Takao Shinzawa, visual artist, captures the beauty of Boston's streets and parks

Takao Shinzawa, visual artist, captures the beauty of Boston's streets and parks

My long-time friend Takao Shinzawa has had several shows in JP lately.  For decades I knew Takao as a talented musician and now I am blown away by the depth and character of his new visual work. He has been creating masterful drawings with depth and color working with 4B-6B pencils and using the streets and parks of Boston as his subjects.

                                                                  

Shinzawa’s careful renderings reveal a sense of awe in the details of everyday life. His works also resonate as a silent hymn to the unexpected beauty found in urban places. Every stroke and line of Shinzawa's drawing attends to living objects, bricks and mortar with equal sensitivity.

I first met Takao when he came to the US from Japan more than thirty years ago, and has been living for decades in Jamaica Plain. He played flute our wedding, February 21st, 1981 [fun coincidence] He has always painted and drawn from real life.  But Takao is a man of many talents. He also a gardener, and a dead-funny commentator on modern life. He was a Horticulturist at Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton for 8 years.  

Shinzawa is a classically trained flutist and has studied with Doriot Anthony Dwyer. In addition to western flute he plays Japanese flutes called ryuteki and komabue which are integral to Gagaku dance and ceremonial music; a musical form with an unbroken history stretching more than a millennium. He also played flute & piccolo in the Canton Band until 2022. He practices classical flute & traditional Gagaku flutes in Franklin Park. He is back to the streets of Boston to draw again.  To find out more: Contact Takao Shinzawa: cell: 617.721.1371 https://pixels.com/profiles/takaogallerystore Or say hello as you see him sketching in the neighborhood!

Takao Shinzawa, visual artist, captures the beauty of Boston's streets and parks

(Originally published August 31st, 2013 and updated 2024) My long-time friend Takao Shinzawa has had several shows in JP lately.  For decades I knew Takao as a talented musician but I was blown away by the depth and character of his new visual work.

Shinzawa’s careful renderings reveal a sense of awe in the details of everyday life. His works also resonate as a silent hymn to the unexpected beauty found in urban places. Every stroke and line of Shinzawa's drawing attends to living objects, bricks and mortar with equal sensitivity.

I first met Takao when he came to the US from Japan more than thirty years ago, and has been living for decades in Jamaica Plain. He has always painted and drawn from real life. Takao is also a gardener, and a dead-funny commentator on modern life. Shinzawa is a classically trained flutist and has studied with Doriot Anthony Dwyer. In addition to western flute he plays Japanese flutes called ryuteki and komabue which are integral to Gagaku dance and ceremonial music; a musical form with an unbroken history stretching more than a millennium.  To find out more: Contact Takao Shinzawa: cell: 617.721.1371  https://pixels.com/profiles/takaogallerystore Or say hello as you see him sketching in the neighborhood!

Pirates and Democracy

 

"Over time, the myth of the pirate has generated the image of a rugged, foul man with an elaborate hat, an eye patch, and a peg leg. The men of the tales are brutal and unforgiving, forcing captives to walk the plank, and mercilessly plundering ships at sea. What’s lost in this picture? That pirates made a significant contribution to the development of American democracy in the late eighteenth century.   

Although there are numerous examples of democratic indigenous cultures in North America, these are equally under-reported, as are pirate organizations both of which predated any modern democratic government. We can read about these in ships articles and other primary source materials from the later named, Golden Age of Piracy, designated by historians as stretching from the 1650s to the 1730s. As an outgrowth of a closed society that sought to maximize hierarchy, in rebellion pirates formed relatively liberal, egalitarian orders based on elected officials and mutual trust" . - Rachel Rolnick See more at: http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/

"...you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference; the rich rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment?"  - Sam Bellamy, Pirate

Captain Samuel Bellamy ( February 23, 1689 – April 26, 1717), better known as "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English pirate who operated in the early 18th century. Though his known career as a pirate captain lasted little more than a year, he and his crew captured at least 53 ships under his command – making him the wealthiest pirate in recorded history – before his death at age 28. Called "Black Sam" in Cape Cod folklore because he eschewed the fashionable powdered wig in favor of tying back his long black hair with a simple band, Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids. This reputation earned him another nickname, the "Prince of Pirates". He likened himself to Robin Hood, with his crew calling themselves "Robin Hood's Men". - wikipedia

 Another interesting glimpse that Bellamy's story provides concerns his crew.  Although Bellamy was himself white/English, Kenneth Kinkor, a piratologist studying the history surrounding Bellamy, believes that his crew included numerous blacks.  “Most of them were former slaves,” he says, “The pirates would raid slave ships and offer male slaves their choice.”  Facing this choice between turning pirate or a living a life of slavery, many chose to serve under Bellamy.  Of the 146 men on board the Whydah when it sank, an estimated 30-50 were black.  Other evidence suggests a very diverse crew, accepting people from all different ethnic backgrounds.  Defoe emphasizes this point in his narrative stating that Bellamy had a crew of 150 "Hands of different Nations."
    Of the entire crew, reports vary as to the exact number of survivors.  Most stick within the range of 2-7 people.  An interesting portion of two survivors' testimonies has survived.  One of these men, Thomas Davis, reported that the 180 bags of silver and gold aboard the Whydah were divided equally amongst the crew, revealing the egality aboard the pirate vessel.  This evidence, too, sheds more light on Bellamy's nature as an egalitarian captain who was loyal to his "merry men."  "from PB Works

Why tell our stories ? wisdom from the web

Why tell our stories ?

Why tell our stories ?
Peter Greene: An amazing, prolific blogger and teacher offers this clear answer when the question was "Why write?" I think his answer works for oral personal narrative too.  Follow him at:
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/02/colemans-ccss-writing-style.html

" I believe the answer is that we try to better understand ourselves and the people around us so that we can better serve and aid and support each other, and come one step closer to being the best version of ourselves we can become in the short time we have here on the planet."  - Peter Greene

Recently, Maria Popova at the indispensable Brain Pickings wrote a piece about William Faulkner and the question of why write. She includes a list of links to many authors' answer to the question, but she offers a hefty quote from Faulkner himself. It's long, but I'm including it anyway.

