By Bill Hogan

Marlborough Pond

By Carrie Jacobson

It was nearly three weeks ago that I made a painting – that’s the longest I’ve gone without painting in my admittedly short but very full painting career.

And why? Lyme disease knocked me flat.

So when I finally had the energy and strength to go out and paint, I had to wonder whether I’d be able to. After all, painting came as a gift, unbidden and unexpected – and maybe it will go that way, too.

I needn’t have worried. My eyes, my ideas, my hands, they all worked as well or better than they had before the hiatus.

And I remain grateful.

Interested in this painting? Please feel free to drop me an email at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

Springtime on the Salt Marsh

By Carrie Jacobson

For weeks now, I’ve been pushing at something – or, more accurately, something’s been pushing at me – and yesterday, with this painting, I think it pushed through.

It’s hard to explain this feeling. I wrote here, first, that I was a little dissatisfied with my paintings recently – but that’s not really right, as I have loved my recent paintings.

I think it’s more that I have had this idea, an idea of a feeling that I’ve wanted the paintings to have, and they just haven’t had that feeling, not completely. But since it’s something I haven’t really felt myself, and something I haven’t seen, all I’ve known is that the stuff I’ve been doing has not created that feeling. Not catalyzed it, at least not for me.

With this little painting, I feel that I’ve broken through. There’s something in this piece, in the colors, in the daubs and smooshes of paint, in the luscious quality of the marsh against the thinner quality of the sky, something that gives me the feeling I’ve been seeking.

Freedom? Joy? Awakening? I still don’t know what it is, exactly, but I know that this piece begins to have it.

By Jeffrey Page

One of these days, boards of education are going to wake up and deal with bullying in locker rooms and corridors with the same intensity they’d employ if they discovered an extortion ring in the physics lab. To do less is to cheapen the lives of children.

Moreover, some recent cases have shown that bullying can be deadly or life changing for the child, and can be extremely expensive for the school district.

In Massachusetts two years ago, a girl couldn’t take the abuse from school mates any longer and hanged herself. In Ramsey, a student known to be a bully, attacked a 12-year old boy by punching him in the stomach. As a result, the victim is paralyzed for life and the school district’s insurance carrier had to fork over $4.2 million in a settlement.

But some courageous members of a high school football team in Texas have shown that there are effective ways of dealing with bullies – who often are cowards. At a school in San Antonio, a freshman was the victim of several bullies last fall, around the start of the school year, and this, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News,  is how a guidance counselor handled it.

She asked the coach of the football team if he knew of some members of the squad who might agree to simply walk from class to class with the bullying victim. Three players – the starting quarterback, right guard and right tackle – volunteered. The plan was simple. They’d pick the victim up at one class and walk with him to the next while chatting it up. Apparently there was just one confrontation.

And then it was over, and the previously tormented student became a regular with the players and their circle of buddies.

Now, the school administration has picked up the plan with athletes doing nothing more than lending a hand and being a friend with victims of bullies.

Meanwhile, The Record of Hackensack reported this week that the victim in Ramsey, Sawyer Rosenstein, had written detailed accounts of being bullied in school, and still was victimized.

Rosenstein’s tormentor had a known history of bullying and went right on even after the school board was informed. His final attack was in 2006 when he punched Sawyer in the stomach with enough force to cause a clot in a spinal artery. Sawyer was paralyzed from the waist down. He was 12 years old. Now he’s a first-year student at Syracuse University, remains paralyzed, and likely will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

In reporting the settlement, The Record quoted the president of the Board of Education as saying that “character education” is part of the curriculum. But Sawyer suggested that “character education” hasn’t worked. “If they had taken corrective measures in the past maybe this would have been preventable,” he said, and noted that as a result of his life-changing injury, his attacker suffered the inconvenience of a few days on suspension.

New Jersey has strong anti-bullying laws but schools must enforce the rules if the law is to have meaning. It was Sawyer’s mother who placed her son’s experience in perspective.

“I wonder how many kids cried out for help,” Cheri Rosenstein said. “There are many Sawyers out there.”

Remember Phoebe Prince, the Irish immigrant in South Hadley, Mass. who was labeled an “Irish slut” and a “whore” by a group of students known as the Mean Girls? Through some perversion of logic, the Mean Girls conducted a cyber war against Phoebe because she dated a popular guy at school. They also attacked her with a beer can.

The abuse of Phoebe Prince reached her breaking point and she took her own life.

Several students were charged in connection with her death. Here’s how seriously the case was taken. One of the students, facing a rape charge, was allowed to plead guilty to a charge of criminal harassment, and was sentenced to one year on probation and 100 hours of community service.

