Category Archives: Business

Business in Newburyport, MA

Newburyport, the Land of Eden

In Newburyport, MA I read an hysterical piece in The New Yorker Magazine by Woody Allen. I, for some reason, never read The New Yorker anymore, but “Bernie Maddoff” captures my eyeballs. And what really captures my eyeballs is the last paragraph of the essay:

“Moscowitz lives to this day with Yetta Belkin, whom he recognized from shopping at Fairway. In life she had always resembled a flounder, and after her fatal plane crash she came back as one.”

You can read the whole piece about two reincarnated lobsters’ encounter with Bernie Maddoff by Woody Allen here.

It’s the “shopping at Fairway” that catches my eye. Fairway on Broadway and 74th Street in New York City is a super supermarket to die for. Not only is there fresh produce up to the wazoo, but there is the ancient, impoverished Afro-American woman along with the waspy, middle aged New York socialite, the impeccably dressed New York businessman, lawyer, banker whatever, along with the pizza guy up the street, all jostling and doing a New York jig, within the hustle and bustle of Fairway. And with a quart of milk that goes for 75cents, what’s not to love?

I look at the new, or now fairly new website for Newburyport Development, and feel, at least compared to an institution like Fairway, that it is, in my mind, politically incorrect.

Newburyport is pictured by Newburyport Development, in my book, as a “Never Never Land” for the waspy, young, only attractive, well to do, American elite. That does not include moi, and I live here. The depiction is sort of the young, gorgeous versions of AIG executives and their girl friends or wives, that are now the recipients of populist rage. It is in stark contrast to the America seen at Fairway, which would, these days, be a politically correct reflection of the America in which we all, like it or not, abide.

This “perfect” Land of Eden, which the Newburyport Development website appears to depict, is in stark contrast to the real life squabbles, let’s say that we in Newburyport, MA are having over the large 292 foot wind turbine located in Newburyport’s Industrial Park.

And what I love about Newburyport, MA, is that no matter how one might feel about the 292 foot wind turbine, the passion is genuine, the “squabbles” are real and heartfelt, not a Madison Avenue mockup. And at the end of the day, or year or decade, there often seems to be a grudging respect for the other side. Often eventually one time “enemies” give one another hugs at the produce department at Newburyport’s local grocery store of choice.

Wind Turbine Newburyport

Who knew last spring when Newburyport’s wind energy, turbine ordinance was written, that Barack Obama would become president of the United States or that we as a country would have a mandate from our new president to make wind energy work.

Wind-wise we are light years ahead of where we were just a year ago. Who knows where wind energy will be a year from now.

I read somewhere that the innovations of wind energy will be similar to the innovation of the PC in the 1990’s. I have no idea if this would be true, but it makes sense to me.

And although I realize that from a wind energy point of view, bigger has been better, it appears, however, that that mindset might be beginning to change.

I think we as a city (see myriad of previous posts) have an opportunity to think about our wind-energy ordinance–policy from a different point of view. And there would be no better time to do that than at the Public Meeting concerning Newburyport’s Wind Energy Ordinance, this Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 7PM at Newburyport City Hall Auditorium.

Wind Energy and Governing

Although it is laudable that we in Newburyport, MA have an individual–company that is on the cutting edge of clean energy, it is also up to our Newburyport governing bodies not to be advocates for any one agenda, but to understand the pulse of the entire city of Newburyport, MA and to govern accordingly, which almost always, when successful, means balance and compromise.

So my thoughts are that when Mr. Richey may have approached whoever about the large wind turbine now on his property in Newburyport’s Industrial Park, that it might have been prudent for our elected Newburyport officials to say something to the effect, “We are thrilled to have someone as committed to clean and green energy as you are, however, our constituency might not be ready for such a radical move (i.e. a 292 foot wind turbine near a residential area); why not start out “low and go slow,” with wind turbines that may not pack as close to a high voltage punch, but are more in balance with a residential community.”

The buck stops with the Newburyport City Council.

And in looking back at the Newburyport Blog, in November of 2007, I expressed a concern about “fastening our seat belts,” because things were really going to move with this particular Newburyport City Council in place.

And concerning wind energy, things have really zoomed, and as a result, things may really backfired. One giant step forward, and possibly many giant steps backwards.

One of my favorite sayings is, “Baby steps get you to the top of the mountain.”

