The Powderhouse

Faith and the city by Molly Baskette

Darkness

 

   

This is the time of year when many people dear to me are bottoming out in their annual struggle with depression. It strikes early—as early as late November—and may be momentarily disrupted (or exacerbated) by the light and color and levity of the holidays. At least, there are usually other people around to distract us from the voices in our head telling us how bad things have gotten, cycling through the viciousness of isolation, depression, isolation, depression, with a little shame thrown in for good measure.  But then the trudge through January, February, March…and April is the cruelest month, at least according to T.S. Eliot.

      

The good news for those with bad blues is that the stigma surrounding mental illness, and depression in particular, is not what it once was. We make cracks about going into therapy to undo what our parents wrought, and compare notes on our prescription medications.

 

Problem is, we can talk about depression from a safe distance, we just can’t actually be depressed in front of one another. As one of my peeps recently said to me: “it’s funny how legitimate mental illness is these days. We all have our diagnosis:  seasonal affective disorder, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, panic attacks. We all talk about it over coffee or beer. But it’s still not acceptable to actually exhibit our mental illness in front of people.”

   

And yet we become more and more aware of the multitudes among us living with depression, anxiety, or worse. Is the problem growing? Or is it merely that we live in this densest of cities, and therefore live with very little privacy, and have ever-larger social circles? So inevitably we notice when our roommate sleeps till 3 in the afternoon, or our coworker has shallow scratches on her arms from cutting, or our blind date is panting and looking pale. It’s enough to make one, well, depressed and anxious.

    

There have been very few tests to my religious faith. I suppose I’ve been through as much as your average 30-something straight white American woman, and been able to reconcile all my trials with the idea of a God who is good and wills the best in all situations. But when I see people I love struggle day after day, do the right things, eat the right things, visit the right therapists and take the right meds, and still feel hopeless and helpless, or want to end their lives, it makes me want to turn my back on God.

Just what place do depression and other challenges to mental health have in what Jesus has called the Kingdom of Heaven—if God is in charge, what business does He or She have letting these gatecrashers in? 

    

Is God responsible for smiting certain people with suicidal depression, or crippling social phobias, or schizophrenia? Or are the individuals themselves responsible for not being able to get out of bed, or hold a job, or talk with strangers? If they tried harder, could they not be well?

   

To blame it on God is to yank out the thread holding the fabric of our faith together, a belief in a God who loves us and wants us to be whole.  But to blame the individual is to further disable someone already crippled by self-doubt.  This dilemma puts us, to paraphrase Cab Calloway, between the devil and the deep blue funk.   

      

There are various accounts of mental illness in the New Testament Gospels. Although they happened to be called exorcisms. Jesus encounters a man with “an unclean demon” in the synagogue at Capernaum, as he is teaching. Later, a wild man meets the disciples at a cave in the Gerasene countryside; he is the neighborhood crazy and the people are terrified of him. Still later in the gospels, a father brings his son, who has violent fits, to Jesus, seeking relief.

      

Demons were a relatively new concept in first century Israel; belief in them had crept in from neighboring cultures. Not everybody believed in them, but they did serve to explain why some people’s behavior was so unpredictable, and dangerous to themselves or others—the kind of behavior we moderns now know as severe mental illness.

      

An impromptu quartet in Davis Sq.

                                             

by Erin K Gray

On Feb. 3 in Davis Sq. four artists meet together for the first time to collaborate as a group for the general public.

"You never know what you are going to get on the street," said Mike Greenstein, from the band Emergency Broadcasters.  "I would always rather a collective over an ego experience."                

Greenstein, who described his band as a mixture Americana fusion and Indie, also teaches a class on Jazz at the Cambridge Adult Education Center, he said. 

Greenstein said he hopes to make music more accessible in the Somerville area.

"I want to make changes in this area, find a way to play later in a city that has rigid laws on what time bars close," he said.

Ryan Alvanos (left), Mike Greenstein (right)

This collective of musicians consisted of a mixture of artists who were all working on separate projects, some were friends, and others were meeting for the first time.

Ryan Alvanos, currently working on a solo project, brought friends Julia Shaw and Marine Dallance to assist him with percussion, and to meet up with Greenstein and friend Raleigh Green in the park outside of Store 24.

Alvanos and Greenstein, friends and collaborators of this impromptu quartet, both share a passion for getting the community involved in the thriving and diverse local music scene, he said.

