Friday was not one of the most productive days in my life. Having just recently gloated about not suffering from allergies in nearly 3 years, I was not happy about how quickly the sound of my voice and my ability to breathe changed. There are several times where I tell Bets that I’m going to ask to come home early before I leave for work in the morning only to end up being there until late in the evening. Friday was not one of those days. While not excessively early, I returned home shortly after lunch.
I’d given up looking for it. So when I got into the building and noticed a beat up parcel post package on the floor in front of the mailbox, I was surprised to learn that it was for me. My first inclination was that it was information I’d been waiting for with regards to a project for work. Then I realized that the city of origin was Atlanta.
Pictures, when taken, allow you to relive whatever moment you wish whenever you want. Despite the modern convenience of online photo storage and digital cameras, there is still something relaxing about having a manual 35mm camera in your hands, looking for images that will remind you of a moment forever. Or at least as long as you want it to. I’ve recently been rediscovered by several friends because of their nostalgic yearnings, with photographs or a memory serving as a spark. One quick Google search and your memories, good or bad, can be relived and connections can be remade. MySpace has made this an even greater weekend mission.
Last July, I was in one of those nostalgic states. I’d just started the blog as a way to look at positive things going on in my life and elsewhere. I was also realizing that 30 was staring me dead in the face. I started looking through my photo boxes, looking particularly for images from my senior year of high school and of friends from my summer high school programs and freshman year of school. I was much more of a shutterbug then. After about three hours of tearing the loft apart, I began to think about where most of these images could be. Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I’ve avoided contact with my ex-girlfriend for more than four years. That’s more than half the time we spent dating (or not dating depending on the season). It was not the most amicable end; but something told me that if the pictures were still there, she’d send them. This is despite the fact that for most of our relationship, I became less of that shutterbug. There were few images, at least in thoughts, of us. I’d always gotten grief about if from her that I did not want to be seen with her. Ironically, it took Bets getting me to develop rolls I’d forgotten about to realize that this belief of no images was not necessarily true. She’s always been asking if I would ever make contact again or try to re-establish a friendship. I’d always blow that off as impossible. She’s the one that said that I should try to get them back if they did exist.
I’d sent the initial e-mail asking if they still existed last July, hoping to have them returned if available for my 30th birthday in August. There were attempts to have my friend Sean get them and then bring them to me. Then there were attempts to have other friends get them (lol). There were trips back to the coast where I could have gotten them. I’d actually given up any hope of getting them sent and was about to consider a thought that had been impossible a year ago; trying to get them in person. The fact that I hadn’t set foot in Atlanta in four years made that an issue as well. Seeing this torn and tattered parcel bag sitting on the lobby floor brought several feelings. The most notable was comfort.
Flipping through the album brought back memories that at time felt as though they’d be lost forever. I saw friends and acquaintances past and present; some who I still talk to frequently, others that seem to have been taken away too early. There were others that seemed lost who’d recently returned to the fray. Images of a much skinnier writer than I am now, who’s definitely lived a life already, despite comments from people who discount life experiences as being older rather than living (I know of several who are much wiser than I am who've lived shorter lives; it's all relative). It provides windows to a world that is forever frozen in time on a piece of paper, allowed to come alive again at a moment’s notice. This window onto your life is one that you regret not having if you’ve decided that you’d rather just forge ahead, as sometimes it’s the past that allows you to enjoy the present. Thanks for the opportunity to enjoy those windows again and to enjoy the present even more.
Cheers.
N.B. Thanks to the Jane Jacobs online memorial blog for the link. This blog was set up to honor of the urban activist who passed away last Tuesday. Take a moment and visit the blog to learn more about her
Filed under: Birmingham Links, Birmingham, AL, Civic Engagement, civic/service organizations, MySpace, News Media (as source & subject)
Here we go!
The MySpace Revolution continues
Checking my MySpace account last night I realized that there was a new page out there, one for the Birmingham Museum of Art’s Art on the Rocks events. For those of you that were not able to attend last year, imagine turning your art museum into a “club” once a month. Great food, incredible music and, oh yeah, you’re getting to enjoy the largest municipal art museum in the Southeast. They’re just the latest group that’s decided to use MySpace as a marketing tool, as have others we’ve recently talked about on the blog. Click here to view the “regular” website that includes the current schedule of events for the summer.
Art is in the air this weekend in the Southeast
This weekend many of my friends from college will be swarming into Savannah, GA to take part in the annual Sidewalk Art Festival. The festival transforms the city’s Forsyth Park into a showcase of the college’s talent, past and future. I’ve been quite slammed in recent weeks and just couldn’t justify the six-hour drive, especially with current gas prices and the fact that I’d be missing out on our own Magic City Art Connection. The MCAC begins this morning with busloads of children making their way into the city center to enjoy a weekend filled with art, music and people mingling. It definitely provides an opportunity to see what it will be like down here on a regular basis as downtown’s population grows. Both events have done their part in shaping the downtown experience in both cities.