And as far as wind energy goes, there are several “baby steps” that could be taken. There are a number of wind energy products that are now being fast tracked, in response to the same conflict that we in Newburyport, MA are experiencing.

Quietrevolution hopes to have its vertical wind turbine product in 4 different sizes by late 2009 and 2010. The product was featured on MNBC here.

Windspire is a 30 foot by 2 foot vertical wind turbine featured at the Inauguration that has now been fast-tracked. The company was able to retrofit a former auto parts factory in Michigan and high volume production is planned for April 2009.

These are just two examples of wind turbine products, that yes, are not anywhere close to being as high voltage as the example that we currently have, but do wrestle with the issues that concern Newburyport citizens.

I would urge our Newburyport City Council to rethink a long term Newburyport wind energy policy, and not be wedded to an “either-or” approach, but in future, to urge citizens and business to take a more tempered and balanced direction.

Residential Wind Turbines

In thinking about wind turbines and scale and balance for our historic Newburyport, MA city, it seemed to me that we would not be the only place feeling somewhat conflicted about having huge wind turbines in residential areas (vast understatement).

And we now have a president who A) believes in science and B) thinks clean-green energy is a good thing, and is rigorously promoting wind energy. So why wouldn’t President Obama’s administration want to address the issue of smaller wind turbines for populated areas. Great entrepreneurial potential, huge market, lots of jobs.

And in a brief Google of small residential wind turbines, there are lots of folks beginning to wrestle with a solution.

We’ve had antennas on historic Newburyport roofs for many, many years. It would not be so far fetched to imagine effective wind turbines on a residential scale in years (who knows, months?) to come. So down the line there maybe a compromise between huge 300 foot wind turbines and something more manageable wind-wise for a Newburyport historic place.

An Obama-time, Obama-moment, full of Obama type possibilities.

Historic Stewardship and Clean Energy

Actually the quote from President Obama is about clean, green energy.. “…we have to balance economic growth with good stewardship of the land God gave us.”

(Courier-Journal.com, “Obama chides Republicans, President says party needs to offer ideas,” by James R. Carroll, March 24, 2009.)

I’m still wondering about the idea of how to balance clean, green energy (huge, out of scale wind-turbines) with a residential community, much less an historic, beautiful one.

Yup, there were large smokestacks spewing horrible stuff into the air in Newburyport, MA earlier in the 20th century, and the wind from wind turbines is clean and green. But because we (at least a lot of us) are mighty excited about clean, green energy, does that mean that it might not be a good idea to give some serious thought to balancing economic growth and clean energy growth with the stewardship of the historic land, Newburyport, MA in which we live?

And again, I come back to scale. I think the existing wind turbine could give us the opportunity to have that kind of dialogue. And I don’t know the answer.

I do, however, think that David Hall struck a balance between clean and green energy and our residential and historic Newburyport, New England city. The solar panels on the restored Tannery are not at odds with the historic nature of our Newburyport historic district.

We are a city that fought two large towers that would have spanned the Merrimac River, because, among other things, they were completely out of scale with the environment in which they would have existed (on either side, both rural and residential). The alternative was to put the wires underneath the river.

For a residential and historic area, an emphasis on solar energy for long term clean and green might be more appropriate than more out of scale wind turbines– the Industrial Park which they are zoned for, is mighty close to the residential areas of Newburyport, MA. Not exactly a new conflict.

Such are my politically incorrect thoughts.

Newburyport Balance

As I drive on Rt. 95 going North past the Scotland Road exit, I come to the Newburyport vista that I always enjoy so much, what is known as the “Common Pasture.” Newburyport is one of those rare communities that has fought to combine rural agricultural historic areas, the Common Pasture, with architectural preservation, our Newburyport National Historic District, the engine of our economic and cultural vibrancy.

And smack dab in the middle of that beautiful vista is the gigantic, in my mind, completely out of scale with its surrounding environment, now getting fairly famous, wind turbine.

My knee jerk reaction, seeing it up and running, is to give it the finger. I wait a good while, before even deciding whether to comment on it on the Newburyport Blog or anywhere else.

A) I am totally politically incorrect, and green anywhere is good. The wind turbine is not an affront to the historic Newburyport landscape, but an 21st century adaptation, a natural outgrowth, the local Newburyport green response to “Drill Baby Drill.” I should be grateful.

