Posted in Uncategorized, tagged boston, byron, destruction of sennacherib, encampment, eviction, menino, occupy boston, peaceful, police on December 12, 2011| 6 Comments »
Not an appropriate quote, but I can’t keep it from coming into my head:
“Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
“That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
“Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
“That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.”
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged boston, christmas, eric peterson, greenway, holiday, landscape, model railroad, ralph williams, south station, trains, trees and trains, winter on December 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »
A building gets wrapped with a bow, friends volunteer to hammer in some color along Greenway walks, South Station digs out its toy trains (display by these folks).
We don’t have snow, but we’re pretty festive anyway.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged back pain, boston, boston medical center, health, low-income, poor, poverty, robert b. saper, wellness, yoga, yoga journal on November 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The Boston Medical Center, whose patients are mostly poor, has been a pathbreaker in treating the whole person. Its volunteers and staff help patients find services for life issues that may be exacerbating health problems. BMC works with lawyers to get landlords to make building-code-required changes that affect asthma and other conditions.
Now it is doing an experiment with yoga.
On Monday, the Boston Globe wrote, a “yoga class, held in a Boston Medical Center lobby for staff and patients, features postures vetted for people with back pain. It was a prototype for an ongoing study exploring the use of yoga in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
“A survey of 5,050 people who practice yoga, conducted for Yoga Journal in 2008, found that 44 percent — almost half — reported annual incomes of $75,000 or more, and 24 percent said their income was higher than $100,000. Chronic low-back pain annually affects between 5 and 10 percent of all income levels of the population …
“Because many yoga postures stretch and strengthen the muscles affecting the back, at least 10 published studies have been done on yoga and chronic low-back pain, says [BMC’s Dr. Robert B.] Saper. But though the majority have shown yoga to be promising as a low-cost treatment, all have been done on predominantly white, educated, affluent populations, he says.
“ ‘In our patient population, it’s unusual to have back pain alone as a single problem,’ Saper says, noting that many patients also suffer from hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, and anxiety. And while he emphasizes that he doesn’t consider yoga a ‘panacea for everything,’ he says that ‘because of the mind-body component of yoga, we’re aware that [it] may be helpful for a variety of patients with co-morbidities. And that it may help with depression, anxiety, and resilience.’ …
“The yoga group received one 75-minute class each week that included postures, deep breathing, and meditation. They were also given an instructional CD and equipment to practice 30 minutes a day at home. After 12 weeks, the yoga group reported one-third less pain and an 80 percent decrease in pain medications. The control group reported a decrease in pain of 5 percent and no change in medication use.”
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged american wing, art, Arthur Dove, artist, boston, Calder mobiles, Charles Sheeler, contemporary art, dale chihuly, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Marsden Hartley, museum, museum of fine arts, photography, Weegie on November 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »
My workplace closes down on Veterans Day, so today my husband and I finally got a chance to visit the new Art of the Americas wing at the Museum of Fine Arts.
I didn’t realize that people bring cameras to museums now and take pictures of whatever they like. Is that allowed? For this post, I wanted to use a particular painting I saw today, but after trying the MFA site and searching the Internet, all I could find was a bootlegged photo for sale at Flickr. Fortunately, I did buy an MFA postcard that I was able to photograph at home.
This is a Louis Comfort Tiffany-designed stained glass window of parakeets and a goldfish bowl. 
My favorite floor was the third, though. There we saw some great 20th Century art: Calder mobiles, a Jackson Pollock, works by Charles Sheeler, Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, the photographer Weegie, and more. Although the MFA also has a new gallery of contemporary art in a different part of the building, I liked the selections on the third floor of the Americas wing best.
At lunch we ate in the new dining area, a large, beautiful space that combines both classical and modern styles comfortably and features a tall, green, glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly.
The food was very good.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged baltimore, big brother, big sister, boston, closing the opportunity divide, education, gerald chertavian, higher education, low-income, opportunity, poor, poverty, Year Up on November 7, 2011| 2 Comments »
I went to a conference today on how industry and higher-education entities can collaborate better to prepare students for the jobs that companies want to fill. There was a big crowd, and among the speakers were U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy.
I was especially pleased to hear panel member Gerald Chertavian and catch up with what his nonprofit has accomplished in the past few years.
Starting in college, Chertavian volunteered as a Big Brother, and the experience had a profound effect on him. After he went to Harvard Business School, launched a company, and sold it, he decided to invest in helping motivated youths aged 18-24 who lacked the money, networks, or opportunity to get a good education or decent job.
So he founded Year Up. He built on his list of corporate contacts to make internships a key part of a training program that ended in jobs.
