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Rep. Miceli Hosts “Job Shadow Day” at the State House

 

Representative Jim Miceli recently hosted Wilmington High Seniors, Dan Vigneau and Kristen Esdale at the Boston State House.  The annual Job Shadow Day allowed the students the opportunity to “shadow” workplace mentors as they go through a normal day on the job.  From left to right: State Representative Jim Miceli, Dan Vigneau, Kristen Esdale and State Treasurer Steve Grossman.

 

Off the Shelf Feb 29

Well...I was glad to be included in the poetry anthology  Last Call: The Bukowski Legacy Continues. I know many a writer has cited the Buk--(the late, dirty old man of poetry)--and he remains an inspiration to the non-mandarins of the poetry world to this day. Reviewer Dennis Daly, a former columnist for The Salem News, piped in with this article.

 
Last Call: The Bukowski Legacy Continues

Editor: RD Armstrong

Lummox Press

www.lummoxpress.com

ISBN: 978-1-929878-86-4

$18.00

Review by Dennis Daly

Here you will find shit jobs, mad women in miniskirts, junkies, cigar smoke, insomniacs, booze, broads, swollen testicles, and despair.  Sound like the world of the late writer and poet Charles Bukowski. Well it’s not. But it is an anthology inspired by him and Bukowski remains the central reference point throughout.

RD Armstrong edited this ambitious book (apparently his second attempt to get it just right) hoping to lay out the legacy and influence of Bukowski for all to see.  Like their mentor’s own work many of these pieces are angry and defiant in both style and subject matter. One of their repeated targets, and deservedly so, is academia.

Michael Ford’s poem, Not Celebrity Bowling: Cerebrally Bowling, goes right to the heart of it,

spare me the hypocrisy of the gutless rituals of

anthologized poetry; English Department ivory

tower cowards publishing what they have turned

the art of poetry into: bubbles on a fat vat full of

bland oatmeal.

Mark Terrill puts it another way, but no less effective, in his poem Bukowski: 3/10/94,

..there are the

Great Living Poets

the Great Dead Poets

and then there’s me

another two-bit guttersnipe.

In an obscenity- laced poem, appropriate to the book, FN Wright’s Bukowski and Me makes the point that the underside of culture where Bukowski  found his muses is not only alive and well but still a suitable setting for intense poetry,

I attract bad women

drunks

junkies

whores…

catholic girls gone bad

& Baptist minister’s

daughters

are particularly

fond of me

unlike Bukowski

I am not

a great poet

but I’m damn good…

My Comrades, a poem by Joe Speer with a provocative title, needles the literary establishment. Speer allies the underclass, non-elite writers with luminaries such as Sir Thomas Malory, a prisoner, Cervantes, impoverished, Thomas Hardy and Emile Proust, self-publishers, William Faulkner, a rum smuggler, and others. He details his points of comparison thusly:

this one teaches

that one lives with his mother and cat

another pencraft master takes drugs, non-prescription

and cleans house as his wife earns a living.

In other words, here are poets from the real world, not that rarified artificial world of artsy-fartsy elitism.

Poets, who emerge from this seamy world of damaged creative people, have advantages. In order to measure out the truth, they lie better than most. And that is only the beginning of it. Ellaraine Lockie in her clear-eyed telling poem, Poets at Any Price, says,

They’ll exploit

confessor, friend or family …

And,

I tell you

Because I’ve been truth’s victim

Verbal accounts reiterated

verbatim in someone else’s poem

Secrets exposed as sonnets

Composites as transparent

as the silk panties I wore…

Plato was right: never trust poets.

The world of Bukowski and his acolytes is reduced to a piece of bruised fruit in an interesting piece by Doug holder entitled, It Is Late and the Fruit Is Bad. Beware there is a little bit of DH Lawrence’s poem Figs here. Holder’s persona chooses to eat in a way not acceptable in polite society. He says,

I take its flesh

deep into my mouth

digest the ferment

of its rotten skin

cut the lights

Cutting the lights seals the deal. We are among the vulgar. Not just everyman seeking satisfaction and a high, but an artist, who, even in miniature, meticulously records the truth of his appetites. If eating rotting fruit this way seems vaguely licentious, eating rotting fruit in the middle of the night in the dark seems downright obscene. 

