My Conversations With Arianna and Cindy

Last week I got to meet Arianna Huffington and Cindy Sheehan. I met Arianna at a dinner she gave for the winners of the Huffington Post's "Contagious Festival" at a Greek restaurant in Manhattan Beach. I met Cindy a few days later at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas. I'm a fairly shy person, so the conversations were brief enough to record here in their entirety.

Arianna: "So you're the one who puts signs on freeways."
Me: "Yes."
Arianna: "And you're getting other people to do it too."
Me: "Some. Not many. Not nearly enough."
Arianna: "Is it illegal?"
Me: "No, not really. It's one of those things where a cop might hassle you if he catches you in the act, but they can't really put you in jail for it. If you ever went to court you'd win."
Arianna: "So why aren't more people doing it?"
Me: "I don't know. They're scared I think."
Arianna: "Of what?"
Me: "I wish I knew. Honestly I think what they're afraid of is simply looking foolish."

She smiled and handed me a copy of her latest book, "Fearless", which I paged through a bit, unfortunately putting an end to our conversation.

My conversation with Cindy Sheehan was even more to the point. Unlike the bright, loud restaurant setting with Arianna, everything was dark and quiet. Camp Casey was beautiful at night, with the oppressive heat of the day finally gone, a slight breeze and a million stars above. I was sitting at the edge of a small group of people listening to someone playing guitar when Cindy came up to me and said, "You made a memorial for my son."
"Yeah... it was awhile ago."
"Someone sent me a picture. Thank you."
"You're welcome."