Where does the money from and where does it go? As Northampton’s Ward 5 City Councillor, Alex has been studying the City budget intensely for the last 6 years or so. Here he tries to explain it to me (and other listeners). With it being election season – preliminaries this past Tuesday, and general election … Continue reading #336: Alex Jarrett on Northampton’s Budget →

I got a spot in Thurs night’s NEPM Valley Voices story slam at the Drake in Amherst! and shared a story about my friend “Waldo” :  “He drives a truck for USA Waste; I ride a bike for Pedal People…” official story starts at min 8:40 Thinking of stories, I played story songs to go … Continue reading #283: StorySlamWaldo, cold bike fixing n riding tips →

another unmotivated week in Out There interview gathering land, so I resort to reading some of the flyers on our house bulletin board.

a recap of my week…(see title)

Christmas is in a few days.  As a trash hauler, Christmas means Consumerism, Trash, Waste. 1: Rev Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping sing it like it is 4: myself and my coworkers have a debriefing session.  Brett, Miguel, Cara.  oh, and a former coworker and current customer Emily Fabel brings out the cookies … Continue reading #280: PPConsumerism, Eric and Pamela Matlock →

25 mile march for Palestine coming up (was supposed the be Dec 10th but got postponed to Dec 16th due to rain/flooding). 4: my 16 y.o housemate, in the prime of her able-bodiedness, keeps asking her great aunt to drive her the 1.2 miles to high school.  Why, my child, why?? ( and so many … Continue reading #279: Paving, Palestine Rally speakers →

My coworkers Neal and Colin did their Pedal People routes today together on a tandem bike. 11: the PVTA is free again this year, from Thanksgiving to Xmas.  Nao Sakurai tells us why she rides the bus, all year round. 25: Tom Lehrer sings “Hanukkah in Santa Monica” 27: my friend Bill is taking a … Continue reading #278: PVTA Free: Nao and Alex, community events and tidbits →

The Flo-Op is finally official!  6-8 High St in Florence signs the papers to transfer from being owned by me, Alex, Tammi, and Matt, to being owned by the Flo-Op Inc, which I think is currently me and Alex Jarrett and Sara Howard, and growing.  Alex, Sara, Rebecca Fletcher from Cooperative Fund of the NorthEast, … Continue reading #277: The FloOpHousingCooperative, Vincent Hedger and Francie Delaney →

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock, for many Native Americans. I took a hike on Thanksgiving Day to “the mossy rock” in the Sawmill Hills, where Duane grew up, and asked to have some of his ashes “dumped”.   What a tear-jerker. 23: Diana Ross sings “Missing You” 34: Cleveland P … Continue reading #276: MissingDuaneInTheSawmillHills, songs →

I took a bike-bus-train trip to the Hudson R Valley and met up with my friend Giselle visiting from Trinidad. Enrico (I played this clip last week) with his bike and blower clearing leaves from the Manhan r-t Satcha and Sonia at L3Harris encampment (L3Harris is a military contractor with a Northampton base, supplying the … Continue reading #275: FundDrive, L3 Encampment, repeat/songs →