Alvanos will be featured at Razzi's on Feb. 16, and you can check out Emergency Broadcasters at http://www.myspace.com/emergencybroadcasters.

A night with Ian Thal

by Amanda F. Fitzpatrick

At Willoughby and Baltic, on Feb. 9th, Ian Thal performed an evening of mime, poetry, and masks.

“People should come for the Don Quote experience” said Ian Thal, an actor, poet, and mime performer.

Performing is Thal’s passion, which makes interacting with the audience fun he said. “Why wouldn’t anybody want to do this, it is internally gratifying.”

Audience member, Shannon B. O’ Connor said she “enjoyed the show because it was different.” 

Thal said his journey becoming a performer started with poetry, as he developed his voice and began attending open-mics.  Later, Thal was introduced to William J. Barnum, who taught him the art of mime.

“That is when I started to incorporate acting, poetry and mime in my performances,” he said.   

After learning from Barnum, Thal worked with another teacher of mime, James Von Looy.  Together they collaborated to create the Cosmic Splunker, which Thal said is still an ongoing concern.

Ian Thal

Thal’s last performance was several months ago, in which time he has taken classes, refined his skills, and create new material, he said.

Thal said the time he puts into the performances are well worth the effort.

“He fits in well,” said Meredith L. Garniss, the owner of Willoughby and Baltic.

Davis Sq. Task Force meets to discuss new condominiums

by Matthew Kaplan

Developers outlined their plans to build a condominium building at the old CARLI fence site at Newberne Street and Morrison Avenue at the Davis Square Task Force meeting Feb. 11in front of about 45 community members.

As of now, the developers, who purchased the site last May, plan on including 12 units, with six one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units. The building will have three floors and a mezzanine level, with 20 parking spaces on the first floor.

Some residents raised concerns about the building’s parking spaces, as the current plan has the spaces next to a bike path.

The building’s initial plans included underground parking, along with 16 units, including lofts, and a different exterior design. When Ward Six Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz first saw the initial designs, she said she voiced concerns over the building’s density and its exterior, which she said looked too industrial.

After the meeting about five weeks ago, the architect and developers redesigned the building to have fewer units and to make the building’s façade have a more contemporary feel.

“That’s the representative of the Ward; we’ll go back and make the [recommended] changes,” Nick Ianuzzi, the project’s attorney, said.

With four less units, the underground parking had to be scrapped as it was now not economically feasible.

“This is still a work in progress in terms of parking,” Ianuzzi said.

Some residents such as Ron Newman raised concerns that the above-street parking would take away from potential green space and provide an eyesore on the bicycle path, asking the developers to scale back the number of parking spaces.

“There’s an unfortunate byproduct to that [redesign] and that is parking by the bike path,” Gewirtz said. She said she had not seen the redesign before the Task Force meeting.

The developers can legally reduce the number of available spaces if the building is within 1000 feet of the Davis Square T station. However, other area residents such as James Campano said he wanted the building to include parking spaces to reduce the number of cars parked on surrounding streets.

Residents also raised concerns about the building’s environmental impact. The building’s architect said it is too early in the planning process to discuss ways to make the building more environmentally friendly, but construction could include pervious pavement that would allow water to seep into the soil, along with a potential drainage system on the roof that would slowly release rainwater into the soil.

In addition, developers plan on conducting shadow studies to determine the sun’s effect on the building in the near future.

Representatives with the site said they are still 12 to 24 months away from groundbreaking at the site.

After the developers spoke, Krista Kranyak, the owner of Ten Tables Restaurant in Jamaica Plain outlined her plan to purchase Antonia’s on Holland Street. She said the sale is mostly complete, but that she needs a wine and beer license to be profitable at the site.

While Antonia’s Restaurant had a wine and beer license, the license did not transfer in the sale. Instead, the license transferred back to the city.

“This deal is basically dead if I don’t get the license,” Kranyak said.

Ten Tables is one of seven restaurants vying for two licenses. The three-member license commission will decide how to distribute the licenses next week.

Afterwards, area resident Trish Blain, who purchased Sacco’s Bowl Haven, announced at the meeting that she will hold a community meeting Feb. 20 at the Dilboy VFW post to discuss her plans for the site.