Interested young people had to have a high school diploma or GED and demonstrate through the application process (which involves getting references) that they are serious. They earn a stipend during a year of training in either financial-industry or tech skills. They learn workplace behavior and business communication. At the same time they get college credits at an affiliated school, which most students decide to put toward a degree after their year in the program. Companies have found the Year Up youths invaluable, and some are changing their HR requirements to allow in more people without a bachelor’s already in hand.
At the conference, Chertavian acknowledged that in spite of having helped 5,000 students over a decade through Year Up programs around the country, the organization was not big enough to achieve its ambition of a major impact on the opportunity divide. To scale up, he said, Year Up is partnering first with a college in Baltimore that will use the approach. It hopes to keep expanding the new model after Baltimore.
There are a lot of great You Tube videos that might interest you — some about the Year Up program, some about Chertavian, some about the students. Here is one.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged addiction, antismoking, boston, boston youth fund, chinatown, mural, south cove health enter, suffern, tobacco on October 20, 2011| 2 Comments »
Taking my walk in Chinatown this morning,
I noticed an unusual mural. 
I got up close to read the sign, which said the South Cove Community Health Center Tobacco Control Project that had created the mural in 1998. The Boston Youth Fund site adds more: “This mural was commissioned by the South Cove Health Center as part of their antismoking campaign. It was funded in part by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The mural depicts the path to a healthy lifestyle from cigarette addiction.”
Your eyes are drawn to the Buddha-like figure in the center and the yin/yang symbol, but if you look more closely, there are giant cigarettes throughout the scene. This photographer got sharper pictures.
Much as I love projects like this, I do wonder if they meet their intended goals. Did more people quit smoking? How about the people who created the mural? Was the goal to have youth working on something constructive? Did they continue to be constructive in their lives?
I remember when the storekeepers in my hometown were worried about getting their windows soaped on Mischief Night. They decided to partner with the school to have young people create nice window paintings for them at Halloween. I was one of those kids. Did that prevent store windows from getting soaped? Little Miss Goody Two Shoes would no more have done mischief on Mischief Night than have flown to the moon. The initiative may not have hit the intended target.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged allison voth, boston, boston univeristy, fringe, fringe festival, gene scheer, jake heggie, opera, school of music opera institute, school of theatre, set design, steve mcgonagle, terrence mcnally, three decembers, tomer zvulun on October 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Steve McGonagle is a set designer whose community-theater work always amazed me back when I was a reviewer. One set that stands out in my mind was his huge train engine charging toward the audience in the Vokes Players performance of On the Twentieth Century (not to mention all the scene changes for that old-time musical).
Recently, Steve returned to school, to Boston University, to get his PhD, and he mentioned to me that he and other students were working on a BU Fringe Festival entry. (I blogged a bit about the original, 50-year-old Edinburgh Fringe Festival here.)
On Sunday my husband and I went to see the 90-minute opera in the black box space upstairs from the Huntington Theater. It was wonderful in every way, not least because Steve designed and built a beautifully plausible Golden Gate Bridge with only a $200 budget.
The new Jake Heggie opera, Three Decembers, was based on a Terrence McNally play. The story revolves around a self-centered and overbearing stage diva. Her grown children find her maddening and hurtful but still important to them. The acting was subtle and true to life in a way that opera seldom is, for me anyway. And we were amazed at the clarity of the words sung by the cast from BU’s School of Music Opera Institute. (We got the “blond cast” and understood that there was also a “brunette cast” to give more students opportunities.)
We admired the variety of styles and moods in Heggie’s score, some of it wonderfully lyrical. Three Decembers had a libretto by Gene Scheer and was directed by Tomer Zulun. Allison Voth was music director. More here.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged art, art installation, artist, bike share, biker, biking, boston, cyclist, Elena Kalman, environment, global water awareness, hubway, make-a-wave, nature, nicole freedman, park, rose kennedy greenway, segway, Susan Hoffman Fishman, water, wave, waves on October 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
More curiosities seen on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston: Waves. The first wave pictured below has a sign saying, “From the Greenway.” The second says, “From the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.”
This website helps to explain that an urban collaboration led by artists Susan Hoffman Fishman and Elena Kalman is behind this project, “The Wave: An Interactive Public Art Installation Fostering Global H20 Awareness.” I love it, but it didn’t raise my water awareness immediately because I had trouble figuring out what it was. Thank goodness for Google.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote to the Greenway people (and to the city of Boston) about bikers who were using the Greenway paths despite signs saying not to use “bicycles, skateboards, personal transportation, i.e. Segway.” I like that people bike instead of use cars, but not on footpaths. The signs cause walkers to lower their guard. I’ve seen near misses.
The city wrote me: “Thank you so much for your email. It is illegal to ride on the Greenway. We at the City of Boston are aware of this issue. We will be installing a bike lane on the road for the cyclists this season. Research shows that that bike lanes dramatically reduce sidewalk riding.”