Worse, the prosecutor said her investigation revealed that Phoebe’s torment had been observed by some teachers and administrators, who did nothing to stop it or to prevent its recurrence.

The next board of education needing to do something about bullying could do worse than speaking with a bunch of Texas football players who made school tolerable for some of their classmates.

jeffrey@zestoforange.com

By Carrie Jacobson

I’ve been too busy lately, just too busy, and things have been slipping.

It’s OK,  it happens, but when it goes on for too long, it makes me a little crazy. It does truly feel like slipping, like being on a conveyor belt covered with oil, and doing a cartoon dance – whoops! whoops! WHOOPS! The world, with all its promises and commitments, is going by me faster than I can manage to go myself.

Of course, if it’s housework that slips, or yard work, cooking meals, or getting to the hair-cutter’s, that’s OK. But when it’s paintings, or work, or promises to friends, that’s not OK.

I wonder if this is part of what it feels like to get old — that you simply can’t get up the head of steam that you used to get up. That you can never catch up with the world, that it is always, and increasingly, going faster than you.

But now, the first big show of the season is behind me, and the next one is coming up — at the Wallkill River School gallery in Montgomery, starting April 1. The opening reception is April 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. Shawn Dell Joyce and I — both Zesters — are showing together.

Hope to not slip – and to see you there!

Heading Home

By Carrie Jacobson

I remember a man, from North Carolina, I think, who made only paintings of roads.

Well, I don’t remember the man, but I do remember the paintings. They were mostly big, and they were all luscious, and they were all of roads. They made me feel that I had gone somewhere, or I could go somewhere, and it was right in front of me, this adventure.

This was 20 years ago, and I didn’t have the nerve to ask that artist to let me pay over time, or barter something for one of those paintings – and how I wish I had!

I can see them still – and remember the feeling they instilled in me. And while this little painting is not like his, it does bring his to mind.

I still wish I had one of that man’s paintings. Or at least could remember his name.

***

If any of you are in the area of Marlborough, Mass. over March 16-18, stop by the convention center, say hello and check out my paintings in real life. For more on the show, click here to visit the Paradise City site.

By Jason Poggioli
Some statistics I heard recently are bouncing around in a jumble of incongruousness that has me baffled. Recent polls have shown that the American public’s approval rating for Congress is around 9 percent. As shocking as that sounds, where it really gets into the logical equivalent of nails-on-a-chalkboard is when that is coupled with the typical chance an incumbent politician has of being voted back into office. Last I heard those chances are in the 80-90 percent range.

How is this even remotely possible? Clearly the American public thinks everyone in Congress except for their representative is doing a terrible job. There are probably other factors involved, although I’m definitely not going to rule out the “everyone is terrible, except for mine” syndrome.

It’s true that incumbents have lots more chances to get their faces and names out to the voting public. They usually have more funds at their disposal and more connections. Essentially, they’ve had time to make a career out of being a politician and they dedicate a fair amount of resources to the sole task of getting re-elected. After all, it is their job; wouldn’t you try everything you could to keep it? I can’t say I fault them too much for that.

Here’s the big problem, though. In aggregate, what Congress is doing is pretty much universally panned by the public in polls. Unemployment rates are terrible. The federal deficit is at levels the human mind simply isn’t constructed to comprehend let alone write a budget to deal with it. Congress’ inability to compromise on some of the most basic legislation this past year boggles the mind. And most important, no matter what your political bent, there is a 91 percent chance that you think Congress isn’t doing its job.

However, if statistics hold true, we can expect the vast majority of Congress to be there after the next election.

Why should we accept that in a country that is supposed to be the leader of democratic ideals throughout the world? Where are the calls to simply vote out every incumbent regardless of party affiliation? We all think the congressional arm is doing a lousy job and we all get to vote. So why don’t we vote every last one of them out?

I know this would mean that, gasp, horror of horrors, a Democrat might have to vote for a Republican and vice versa. Maybe it’s even worse than that and you would have to vote for someone who you could see in office only over your dead body. To that I say, “Tough.”

The beauty of a movement like this is that it’s simple and it’s obviously something we already agree on. What would happen if we voted as a single anti-incumbent bloc?

I think calling for the ousting of every incumbent, regardless of party, is the way to properly shake things up in Washington. Let’s put our Republican/Democrat feud to the side for just one election, and instead of arguing policy let’s send a single, simple message. After the Great Election Earthquake of 2012 is over we can all go back to voting for our favorite team, but I feel pretty confident things would be different. At least for a while, everyone on the Hill will have the very real threat of unemployment in the back of his or her mind when it comes time to actually do a job and pass some legislation.

