Happy Holidays!

Here's a few shots from the past few days, including a BLIZZARD!, as well as an appearance from Santa at our After-School Program Christmas Party. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!










HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM GUILFORD AVE.!

Opportunity

"Equality means dignity. And dignity demands a job and a paycheck that lasts through the week."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am really enjoying work these days. Mr. Moore and I are deep into our preparations for the 8th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Job Fair, and we have made it a priority to do some street-level marketing for this, as I am currently learning, all-too-important day.

There’s something about getting out of the office and walking these streets with my boss that has cultivated within me a feeling of connectedness to this neighborhood. We try to stay out at least an hour a day, clipboards and pens in hand, and simply roam the streets of Johnston Square, searching for anyone who might be looking for a job. And let me tell you, they aren’t very hard to find.

After the first week of this, I’d become adept at picking out the “job-seekers.” They are the group of young men standing on the corner with their hands in their pockets. They are the single mothers, with a grocery bag in one hand and a toddler in the other, returning from a quick run to the corner store. They are the elderly who walk the sidewalks with a limp or a cane, but nevertheless, still walk. And all I have to do when I make eye contact with them is say, “Excuse me, we’re having a job fair on MLK Day…”

Nearly everyone responds, “Oh, I need a job.” And as I take their information and hand them a flier, I begin to think, this is how easy it should be. If you want a job and are willing to work, you should be able to. These past few weeks, if nothing else, have shown me the enormous amounts of time wasted by people who simply don’t have an opportunity to work. Guys with birth years later than my little sister, out of school and wasting their days away as the cold urban wind begins to blow their faces to stone. The potential for this neighborhood to be something great is there, it’s tangible, I can see it for myself. So why can’t we reach it?

I am falling back on the Community Center for some answers. While we might not “fix” neighborhoods like Johnston Square anytime soon, we can continue to do what we can to bring some equality into the picture. And for a neighborhood like Johnston Square, equality means jobs that pay a living wage. Everyone here wants to work; I know this because they’ve told me so. The man born in the 1940’s wants to work. The woman who just had twins wants to work. The man who walked out of the prison after six years and happened to run into me wants to work. If anyone has a new business idea and is looking for some motivated employees, I’ve got your labor force right here.

I know it’s not as simple as giving jobs to those who ask for them. I realize that, especially now, sometimes the jobs just simply aren’t there. But there still always exists the need for opportunity for people, especially now. And I suppose I could sum up the work this Community Center does in one word: Opportunity. This job fair is an opportunity, if only for a day, for people to feel like they have a chance to reach their potential. We are not promising some grand life changes just by showing up and sticking your hand out. The people I’ve met on these streets, the ones who have asked me if being incarcerated would disqualify them from coming, or the ones who simply do not believe that anyone would care enough about this neighborhood to have a job fair here, know all too well the struggles involved in living a hard-worked, decent life. But if they are willing and committed, if they want to reach out for something higher than the Latrobe Homes housing project or a prison cell on Eager Street, shouldn’t they be given the chance?

Thank you, Mr. Moore and the St. Frances Academy Community Center, for being there, and for believing, even when it is cold.

The New 12 Days of Christmas

Lyrics to the newest single from "Mr. Scott & the After-School Sillies," a twist on the classic Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Sing it around your fireplace tonight!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me...

Twelve blue girls,
Eleven talking computers,
Ten squeaky birds,
Nine dancing houses,
Eight chairs in a pool,
Seven magic microphones,
Six (one of the kids erased this one before I could write it down)
Five CDs!
Four flipping bears,
Three pecan pies,
Two dining room sets,
And a hippo in a bathtub!

The Gov'ment

This is a sad week for Baltimore. Mayor Sheila Dixon was convicted of a misdemeanor embezzlement charge on Tuesday, bringing an end to a trial that has taken weeks and that gave everyone in the city something to talk about. Basically, the gist is this: Dixon was charged with 7 offenses, all stemming from the allegation that she spent gift cards donated to City Hall in 2005 on herself, rather than using them to help the city's poor and needy. Apparently the donors of the gift cards had relationships with Dixon, and she thought they were meant as personal gifts. After all was said and done, after testimonies heard from ex-boyfriends and developers (but not Dixon herself), the Mayor was found guilty of spending around $600 of what was deemed city money on herself. Her fate will be decided in the coming months, though it is unclear as to whether or not she will remain in office.