You’re alive in the world. You see man. You have an insatiable curiosity about him, but more than that you have an admiration for him. He is frail and fragile, a web of flesh and bone and mostly water. He’s flung willy nilly into a ramshackle universe stuck together with electricity. The problems he faces are always a little bigger than he is, and yet, amazingly enough, he copes with them — not individually but as a race.

He endures.

He’s outlasted dinosaurs. He’s outlasted atom bombs. He’ll outlast communism. Simply because there’s some part in him that keeps him from ever knowing that he’s whipped, I suppose; that as frail as he is, he lives up to his codes of behavior. He shows compassion when there’s no reason why he should. He’s braver than he should be. He’s more honest...

That, I suppose, is the incentive to write, apart from it being fun. I sort of believe that is the reason that people are artists. It’s the most satisfying occupation man has discovered yet, because you never can quite do it as well as you want to, so there’s always something to wake up tomorrow morning to do. You’re never bored. You never reach satiation. 

- William Faulkner

Some people are going to say, "Well, yeah, right. That's a motivation, if you are going to be an author of great literature."  I disagree.

The answer to "Why read" or "Why write" is not "To get a really good grade in class." It is not even "to succeed in college and in my career," because that just transfers the "why" down the line. I believe the answer is to better grasp what it means to be human and alive and here on this planet.

At the very least, we are here to take joy in what makes us human whenever we can, and to help others have an equal opportunity to experience that joy.

"scarred for life"- slam poetry on theme

Tho' I missed the slam, here is my first attempt at slam poetry on theme "scarred for life"  (draft II)

by Norah Dooley 

with thanks to Kiran Singh Sirah for his workshop and inspiration at Sharing The Fire, 2014

scarred for life ?
yeah, its harsh and it is real
But there is much more pain in the
wound that never heals.

Yeah I have my scars- mother's illness and brother's too
filled our home with screams, cries and deep sadness too
Those screams and cries made these scars yeah I can see mine any day
but… I have the option to look away. Most days that is true.

The locked ward takes a few moments to get into
and you wonder what the smell is that assaults you…
I was visiting my brother - see, my mom used to cry,
"Who will take care of him? O! promise you will take care of him when I die."

Yesterday I visited, taking care of him isn't easy but we try.
We are his legal guardians,  my sister and I
Smell is the first sense and it hits you like Mace
Then the faces - the frightened, anguished faces of broken souls that are in that space

With fear, confusion, distortion and pain
They look at all visitors for a scrap of hope yet rarely complain
If you have nothing for them - not even a smile?
They walk on by in an eery drugged glide

This day the door opens all the patients march by me in scrubs and rags
off to smoke in the cold space between buildings
tho drugged, they move quickly, nobody lags
My brother is not with them and that surprises me
I came to bring him more cigarettes, you see.

He was by himself - well, the voices were there too
He heard the voices in his head and then mine
One moment in la-la land the next moment fine.
He is in deep trouble and almost knows it is true.
Those voices are not his friends - O the things they tell him to do.

We talked and I explained his situation and 
In between the in-jokes he told me his expectation.
"Just tell them I controlled myself and did not hurt her much -
She was pissing me off, still- I used a lighter touch.
You are the guardian - take care of me. " Was his clarity my imagination?

He was tired and needed to rest so I took my leave.
Does he think I am magic and have something up my sleeve?
Does he think his logic will grant him a reprieve?
I left him there but the sadness came with me.
And him? He was left with nothing but his deep hole of pain.

Yeah, I am often touching scars and I can tell you how it feels

but ever so much harder
is the wound that never heals.

March 29, 2014
Sharing the Fire,

For backstory on my brother read here:
http://norahdooley.blogspot.com/2010/09/edited-my-brothers-keeper-for-real.html

How To Tell A Story: Mark Twain on humorous storytelling

How To Tell A Story:  an essay on humorous storytelling
by Mark Twain

An essay written by Mark Twain an American author and humorist in 1897. He made a fortune as a presenter of story at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told, for I have been almost daily in the company of the most expert story-tellers for many years.

There are several kinds of stories, but only one difficult kind—the humorous. I will talk mainly about that one. The humorous story is American, the comic story is English, the witty story is French. The humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the telling; the comic story and the witty story upon the matter.

The humorous story may be spun out to great length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in particular; but the comic and witty stories must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story bubbles gently along, the others burst.

The humorous story is strictly a work of art—high and delicate art—and only an artist can tell it; but no art is necessary in telling the comic and the witty story; anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story—understand, I mean by word of mouth, not print—was created in America, and has remained at home.

The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it; but the teller of the comic story tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever heard, then tells it with eager delight, and is the first person to laugh when he gets through. And sometimes, if he has had good success, he is so glad and happy that he will repeat the "nub" of it and glance around from face to face, collecting applause, and then repeat it again. It is a pathetic thing to see.

Very often, of course, the rambling and disjointed humorous story finishes with a nub, point, snapper, or whatever you like to call it. Then the listener must be alert, for in many cases the teller will divert attention from that nub by dropping it in a carefully casual and indifferent way, with the pretense that he does not know it is a nub. Artemus Ward used that trick a good deal; then when the belated audience presently caught the joke he would look up with innocent surprise, as if wondering what they had found to laugh at...

But the teller of the comic story does not slur the nub; he shouts it at you—every time. And when he prints it, in England, France, Germany, and Italy, he italicizes it, puts some whooping exclamation-points after it, and sometimes explains it in a parenthesis. All of which is very depressing, and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life.
Let me set down an instance of the comic method, using an anecdote which has been popular all over the world for twelve or fifteen hundred years. The teller tells it in this way:

The Wounded Soldier
In the course of a certain battle a soldier whose leg had been shot off appealed to another soldier who was hurrying by to carry him to the rear, informing him at the same time of the loss which he had sustained; whereupon the generous son of Mars, shouldering the unfortunate, proceeded to carry out his desire. The bullets and cannon-balls were flying in all directions, and presently one of the latter took the wounded man's head off—without, however, his deliverer being aware of it. In no-long time he was hailed by an officer, who said:
"Where are you going with that carcass?"
"To the rear, sir—he's lost his leg!"
"His leg, forsooth?" responded the astonished officer; "you mean his head, you booby."
Whereupon the soldier dispossessed himself of his burden, and stood looking down upon it in great perplexity. At length he said:
"It is true, sir, just as you have said." Then after a pause he added, "But he TOLD me IT WAS HIS LEG! ! ! ! !"
* * * * *
Here the narrator bursts into explosion after explosion of thunderous horse-laughter, repeating that nub from time to time through his gaspings and shriekings and suffocatings.