The Greenway people wrote: ” For the safety and enjoyment of all Greenway visitors, biking is not permitted anywhere in the parks. When our horticultural and maintenance staffs witness a cyclist, they will ask them to dismount; City of Boston Police Department handles enforcement. … The City of Boston installed five new Hubway stations along the Greenway. This fall, the City will be installing painted bike lanes onto the street which will help alleviate the problem in the parks.”
(At the moment the Boston police are more preoccupied with Occupy Boston. They arrested 141 Occupiers early Tuesday because they had spread into the Greenway from Dewey Square. Funny how a few days can change one’s perspective. Today the concerns of the Occupiers and the concerns of the police both seem more serious than bikes on footpaths.)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged boston, camp, christian, church on the hill, daughters of abraham, heidi, interfaith youth service day, jerusalem, jewish, kids for peace, kids4peace, muslim, religion, swedenborgian on October 1, 2011| 2 Comments »
A while back I blogged about the book groups called Daughters of Abraham, involving women from three related religions: Muslim, Jewish, Christian. I mentioned that I had met book group participant Heidi, who founded something similar for children, Kids4Peace.
Today I thought I would check back to see what Heidi’s organization has been up to, and I was led to a delightful blog on the first Kids4Peace summer camp. Here’s a taste.
“July 11, 2011 — This morning there was basketball before breakfast! The Christian children had prepared a Sunday morning service for us with the Reverend Josh Thomas, Executive Director of Kids4Peace USA, presiding. The Muslim and Jewish children had many questions after the service and the Christian children were able to answer many of them. In the afternoon, we had our choice of activities with other campers whom we hadn’t met before. Choices included archery, windsurfing, arts and crafts, drama, and woodworking.”
A different sort of project took the Kids4Peace folks to the Interfaith Youth Service Day at the Swedenborgian Church on the Hill (Beacon Hill, Boston). Heidi wrote me that Kids4Peace organized “a program geared towards children under 12 (the older kids did outdoor service projects). We created 40 toiletry kits, cards and scarves to be donated to a women and children’s shelter in Boston.” Read about it here.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autumn, band, beacon hill, bee, block party, boston, concord, fall, h.d., hd, honey, leaves, Luna & Stella, music, neighborhood, new england, orchard, poem, poet, poetry, walnut on September 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This is the time of year for walnut trees to bear fruit, for bees to bring in the last of the wine, and for block parties. Beacon Hill’s party is way more elaborate than any block party in Concord and is considered a time to raise funds for a cause. See if you can guess which party is which.
Orchard
by H. D.
I saw the first pear
as it fell—
the honey-seeking, golden-banded,
the yellow swarm
was not more fleet than I,
(spare us from loveliness)
and I fell prostrate
crying:
you have flayed us
with your blossoms,
spare us the beauty
of fruit-trees.
The honey-seeking
paused not,
the air thundered their song,
and I alone was prostrate.
O rough-hewn
god of the orchard,
I bring you an offering—
do you, alone unbeautiful,
son of the god,
spare us from loveliness:
these fallen hazel-nuts,
stripped late of their green sheaths,
grapes, red-purple,
their berries
dripping with wine,
pomegranates already broken,
and shrunken figs
and quinces untouched,
I bring you as offering.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ample harvest, ampleharvest, boston, boston globe, community garden, downturn, farm, farmer, financial collapse, food access, food desert, food pantry, garden, gary oppenheimer, hardship, harvest, homeless, homelessness, low-income, poor, poverty, produce, rosie's place, Sandra M. Kelly, shelter, vegetables, west milford on September 19, 2011| 2 Comments »
Check out this story in the Boston Globe. It seems especially timely given the increasing numbers of people growing their own food and the concerns about many others who are struggling.
“Every summer, 40 million backyard farmers produce more food than they can use, while people in their communities go hungry. If only they could link up. Enter Gary Oppenheimer, 59, of West Milford, N.J. He was directing a community garden a couple of years ago when inspiration struck. In May 2009, AmpleHarvest.org hit the Internet, connecting food pantries and gardeners. In just 150 days, Rosie’s Place in Boston became the 1,000th pantry on the site, and the growth has continued. As of Labor Day, 4,188 pantries were listed, in all states. Oppenheimer says the nonprofit organization is actively seeking grant funding to sustain what has sprung up.” Read more here.
If you have extra produce from your garden, you can go to AmpleHarvest to find a food pantry near you.
Photographs: Sandra M. Kelly
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ame zion, barbershop, boston, boston black, cape verdean, children's museum, fort point channel, haitian, synagogue on September 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »
At lunch I went across Fort Point Channel with my colleague Lillian to visit the Children’s Museum. We wanted to see the new exhibit called Boston Black.