Another all-nighter was had by G. Murray Thomas. In his poem, To the Editor Whose Name Will Appear on my Next Rejection Slip, the poet says,

I sat up all night

drinking beer

and going over my

unpublished poems

searching for one written

in the cheap…

The poet tries to match expectations of a Bukowski –like poem. He finally gives up, becomes himself again and writes this poem chronicling the process. I wonder if the rejection letter he expected was from this very anthology.

Breaking the mood, but not the context, the short story by RD Armstrong, Two Drink Minimum, grabs you with its great musically obscene refrain. The refrain breaks up the story of a construction job gone bad. Add the battle of the sexes and the result is a hilarious read.

Another one of the stories is an odd but serious piece by John Macker, called Not Too far From the Maverick Bar. The protagonist has packed his dead dog’s body in dry ice and trekked into the desert to bury him and seek redemption. The story takes a neat and satisfying turn at the end with Bukowski doing a cameo.

I found all the essays interesting, but one was especially memorable, A Buk Remembrance by Michael Meloan. Three quarters of the essay describes the legendary Bukowski alit with booze and on a rampage. The last quarter portrays a thoughtful, workaholic, with more than a touch of irony in his pronouncements.

That Charles Bukowski would really get a kick out of this book.

Advertise with the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene!                               http://tinyurl.com/ddjcal
  
Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene  http://dougholder.blogspot.com
Doug Holder's CV: http://dougholderresume.blogspot.com
Ibbetson Street Press http://ibbetsonpress.com
ISCS PRESS  http://www.iscspress.com
Ibbetson Street Press Online Bookstore  http://www.tinyurl.com/3x6rgv3

GOVERNOR PATRICK SIGNS BILL TO STREAMLINE AND PROMOTE ORGAN DONATION PROCESS IN MASSACHUSETTS

Governor Deval Patrick is joined by legislators and advocates while signing S. 2067, “An Act Relative to a Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.” (Photo credit: Eric Haynes / Governor’s Office). View additional photos.

BOSTON – Wednesday, February 22, 2012 – Governor Deval Patrick today signed S. 2067, “An Act Relative to a Uniform Anatomical Gift Act,” legislation that will promote organ donation by updating Massachusetts’ Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). The legislation is an important step to increase organ donations by aligning state statute with requirements currently in effect in neighboring states.

“We know the critically important role that organ donation plays in saving lives,” said Governor Patrick. “I am proud to sign this bill that will promote the idea of organ donation and remove barriers to allow more people to become organ donors.”

“Rarely do we get a chance to adopt a law that saves lives, saves money and comes with no expense to the state,” said Senator Susan Fargo, the lead sponsor of the bill and the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health. “The first organ transplant was done right here in Massachusetts in the 1950’s and now we have the first sweeping organ donor law overhaul in nearly 50 years. I offered this bill to keep families together, save lives and encourage more of us to become donors.”

“Today in Massachusetts, thousands of patients are in desperate need of a life-saving organ transplant,” said Representative Jeffrey Sánchez, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health. “This new law will improve their chances that an organ will be found for them by removing the regulatory barriers to matching those patients with donors in Massachusetts and other states.”

“The bill is important because it sets clear rules so that consent for organ and tissue donation can be obtained accurately, from the right person, and in a time frame necessary for donation to occur,” said Richard S. Luskin, President and CEO of New England Organ Bank. “With the bill's passage, Massachusetts joins 45 other states that have updated their laws regarding organ and tissue donation.”

Under current requirements, New England’s sole organ procurement organization must navigate various state-by-state requirements with minor differences. Standardization of these requirements throughout the region will facilitate organ donation across state lines and provide Massachusetts residents with greater availability of organs for transplant.

The primary amendments to the UAGA concern new requirements for the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), setting forth that the agency:

• Include a description of the donor registry and UAGA in every license and registration renewal notice, including email notifications.
• Include the option to donate $2 or more to the Organ and Tissue Donor Registration Fund on all license renewal forms, including those completed at RMV branch locations.
• Provide to the organ procurement organizations listed in the UAGA the names and dates of birth of individuals registered as organ and tissue donors (a disclaimer regarding this disclosure must be made to all donors).
• Provide an information session and informational materials during all required driver education and training courses.
• Develop an electronic organ donation registry on the RMV website. 

