The public defender blog Arbitrary and Capricious has a new post with updates on Olympia May Day, plus a great point is made, go forth and read: The activist's passive voice: 'rocks were thrown'

(comments closed here so as to encourage comments there)

Update: read Emmett's What's with the quote marks comrade?

I look for common themes when I browse through posts by local bloggers. These two posts on lawn mowing caught my attention:

I mowed the lawn this morning with a mulching mower. So now the dog's running around with little green paws. It's so cute. :D

Wally's LiveJournal

A day in the life of Amanda! I'll tell ya! I got a little crafting in, and a little baking, and I RAN OVER A SNAKE WITH A LAWN MOWER!

More at Yellow Makes Me Happy

And in our own OlyBlog archives read stevenl's long entry written to avoid mowing his lawn: The Link-Crazy Freewriting News

Need to mow your lawn? Tomorrow, Friday, appears to be the day to do it.

Got mowing stories? Remember to give our local bloggers some attention too.

We are actively seeking authors to post stories, book and movie reviews, poems, information about resources, and opinion pieces which are in keeping with the mission and goals of PFLAG. If you are interested in becoming a contributor on the PFLAG-Olympia blog, send an email to PFLAGolympiaWA@gmail.com which goes to Alec and Gabi Clayton -- the blog's admin people. Once a contributor is approved they will be able to sign in and post writing and images. If you've never blogged before, it's really very easy. We can help get you started.

In addition to the blog's contributors, anyone can comment on the blog posts. We hope this will happen and it will become an active online community. Please participate!

Check out what we've already gathered at Oly May Day: Justice for All [2008]. Anything further on this theme will eventually also be added in. Look through what has happened in past years in Oly May Day.

I encourage everyone to tell us their experiences, there is no deadline, and all civil discussions are welcome. Got photos, video, stories to tell? Please join in.

An OlyBlog post was blogged about today on the spokesmanreview.com blog Eye on Olympia:

Since there are no official Earth Day events happening here in Olympia, WA, USA, Olympia Dumpster Divers will simply give a shout out to some of our favorite artists who do their recycled/upcycle/sustainable eco-art thing not just for Earth Day but all year long:

• The Snow This Morning
• Snow and Ratatouille
• About this whole snow thing

I'm reading up on this Olympia pioneer Mary Olney Brown, I can't yet do a full bio that will do her justice, but because I'm enjoying this research so much, I want to share something from it.

Mary Olney Brown was the first woman to vote in Olympia, Washington Territory. She and others had been turned away from the polls several times previously.

Here is one of her poems:

Members of the community are encouraged to build your own racers to "compete" in the races, which will be held in our back yard Saturday, April 26th!

This sounds so fun, both to create, compete, and to watch. Get the story through Olympia Salvage and info and guidelines at Hazard Factory.

....from blogging here that is. I'll be back.

Meanwhile I'm working on family history projects involving much digging around through Timberland library genealogical resources, Washington state digital archives, and other places.

I hope lots of olybloggers turn out for the third annual dragon boat festival this April 27th and blog photos and stories from it.