B) Wind turbines are a good thing, but a balance between contemporary green technology and historic preservation is a vital thing for the long term economic vibrancy of our historic seaport New England city. It’s the completely out of scale aspect of the wind turbine that makes it objectionable. 292 feet is a lot of feet, even though the city ordinance written by Newburyport City Councilors Ed Cameron and Barry Connell allows for 300 feet, and a variance of up to 400 feet.

My knee jerk reaction is to want to run out and make sure that the Newburyport City Council who wrote, endorsed and voted for such out of scale structures, along with the Mayor of Newburyport who endorsed the ordinance, that none of them get re-elected to their elected posts. Plus, there are 22 sites that the Newburyport Planning Office deems acceptable for more out of scale wind turbines, although from what I can make out, at the moment no one seems to want to erect another one (yet).

There is a message from Ed Cameron on Gillian Swart’s blog:

The Newburyport Planning and Development Committee
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 7pm
Newburyport City Hall Auditorium

Wind Energy and the City’s Wind Energy Conversion ordinance–primary topic.

Anyone who now might have second thoughts about the ordinance or would like to see it “tweaked,” now that an example is spinning in our midst, would be able to have a chat with our Newburyport city officials.

Editor’s Note: President of the Newburyport City Council James Shanley has emailed me to say that the Wind Energy Conversion Facilities Ordinance was written by the Planning Board and the Planning Office.  Newburyport City Councilors Ed Cameron and Barry Connell were the Newburyport Councilors who sponsored the ordinance, and James is pretty sure that it passed 11-0.

The link to the Wind Energy Conversion Facilities Ordinance is here.

Financial Confusion

In trying to make some sort of sense out of the financial mess that we are in, Newburyport and globally, I find myself staring incomprehensibly at my Newburyport TV watching some guy in a hot pink necktie and a raging bald guy. It feels like Flannery O’Conner meets the business channel, or “Alice in Wonderland” meets the business channel. It’s really hard to take these folks seriously from my vantage point in Newburyport, MA, but as a neophyte desperately trying to learn this stuff, I’m not exactly sure just how crazy these people are.

And along comes Jon Stewart last night, God bless him, to explain the whole thing to moi, confused in Newburyport, MA.

The whole business channel thing doesn’t even rate high enough on the weirdness scale to be a combination of something as classy as Flannery O’Conner or “Alice in Wonderland.” Nope, this is the Twilight Zone gone rancid:

“Maybe the most shocking Jim Cramer gem is when he is advising that his audience buy stocks: “You should be buying these, and accept that they are overvalued, but accept that they are going to keep going higher. I know that sounds irresponsible but that’s how you make the money.” On that day in 2007, the Dow was at 13,930. It is now below 7,000.”

You can read the Huffington Post article and watch the Jon Stewart segment here.

And this is one of the guys who is slamming President Obama. Good grief.

A New American World Order

My father was a very smart and courageous man. He lived through the depression, served his country and received a Purple Heart in World War II. He deftly navigated the charters of the corporate and social world of New York City, and then reinvented himself at the age of 72. At almost 90 he looked at the financial landscape, and I think looking back at the different things that we talked about, he knew on some very profound level, that economically things were going to go into a tailspin. And he was tired. He was ready to go.

He knew exactly how he wanted to go and was very clear about it (I had hoped that he would make different choices, but he did not), and what I discovered was that, pretty much, aside from myself, no one was listening. But my Dad was very much in control of his own destiny, and things did go the way he wanted them to go, whether anybody wanted them to or not. And frankly, his timing was pretty good.

And what I see today is that President Obama was always very clear in what he would do as President of the United States. Either many Americans weren’t listening, or they believed that he wouldn’t go though with it, that it was only “empty campaign rhetoric.”

And in some ways it seems to me that the wealthy (Rush Limbaugh, by his own admission, is no exception) are furious that he intends to actually go through with what he promised, ie that they are going to pay higher taxes. And it seems to me as if we are on some level, this was actually articulated by some cable TV shows last night, playing a game of chicken, or witnessing a power play, between the Obama Administration and the wealthy. This is what I think. That they want his administration to fail because they don’t want to be told what to do by a man who is Afro American, and they do not want their taxes to go up, and they don’t have, it seems to me, much empathy for the folks that have less money than they do.

