“OCCUPY WALL STREET” ON K STREET, WASHINGTON, D.C.

The other day, I bike downtown to the Newseum to hear a panel discussion by New York Times columnists. I leave home early enough to swing through McPherson Square, D.C.’s Occupy Wall Street venue.

Soul Power

Soul Power

My immediate sense is a blast from the past, a hippie and flower child commune ambience.

The Library

The Lending Library

The Lending Library boasts titles like War and Peace and The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen

On a small stove, ground beef is sizzling, almost ready to go into the spaghetti sauce for tonight’s dinner.

Needs

Needs

Bengay and Tiger Balm comprise 20% of the Needs, suggesting that occupying Wall Street puts a strain on the muscles.

The Massage

The Massage

So folks help one another relax.

The Committees and Meeting Schedule

The Committees and Meeting Schedule

I have been fantasizing about taking my tent and spending a night with this group. Were I in my twenties, I might have moved right in, drawn especially by the camaraderie and excuse to sleep under the stars.

The Committees and Meeting Schedule heighten my envy of this seemingly tight community that contrasts with my comfortable home in a boring, mown-lawn neighborhood.

I would join the Welcome, Comfort and Media committees rather than the Sanitation, Legal and Outreach Committees.

The Art Department

The Art Table

Why isn’t there an Arts or Culture Committee?

Art Department Yield

Art Table Yield

Signs made at the Art Table are everywhere.

Music Appreciation

Music Appreciation

There is nothing in the Music Appreciation area–it’s guitar, drums, girls in long skirts, abundance of hair–to suggest this is not 1971.

The "Red Cross"

The "Red Cross"

This medic’s name is Kennedy. He seems to be a regular, but tells me people come to volunteer before they go to work. I ask about toilets. He replies that the protesters are at the mercy of nearby restaurant owners’ generosity.

Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig speaks

Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig speaks

Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig encourages the crowd to “invite the grassroots in, take in the Tea Party members who do not have a job … those people who have the same recognition” of the fundamental unfairness . . . . (Quote courtesy of occupydc.org.)

Media Circus

Media Circus

The protest is a media magnet, even the media folks are media-worthy.

View from the Newseum Roof

View from the Newseum Roof

After meandering through the Occupy Wall Street community, I go to the Newseum, Washington’s fabulous news museum, and listen to opinion pages journalists discuss the current political climate and the 2012 election.

Maybe panelist David Brooks is the one who remarks that the Occupy Wall Street movement is not very organized.

I wonder whether he has seen the list of Committees and the Schedule of Meetings at McPherson Square.

Where do you think the Occupy Wall Street movement is headed?

Related Announcement: Don’t miss my Top Ten Do-It-Yourself Halloween Costumes

Poorman's Nation

Poorman's Nation

such as Poorman’s Nation costume in this photo I took last week at “Wall Street’s” Occupy Wall Street demostration in Zuccotti Park.

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