One day I will slow down
I did go to the Birmingham MySpace event last night, though I’m thinking I left early before the crowds appeared. I think part of the reason was because there was so much stuff going on last night and so much more stuff going on over the weekend that my social meter was on overload. There were at least eight events going on last night, though I was quite happy to spend my evening talking with recently made acquaintances. We ended up in Pepper Place, where the new Mental Floss offices are. There was also the Urban Farm meeting downtown and the New Williams Loft open house, a TechCouncil meeting (loosely based on the Civic Organization Roundtable concept) on 280 and a few other things. Sitting outside trying to enjoy the warm weather has probably caused me to now have to turn into a pumpkin early today as I’m feeling slightly sick. Probably the one thing that I know we should all remember in doing all of this stuff is that it’s supposed to be fun. It’s the one thing I’ve found myself having to remember. Plus now I have to make sure I’m rested up for The Birmingham Bowl. Here’s the story courtesy of the Birmingham News, telliing of post season college football returning to the “Football Capital of the South”.
Thanks for reading!
For those that have stumbled across this site for the first time this week due to heightened awareness, thanks for stopping by. I’m normally a little more coherent, however it has been a hectic week at work; one that will continue for a few more. But I hope that you’ll find what I write interesting at least. If you have any comments, let me hear ’em.
Have a great weekend!
Cheers.
Filed under: Birmingham, AL, Civic Engagement, civic/service organizations, News Media (as source & subject), urban issues
“Make a difference.” These words were written on the back of a business card that I received from someone recently. It’s become a catch phrase throughout the business and social communities as our neighborhoods and cities become part of a wider and more accessible global network. The words were not written as an afterthought in ink, they were included in the design of the card as a mantra for the organization. There are many who have made a difference in recent years, including Jane Jacobs, who just passed away on Tuesday. People are realizing again that one person or effort can greatly affect change, including the “emerging” leaders in our own community.
Many more people are currently feeling empowered to encourage our community to be more active and supportive of one another. At first glance, you would think that there was not much more to do. The Community Counts report compiled by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, Region 2020, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA), Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham and the United Way of Central Alabama definitely speaks to the financial support provided by residents in Jefferson County. When you visit the page and view the PDF of the document, pay particular attention to pages 47-50 to see what I mean. Now there are requests for a different type of support. There are some projects now that current celebrate the ability of similar minded groups to work together for a common purpose.
Edsel Ford, II, chairman of the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board, decided to ask members of Kiwanis and Rotary to raise that bar to the next level. He spoke to a joint meeting of the organizations yesterday encouraging not just financial support, but time and talents as well. Here’s a link to the story courtesy of the Birmingham News. His words, following recent meetings between government officials, neighborhood residents and like minded organizations, definitely place a new challenge upon the business community and their leaders. The best thing to do after laying the gauntlet down challenging the community for a greater level of interaction is for these organizations to lead the way and support efforts necessary to achieve that goal. This recent string of speeches and commentary is definitely beginning to show some effects. Let’s hope that the dialogue continues to occur in the coming months and years.
We’ll see what else comes to mind later on, if anything.
Cheers.
I found out via an instant message from a friend of mine late in the afternoon: Jane Jacobs had passed away earlier on Tuesday. The link is courtesy of Wikipedia. The caverns I’ve been traversing known as large projects for work had kept me from my regular early morning gleaning of the news wires and thus from knowing that one of biggest fans of “the city” as a concept was no longer with us. For those of you who do not know who Ms. Jacobs was, she is the main reason why the focus of this blog became more urban in nature. Her words have helped shape the current crop of urban design professionals eager to repair the damage done by the likes of New York’s Robert Moses and others like him who steered the nation towards its current excessive dependence on the automobile.
I am probably more of a heretic of my following of Ms. Jacobs over the years. I was aware of her guiding principles and had gleaned several of her writings, but I have never been able to read from cover-to-cover the book considered her masterpiece, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. I’ve read sections for class, but have never been able to complete her epic work for personal pleasure (simply because, I’ve never given myself the time to).
I’ve now decided that it needs to be a driving force behind completing #74. Her writings served as an important component to the urban issues based classes I took while in college. My department chair stressed our needing to understand the urban fabric and enjoyed having us play devil’s advocate on any issue at any time. This is one of those college practices that I’ve found hard to give up. It allows me to understand both sides of an issue quite easily; much to the dismay of some people who know me and mistake it for ego (I wish I had a better one). The ability to have lived in New York and to have moved through some of her best case studies has definitely influenced several areas of my life. It’s also allowed me to appreciate those things not readily available in cities in addition to those things that I feel as though I need to be able to survive in the urban jungle.
Ms. Jacobs was lucky enough to live to see her words begin to be heeded. Let’s hope that now that she is no longer with us in the flesh that her words will still provide a beacon our city planners and designers are guided by. Here’s a link to a piece written about her life and accomplishments in today’s New York Times. I’m going to go and toast a drink to her this evening and watch how her words are influencing the very city I’ve chosen to live in.
Cheers.
This image comes to you from fall in Washington, D.C. courtesy of my Main Street© Basic Training Session at the National Trust in November. I took this image on Veteran’s Day before heading out to the airport to return to Birmingham. I plan on posting a few more of them in the coming weeks. I figured since this past Monday was Confederate Memorial Day, I’d post an image representing those African American soldiers that fought in the Civil War.
The Spirit of Freedom Statue represents African American Union soldiers, though blacks fought on both sides of the battle. The monument is surrounded by a Wall of Honor, containing more than 209,000 names of blacks killed during the war. The statue stands in a plaza near the 14th and U district in D.C. at the entrance to the U Street/Cardozo Metro stop and next to the African American Civil War Memorial Museum. Click here to visit the museum’s website. It’s a great place to learn some more about our national history. Enjoy!
Cheers.
Dre\'s Ramblings 