Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

mopinko

mopinko's Journal
mopinko's Journal
April 18, 2024

so, i've never made any kind of beg here for myself. this isn't rly 1 either, but it is. updated.

i will b doing the mswalk may 19th, in northbrook, il.
if u r inclined to help, pls go read my pitch.

https://events.nationalmssociety.org/participant/525188

ok, eta my pitch-

i’m walking toward a world free of ms

because this cruel disease stole my sister.

my sister patty passed away in 2018 after a decade in a nursing home, and a life under it’s shadow. dx’d after the birth of her 2nd child, she thankfully spent most of the next 20+ yrs in remission. but she never had another child. she dared not try to combine work and motherhood. and when she returned to the workforce once her son was an adult, it reared it’s ugly head. it took about a decade to fully disable her. it took a toll not only on her body, but her brain. her initial admissions to care were in the locked ward.

i walk w my dearest of friends, roberta miles, because she too lives in the shadow of this beast. but she does it with a style and grace that mostly able bodied me can only dream of. she sings, she tells stories, she makes art, she teaches, she produces several long running shows, including loose chicks monologue group. i had the pleasure of making my debut as a storyteller w the chicks at my urban farm, moah’s ark.



fortunately, roberta has had access to treatments that did not exist when my sister could have benefited from them. but she still struggles.

i want a world free of ms for her, and for every one who has to face this cruel killer.
April 16, 2024

i'm glad this case is going 1st. remind everyone he cheated his way in in the 1st place.

so much has gone down the memory hole. all this shit was known by anyone who cared to pay attention. and everything that came after.
it’s good to start at the beginning.

April 15, 2024

ok, great male singers. here's mine

justin townes earle has something i aspire to- u can hear the look on his face in his voice.
good example-



my teach thought this was a crazy idea, til i made him watch this.
in a million yrs i couldn’t b the guitar player he is. and tho i’m a pretty good writer, i’d never touch him as a song writer.
gonna try to b that good a singer tho.
April 12, 2024

cross posting from mental health support-

chronic fatigue.

22 yrs after west nile set off a trudge through doc after doc, a new doc finally said the words-
u fit the criteria for chronic fatigue. next visit it was- u fit the criteria for ibs. common combo.

it is grinding my gears that it took this long. it’s long been known that it can b kicked off by a viral infection. all the docs, a doz of them, accepted that it was related to that infection. but nobody said the words.
i cant even wrap my mind around what a difference it wd have made to know.
to not b told over and over that i was just depressed. and that i wasnt ‘that’ sick. i had a dx of fibro, which is ‘only’ a syndrome. not a real ‘disease’.
i never said i was a sick person. i’d say my health was ‘sketchy’. i accepted that i was depressed, but i was just exhausted. i tried all the meds. they never helped.

i’m trying to figure out what to do w this info. w/o a doubt, i wd still have my family. maybe i wd still have a career as an artist, which i abandoned out of exhaustion. and lack of support from my hubs and my kids. they wd have stepped up if we had known.
i’m trying to forgive myself for all the things i blamed myself for. to shake off the conviction that i’m a huge failure. but i dont think i’ll ever get over the losses.

the west nile wasnt the 1st virus to fuck me up. i was never rly right. i had 3 viruses before i was 2.
when i was in college the 1st time, i had hepatitis. shortly afterward, my life spiraled. i got pregnant, got married, dropped out, got divorced. i floundered for 6 more yrs, til i met my 2nd hubs. we had a few good yrs. i went to art school school a couple yrs later, then dropped out when our 1st was born. had another baby, then i had a miscarriage that started w a cold or flu. i got pg right away after. it was 9 mos of shear exhaustion. it was twins, but i only got 1 baby.
i didnt get back to school for 15yrs. i didnt finish my bfa, but i got a certificate in design. it took 2 1/2 yrs of weekend and night classes. by the time i finished, my marriage was failing. again, i went into therapy. unsurprisingly, it didnt help.

i am trying to take some solace in what i did manage to accomplish. i raised 5 kids. they’re good ppl, but they dont speak to me. maybe that will change at some point.
i helped to start a non-profit to support hard hatted women that thrives to this day, over 30 yrs later.
i made a lot of amazing art. art that was groundbreaking. appreciated by my peers. but that i couldnt sell.
i worked hard for a women owned member art gallery for several yrs, and raised a LOT of money for them. i made lifelong friends.
i did many, many remodeling projects, turning my 2flat into a million dollar sf home.
i raised a doz great dogs.
i worked my ass off to get obama elected, and was recognized by the campaign for it.
i started an urban farm, and beat city hall over it.
and now i’m learning to sing, to make music.

i’m trying hard to forgive myself for all the failures. i doubt my kids ever will, tho.
but i have no idea what to do w the anger. or the grief for what could have/should have been.

mostly just venting.

