Mitt on a skewer

In the fraternal spirit of New England blogging, I wanted to tell everyone about Lost Nation TV, a New Hampshire-based blog. Billed by Sam Smith of Progressive Review as the "father of the political blog," progenitor Jack McEnany is an equal opportunity crank, skewering both parties at every opportunity.

Being such an inclusive fellow and supporter of fellow bloggers, I won't hold it against my Granite State neighbors for their lower taxes, better roads and that they drive nicer cars. As long as they keep providing "the goods" on the various candidates, I'm grateful.

Like this one about Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor, man of the people and, well, hypocrite. Read it and chuckle, as McEnany zings ole' Mitty. Seems rich folk need more help than the rest of us keeping the estate maintained.

Mitt the Hypocrite

Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) has a major Zoe Baird problem. It seems he’s been using illegal aliens to make his little 2 ½ acre Garden of Eden in Belmont, Massachusetts tidy and beautiful. Alvarez Rosales, a recently-repatriated Guatemalan claims that as an employee of Community Lawn Service with a Heart, he kept Mitt’s garden green for eight years.

Mitt, ever the duplicitous conniver, endorses the Taco Curtain concept, and number four in his 10-point plan to keep America great is Getting Immigration Right:

Immigration has been an important part of our nation's success. The current system, however, puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory biometrically enabled, tamper proof documentation and employment verification system, and increase legal immigration into America.

Do illegal gardeners fall into the “without skill or education” category, or the “best and brightest” division?

More than just showing up

Woody Allen was purported to have said that “90 percent of life was showing up.” (Bartleby's says it’s 80 percent). For many business people, apparently they do little more than that. Returning phone calls, answering emails and foregoing one’s golf game in order to get real work done seem to be qualities from another time. Well, maybe not the emails, but you get my point—I think.

I’m on the lookout for a business etiquette book because I’m really growing perturbed about the inability of so many so-called business “professionals” who seem to lack any capacity for follow through—as in, answering messages that you leave on their voicemail, responding to emails, or doing anything more than merely “showing up.”

It’s never been my goal to become “successful” in the Steven R. Covey “7 Habits” kind of way. At the same time, my role as entrepreneur and now, back working a regular 9-5 gig has helped me to recognize that there are certain traits that I find helpful and even welcome when I see them on display. Having an innate capacity to move things forward and “get things done” are skills that benefit non-profit agencies and activist groups, as well as profit-driven business organizations.

One thing that I used to find maddening in all my activist work, was how often meetings, seminars and even marches, or other actions, became exercises in disorganization and worse, even chaos. Finally, I began to see how much of my time was being wasted by people more interested in their nicotine addiction than they were in changing the world. While most could rail against “the man,” I don’t know how the hell they thought they were going to beat him when they had trouble getting out of bed before noon. Laziness isn’t becoming on anyone, much less so on people that claim they have the ultimate cause.

It’s not only activists. Musicians and artistic types also seem to embrace the “slacker” vibe with vigorousness and then wonder why they can’t line up gigs, let alone get their music to the masses. Whatever your goals are for your cause, your art, or making a living, hard work and having some basic organization skills go along way to getting you beyond the 90 percenters that Woody Allen was referring to.

While this post probably makes me seem like I’ve gone over to the corporate camp, the reality is that I’m finding that the work of change and transformation requires at least the same effort as those that put profit ahead of everything else. If you want to change the world, it requires a lot more work than distributing a few poorly put together flyers, or forwarding an email to a few friends.

BTW, if anyone has recommended books on etiquette in the workplace, or what constitutes proper protocol for the office, or place of business, I’d love to hear about them.

Fuelish Saturday

Photos: (Top to Bottom:)

#1 Meet the Baumers
#2 Joe Pez displays his superior listening skills
#3 The Happy Couple
#4 Post-party blurriness, probably courtesy of the wine

[I had hoped to “file” this yesterday, the day after our fabulous Saturday night dining experience. Unfortunately, my Twilight League duties robbed me of my Sunday night; not wanting to miss the chance to rave about Fuel, the truly amazing new restaurant in Lewiston, I’m posting a day late, instead.]


Saturday Night Fuelish-ness

Lewiston’s most anticipated local opening in recent memory has happened; Fuel, L-A’s newest high-end restaurant opened to the public last week and reservations are filling up quickly. Hearing the buzz wherever I went in my travels over the past few months, I made sure to call for a reservation two weeks ago and our party of six experienced firsthand what all the fuss has been about.