They are staging a weird sort of protest against what they, I think rightly, see as a reorganization of a social order. The wealthy white man might no longer be in control. Better to humiliate President Obama, take a loss for a certain amount of time, send the Democrats permanently into the wilderness, and return to a free market economy, hopefully with no or little restriction, business as usual, just like the good old days of the last eight years.

This is what I am thinking and hoping. That because they haven’t been listening, and they are so intent on their own agenda, that they have misjudged the new president, severely. President Obama is very clear on what he wants to happen. And I hope, among all the noise, and smoke and taffy, that the old world order of the wealthiest in this country getting pretty much a free lunch, compared to the rest of the country, is dead on arrival. And that we continue to see a new America emerge and once again reinvent herself.

Science and Taxes

I remember when the Bush Administration lowered the capital gains tax to 15%, my father was horrified. The ordinary American he told me was still paying 25% in taxes on a CD that they had in the bank. He was also aghast at the the Bush Administration gradual repeal of the estates tax. My father believed that the wealthy in America were the ones to pay the most taxes. He predicted that the extreme “Voodoo” (ironically dubbed by George Bush the elder) economic policies of the Bush Administration would lead to fiscal chaos for the United States of America. I wish he was around for me to say from Newburyport, MA, “Dad, wow were you ever right.”

My father was a tax lawyer, one of the first. His job was to help wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes. But what I discovered was that he used his influence as a tax lawyer to persuade folks to give to things like research for mental illness and the cure for cancer.

My father believed in and encouraged investing in science, even when the government, in the dark ages, under the former Bush administration refused to do so, by refusing federal money for stem cell research.

I briefly got to know an artist by the name of Eliza Auth and her husband Tony Auth, the syndicated political cartoonist and cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, who has been mentioned before on the Newburyport Blog. Tony Auth graciously gave this political cartoon that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 27, 2005 to my father for his 90th birthday, and also gave me permission to use the image on the Newburyport Blog.

Tony Auth, May 27, 2005, Used with Permission

So on November 4, 2008 we as a country decided to put away childish things, voted for a candidate who wanted to once again embrace science, and go back to a more realistic tax structure. And all of a sudden the country, or as the media would have us think, is surprised and some of them aghast.

This is my theory, and I think it’s one that my Dad would have agreed with, that for eight years under the Bush Administration, the wealthy have had a basically, pretty close to, almost, tax free, relatively speaking, free ride. And possibly that part of why the market is down so much, is a petulance on the part of the 15% capital gains folks on Wall Street, that the existing tax disparity might have only been an eight year Christmas present by the former Bush administration.

Too Good to be True

One of the few “life lessons” that I’ve managed to get somewhat into my DNA, is “when it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true,” but yet, boy is it tempting. Good grief.

And that truism applies to all sorts of things that so many of us are experiencing in these lousy economic times. Maybe Newburyport frugal Yankees are more suspicious of the “too good to be true” thing, and maybe it’s part of the reason that Newburyport, MA is not experiencing some of the unbelievable pain that some folks are facing. Just moderate pain.

I get a small odd postcard in the mail offering to buy my house, no strings attached. I investigate the website of the mailers of the postcard. Four websites, that I can make out, all looking pretty high scale, compared to the postcard I receive. The return address on the postcard appears to be a house for sale.

Promises of fast closing, fast cash.

Implications of owning a house, with bad credit or no credit.

Red flags are flying in my brain. Isn’t stuff like this what got us into this mess in the first place?

I actually call someone in the government, the US government, and they say stuff like this is now popping up all over the United States, but here it is apparently popping up in Newburyport, MA.

I want to investigate this red flag so much. But, for this blogger, restraint. I call one of my Newburyport journalistic friends instead, and give them the information, hoping that our local Newburyport press could examine the waving red flag that has come, apparently, Newburyport’s way.

Newburyport Twitter Wakeup Call

This is something that I never thought I’d give a rip about, so it surprises me that I do. Something so global and is in fact so much Newburyport local.

Some full disclosure here. For 3 years I worked as one of then 75,000 (the number has since grown) editors for the “Open Directory Project” or as it is often know as “DMOZ,” the directory owned by Netscape and used by Google. Most of my ever ongoing “training” at DMOZ, was catching people trying to scam the system, as well as adding really good websites to the directory. I was constantly amazed at how many and how often and how sneaky people were. It was a real wakeup call for moi.

And yesterday I watched the CEO and co-founder of Twitter, a very, very smart (vast understatement) and personable gentleman, Evan Williams, talk about his ideal for Twitter. Twitter is also not making any money (yet).

