Powder Tower #1, Staré Město, Prague, Czech Republic, 2006

more info: thehallwayjp.com

In my photographs of different cities and countries, I convey a sense of place through architectural and other distinctive regional details – indoors and outdoors. The pictures I make document surfaces long-exposed to time and use, and place importance on ordinary things, usually overlooked or ignored. I search for random events of light and shadow to bring out these details. Many of my photographs transform small fragments of built structures into abstractions, and so they are also formal examinations – of color, texture, light, shadow, shape, and space.

Okay, I’m a little latent on this announcement, but better late than never. Riders on the Train will end on December 19th so if you hurry over you’ll catch it. Axiom is in the Green Street subway station in Jamaica Plain. Here’s the write up:

‘RIDERS on the TRAIN’ is an interdisciplinary art exhibition exploring new relationships between artist, audience, site, and context. Drawn from an international call for submissions, these artists and writers explore ‘the private within the public’ experience of mass-transit in Sweden, Australia, South Africa, India, Switzerland, NYC, London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, LA, DC, Portland, and Boston. The poetics of acceleration, compression, fragmentation and sensory immersion are explored as the artists record, collaborate, and devise small scale tactical interventions – juxtaposing high with low technology. ‘Riding Artists’ sample their ‘ride’ and generate an aggregate description of the mass-transit experience through a diversity of lenses and media including video, sound art, photography, web-based interactivity, performance, installation and writing.

Click on the image to go to the website.

I am currently sitting on the couch at 65 Brookside in the Brewery District of Jamaica Plain. I’m giving Home of the Week to this condo for the 2nd time because it’s that cool. I think it’s a perfect dwelling in many ways:

1. It’s incredibly efficient. The highest energy bill of the year is less than $100, and most are a fraction of that. It is heated by compact Rinnai heaters on each floor.

2. The location is perfect. Situated right in the middle of Jamaica Plain’s Brewery District – walking distance to Mikes Fitness, Bella Luna, Ula Cafe and both Green Street and Stoney Brook stations. It’s also a few blocks from Franklin Park and Centre Street with all it’s shops and restaurants.

3. This is a one-of-kind property. There is nothing like it. Designed from the humble beginnings of a shoe factory – now one of three market rate units in an artist live/work community. From the historic architecture and smokestack to the old boardwalk that runs the length of the building allowing the community to chat and engage each other.

4. Really good space. The plan is incredibly flexible – use it how you see fit, but currently the entire first floor is set up as a wicked studio space.

Check it out at www.65brookside.com. I’m happy to show it to you anytime. Just call me at 617-828-7956.

Community Servings is sponsoring a new Farmer’s Market this Sunday, July 26th from 10a-2p. It will be located at 18 Marbury Terrace in Jamaica Plain near Stony Brook T station.  Organizer Edith Murnane said, “We are excited at the prospect of starting a market that will both provide community members with fresh, local produce and products, as well as, create relationships with farmers that may assist us in better serving our critically-ill clients fresh, nutritious home delivered meals! Let us know what you think!” You can provide Edith with your feedback at Neighbor’s For Neighbors.

In fact, Edith needs your help. She wants you to vote the Farmer’s Market at Community Servings #1 on the Care2 website. Winner takes away $5000 in spoils for their organization. The market originally launched on July 12th and  was a huge success. Come on out this weekend and help support locally grown food. Some of the purveyors are:

Featured purveyors:
Silverbrook Farm, which provides organic fruits, veggies, flowering plants, honey and eventually eggs, jams and jellies;
Big Sky out of Newton – a baker that uses primarily local and organic ingredients;
The Greenest Bean – that produces small batch, organic, free trade coffee beans;
Sheldon Farm Herbs – local organic herbs

Later in the season:

There are other possible purveyors who may (hopefully) join later in the season:
Green City Growers, out of JP – that grows veggies out of your own yard for a small fee and a portion of the ‘produce’;
Boston Smokehouse out of Mattapan;
Cheshire Garden out of Winchester, NH; and
And possibly even the Boston Cheese Cellar out of Roslindale. The owner Kathy has graciously said she’d consider joining with some local cheeses!

