Whole Heart Portland, Part 1

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Travelin'

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Like many folk, I have a bucket list of cities I hope/want to visit.

Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
Chicago, IL
Madison, WI
Montreal, CA
Reykjavik, IS
Savanna, GA
Singapore (city-state-country?)
Sydney, AU
Legoland, DK (what? that’s NOT a city? hmm)

Spots I’ve heard about that intrigue me. Foods I haven’t tried, libraries I’ve yet to tour . . . Truth? I’m pretty unlikely to travel to a location that isn’t home to someone I know. So thank goodness my sister-in-law moved to Portland!

Meet our sister

Once J made the jump, my years of talking turned to a mere hour or two of flight searching. Then, last fall we landed . . . and loved it!

When my partner and I returned home to Boston, friends asked: how was it? I kept coming back to chill, sweet, calm. We didn’t do a whole lot of rushing. But I guess one rarely does on vacation?

As is often the case in my traveling experience, I recognized cities I know well in Portland. I reacquainted myself with Paterson, NJ’s wide boulevards and Leipzig, Germany’s centrally located, efficient light rail lines. The fresh, water-scent reminded me of seaside Jersey, lakeside Well, NL, and even that odd whiff of surf one sometimes gets in Davis Square, Somerville.

City’s (world’s?) smallest park

Stay tuned for the next installment, where I’ll no doubt bombard you with more sights (and some library tourin’).

Share It!

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Community, Green Life

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giving, swaps, this-moment

After a huge weekend swap that attracted over thirty women (and a few babies), I’m upping my claim. I’d wager that approximately 70% of my clothing is the spoils of swaps. The bests and favorites of my wardrobe definitely had homes before mine, and it’s not just that funny mini-cape or those like-new Keen sandals, friends:

My camera? “Permanent loan.”

My KitchenAid stand mixer (with ice cream attachment!) was a surprise gift from a friend who had received a new one.

The cat? Yeah. Him, too.

Despite what the media/advertisements/press/etc. may attempt to convince you, sharing is integral to living. Humans from way-back-when knew it. We know it now: honey tastes twice as sweet when your friend owns the hive (hint, hint bee-keeping pals!)

The resources below were sent me from a friend (see: sharing) and I’m passing them on to you. Have experience with one or two? Leave a comment below.

https://m.brightneighbor.com//index.html – rent, buy, trade or borrow country-wide

http://neighborsforneighbors.org/ – run by “professional neighbor” Joseph Porcelli and his team, this site is local to Jamaica Plain, MA and offers meet-up type affinity groups, a Snow Crew assistance program to help move that white stuff in winter, alerts, and more

streetbank.com – sharing across “the pond”

http://farmhack.net/home/ – open source community for the farm-types among us

http://freegan.me/ – meet “freegans” worldwide and learn what’s free where, and how to find it

https://www.freecycle.org/ -I bet you know this one. (So far I’ve received: a cell phone, a safety vest and reflective strips for biking, a VCR, a typewriter, a papercutter, hangers, and more items than I can remember. My favorite aspect, though, is giving things away. So satisfying.)

http://neighbor.ly/ – crowdsourcing for your community

http://www.citizinvestor.com/ – invest in public projects

http://www.cityofboston.gov/doit/apps/citizensconnect.asp – download this free app to help Boston improve it’s streets, sidewalks, and other infrastructure (i.e., pothole just swallow your bike? report it!)

https://yerdle.com/– free stuff countrywide! (a friend of mine helped start this one, definitely check it out)

Somerville Skillshare

19 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Community, Learnin', Skillshare

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arts, community, events, somerville

It’s not everyday that one gets the privilege of attending the first of something. Especially an explosively popular and successful first.

After six or more years participating in and teaching (on occasion) at the punky, funky, and deliciously grass-roots Boston Skillshare, I pretty much became an acolyte of this unique form of community-based learning. If you’ve met me in person, chances are you’ve heard me proselytize about skillshare’s virtues. Chances are even better that I actually dragged you to one.

I’ll just go ahead and state it: skillshare changed my life.

When I caught wind of Somerville’s inaugural attempt at bringing community-based instruction to the DIY-hungry masses, you know I signed up right away. And by “right away,” I mean if a tornado had touched down at that moment, flinging me and my laptop to the sky, I’d have been no less likely to jab the “register” button.

I sure do love me some:

Don’t Make Art, Just Make Something!
Investing and Stock Market Principles
Intro to Digital DJ’ing

I mean, how can anyone resist:

Brew Like a Barista (missed it! too full)
Felted Orbs (missed it! too full)
Intro to Parkour
Link Stitch Bookbinding (missed it! at parkour)

See what I’m saying?

You’re going to come next year, right?

Door prizes rock

(Also, I kind of “won the skillshare.” Thank you, Skillshare organizers!)

Holi Color Festival, Boston

11 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Learnin'

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events

Ask me a week ago, and I wouldn’t be certain exactly what a holi color festival was. The word is less familiar to me than the idea of a celebration where whirls of color are tossed at participants.

Something to do with India, I’d have guessed . . . a week ago. Something related to celebration. Maybe spring. Maybe love.

At the unlikely location of a bar across from the famous Fenway Park baseball stadium, I discovered a few more of the (American-edition) specifics: Top 40 pop hits, teenagers representing many different racial and ethnic backgrounds, vendors selling spicy samosa, revelers splattered with vibrant orange, yellow, green, blue, red, purple.

The actual activity of “color application” was another mystery, until it was our turn to go through a door into the bright unknown, which turned out to be a dark garage pumping with club beats, littered with empty bags and a dilapidated golf cart. Backdrop to perhaps 100 people, young and not-so-young, vying for bags of sand (“paid” for with raffle tickets that came with the entrance fee, though some people curiously had more than one ticket), chasing and smearing complete strangers with color.

Action shot of grimy, color-filled garage

So what have I learned about the holi festival? Well, it makes for fantastic photos. Also, there’s something to be said for not doing the research, for just diving in and trying something new without the shield of protective knowledge. Sometimes. :^)

Opportunity and Community

26 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in With Friends

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as-we-are-living-it, hikes, winter

I didn’t go to college to bank on the residuals.

The plan (as set by culture/expectations/my own desire to live a “good life”): gain admission to a competitive (but not too competitive!) college, graduate with new skills and insights, find employment that matches those skills (hey, what happened to the insight?), enjoy surprising success and satisfaction . . . as a writer (easy, right?), give back.

The story beneath the story, the unsuspect-able truth? My most valued takeaway from that “competitive college” isn’t skills, or even insight, it’s community. For me, opportunity isn’t about inching closer to a big pool of cash. And it’s not just my craft (writing) that feeds me, I crave and thrive in employment that pays the heart.

My path is a curious one. It wanders.

Opportunity is that train of connection that leads to adventure. It’s one day inviting an interesting stranger to coffee, followed by a shocking connection with that endures. Five years pass and here I’m lounging in a warm Cape Cod kitchen, laughing with friends made at stops along the way.

I often view “choice” as leading directly to “result.” Thank goodness life can be so much less linear than one predicts.

Arboretum Winter Wander

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Green Life

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arnold-arboretum, hikes, winter

It is said that winter is a time for slowing down. For thinking, planning which seeds to sew. Silence and introspection.

It is the time of death . . . and waiting for life renewed.

Also, winter presents opportunity. Texture. A time to wander and be . . . and simply observe.

Quiet.

Brunch with Friends

23 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in With Friends

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food-n-cookin, gratitude, winter

I don’t cook.

Okay, so that’s not entirely true. More accurately, I don’t enjoy cooking anywhere near as much as I enjoyed being cooked for. It’s an interesting reverse of how I give gifts: I find much satisfaction in considering, hunting down, wrapping, and finally presenting a gift to friend or family.

With food though, I’ve been know to put out a call to the greater Facebook Universe practically pleading for someone to invite me over!

Brunch with friends? Yes, please.

Quiet Holiday

09 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Jersey Moments

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family, giving, jersey, winter

Following a brief, surprise illness and non-shocking snowstorm of tiny, icy flakes, we finally trekked down to Jersey to visit my partner’s family and mine to celebrate the winter holidays.

Some years the holidays are boisterous and busy. There doesn’t seem enough time to fit everyone in.

Other years, quiet. Dinner is skillfully and thoughtfully prepared. A life-long holiday with many traditions is distilled to the heart of its elements. People are missed. Presents cheerfully opened. Tea served.

New Year’s Jam

03 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Boston Moments, With Friends

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as-we-are-living-it, jamaica-plain, winter

In the wee morning hours of 2014, a surprise bedroom concert featuring my partner David on electric guitar, party host Adam on acoustic, vocals and lead bed-jumping, and friends on back-up vocals, harmonica, and drum-n-shaker hullabaloo.

harmonica and acoustic

Me on camera. Happy New Year!

friends revel in music on NYE listening to the music adam and dave

Neighborhood Lights, Winter

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Boston Moments

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jamaica-plain, winter

When I was a kid, my mother used to take my brother and me driving to see Christmas light displays around Coastal New Jersey. We especially enjoyed those surprise cul-de-sacs where it was obvious the neighbors engaged in friendly competition.

Bostonside (not surprisingly, I suppose), I don’t see much evidence of this love for the bright and twinkly, for those gaudy challenges to stake as many leaping plastic deer on the lawn as possible. Bostonside, subtley reigns.