as, “It creates energy”.  You can feel the buzz in the room after we’ve been dancing for a while, and the energy lasts for long after. It’s like a secret, unseen generator… and we all get to tap in to its magic!”

New friends, Jeremiah Ostrander and Rebecca Leaverton

   I have a special affinity for music; I believe it’s one of humankind’s most incredible creations.  In my youth, dancing was a staple.  In fact, my social life revolved around clubbing.  Then, as I got older and weighed down with responsibilities, dancing slowly faded out of my life.  During the process of learning the steps to Thrill the World, it hit me how much I’d missed dancing!

  I missed dancing!!!  <– If you go this link, Melissa is the believeable zombie in the black dress in front, Satomi is the awesome zombie bride and I’m the zombie in the orange scarf.  (I did “okay”, but Melissa and Satomi are in total zombie-acting mode.  I have zombie-envy). 

  Even dressing up as a zombie was a joyous part of the process, bringing back memories of the care I’d taken in selecting my trick-or-treat costume as a kid.    

   It didn’t matter we’re close to an election: Politics had never been brought up at any of our workshops.  I never heard a harsh word nor argument.  Complete strangers worked together and cheered one another on.

  In fact, part of that energy we got wasn’t just from the strangers we were dancing with in our space, but from strangers all around the world dancing with us.

  What wonderful thing; moving in unison.  What if for one night the whole world stopped arguing, stopped toiling, stopped worrying – and danced?

A single night of universal love could save everything.

~Roland Giguere

More pics coming…   :)

 ———————————————

By Dianne Reum

  A very bright woman about many things had said something last week not-so-bright that had startled me.  Commenting on the downward slide of a local newspaper, she’d remarked, “They’re in redneck country; they need to play to the crowd.” 

  This woman had believed because the newspaper has shown both sides of issues, printed editorial cartoons depicting opposing viewpoints and occassionally supported liberal political candidates, their downfall was what they’d deserved.

  There are two things about her statement that are wrong.  I’ll start with the lesser one. 

  The locally printed Oregon paper this woman had referred to is primarily sinking because of the internet.  Over 10,000 people in the newspaper industry lost their jobs and over 100 newspaper businesses folded in 2009.  People have not only been turning to the internet for news, but more importantly, they’ve been spending their advertising dollars there.

  But by far the biggest mistake this woman had made was the assertion our local newspaper, to cure itself, should “play to the crowd”.

  Entertainers should play to a crowd, NOT news reporters.  Not ever.

  Perhaps we’ve all forgotten what a news reporter is.  Rush Limbaugh is not a news reporter.  Diane Sawyer is a news reporter.

  Back in highschool, we’d learned about “Yellow Journalism“; an unsavory, unethical tactic for anyone committed to truthfully reporting facts.  (Truthfully reporting facts is what a news reporter is supposed to do).

  Example of reporting facts: 

  President Barack Obama’s campaign released a 2007 certified copy of his birth certificate, (referred to in Hawaii as a “Certification of Live Birth”), stating Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, August 4, 1961.  

  Yellow Journalism occurs when, instead of reporting facts, one paints a picture around some to intentionally sway an audience.

Example of tainting facts: 

  Rather than releasing a photocopy of his original birth certificate, Barack Obama suspiciously chose to produce a “certification of live birth”.

  The argument that President Obama is not a natural citizen of the United States has been debunked by media investigations, every judicial forum that has addressed the matter and Hawaiian government officials, but Yellow Journalists and non-reporters have kept this conspiracy theory alive.

  Yellow Journalists are rampant. 

  A truthful press is crucial to freedom.  Hearing an issue presented factually is the only way we can determine how we are affected.

  This brings about something very frightening that’s happening to America’s freedom of press.

  I had been employed by the “local” paper the bright woman had been referring to.  That local paper has been bought out.  So-called local papers and other forms of media have been being purchased at a rapid rate by the same man who owns Fox News.  (Rupert Murdoch).  

  His powerful organization is called “News Corporation“. 

  Yes, news is becoming a corporate entity and, if you’re not, you should be aware.

