Apocalyptic Christian art

It’s been a busy month. I’m still freelance, and while being able to pay rent was cause for celebration, I’m having a lovely time all the same.

We watched part of the Boston Marathon last week, saw a friend in her final miles, and felt really good about humanity. Strangers show up in the streets, and for a few hours, they cheer relentlessly for runners who are working against incredible odds. In pretty much any weather, communities of survival form, and everyone has hope. A guy who had come alone beat empty containers - a small water bottle against a giant water cooler jug - and his DIY drum matched his enthusiastic screams for any runner passing through Cleveland Circle wearing a nametag. “YOU’RE ALMOST THERE, DENISE!!!” A few hours later, everyone had disappeared as if it never happened. Same time next year, folks.

Ivettza and Leslie and I got word that our panel has been accepted by this year’s Allied Media Conference, which is nothing but good news. We’ll be presenting with Maia from Arts Engine, which pleases me to no end as a big fan of their inclusive and youth-oriented work. Ivettza and I had a super time in Detroit last year, and it’s actually where I met Leslie in person! Looking very forward to what will be my last chance this year to connect with a diverse group of U.S. allies and see some good friends.

I was also asked, as a founder of HollaBackBoston and HollaBackTALK, to present for the second year at the Boston Public Schools Girls’ Conference at Pine Manor College this month. I’ll show up and listen to several groups of young women, and we’ll discuss street harassment, safety, and how we navigate our city.

I volunteered with the Independent Film Festival of Boston, which was a great way to catch some slightly under the radar documentaries and shorts (for free…mostly), and for the record, I recommend Crawford, Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie, and Sex Positive. Andreas and I caught a Kevin Devine show, brother of a friend and ridiculously underrated folk rocker. I found a pet loss support group, which we plan to attend next week. We rocked with Free Blood and Hot Chip, the former owning the show as I’d been missing John Pugh from the !!! lineup. A dear friend, one of the best two I’ve had since living in Boston, left for love and the promise of sunshine in LA, and I cried so much in the coffeeshop where we said goodbye, a barista inquired about our separation. As controls against soldiers with PTSD, we were interviewed for a relationship study about how people process anger. We started volunteering at the Maple Farm Sanctuary, which is a healing, beautiful place that deserves any support they can receive. We even saw PUSA in concert, a happy first for the superfan I live with (and an unexpectedly fun show for me as well). None of this is particularly lucrative - some the opposite - but it sure warms my summery soul.

And, I had a close pal end up on the street this week. People always think I’m exaggerating when I say we’re all only a step away. I’m not. I’m only once removed from openly crazy. I could be next, the girl on the street corner screaming into a cordless phone attached to a mic stand, wearing a ripped up quilted flannel, smoking butts from the gutter. “Spare change for a happy birthday.” Then I’d be there, doing that. Nothing wrong with acknowledging the possibilities, and it’s sort of fucked up to not consider your options.

Other stuff I love right now: Copenhagen Cycle Chic, Fleet Foxes, Adventures in Menstruating & Chart Your Cycle zines, Not So Fresh Feeling on Flickr.

Below is a twelve second video of Ben Kingsley walking through a theater lobby. It is a lumiere video, and you can find a full list of mine and others’ silent captured-to-video observations here. I recently uploaded videos of cops and a cameraman, as well as folks waiting by a red carpet. Not all videos are on blogs.

sir takes a stroll