It takes only a minute and a half to tell that in its comic-story form; and isn't worth the telling, after all. Put into the humorous-story form it takes ten minutes, and is about the funniest thing I have ever listened to—as James Whitcomb Riley tells it.

He tells it in the character of a dull-witted old farmer who has just heard it for the first time, thinks it is unspeakably funny, and is trying to repeat it to a neighbor. But he can't remember it; so he gets all mixed up and wanders helplessly round and round, putting in tedious details that don't belong in the tale and only retard it; taking them out conscientiously and putting in others that are just as useless; making minor mistakes now and then and stopping to correct them and explain how he came to make them; remembering things which he forgot to put in in their proper place and going back to put them in there; stopping his narrative a good while in order to try to recall the name of the soldier that was hurt, and finally remembering that the soldier's name was not mentioned, and remarking placidly that the name is of no real importance, anyway—better, of course, if one knew it, but not essential, after all—and so on, and so on, and so on.

The teller is innocent and happy and pleased with himself, and has to stop every little while to hold himself in and keep from laughing outright; and does hold in, but his body quakes in a jelly-like way with interior chuckles; and at the end of the ten minutes the audience have laughed until they are exhausted, and the tears are running down their faces. The simplicity and innocence and sincerity and unconsciousness of the old farmer are perfectly simulated, and the result is a performance which is thoroughly charming and delicious. This is art and fine and beautiful, and only a master can compass it; but a machine could tell the other story.

To string incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities, is the basis of the American art, if my position is correct. Another feature is the slurring of the point. A third is the dropping of a studied remark apparently without knowing it, as if one were thinking aloud. The fourth and last is the pause.
Artemus Ward dealt in numbers three and four a good deal. He would begin to tell with great animation something which he seemed to think was wonderful; then lose confidence, and after an apparently absent-minded pause add an incongruous remark in a soliloquizing way; and that was the remark intended to explode the mine—and it did.

For instance, he would say eagerly, excitedly, "I once knew a man in New Zealand who hadn't a tooth in his head"—here his animation would die out; a silent, reflective pause would follow, then he would say dreamily, and as if to himself, "and yet that man could beat a drum better than any man I ever saw."

The pause is an exceedingly important feature in any kind of story, and a frequently recurring feature, too. It is a dainty thing, and delicate, and also uncertain and treacherous; for it must be exactly the right length—no more and no less—or it fails of its purpose and makes trouble. If the pause is too short the impressive point is passed, and [and if too long] the audience have had time to divine that a surprise is intended—and then you can't surprise them, of course.

On the platform I used to tell a ghost story that had a pause in front of the snapper on the end, and that pause was the most important thing in the whole story. If I got it the right length precisely, I could spring the finishing ejaculation with effect enough to make some impressible girl deliver a startled little yelp and jump out of her seat—and that was what I was after. This story was called "The Golden Arm," and was told in this fashion. You can practise with it yourself—and mind you look out for the pause and get it right.

If you've got the pause right, she'll fetch a dear little yelp and spring right out of her shoes. But you must get the pause right; and you will find it the most troublesome and aggravating and uncertain thing you ever undertook.

Mark Twain, 1897

Devo, Florida Ruffin Ridley and "obscurity"

                                          

 

Interesting. Over at Facebook BHS 1971 some of my classmates say Florida Ruffin Ridley was “obscure" and only chosen to be "politically correct."  Obscurity?  Don't get me started!  Edward Devotion was and is not exactly a "household word" as we said back in the day. One could easily support the argument the Devotion name was tacked onto a school to be subservient to political and economically powerful folks which is another way to be "politically correct."  Edward Devotion is only known and honored for having accumulated a fortune. Full stop. His wealth, like most settlers of his time, was founded on land and wage theft. From whom did he “purchase” his large estate in 1645? And, on whose backs did he build his fortune? Native Americans, enslaved Africans and indentured servants?   Gonna send a big "slow clap" to his descendants for not wasting and then donating a portion his ill-gotten gains to education and the common good.  And I’ll send a raspberry to the Devotion family for insisting on getting name credit.

It puzzles me, as a descendent of later immigrants, some of whom who came to the US to escape brutal serf-like servitude in the Southern Italy why my co-ethnics or other descendants of vicious, violent anti-semitic pogroms in Eastern Europe would want to celebrate Edward Devotion? What exactly are we, grandchildren of immigrants, clinging to? Trying to fit in with the winners?  Around the same time the Devotion school was named, 11 Italian Americans were lynched in Louisiana.  As author Chinua Achebe  said — 'Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.' More recently, in  May, then Attorney General Bill Barr gave his take to CBS reporter Catherine Herridge about  the “historical perspective” of his dismissal of all charges against former national security advisor Michael Flynn.  Barr responded, “Well, history is written by the winners, so it largely depends on who’s writing the history.” Florida Ruffin Ridley is an “obscure” name to us because our history has been written by the “winners.” What we are witnessing is a long overdue change in “the game” and I for one think it is a change for the better of us all.