  Not only do corporations play to the crowd, but the bottom-line is their bottom-line.  Corporations only care how much money they’re able to gain.  (NewsCorp, by the way, is pulling in 33 billion – annually).

  As CEO of News Corp. in 2008, K. Rupert Murdoch earned a base salary of $8,100,000, a cash bonus of $17,500,000 and stocks granted of $4,049,988.   That’s $30,053,157 in a year’s time.  

  In all fairness, I don’t know Rupert Murdoch.  I know Fox News, however.  I know Fox uses Yellow Journalism and even subliminal messaging.  (Something that is supposed to be illegal).   I know Rupert Murdoch has given large amounts of money, from News Corporation’s coffers, to Republicans.  (How can one consider a news organization that blatantly chooses one party to be fair and balanced in its reporting)?

  I also believe the kind of yearly salary Murdoch makes could put him out of touch with the issues you or I are facing.  Like the Republican party he supports, Murdoch is more interested in corporate health and wealth.  (Please wake up, if you believe corporations are America’s salvation.  The trickle-down theory does NOT work because these days corporations are hoarding money, stashing it in overseas accounts where it can’t be taxed and hiring cheap labor outside of America).

  I’m going to write more about corporate news because it’s such an important issue.  Please stay tuned.

Cartoon by Dianne Reum

This is my commentary on “New Twitter”, just introduced. 

By Dianne Reum

My stepmother has private rooms in her home for elderly.  One woman, Laverne, has severe alzeimer’s.  Every day, several times an hour, Laverne asks, “When am I going home?”

  “This is your home,” comes the answer, over and over. 

  In the middle of dinner, in the middle of a television program, in the middle of anything, Laverne will suddenly declare something along the lines of, “Well, I guess I’d better go get packed.”

  “For what?”  My stepmother will ask.

  “Well, they’ll be coming to get me,” Laverne responds.

  “Who?”

  Laverne looks puzzled.  “The…  the people who will take me home.”

  “This is your home!”

  Laverne doesn’t remember much but she knows she’s not “home”.  Not really.

  Last night while I was in my stepmother’s kitchen and my stepmother and dad were on the deck, Laverne shuffled past with her walker on her way to the sofa.  “When are they coming to get me?”  She inquired, with a pained expression.

  “Tomorrow,” I responded, trying a different tact.

  Laverne pushed her walker to the side and sat on the sofa.  “What time?”

  “Daybreak.”

  Laverne stared at me.  “Daybreak”, she finally repeated, relaxing and nodding slowly.   She didn’t ask again.

  Hope is a powerful thing. 

  Had I lied?  Not in my opinion.  When this long night that has become Laverne’s life is over, she will be going home.

It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.
T. Fuller, Pisgah Sight, 1650

  We all experience long nights.  Not simply in the physical world.

  This is by design.

  Who I am is not in legal documents, bank statements nor x-rays.  Most of what constitutes “me” is invisible. 

  Without night, there’d be no need for an invisible attribute called ”faith” to believe in light.

  Without faith there would be no belief, period.

  Without belief, there would be test for true love.  So there would be no true love.  (I like the idea of someone loving me because they choose to).

  It’s how we handle our darkest hours that we find out what we’re made of and what is true about ourselves.

  And the sun always rises.

  The more I know this at my invisible level, the more confident and happier I am.

————————————————————————————————————————————– 

  ADDED:

  Though I’d mainly been referring to spiritual daybreak, (represented by actual daybreak), in response to this blog, I’d received a Tweet flatly stating, “It doesn’t take faith to believe in the sun.”

  To this man, whose Twitter avatar is a picture sent back from Voyager from the outermost reaches of the solar system, as well as from a scientific standpoint, I suppose one could say it doesn’t take faith to believe daylight will come. 

  Earth circling the sun is part of a celestial ritual that seems as though it’s been happening forever.  Because it’s happened this way for as long as we can remember or analyze, some of us believe it’s happened this way forever.

  A doctor who has never x-rayed my hand will most likely be able to tell you how many bones are in my hand, because the vast majority of hands that have been x-rayed have had a certain amount of bones.