In addition, the bill updates certain definitions and terms within UAGA regulations to clarify the role of a potential donor’s family in the decision-making process and standardize the medical practices surrounding organ donations.

GOVERNOR PATRICK ANNOUNCES PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

GOVERNOR PATRICK ANNOUNCES PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

BOSTON – Wednesday, February 22, 2012 – Governor Deval Patrick today announced the nominations of two experienced attorneys to the Probate and Family Court: Megan H. Christopher, as a Circuit Justice; and Patrick W. Stanton, as an Associate Justice of the Plymouth County Division.

“It is an honor to nominate these well qualified and highly respected attorneys to the Probate and Family Court,” said Governor Patrick. “I am confident that they have the experience, knowledge and temperament to excel on the bench and I thank them for their willingness to serve.”

Megan H. Christopher has practiced law for 22 years at MetroWest Legal Services in Framingham, representing low income and elder clients in administrative and court proceedings, with a focus on family law. She has been a supervising attorney since 2000 and currently manages the Family Law Unit at MetroWest Legal Services. Christopher serves as president of the MetroWest Bar Association and as a member of the Probate and Family Court Bench Bar Committee on Rules. She is a graduate of Wellesley College (B.A., 1977) and Northeastern School of Law (J.D., 1989) and is a resident of Natick. Christopher is slated to fill the vacancy on the Probate and Family Court created by the retirement of the Honorable E. Chouteau Levine.

Patrick W. Stanton has maintained a sole litigation practice in Brockton since 1994, concentrating on divorce and child custody matters. Stanton served as a License Commissioner for the City of Brockton from 1997 to 2003. He is a graduate of Massasoit Community College (A.A., 1987), Stonehill College (B.A., 1990) and Suffolk University School of Law (J.D., 1993). Stanton is a resident of West Bridgewater and a native of Brockton. Upon confirmation, he will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable Stephen C. Steinberg.

Massachusetts Masons News Release

Massachusetts Masons News Release

 

Local Freemasons Welcome Public

February 25^th Open House to Enlighten, Educate, and Inform

 

(XXX), Massachusetts – Month Day, Year – Joining with Masonic lodges across the Commonwealth, Freemasons meeting in the (Town/City Masonic building or Lodge Name), Street Address, will open their doors to the public on Saturday, March 25^th, between 9 am and 3 pm, as part of the 2012 Early Spring Open House, a state-wide celebration of Freemasonry.  If you’ve ever wondered who the Freemasons are, whether they are the descendants of the Knights Templars, or what the inside of their building looks like, here’s your chance to find out.

 

More than 230 lodges will be hosting Open Houses to help the public gain a better understanding of what Freemasonry is, and the positive impact that is has on its members, their families, and community.  Members will provide tours of their building, talk about Freemasonry’s history, discuss its rituals, signs, and symbols, and explain what they do.

 

“The 2012 Spring Open House is a great opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about Freemasonry to meet and talk with Masons in their community,” said Richard J. Stewart, Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts and the presiding officer of 36,000 members.  “Although many have heard of us, very few are aware that for over 275 years we have been part of an unbroken tradition of great men who have changed our world in ways both big and small.  Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thurgood Marshall, and John Glenn, for example, all joined the Masons prior to achieving the greatness we recognize them for.  There are countless other great men, whose names are not widely known, that made their families, workplaces, and communities better because they were Masons.  I warmly invite the public to join us on February 25^th.”

 

Freemasons trace their roots to the stonemason guilds that built Europe’s cathedrals and castles during the early part of the last millennium.  As construction of these buildings declined, they began accepting members from outside their trade.  These new members, influenced by the “Age of Enlightenment,” transformed the organization from a group for builders to one focused on developing the character of its members.  Freemasonry was formally organized in London, England in 1717. In 1733 it was formally organized in Massachusetts, making it the oldest Masonic group in the Western Hemisphere and the third oldest in the world. In 2008, Massachusetts Freemasons celebrated their 275^th Anniversary.

 

Freemasonry, the world’s oldest and largest fraternity, seeks to bring together men of every country, religion, race, background, and opinion and develop the bonds of friendship between them.  Through a large variety of North American Masonic philanthropies, approximately $3,000,000 is given to charity every day, 70% of which benefits the general public.  During its initiation ceremony, which uses symbolism and allegory, its members are encouraged to value principles, ethics, and morality and to live their lives accordingly.  By “making good men better,” Freemasonry positively benefits its members, families and communities.  Freemasonry in Massachusetts is comprised of 36,000 members and more than 230 lodges throughout the Commonwealth.  For additional information, please call 800.882.1020, or visit askafreemason.org.

Chicago Poet Amanda Torres: Struts her stuff in the Boston area
By Doug Holder

Amanda Torres who is well-established as a writer, teacher, youth leader and poet in Chicago decided to leave the safe environs of her hometown to test the waters and her talents in Somerville, Mass. Torres, who is Mexican-American, came from the the wrong side of the tracks in Chicago, but thanks to writer Anna West and her Young Chicago Authors Program, she was able to pull herself up and out with the help of writing.

Torres said after her father's premature death she got involved with the wrong crowd, illicit activities, etc.. But one day during her shift as a server at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago, writer Anna West saw her writing in her journal, sat down with her, and asked her to join her program for young authors.

Since that significant moment Torres was intimately involved in the poetry scene in Chicago and beyond. Her travels brought her to London where she was part of a slam championship team--to statewide and national slam championships.

Torres first moved to Somerville a few years ago when her mentor Anna West came to these parts to study at Harvard. After West graduated Torres stayed behind. " I wanted to see if I could make it some other place rather than Chicago where everyone knows me. It is part of the growing process," she said.

And indeed Torres has succeeded. She lives in a historic home in East Somerville--the very last house on our famed Illumination Tour. She has worked as a teacher at Somerville's Books of Hope project, and now is a principal player in MASS L.E.A.P-- a program founded by Somerville resident and poet Jade Sylvan and others, as well as a program director for the Mass. Poetry Festival. This program is sort of a literary outreach for statewide youth.

Torres continues to teach poetry. She uses model poems from her favorite poets to get the creative juices flowing in her young charges. She believes being a teacher involves being honest and authentic. This builds lasting relationships with her students.

Torres reads her own work at the Lizard Lounge and the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, and seems to be perfectly comfortable in our burg. She smiled and said: " I feel at home here."


My Name

My name does not fit me.
It is summer dresses and blue eyes.
I have always been,
will always be, cigarette burns
and back alley beer contests with my boys.
My eyes as brown and calloused as
my fathers hands.
My name means to be loved.
There are cracked bricks in my spine
where I was
beat
with a metal rod
my father flattened and dulled.
Sometimes,
when I cry,
drywall dust comes out
and I have to dry my eyes to keep from sneezing.
I have been loved
in the briefest of ways
by so many
I am more accustomed to loss
than to love.
My brown star boy
just found my dimples
with his fingertips.
He took a picture and that's how I knew my face
could be sweet.
I am learning softness
but I was not born into it.
because I know
I could kill
but loving
seems impossible.


--Amanda Torres




Advertise with the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene!                               http://tinyurl.com/ddjcal
  
Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene  http://dougholder.blogspot.com
Doug Holder's CV: http://dougholderresume.blogspot.com
Ibbetson Street Press http://ibbetsonpress.com
ISCS PRESS  http://www.iscspress.com
Ibbetson Street Press Online Bookstore  http://www.tinyurl.com/3x6rgv3

Candidate for Middlesex County Registrar of Deeds Maria Curtatone held her first organizational rally

 

 

 

 

Candidate Maria Curtatone going over her  campaign locations support stations in forty-four Middlesex County cities and towns

 

 

 

Candidate for Middlesex County Registrar of Deeds Maria Curtatone held her first organizational rally before her first kick off set for February 29th tonight at Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville.

With a packed room full of over a hundred supporters, Curtatone delivered her campaign promise that if elected to office of the Registrar she will work hard the continue the good work of her predecessor former Somerville Mayor/ current Middlesex Registrar Gene Brune and she reassures the people that she will make each process at the Registry of Deeds more user friendly and efficient and to streamline productivity and help make the recording process a more user friendly as well so that individuals that are recording singe private documents  don't have to wait in long lines behind recorders that are recording multiple   documents for big companies by forming an express line. She promises to utilize her ear strong. Administrative and organizational skills to make the Registry of Deed a better place.