Once the market starts they’ll be organizing chef demonstrations – such as Phil from JP Seafood who has agreed to come and demonstrate how you make fresh organic veggie ‘sushi’.. Other chefs that have agreed to participate include: Felicia from Centre Street Café, Brian from James’s Gate, Carlos from The Alchemist and Jake from The Milky Way/ Bella Luna! I’m still working on more . . . so, again, any ideas or connnections — send them!

And of course they’re looking to add a musical component. If you know any musicians who would like to donate an hour of their time to create a really lively environment, please let Edith know.

Contact Edith here: emurnane@servings.org

And here’s web directions to the location so that you can find it Sunday and the Sunday after that . . . and on and on until October 18th:

http://www.servings.org/about/directions.cfm

I’m sitting in my office getting ready for open houses and it’s a beautiful Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Anyway, there’s a lot of people out queuing up for breakfast at JP Cafe, City Feed & Supply, etc. Some folks take advantage of the great day to take Fido for a walk with the family. It’s a good idea genrally, but when you tie your dog up outside on a main street and he/she begins to bark incessantly – you have to do something about it! IT IS NOT OKAY to leave your dog tied up barking for like 30 minutes while you have a Trucker’s Breakfast or grab a coffee and a salmon bagel. You are violating one of the basic rules of the social contract. The Right To Quiet Enjoyment. We the citizens of JP think your dog is cute but we don’t want to hear the yapping while you knosh. Here’s an idea – take your dog for a walk somewhere in the woods. Not Centre Street! Or better yet, take the time to train your dog. Dog’s are a responsibility, not unlike a child and deserve the same care. Would you leave your child tied to a post screaming outside a restaurant? Well…

When I originally moved to Jamaica Plain about 16 years ago I was coming from the Ozark Mountains in Southwest Missouri. This is an attractive, rural, wooded area as you would imagine. I was very nervous about moving to Boston for several reasons including the lack of trees. I grew up kicking around the woods and my only real images of the city were very NYCesque streetscapes. I ended up landing in Acton, MA in the middle of an hellacious snow storm.

Serendipitously, I found my way to Jamaica Plain within a month or so. I think it was the perfect transition for me because of the huge green belt that borders it. It’s called the Emerald Necklace and it was designed by Frederick Olmsted (Central Park designer). I was able to grab my dog Early and tromp around Jamaica Pond or Arnold Arboretum when the stress got too much. In those days, my career wasn’t so demanding and I was single. I recall weekend afternoons laying on the grass with my pooch reading a book or the like. Those days are long gone, life has changed dramatically as have my ideals.

I’ve become politically and environmentally active. Coincidentally, Jamaica Plain has grown with me. I bought a home here about 5-6 years ago and proceeded to rip the hell out of it.

My home in The Brewery District of Jamaica Plain

It looks very different from the day I bought it. I don’t think there’s a square inch that I haven’t made some change to. It was a hideous beast when I bought it. This photo is actually pretty late in the process as the new siding is being installed.  You can seethe beginnings of an ambitious, sustainable, urban garden emerging here. My goal is to absorb as much rainwater as possible, helping with the heat island effect. Rain barrels are being installed, we are active composters and we try to grow our own vegetables.

One of the real lifestyle benefits is the proximity to all the amenities we need. We drive very little, in fact, less than 8000 miles a year. Our next brave step forward into sustainability is to sell our Subaru Impreza and survive as a two Realtor team with one car. Hopefully, I can accomplish this in the spring.

We have been learning to schedule more carefully, so I can walk to work and back and even to some appointments. With proper planning it really isn’t that hard. I’m contemplating a Zip Car membership when I sell the Impreza. [By the way 2002 Subaru Impreza for sale. Inquire within.]

Everything we need to survive is in walking distance to our home including high quality foods, hardware, restaurants, bars, the best public parks in Boston, gym, boutiques, barbers, etc. There is no need to leave JP! In fact, I had to drive to Reading the other day to meet my accountant and I vowed to never leave JP again. If I had to commute in the Boston Metro area I would stick a fork in my eye.

