Doggies & Seaweed

Chauncey Landenwitsch, cutest bull dog ever, asleep in her crate.





Fred and Flanders, monsters from the sea.




And some killer big hair.

Boston's Ugliest Store Front

I have the unfortunate privilege of walking by this store every day between the Downtown Crossing T stop and my office at 44 Winter St. It's a choice example of the trashiness that cloaks Boston's busiest pedestrian marketplace. As far as I can tell, the place doesn't even have a name. Its a retail bastard. Notice the "We fix computer" sign, well placed above some unnecessarily massive fake flowers.

Downtown Crossing is a pretty special place, attracting curious tourists, bored teenagers and the sketchiest of Boston's underbelly. As much as this storefront makes my blood boil, the characters who loiter in its shadows can be endearing. I once saw a homeless man yelling at the busted, armless mannequin, repeating "you dress like a slut you dirty whore" over and over. To be fair, she was decked out for St. Patty's Day in a green velveteen corset. And, after leaving the office at 9pm the other night, some kids stopped me to ask if I thought the figure in a photo on their iPhone was a man or a woman. Definitely a man. Definitely dressed as a woman.

In this blues I'm singing

While I'm on this lyrics posting kick I thought I'd also share this Nick Drake song Been Smokin' Too Long. Its one of my favorite songs to sing and it's pretty right on. He was such a good song writer. I can only imagine what we'd have today if he hadn't accidentally overdosed on anti-depressants at age 26.

One day, when my dream to become a lounge singer is realized, this will be my Sunday night standard.

Well I wake up in the morning
Look at my clock
It's way past noon time
Now I'm late for work.

Tell me, tell me
What have I done wrong?
Ain't nothing go right with me
Must be I've been smoking too long.

Well I go to find me some breakfast
But I ain't got no food
Take me a shower
But the water don't feel no good.

Tell me...

I've got opium in my chimney
No other life to choose
Nightmare made of hash dreams.
Got the devil in my shoes

Tell me...

Well when I'm smoking
Put my worries on a shelf
Don't think about nothin'
Try not to see myself.

Tell me...

Well in this blues I'm singin'
There's a lesson to be learned
Don't go around smokin'
Unless you want to get burned.

Tell me...

Get out of the office and into the sunshine

This Belle and Sebby song made me really happy today post physical therapy, which almost made me pass out. I just keep telling myself its the good kind of pain.

I'm so over sitting at a desk. The lyrics are included below so you can sing along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_at7lEGpjg

L-O-V-E love, it's coming back, it's coming back
L-O-V-E love, it's coming back, it's coming back

Refer to our discussions, confirm the terms of our love affair
I exercise all options, and I know I'll see you there

BA-BA-BA etc. etc.

L-O-V-E love, it's coming back, it's coming back
L-O-V-E love, it's coming back, it's coming back

Not withstanding provisions of clauses 1,2,3 and 4
Extend contractual period, me and you for evermore

You're the Legal Man, you've got to prove that you're no liar
I'll render services that you may reasonably require

L-O-V-E love, it's coming back, it's coming back
L-O-V-E love, it's coming back, it's coming back

Get out of the city and into the sunshine
Get out of the office and into the springtime
Get out of the city and into the sunshine
Get out of the office and into the springtime
Get out of the city and into the sunshine
Get out of the office and into the springtime
Get out of the city and into the sunshine
Get out of the office and into the springtime

And a recipe for bacon cake.

Home is Where the Veggies Roam

Tonight K Momma came over for a veggie-tastic dinner at the commune which included roasted beets with fennel, grilled patty pan sqaush (my fav), onions and peppers, veggie burgers, goat cheese, greens from the garden and UFO white beer with orange slices. Buying a tiny charcoal grill was the best thing we've done for the commune since we moved in. Once we get tongs and a receiver for the record player we'll really be in business.

Saturday I splurged ($5) on records at Boomerangs, a Jamaica Plain staple and a truly amazing establishment. I acquired The Band's Greatest Hits along with a Yes album and a French instructional record, in addition to a big blue lamp for our porch. Now we can find the bottle opener when we need it! Too bad baby robins shat all over the place and their handywork is also now well illuminated.

Ben and I were able to catch (500) Days of Summer last night, a film I'd recommend to almost everyone. It's got some hilarious moments, sychronized dancing, an animated bluebird, and a nice soundtrack. Seeing the film rekindled my love for Regina Spektor, "Us" in particular, and made me want to listen to She & Him a bunch more. How come Zooey Deschanel gets an awesome voice and unbelievable eyeballs? This video is neat.

