Optimistic Soap

It’s finally here!
Murky greens, American Flag Blue curls floating on the surface — and fragranced like a meadow of wildflowers. [Verdant, vibrant, blooming. I looked for an algae scent. I did not look very hard.] A genuinely lovely shower experience, I promise!

I loved every single name you all suggested. Big thanks to Nadine Otego Seiler - Warrior Goddess for the Resistance who started this whole thing with her “Team Algae” reflecting pool protest sign.

But in the end, “The Deflecting Pool” was too perfect not to use.

After all the incompetence and idiocy, here’s where we landed, as of this week: Jeanine Pirro’s office had to go into court and admit — formally, in writing — that the pool wasn’t damaged by vandals. It was damaged by faulty installation work. All charges against all four people accused? Dropped.

I would pay real money to know what her walk into the Oval Office to deliver that news looked like.

Schadenfreude is delicious.

Deflection, karma, and a very good soap. What else could I call it?

Available now (in limited quantities)! Link to buy at optimisticsoap.com in my bio.

WE DID IT. 🎉
Current tally: $7,164 — which means we didn’t just hit our $5,000 goal, we absolutely smashed it!

But… we want more. Because more money means more direct support for q***r and trans youth in Portland, and honestly? We’re having too much fun to stop now.
You have until midnight (Pacific) this Friday, JULY 31, to get in on it.

🧼 What it’s for: Supporting q***r and trans youth in Portland through New Avenues for Youth and SMYRC (Sexual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Center).

🧼 What to do: Donate any amount with this link: https://newavenues.org/celebratepride. Every $10 = one entry to win ($50 = five chances).

🧼 What you could win: 20 bars of soap from Molly/Optimistic Soap, or one of two 10-bar prize packages from Nathan/Clover Soapworks.

Thank you for your help already! Let’s KEEP GOING!

Fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram. Donations must be made by midnight (Pacific), July 31 in order to qualify for the drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly and notified via email and announced via our feeds. Prizes will be mailed to U.S. addresses.

Many of you have already been using the 5Calls.org 🇺🇸 app for years, but this is for the beginner activists.
Which are you?

Some of you think calling Congress doesn’t matter. I get the skepticism — I’ve felt it too. So I looked into it before I said anything.

Here’s what I found:
📞 Congressional staff have been surveyed for over a decade on what actually sways an undecided lawmaker. The vast majority said personal letters, emails, and in-person visits made the biggest difference but phone calls are also important. Staffers tally them, and those numbers get used internally to gauge how strongly a district feels about something. Think your member of congress can’t be swayed? If they support this administration’s shenanigans, don’t give them a moment’s peace. If they are fighting, they deserve a thank you.

📞 One caveat: one study found that mass form-letter campaigns, with no personalization, had little effect and sometimes even backfired. Volume alone isn’t magic.
So here’s the real takeaway: specific, personal contact works. Vague contact doesn’t. That’s one reason why I like 5 Calls — it’s not a form letter blast. It gives you a real, current issue and the information you need to tailor the sample script, so your call is specific without you having to become a policy expert overnight.

This is about as low-effort, high-impact as tiny acts of resistance gets. Ninety seconds. You don’t even need outside pants.

Use their website 5calls.org or download the app.
Will you use it?

I was excited to get “On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear” by Julia Angwin & Ami Fields-Meyer after Rachel Maddow featured them on a recent show. Built on over 100 original interviews with dissidents, activists, and theorists worldwide, it’s structured as sixteen essential lessons for taking personal risks and defying authoritarianism in daily life. It’s part history, part practical roadmap.

When I mentioned that book, a follower (I’ll try to find her so I can credit her) suggested “Democracy in Retrograde” by Sami Sage & Emily Amick. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure map to civic engagement that helps readers match their values, skills, and time to real action — reframing civic engagement as self-care rather than obligation.

I only just got them yesterday but they both look incredible! I’m sure I’ll find some practical things to share as I delve more deeply into them.

I’ve been a Jenny Lawson Jenny Lawson fan for years but I almost didn’t get “How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay” because I wasn’t in the mood for a self-help book, but her tips are perfect for the exhausted activist. With section titles like “Let’s Kick Sadness Right in the Dick,” I realized that I was in good hands.

I got these three from my local independent bookstore and the library (let’s continue to boycott Amazon, please).

What are YOU reading? They don’t have to be political recommendations — sometimes there’s nothing better than a ta**ry beach read in between acts of resistance!