Vernon Street Studios is having an open studios event on November 7th and 8th.
Over 50 artists will have their doors open and be showing their latest work.

I will only be there on SATURDAY November 7, but I encourage you to come by on Sunday if you can't make it on Saturday; there are a lot of fabulous artists in this building.

Free parking available behind the building.
More details are at http://www.vernonstreet.com/open.html

If you'd like to get an email from me about this and other art events I'm involved with, let me know.

I expected access to abortion to be a giant fight if we got single payer health insurance, but I lost sight of how it might play out with private insurance plans getting more funding support.

From the New York Times:

Abortion opponents in both the House and the Senate are seeking to block the millions of middle- and lower-income people who might receive federal insurance subsidies to help them buy health coverage from using the money on plans that cover abortion. And the abortion opponents are getting enough support from moderate Democrats that both sides say the outcome is too close to call. Opponents of abortion cite as precedent a 30-year-old ban on the use of taxpayer money to pay for elective abortions.

Abortion-rights supporters say such a restriction would all but eliminate from the marketplace private plans that cover the procedure, pushing women who have such coverage to give it up. Nearly half of those with employer-sponsored health plans now have policies that cover abortion, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The entire article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/health/policy/29abortion.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

It looks like the momentum is on the side of the abortion opponents, unfortunately. The Democrats have such a fragile chance to get health reform passed at all that women's reproductive choice may well get sacrificed in the effort.

BTW, if this enrages you and you can do so, this is a good moment to donate to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/campaigns/

I just formally accepted a job offer from ATG in Kendall Square. I start Monday! My new manager has some travel planned and suggested Oct 13 as a start date but I had some reasons not to wait that long so we were able to solve those logistical problems by just starting right away.

I'm really psyched about this. There's a great team, I really felt that I clicked with my future coworkers and they with me. And naturally, I'm really relieved to be done with the job hunt.

I want to signal boost cos's useful and encouraging things you can do to help the public option post. If you live in MA, let me take a minute of your time to suggest one more thing.

Senator Kennedy's death last night was not a surprise. He requested, before his death, to have the legislature change the rules to have someone appointed to his seat rather than waiting for a special election. It's really important that we have a supporter of health care reform in the Senate filling that seat, making 60 Senate Democrats instead of 59, as soon as possible. I wrote a letter (behind the cut tag) to my state senator. [ My state senator happens to be a Republican, but one of those Republicans who crossed the aisle to vote for gay marriage in MA back before it was actually obvious that if you did that you got to keep your seat. And really, he does a great job representing the local district so I have been voting for him for years anyway. So that's some of the backstory on the tone of this letter. ] But whoever your local state representatives are: if you call or write them right now and say, "we need someone representing Massachusetts holding that crucial Senate seat at this important time", if we do get that extra vote in the US Senate it could be important for making the difference when things are this close.

Adapt my letter, write your own, say your own thing. Let your stat reps know that this is important and that you need their action now.

( my letter )

I knew there was a plus side to being up after midnight yet again. That means it's already redjo's birthday which I was especially grateful to celebrate with her this eve. redjo, your presence in my life is delightful.

The best way to see the on-line bake sale in progress is to add pastrypleasures to your f-list. The second best way is to navigate on over to http://pastrypleasures.livejournal.com, where I am posting things up tonight...

redheadedmuse and I were brainstorming about how to help a beloved friend who is feeling the pinch financially more than most. Short of a fabulous job, the most helpful thing we thought we could give her was some cash.

So we'd like to help her out in a small way by hosting an on-line bake sale. If you're interested in baking something for this project, fill out the form we've created at
http://bit.ly/TquHf. Next week, we'll post up all the entries on the lj site we created, pastrypleasures.livejournal.com, and auction off the items through the blog. All the items will need to be available to be picked up at 110 Boston Ave. on or before Friday, July 24 at noon.

We're already going to have some delicious stuff by talented bakers, but more would be helpful. Fill out the online form by Friday, July 17 if you want to contribute. Even if you don't bake, you can help: spread the word and help us find people who want to bid on and eat tasty baked goods. Post here or email me privately if you have questions.

When you get laid off on June 30th, what else can you say?

SupplyScape, you were a friendly and pleasant place to work, and I enjoyed being a part of that ride. I'm really sorry we didn't get to complete the great things we started together.

Via lillibet, more words. As before, reply to this post by yelling (or even saying gently) "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

( Friendship. Party. Painting. Space. Dreams. )

These words came to me via dpolicar. As with other presentations of this meme, reply to this post by yelling (or even saying gently) "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

( Children. Snake. Love. Spicy. Work. )

As seen everywhere, wording copied from lillibet:
Take no more than 15 minutes to produce a list of 15 books that have influenced you in style, ideas, relationships, language, or other ways that you find important, and/or books that have really stayed with you -- you keep thinking of that quote, you are always remembering that character, you are frequently reminded of that moment.... that kind of thing. This is not a favorites list.
1. To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
2. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein
3. A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander
4. Whole Earth Catalog, Stewart Brand ed.
5. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
6. The Diary of Anne Frank this is what makes this not a favorites list
7. Tao Te Ching as translated by Stephen Mitchell
8. The Chosen, Chaim Potok
9. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith
10. The Little Prince, Saint-Exupery
11. The Joy of Cooking
12. The Bike Lesson (a Berenstein Bears book)
13. A Morning Cup of Yoga, Jane Trechsel
14. Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling
15. Breath by Breath, Larry Rosenberg

Argh, I can't believe I have to stop here, and leave off ( in which I cheat on the meme just a little )

Since anoisblue asked:

The Phantom Tollbooth, candles, hummus with roasted red peppers, grace, irises, turning the key in the door to my studio, paste paper, road trips, french toast, unexpected free time, iron kitty sculpture, sun salutations, browsing people's bookshelves, uniball pens, my car, waking up without an alarm clock, plucky heroines, sun salutations, recognizing the artist in you, urban neighborhoods, brightly colored hair, experimental ice cream, Bach, rails-to-trails bike paths, maps, repurposed mill buildings, Groovy, almond sunset tea, romantic costume dramas, William Carlos Williams, waterfalls, roller coasters, urban archeology, compassion, tides, evolutionary biology, the right word at the right moment, feminism, roads less traveled by, down comforters, parties, handmade ceramic mugs, the infinite corridor, stone circles, time travel, reading aloud, pockets, recognizing the lover in you, pantries, colorful jackets, handwoven cloth, biking, shared showers, planning ahead, painting, steamy glances, the details that make science fiction conventions work, woodblock printing, Rube Goldberg machines, Rumi, trees, go games, long mornings in bed, spiral staircases, liturgy, sudoku, occasional restaurants, late night conversations, running water, gratitude, libraries, kitchen tables, language acquisition, ambiguous gender presentation, complexity, used bookstores, feeling strong, creative reuse, xkcd, a capella singing, stores open 24 hours, making order from chaos, surprisingly lucky parking spaces, laughter, baseball on the radio, hugs, not knowing what's next, clear kitchen counters, active listening, pyrotechnics, kneading dough, refactoring, connections

Now I want to know what you like.

ETA: I just saw the Davis Sq community post of this meeting, and it is not intended to be a general meeting despite the wording. It is actually mostly some business owners who are getting together to organize something. It's not at all clear to me right now that this meeting is really intended for EVERYONE despite the wording of the message I got.

( Read more... )

Somerville is expanding resident permit parking to cover all streets in Somerville, starting Aug 1. The details are in this article.

Just about everyone I have mentioned this to, including Somerville residents, is, first, surprised, and then feels that this will be bad for business in Somerville and a personal inconvenience in their social or business life.
Here are some ways to express your feelings on this:
If you visit Somerville, shop in Somerville, eat out in Somerville, leave a note with

Mayor Curtatone:
mayor@somervillema.gov
More contact information.

Somerville Chamber of Commerce
send feedback to: smackey@somervillechamber.org
More parking regulation discussion and details.

If you live in Somerville, the above addresses are still useful but please also express your opinion to your alderman. Here's a map of the wards
and the list of aldermen.

The next Traffic Commission meeting is June 18th. I do not have more details about that yet but if I get them I will post them.


This is going to have a huge impact on Vernon Street Studios. A number of people have already posted to the building mailing list that they'll have to look at other studio options if this goes through. 24 hour access to the building was one of the draws when I moved in there, but we cannot count on parking in the Rogers Foam parking lot. It is full during business hours and often locked when the factory is closed. For me, as a non-resident of Somerville with a studio in Somerville, this may make it extremely difficult to continue having a studio here. As someone who comes into Somerville at least several times a week to work, eat out, or socialize, I plan to speak up, especially in coordination with other artists.

you can still see a lot of good work from local artists in the Artists Choice show at the Somerville Museum until the middle of this month.

Because I've been asked for details...
Somerville Museum is on the corner of Central St and Westwood, between Highland Ave and Summer St.

The museum's normal hours are Thursday 2-7, Friday and Sat 12-5.

The Artist Choice show is up until Friday May 15; the show is coming down on Saturday AM for artist pickup.

Have I made an LJ post recently that did NOT mention Somerville Open Studios?

I accomplished this: I participated in Somerville Open Studios, with the collected artistic output of the last 6 months (minus the painting up at Somerville Museum and the painting that sold at Arisia (no I still haven't gotten over that)) ... that was 16 different pieces plus numerous copies of my first woodblock print ... up on the the wall. I am simultaneously incredibly pleased with myself ... and completely convinced that six months from now I'll look back on all this work as merely necessary groundwork for whatever happens next in my studio.

Here's what the weekend was like:
( Read more... )

Two things:
1) If you didn't make it over to my studio at SOS and want to see what I've been up to, I'll be happy to work out with you when you can stop by and see all the stuff that's still hanging on the walls.

2) Congratulations to palmwiz for pulling off his second year as coordinator of SOS.

I'm so happy this is DONE and over though. And now I'm tired and hoping to sleep, and to pick up the threads of everything else in life ... tomorrow.

I'm not going to try to fix last night's unintentionally truncated post. I'm too amused by the speculations.

All the art that's going to be hung is hung in my studio for Somerville Open Studios. There is still some prep to do, but basically I'm ready. So I hope you'll stop by this weekend, at Vernon Street Studios (number 45 on the SOS map).

I'm not sure what could top the following comment from Rio when redheadedmuse and her gang of traveling artists came to the studio for their sneak preview: "Mommy! I HAVE to draw NOW!" Really, that's exactly how Somerville Open Studios has always made me feel, which is how I come to be writing this now.

And it's May Day.

because both

Flower via miss_chance. Artwork via procrastination on studio cleanup.




ETA: The studio is, in fact, about 90% cleaned up. I've moved around all the large things I intended to move, and put nearly everything away. What's left is the not-insubstantial pile of things that turn up to do as you're executing the previous plan -- oh yeah, and actually getting something to look at up on the walls that you can now see.

A painting of mine will be on display at the Art Start show at the Somerville Armory. The opening reception is Friday April 3 from 5 to 7 pm.

If you don't get to the Armory while the show is open, from April 3 to April 24, the painting will most likely be back in my studio at 6 Vernon Street, where I hope to see you during Somerville Open Studios, May 2 and 3.