It was very nicely done. Lillian was delighted to discover that her AME Zion church was featured in the history part, complete with stained glass Star of David (her church’s building was once a synagogue).
We played all the games but couldn’t seem to operate one that involved connecting circuits — probably because we are not kids. I definitely could have used a kid to remind me how to use the camera on my mobile phone, but Lillian figured out hers and took a photo of the museum’s rendering of her church. (You can’t see the Star of David in her picture, so have a look here at the actual church.)
In addition to the history section, there was a barber shop and hair salon that you could play in, a section on Boston-area Haitians, one on Cape Verdeans, a grocery store with play fruits and vegetables, a magazine stand, quizzes to help you learn about the different cultures, and so on.
One thing we hadn’t realized was that if you come to the Children’s Museum without a child, they hold onto your driver’s license or other picture I.D., and they give you a special pass to wear around your neck in case parents think you seem sketchy. I know I look disreputable, but Lillian is the soul of respectability. 🙂
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 3-D, bend light, boston, christopher columbus park, energy conservation, energy saving, engineer, gfavalora, led, light, light-emitting diode, lighting systems, Minsk, north end, OFH_John, optical, optics, Optics for Hire, phase discontinuity, reflection, refraction, seas, street lamp, Ukraine, waterfront on September 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This morning on my walk I noticed a sign about energy-saving LED (light-emitting diode) street lamps. The sign is hard to read here, but it says that the LED lighting was provided by the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park. It also says that “the City of Boston is testing different types of LED lighting systems around the town and wants to know what you think.” Tell the City here.
The main reason I’m interested is that John is in the optics business, and his team is always working on LED, 3-D, and other optical projects beyond my ken. (I blogged about his Eastern European optical engineers here and here. John and Gregg tweet at OFH_John and gfavalora.)
And while we’re on the subject of optics, check out an article about “bizarre optical phenomena, defying the laws of reflection and refraction. …
“Cambridge, Mass. – September 1, 2011 – Exploiting a novel technique called phase discontinuity, researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have induced light rays to behave in a way that defies the centuries-old laws of reflection and refraction.” They bend light. Kind of like a fun house mirror.
You can see what they are talking about here.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged boston, harbor, hummingbird, italian, little italy, lobster, north end, waterfront on August 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Near where I work in Boston, there is something new to see every day.
Here are two shots of the ever picturesque North End. 
Here 
are shots of the harbor post-Irene and the James Hook & Co. golden lobster.
And here are the deep red plants that attracted a hummingbird outside the cafeteria yesterday. He didn’t show up today for his sc
reen test, so I borrowed someone else’s hummingbird.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged art, artist, arts, boston, catharsis, composer, drama, ex-offender, fort point channel, incarceration, job skills, Mary Driscoll, on with living and learning, opera, OWLL, play, playwriting class, poem, poetry, prison, prisoner, recidivism, reentry, theater, theatre on August 23, 2011| 2 Comments »
I wrote before about a program using the arts to help people in prisons get beyond the prisoner mindset. Here’s a similar story.
Michelle “Bankston, who has short, blond hair and a muscular build, has spent almost 20 years behind bars. She was incarcerated first at a medium-security facility here in Alabama, and then at a private prison in Louisiana (to relieve overcrowding, Alabama sends some inmates out of state), and finally here, at the Montgomery Women’s Facility, a sun-soused cluster of buildings on the outskirts of the capital city.
” ‘A while back I decided that I could either spend decades in the bunks, watching TV or playing cards,’ Bankston says, ‘or I could get out here and take the opportunity to write poetry and draw.’
“That she’s been given this opportunity to do her art is testament to the work of Kyes Stevens, an avuncular and outspoken educator, poet, and Alabama native. Since 2002, Ms. Stevens has headed The Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project (APAEP), which offers literature and art classes in a range of prisons across the state. The program is funded by Auburn University and an array of grants. The teaching staff consists of five Auburn-based instructors and a rotating cast of teaching fellows from the graduate creative-writing program at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Classes run for 14 weeks and are rigorously structured, like college courses, demanding a full commitment from students.”
Read the article in the Christian Science Monitor.
On a related note, I met a woman in my playwriting class who founded a nonprofit called On With Living and Learning, Inc. Mary Driscoll lives in the Fort Point Channel area of Boston and works with people who have been through the prison system. She uses theater to generate the catharsis that can result from their telling their stories and also to help them develop “job skills for the 21st century.” Read about her here. A script that Mary was working on in my playwriting class is now going to be made into an opera, with all sorts of helpers, like the Harvard-trained opera composer, the cabaret singer, and the reggae performer.
I can’t help thinking that when these creative people use their talents to help others, they are getting something special in return.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 