This is who it appears is making money, Social Media Optimizers (SMO)s. From what I can make out in my small amount of research (and yes this is cynical and possibly jaded on my part) the gig was sort of up for the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) folks, when Google wanted relevant content and lots of it. Schmoes like me can rank high for key words that SEO’s used to be able to persuade folks to pay unbelievable amounts of money for.

When I went on Twitter and searched “SEO,” what I saw were lots of “tweets” from SEO’s saying how stupid people were about Twitter, what a sham a company was if they didn’t insist on a SEO firm using Social Media like Twitter, and a certain implication of the large amounts of money to be made off of Twitter ignomaniacs.

What was interesting to me, was that this was not the tone or goal, at least from what I heard, from the co-founder and CEO of good old Twitter. Quite the contrary. He said he thought at this point Twitter, I believe the word was “impossible” to use, the plan was for that to end, and the whole thing was suppose to be fun. The aim did not seem to me to scam people out of large amounts of money.

And the other thing that I sort of read between the lines, that many large companies now almost feel compelled to set up Twitter accounts, even Newspapers, which Mr. Williams, it seemed to me, seemed to be quizzical about.

I’m guessing that it is all those SMO’s out there who used to do SEO that are now scaring their website customers into have things like Twitter accounts, so that, yes, the SMO’s can make tons of money, because most folks are Twitter ignorant, and need to pay someone mucho money to do it for them.

Maybe I will become a Twitter addict, Mr. Williams did say it was addictive and was supposed to be fun. But, I wonder how many Newburyport businesses, in this lousy economy, will feel compelled to pay good money to SMO’s to make sure they stay relevant and solvent.

Newburyport Yankee Frugality

So far, fingers crossed like mad, Newburyport, MA does not appear to be as hard hit by these lousy economic times, as is so many other parts of the United States. That’s not to say we haven’t had some pain and there won’t be more pain to come. But as President Obama travels to some of the hardest hit parts of our country, so far, Newburyport, MA does not seem to have those heart wrenching stories.

And in my attempt to begin to fathom what we as a country are going through, I watch, uncharacteristically, the cable business channel. And this time instead of coming across a segment on “shapewear” (see earlier entry), I came across a segment attempting to explain all of this called (I think) “The House of Cards.” I have no idea how accurate this particular explanation is, but I watch it with fascination and horror (the “horror” part they are probably counting on).

What struck me was their emphasis on folks on either end of the foreclosure crisis facilitating the “American Dream.” I can see the American Dream not wanting to be killed in a crime ridden part of the United States. In my book this is a good thing.

But what I could not fathom, was buying, what in my book, looked like a mansion, on a $900 a week salary. Now, my guess is the folks who did this documentary, found this particular example. But what I think, as I understand it, there were a lot of folks leveraging their dwelling, for things that they could not otherwise think of ever affording– a “dream” pool, a “dream” kitchen, a “dream” vacation. A lot of dreaming, that sounded like it was not too in touch with reality. So yes, watching this documentary, when reality raises it’s little head, the impossible dream thing could go out the window.

The version of the “American Dream” that was being described was so far beyond my own definition, that with one exception, I had a hard time feeling sorry for any of the folks, Wall Street or Main Street who were depicted, whose lives were affected. (Again, the documentary could have been wildly eschewed, I don’t know enough about all of this very complicated stuff to make that call.)

But I am very glad to live in what many have referred to, often in not very flattering terms, as a frugal, Yankee community. Our community banks, are doing just fine, in part, I think because they are rooted in reality, verify folks information, don’t sell their mortgages, love and know the community, and if someone wanted an unrealistic amount of lending money to finance a possibly unrealistic “dream,” my guess would be that our community banks would have a kind but firm community chat with whoever that might be.

Bras and Historic Preservation

Flipping through the channels, there appear to be more and more TV shows on plastic surgery. Especially plastic surgery for boobs. Is it size D or double DD? A lowly size C? Never do I hear these young and older women agree to a measly size B. What would be the point (pun intended).

And what the configuration of women’s paraphernalia tells us about our culture at large (see earlier entry on shapewear), much less that we as a culture now have shows on plastic surgery, says something about us, I think.

