community

Carol, a Theater, and Occupy Lompoc

I recently learned that an old friend passed away. Carol was an old school hard nosed reporter fiercely dedicated to the truth and local journalism. I was deeply touched to see that, in lieu of flowers, her estate was suggesting donations to an organization that I helped start. So that means it’s time to retell the story of the Lompoc Theatre Project, a curious and enduring legacy of Occupy Wall Street colliding with hyper local politics and corruption. The year is 2011 and I’m living in [...] Continue reading ➠

Posted on 03 October 2025 by Jedidjah de Vries 13 min

Motivation vs. Habbit

In the violin world when people ask questions like “how do I maintain motivation to keep practicing?” the answer is: habits are better than motivation. Instead of relying on motivation or inspiration to hit, you should make a plan, have a routine, build the habit of practicing day in day out. Politics are the same. When folks ask "how do we get people to care?" the answer is: culture and ideology are better than individual feelings. Instead of hoping people feel moved to act on a specific topic [...] Continue reading ➠

Posted on 23 January 2025 by Jedidjah de Vries 2 min