Category Archives: Blogging

About blogging in Newburyport, MA

Futility of Writing to Politicians

Note to self:

Writing to politicians (with the exception of the “bald guy,” see earlier entry) about how the new Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act might have a few “flaws,” apparently is a giant waste of time.

Letter(s) back…

A) Obviously didn’t read my letter(s) because it/them never addressed the issue that I was talking about…. i.e. wild health care expense for self-employed and small businesses, nifty new health insurance act, NOT working.

B) Attitude… we worked on this thing like crazy and really don’t want to hear that anything is wrong with it. So would you please “shut up.” (Letter(s) actually much more subtle than that.)

C) Staff at politician’s place seem to have “stock” letter for each political issue. And who in the world would think of using turquoise colored ink for the automatic signature thing. Gesh.

D) Attitude by Democratic responder to moi, the respondee… a lot like Bush’s attitude towards the war in Iraq. In too deep to even question whether the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act is actually working or not. “Ouch.” Yes, hope that one hurt, it was meant to.

E) Obviously, responder(s) had not read Alice Dembner’s article in the Boston Globe, August 17, 2007 “Older residents feel insurance law pinch, Age-based prices too high for some.” (Please press here to read the article), or decided to ignore it.

F) Obviously responder(s) did not empathize with woman in the article who (in an obvious desperate attempt) to save money to pay for the “new” health care (which is “less comprehensive” than her old health insurance policy) eats popcorn some nights for dinner.

G) Responder(s) either seemed unaware, or chose to ignore the statement in the article by Alice Dembner, that actually health insurance under the new law is NOT “affordable” for all, but to the contrary, “insurance is unaffordable for some.”

Note to self:

Remember politician(s) who were “out to lunch” on my impassioned letters to them.

Remember politician(s) who appear to think the new Massachusetts Health Care Reform act is the “bees’ knees.” (The “bees’ knees” was an expression of my mother’s from either the 1930’s or 1940’s. This would have dated my mother big time, or made her really “cool,” take your pick.)

Just because politician(s) has/have a good head of hair (i.e. not bald–see earlier entry) and may be “easy on the eyes,” (see earlier entry) doesn’t necessarily mean they give a flying leap about moi (or you, the Newburyport Blog reader, either, for that matter).

And especially remember that a certain Republican politician who is running for president, used to be the Massachusetts governor, and is touting the Massachusetts Health Reform Act as the savior for American health insurance woes, really could care less if this particular blogger is trying to scream so loud that “god pees.” (Yes, see earlier entry again.)

That human being really does NOT want to know that the beloved “Act” could use a little “tweaking.”

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Statistics and Frogs on the Newburyport Blog

I’m obsessed with my “stats” (statistics for the Newburyport Blog). “Statistic obsession” apparently is “de rigueur” or at least “pretty normal” apparently with other bloggers.

(I find this weirdly comforting.)

I know a whole lot of people read the Newburyport Blog. That I get. And I know a whole lot of folks find the Newburyport Blog (mainly, apparently, through Google). I keep asking myself, self, “Who are these people who read the Newburyport Blog??”

Looking at the “key words” that people are searching for gives me some idea of who might be out there in Web Land.

Here’s an example:

1) “Property owners rights against frog ponds,” from a computer somewhere in Mattoon, Illinois.

And here’s another example:

2) “Neighborhood petition to save frog pond,” from a computer somewhere in, Willimantic, Connecticut.

(There was also someone searching for “frog panties,” but we just won’t go there.)

So, “ha,” to those of you who tell me you don’t read any postings that contain images of frogs (or “stuffed animals”) in them. The Newburyport Blog is, apparently, giving great comfort both to folks who want to get rid of “frog ponds” (George and the other frogs obviously think the searcher in Mattoon, Illinois is “frog phobic”), as well as great comfort to people wanting to save “frog ponds.”

Obviously this is not entirely true.

I can’t imagine what whoever it is, must think, when they are desperately trying either to get rid of a real live frog pond or save a real, live frog pond and they get George. Good grief.

Well, either they roll their eyes, and Web Land on. Or maybe the vague possibility, like some readers, who find the Newburyport Blog on a fluke, find themselves being on the “verge of,” or “admitting to” actually having crossed over to “Newburyport Blog addiction.”