April 12, 2024

chronic fatigue.

22 yrs after west nile set off a trudge through doc after doc, a new doc finally said the words-
u fit the criteria for chronic fatigue. next visit it was- u fit the criteria for ibs. common combo.

it is grinding my gears that it took this long. it’s long been known that it can b kicked off by a viral infection. all the docs, a doz of them, accepted that it was related to that infection. but nobody said the words.
i cant even wrap my mind around what a difference it wd have made to know.
to not b told over and over that i was just depressed. and that i wasnt ‘that’ sick. i had a dx of fibro, which is ‘only’ a syndrome. not a real ‘disease’.
i never said i was a sick person. i’d say my health was ‘sketchy’. i accepted that i was depressed, but i was just exhausted. i tried all the meds. they never helped.

i’m trying to figure out what to do w this info. w/o a doubt, i wd still have my family. maybe i wd still have a career as an artist, which i abandoned out of exhaustion. and lack of support from my hubs and my kids. they wd have stepped up if we had known.
i’m trying to forgive myself for all the things i blamed myself for. to shake off the conviction that i’m a huge failure. but i dont think i’ll ever get over the losses.

the west nile wasnt the 1st virus to fuck me up. i was never rly right. i had 3 viruses before i was 2.
when i was in college the 1st time, i had hepatitis. shortly afterward, my life spiraled. i got pregnant, got married, dropped out, got divorced. i floundered for 6 more yrs, til i met my 2nd hubs. we had a few good yrs. i went to art school school a couple yrs later, then dropped out when our 1st was born. had another baby, then i had a miscarriage that started w a cold or flu. i got pg right away after. it was 9 mos of shear exhaustion. it was twins, but i only got 1 baby.
i didnt get back to school for 15yrs. i didnt finish my bfa, but i got a certificate in design. it took 2 1/2 yrs of weekend and night classes. by the time i finished, my marriage was failing. again, i went into therapy. unsurprisingly, it didnt help.

i am trying to take some solace in what i did manage to accomplish. i raised 5 kids. they’re good ppl, but they dont speak to me. maybe that will change at some point.
i helped to start a non-profit to support hard hatted women that thrives to this day, over 30 yrs later.
i made a lot of amazing art. art that was groundbreaking. appreciated by my peers. but that i couldnt sell.
i worked hard for a women owned member art gallery for several yrs, and raised a LOT of money for them. i made lifelong friends.
i did many, many remodeling projects, turning my 2flat into a million dollar sf home.
i raised a doz great dogs.
i worked my ass off to get obama elected, and was recognized by the campaign for it.
i started an urban farm, and beat city hall over it.
and now i’m learning to sing, to make music.

i’m trying hard to forgive myself for all the failures. i doubt my kids ever will, tho.
but i have no idea what to do w the anger. or the grief for what could have/should have been.

mostly just venting.

April 11, 2024

Trump goes into panic mode with DESPERATE stunt

Inside the Right episode 26: @bulwarkmedia's Tim Miller discusses Trump's claim that he raised $50 million in one day



i particularly like these btc vids. i love tim.
April 8, 2024

great pic from my ex hubs.

https://twitter.com/mopinkodu/status/1777429068104843658

edit- he’s not at home, he’s in ‘bumfuck ohio’
March 31, 2024

x-posting from gd-

my letter to my sen, tammy duckworth- sub i would write this to bob casey, but i live in illinois.

besides the price of food, a preventable, huge stressor on family budgets is food waste. this is part of the business plan of the snack food industry.
there is no reason potato chips should go stale, almost ever, except for the fact that they come in packaging designed to get them to you fresh, and to go stale asap after. unless you repackage them, or use a big clip or something. it’s an idea so obvious, it’s a meme- why dont snacks come in resealable bags?
why are the most expensive items in our carts packaged to go bad? it’s the food version of planned obsolescence.
besides what it does to family budgets, and food assistance programs, these are some of the most environmentally destructive crops.
the solution is obvious. snacks must come in resealable packaging. if they’re smart, they will make it something that people will reuse. the 21st century cookie tin, if you will. except it’s a ziplock bag.
so, to bob casey- i hope you will consider adding this common sense solution to your bill addressing shrinkflation.
keep up the good work, both of you.

sincerely,
mo cahill
urban farmer
artist
designer
mom

eta- feel free to c/p and sign your own name. this is hardly my idea.

Profile Information

Member since: Tue Oct 28, 2003, 08:34 PM
Number of posts: 70,205
Latest Discussions»mopinko's Journal