If you’re reading this and live in Boston, New York, or some other urban enclave, buzz about openings, swank restaurants and nightclubs, or theatre productions has probably grown old and tiresome. When you live in the far northern reaches of the kingdom known as New England however, we just don’t have enough “happenings” to bypass them. Even more important to me, they become essential to experience if they happen to be in a place that’s rooted deeply in your memories and sense of place, like Lewiston is for me.

I wrote about Carrie and Eric Agren, back in December, long before they had transformed one of the city’s great old pieces of architecture—the Lyceum Hall—into a modern French bistro, the likes of which you won’t find north of Boston. While Portland has a slew of high-end, trendy restaurants, Maine’s largest city’s got nothing on L-A this time and locals can thank these two entrepreneurs for their vision, passion and daring, making it all happen. Business people find success by seeing a trend begin to develop, waiting until they’re sure its moving in the right direction (i.e. can I make money here) and swoop in after visionaries and entrepreneurs live through 100-hour work weeks and lack of sleep to lay the foundation. The Agrens are in the latter category and Lewiston-Auburn residents (and people from the surrounding communities) have a chance to get in while it’s still brand new.

Four (The Baumers and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Pez), from our planned party of six arrived just before our 7 pm reservation time and walked into the long and buzzing room that not too long ago had been a dilapidated storefront, one of the all-too-many that still characterize much of downtown Lewiston, particularly this end of Lisbon Street. Our hostess made us feel welcome, taking coats and offering to get us drinks while we waited for the final couple to arrive. Normally, we would have been escorted to the wine bar area, at the front of Fuel, to wait for our table, but this area was jammed with people enjoying wine, appetizers and face-to-face interaction. With our embrace of technology at every turn, experiencing this kind of vibe is no longer the norm and being in the presence of this kind of palpable, positive energy is an experience to seize and experience whenever possible.

With the arrival of the final third of our party of six, we were off to embark on our three hour journey, experiencing Lewiston's newest eatery. I honestly don't remember the last time I've been this eager for an anticipated event. Part of it probably had to do with the recent articles in the Lewiston Sun Journal and the article and photo spread in the Twin City Times (local weekly) of last Friday's official opening and sneak preview for some of Lewiston's important set. On Saturday, it was just two bloggers, their significant others and one other couple, whose wife works with me.

The restaurant was packed, with nearly every table occupied and the energy palpable as we made our our towards the back of the long, rectangular room that is the restaurant space. Everyone was having a great time and I was sure that we would, also. I wasn't to be disappointed.

As is the case when you try to meld two sets of people--some who already know one another (the Baumer's and the Pez') and the third couple who were unfamiliar with some of the other four people, the first meeting can be an exercise in awkwardness. Instead, we began chatting like we've been out numerous times, rather than embarking on our maiden voyage for this new amalgamation.

By the time we ordered the wine and began contemplating appetizers and first courses, we were engaged in witty repartee and scintillating conversation. The communication, fueled (no pun, honestly) by equal parts red and white vino, the conversation flowed easily, like the spirits.

By the time food began arriving, we were all eager to experience the handiwork of the Fuel kitchen crew. I had a wonderful Potato Leek Soup that was hot, flavorful, with the just the right combination of creaminess, as well as seasoning. It was the perfect beginning for me.

After the initial course, we were ready to order the main course. We all ordered a variety of dishes, with everything from Grilled Salmon, to Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs (mine), which were tender, savory and with the honey carrots and pommes terrine, was exquisite.

Before someone accuses me of being a paid “shill” for Fuel, let me detail a few minor “glitches” that were noticeable. The service was a bit uneven, as our server didn’t quite fit the profile that I’d expect in a higher end establishment. While sincere, this 20-something young lady shared a bit too much information about the chef and his background and prior employment. While not an issue for me, it might have been for someone else. Also, she struggled so much opening one bottle of wine over my left shoulder that I was almost tempted to ask her if she wanted me to do it. Also, there were long stretches when I wondered if our server may have left for the night. Since none of us were in a hurry and enjoying the winning triumvirate of wine, friendly banter and fabulous food, it didn’t dampen our experience.