For self acclaimed Newburyport Blog addicts everywhere, I thank you, and I am deeply appreciative if not downright touched. And to the people looking to get rid of frog ponds, or save frog ponds, some other blog/venue will just have to suffice.

(And in all seriousness, for the folks in the Midwest, and I do not know if that includes Mattoon, Illinois or not, our hearts go out to all the people who live in the places that have been so damaged by the most recent floods.)

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport and Friendship

I read about Mr. Ryan’s definite departure from our fair city with great sadness.

Mr. Ryan has probably become one of the Newburyport Blog’s biggest friends.

I know this comes as a surprise to many and horror to more than a few.

The Tom Ryan that I have come to know in the last year and a half is a completely different Tom Ryan than the often cruel, smart-assed editor of the Undertoad, who often seems to have a huge chip on his shoulder.

It’s as if the Tom Ryan of the Undertoad is a “persona,” and the Tom Ryan that I have come to know is a completely different person.

And if the Undertoad editor is a “persona,” believe me, I more than understand.

Over the last year and a half plus, I find that as the editor of the Newburyport Blog I have begun to develop a “persona” myself. A completely ditzy person, who talks to birdbaths, has stuffed animals making political commentary, and who occasionally makes an intelligent observation.

And as I put myself “out there” in a small community, it feels as if the “persona” serves as some sort of protection or shield.

I could honestly say that it is very possible that Mr. Ryan is the best friend that the Newburyport Blog has had thus far.

Mr. Ryan calls up and checks on me. Sees if I’m doing Ok. Tells me I’m doing something worthwhile (yes, hope that is true) and not to lose heart. And there is no agenda.

Possible small gestures that have gone a long, long way. And no one else in Newburyport, MA has come close to showing the consistent compassion, empathy and support that Tom Ryan has.

Actions speak loudly.

Now as the election heats up and I may disagree with Mr. Ryan on this or that, I still may well get “Toaded.” But all those “small” kindnesses have added up to a mountain of consideration. It would take an awful lot of wild “Toading” to negate all the kindness that Tom Ryan has shown to me and the Newburyport Blog.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport, A Sidekick on Another Local Blog

Is George Cushing of Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall, the political consultant to the Newburyport Blog ever excited.

George has found another blog that has a “sidekick.” (George is not sure whether he likes being referred to has a “sidekick,” but for the moment he’s decided to go for it.)

The other “sidekick” is on another local blog called H2oTown watertown’s watercooler.

The editor of H2oTown is Lisa Williams, and Lisa has recently started Placeblogger (probably more about Placeblogger at a later date, because it’s a pretty interesting concept).

George is both excited and at the same time wildly jealous. Because Lisa’s sidekick has his own video. And now George wants his own video. All the frogs want their own video. Good grief.

Forget it George, no video. In fact, I’m so sick of seeing photos of frogs lately on the Newburyport Blog, that I’m not even going to put a picture of you on this post, so there.

(George is not happy with this.)

Ms Williams sidekick is called “Nicnoc”. And you can press here to see the original post on Nicnoc.

And here is Nicnoc’s bio:

“Nicnoc has come from the planet [untranslatable] in search of new methods of governance for his homeworld, whose government is mired in petty feuds. His plans to visit the White House are nixed, so he decides to take in a Town Council meeting in Watertown, MA, instead.” (H2oTown, June 26, 2007)

And here is Nicnoc’s very cool video on YouTube:

Many thanks to Lisa Williams and H2oTown watertown’s watercooler (and of course Nicnoc).

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport, Conservative Council Campaigns

And folks, why I am concerned about a “conservative backlash” in the race for Newburyport City Council.

In the Newburyport Current, June 29, 2007, there is a Q & A (question and answer) with Ward 5 candidate Brian Derrivan.

Now, Mr. Derrivan may be a delightful fellow (I have never met him), however, his take on some issues, at least on the Central Waterfront and Open Space, well, sigh. Not a good sign for this blogger on the issues thing.

And from reading the article, it sounds as if Mr. Derrivan has almost no Newburyport civic experience. Sigh, again.