Now, being as that I have lived in this city for all of 3 months, I feel I am in no position to have a passionate opinion about this case. However, after listening to co-workers and long-time city residents, it seems that the consensus is that Dixon is a very good mayor for this city, people generally like what she has done. She is tough and driven, both things this city needs. However, she has also made mistakes, and has surrounded herself with the wrong people in the past, as evidenced by this conviction. She should be punished for this because as a public figure, she needs to hold herself to a higher standard.

The newspaper said that it's a sad day for Baltimore. Newsanchors, experts, and talking heads have all declared that there are no winners with this outcome, and I agree with that. I'm sorry that Dixon put herself in this position, and I'm sorry that so much time and money was spent trying to build a case against her. I guess the questions Baltimore needs to ask itself are these: Do we really want to crucify and oust a person from office who seems to be so good for the city, over a few hundred dollars she spent on herself 4 years ago? Doesn't this city have more pressing needs to spend its time and resources on, like for instance, a city-wide jobs program?

Speaking of jobs...

Mr. Moore is at the White House today! He was invited to participate in the Jobs Summit conference hosted by the president in an effort to come up with some concrete ideas about job-creation in this country. Apparently this is a pretty big-time meeting, and he will hopefully be able to offer his expertise and opinions regarding this topic during a break-out session. He was treated to breakfast this morning in the West Wing, and perhaps later he will even catch a glimpse of the president!

Needless to say, Mr. Moore and I are excited about this opportunity. I am sure, if given the chance, he will express to his constituents the dire need for the availability of substantive work here in Baltimore City. After spending the past few weeks signing up job-seekers in the neighborhood for the job fair we are holding on MLK Day, I have witnessed first-hand the desire people have to work, and the lack of jobs that are available to them. As we continue to press on with our goal to bring economic justice to our community, we view this White House summit as at the very least a sign that the government is interested in our cause.

So this week I have seen the highs and lows of the role of the government in this nation. Where one day we experience the betrayal of seeing a mayor get convicted, another day we feel the hope in being able to express our views on a national stage. I can only hope that in the coming days, weeks, months and years, we are able to experience more highs than lows, not only for Baltimore, but for the good ol' USA in general.

Free Cheese

Sometimes, there’s no better word to sum up a week than fun. And for me, that’s what this week was all about. Let me weave ye a little tale….

It all started on Monday, when Stacey, Kelly and I put our momentary spurs on and decided to go to a concert. You may be saying to yourself, “This cat keeps saying he doesn’t make any money. How does he have the dough to go to a concert?” Well, my friend, being as that there is really nothing to spend money on during my day-to-day activities (unless I want a Big Texas cinnamon bun from the vending machine at work…and occasionally, I do), I was sitting pretty safe financially, so I decided to go for it.

It didn’t hurt that the headliner was Brett Dennen, of whom I am a big fan, as well as Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Robert Francis. From the first note of the evening, I was sold. Francis and Potter both blew me away by the sheer power of their vocals, and Ms. Potter’s band just straight up ROCKED. I had already deemed the night a success by the time Mr. Dennen prowled on stage (quite literally, it seemed as if he was prowling like a grasshopper. Do grasshoppers prowl?). Not to be outdone by the preceding acts, Brett put on one heck of a show. He is a very gifted lyricist, and it is obvious how emotionally attached he is to his music. The girls and I managed to get front row for his set, and we were extremely pleased with his performance. Did I mention we got free samples of cheese? I went home a happy man, and all I kept thinking was, “Thank God for good music!”

Tuesday brought around a bit of a road trip, as Rachel and I drove up to St. Joseph’s University for a basketball game between our alma maters. Now, this being my first time on campus since I got my graduation slip in May, I was excited to see the new Fieldhouse, and hopefully run into some friends. Despite some traffic, Rachel and I were able to catch most of the game, and we sat with some of the Philadelphia JV’s who had secured us our free tickets. I saw some friends, the Hawks managed to fly to victory, and we were home by eleven. All in all, a good night.

Thursday night, our support person Steve had us all over for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner, and as JV’s, it is our sworn duty to never turn down a free meal. We headed over to his house, and after shooting the breeze for a bit and playing with his 4-year old son and 3-month old daughter, we sat down to eat. Now, mind you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so that would explain the fact that I was in my glory. Turkey! Gravy! Stuffing! Sweet Potatoes! Pumpkin Pie! And a dog to pet after I was done! In addition to the great food, I was thankful for the company, and for the amount of great people to whom I have been exposed during my time as a JV thus far. This really is a great time of the year.