What we name things is historically quirky and definitely lopsided. Definitely we tend to name things after rich and white men.  Let’s looks at the non-controversial naming of the Tobin Bridge so named for Maurice Joseph Tobin who was a Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, the Governor of Massachusetts, and United States Secretary of Labor. He was a Democrat and a liberal who supported the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, and was outspoken in his support for labor unions.  How about the Callahan Tunnel, named for the son of Mass pike chairman William F. Callahan, who was killed in Italy days before the end of World War II?  Compare these norms with the more recent brouhaha over the Zakim Bridge. The bridge's full name commemorates Boston area leader and civil rights activist Leonard P. Zakim who championed "building bridges between peoples." But my Irish co-ethnics and some neo-Nazis in Charlestown pitched a fit over the name. Why? One wonders. Yet there was nary a peep over the Tip O’Neill Tunnel or the tunnel named after the former Red Sox legend Ted Williams. 

My Devo friends may argue that my lack of feeling about tradition comes from the fact that I went to Lawrence School. Fair enough. And who is the Lawrence School named after ? Amos Adams Lawrence (July 31, 1814 – August 22, 1886) an American businessman, philanthropist, and social activist. He was a key figure in the United States abolitionist movement in the years leading up to the Civil War and the growth of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts. He was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Kansas and Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.. Well, I didn't know much about Amos Lawrence except I like his bio a bit better than Edward "Devo's."  Especially his part in Abolitionism and the Civil War according to Wikipedia"

Lawrence credited the Anthony Burns affair in the spring of 1854 with radicalizing him and other cotton merchants on the issue of slavery: "[W]e went to bed one night old fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs & waked up stark mad Abolitionists."[6] Lawrence contributed large amounts of capital to the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company and funds for the colonization of free negroes in Liberia.[7] He donated guns, specifically Sharps rifles, which were shipped to Jayhawkers and abolitionists in Kansas as "books" and "primers." During the bloodshed in Kansas, Lawrence wrote frequently to his cousin President Franklin Pierce on behalf of the free-state settlers.

He also provided funds for the activism and legal defense of John Brown, though he deplored Brown's fanaticism and urged against violent resistance to the federal government. When Brown was arrested at Harpers Ferry, Lawrence appealed to the Governor of Virginia to secure a lawful trial.[7]In 1862, he raised a battalion of cavalry which became the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, of which Charles Russell Lowell was colonel.[7]

Amos A. Lawrence

But let's not devolve into a "Our dead white guy was more woke than your dead white guy" battle. Let's stay focused and carefully compare Ms. Ruffin Ridley and Edward Devotion.

ICYMI

Florida Ruffin Ridley (born Florida Yates Ruffin; January 29, 1861 – February 25, 1943)[1] was an African-American civil rights activist, suffragist, teacher, writer, and editor from Boston, Massachusetts. She was one of the first black public school teachers in Boston, and edited the Woman's Era, the country's first newspaper published by and for African-American women. With her husband she moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1896, where they may have been the town's first African-American homeowners. Ridley was one of the founders of the Second Unitarian Church in Brookline which since 1944 has been home to Temple Sinai at Charles and Sewall Ave.

Edward Devotion (1621-85) settled in Brookline around 1645. At that time, Brookline was a farming community known as Muddy River. Devotion's acreage along Harvard Street included apple orchards and pastureland for sheep and cattle. His grandson,* also Edward Devotion, left a bequest to the town for public schooling in his 1744 will. (This second Edward Devotion was a slave-owner; an accounting of his possessions at his death included “one Negrow” valued at £30.) The Edward Devotion School, which today surrounds the house on three sides, was named for him in 1892 in recognition of his earlier bequest for a school.

There are 11 public schools in Brookline and now 2 are named after a woman. One is the Edith C. Baker school. Try as I might, and I am a prodigious googler, I can find zero biographical material about Edith C. Baker.  The one citation and siting online is the  http://brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/history/proceedings/1927/1927.html “We welcome the new members of 1926. Our member, Mrs. Edith C. Baker, has become a life member this year…”  Has Edith Baker another woman been erased from history? That is quite likely. But Baker's relative “obscurity” hasn’t caused any stirs that I have heard.   

Now, 100 years after women "won" the right to vote, progressive Brookline has two schools honoring women in their names. Again, I offer a slow clap for that.  One was an accomplished African-American who lived and contributed to civic life in Brookline and did all this at a time when Black people were excluded from opportunity and under attack in every realm. She is certainly worthy of honor.  This mother of 4 daughters, Irish-Italian American granddaughter of immigrants can’t help but notice and call attention to a clear pattern of exclusion and lack of diversity in our naming norms. So, I am delighted to honor people like Florida Ruffin Ridley, who, with energy and personal sacrifice, started the movements that made it possible for me, my beloved colleagues of color and our daughters to enjoy greater equity, dignity and inclusion.

2017 a recap

 

Wow, so much to catch up on! Getting through 2017 so 2018 can happen BEFORE December. 

January 2017: Started with a night of traditional storytelling on DEC 30th thanks to Doria Hughes "Get Folked" show. We got snow shoes for Xmas and we had snow soon after. Magical! I had a residency teaching third graders for YA and was invited to be a member organizer for SEIU509.  I also had been invited back to Tokyo to lecture on storytelling and was able to visit with dear friends Mitsue and Bruce.  I learned to chant "Build bridges, Not walls! Peace and Justice for us all." in Japanese when Bruce and I joined the Women's March in Tokyo.  Came back to the travel ban, teaching at Lesley University and starting my job for SEIU. Crazy busy January!

February: Started working for the union... fell of the radar.

March: More work, more teaching.

April:Worked a lot and combined union work and storytelling at the first ever faculty story slam at Club Passim.  Tales Out of School - Adjunct Story Slam pt.2 of 2

May: Worked a lot, more teaching and union work.

June: Jeez, kinda seeing a pattern emerge here. Worked a lot, teaching, storytelling for SaveTheHarbor, ReadBoston and union work. Filmed a story for massmouth.org's Stories from The Stage https://www.pbs.org/video/welcome-to-the-neighborhood-d07csl/ More about that in another post.



July: Storytelling for SaveTheHarbor, ReadBoston and gardening and

August:  Storytelling for SaveTheHarbor, Raed Boston and WorldEd.org in Tanzania!

September: Worked a lot, teaching storytelling at Tufts and Lesley Us and union work

October: Worked a lot, planned a retirement party and business launch and broke my foot all on the same day. Husband had knee-replacement.