And yes, this is where I’m having this weird blogger trouble. Let’s say Mr. Derrivan is almost peccadillo free (very few of us are, so he probably has some lurking peccadilloes, I just don’t happen to know about them-yet), but when it comes down to a vote on the Newburyport city council floor, I’m not sure that he would vote the way that I might hope that he would.

And as for doing more to resolve the Newburyport Landfill matter, as Mr. Derrivan says that he would like to do, well… as I understand it, the host agreement negotiated under the administration of mayor Al Lavender (who is also running as a conservative for the Newburyport City Council, again, good grief), pretty much gave away the farm, so to speak, and contained little if any enforcement language for the City of Newburyport, MA and the residents who live therein. (I don’t know if Mr. Lavender gets to reap the benefit of the noxious odors where he lives or not.)

One can hardly blame subsequent mayors and Newburyport City Councils for desperately doing everything in their power (which isn’t much, again vast understatement, due to what many citizens are of the opinion is the flaw of the soft language in the host agreement made under the Lavender administration) to remedy the situation ever since (which was quite a long time ago).

And, why would I be concerned that Mr. Derrivan could win? Well, Ward 5 is one of the 3 most conservative wards in Newburyport, MA (conservative wards– Wards 4, 5 & 6), and in a last minute, two week write-in campaign in 2005, Brian Derrivan got a heck of a lot of votes.

And this time around, as Brian Derrivan points out in the Newburyport Current Q & A, Newburyport Current, June 29, 2007, he has lots of time to make a good solid run for Newburyport City Councilor for Ward 5 in Newburyport, MA.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport, Peccadilloes and Politics

This is one of the things that I now struggle with as editor of the Newburyport Blog.

When I first started out, as I said in the earlier post, it was to give progressives a “voice” in what looked like would be a conservative mayoral term.

I was naïve. Ok, I admit it. Well, maybe even really, really naïve.

I thought that progressives would be basically good folks and it could be one big happy progressive, yippee family. (Well, you see what I mean about naïve.)

And what I’ve found is, of course, we all have our peccadilloes (such a revelation). And of course, progressives have theirs (and of course, this blogger has plenty of her own.)

And what I have found is that I may be very fond of people whose take on the issues concerning Newburyport, MA I might disagree on. Which is all fine and dandy, until it comes to voting time. Or for that matter, blogging time.

And then I find myself in this dilemma. How to I vote or blog on the progressives whose peccadilloes end up bothering me? Is it strictly, issues, issues, issues? Or is it issues with some kind of combination of human character?

Local politics is far more nuanced than I ever expected.

What started out as a black and white perspective, has now become a whole lot more grey. And since one of my favorite phrases is “go for the grey,” I imagine that I could be at ease with that, right?

But the shades for grey, when it comes to blogging, put me on yet another steep blogging learning curve.

However, uncertainty is Ok. And where I was quite certain I knew the direction the Newburyport Blog would take back in January 2006, I’m not certain at all where it would go in July 2007.

I anticipate wandering down this odd path, which I never expected could possibly exist, with curiosity and just a little apprehension. And I hope that the readers of the Newburyport blog would continue to join me in my blogging travelmania, and we might see where in the world this path might go.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport, Conflicting Political Interrelationships

As the editor of the Newburyport Blog, I really didn’t want to go here. But since Jim Stiles has pulled out papers to run for mayor of Newburyport, MA (he has now become a public figure), well, I guess I am now going to go here.

You see, this is where things have changed for moi, the editor of the Newburyport Blog. I’ve become as interested in the process of politics as well as the actual issues themselves (believe you me, I’m still real, real interested in the issues, believe you moi.)

I went on a hunt for the definition of “politics,” the definition that at least I was hunting for. And at thefreedictionary.com I found this definition, “The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.” Yes, and maybe that is one of the things that has become so intriguing to me, lo’ these many months as the Newburyport Blog as evolved.

A little history here. I started the Newburyport Blog back in January 2006 with the sinking feeling about Mayor John Moak being mayor of Newburyport, MA. The hope was to continue to give “progressives” a “voice”, in what looked like what was shaping up to be a very “conservative” regime. My thought was that people could contribute to the Newburyport Blog, and literally I would be the “editor” and do very little writing myself. Obviously, things have turned out a bit differently.

