Wampum

I've been plodding away with this little blog for almost four years now; I first started it up following heavy Democratic losses in the 2002 midterms. The campaign on which I had toiled, Pingree for Senate, fell to defeat like so many others. I needed an outlet, as screaming at CNN wasn't working anymore. So I put up Wampum, first at Blogspot, then here on our own server. Dwight joined a year later (after leaving his home at PLA) and Eric started filling in when I ran for the Maine Leg in 2004.

Most of the year, we plod along in relative obscurity, as our interests (Indians, autism, etc.) are generally non-mainstream. But once a year, we're given the opportunity to host an amazing event, one which never fails to send our heavily ingrained cynicism for a loop. While running the Koufax Awards for the past four years (the last three here, Dwight kicking off the first at PLA) has at times been exhausting, expensive and downright frustrating, overall, it's an amazing gift, not of us to you, but to the Lefty blogosphere to us. It's an opportunity to see our community at its finest, appreciating the strength of our diverse parts, not just the sum of our whole.

In the first couple of years, the Lefty blogosphere was pretty small, and, although mildly "cliquish", we pretty much all knew each other. More recently, unique solar systems have developed within this larger universe, so rapidly that frankly, I can't seem to keep up. It's really only during the Koufaxes that I have the opportunity to catch up, to see the amazing new growth from the previous year. And last year, for the first time, I realized others were essentially viewing the Koufaxes in the same way.

For the past couple of years, we tried to cover the costs of the Koufaxes in a rather "traditional" bloggy way - appeal to the A-listers to put in plugs on their blogs, and hope such pleas didn't roll off their pages before seeing a couple of donations come in. In 2004, it worked okay; last year, hardly at all. So, as I mentioned earlier this week, we just figured this year to downsize our expectations, and enjoy running the awards for the sake of the awards.

Thus, we were incredibly shocked when the readers of two relatively mid-sized blogs contributed more in three days to Wampum than the total sum of donations last year. My dear friend Susie Madrak of Suburban Guerilla started the ball rolling and within hours, her readers had contributed enough to cover the cost of critical repairs to our towing vehicle's brake system (estimated at between $500-700.) The following day, Zeke Clarke, and his pet, Chris, of Creek Running North, requested their readers contribute to our generator fund, and wow, did they come through. Last night, at 11:03 PM PST, I placed the winning bid on EBay for $935 for a 3000 watt Kipor generator, which will allow us to run this year's Koufaxes "off the grid", whether it be boondocking in the deserts of Southern California or on the beach in Baja.

As many readers of Wampum might realize as of late, things have been pretty tough financially for 2/3rds of the blog's editors, those with the surname Williams, to be exact. We still don't regret the decision of selling our home in Maine; the bubble has now burst in that market, with houses selling for tens of thousands less than last year. Our financial choices for six years have revolved around the needs of Sam and Jonah, with relatively excellent personal outcomes; Jonah is still alive and Sam has made amazing, absolutely amazing developmental leaps forward. And while California's social services deems us indigent and in fact "homeless", we have a home we cherish, which has provided comfort and stability to our family, and the opportunity for experiences far too few Americans ever have. Our nomadic life over the past 18 months has led to a complete reconsideration of our material priorities, and a change in career paths for at least one, maybe both of us (Eric's working towards teaching credentials here in California; I have mine from Connecticut, and only need their reciprocity approved.) At times I've been immensely embarrassed over our financial straits, and my concern that such would tarnish Dwight's reputation, and so have been reluctant to reach out for help, whether from our readers or my blogging friends. Susie has helped cure me of that "character flaw"; from now on, I'm determined to tell readers of our needs, and let them make their own decisions. As I've learned, it seems people really do want to help, and even like doing it.

So, thank you all. I have a number of personal emails to send out, but for all who donated anonymously, and especially Susie and Chris, you have our most heartfelt thanks.

Addendum: I'm gently reminded that Kevin at Slant Truth was also flogging our cause. Thank you, too, kind Duke.