November: Recovery and PT

December: Getting better and better. So much better we went X-country skiing- slowly.

massmouth starts - summer 2008

Blast from past: summer 2008

Blast from the past:  Summer 2008 or The origins of massmouth.org
by Norah Dooley (originally posted at massmouth.blogspot in August of 2011) Photos are from this article which is no longer archived at the TAB but can be found here at the old massmouth.ning now mass-story.com

Here is a blast from the past... Looking backward on the 'birthday' or anniversary of massmouth's first public performance, August 11, 2008.  Below is a "history" (big air quotes!) and then some pictures from a Cambridge TAB article from August 11th.  Lastly, there are the results from our survey of storytellers in Massachusetts.
This is just a bit of the "way back when" story... it is not a deposition, just what I can remember. Others may have clearer hindsight. And if I left anyone out? Please help me add you in...

Co-founder, Doria Hughes

 In June 2008 the idea for a what a group like massmouth would eventually become was born in a coffee shop in Government Center. Andrea Lovett, Doria Hughes and I called a meeting of a group of storytellers working with ReadBoston for the summer. We saw how New Hampshire and New York had active storytelling groups and we noted how little work there was for full time performers. We asked, “How can we make some noise, some waves and raise the visibility and social capital of storytelling in Massachusetts? How can we help storytellers get connected? And stronger?” At that meeting were many traditional storytellers we knew through LANES; Bob Reiser, Tony Toledo, Cindy Rivka Marshall, George Cappaccio, Libby Franck, Diane Edgecomb, Katie Green, Mark Binder and likely some others I may have forgotten. The name massmouth popped up - dunno who said it first, but Libby Franck said, "See that? 'massmouth' - we put "u" in the MOTH." Based on that meeting, we set up an adhoc group and settled on the name massmouth. I sent out a survey to MA storytellers and posted the results. A social networking site was created by Andrea Lovett at .ning, I started a blog and our dream to use video and audio to promote storytelling became a reality when I bought a cheap digital video camera, a tripod and a good lavaliere mic. I designed designed a logo and some business cards that described storytelling as theater of the mind. We were in business.

By AUGUST 2008 we were doing things... With stories and a good mic, amplification and a video camera, Andrea, Doria, Stu Mendleson and I took to urban street corners, ice cream parlors, cafés and later, even apple orchards. We began filling our interactive website with photos, audio clips, and videos of massmouth storytellers in live performance. We were joined in those first days by Brother Blue and Ruth Hill, Michael Anderson, Elsa Zuniga, Laura Packer, Kevin Brooks, Cindy Rivka Marshall, Bruce Marcus, Lani Peterson, Leeny Del Seamonds. In our first few months:

Co-founder, Andrea Lovett

SEPT 2008 We were featured in the Boston Metro newspaper, were featured in the Cambridge TAB with some lovely pics and a great article and within 6 months, our social network had over 80 members. By DECEMBER 2008 we created an archive of over 70 videos of Massachusetts storytellers. Our non-budget for the first year consisted of equipment, material and donations of time from founding members and storytellers Stu Mendelson, Doria Hughes, Andrea Lovett and myself.
We raised $500 for an exchange between Boston and New York Storytellers from Club Passim to Cornelia Street Café. And our “sweat equity” was used to edit and post video, create PR and for web development.  Here is an exchange between Andrea and I about the start of the slams.

Andrea Lovett on July 16, 2008 at 6:29pm "What about looking at venues differently. i.e. places that are unaccustomed to storytellers but are made for telling. Like a bar on an off night? A few of us have been talking about this idea thinking about trying it out with some interactive storytelling. Get people involved, perhaps build new audiences."
Reply by Norah Dooley on July 17, 2008 at 10:19pm  "We do need to go where people are and open our mouths and 'expose' ourselves. Yeah, that's the ticket!"

The rest, as they say, is history. And it is  not over - " not until the fuller-figured woman vocalizes."

Co-founder, Stu Mendleson

A somewhat pc version of "It ain't over until the fat lady sings" - I always thought this was a Yogi Berra quote, but wikipedia has it attributed to sportscasters Dan Cook and Ralph Carpenter. "The imagery of Richard Wagner's opera suite Der Ring des Nibelungen and its last part, Götterdämmerung, is typically the one used as accompanying reference to the phrase. The 'lady' is the valkyrie Brünnhilde, who is traditionally presented as a very buxom lady with horned helmet, spear and round shield. Her aria lasts almost twenty minutes and leads directly to the end of the opera, though the character Hagen has one final line, 'Zurück vom Ring!', to sing after Brünnhilde's death, and there is also a substantial orchestral finale. Since Götterdämmerung is about the end of the world (or at least the world of the Norse gods), in a very significant way 'it is [all] over when the fat lady sings.'"

Here is some data from the survey we sent out in summer of 2008:

Survey results

Some of the Questions:
1. Are you are working storyteller? And a member of a group that supports your work as a performer?
25% said working on it
35% said I make my living talking
32% said my job uses story
92% said they are Lanes members
10% said they were past LANES member
14% said they were a guild member
14 % ad hoc
71% said they are working storytellers

Question 2

I am interested in joining others, live and in person to:
Work on my craft 80%
Learn about recording 36%
Learn about video 35%
Leaning about posting blogs and videos on the internet 48%
Expand performing opportunities 65%

Question 3

Are you willing to meet in a central location?
A café 95.7%
A club 95.0%
A tavern 95.0%
A restaurant 95%
A library 95.8%
A school 95.2%
A museum 100%

Question 4

Are you able to join a phone conference?
38% yes
60% sometimes
8% never

Question 5

Are you able to meet regularly?
38% said bi monthly
80% said not weekly
45% 4x a year

Question 6

What can you bring or share with the group?
100% various performing, musical and mentoring skills
95% said they could offer a location
35% said equipment

Thanks for reading -- keep an eye out for our next survey, coming soon!