Operation Grow Shit (OGS) is really coming along. The squash plants and chammomile are flowering and there are tiny, tiny green tomatoes. My compost is also growing wicked white mushrooms. Will include pictures soon.

HANDSOME FURS and the youth climate movement

(this image is what comes up when you Google image "save the world," by the way)

Tonight I had dinner with my former intern Dan at the Other Side Cafe, a place that would be one of the best in Boston, if everything there was $2 cheaper. Anyway, we had a blast discussing everything from love to meeting facilitation to the awesomeness that is GOOD magazine. The most recent issue is all about water. There is an article about overfishing and they rep Food and Water Watch in their action section. Seriously though, that magazine is one of the best I've ever seen, in both content and design.

Dan and I were discussing the importance of the Energy Action Coalition in the broader climate movement when we struck gold: why not start our own training program? We were talking about how really, everyone should be pumping money into Energy Action to maintain and expand their training and organizing programs. Powershift rules and there are a lot of schools out there with big potential for climate and sustainability work who just lack the support they need to start a campaign.

I'm thinking back to the living wage campaign at Vanderbilt which finally took off, after 5 years, when students from Georgetown came to share the lessons learned from their successful campaign. While their campaign is remembered for the nine day hunger strike that ultimately won it, the end result came from years of good organizing- recruitment, leadership development, strategic planning and well run meetings. With help from USAS, some of the student leaders from Georgetown joined other living wage activists in traveling around the country to train and assist fledgling campaigns. This was/is known as the Living Wage Action Coalition (LWAC) and it helped us steer the Vanderbilt LIVE campaign in right direction. Within 6 months of their visit we had a strong coalition, an article in the New York Times and a real shot at helping our workers win a living wages.

What we need is a proper LWAC for the climate movement, a resource for emerging student climate groups. If we are really trying to build a movement here, why not train as many people as possible to be as effective as possible? It my understanding that Energy Action used to visit and offer training to their chapters but have stopped, presumably due to funding constraints. Groups like Greenpeace, PIRG, Wellstone and others offer training in group building and grassroots organizing, but there are any existing widely-known programs that are exclusively, or even mostly, students training other students. In the context of the Youth Climate Movement, such a program would ideally be an arm of Energy Action so groups could sign up for trainings while at Powershift.

It doesn't seem like this kind of a program would be terribly difficult to manage. What do you need? A website, phones, Facebook and some funding for travel and 1-2 staff people. No big deal. Brilliant! We're starting tomorrow.

In other news, I recently saw Handsome Furs, Dri and the Cinnamon Band at Great Scott. It was a killer show and one of the few I've been to in some time where I didn't feel really old.

The Furs, a man and wife, are amazing to watch. As they played (guitar and keys/drum machine respectively), they looked at and moved around one another as if they might jump out of their clothes at any moment and start making wild, passionate love on stage. And there was so much straight up rocking out. Beautiful.

Dri was a lot like No Doubt at times, only their blonde lady singer sounded more like the woman from Beach House than Gwen Stefani.

The Cinnamon Band is from Staunton, VA of all places. I've driven through that town a million times on 81. Its alright. Their lead singer has zero stage presence but they're music's got something. The singer's got a 'lil country in him and the drummer plays drums with maracas. I recommend "To Cool You."

I want to start a band called The Youth Climate Movement.

NOMO

NOMO = Awesome. Like Budos + electro.

Huff Post on Food, Inc.

"...to suggest that each dollar we spend on food is a potential vote for change is fundamentally undemocratic. For one, some consumers have many more dollars to spend. But food inequality is also geographic. It's easy to be a virtuous eater in those New York or San Francisco neighborhoods where the grocery options include farmers' markets, home-delivered organics, and a Whole Foods every few blocks."

Read more here.

As Emily said, THANK YOU.

Introducing Falcor the Land Yacht

This is Dean's '89 Cadillac, aquired just recently in Reston, VA. It's in mint condition and rides like a dream. Highlights include: power windows, wood paneling, lay-z-boyesque seats and terrible gas mileage. But at least he looks like a gangster. My favorite part of the package is his matching white special edition T Pain Oakleys.

















Dean drove the whole family down to Chesapeake Beach for our annual 3rd of July fireworks and crab feast, hosted by our lovely god mother Enid.

Black on both sides

I found what was missing in my life: Mos Def.