March 17, 2008...8:29 am
Blog Log Digital
Posted by “DawnApril” on 52churches.blogspot.com
It was cold today. Cold with a definite dampness in the air, the kind that seeps in through your pores and saturates your joints and makes all the clothes you pile upon yourself feels sticky and frigid and uncomfortable. But still, there was a service to attend in a park in Worcester, on the steps of an old building. The pigeons came, and a handful of homeless and a few volunteers and if you’ve never heard the Gospel - with it’s message of hope and love and strength enduring - spoken through the lips of an ancient homeless man then, my friend, you ought to go. Because I’ve never been so humbled. Liz, the pastor, wore a bright sash around her neck and spread the bread and the (grape juice) wine and a few tokens on a folding table. The tokens had words hand printed on them - faith, hope, strength - words like that and during the time for offerings the homeless were invited to take a token and put it in the offering cup. They did, but they also dug in their pockets and put their change in. Together we sang Amazing Grace, no music except the harmonica that a member of the congregation played, no pews, no sacristy or narthax or icons or candles - just people. And the people are the church.
Posted by “Linus_lover” on linus-lover.livejournal.com
All I did today was go to a coffee shop (Bean Counter) for half an hour and then take the train from Worcester to Boston yet two people I never met started conversations with me and gave me their phone numbers. First, I was at the Bean Counter by myself reading and Stephen says hi to me and we talk about the book I’m reading and he gives me a card and says to let him know if I am interested in a job there (this has probably happened at least 5 times in the last 3 months even though I already have a job lol).
The Worcester train is delayed as usual, nothing new there. As we are waiting for it I am observing the people around me and one girl in particular catches my attention because she is talking on her cell phone and it seems like she’s kind of sad and has a hard life. I want to talk to her because I am curious about her. When the train gets there I purposely sit near her but she doesn’t really look over. I think about what I could say to her, but it’s pretty awkward unless she looks in my direction. So I do a few Reiki breathes where I breathe in energy and send it out to her. I hope that this will get her to talk to me though I don’t think that it will, but somehow it feels so worthwhile to wish someone well even if she has no idea. But about 15 minutes into the ride she starts talking to me and invites me to sit with her. Her name is Ivette. We talk for the whole train ride, about an hour and we decide that we are going to hang out if she cant reach her friends who she is there to see. She did reach her friends, but she gave me her phone number so I hope we will hang out but even if we don’t, that’s fine, it was an interesting train ride. It’s so encouraging to me that it’s possible to connect with people like that.
All the “like-minded” people I have met at my nonprofit and social justice events, and I make a friend with a random person on the T.
It’s even stranger that none of this seems so strange to me. This kind of stuff keeps happening. 
Posted by “tevk” on tevk.livejournal.com
I went indoor rock climbing today after work, with Colleen and Lisa. They have it at the Worcester YMCA.
I was a bit apprehensive, but figured I would give it a try.
I didn’t like it that much the first climb, but by the third it was pretty fun.
They have colored tape by each “feature” (hand/foothold) and you go on a path by only using features with tape of a particular color. Since it’s hard to see all the features and tape while climbing, people below will shout out helpful suggestions. “Now reach up with your left hand, and grab the swiss cheese!” Since the features all have different shapes and colors, Colleen and Lisa have nicknames for most of them. So it ends up resembling a bizarre game of twister, but with gravity to contend with.
So it was pretty fun. I’m probably going to be sore in the morning, you end up doing a lot of reaching and split-type movements.
The only downside is the location. The Worcester YMCA is on 766 Main Street, deep in the seediest part of Worcester. Driving there was horrible, and while leaving, a couple blocks away, I saw three police cars pulled over, lights flashing, while the K-9 unit arrested what appeared to be crack dealers.
The YMCA itself is very run-down, and looks like it was bombed-out and half-renovated with some new drywall and plaster, but then the funding ran out.
Maybe next time I can find a less horrible way to get there.
Posted by “Sarah Pollman” on iheadedwest.blogspot.com
A small journey to Worcester, MA, to visit the art museum. I was pleasantly surprised at its breadth and scope, and, for a small art museum, how much art it really had, although even some of the biggest museums I’ve been to could be debated as to whether or not they actually had any art in them.
But this one — French landscape painting! Dutch landscape painting! more landscape paintings than I could ever hope for in one location. Just landscape after landscape after landscape, telling about the look and feel of the land in Holland and in France, telling me what I could not know on my own. Landscapes using the light to construct our view of the land, using the light to create emotional value and reaction. Using the sky and the weather to intimate how the viewer should react, using it as a piece of spirituality in a mostly secular society.
Posted by “Jason” on savefitchburg.blogspot.com
Is a fee a tax? We’ll find out how local folks feel about that question in the next few months, I’d guess. The Building Department is ramping up a fee increase, and Mayor Lisa Wong has pointed to larger fees in general as a possible revenue source. When Gov. Mitt Romney increased fees during his term, he was killed for it as a tax increase measure, and it was a popular talking point against him while he was running for president. Will residents feel the same way if it costs more to get a dog license, for businesses to pay more for a liquor license, or for someone to build a new home? Or will they fork over the few extra bucks without even really realizing the difference? Should be an interesting situation on this one as it moves forward.
Is the city’s projected budget deficit really $5 million? Here’s why I ask: This level-services talk is a lot of old-school budget thinking. But Wong has discussed, time and again, creating a new budget process. In fact, in a recent interview, she pointed directly to not just automatically all line items to keep services at today’s levels. According to the Mayor’s Office, the plan is still to move toward the “performanced-based” budgeting and make some changes. So if that’s the plan — and that was going to naturally lead to a reduction in costs — isn’t that $5 million really an out-dated, old-school figure? Isn’t that number probably lower? Those questions hasn’t been given a yes-or-no answer, but it will be interesting to see if the changes can lead to some savings, or if it will be cuts alone that fill in the gap.
Leave a Reply