Posted 11th August 2012 by Connecting Stories

Live storytelling - this summer

Storytelling for 3-8 year olds at nearly 50 sites across the City of Boston. As I have for the past 18 summers I will be a storyteller with ReadBoston.org's Storymobile. Here is an excerpt from a blog about the Storymobile experience contributed by OWD summer intern Nick Zaffiro: 

Storymobile events aren’t simply about gathering and entertaining children; instead, the program aims to inspire kids to be creative and imagine. That mindset is the bridge to literacy, which the program promotes by giving books to every child who attends.
“[The Storymobile] provides high quality literacy programming to low-income children throughout Boston in the summer, when children are most at risk,” says Katie Sullivan, who oversees ReadBoston’s Storymobile program..."

This wonderful work takes me all over the great city of Boston. The program features free storytelling every weekday for 4 weeks in day care centers, summer camps, libraries and parks. READ BOSTON Storymobile: Professional storytellers perform and each child gets a new, high quality, picture book.

LIVE STORYTELLING IN BOSTON 

Late July and early August 2017 

JULY 13th BOSTON
Tadpole Playground/Boston Common
Thursdays at 10:00

Tuesday JULY 25th DORCHESTER

College Bound Dorchester 

18 Samoset Street 10 am

Codman Square Library 

690 Washington Street 11:15am

Lower Mills Library 

27 Richmond Street Tuesdays at 1:15pm

Wednesday JULY 26th SOUTH BOSTON

Laboure Early Childhood Center 

275 West Broadway Wednesdays at 10:00

South Boston Neighborhood House 

1187 Columbia Road Wednesdays at 11:15

South Boston Boys & Girls Club 

230 West 6th Street Wednesdays at 1:15

Thursday JULY 27th ALLSTON/BRIGHTON 

Rivendell Day Care Center 

406 Cambridge Street Thursdays at 10:00 

Jackson Mann Community Center 

500 Cambridge Street Thursdays at 11:15
Honan Allston Library 

200 North Harvard Street Thursdays at 1:15


Friday JULY 28th ROXBURY

Egleston Square Library 

2044 Columbus Avenue Fridays at 10:00

Madison Park Community Center 

55 Malcolm X Boulevard at 11:15
Gertrude Howes Park

70 Moreland Street  at 1:15pm

Wednesday AUGUST 2nd ROXBURY

Yawkey Konbit Kreyol Center for Early Education and Care
185 Columbia Road Wednesdays at 10:00
Grove Hall Library 
41 Geneva Avenue at 11:15
St. Katharine Drexel Parish Center 
175 Ruggles Street at 1:15pm

Friday AUGUST 4th DORCHESTER and MATTAPAN
Gertrude Townsend Head Start
198 Geneva Avenue at 10:00
Mildred Ave Community Center 
5 Mildred Avenue at 11:15
Mattapan Library 
1350 Blue Hill Avenue at 1:15

Day in Court: Civil Disobedience Update

Catz and I celebrating our resolution! 

Day in Court: Arrest Update

BOSTON - Oct 5th 2016

Phew! Here I am with one of my trench-mates, Catz. We left the West Roxbury Court House feeling pretty elated and very, very fortunate. She and I, along with a young man, who was underage, had been #182, #183 and #184 to be arrested trying to stop this crazy-bad pipeline. His case was resolved separately. And we had quite a wrangle figuring out what to do about our legal situation following our arrest on August 31th, 2016.  The DA's office was not happy with ResistThePipeline.org  and had upped the ante of consequences. But on this Tuesday, as over 20 fellow protesters were processed at different stages and for various charges, we were lucky. Our charges were reduced to a civil infraction rather like a parking ticket and if (I mean when !) we don't get arrested in the next six months it will be completely dismissed! No record! Huge thanks to the legal team: Mark MacMahon, Joshua Raisler Cohn and court support from Resist! 

We went right back to work to ResistThePipeline.org! After lunch we held up banners with other pipeline fighting-folk at Spectra's offices in Westwood. There Spectra hosted a "safety meeting" with first responders. Can you say vertigo? Wish I could have been inside to witness the spin! Likely to need dramamine. More on that later.  We stood in silent witness across from Spectra's corporate offices, taking care not to trespass by standing in Frugal Fannies parking lot. As we held "Stop Spectra" banners in a blustery wind, our elected officials came and shook each of our hands and thanked us, in full view of the windows of Spectra's regional HQ. We felt they had our backs! One of the officials in the room later described the safety measures he heard at the meeting as "horseshit."

Oct 5th. We are standing across from Spectra, HQ. Our Boston Delegation shook our hands in full view of Spectra's reps.

Below is a press release I wrote for Resist on our Civil Disobedience.

WEST ROXBURY, MA - One crop that has not failed in this summer's record drought was nonviolent resisters of new fossil fuel infrastructure. And? The number of those ready to commit nonviolent civil disobedience, risk arrest to help halt climate change and stop Spectra's corporate bullying in West Roxbury continues to grow. To date, 200 concerned citizens have peacefully but forcefully broken the law to stop Texas-based Spectra's construction of the West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline. In the next two weeks alone, over 50 protesters will make court appearances at West Roxbury District Court. Charged variously with Trespass, Disturbing the Peace Reckless Destruction of Property and Disorderly Persons, some defendants will be offered and take plea deals. Others will refuse the "deals" and chose to go to trial. Yet others may chose to defend themselves and make their court appearance a broader statement.

“We tried community meetings, rallies, day time and night time vigils and protests. We marched in the heat of summer and through the snow. TV stations covered us and we talked on radio shows. We knocked on doors, leafletted, wrote letters, gathered thousands of signatures on petitions, sent letters to the media and made multiple visits to politicians. We were completely flummoxed by the fact that our elected officials are powerless to protect us," said Mary Boyle, lending a backstory to the development of civil disobedience in West Roxbury.

Pipeline outside of Spectra's HQ in Westwood.

" Nonviolent civil disobedience seemed like a worthwhile tool to use. Civil disobedience actually stops construction and brings attention to our outrage. Our call to action is not a self-centered, knee-jerk, NIMBY but rather a forward thinking, rational and responsive, 'Not here. Not anywhere!' ” - Mary Boyle, West Roxbury neighbor leader, activist and pipeline opponent.

