Phil Ochs Song Night in Portsmouth, Rhode Island on Saturday, April 14.

This concert I am NOT going to miss.

If you click on the link on the April 14 entry, it will take you to the Sonny Ochs site, which, in turn, has many helpful and important links.

This past Monday was both the Birthday of Paul Robeson, and the date on which Phil Ochs committed suicide.

Two very different, very generous and deeply talented men.

And, I learned recently, this past Monday was the birthday of a very beloved member of the Grace Paley family. I don't have his permission to mention it, and we have not even spoken, but I hope it was a Joyful day and that there are many more Birthdays for all of Grace's Family Members..... and that is a Very Extended Family....

Lastly, Joyce Katzberg will be singing on Saturday as part of the Phil Ochs Song Night ! !

We are blessed.

Thank you, Courtney Gillette....

I did a search with the names
Grace Paley
Adrienne Rich
and this was not the first in the list,
but oh so worth reading & sharing.

I heard Adrienne Rich read once at RISD many years ago.
Mostly, I remember the collective joyful anticipation & some disagreement on how to pronounce, *Adrienne*.
Long A vs. short A...

My condolences to her family & all who knew and loved her...

"A wild patience has taken me this far..."

Trayvon's Last Conversation with a friend...?

I am sure we will read and hear more of this friend's perspective on their conversation.

Of course, when I think of this boy, I think of my son and many of his friends.

How very little progress we have made as a country ~

Thank you, everyone, for responding with calls and signatures and articles and links.

What grace this boy's family has shown -- I am awed by their leadership.

Humanists of RI have a Sunday cleanup Scheduled.

Here's the link for the Humanists of Rhode Island....

oh that is so unreadable. oy. Here is a copy and paste from the website...

Sunday, February 26, 2012, 10:00 AM

Humanists of Rhode Island adopt-a-highway

Corner of Park Ave and Reservoir Ave, Cranston, RI

We'll meet at 10am at the Dunkin Donuts at the corner of Park Ave & Reservoir Ave, Cranston, then head out to clean up our adopted highway segment: Park Ave, Cranston, from Reservoir Ave to Warwick Ave. Gloves, vests and bags are provided by the RIDOT. Our "Humanists of Rhode Island" sign is now up at the corner of Park & Reservoir! All participants must sign a release form. If under age 18, a parent's signature is also needed on the release form.

Grace Paley's Anti-Love Poem

♥…

Sending Love to the Family of Juliet Steer

I have only just today learned of the cruel effort made by one woman to have Juliet Steer removed from her resting place.

From what I have read about Ms. Steer, she sounds like a very thoughtful caring woman. Firstly, I offer my condolences to her sons & loved ones for the loss of her presence....

I cannot imagine what it is like to have to hear this woman's complaints and have to deal with lawyers & more...

It is good the Congregation of Ahavath Achim is defending your family's rights.

Racism must be confronted.

The particular irony, which I have not seen in any of the articles I read, is that:

Ahavath Achim means: The Love of Brothers.

!

I am in Rhode Island, not that far from Connecticut, and I share in your grief.

Thank you, Steer family, for your Grace and Faith, and please, know that I am honored to imagine being near you. I will hope to learn more about my Sister Juliet Steer to keep her memory alive.

Four Black Mothers Arrested --- February 2, 1962

I would like to know the ages of those mothers' children & everyone's name ( mothers, grandmothers) & so much more. But reading that minimal account excites my imagination & emotion.

I am so grateful for the unknown activists, the supportive family members....

Thank you, friends. ♥…

Viola Davis: "...Dream Big and Dream Fierce."

I am rooting for Viola Davis to win as many awards as possible.

Central Falls is the smallest city in Rhode Island, possibly in the whole US. One square mile.

the "Happy face"

This is the first Face, in a series of four, offered by my neighbor in a patient response to my request.

He is very close to 18 months old and has no lack of expressions.

a Song for Jessica Ahlquist!

Jessica Ahlquist, teen advocate of Separation of Church & State, has received some disturbing threats, far beyond the realm of disagreement or criticism.

She has also brought many freethinking, Constitution respecting, eclectic people together.

One grateful person shared this Song...

