Posts

Posted on

Dear Landlord

Here’s the piece that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I submitted the piece for a local writing contest for Renovation Journal .There will be a fundraiser on May 20th to celebrate the 2nd year of Renovation Journal and I’ll read at that. The event will take place at the Revolving Museum.

Any how, here’s the piece I wrote:

December 3, 2003

Dear Landlord:

I hate to be such a pain, but could you kindly look into the small electrical problem in our kitchen. It seems that last night the outlet we had the toaster oven plugged into started to get quite hot and glow red. The result was a small fire that seems to have created some slight damage to the space. The firemen were quite positive in their attitude that we were all very lucky to have survived the incident. If you could look at it, we’d appreciate it since the hole in the side of the house is creating quite a draft and the snow continues to pile up on the floor.

I know this comes right on the heels of our problem with the upstairs bathroom. You’ll be pleased to know that the fire has taken care of the collapsed pantry that resulted from the bathtub dropping onto it.

We appreciate greatly your attempts to solve many of these problems yourself and understand that you are a busy man. While I know it may cause considerable expense, do you think you could hire someone to come quickly and resolve this current round of headaches? I ask since it has been about four months since the hole going from our apartment to the unit downstairs is still waiting for you to free up some time. I fear with this and the other problems, you may not be able to fit us into your workload.

I thank you for your time and attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,

Belinda Pelton
533 Warren Street – Apt. 4
Lowell, MA 01852

p.s. We have finally rid ourselves of the mouse colony that was camped out in the rear bedroom. Your advice to have your nephew, Nate, come with his pit bull was a brilliant solution.

Posted on

The petty voice inside our heads

What is it about human nature that prompts us to want to dismantle, pick apart, and destroy.  To get preverse joy in tearing down other people. What is it that when dismissed or discounted, forces us to increase our destructive drive.  This small petty voice of a child that surfaces again and again leading to dismissal, anger, hate, intolerance and war.  If only we could quiet it and work from a stance of love rather than hurt.

Posted on

Meaning Interrupted

Ok, part of my preoccupation with words and the construction of meaning has to do with teaching a media literacy class this semester. So here are some words that are at a crossroads and it seems that big debates are in the air over whose meaning gets the overall thumbs up.

immigrants

  • those born in another country
  • those born in another country but here withouth status (some times called illegal or undocumented immigrants)
  • those born in Mexico
  • often migrants and immigrants mean the same
  • often talk about our borders means the Mexico – US border
  • does American mean signing the “Star Spangled Banner” in English only

Marriage

  • a legal union between two people
  • a legal union between a man and a woman
  • a religious union between two people
  • a religious untion between a man and a woman
  • a holy sacrement
  • current issues – gay marriage, same-sex marriage, marriage equality

Life

  • starts at conception
  • starts at birth
  • starts somewhere in between conception and birth
  • ends when there is no brain activity
  • ends when all normal functions cease to sustain it
  • ends when external devices are withdrawn
  • ends when an individual decides to end it
  • ends when loved ones decides to end it
  • ends when a state entity decides to end it (including capital punishment)

I’m sure there are more contested meanings, but the big cultural value clashes come from our battles to resolve meaning over what on the surface seem to be very simple words.

Posted on

My Life – brought to you by American Exrpress

American ExpressOK, so American Express has this new print campaign that has famous folks answering a number of questions. I thought I’d go ahead and fill in the blanks for myself.

My name: Felicia Mary Sullivan

childhood ambition: to be the first female president of the United States

fondest memory: summer, the lake, a raft, and a half dozen friends – I was a teen

soundtrack: a neverending stream of bad television

retreat: a small lake in the Adiroindacks

wildest dream: to travel to outer space

proudest moment: the purchase of my first condo

biggest challenge: to ignore that little voice in my head with all the negative thoughts

alarm clock: the sun

perfect day: no work, blue sky, warm breeze, mountain lake, a good book, classic rock and chatter of family in the background

first job: washing dishes at the local family-style restaurant

indulgence: hot fudget sundaes or skipping work to sit in a dark movie theater watching a film with popcorn

last purchase: 6 Molkeskin notebooks

favorite movie: at the moment, Donnie Darko

inspiration: other people (alive or dead)

my life: definitely a work in progress

my card: I should insert American Express here, but I don’t have an AMEX card so it will have to be Mastercard.