"Bullying that endangers the public safety of my friends and neighbors, while contributing to climate change during one of the hottest summers on record made civil disobedience an imperative for me. " - Norah Dooley, from Brookline, activist and pipeline opponent.

"Why are we allowing Spectra to build more dirty energy infrastructure when we need to be taking it down and building clean energy infrastructure?” - Hendrix Berry of Jamaica Plain, when asked about her decision to risk arrest.

"This pipeline represents the failure of our government to have an energy policy that does not risk the future of my grandchildren." - Reverend Martha Neibanck of Jamaica Plain, when asked about her decision to risk arrest

When resisters refuse to comply with orders to remove themselves from construction sites they are engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience. When common law is leading to destruction of people and their homes as ‘sacrifice zones’, jeopardizing global food systems, waterways, air quality, and forest vitality, accelerating coastal erosion, permafrost melting, coral reef bleaching, titanic forest fires, and city-engulfing flood rains it is time to "disobey." from Resist the Pipeline's website.

###

BACKGROUND

The West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline, a new “off-ramp” from Spectra’s existing Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline,  will carry fracked gas from shale deposits in Pennsylvania though New York, CT and Rhode Island. Fracked gas is a fossil fuel whose extraction has caused significant environmental damage and whose main ingredient, methane, is a highly toxic greenhouse gas (over 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for the first 20 years in the atmosphere). Capable of carrying gas at up to 750 psi (pounds per square inch)-- more than twice the pressure of the pipeline that exploded in San Bruno, CA in 2010, killing and injuring many residents and causing widespread property damage--the WRL is a “transmission” pipeline meant for rural or secluded areas.  It is  similar to the pipeline that recently exploded in a rural area some 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, knocking out four other nearby pipelines and seriously injuring a man when his home was destroyed by fire.  The accident is still under investigation, but Spectra says it may cost upwards of  $100 million to repair the damage. By comparison, the West Roxbury Lateral runs through residential neighborhoods, only feet from some homes and near schools, businesses, a nursing home, under a soccer field in Dedham, and across from an active quarry in West Roxbury where regular blasting over the years has caused damage to homes in the area. As with all natural gas pipelines, Spectra won approval for the WRL, with little opportunity for public comment,  from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), whose commissioners have all served as executives in the natural gas industry.  The project has met strong local resistance from both citizens and elected officials, including Mayor Walsh, the Boston City Council, State Representative Coppinger, State Senator Walsh, and Congressman Lynch. Both the City of Boston and Town of Dedham have filed lawsuits against the project, citing numerous flaws in the environmental review and approval process and seeking an overturn of FERC’s approval. Hearings or trials are expected this fall in the D.C. Circuit Court. At the urging of many of their constituents, U.S. Senators Markey and Warren have also voiced some concern to FERC but not strong opposition to the project, a stance that has perplexed and disappointed many residents.. To date, 194 people have been arrested in peaceful civil disobedience against the WRL. They include Michael Butler, the Select Board Chair from Dedham who was the first to be arrested;  Karenna Gore, daughter of former Vice President Al Gore; Tim DeChristopher, well known climate activist; and dozens of local clergy. West Roxbury neighbors and their concerned allies. Meanwhile, other community groups are fighting other gas infrastructure projects still in the planning stage, particularly in eastern Mass. and including Spectra’s  proposed compressor stations in Weymouth. Opponents cite evidence that much of the new gas is actually intended for export, not to meet local needs.

Arrested Developments: Stopped construction. Was arrested. Going to trial.

 In the trench, stopping Spectra.

Arrested Developments: Stopped construction. Was arrested. Going to trial.

On Wednesday, August 31st we halted construction of the West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline. For over an hour we enjoyed our small victory. This project jeopardizes the health and safety of local residents and of our neighbors across the globe by ramping up greenhouse emissions and fueling climate change. Residents and local politicians have unsuccessfully fought this project using every legal means for three years. All else has failed, and so it made moral and strategic sense to me to stealthily approach, evade a police detail and jump into an open worksite. I will admit that I was challenged (as in, scared witless?) by the thought of the depth of the trench. I do not like heights and I do not bounce like I used to. Also, I am kinda klutzy so I was elated to have accomplished the first part of my mission without getting hurt or hurting anyone. The second part of my mission is to convince you all, Dear Readers, to fight to halt climate change.

Best "trench-mates" you could ask for: Brendan and Catz.

For over an hour I was in the trenches with now 16 year old, Canton High sophomore, Brendan Matulis and my new friend, Catherine LeBlanc. Brendan's birthday was Sept 1 and he was concerned that, despite his youth, people would understand he was taking action following the dictates of his conscience alone. We all were clear in our purpose and honored to be able to do our part to halt climate change and stop a Texas fossil-fuel corporation from bullying our neighbors! All thanks to the movement of ResistThePipeline.org who were on the street above us, celebrating Mary Boyle's birthday, singing songs, praying and witnessing in solidarity with representatives of the Standing Sioux Tribe's struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline. ( read more about Mary Boyle and the issues at my blog.)

After an hour, Brendan, who as a minor, was handled differently under the law, climbed up a ladder out of the ten foot trench while Catz and I waited to be removed by by Boston firefighters after being "checked" by EMTs. There were at least four dozen EMTs, police officers and firefighters surrounding us. It was an impressive waste of resources and/or a silly display of power. They cajoled, joked, reasoned and fumed at us to leave of our own accord. We declined. Finally, we were extracted by "basket" and whisked away in BPD Transport Wagon. We were charged with Trespass and Disturbing the Peace and spent the day in West Roxbury District 5 jail. With a $40 fee we were released on our own recognizance a little after 4pm. Physically, the worst part was the zip tie handcuffs as I was waiting to be" processed" which included a mug shot, removing my wedding ring for the first time in a decade and being finger-printed on a new-fangled computer system. For over an hour and still restrained, I was all alone and my wrists hurt so I distracted myself singing.  Revels songs and South African freedom songs from my days with Mystic Choral and NoonDayFarm singers came back to me. Dunno how anybody else felt about it, but I enjoyed the echoing acoustics of the cell. Maybe my singing can explain the additional "Disorderly Person" charge?