Hoping the link works...

This Atheist Sympathizer is honored by Jessica's courage and good humor....

Sweet Marsha Z. West ! Look What I Found !

Thinking about Marsha Z. West, and imagining listening to her thoughts on The Help and on the greater world of Theater and Love and Many things,

I found this amazing site, African Amerhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifican Playwrights Exchange

I don't have the time now to check out all the links on the side, but I see Rites and Reason, of course, and I recognize some of the names.

And it is a treat and a joy to see many names that are new to me....

I don't doubt for a second that if I searched, I would find Marsha's name in an earlier post, and that she probably knew artists involved with almost all of those theaters and websites. She was "Mama" to many !

I am so grateful to have witnessed her on the stage and to have been directed by her.

As Marsha, wrote in her notes: "Smooches" . . .

Alice Walker: *Democratic Womanism*

I was thrilled yesterday to find these poems on Alice Walker's blog.

Her writing teaches me so much.

Thank you, Alice Walker, for Everything !

*like one book being a long row of books* -- Carl Sandburg

This poem sings to me.

I found this blog serendipitously...

From Facundo Cabral

The morning Facundo Cabral was murdered, I barely knew who he was. I was moved by the grief a friend of mine in Guatemala conveyed, and her shame at the violence so endemic.

In facebook and online, I found many others grieving the loss of this man, who had so much love for so many, and such wisdom and humor, and, of course, his music....

Here is one saying attributed to him:

Se gana y se pierde, se sube y se baja, se nace y se muere. Y si la historia es tan simple, ¿por qué te preocupas tanto?

Here is my very quick unedited translation:

One wins and loses, one is up and down, one is born and dies. And if the history is so simple, why do you worry so much ?

I am a gifted worrier, a talent both inherited and learned, and sometimes I 'worry' about this blog, not doing justice to my beloveds above: to Rhett S. Jones and Marsha Z. West, to Harold Rogovin and to Grace Paley....

Then I find a comment or a link, find someone who responds to one article or one quote, and the worry evaporates.

How Grateful I am for this community of commenters, bloggers, readers and writer.

Thank you, each and every one.

I celebrate the lives of many who have died, and bring their names and stories to the babies and children and teenagers....

Thank you, each and every one.

Gus, a very friendly neighbor.

This lovely friend once brought me a picture book to read aloud.
Honestly.
I was so moved and impressed, I can not recall the title of the book (or the author and illustrator).
You see when a dog grows up surrounded by love and literature, this can happen.

Isn't Executing Folks a form of Terrorism ?

The International Day of Action for Troy Davis was yesterday, but there are still a few days left.

Here is the link to one of the Amnesty International Pages...

These few numbers and addresses are from a recent article by Peter Rothberg in The Nation:

Call (404.656.5651), e-mail (Webmaster@pap.state.ga.us), and fax (404.651.8502) the Board of Pardons and Paroles and voice your support for Davis.

My heart breaks for the mother of the policeman who was killed, and for all of his loved ones, but executing Troy Davis, or anyone, will not bring him back.

Blueberries On T (mi vecinito)

"You gotta get that mike in close." -- It's Rich Kincaide's Birthday !

I have never met Rich Kincaide. We have not even spoken on the phone. Thanks to the wonders of the internets, I have "known" him for a few baseball seasons, and then some.

Everybody Wants To Read My Blog

was one of the first blogs to link to this one.

His posts about his family are unfailingly poignant. Who says Hockey Players Have No Feelings?

His baseball blogging is splendid in every sense; he knows that there is no Met infielder named Robinson Tejada.

Here is an excerpt from Rich's blogging of a Mets/Tigers game. Or if you prefer, Tigers/Mets game. June 16, 2011.

