| Dani D. |
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Jonathan "the cockblocker" (nicknamed for my hustle, of course) |
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| Social & Community Benefit Chair |
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Logistics Coordinator |
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| How long have you lived in Portland? |
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| D) My third anniversary is around the corner, though I felt at home in Portland immediately. :) |
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J) I stepped off the train 7 years ago in May. I spent the majority of my life in Colorado, but tried LA out for several years. |
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| How/Why did you end up in Portland? |
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| D) Portland is a dreamy gem. Green and trees, an extraordinary sustainable and vegan-friendly culinary world, biking, sense of community, neighborhood pride, seasonal changes, though would love more thunderstorms! |
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| What is your profession? |
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D) My professional background is in civic engagement and youth leadership. I ran a community project called Seeds for Change for about eight years which blends these two pieces together through a specialized field called humane education (critical thinking about animal protection, environmental, human rights and consumerism issues). Presently, I am job hunting and in the fall will resume my pursuit of naturopathic medicine.
With an Americorp grant, I am doing fund development for Q Center, focusing most of my time on grant writing and production of fundraiser Vagina Monologues performances (with a spotlight on the trans community). In my spare time, I am working on a book about gay identical twins with my twin sister which will give its proceeds to gay youth causes. I envision bridging the worlds of sustainability and preventative medicine and hope to graduate with a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine in 2018. |
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J) I started working the travel industry a decade ago this year. Currently I work admin for a tour operator - basically a travel broker for travel agents. I love cruising! |
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| Tell us a bit about your role in the NetRippers Football Club |
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| D) I was introduced to NR during the Pride Parade of 2009. I was ecstatic to see a soccer club for gays! A bit shy at first, I was welcomed with open arms into a tournament and really enjoyed myself. I joined practices shortly after and really got involved after the annual fundraiser in 2010. I am presently the Social and Community Benefit Chair and thrive on the community building aspect of it. |
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J) Like others, I saw the ad in Just Out and emailed for info. I started showing up at practices in May, and the club had only been formed that March. I've played on a few of the shorter lived teams, when we were trying out new divisions and facilities to see which we fit in and liked best. I served as Social Coordinator for two terms - and it all started from getting a group together to see Margeret Cho! Currently I try to play librarian to the club's multitude of equipment. |
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| Favorite (professional or otherwise) soccer player? |
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| D) No particular player, but have admiration for those who practice good sports(wo)manship and really appreciate watching players smile when they've scored goals. |
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J) Watching games, I really focus more on the team working as a whole rather than pinpointing individuals. Except if they look cute on camera, then they get my attention : ) |
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| What inspires you? |
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| D) Authenticity, passion, the natural world, my family, my girlfriend, my companion animals and the women in recovery at one of my favorite organizations, Shakti Rising. |
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J) The morning cup of coffee. |
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| What is your favorite food? |
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| D) Peanut sauce and tempeh satay. Chard. Kale. Arugula. Lemon, garlic and bragg's amino acids. Anything with nutritional yeast on it. That nutty, “cheesy” addition to any dish is so tasty. |
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| What is your favorite color? |
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| D) I am drawn to earthy tones. |
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| What is your favorite place in the world? |
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| D) Believe it or not, my birth place of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Such, such, such good childhood memories! |
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| What is the first time you noticed that Gayness existed? |
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| D) Larry and Don, a friendly gay couple who used to clean our home in Palm Springs growing up! |
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J) With me, it was really the case of understanding the concept before knowing the definition - or it's implications. Heck, I remember fawning over certain guys in kindergarten, and not quite knowing why....Then learning grammer in elementary school, "gay" was the word I used to measure whether a "g" sound was hard or soft. "Gay" is hard, by the way... |
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| Your having a dinner party of 6, whom would you invite? |
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| D) My grandma Sara Zarem, Mother Theresa, Jane Goodall, friends Rae Sikora and Zoe Weil and my mom, all role models and visionaries. |
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J) I don't usually host, and would hope to be one that's invited. If this is one of those, "who do you admire from history" questions, I would definitely chose company to keep the evening interesting. Oh, yes, I think the likes of F Scott Fitzgerald and River Phoenix would make a party for the ages. And of course my NetRipper buddies - they always know how to have a good time! |