A note from your Ward 7 Democratic Committee

Letter sent to the editor:

Dear Ward 7 Friends and Neighbors,

We are truly honored to represent you on the Ward 7 Democratic Committee over the next 4 years. As progressive Democrats, we are committed to keeping the committee and our party open, honest, and accessible. Our campaign's success reaffirmed the power of grassroots organizing through educational outreach, personal contacts, and a positive message of reform.

We want to work with the other members to re-energize the committee by holding regular meetings that address real issues such as bringing the Green Line extension to Somerville, keeping Somerville affordable for families, making government accessible, and improving the quality of education. There is still much work to do to increase awareness about the ward committee since many people either have not heard of it before or are not familiar with its role as the local grassroots organizing body of the Democratic party.

Please join us on March 10th when ward committee members from across Somerville will be organizing for the city committee at 7pm at the VNA, 259 Lowell Street.

Congratulations to all newly elected and re-elected members of our Ward 7 Democratic Committee!

Read more about Somerville's City Democratic Committee at www.SomDems.org and the MA Democratic Party at www.MassDems.org .

Sincerely,

Barry Rafkind 347-525-5635 BarryRafkind@gmail.com, 4 Ossipee Road Apt 1
Rachel Heller 617-395-6642 Rachel.Heller@gmail.com 11 Elmwood St.
Justin Klekota 617-519-8189 klekota@gmail.com 56 Conwell Avenue
Katie Wallace 617461-4605 katewallace@att.net 26 Conwell Avenue
Carmen Russell 917-443-3327 carmen@carmenrussell.net 48 Electric Avenue Apt 1
Lou Ann David 617.625.4261 ladavid@rcn.com, 1374 Broadway Apt. 3G

Last chance to be a villen

by Matthew Kaplan

Nave Gallery will host a closing reception on Feb. 9 from 3 to 5PM for the “Be a Villen” exhibit, showcasing the work of 17 young local artists and writers dealing with adverse issues affecting Somerville youth.

Over 100 people visited the gallery on the exhibit’s first night, witnessing works addressing issues such as death, drugs and gentrification.

“The theme of this show is a little disturbing,” Wendy Weiser, Somerville Program Director for Teen Empowerment, said.

Teen Empowerment, along with ARTSomerville, helped coordinate the Villen exhibit.

Skateboard art by Zadak Rice

“I didn’t think [the works] would be so close to home,” Anna Rodriguez, a youth organizer with Teen Empowerment, said.

The exhibit was dedicated to Brian Liberatore, a Somerville resident who died last October. The exhibit featured multiple works dedicated to Brian, along with works done by Brian and his brother Scotty Liberatore.

“The whole thing is keeping his memory alive,” Danny McLaughlin, Teen Empowerment Program Coordinator, said.  McLaughlin had six photographs featured in the exhibit.

Brian Liberatore had two of his drawings displayed, including one in memorial of deceased Somerville resident Matty O’Brien.

Brian Liberatore came up with the idea of a Villen, a young person who grew up in and embodied Somerville, after seeing the “townie” shirts in Charlestown, where townie is Charlestown’s Villen equivalent, McLaughlin said.

About five years ago, Brian Liberatore designed a shirt that featured a stylized face and the word ‘Villen’ on it. After seeing the original shirt, Steven Morris, another featured artist, said he liked the original design and designed another shirt of the same design but with different colors with Brian, he said. The exhibit displayed the two original Villen shirts.

Zadak Rice, another featured artist who displayed his art on a skateboard, said Brian came up with the idea for the face on the villen shirts one time when he and Brian went out spray painting. He said the idea for the face drawn on the skateboard came from the same excursion.

In addition to the face, Rice included on the skateboard a coaster from a bar he used to frequent with Brian. He also wrote on the board a quote Brian once told him when they out job-hunting that stuck in his head.

“Skateboard’s not big enough for everything he told me,” Rice said.

The exhibit also featured an interactive piece, where people could write their thoughts on Brian and others on a section of the wall. The wall included a quote from a poem Mark McLaughlin wrote for Brian. A pair of Brian’s cowboy boots sat near the bottom of the interactive piece.

Piece by Steven Morris

“Brian just had a sneaker collection that was ridiculous,” Danny McLaughlin said.

In addition, the exhibit featured work on multiple issues besides death affecting Somerville youth. Scotty Liberatore said he wanted some of his photos to take a “stab at gentrification.”

One of Morris’s pieces, entitled “LIVE=EVIL,” deals with drug addiction.

“That’s such truth,” Rice said of the piece. “Kids are degenerating on drugs, especially in Somerville.”