7:58 I think we are in for it tonight. I think Jim Leyland is going to be mad as Hell and won’t be taking it anymore after this one. It has already been a very, very interesting week in terms of the media–of whom I am one–and relations with the Detroit manager. On Monday after he got thrown out of the game, when we showed up at his office door he was sitting at his desk in street clothes and he screamed at us, “Don’t come in here! Don’t you come in here! Go talk to (Tigers Hitting Coach Lloyd) McClendon!” So, we went to talk to McClendon only to find out he had made the smartest move of the night. He was taking a shower. A nice, long shower. So, we all retraced our steps and went into the main locker room to interview players. All the time I was keeping watch on the door to Leyland’s office out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, after ten minutes or so, the Tigers PR guy said he’d talk to us. Because I’d been watching just in case Leyland relented, I was first man in so my microphone placement was perfect. That’s half the battle in the post-game game. You gotta get that mike in close. The first thing Leyland says is, and actually he more yelled it than said it, is, “Don’t ask me about that (expletive deleted) play!” So, we don’t and I manage to get some halfway decent material about how it had been a “character win” for the Tigers what with them rallying in the 8th and whatnot. Reporters began heading for the door. I dawdled, a bit. Jason Beck of mlb.com, who as an aside does a great job covering the Tigers, told Leyland he a question about the rules and after some hemming and hawing, Leyland says to the three of us left in his office, “Okay, I’ll talk to you about it. But, (expletive deleted) it’s off the record.” He proceeds to give us his entire version of events. We can’t use it, but the big thing to me was that he trusted me enough to let me in on the story. And the next day he talked about it on the record. But me and those other two reporters, we had it first.

In case you missed the play in question, here’s what I wrote on the blog as it happened here a couple of nights ago:

8:15 Let me see if I can explain what just happened. Andy Dirks bunted and was called safe at first. The umpire asked the home plate umpire for his thoughts on the play, and the home plate ump said Dirks was out. Which he was. The first base umpire kicked the call. But once a man is declared safe, he’s safe. That’s how this game works! But they changed the call, Dirks was declared out and let’s just say Tigers manager Jim Leyland got his money’s worth arguing the reversal. He was, of course, run (baseballese for when one is excused by the officiating staff from further participation in a game). The only good news is that Raburn’s at second with one out. It should be men on first and second with none out. What a show. b-7: Detroit 2, Toronto 2.

The paragraph above describes as stunning a thing has I have ever seen in a big league game, and as it says on the masthead, I’ve been going to big league games for 47 years–48 next month. And what Leyland said–off the record the night of the game and on the record the following afternoon was, “In my 48 years in baseball, I’ve never seen that. Once you make the call, you live with it. He was telling me he’d missed the call. I was telling him, ‘You should be saying that to the Toronto manager!’”

The thing I couldn't stop thinking about was poor Armando Galarraga losing his perfect game a year ago this month with two out in the ninth on the exact same thing: a blown call at first base. My most vivid memory of that night, of that moment, is the feeling of utter helplessness that washed over me when first base umpire Jim Joyce spread his arms palms down, calling Cleveland’s Jason Donald “safe”. I knew the perfect game was over. I knew there was no appeal. That’s how baseball works. Once the call is made, it doesn’t matter if you have Edward Bennett Williams defending you, that call stands. And now, on a play of relatively little importance when compared to that one, the umpire who kicked the call is asking another umpire for help, and for the first time I’ve ever seen, for the first time I’ve ever even heard of, they change the call. As Leyland said, “In a thousand years of baseball, they’ve never done that.” (He may have been exaggerating the “1,000 years part, I don’t know.)

Rich, I will think of you tonight when I am at Fenway.

Thank you, for being a Blog Brother, and a Kind Funny Person, and I sure hope that I meet you and your wife and daughter some day !

Have a Wonderful Day and Many, many more!

James Taylor - Shower the People (Live/1988)

I love this song, I love this version of it; I don't understand some of the hostile comments about the photos of some audience members.

and I wish I could Shower some Love on the Folks trying to Deliver Supplies to Gaza.
Here's a link to a petition worth supporting.

Thank you, the well-known and unknown, of different ages and backgrounds and political orientations.

Please visit the Jewish Voice For Peace site....and many others.

Grateful for the Parents Circle --

I cannot imagine what it is like living in any part of the Middle East, and definitely not in Palestine / Israel.

There is an amazing group of parents who share their bereavement and their vision for a peaceful life.

The Parents Circle.

I have recently found a very moving blog, Bethlehem Blogger, which I recommend and will be adding to the links here....