Since restaurant was barely a week old, it was acceptable, particularly after seeing Carrie Agren running herself ragged all night, carrying food, bringing table settings and doing whatever it took to make the night a success.

The Agren’s have obviously done their homework and preparation and have given considerable thought to the entire experience they hope to provide, even down to the music that’s playing in the background. From the Fuel website, we learn that Eric and Carrie have spent “a lot of time choosing our music, to compliment our urban environment. Classified as ambient, we strive to offer music you won't hear in any other restaurant in town.You will hear sounds from Telepopmusik, Stephane Pompougnac, Thievery Corporation, De Phazz, and more.” Now that’s attention to detail!

If vision, hard work and commitment to community matter, then Carrie and Eric Agren’s Fuel is a can’t miss for Lewiston.

Plan B X 2

Does changing the world require high-minded, top down solutions, or can regular, ordinary people make a difference? Is it possible to envision and begin working towards eliminating war, inequality, or at the very least, bad television, from our realities?

While that first paragraph certainly has a high-minded tone and a certain liberal arrogance to some, that’s not my intention at all. Rather, I wanted to highlight a couple of people—one whose book I recently read—the other, a speaker I happened to catch briefly, on NPR’s Cambridge Forum. Both offered a perspective and some practical ways of coping that parallel shifts in my own way of thinking about issues and the world I live in.

My life has been really busy of late. This is an exciting period for me on several fronts. I am being pushed to prioritize my time and be very protective of it, almost to the point of being selfish. At the same time, I’ve become more conscious of the value of time. One of my challenges has been finding pockets of opportunity to read. One thing I’ve been doing is waking up ½ hour earlier and reading for 30 minutes when I get up, rather than waiting until the end of the day, when I’m much more likely to fall asleep, with the book resting on my chest. I have also become more selective of what I read. I’m moving beyond negative screeds and trying to find books that help me to vision, or see things in a new way I also am seeking books that reinforce values that are central to who I am. Anne Lamott’s Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, is one of those books.

For those who’ve never read Lamott, you’ve missed out on one of America’s special writers. This 50-year-old, dreaded (as in d-locks) and irreverent to the core, stays firmly grounded in the 21st century, but is not afraid to carry her readers back to a time like the 60s, when people still dared to dream and imagine a better way. Not so full of herself as to deny the hopelessness of living in the time of Bush, when at any moment, our dictator of a president could bring a hard rain down on the heads of all Americans on the basis of his “Left Behind” eschatology, Lamott still finds a way to invoke hope and laughter and sometimes tears and honestly shares her life and own unique brand of spirituality with her readers.

In talking about living at such a time as this (the beginning of the second Bush term, when the book was being written), Lamott writes about being at her rope’s end with the thought of four more years of GW. Here is an example of her style and tenor of writing.

“Hadn’t the men in the White House ever heard of the word karma? They lied their way into taking our country to war, crossing another country’s borders with ferocious military might, trying to impose our form of government on a sovereign nation, without any international agreement or legal justification, and set about killing the desperately poor on behalf of the obscenely rich. Then we’re instructed, like naughty teenagers, to refrain from saying it was an immoral war that set a disastrous precedent—because to do so is to offer aid and comfort to the enemy.”

Then her Jesuit friend, Father Tom, whom Lamott describes as a “scruffy, aging, Birkenstock type” calls her to wish her “Happy Birthday” and Lamott “unloads the truck” on poor Father Tom lamenting, “How are we going to get through this craziness?” And like so much of the book, which dispenses with sermonizing and holier-than-thou pontificating and instead, offers grounded advice and old-fashioned common sense, well-written with heavy dollops of gallows humor, the advice coming from Lamott’s friend and spiritual advisor, Father Tom is simple and yet, profound:

“Left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe,” says Father Tom.

Sometimes, Father Tom’s type of advice is all we can get our minds around in our crazy world.

Later in the book, she writes about a trip she made to San Quentin, that hellhole of a prison that epitomizes our nation’s “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” brand of prisoner rehabilitation. She’s been invited to come and teach the prisoners how to tell stories and decides to bring along a friend and fellow storyteller.