Maria Curtatone who is the sister to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone was also elected "Best Lawyer in Somerville" by the readers of The Somerville News in 2011. She proclaims her success to being caring and understanding to people, lend a hand when needed, by returning phone calls and listening to people's concerns and helping them when called upon. 

 

 

 

 

 

Curtatone and Capobianco families pulling together to support Maria as a candidate for Middlesex County

MEDIA PERSONALITIES ‘SWEAT FOR A CAUSE’ AT HOMESTART’S

 

ANNUAL ICYCLE EVENT

Boston (February 16, 2012) – Some of Boston’s major media personalities will be coming out to support HomeStart’s annual ICycle event on February 29, 2011, from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  WCVB-TV News Center 5’s Storm Team Meteorologist David Brown and Sports Reporter Mike Dowling, Damon Amendolara, host of the DA Show on 98.5 The Sportshub, and Miss Massachusetts 2011 Molly Whalen are among the individuals who will  gear up to sweat for a cause by participating in one of eleven spin classes to be held consecutively throughout the day outside on the plaza of One International Place.

HomeStart Inc. is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness in Greater Boston by providing stable housing to homeless individuals and families.

 “The ICycle is an important event because it reminds us that an hour or two working out in the cold doesn’t compare to not having a home,” said Linda Wood-Boyle, president and CEO of HomeStart Inc. “We are honored that prominent Bostonians are taking time out of their busy schedules to support the cause to bring more stability and hope to the lives of those who are currently struggling with homelessness or need help retaining their current housing.”

During the ICycle, participants raise funds to take part for one hour or more to “spin” to end homelessness in the Greater Boston area.  Spin instructors from Fitness International, the lead sponsor, will conduct a series of spinning classes throughout the day.  Fitness International is donating 22 spinning cycles and the use of their health club for the volunteer spinners. Music, refreshments, and celebrity guest appearances will heat up the day. 

In January, HomeStart invited members of the media and other prominent figures in Boston and beyond to participate in the iCycle event.  Any individual or organization interested in being a part of the ICycle should visit www.crowdrise.com/icycle or contact Anthony Guardia, Director of Development, at Guardia@homestart.org and 617-542-0338 x.230. 

About HomeStart

HomeStart is a non-profit organization whose mission is to end and prevent homelessness in Greater Boston by assisting individuals in obtaining permanent housing and settling into the community, and by developing strategies to address systemic barriers to housing placement. For more information, visit www.homestartinc.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

Senator Sal DiDomenico’s Top 10 Resources for Small Businesses in Massachusetts

1.  Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (OSBE): a central resource for small businesses, OSBE provides information and referrals on programs and funding sources available statewide. Call at (617) 973-8543.

2.  Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network: provides business advising, technical assistance and access to capital for small businesses throughout the state. Call at (413) 545-6301.

3.  U.S. Small Business Administration: offers technical assistance and educational programs to aid small businesses. Call at (617) 565-5590.

4.  SCORE: provides mentoring and workshops to educate entrepreneurs and small businesses (partners with the SBA). Call at (617) 565-5591.

5.  Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation: offers working capital, loan guarantees, and targeted technical assistance to solve specific financial and operational problems for established small businesses on a state level.  Call at (617) 523-6262 for more details.

6.  Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office (formerly SOMWBA): In conjunction with the State, the SDO assists and spends more than $240 million a year doing business with certified minority- and women- owned businesses. For certification, please call (617) 502-8852.

7.  Small Business Purchasing Program (SBBP): provides opportunities for small businesses to procure state funding by directing state spending for non-construction goods and services to participating Massachusetts businesses. Questions about SBPP may be sent to comm-pass@state.ma.us.

8.  Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Corporations Division: a central resource for small businesses in regards to certification and other state requirements. Please call (617) 727-9640.

9.  The Insurance Partnership: provides assistance on health insurance affordability for qualified small business owners and self-employed with lower-income employees. Please call (800) 399-8285.

10.  The Department of Housing and Community Development: works to provide funding and grant programs to small businesses, housing projects and community development organizations. Please call (617) 573-1100.

 

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