So here's the deal: I lived in a crusty vegan hippie cooperative when I was a sophomore in college. Despite its stigma and the obvious lack of cheese, it was a fun experience at that point in my life (all I'm saying is that I paid my dues). Observing Occupy Portland's methodical meetings over the past week has sparked memories of my past residency. Specifically, our house's weekly endless meetings that would either end in tears (one word: rat poison) or a massive hug-pile. Point is, we used the consensus method seen in the Occupy crowd — hand signals and agreement methods, NOT call and response. While it appears that a lot of the meeting sign-language has changed since my consensus time, one hand motion has remained intact: the down twinkles.

Down twinkles (make the sign for rain with your hands) signify general (and silent) disagreement during a consensus meeting. Pretty simple. But it doesn't stop there. Due to it's growing popularity through the Occupy movement, one Illinois woman made a website solely dedicated to this disapproving hand motion.

Oh, and a store.

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  • http://www.cafepress.com/downtwinkles

Who knew the antiquated hand motion of my past would make it big? For more consensus-style hang jives, check out the tutorial by vest man: