Kickin' it Off!

Public Allies Bridgeport held their Bridgeport Beautifies March into Spring kick off this past Thursday! Despite this surprisingly snowy spring, we are looking forward to getting into the streets and gardens.

Mayor Bill Finch stopped by to say some words of encouragement. This guy loves beautification projects.

We had all kinds of food, snazzy music, and a wealth of spirited Allies. Kick it off, Bpt. We are rising.

Cape Cod Getaway

I am on my way back from a Cape Cod getaway weekend with Lover. It's off-season, so there's little traffic, fewer people, and only a handful of open shops and restaurants. Love it.

We visited P-town and stopped at my favorite used books store. I picked up a copy of Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" for $8.00. We sat down for truffles and hot chocolate at "The Purple Feather," and perused open shops.

I worked on a new project... I'm pretty excited about something coming up.. A new venture in life. This project is the start of it. You'll be among the first to see the finished product. ;)

We walked along the beach. Malai looks so happy! The first time I took her to see the ocean, it scared her. Now she runs around, sniffing the piles of seaweed and mounds of dry sea oats. She's had so much more energy and vigor since she's lost weight!

Here's wishing you all a happy spring!

Washington, D.C.

I love to travel, mostly because I love to absorb the energy of new places, take in new things and ideas, and shirk usual routines and household responsibilities. When Lover told me that he had a business meeting in Washington, D.C., I was instantly jealous. It's one of my favorite cities to visit, with such a wealth of museums and history.

Well, I got to go! I met him last Monday evening, and we went for a walk along the Mall. I love to see the memorials lit up at night. I'm generally not sentimental about political and military history, and I despise war and violence. However, I love the memorials, because they become something positive. It's art uniting citizens. These are tools for teaching future generations about the effect of certain founding fathers, or the toll of war. When I look at the US memorials, I know memorials stand in other countries for those same wars. I know other people stand before them, like me. I know that things got to a point where diplomacy was either ignored or refused, and violence was used (or someone decided Germany wasn't enough for them and got a little big for their britches...). I know people who didn't necessarily want to serve, served. I know families suffered on both sides.


On Tuesday, we walked around the Air and Space Museum, The American Craft Museum, The National Gallery, and the International Spy Museum. At the Gallery, I saw a few favorites pieces:

 

 I love the color and movement within a Georgia O'Keefe. As for Gauguin, what a life! Beach living, half-naked women, and painting. Too bad he died of syphilis.

Also, the cherry blossoms were right at the precipice of explosive beauty. 

Even if it's just to cozy up with a friend at their house, sometimes it's nice to get out of our usual environment and take a breather in fresh air. Going anywhere this spring?

Starting Your Own Neighborhood Clean Up

Our big day event is April 30th, when we join Groundwork Bridgeport in their Park City Sweep!

Some residents in Bridgeport are getting motivated! Cecilia Chavez has been sharing "before" photos of her street on our Facebook:

She tells us she's really excited about posting the "after" pictures!

Here are some ideas for starting your own neighborhood clean up:

• Contact your neighbors and show them your excitement for taking ownership of your street! This may require door knocking, since flyers may only add to the garbage you're trying to get rid of!
• Note who is the most excited and get them involved in the planning.
• Especially take an interest in people who are maintaining their yards - they may be your best allies in taking on the street!
• See if your local municipality allows you free access to dumpsters for a neighborhood clean up. You never know if you might qualify.
• In Bridgeport, check out the Neighborhood Revitalization Zone!
• Name a day that'll be the Big Day...and always plan a rain date!
• Break up volunteers into teams on the Big Day. People who will sort garbage - recyclables in one, waste in another; people who will search the streets cleaning up refuse; and others who will deliver recyclables to the recycling center.
• Make sure you have supplies - garbage bags and gloves are a must!
• Will you serve water? Snacks?
• Celebrate with a potluck style BBQ! Reward yourself and everyone else for all the hard work!

Please add any more tips if you've got 'em!

Spring...and Snow

Ahhh, the first snow of springtime.

What?