Anne recounts the experience of she and Neshama, a grandmotherly woman and most unlikely of candidates to connect with maximum security prisoners, yet these men, many of them hardened by doing time in the bowels of the prison-industrial complex, end up giving Neshama a standing ovation, as she wins them over with her stories and honest delivery, much to Lamott’s amazement. Using this story to drive home her points, Lamott powerfully illustrates Jesus’ injunction to care for the poor, without coming off as moralizing or condescending to her reader. By making it obvious that when Jesus spoke about the poor, he was including America’s prisoners. As she does throughout the book, Lamott shows why writers also need to be readers, because she quotes other writers in the context of her vignettes from her life and weaves them seamlessly into her prose. In this particular case, she quotes Reverend James Forbes, who was fond of saying that “Nobody gets into heaven without a letter of reference from the poor.”

Lester Brown is the founder of WorldWatch Institute, an independent research organization that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society. Their mission is geared towards the meeting the needs of all people and accomplishing this without threatening the health of the natural environment or the well-being of future generations. While this sounds lofty and some might say, impossible, to someone like Brown, it’s achievable, if we can break the bigger issue, down into smaller, “bite-sized” pieces.

In a media age that offers mostly right-wing blowhards, drug addled hosts and talking heads that prefer to spew anger and venom, rather than offer solutions, its rare to hear someone as measured and downright optimistic as Brown was, yesterday, on NPR’s Cambridge Forum.

Speaking on topics addressed in his recent book, Plan B 2.0 (which I’ve just added to my list of “must read books”), Brown convinced me, as I’m sure countless others within the sound of his voice that while global warming is important—maybe in the top five, as far as global issues are concerned—it is something that we can take positive steps towards addressing. Rather than assume the role of crazy-eyed prophet in burlap clothing, chewing on locusts, Brown was soft-spoken, yet forceful and led me to believe that we can alter the course we’re on to, marching towards environmental perdition. I’m not opposed to prophetic voices and at times, they’re necessary. On the issue of the environment, however, I don’t think people are frozen about what to do because they can’t recognize the dire consequences of maintaining the status quo. In my opinion, most people want to take positive steps and move in the direction of earth-friendliness, but they honestly don’t know what to do.

He clearly painted a realistic picture of what an environmental sustainable economy might look like. Unlike so many doom-and-gloom types, Brown talked about simple steps that Americans can take to make a profound difference. He discussed the conversion of our car to gas/electric hybrids. In places like Maine, where the reality of public transportation is so far into the future for most, to think about alternatives to our cars is “pie in the sky.” We can talk about sprawl all we want (and I have), Mainers aren’t giving up their cars. However, as Brown carefully explained, gas/electric hybrids could, even if everyone didn’t change their driving habits one iota, dramatically lessen the amount of oil we consume as a nation. If we could lessen our dependency on foreign oil, it might move us away from always feeling the need to solve every geopolitical problem by flexing our military muscles.

Brown said that if you took the average gas/electric hybrid, added an extra storage battery, local commuting (which is what most of us do, Monday-Friday) could be accomplished entirely with electricity. By adding wind power to our energy mix (and getting the NIMBY crowd to play along), Brown made a compelling case that we could eliminate our need for oil from the Middle East. The military-industrial scenarios were getting downright rosy in my mind, at that moment.

Here’s an interview I found, from Grist, conducted last March. I think it gives people a sense of this man’s ability to cut through the rhetoric, politics and not scare the bejesus out of people, which only causes hopelessness and paralysis, fueled by the fear. (maybe it's the bowtie?)

As I start to taste small successes in my own life, I find that trying to find a local way of seeing the issues helps me to later put things into a wider context. I know that it is helping me to more optimistic than I’ve ever been before. Now don’t start thinking I’ve joined some new cult of positive thinking, or anything like that. In fact, I may be back here in a day, a week, or a month ranting at the world, or some newfound enemy. Still, I’m finding personal empowerment fulfilling and discovering new ways to move even the tiniest projects forward. This truth and utilization of the skills and abilities I’ve always had, have given me a new sense of possibility and I’m not succumbing to negative energy like I have in the past. This energy can act as a cloud that tends to overwhelm and keep many feeling powerless and unable to use their gifts and unique talents for the benefit of others. Not to mention it makes us miserable to be around, most of the time.

Birthing pangs

I've been trying to post regularly again, but this week's been crazy (as I expect most weeks will be for me, at least over the next few months). I have high hopes to have a new post up soon. I began this morning, before work, but duty beckoned.

Stay tuned...new thoughts on life in Baumerworld should be up some time this evening. Thanks for your patience.

Jim