Showing posts with label South End. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South End. Show all posts
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
October 30, 2011
Happy Halloween to all!
An absolutely horrifying sight ushered in All Hallow's Eve tomorrow - a snowstorm, a wet nor'easter with a piercing wind in its wake.
Image ... Pumpkin. Union Park, the South End, Boston.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
October 24, 2010
Quote of the Day
Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
Jim Rohn
Image ... Pumpkin graffiti. South End, Boston.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
September 29, 2010
A is an Abolitionist—
A man who wants to free
The wretched slave—and give to all
An equal liberty.
Quote of the Day
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
Woody Allen
Image ...Warren Avenue, South End.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
September 16, 2010
Spectacular last days of summer. Perfect weather. Sunny but a low angled sun slipping toward the south and not too strong, warm but not too hot by day, cool but not cold at night. Halcyon days before the fall.
Working on my book Martin and Malcolm in Boston. It's about Martin Luther King's and Malcolm X's times in Boston.
Tomorrow and this weekend a major PR campaign in the South End to generate work. Craigslist already drew in one prospect, who I visited yesterday. Plus existing clients have some possible projects.
The scene above was in the display window of a short-lived second hand designer clothing store on Columbus Ave. in the South End. Evidently selling frocks, turbans, Manolos, beads and clutch purses to men didn't prove to be viable. Even in the South End. Go figure.
Quote of the Day
To be is to do.
Immanuel Kant
Image ... Model Citizen. South End, Boston.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
July 29, 2010
Quote of the Day
It takes a great man to be a good listener.
Calvin Coolidge
The quote of the day is perfect for this image. Keep cool with Coolidge.
Image ... Mural at Bob the Chef's. South End, Boston.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
July 26, 2010
Bob the Chef's on Columbus Ave. is no more and hasn't been for some time. Would that it had held in there, after decades, like Charlie's (maintained by a dynastic Greek family) down the street so that we had one remaining soul food spot in the South End. Since its demise it's gone through 2 upscale jazz club concepts and both folded (the Stork CLub, a doomed name, lasting less than a year), and is about to embark on a third incarnation.
Cleaned the house on Sunday then spent the afternoon at the garden. Too hot to do a damn thing except read, relax and water - myself and the plants. The free ice machine at HoJo's (2 blocks away across from Fenway Park) has been fixed! Now it shoots cubes like nobody's business. So happy! Had ice water all afternoon.
Quote of the Day
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P.J. O'Rourke
Image ... Mural at Bob the Chef's, South End.
Friday, July 23, 2010
July 24, 2010
Did you know that you can expand any picture to full size by clicking on it? The image opens in the same window, so to return to the Journal use the Back button (rather than closing the window).
I really enjoy this picture. Good vibrations. Taken in the playground on Washington Street by East Berkeley, who's name I always space out on. I'll try to find it today when I walk by to finally pick up my bike.
It's graffiti or a tag. The park's been renovated and it no longer exists, replaced by other painted images on what is a tennis backboard (I think it's called, where you practice your serves).
Appropriation is the project of all art, indeed of life. This is a small slice of a bigger picture, carefully selected, stored, then edited to create the image. An image which is another work of art. I never had any problem with this. It's as natural as Ansel photographing Yosemite. And come to think of it, if Ansel had been standing in my spot he would have made this picture too. I can somewhat speak with assurance because we share birthdays.
Andy Warhol put it this way ... Art is what you can get away with. Did you know that he didn't even take the simple photo that was the basis for his flower silk screens (he later got sued and settled)? But remember this - always steal from the best. And never a borrower be from mediocrity.
I want to give a note of appreciation to my beautiful neighborhood - between the Shawmut and Fields Corner T stations in Dorchester - this wonderful house and my super housemates, Alexia and Sabrina. And yes, the area does in fact sport a street called Paisley Park. People here keep their homes so beautifully with creative and well cared for gardens and landscaping. It's such a pleasure to live here, so peaceful and stimulating, such a great spirit.
Song stuck in my head ... See You in September. But the song playing right now is Miles So What? Live with Trane. So what could be better? Fun fact ... The cowriter of SYIS also wrote 57 songs for Elvis.
Picked up my bike, finally, at Community Bicycle. $258! New rear wheel with double rim wall and more spokes, new double-walled rubber front and back, brake repair. I have to say it's the best it's ever ridden.
Stoppped by Deeny job. Stopped at Kelly's, but she was out of town, surprise. Went by garden. Everything OK despite me missing watering. Maybe Fred did it. Everything is huge and lush, including the weeds and lawn. Visited a new client.
Stopped by the Carter School to check on the light. Late afternoon will probably be best for photographing what I've come to call The King Circle, a circular arrangement of large granite foundation stones from the building that Dr. King lived in with Coretta, where they began their married life, before leaving for Montgomery. There's a fountain in the middle of it in the form of a large overflowing jar. How unintendedly appropriate. The overflowing fountain motif occurs throughout the South End, memorials to the Civil War dead. And here is one to the Civil Rights dead. This one, I believe, has a switch that the kids can activate. It's going to make a great picture. I may need a ladder, to get up high, to capture the circle. I'll ask Marianne, the principal, if the school has one I can use.
Biked back home. Another hot, muggy day. Hit a cool sea breeze by South Bay, but it didn't last.