As a Realtor I know first hand the mental process folks go through when they buy a home – and not nearly enough weight is given to the lifestyle that a given location forces one to live. If I had to drive 45 minutes to work and get in my car for every little thing would I be as happy? Probably not.

However – one interesting fact. Mike’s Gym is just 1 block from my front door and I think of a new excuse every day to avoid going. I guess convenience doesn’t help everything…

Pedaling to satisfy a thirst for water

I’ve lived in Jamaica Plain for about 16 years. I can remember going to an open studio at the old warehouse on Amory Street long ago and seeing the old welded metal sculpture in the form of a bicycle. I had no idea what BNB was in those days. They’ve since moved their operation to The Brewery next to Ula Cafe. This makes me happy for several reasons. They’re getting much more exposure in this location and that will lead to more volunteerism and donations and they add a lot to “The Brewery District” as it’s being called now. The Brookside Neighborhood Association has been working hard to improve this area and I think Bikes Not Bombs really adds to the collective personality of the district.

I’m always leery of non-profits as they never seem to have much transparency and I’m somewhat of a pessimist. BNB has created some really sustainable programs in many countries mainly in the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean. I’m a big fan of helping others to help themselves. It must have something to o with that old saying about teaching people how to fish. The bikes get packed up in shipping containers by volunteers and sent to economic development projects (micro-enterprise bike businesses, sustainable technology projects, and youth training programs). Part of the 5000 bikes they receive every year are used in JP; some are used in a co-ed youth Earn-A-Bike programs, and others are repaired by teenage mechanics as part of Vocational Training programs and are for sale in the BNBs bike shop.

Someday I hope to shake hands with the director of this organization. He deserves our respect and admiration for stewarding a wonderful project. Until recently, I thought BNBs was all about sending bikes to 3rd world locations. That on its own seemed like a worthy task, but then I learned of their concept of “Appropriate Technology Sources”. They say it better than I ever could:

Generator being used in Nepal

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY SOURCES

To be “appropriate,” technology must be positively connected to the place, people, culture, resources, economics, and impacts of its use. Appropriate technology aims for the equitable and sustainable use of resources, allowing people of multiple income levels to use local materials to empower themselves and their communities, without destroying the environment. The following list was compiled with the help of BNB volunteer Brian Huckins, and is intended to spread the knowledge of appropriate technology and connect those working in this field into a growing network to transform our world. We have focused on pedal-powered technology because this is most relevant to the work of Bikes Not Bombs, but we also include some links ranging into other areas. Email mailbikesnotbombs.org with any suggested updates to the following list, or to report your progress in building and testing any of the machines listed!

It’s so funny how things happen in such a timely fashion. I just called my buddy Tim who lives and works in San Francisco at Amyris researching alternative fuels derived from sugar cane. I was going on about how it would be cool to try and generate power in your home using a bicycle – and get some exercise to boot! Then I just happen to be checking out BNBs website a BAM! My eyes are open. Alright, signing off to go research Pedal Power! Thank you BNB for your awesome community outreach – near and far.

Welcome to our blog. This is first foray into the blogosphere – so be patient. My hope is to turn this into a venue where I can share all that is important to me about Jamaica Plain and the Boston Metro area. As I learn how to customize the blog I will provide you with links to my favorite local bloggers as well as links to some of the businesses, organizations and events that make this area so wonderful. It will not be exclusively real estate related content – at least not in the most literal sense. Real estate ownership has become a little more stressful – current economic situation considered. It seems people are getting a lot more careful about their decision to purchase. Especially, where to purchase. I love Jamaica Plain and I hope to shed some light on the pros and cons of this community. Keep in mind this will not be a sugar-coated, used car salesman, sport coat wearing diatribe of a blog, but it will contain my opinions. I can’t promise there won’t be an sarcasm. It’s my best friend. Please don’t hesitate to leave comments, requests or questions. I’m happy to address them.