Posted on

Shades of Meaning

Off and on over the last few years I’ve thought about the variation in meanings these three concepts embody:

  • United States of America
  • America
  • USA

They each have subtle differences for me.  For instance, “United States of America” feels very constitutional to me.  A term that embodies the formal aspects of the country.  While “America” is more symbolic.  For me it embodies those things like “baseball,” “apple pie,” “the people,” “plains of wheat,” “the rocky mountains,” and the “Statue of Liberty”.  Finally, USA is the corporate brand.  The snazzy logo that sells us to the rest of the world.

Wonder what others think.  What other variations exist?

Posted on

Bragging a bit

Just got happy news today. I am the winner of Renovation Journal’s 2nd Annual “Vinyl Siding Award” for my submission to the “Write a Letter to Your Landlord” contest.

OK so this is no where close to the fame my name-twin, Felicia C. Sullivan , a noted writer in NYC, has. Renovation Journal is local and I’m sure there were only about a dozen folks who submitted. But hey, I get to put it on my resume and I get $100. Not bad for something that took about 15 minutes to write.

I think the letter will be published in the Spring 2006 issue of Renovation Journal and there will be a party on May 20th @ the Revolving Museum here in Lowell.

Posted on

Americans Trust Miltary more than Civic Institutions

From the same issue of Harper’s that I referenced in my 4/16 post here is a disturbing stat:

Americans have an incredible trust in the military. In poll after poll they have much more confidence in the armed forces than they do in other institutions. The most recent poll, just this past spring, had trust in the military at 74 percent, while trust in Congress was at 22 percent and the presidency was at 44 percent. In other words, the armed forces are much more trusted than the civilian institutions that are supposed to control them.

This from an article about scenarios for coup d’etats in the US. And we wonder how Nazi Germany came to power.

Posted on

A Clash of Values

On Thursday, Russ Newman of Free Press and Susie Lindsay of the Berkman Center presented as part of the UMASS Lowell’sNew Directions luncheon series. The series is designed to bring thinkers and practitioners in the fields of new media and technology to the Lowell community. This particular presentation wrapped up the 2005-2006 series. Both speakers provided great background and activity in the realm of communication’s policy and participants were enaged in disucssing some of the key point highlighted.

For me, one of the most valauable insights came from Susie Lindsay and how she defined the various ages of “television” (broadcast, cable, Internet) and their varying value priorities. I’ve misplaced my notebook for the time being and with it the specifics of what the values in each era are. But the key thought was the idea that current communication battles are reflective of these clash of values (i.e; universal access vs. innovation).

I have thought for a while that the variety of regulatory environments (which I would also include telephony and sattelite) each brought with it a separate set of business practices and public give backs that have been embedded in the ways companies, communities and indivdiuals have come to expect and experience their variety of communication services. Looking at these battles from a value perspective helped me in attaching language to thoughts I’ve had for some time. Thanks Susie.

Posted on

A Clash of Values

On Thursday, Russ Newman of Free Press and Susie Lindsay of the Berkman Center presented as part of the UMASS Lowell’sNew Directions luncheon series.  The series is designed to bring thinkers and practitioners in the fields of new media and technology to the Lowell community.  This particular presentation wrapped up the 2005-2006 series.

Both speakers provided great background and activity in the realm of communication’s policy and participants were enaged in disucssing some of the key point  highlighted.

For me, one of the most valauable insights came from Susie Lindsay and how she defined the various ages of “television” (broadcast, cable, Internet) and their varying value priorities.  I’ve misplaced my notebook for the time being and with it the specifics of what the values in each era are.  But the key thought was the idea that current communication battles are reflective of these clash of values (i.e; universal access vs. innovation).

I have thought for a while that the variety of regulatory environments (which I would also include telephony and sattelite) each brought with it a separate set of business practices and public give backs that have been embedded in the ways companies, communities and indivdiuals have come to expect and experience their variety of communication services.

Looking at these battles from a value perspective helped me in attaching language to thoughts I’ve had for some time.  Thanks Susie.