The Third Decade

ArtROX! kick off

If there's one thing I'm learning to appreciate, Roxbury's artists know how to do a lot more than just create works of art. Last night the collective artists of Roxbury kicked off a series of events, leading up to Roxbury Open Studios, with our first fundraiser dance party at Slades. I'm happy to say, however, that this wasn't just any night at a club, the artists (and our supporters) were tearing up the dance floor! The DJ played the music of the soulful 60's, disco 70's, one-hit-wonder 80's, nostalgic 90's (at least they're nostalgic for me), and the present day. I had never been to Slades before, but I felt that it was just the right venue to give the event a cool "uptown" vibe, especially given the dance floor's embedded lights and retro 70's look. Some artists had their artwork mounted around the club and we were joined by filmmakers from this weekend's Roxbury Film Festival, further adding to the energy of the event. The was so good that some people are already talking about doing it again next year and making it a regular part of the film festival schedule.

Anyway, this party was just the kick off to a series of arts events happening throughout the summer and leading to ROS. Artists and local organizations are working together to introduce and expose the public to a range of activities, most of which are free. Below is a short calendar of events, so start saving the dates:

Aug 11, 5:30pm-6pm: Free talk by E. Barry Gaither, Director of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, at the old Playhouse in the Park. The talk will focus on the history of the playhouse and Mr. Gaither's work with Elma Lewis, the Playhouse and Museum's founder, and will be immediately be followed by the smooth jazz of Andre Ward. The Playhouse in the Park series is currently run by the Franklin Park Coalition.

Aug 15, 10am-12pm: Free tour of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, led by E. Barry Gaither. RSVP for the tour by emailing Discover Roxbury at info@discoverroxbury.org.

Aug 27, 6:30pm-8pm: Join Roxbury artist Ekua Holmes on a free evening art walk around the Highland Park/Fort Hill area. The tour, organized by Discover Roxbury, will visit some of the area's public art and stop by the home studios of artists Bobby Stevens, Lee Farrow, and Wendy Ellertson. If you'd like a preview of what's to come at ROS and/or are interested in touring one of Roxbury's most historic areas, this is a must attend.

Oct 2, 5:30pm-9:30pm: Celebrate the arrival of Roxbury Open Studios at a reception inside the Museum of Fine Arts. This reception is being organized in conjunction with the MFA's Multicultural Audience Development Committee, as a way of bridging the gap between the institution and the community and bringing new life and energy into the museum. A juried exhibition of art from Roxbury artists will be on display and a cash bar will be available. This ArtROX! reception is part of the MFA's First Fridays series (entry is free for museum members and free for non-members with museum admission).

Oct 3-4, 11am-5pm daily: ArtROX!, the 11th annual Roxbury Open Studios, takes place at artist studios and group shows across the neighborhood. Like all open studios, the event is free (but the art is not). Wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes, bring your checkbooks, and show your support for local artists. Maps and directories of ArtROX! will be available in early autumn. Discover Roxbury is also planning to offer a walking tour. Visit their website a few weeks prior to ROS for details on times and areas.

So, there you go. See you around Roxbury!

Boston Pride 2008

Happy Pride, Boston. I wasn't expecting to be in town this year, but it was still fun partying with everyone. I'm going to try sticking to my pattern of watching one year and marching the next, which means I'll be waving a big hello from the route next year.

 

Walk Across America 2008

My friend BJ is going to walk across America this year. Yes, he will be one of those people we'll likely see on the Today Show or Good Morning America at some point this year. He hasn't yet updated the page which explains why he's doing the walk, but he did a similar - albeit shorter - walk across Massachusetts last year. If you look at that site, you can read his reasons for that walk. The end result was a notebook full of messages from the citizens of Massachusetts which he later presented to the then-newly-elected governor. I believe he has similar intentions with this walk - to collect messages from across the country to present to the next president - but let's let him put it into his own words.