Yes, and in January 2006 I got on the old fashion telephone and called folks asking if they would be interested in having a “voice,” and who else might they recommend. One of the names that came up and that I did call was a gentleman I had never heard of, Jim Stiles.

And if you go back a take a gander at the early postings on the Newburyport Blog, yes indeed, there are postings by Mr. Stiles.

Now this is where it gets into the “conflicting interrelationships among people in society” thing.

I had made the “mistake,” good grief help me, of taking the local political journal, the “Untertoad” and its editor, Tom Ryan (who is also now running for mayor of Newburyport, MA) seriously.

(And in those early days, the bulk of the less than pleasant phone calls and emails I would receive, was because I did mention the Undertoad on occasion. Readers of the Newburyport Blog may have noticed that the Undertoad is now rarely referenced, and as a result disagreeable phone calls have gone way down. A reprieve.)

But back in February 19, 2006, Mr. Stiles sent in a post, that I posted after the first sip of my morning coffee (big mistake, I now never post anything until I have consumed 2 full cups of my morning coffee) that didn’t exactly do Mr. Ryan any favors, and could have possibly caused the Newburyport Blog some trouble in the process.

The post was very artfully worded, and I felt Mr. Stiles would be too classy to be guilty of such, what in my mind was a glum and uncouth act. However, I received an email later that confirmed that, yes indeed, Jim Stiles was purposeful in his intent and with no apology, and I was surprised.

So here we are. Mayoral election 2007. I may agree with Mr. Stiles on the issues that he supports, but his action on the Newburyport Blog was for me unanticipated and less than delightful, seemingly stooping to the level that he felt Mr. Ryan could be guilty of. And to boot, Tom Ryan is also running for mayor of Newburyport, MA.

Yes, and the whole thing is weirder than fiction.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport, My Faithful Visitor

When I started the Newburyport Blog, a local blog, I also started a blog on national issues (as well as an artist’s website and an art blog– a lot of stuff).

The Newburyport Blog ended up flourishing, way beyond my windswept expectations. But that’s not the only reason why the Newburyport Blog gets the most attention from moi.

Way back in the early days when I first had my art website, when maybe 7 people would come visit, and 3 of them happened to be me, I had a faithful visitor who every month would check every page. Who wouldn’t be happy? I was.

Now my stats (statistics) show IP numbers. An IP number is the number of a particular computer. It took me a while to figure out all of this IP stuff out. And then I realized that you could look up IP numbers. Most of the time it doesn’t tell you much, but every now and again, you will get the name of an actual company (as opposed to Comcast or Verizon). And way back when, when there were only 3 or 4 IP numbers a day, it didn’t take much time to give them a gander.

So who is my faithful visitor? Well, after a little IP-ing and a little Googling, I found out that my faithful visitor turned out to be a company used by Home Land Security.

Yikes, and I was pissed. I mean, this was an art website, for crying out loud.

So, when I started the national blog, I put this information, with the IP number and the name of the company on my national blog.

Then my “faithful visitor,” visited me a whole lot more frequently, and I was very freaked. So, I decided to take down the IP number and the name of the company. And yes, you bet, I’m chicken. I decided to concentrate on my own home town community, where hopefully my “faithful visitor” would only see fit to visit me once a month, just like in the old days.

And as a btw… I have no idea how many times these folks now come around, because I’ve long stopped, long since, checking IP numbers. So how often my “faithful visitor” comes a calling will just have to remain a mystery. Which remains fine and dandy by me.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

(Editor’s Note: O’ you out there in Web Land, if my “faithful visitor” was checking out an art website, one would imagine that they are probably checking your blog or website out too.)

Newburyport Blog Takes the Challenge

What a blogger puts up with, geesh.

Actually for all intents and purpose I’m looking for sympathy here, but it’s purely perfunctory on my part. You see Answers.com graciously put the Newburyport Blog on their site (thank you Answers.com), and I got this “challenge” from Answers.com to write a blog post using words like “mellissophobia” (abnormal fear of bees). Good grief, like I’m really going to use “messissophobia” a whole lot on the Newburyport Blog, for crying out loud.