As I recall in the 1950’s, as I sat watching things like cartoons and racier stuff like “I Love Lucy,” there would be advertisements for “Cross Your Heart” bras that, from what I could make out, looked really, really uncomfortable, and made women’s boobs look unnatural, like less exaggerated, latter-day Madonna cone-shape, shape boobs. It said something about the times.

Later in the 1960’s bras literally went out the window or up in flames. If women actually wore bras, they were more “natural” shaped. This also said something about the times.

Today, it seems to me that the aim of upper women’s wear is to make every woman look like she’s had a boob job, whether she actually has had one or not. Not that I mind, looking like I’ve had a boob job, and not actually having paid for one, maybe that’s not such a bad idea, I don’t know. Upper woman’s wear, thick, molded and not a nipple showing. This, like the new 21st century, girdle, poising as shapewear, to me says something about the times we live in, I just don’t know what. That fake boobs, rather than the old fashion natural ones, are in?

And what in the world do women’s boobs, bras, the configuration of upper woman’s wear have to do with Newburyport, MA? As I mull this over in my brain, sometimes I think that it has to do with the fact that Newburyport, MA, more especially in boom times, is losing it’s lust, more and more, for actual real historic homes. The real thing, real historic homes, seem to be going out of fashion. The façade of historic homes seems to be more appealing.

As I walk through our historic district, I know how many house are replicas of the real thing. Architectural boob jobs if you will. Visually pleasing to the eye, often more easily sold for bigger bucks, but not the real thing.

To my eye, the real thing around town, actual old homes, seem like gems, not small or sagging breasts in need of reconstruction. But I worry that this view point of mine could be called quaint.

I guess one of my hopes in these lousy economic times, is that by the time they have hopefully righted themselves, peoples “values” could have changed, and real stuff, like historic homes in Newburyport, MA would be seen as the gems they were once seen as, rather than a possible opportunity to slash and stuff, a face lift, a boob job, to turn a tidy profit.

Web Design, Newburyport

The idea for the last of the free websites from Mary Baker Design, came from my walks around the historic district in Newburyport, MA. The web design is the “Window Box” website. A portion of the original photograph is at the top of the entry.

For me it is often the preservation of not only large elements, but also the small, sometimes intangible things, that preserve the “soul” of a city. In the photograph of “Window Box” there is one of those things. The window in the photograph is original to the house. Original glass is wavy, has “personality” if you will. A small thing, but when every window looked out of has historic glass in it, the experience adds up. The first house I owned in Newburyport, MA had original windows. And I loved looking out at the world though the window of all the people that had come before me.

The window in the photograph of “Window Box” has a storm window over it, which are often put on windows of historic homes. Storm windows appear to have gone out of fashion, which I think is too bad, because, when I had the privilege of living in an historic home, I thought they worked. In the photograph, you can see the screen on the storm window, as well as what I think of as a quintessential Newburyport, New England curtain.

And then there is of the custom, so loved in Newburyport, MA, of putting flowerboxes in windows all over our small, historic New England city, making it a delight, for people like me, to walk all over town, and appreciate the effort and pride that residence of Newburyport, MA have in their homes and in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

The demo of the free website “Window Box” at Mary Baker Design can be seen here. The web design of the “Window Box” can be downloaded for free here. If you need any help setting up your free web site, please feel free to contact me at Mary Baker Design. A screen shot of the web site is also included in this entry.

Newburyport Website Design

The second free website design that I created, contains three historic photographs of Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was a tough decision to decide which ones to use. But eventually I chose the photographs of the clipper ship in Newburyport’s waterfront harbor, a view of downtown Newburyport, looking up the Merrimac River, and a detail of the a clam worker from the historic photograph, the Clam Houses. All three photographs are in the public domain, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center at the Newburyport Public Library, in Newburyport, MA. The historic photograph of the Clam shack worker is at the top of this post.

The website design “Old Photographs” can be downloaded for free at Mary Baker Design. A demo of the Newburyport website design can be seen here.

The website design is in a WordPress format. WordPress is a terrific software. It is very flexible, and the person who downloads the website design can put their own title, description, content and navigating information on the top menu bar as well as on the side.

The site can be made to look like a website, a blog or a combination of both. If you are puzzled by what to do with the website once it is downloaded, please contact me at Mary Baker Design.