Saturday was spent tooling around in our nation’s capitol with the housemates and my favorite Hawk. I had been to DC numerous times, but this was the first with my people from Baltimore, and I was excited to experience the monuments with them. Every time I walk around those memorials, I get chills (it was a bit breezy, but I did have my trusty denim jacket on, so I was fine weather-wise), and being with my JV compadres, the experience meant even more. Brett Dennen sings that he “was made for better things.” Walking around DC, seeing the history and testaments of greatness before my eyes, and being with people whom we have shared much together, I too believe that we “are made for better things.”

Now, I’m looking forward to a short week, my family spending Thanksgiving Day in Baltimore, and a trip home to New Jersey. How is it almost December already?

Nobody's Perfect

"Nobody's perfect. Well, there was this one guy, but we had him killed..."
~ Anonymous

The other night, I finished reading Lamb by Christopher Moore (no relation to my boss...I think). After triumphing over the 900-page behemoth that is Lincoln by Gore Vidal (don't let anyone ever tell you that Mr. Vidal is a man of few words), I needed something light, funny, with just a smidgen of relevance for me. When I found out that Lamb was being marketed as, "The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal," how could I resist?

This book is funny. Written from the point of view of a fictional character named Biff (Who knows? Maybe Jesus did have a pal named Biff. Is Biff traditionally a Jewish name? These are things I need to know), the book tells the story of Christ's forgotten years, from childhood to age 33, when he gets duped by a bunch of uppity Sanhedrin-types (you know the story).

The bulk of the book attempts, in it's own way, to fill in the blanks of Jesus' life prior to his preaching. Apparently, the author suggests that maybe He and Biff travelled east to China, India, and Tibet, in search of the three kings who visited Christ on the night of his birth. Along the way, Jesus and Biff pick up some knowledge on topics like alchemy, kung-fu, and the Divine Spirit. The big J-man then returns home to gather his flock and preach the good word, and all the while Biff is faithfully by his side, all the way to the bitter end (I don't want to give away the ending, but there's something about Jesus getting nailed to a huge wooden plus sign. I guess he wasn't too good at math).

So after I finished the book and laid my head down to rest, I got to thinking: what about this book is so far-fetched? No one really knows what Jesus did for basically his entire life, and what he do know about him was written by four guys long after he did his whole get-crucified-then-resurrect thing. And, after comparing the basic tenants of His teachings to that of Buddhism, Hinduism, etc., it would support the theory that Jesus was at least exposed to Eastern thought. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea that Jesus was a worldly man, that he spent some time tooling around distant lands, picking up morsels of knowledge otherwise unknown to his people in the Middle East. I'm no expert on Jesus (yet, at least). All I'm saying is, it would be pretty cool if we found out that the great Jesus H. Christ (in the book, Biff thinks the H. stands for Harvey. I think it's Herman) was also a full-fledged Buddhist monk, or that he spent years meditating in a Himalayan cave. It would at least serve as a great connector of all the world religions (not that we really need one, I mean, "Love One Another" should be a pretty universal thing, right?)

And that got me thinking some more (don't worry, I did eventually sleep that night). With so many people today getting caught up in meeting every minute "standard" of their religion, we are losing sight of the big picture. Let's not forget that most of what we have come to accept as religion (i.e. the various rules, dogmas, principles) have been created in the minds of men. Now I'm not saying that all religious leaders were sneaky little guys trying to brainwash all of humanity (although that may have been the case for some), I'm just saying "Errare Humanum Est" ("To Err is Human," for those of you who didn't take Latin in high school). Humans, for all their wonderful and amazing powers, make mistakes, and through the sands of time (I love that phrase, "Sands of Time." So important-sounding.), I'm pretty sure at least one or two were made when trying to put the Word of God down on paper. So while all these religious texts and writings we have are useful and should be carefully thought upon, let's not forget that it was Man who wrote them. Man is not God, Man was created by God (or Yahweh, or Allah, or...).

Needless to say, Lamb will get you thinking. Even if you don't believe a word in the book (after all, Christopher Moore would be a member of the "Man" I was referring to in the preceding paragraph), his story is at least fun to think about. Even if Jesus the man means nothing to you, even if you don't believe he walked on water, multiplied the bread, or turned water into chocolate milk (or was it wine?), his message should still have relevance for you. Just the idea that someone could care so much for his fellow man that he would lay down his life should serve as some sort of inspiration for all of us. Not, of course, to go and try to get crucified for your neighbor (do we still crucify people these days?), but maybe we can use his story to make a sacrifice in our own lives that will help the marginalized and neglected members of our society. Because after all, no matter what beliefs you hold, what colors you wear, what team you root for, at our most basic level, shouldn't we just "Love One Another"?



(If you have a conception of Jesus from which you are totally unwilling to budge, then you probably won't like this book. If you are looking for an interesting take on the life of a well-known man, then try it!)

A Thriller Night

The calendar says November; is it safe to breath now? The past fortnight (that's two weeks, in Shakespeare-speak) has been a big ol' heaping whirlwind of candy, trips to Sam's Club, and mechanical monster assembly. So, now that the 8th Annual St. Frances Academy Community Center Halloween Party (yes, that's a mouthful, but so is a $5 foot-long...and America loves its foot-longs) has come and gone, I'm going to make like a baseball player who puts his hat on twice and RE-CAP. (Get it?)

This Halloween bash was one of the first things I remember being stressed to me when I started at SFA. Mr. Moore told me he wanted it "Boffo," which, according to him, is a hybrid of the terms over-the-top and out-of-this-world (I'm still looking for "Boffo" in the dictionary). Anyway, for about two-to-three weeks (hey, anyone notice I just used 7 hyphens in the previous two sentences? Is there a hyphen limit in the English language that I should be aware of?) leading up to Halloween, I was basically in charge of preparing for the day while Mr. Moore secured the finances needed to pull off the event.

So there I was, digging through old boxes filled with fake rats, light-up skeletons, and gigantic spiders, trying to figure out a way to feng-shui a multi-purpose room and gymnasium into the spookiest rooms this side of St. Paul Street. And as I assembled a grim-looking groom who held his bride's severed head, I thought, "My job could be a lot worse."

10 a.m. Saturday morning. I had just spent the last 11 out of 12 days at the Community Center- so hey? what's two more?- (two more hyphens, by the way), and the game was on. I spent most of the day setting up the haunted house, directing the volunteers, and making sure the guy with no head was standing up straight (he tended to lean to the side a bit, no doubt caused by the extra weight of having to hold his own head. Poor guy.) By 3:30, we were sitting pretty. The gym looked smashing, the house looked haunted, and Mr. Moore and I looked excited, if not a little tired.

By 4;30, there was a line of kids lined up outside the front door. After assigning the 100 volunteers to their roles for the night, we opened the doors, and in flowed a grand assortment of witches, supermans, and ninjas. The neighborhood kids had come out in full force in their best costumes, looking for some candy and a good time. When it really comes down to it, aren't we all looking for some candy and a good time?

From then on, the night was a blur. Mr. Moore and I quickly changed into our Michael Jackson costumes. At 5:30, we made our grand entrance, walking out onto the balcony overlooking the gym floor to the tune of "Thriller," by the King of Pop himself. After showcasing our awkward-if-not-hearfelt moonwalking moves, we spent the rest of the night in our Jericurl wigs and pleather jackets. We floated around the place for the rest of the evening, working to ensure everything went smoothly and that everyone had a smashing good time.

At one point, I paused and took the whole scene of the night in. I was impressed at how many different groups had come together to help pull this thing off. Mr. Moore has an incredible amount of connections throughout the city, and he has many dear friends upon whom he can call at any time. Whether it be a donation of money or time, the friends and colleagues he has encountered throughout the years are all eager to help him, and I think that says a lot about him as a person and the work he does. I hoped that I would be in that position someday, and then I realized I am already on my way there. I looked at the volunteers, and I saw my housemates (who came as a box of crayons), some Jesuit Volunteers from DC, volunteers from other service corps within the city, and even a Saint Joe's Hawk! They all had put off their (assumingly) awesome Halloween plans to lend me a hand for a few hours, and I couldn't have been more grateful. Boy, it's good to have friends!

By 8 p.m., we were pushing people out the door, and the "Great Clean Up Dance" began. I was surprised at the amount of work we got done, and by 9 o'clock my housemates and I were out the door, heading home to our Crayola box (because we were crayons, get it?) All told, we had about 900 guests show up for the food, frights, and fun. A thousand bags of candy were given out, numerous horse and buggy rides were taken, and hundreds of little kids I'm sure made their bellies hurt while hopping on the moonbounce. After the chaos had subsided, Mr. Moore told me (still in his wig and wearing his sequined glove, mind you), "Well, Scott, you survived your first Boffo event." And that's what I feel like I did. It wasn't a perfect night, and I could have done some things better. But hey, even Michael Jackson himself made a sub-par album once(did he? I'll get back to you on that one). The point is, overall, the night was a pretty darn cool one, and I can't wait to see what's next!



(I counted the use of 20 hyphens. I hope this post is up to code.)