Six officers ( and there were more) to arrest one old lady. Do I look that dangerous?

The next day we were to be arraigned first thing in the morning. I thought I'd do a little chalking in front of the West Roxbury District Court. I've done it there before and had provided my Memo proving its legality from the Law Office of the City of Boston to a Court Officer just a few weeks ago. (Chalk art is a whole other issue you can read more here.)

Yesterday, as I was chalking -@stop spectra- on the sidewalk, a court officer approached us and asked "If there was a problem." and I said no, I was exercising my 1st Amendment rights and using chalk. She seemed cool with it so I finished up, put my chalks back in the car and we headed to check in with probation.

At the Probation window, in the kind of coincidence you just can't make up, my elder brother's probation officer was the man who checked me in. He was equally surprised to see me. My brother, who is severely mentally ill, was charged with Attempted Murder and Aggravated Assault while in his group home a few years back and successfully completed his probation in Lemuel Shattuck Hospital this May. Mr. Frank Omogrobe had been very helpful.  But that is also another story - read more here)

When our case was finally called and we stepped up to the bar and were addressed by Honorable Kathleen E. Coffey, First Justice, West Roxbury Division, who has always struck me as a compassionate and honest woman. It was she who created the Mental Health Court that has helped our brother and many others to stay in the hospital, where they belong and NOT in a jail.  

After, the clerk read our charges, adding Disorderly Conduct to our rap sheet our lawyer approached the bench ( or the bar?) and Judge Coffey led off the proceedings by saying,

Post-arraignment photo behind pre-arraignment chalking at courthouse. 

" It has come to my attention that your clients were drawing on the sidewalk outside this courthouse and I just hope that is was chalk and not paint, etc. etc."  - Judge Coffey

I wanted to reassure the judge right away, exonerate my co-defendant and explain about it being temporary sidewalk chalk. When I tried to speak, our lawyer, quite rightly, shushed me and said that he could not speak to that issue as he knew nothing about it and it was not part of the case before us. 

Attorney Mark McMahon was blindsided. We hadn't told him anything about chalking. McMahon told Judge Coffey that he would not make any statements about any alleged incidents. Her question was a crazy, unexpected curveball. If I had used paint? It was serious. Less then 10 minutes before, in a case before ours, two young men had just been led out of that same courtroom in shackles for tagging with spray paint.

Judge Coffey was insistent and even issued a veiled threat "You could un-complicate this easily and just tell me or?...We could launch a police investigation ?...(pregnant pause) Do you really want to complicate this? Just to find something out that you can easily tell me." But our lawyer, Mark McMahon, stood fast and said neither he nor his clients would make any statements about anything unrelated to the arraignment before  the court, so the judge allowed us to confer and come back in a few.

Wow. That was a shock - just 10 days before, I had gone through the whole song and dance about chalking in Boston with a court officer right in front of W.Roxbury Courthouse  The officer even made a copy of the memo I carry with me.  Atty. McMahon pointed out to me that graffiti is vandalism, when permanent materials or damage is present and if the "destruction of property " is over $250? It is a felony. Jump back!  

We returned to court and told Judge Coffey what she wanted to know. She had toned down a bit and said, " I am not trying to abrogate anyone's 1st amendment rights here, I am just looking for information." Atty. McMahon told her that only one client was involved and that she (I) had assured him it was chalk. Then the Assistant District Attorney offered us a deal.  We could have six months of probation if we accepted a "stay-away" order of keeping 500 yards ( that is 1/4 mile!) away from any Spectra worksite. Atty. McMahon argued strongly against the stay-away. The Judge herself offered a compromise of 100 yards from the specific 10 Grove Street in West Roxbury site - a nexus of protest and work completion. But the DA refused. 

At this point it is really hard to agree to be 500 yards  away from any Spectra worksites which are so are common in the Boston area. And in West Roxbury, it is a 5.1 mile pipeline and they could be working anywhere. 

It just seemed an egregiously wrong condition.  Why should a citizen limit her freedom of motion based on the ubiquitous actions of a Texas based corporation? That is just more bullying as far as I can see.  In the end, neither Catz nor I could take the deal and that means we will be going to trial. Sometime in October. More information as things develop. And,  next week, Karenna Gore, Tim DeChristopher and 4 other West Roxbury Pipeline resisters will be in the same court for their pretrial hearing on Sept. 6.

I would be deeply grateful if you would help spread the word, participate, educate and/or donate at ResistThePipeline.org.  Civil disobedience is, among other things, a kind of low-budget PR. We put ourselves forward to get the word out, not for personal attention. I tell this story to engage and inspire you; to motivate more people to be active. As George Monbiot says, the climate crisis is real and it is already here. We all need to do our part.

Here is a link https://youtu.be/190J51UjJi4 to a great 2 minute video below made when over 100 of us came to Stop Spectra's work in June 2016. Our dear friend Marie-Laure is featured.

"Since August 2015, a residential neighborhood of West Roxbury, MA has become an epicenter of fossil fuel resistance and the fight for a livable climate. Spectra Energy is building a dangerous, high pressure (750 psi) natural gas pipeline across the street from a rock quarry from which seismic waves emanate due to weekly dynamite blasting.   This project jeopardizes the health and safety of local residents and of people across the globe whose lives are already being ravaged by climate change. Residents and local politicians have unsuccessfully fought this project using every legal means for three years. All else has failed, and now we’re shutting this project down in the streets. 

With 175 arrests, this is one of the largest campaigns of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience in the country. We’re building a culture of resistance to the fossil fuel industry that will spread across the region. We’re sending a message to all those involved in the current build-out of new fossil fuel infrastructure: We don’t want it. We don’t need it. Earth can’t take it. Shut it down."


And here again is a video segment on the climate change disaster of leaking methane throughout Boston and the Commonwealth. http://www.wcvb.com/news/tens-of-thousands-of-gas-leaks-across-the-state/41283404