Well, whatever. The crocuses are going to look dashing against the white. It'll melt. What's that again about climate change?*


Happily, Lover and I, with the help of his parents, cleaned up the yard yesterday beneath a bright sun and in a chilly air. We picked up all the branches the wind pruned from the trees over the winter, broke them down, and put them in a huge pot to use as kindling for the firepit. We raked up the last of the leaves matted in dirt and stuck in corners. Can't wait to build the new composter so we can get it all in there. We took down our holiday lights (yes! we still had them up!), coiled them around cardboard, and put them away in the shed.

Last week I started all my tomato, pepper, onion, and leek seeds. I filled a 72 cell tray with pro-mix soil, scratched in worm castings from the vermicomposter, and set the tray upon a heat mat beneath a grow light. Two days later, little green guys sprouted. Now on day 5, half the tray has sprouted! I couldn't be more pleased.

We went to a Garden Expo over the weekend, and found a company that sells organic compost. Last fall, Lover and I built a raised garden bed in the backyard, and have yet to fill it. In April or the beginning of May, we'll get it delivered and into the bed. The seeds will be ready to transplant outdoors beneath homemade cloches (I'm reusing the million plastic water bottles that my roommate goes through!).

Are you gardening, too? Tell me all about it! Also, if anyone's in the area, I have a ton of heirloom seeds I can share/swap/give/etc!



*I'm aware of the process of climate change, and that scientists believe that humans are most likely responsible for speeding up the process. I was using sarcasm.

Weekly Wrap-Up 2 of March

Spring breeze -
the pine on the ridge
whispers it

The nights are cold, but the days are full of sunshine and the crocus are showing their colors in the front yard. Spring has finally touched upon New England.


Highlights of the past week or two include:

Seed starting! I filled up a 72 cell tray with peppers both hot and sweet, tomatoes large and small, and onions and leeks. I scratched in some worm castings from the vermicomposter, placed them on a heat mat, and beneath a grow light. This was Thursday night. Saturday night, I was ever so surprised and pleased!

Mini Vacation! Lover had a business meeting in Washington, D.C. I took the train down to meet him Monday night. We walked around the Mall to see the memorials lit up at night. On Tuesday, we visited the American Craft Museum, the Air and Space Museum, The National Gallery (both the West Wing and the East Wing), and the International Spy Museum.

New discovery. I was absolutely thrilled to discover a very chic craft store called "Make & Mingle" in the town of Fairfield. You can check this store out before a movie at the Fairfield theater, and then hit up Las Vetas for coffee. All in one area!

Maw. There's still an algae problem in the goldfish tank. I didn't want to add one more animal to the small aquarium, but I also don't want to use a chemical algae-cide. So, I got an algae-eating plecostomus named "Maw." We have an albino version in the other tank named "Valve" and he has really kept it spotless! Maw looks like the pic below.

Outliers. I read Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" on the train traveling to DC. I would strongly recommend it to anyone! It dispels the compelling American myth of the self-made man or woman, and portrays how no one is made successful without both practice and opportunity. It also touches on many other topics, including education and entitlement..

All in all, it's been a pretty good week. Next week we have our kick-off for Bridgeport Beautifies, a trip to Cape Cod, and to see "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo."

Etsy Love

McGivney Mural

This week hailed the start of mural workshops for us Public Allies in Bridgeport. I and my "mural pod" partner Shon facilitated workshops with lead artist Sergio Escobar.

The McGivney Community Center caters to a slew of kids in an after school program that helps them with their homework and exposes them to new experiences and opportunities to build skills. On the side of the building hangs a mural painted on plywood. It's been there for about 8 or 9 years, and somewhere in the duration of its existence, got tagged.

This week, the kids named themes for a mural, talked about community, engaged in team building games, and came up with their own drawings for design ideas. Next week the paint meets the plywood!

March Picks on Etsy

Check it out! These are my picks for March - stuff I think is awesome, and that you might love as well!

ETSY LOVE <---click me!

Crabby likes Etsy, too.

Bridgeport Beautifies

I'm highlighting my new favorite blog: Bridgeport Beautifies!

Learn all about seed bombing and moss graffiti:

http://bridgeportbeautifies.blogspot.com