  Science relies on continuity. 

  Not only can continuity be finite, however, continuity explains nothing.

That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe forms my idea of God.

—————————————————————–

~Albert Einstein

  I recently got invited to “Thrill the World”.  

  “This sounds challenging.” I’d  thought. “I’m probably gonna need a new bra.”

  As it turns out, “Thrill the World” is joining tens of thousands from around the world in an attempt to break the world record for largest simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller“.   (The big dance is to take place October 23rd – zombie-lish-ishly close to Halloween).

 Last weekend my friend, Melissa Tally, had sent a link for my town’s Thrill the World event, inviting me to the workshop she’d taught Saturday. 

  Being a huge fan of Dancing With the Stars, I had pretty much decided immediately I’d wanted to go and dance.  (As my friend, Pambones, and I say about DWTS, “Music and dancing; what’s not to like?”)

  Fantasizing about being on the cast of Dancing With the Stars,  I’d anticipated dancing to Thriller all week.

  Then, about a half an hour before I should have been leaving to go to Melissa’s workshop, I’d started wondering if everyone who’d be showing up already knew this dance?  (This notion had been more horrifying than zombies).

  So I went to trusty YouTube and typed in “dance steps to thriller”.

  I quickly realized, “I don’t know any of these!”  :o

  I decided I’d better stay home and learn the moves before going to a workshop.

  I’m such a newbie, it turns out I hadn’t understood the concept of a workshop for dancing to Thriller. 

  If you want to do something, don’t let fear stop you.

  Bottom line, because fear had gotten hold of one of my dancin’ legs, (it’s always within my power to break loose of fear’s boney fingers), I lost a day learning on a BIG floor with other beginners.

  One of the things I’d found out while missing the first workshop and trying to learn the steps via YouTube is I’d needed much more room than I’d had.   (There are a lot of steps I couldn’t do in my space). 

  Melissa’s workshop had been teaching the steps – then the class had walked through them.   After learning to walk-through the steps, (about half-way through the workshop), the class had done them to the Thriller music.

  If I’d have just went with my first, spontaneous feeling, I’d have been at the right place at the right time. 

  (Livin’ and learnin’:  It never stops).

  Melissa had another workshop today and from here out will have another every Saturday up ’til October 23rd. 

  I’d made it to Sunday’s workshop after Melissa had assured me everyone there would be learning the steps.  (Okay; maybe not that 20-year-old in the short-shorts wearing the dancing shoes).

  I hadn’t had a clue how a dance class would go, except for behind the scenes shots from Dancing With the Stars.  Even having shown up clueless, I am pretty darned sure I hadn’t been the worst dancer. 

  I think it’s fair to say I was better than the 84-year-old – and possibly the 3-year-old.    (That kid had kept leading with the wrong foot, I swear). 

  (I’m not gonna copy the 3-year-old again next week).

  Here’s a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about dancing to Thriller that’s particularily cool.  Melissa had reminded us we dancers were zombie ”characters”.  If someone’s body or arms had been stiffer - or floppier - when you’re playing a zombie, it all works.

  In Melissa’s class, which I imagine is the norm, we’d been given the moves in “sing-song” form, saying them out loud as we’d done them.   (Example:  “Shake-it-and-an-uppa and a shake-it-and-an-uppa; stomp-stomp-stomp, look left”). 

  We’d started just walking through the moves then ended doing it to Thriller music, slowed down.  And finally, sped up.  Melissa told us to come to any workshop, even if we know the moves, to dance during that last half.

    If you’ve never been to a dance class before and are intrigued; do this!  Find a “Thrill the World“ event in your area.  Meet new people, get exercise, be part of something fun and big AND, because you get to dress for your role, already have your Halloween costume. 

  Each workshop begins with learning the steps before phasing into slowed-down music and finally the Thriller tune at regular speed.  Melissa told us people who already know the steps can come during the second half of a workshop for only dancing.

  If Saturday comes around and you feel like a zombie, well, this is one of the few times in life that’s perfect.