The first two websites based on the old photographs of Newburyport, MA are a way of giving back to the seacoast, New England city of Newburyport, MA that I love so much. And I figured that if the website designs are downloaded and used, that they would be a great advertising tool for the historic city of Newburyport, MA, a wonderful place to live, to work, to visit, to raise a family, to retire to and just to plain old enjoy and have fun. I’ve also included a snapshot of what the website design of “Old Photographs” actually looks like. You can see the “Old Photograph” website design page here.

Newburyport Websites

In this lousy economy I’ve been working on designing websites. And because there now appear to be so many folks blogging in Newburyport, MA, I’ve designed a series of free websites that can be downloaded for free at Mary Baker Design. The websites are in the form of WordPress software and can be configured in any way. The title, description, content and menus on the top and side can be custom created by the person who downloads the website. They can look like a blog, or they can be made to look like a website or a combination of both. If anyone does download a free website, I will be glad to help them set it up. See the contact information at Mary Baker Design.

Because the historic photograph of the Clam Shack Workers is so beloved in Newburyport, MA, I decided to use that photograph in the first free website design. The photograph of the Clam Shack Workers is in the public domain, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center at the Newburyport Public Library, in Newburyport, MA.

Over the years I’ve discovered that one of the things that folks seem to like best about the Newburyport Blog is the collection of Newburyport historic photographs, from either the Newburyport Public Library or the Library of Congress. The website “Clam Shack” is one of two free websites that uses old photographs of Newburyport, Massachusetts. A demo of the “Clam Shack” website can be seen here.

Artists Creating Jobs

One of the things that really gets me about the new stimulus package, that better get passed, the Republicans better not screw this one up, is the outrage about giving money to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

This isn’t just outrage by Republicans, but on places like CNN too. “Can you believe this? This is really the last straw–money for the NEA.”

Excuse me.

Artists help the economy in all sorts of ways, and unfortunately, very few of them get to reap the rewards, and get lots of scorn, apparently when Mr. Bush’s bushwhacking of the NEA and the arts in general, is now beginning to be realized as not such a good idea.

Take Newburyport, MA for example. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when Newburyport was making a comeback, downtown Newburyport had been rescued and restored, but the rest of the town needed a little sprucing up.

Who moves in? Who “discovers” Newburyport, MA? A lot of artists among other folks, that’s who. From writers, to visual artists etc. They added to the vitality of the town, helped make it an attraction for tourists, new restaurants and shops etc. And now Newburyport, MA is too expensive for most artists to live in. An old, old story.

Artists have a nose for what is the next “in” place. Soho and Chelsea in New York City are two other examples. Artists moved in, and then so did expensive stores, real estate went through the roof, lots of property taxes and jobs at all the new restaurants and shops. And can most artists afford to live in those places either? Rarely.

Do artists get credit for job creating, real estate creating. Apparently not by this United States Congress, because it looks like help/funding for the NEA is going to be axed from the hopefully will be passed stimulus bill.

Humble is In

“Humble” is now “in.”

Humility being a foreign entity, at least often in places like New York City and Washington, D.C., and probably LA as well. Although in places like Newburyport, MA, humility is very common (thankfully).

Noticing how the new president, President Obama stands while he’s waiting for whatever. His hands are clasped in front of his waist. In power, how to succeed in being powerful, hands clasped in front of your waist, a big fat “no, no,” and a big waste of time, in the how to succeed in the being powerful body language thing.

Either President Obama is very comfortable in his own skin, or has never been to a how to succeed in business, power coach, or both. But here he is President of the United States of America.

It’s not apparent to me if the major power folks, who have assisted in causing our major financial meltdown, which is now very much trickling down to our small New England city of Newburyport, MA, have gotten the message yet, or in fact ever want to get the message.

I asked a Newburyport friend, who is in finance, what is happening to some of these powerful financial folks. And I was told that their life styles have been dramatically “cut back,” as in one of their many houses may be on the chopping block.

I inquired if “they” could have any clue that maybe they, along with lots and lots of other folks, might feel responsible for what has happened to the United States, the world, as well as our own little spot in the world, Newburyport, MA.

And I was told, no way would it ever occur to them to own up to their role in all of this mess. It’s, “Give me my two extra houses back, now,” as far as I can make out.