Quote of the Day
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
Vince Lombardi
Image ... Blue Tag. South End, Boston.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
July 20, 2010
Solved our little crisis. For a good plumber contact Marquis Johnson at The Solution Plumbing. Found him via Google. Great guy (came on Sunday to scope out the problem), same rate as my other plumbers, $135/hour. Clearly I'm in the wrong business. But me and plumbing are dangerous. Pisces should never plumb, except men's soul perhaps. And even there they should be careful not to set off waterworks.
Another hot, humid day in a string of them. The cicadas in chorus, happy in the heat. Lunch at D2D, then many household and client-related chores. Plus some writing - back on the King project, string theory, journalizing. And do some cooking!
Song (still) stuck in my head ... This Charming Man, by The Smiths. Live in Madrid, a kick-ass tight formation version, the packed audience pogoing with religious fervor.
Quote of the Day
Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party.
Herbert Hoover
Image ... Entryway, the South End.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
July 8, 2010
I photographed this garden in the early 2000's and now it's mostly gone and greatly reduced. My friend Sasha told me that it was the work of a blind sculptor. The blind part makes sense. But that's all I know of the story.
In the foreground, Jesus, arms outstretched blesses the whole mess (and I mean that in the nicest sense). David stands, naked, on top of a pair of giant breasts (at a guess) seeming to pee into a pot, a heavenly chorus of angels, squirrels, poodles and skunks is arranged in ranks around the perimeter of the garden. In the lower left is the corner of a ten-foot tall phallus topped with a bell. Weeping willows overhang the whole scene with wind chimes ringing in their branches.
And that's just the backyard. Walk around the block to the front of the house for a really baroque scene (which remains intact).
Image ... Blind sculptor's garden. South End, Boston.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
July 7, 2010
Tuesday was hot, notching up into the nineties. Hid under the (relatively) cool grape arbor and read Martin Luther King's 'autobiography' - assembled from his various writings, etc. by Claiborne Carson.
Composted and groomed the new wildflower bed by the pool. We're going to seed it with one of those Meadow in a Can type mizes. Did several hours of PR in the South End.
Slept over in the garden Tuesday night. Just locked myself in and curled up under the arbor. Unlike in the past, the night was totally quiet. The police patrols are working. It used to be boys night out in the Wild West.
Image ... Fence in the South End, Boston.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
June 2, 2010
The South End has a network of narrow cul-de-sacs and alleyways tucked away behind and running between the streets and avenues. Bordering them are the resident's backyards, decks and balconies. Laundry drying, once such a common sight, is now seldom seen.
Image ... Laundry. South End, Boston.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
May 30, 2010
Moving day! Moving to deeper Dot, outside of Fields Corner, off Dorchester Ave. on the Redline near Shawmut T stop. Packing, cleaning, doing laundry and writing up the past days to take breaks. I've reduced everything to less than a dozen manageable boxes. Almost all my property is IP so I travel light, which is the only way to travel. Charles is going to give me a lift over in the afternoon. One of those rare days in May, perfection.
Image ... Sculpture in a small park. South End, Boston.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
May 25, 2010
Freddie emailed me yesterday ...
We (you) have the most wonderful garden on earth!
... yes we (you) certainly do.
Quote of the Day
Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor.
Robert Frost
Image ... Skunk Hunt. South End, Boston.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
March 1, 2010
A busy day buzzing with practical matters, maintenance and business affairs. Accomplished all. Could be a first. But not the last.
Image ... School's Out. Allan Rohan Crite. A scene in the South End.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
January 7, 2010
Writing an article on Martin Luther King's time in Boston for the 1/15/10 issue, his 81st birthday. He might still be alive today. What a different world we'd live in. What a different world we do live in thanks to his brief presence.
Working on Beans About Boston, pulling the page together, collecting and editing all the questions, answers and background info. The next issue's will be on MLK, of course, related to Boston.
Peter and I did some PR in the South End for our new (since Seotember 1) design/build business. Sunny, maybe up to 40°, just slight breezes now and then. Perfect for walking around, did four hours or so of flyering.
Broke for lunch at Francesca's. They had a crab soup that was superb. I didn't get any, but tried some of Peter's. We both got the mini of the day - a small sandwich on a split, lightly toasted English muffin - ham, cheese, lettuce and mustard with tortilla chips on the side, for $4. These are always great, change daily and are often inventive.
I'm going to review Francesca's for Boston's Best, because it is. Great people watching from the counters along the windows overlooking a very hip stretch of Tremont Street - across from the BCA, St. Cloud, Boston Ballet and surrounded by easily a dozen of the South End's top restaurants. Not to mention the hotties inside the spot. We have a new fave pit stop, well worth a slight detour. Charlie's has worn out its welcome. Is there no loyalty left? No ... I mean yes. Absinthe maketh the heart grow fonder. We're both hopeless foodie snobs.
At lunch I was telling Pete about the MLK article I'm working on. We had to divert to Dudley to pick some printing, so there and back again we did a little tour - the People's Baptist Church, MLK's apartment building at 397 Mass. Ave., the Hi-Hat jazz club location at 400 Mass. Ave. across the street, the jazz mecca around the corners of Mass. and Columbus, the Savoy where the Christian Science Plaza now is, St. Botolph St. where MLK also roomed.
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