As with all challenges of this nature, BJ could use some help. He's looking for donations to help him eat and buy new sneakers along the way. But, he also needs help finding accommodations. He wrote an email to friends saying that he's got the route from San Francisco to the Nevada border covered. It's the rest of the route where he needs help finding a bed or a couch to crash on. Most of my contacts live on the coasts, so I'm useless. But if anyone reading this could contact him I know he'd appreciate it. As it stands now, this is his tentative timeline:

Mar 01 - San Francisco
3rd week March - Carson City, NV
4th week April - Salt Lake City
1st week June - Pine Ridge Reservation, SD
4th week June - Omaha
4th week July - St. Louis
5th week August - Atlanta
1st week October - Washington D.C.
4th week October - NYC
5th week October - Worcester
Nov 02 - Boston

Good luck, BJ! We'll be following you from back East. You'll be getting back to Boston in November in time for pumpkin pie and hot apple cider season. Good planning!

Business Lunch?

Hmm...maybe this not-working thing won't be so bad after all. This afternoon I went out for lunch in Mission Hill with a friend visiting from San Francisco. While we were chatting and reminiscing, one of the co-owners of the lounge where we eating overheard us talking about my art endeavors. When my friend left briefly to feed the parking meter, the owner approached me to ask about my forays into the art world and offered to let me display and sell work in his place in February! He has yet to see any images or speak to his business partner (whom I actually met a couple of months ago), but I think I've got another good prospect for an art showing on my hands. If everything works in my favor, I'll place a formal invitation on this blog.

Now that I'm thinking about it, that counts as a business lunch, doesn't it?

Hate for the Holidays

November is ending on a disturbing note. First, Cheap Thrills blogs about her brush with racism at Gypsy Bar. Then, last night a friend calls me to say that she received hate mail! She's back from NYC for just a few days rest from her PhD program and received a hand-written Christmas card in the mail yesterday. She read me the message over phone; it started out with "I don't know why you aren't dead yet." The rest of the card was filled with an angry rant from someone who claimed that she intimidated classmates in high school and was a hypocrite for talking about the Bible and pretending to be a Christian. The sender ordered her to stop talking about the Bible, claimed that God was not on her side, and ended with the words "Jesus hates you."

Wow!

My friend freely admits that she's not Christian, but anyone who knew her in high school knows that at 5' 4" tall, she's never been threatening. Besides that, she's such a bookworm/academic/all-around nice gal that it would never occur to her to intimidate anyone or insult someone's religion. When she asked what she should do, I advised her to start by contacting our high school alumni association. I figured she could find out who might be looking her up and they could get out a warning to anyone else with the same name who graduated from our school. For all we know, it could be a case of mistaken identity. Besides that, we figured bringing the card to the cops would be a smart move. Since it was mailed and hand-written, there's a good chance the police could track down the sender's location and possible identity. My friend had the smarts to hold the letter with gloves, so there's potential for finding fingerprints, too.

What a way to spend the holiday season. What's going on, Boston?

Update:

My friend went to the cops and reported the card to our alumni association. We have no idea what to expect from either, but at least she's not suffering in silence. She also sent me an image of the card. I got the final words wrong; then again, the sentiment behind them is still there. Click on the images to enlarge them.

 

15 Years and Counting

OK, so the reunion wasn't that bad. There were a bunch of other people who hadn't been to the 5 or the 10 year reunions either, so there was plenty of catching up to do. Surprisingly the majority of us living in the Boston area still live in or near our old neighborhoods; the few exceptions were people who had moved to Cambridge, Malden, and Haverhill. I had been expecting more people to be suburbanites, especially since many have kids already. Apparently local roots run deep in our class.

Old habits carried forward 15 years, too. To no surprise, the loud kids became loud adults and the old groupings of friends reformed as the night progressed. Actually, the only shock was how old some people looked. It's not that they looked bad, they've just aged more than I would have expected 15 years to appear. More than once I looked at a group of people and felt like a kid in a room full of adults. Then again, I really was looking at a room full of adults...just through the memories of a high schooler.