We obviously have a long way to go in coming to terms with the whole concept of the “humility” thing. The frogs (see previous post) get it, they want to be selfish and narcissistic (their words, not mine). Maybe we could all begin to acclimate ourselves to this new “in” concept of humble, by practicing standing, while waiting for whatever, with our hands clasped in front of our waists, just like one of the most powerful men on earth, President Obama,

Sailing to Obama Land

As I reread the entries on the Newburyport Blog of the last few days, they appear almost “giddy.” Now the Newburyport Blog has been silly at times, but “giddy,” I’m not so sure.

And as I think about this, I think I’m feeling giddy, because as a nation we’ve set sail and are very, very close (like on Tuesday) to Obama Land. (Although, I’m not too happy about the potential Secretary of the Treasury not having paid some of his taxes, I don’t care if it’s a “mistake.” I want my Secretary of the Treasury to have absolutely no hint of indiscretion, much less have the vague possibility of being indiscrete, or just as bad, being just plain old stupid. No, I want Obama Land to come up with a saint for Secretary of the Treasury, and I really don’t care that a human being, whose had that much money and power over the years, could not possibly meet that criteria. I want it anyway. Plus I’d like to have a Secretary of the Treasury during these scary financial time, in place right at the get-go, and, as of this morning, that doesn’t look as if it’s going to happen.)

And I’m glad to see the Land of Bush-Cheney fade further and further into the horizon, hoping that for once that the earth actually is flat, and Bush-Cheney Land falls over the edge, landing somewhere in permanent oblivion.

Oh the relief I feel at the thought of having someone, yes, human and of course mistake prone, like the rest of us human beings, but actually, intelligent, articulate, possibly “centrist” in his approach, thoughtful and it appears calm and possibly even balanced.

Whether all of this could possibly be true, at the moment, I really don’t care. It’s like the beginning of a romance, where no matter how flawed the human being might be, they appear saint like and untainted to their significant other. The reality of actual humanness can sink in later.

They don’t call it a “honeymoon phase” for nothing. I’m so looking forward to my first hundred days, first thousand days even (this guy really needs some major breathing room here) of happy fantasy, that despite all odds, Obama Land will pull off what seems like the near impossible, to restore health, financial and otherwise, happiness and peace to the world. I want my moment, in fact I want a very, very long moment, of being totally out of touch with national and international political reality.

Insurance, My House is Worth Tons

I get my new home insurance policy and it seems high.

On one of the few transverseable Newburyport winter wonderland days, I wander into my insurance company, introduce myself to the new young lady in charge of insuring my stuff, and declare that the new premium seems “high.”

I also tell her that I haven’t read through the darn thing, I have no idea what’s in it, but promise that indeed I will peruse the document in question.

Also, somehow the subject of “Minnesota” (see previous post) comes up, and a declaration is made that my new young lady insurance person would never think of leaving good old New England. I, of course, think that this is downright dandy, and feel that we have a bond (a good thing to feel that you have with your new insurance lady, which, of course may or may not be true).

A few days later I actually do read the document in question. I find out, that it appears among other things that I am insured for a golf cart that I don’t own, and a boat, that I don’t own either. The insurance company also seems to think that the price of my house has actually gone up. Were that that would be actually true, in these lousy and scary financial times.

So I chat with my new insurance lady and explain that I don’t want to be insured for a golf cart or a boat that I don’t own. I’m told that this is standard policy, but I zone out during the explanation of why this is “standard” stuff.

I’m sitting there wondering, because I haven’t perused the document in question that carefully, what else might I be paying to be insured for. A flock of sheep? An island in the Bahamas? The possibilities are endless.

Also, I’m so used to getting statements from my medical insurance telling me all the things that I’m not insured for, that I’m just not used to being insured for a golf cart that I’m never planning to use, much less never planning to buy.

After the explanation, that I’ve paid absolutely no attention to, because I’ve been wondering what else I could be insured for, I also inform my new insurance lady, that in these times when houses, on a whole, are worth less than they were, let’s say a year ago (woe is me), that there is no way I’m paying what the insurance company thinks my house might be worth.

Silence, the insurance company might not agree.

So, instead of saying something tactful like, “I’m sure you can convince them to come to another conclusion,” I say the sort of thing that makes people wish they worked somewhere else. The sort of thing that instead of putting a smile on a person’s face, they grip their desk when they see you or hear the sound of your voice, and say to their family when they get home, “You would not believe the day that I’ve had!”

Maybe it was reading about being insured for the golf cart thing, but I slipped and pulled what my son would call a “New Yawker.” Lots of explanations on my part, but no excuse.