ARTSomerville Director Susan Berstler and her neighbor, Scotty Liberatore, began planning the exhibit about two months ago, after a string of untimely deaths.

“They’ve seen a lot of death,” she said. The art serves as “their way of working through it.”

“They’ve seen a lot of death,” she said. The art serves as “their way of working through it.”

The largest piece at the exhibit is a photograph mural done by Morris and Scotty Liberatore that they submitted, but was not chosen, as part of the Davis Square T station mural competition. The mural included photos of people and landmarks around Somerville.

Clarence Bryan IV, a self-described amateur photographer who had two of his photographs displayed, said he liked the mural the best, but said that “it’s sad it took so many deaths to get people together. We’re all we have.” 

Super stakes for Super Tuesday

by Matthew Kaplan

Standing on a concrete pillar in Davis Square under gray skies, a Tufts freshman holds up a blue Barack Obama poster for passing traffic.

“I’ve gotten a lot of really enthusiastic honks,” Obama volunteer Chelsea Brown said.

Brown and Laura Hicks, a fellow Tufts freshman and Obama campaign volunteer, campaigned for Obama for about two hours in Davis Square, holding a sign and passing out five pounds worth of flyers, she said.

Tufts freshman Chelsea Brown

Later in the day at the same location, four women held up signs by Holland Street to support Hilary Clinton. Down the street, biomedical engineer Justin Klekota passed out flyers promoting his group’s campaign in Ward 7 for Democratic Ward Committee.

Klekota and others hit the streets to pique voter interest on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, as Massachusetts, along with 23 other states, held its presidential primary. Due to the large number of states holding primaries and caucuses, election results from the Super Tuesday primaries could help establish frontrunners in each party for the upcoming presidential election.

“Everyone I know is talking about this,” voter Lydia Thornton said. “There’s a little more at stake. It’s not a foregone conclusion.” 

Election clerk John Alibrandi, who worked the polls at the Engine Six Fire Station in Teele Square, said the polling place had a steady stream of voters all day, with over 700 out of about 1500 registered voters in the precinct voting by 5:20 p.m.

“There are a lot of people who are making a point to vote,” he said.

Of the first 700 votes cast in Ward 7 Precinct 2, Alibrandi said he estimated that 600 of then were for the Democratic primary, with no ballots cast for the Green-Rainbow Party or the Working Families Party.

Despite early rain, election workers at the fire station said 300 voters had voted by 8 a.m.

“I think we’re getting a high percentage turnout,” election worker Jude Shabry said.

Voter Susan Maldonado said this primary has received more interest than past primaries, and that she plans on staying up late to find out about the election results. Voter Amy Checkoway said she also plans on staying up late to hear the results.

“People feel like it matters more,” she said.

As of Tuesday night, early results indicated that Hillary Clinton won Massachusetts’ Democratic primary and former Governor Mitt Romney won the Republican primary.

Super Bowl 2008: Super disappointment around Davis Sq.

Photos by Erin K. Gray

Welcome kits aid local businesses in several languages

Sent over from the Mayor's office:

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development  announced Feb. 1 that in addition to several key Small Business initiatives and programs, small business owners may now also receive 'Business Welcome Kits' in four major languages.  Originally introduced in April 2007, the popular kits are now available in Portuguese, Spanish, and Haitian-Creole.

“We have a very diverse, thriving business community, and I’m pleased to be able to expand our small business programming through these initiatives, and to aid new business owners through these Welcome Kits,” Mayor Curtatone said.  “The Small Business Initiative, which includes a Storefront Improvement Program and access to business loan programs, is a terrific tool for local entrepreneurs, and a great development initiative.”

Since their development, more than 250 kits have been distributed citywide to small business owners and entrepreneurs.  As part of the Business Development Initiative, the city has also instituted small business loan programs, a Storefront Improvement Program, and a recent partnership with ACCION USA, for access to capital through the program.

“Locally owned businesses are the heart and soul of Somerville and help make our community unique,” says Monica Lamboy, Executive Director of the Mayors Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development.   “Somerville has reenergized its effort with small business development and will be bringing new resources and new partners to augment our activities.”

The business kits, in all four languages, may be ordered by visiting City Hall at 93 Highland Avenue, through the Somerville Chamber of Commerce, or via the city website:  www.somervillema.gov.

For more information, please contact the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development at 617-625-6600 ext 2500.