Anyway, I'm glad that shock to the system is over. It'll be interesting to see how people and their situations change in another 10 years.

My First Reunion

According to the calendar, I should have gone to at least one high school or college reunion by now. It's been over a decade since I graduated from college and this year marks my 15th anniversary of completing high school. My excuse for not going to the 5 or 10 year reunions is simple enough, though: I was too far away. It didn't make financial or common sense to travel internationally for one night of reminiscing with people I hadn't seen the first George Bush was president or before Will Smith became a mega movie star. Speaking of Will, the trailer for his new movie I Am Legend looks great, but also like a cross between 28 Days Later and Resident Evil. But, I digress.

My high school reunion is next weekend and I'm going for the first time. I debated whether or not to bother when the invitation arrived in the mail, but I decided to take the plunge when a friend emailed and said she'd be going. She and I are in touch all the time anyway so at least I know one person there who will be fun. But as the list of attendees has grown longer and as the date has grown closer, I've gotten both nervous and excited. I know there's nothing to be nervous about, but some residual feelings from high school are bubbling to the surface. All this time I thought movies about high school reunions and the awkwardness of preparing for them were ridiculous. Now look at me!

At the same time, though, I am excited; it is my first reunion. Similarly to going to a wedding for the first time, this is a milestone event. At the very least, I can see who's doing what and who's aging badly. I know, shame on me for being so petty. I guess there's more high school left in me than I realized.

Meeting With the Governor

Shout out again to my buddy BJ for earning a private meeting with the governor. I wasn't allowed to attend with him, but it sounds like things went well.

My five minutes was extended to about 15 minutes, which is all I could have asked for. He seems like a really good, down-to-earth guy.  I am working on an in-detail, full-length report, but get this - after I gave him the notebook, we were talking, and he asks, do you want me to send this book back to you when I am finished? So of course I say no, I had collected the messages for the governor, and then he says, well, we can put this into the gubernatorial archives.

Good on ya, BJ. Glad to see that things went so well. I hope the governor keeps to his word. Let us know when you have the pages ready for us to read on your blog.

BJ Hill Goes to Beacon Hill

A few months ago I wrote about my friend BJ who was walking across Massachusetts, first because he was unemployed and had the time. Later, however, he found a purporse for the walk: to collect messages from citizens across the Commonwealth and deliver them to the next governor. There was even a blog. Fast forward to the present: Deval Patrick is the governor, BJ has a job (congrats, guy!), and the two will meet briefly at the State House next week. As BJ wrote in an email today:

I have just a few minutes to talk to him - and by “few,” I mean I better not stutter - but that’s OK. It’s less about talking about me and more about seeing that the notebook is safely delivered. The messages will speak for themselves.

He went on to write that the walk will be officially over once the notebook is safely delivered, but he plans on anonymizing and scanning the messages and posting them on his blog so that everyone from across the state can see what was written. Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Meanwhile, never one to miss a photo op, yours truly asked BJ if I could tag along during the meeting as his event photographer. No word yet, but I'm hoping I can join my buddy in one of the coolest events evah.

Walk Across Massachusetts

I should've written this post a while ago, but better late than never. This is a shout out to my buddy BJ Hill as he walks across Massachusetts. Yes, you read that right, he's walking across the state from the northwest corner to the tip of the Cape. The short version of the story is that BJ has been underemployed or unemployed for a while. But, being the charitable person he is, he's donated a lot of his time to various fundraising walks, such as the cancer 3-day walk, in order to raise money and awareness. He started off this walk just because he had the time (at least that what he said at first). But, after reading his blog, it looks like he's walking and collecting messages from people across the Commonwealth to deliver to our next governor. You can read more on his Why Walk? page. In the meantime, it looks like he's in southern Worcester County today and he sent a text message yesterday saying that he'd be somewhere on Cape Cod next weekend. If you're driving around and see a young, swarthy guy walking along the side of the road, tell him 3D sent you.