I've taken a day off from Occupy Wall Street to return to normal life as a family guy, and to nurse my sore feet. I will tell you what I've seen, from my perspective, and I'll answer any non-argumentative questions.

I'm not sleeping in Liberty Plaza, which is already overcrowded, but spending a great deal of my non-working time there. What we do mostly is talk & listen and try to figure out what we agree on as reasonable goals and reasonable strategies to get them.

Political opinions in the plaza range from Ron Paul libertarian to the usual array of communist factions. However, most people are in the middle: you can call them frustrated progressive Democrats and you probably wouldn't be far off. I think most people in the plaza would describe themselves as patriotic. They want to see America set back on a course that provides some degree of economic security and democracy. I think most would agree with Roosevelt's second bill of rights and Eisenhower's appraisal of the military industrial complex.

The average person sleeping in the plaza is necessarily young and jobless though often college educated with a history of work. Conditions are very rough without tents, port-o-sans, or showers. There is almost no organization of sleeping areas. People are tossing their foam pads, sleeping bags, and tarps wherever they can, which is often quite close to foot traffic. There is constant city noise, even during quiet hours, and there is the constant threat of a police raid in the middle of the night. People are running on short sleep and with much tension, and they are often cold and wet. It makes your worst festival experience look like a luxury hotel.

Older people usually drop by during the day, as I do. Some are members of the unions that support the action, some are old leftists, and some are just frustrated with the state of the economy and corporate power. It's true that the 'kids' are running the show. They are inexperienced, but they're learning.

Saturday's two marches and rally in Washington Square Park pretty much went off without a negative incident. We have been described as an unruly mob, etc. We showed that to be a lie by our behavior during this event. Police instructions were observed during the march. The rally did not disrupt anything besides a few buskers pitches. Nothing was looted, vandalized, trashed, etc. People behaved themselves responsibly. Even the punk kids have begun to understand our role in convincing the average working person that we are on their side.

Mark Ross, Bruce Murdoch, and I have worked up a new version of "Which Side Are You On". I have an updated version of "Whitehouse Blues" which has been well received. I'm working on an updated "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" or "Keep Your Hand on the Plow." I hope to organize small groups of street singers to go out into the streets of the financial district during work week rush and lunch hours. New York is generally tolerant of unamplified sidewalk busking. I will take suggestions for other easy to learn and sing political songs.

I realize that I've been rambling on here. To paraphrase Mark Twain, I'd have written a shorter post, but I didn't have enough time.

If you have questions about what's going on, please email me directly, and I'll try to answer. I'll post the new lyrics to White House Blues with a Lyric Add heading. Best wishes to everyone.

-- Etan