I have a very healthy dislike of wasps, but I certainly do NOT have an abnormal fear of bees (“mellissophobia”). I don’t even have an unhealthy phobia about people called “Mellisso.”

They also want me to use the word “Belize.” Isn’t that fun. At first I thought, well, ah ha, I’ve used belie, no proproblemo. But no, this is “Belize,” which is some country I never heard of somewhere south of Mexico. Good grief. The only thing “Belize” has in common with Newburyport, MA is that it is coastal. And, well, we’re coastal. So Ok.

And yes, they want me to include stuff about a “brown recluse spider,” like we really have those in Newburyport, MA.

Would this quixotic blog post of mine mean that the readers of the Newburyport Blog would abrogate themselves from their possible perfunctory daily, weekly, monthly peek or whatever? I hope not.

And does Answers.com really think just because of some email “challenge” that they sent me that there might be the vaguest chance that I could yo-yo back and forth between Newburyport, MA and Belize for goodness sakes?

Or even worse, that I would abandon and abrogate (well aren’t we all learning fancy new words here) myself from this coastal, New England city and become some ubiquitous blogger for some coastal place, who knows where? I don’t think so.

And the quid pro quo for my either perfunctory or quixotic blogging “challenge” (depending on how one looks at it), basically is practically zippo for moi. You’d think I’d get some big blogger prize for subjecting the readers of the Newburyport Blog to words like “mellissophobia” and “Belize” and “brown recluse spider.”

But no. All I get is some cheap gift certificate to Amazon.com, if I would win this stupid thing (and the readers of the Newburyport Blog can’t even vote or anything, good grief).

And what does Answers.com get from this silly post on the Newburyport Blog, with words like “brown reclusive spiders?” For all intense and purposes they get a whole lot of links to their website. That’s what they get. Which is real smart on the part of Answers.com. Good SEO (Search Engine Optimization). My.

And yes, this blogger from Newburyport, MA fell for the whole silly thing. Although… it’s a great idea. Maybe I’ll send out Newburyport words to websites and blogs, with the promise of some grand prize. I could come up with $50 bucks (2nd place, Answers.com. $100 1st place.) for a gift certificate to Amazon.com, I’m cheap and Yankee enough to do that. I’ll have to ponder that one. Hmmm, let’s think… and La-de-da.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Newburyport, Peter Miller and the High Street Email List

I first met Peter Miller in early January 1999. We both went to a meeting about High Street, held in the Newburyport City Council chambers. Peter Miller and Maria Nortz had just moved to town.

At that meeting, as I was making the decision to create Citizens to Save High Street, Peter Miller was taking down everyone’s email address. Now you have to remember, email was really new in 1999 ( yes, hard to fathom) and we all really wondered what the heck Peter Miller was up to.

Peter Miller was ( and still is, sadly, he and Maria Nortz have moved out of town) one smart cookie.

Peter Miller started the High Street email list, and I learned an awful lot from Mr. Miller. Peter Miller and the High Street email list were one of the very big inspirations for the Newburyport Political Blog.

From Peter Miller, I learned about how to make the tone of a “email posting” civil by using the words “could, would, might, may.” I was just amazed at how an email posting changed when those few verbs were applied.

Peter Miller also tried to make everyone look good, whether he agreed with them or not. He would make sure that the grammar was correct and that everything was spelled right. If he had questions about an email someone sent in, he would send it back and ask if they were sure that they would like it posted. If the answer came back “yes” that email was sent on to the High Street email list. And sometimes, after they had time to think about it, they often decided that maybe sending the email out to the High Street email list just wasn’t a good idea.

After the fight to save High Street had settled down, I was amazed at how many people had read the High Street email list. People printed it, passed it around, saved it, even archived it as a part of the history of how High Street was saved.

And the High Street email list also turned out to be an incredibly powerful political tool.

So if the Newburyport Political Blog survives, it will be due in great part to what I learned from Peter Miller. And I sure wish Peter Miller and Maria Nortz would move back to town. I sure could use their wisdom, their expertise and help. And a lot of other people miss them too.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport