Kate Murphy is a journalist in Houston who writes frequently for The New York Times.  Amy Hamburger of Queens backpacked across the country studying sustainability practices in communities and was briefly a substitute teacher’s aide before joining the mass protest Occupy Wall Street. She has emerged as a kind of leader, or at least nurturer, in the leaderless movement by organizing food collection and distribution.  READING I usually am reading two books at a time. One is spiritual that teaches me something and another that’s just lighthearted and fun to unwind with. Before Occupy Wall Street, I was on the second book of the “Inheritance” cycle by Christopher Paolini. He wrote it when he was like 15 or something and it’s brilliant. The books are young-adult fantasy books about a dragon but have deeper allegories. Basically, the world is taken over by negative forces, and this boy joins up with a dragon to change things.  And then, it’s funny, I had the book “The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness,” by Deepak Chopra, in my backpack when I came here. Deepak Chopra actually showed up here and wanted to talk and he was booed away. Some people find that he has this air of doing “spiritual” just for the money. But the book is amazing, and I find some of his messages very true, like his advice to look and listen and take it all in before doing anything. That’s what I’ve tried to do here from the first day.  WATCHING I had been getting really into improv before all this. I’ve taken some classes at the People’s Improv Theater and like to watch the shows there. The audience gives the improv team a word and they take it and develop scenes that are really funny. It’s kind of like here — we’re going with the flow, seeing what’s happening and addressing needs as they come up, without a lot of planning and structure. And there’s got to be trust. It’s the main part of functioning in the movement and the main part of improv.  FOLLOWING I’m not very Internetty because I don’t have that much access to a computer. I do a little Facebook but I’m hoping to learn more because I think the occupation is going to rely heavily on the Internet, not just for networking between us here but also coordinating with other cities.  SWAYING My Hennessy hammock is amazing. It’s a top-of-the-line camping hammock. It’s really good material, has a tarp and folds up really small and it’s really easy to hang. It’s got straps that are good for trees — it won’t damage them.
Amy Hamburger organizes the food for the protesters at Occupy Wall Street. What sheâs reading and following now.