Governing is hard work that requires compromise and always results in some people being unhappy. I think every voter understands that, but what is happening in Washington now is the refusal to compromise results in everyone being unhappy.

Vote them ALL out.

Black Dirt Overlook

By Carrie Jacobson
At the end of this week, I am heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to get away, to see something new, to paint.

Since my job at the Record was eliminated, I’ve been able to take a lengthy painting trip every year. This year, I haven’t had the chance. The others have been three to four weeks, marathons of painting and discovery, exhausting and exhilarating and filled with energy to last me through the year.

This won’t be as long, but my hunger for it will give me in depth what I will be missing in length.

I do feel a little odd leaving New England at the height of autumn — but the colors aren’t bright enough to hold me — and I have seen this before. My eyes need something new.

I think all our eyes need something new, even if it is just for a glance, just for a moment. We need to look away, go away, see afar or microscopically close — and then, the middle distance looks fresh again.

I will do my best to remember to post a painting from North Carolina for next week’s Zest!

If you are interested in “Black Dirt Overlook,” which is oil on canvas, 18×36, please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

By Jo Galante
OK, here’s the mass email update.

This is one of the most wicked storms to hit the Catskill Mountain region. Overall, we were extremely lucky even if we whined about the inconveniences which paled in comparison. Phoenicia is a blanket of mud with its major bridges washed away – new bridges just recently reconstructed!

But happy to report, tree cutters are arriving from both ends of our road and we got trees off the power lines – especially the one tree that was hanging over the road.

People who live across creeks accessed by their own private bridges are up the creek without a paddle. (Sorry, need some levity.) Their bridges are a goner.

Prattsville in upper Eastern Catskills is history. Completely wiped out. Windham, the ski resort, also took extreme hits. Many of the roads across the region are washed away including ones by me in Saugerties. Extreme navigation is now a prerequisite for getting to even the most routine local places.

“Bewilderment” is the best word to describe what many are feeling. A hurricane is supposed to be over the ocean. We got heavy rains. Then sunshine and we all sighed. Then the winds came through and we were toast. We had a huge tree just miss our shop; another huge tree was hanging over the pulled lines. One more is ready to fall and the place is just a mess.

Some flooding in the basement. And the creek inched the closest to our house that we’ve seen in 35 years! And please, who doesn’t believe in extreme weather changes!

Oh, earthquakes too, and one or two dams near here are “compromised.”

National Guard is up in the mountains, and communities are pulling together. We’re all neighbors. Maybe we need more catastrophes to straighten out the mess we’re in. (Oh, come on, did you think I wouldn’t make this political?)

Have no idea on the final outcome for the most drastic areas. Money is short is what we’re being told although Guv Cuomo is promising money won’t be an issue.

So I’m at the Saugerties library and not sure when I’ll once again be in touch; probably not until after Labor Day.

We’re safe – and send thanks to good friends and neighbors – and really not much worse for wear and tear. Just a bit tossed about. Now we’re definitely installing a huge generator.

Oh, quick and final great story about a little town, Lexington, that could and did defy government bullshit. They were completely cut off due to washed-out bridge. Neighbors put in a temporary bridge only to have the state Department of Transportation tell them they couldn’t use it. They told the bureaucrats to f**k off. DOT still said can’t use the bridge. The townspeople came out armed – no kidding. (You have to know Lexington, a true Catskill Mountain town!) They joined hands and stood their ground. The bureaucrats backed off after Cuomo sent in the state police to say the locals could use the bridge they built themselves. The bureaucrats left! Here’s one for the little people.

Update:

Most, if not all, of Saugerties finally has power, phone and internet service. I believe most of Woodstock too. Been trying to reach a dear friend in West Shokan and cannot get through. I think they were more impacted by the storm than I was. However, it’s still a challenge to drive along once favored and familiar roads. Some roads are washed out or badly damaged.

We had thunder and of course, I’m sure, that put people on edge. So far just a few drops. Oh, the roadsides and the creeks are overwhelmed with debris such as giant trees that have come down and whatever else got caught up in the flooding. Each time we drive somewhere we see more and more damage and it just keeps astonishing us.

Stoll Road is a small community of fairly tight-knit neighbors including many weekenders. Full-timers look out for their houses when they are away. Email has made it golden to send updates.

We showered at a friend down the road who had a generator and was very generous in inviting some of us over for showers, a little bit of TV and good food. A few of us went out to dinner and to watch the Giants game, which lightened the mood.

Neighbors are everything. And, when the sweet lineman from Kansas gave me a power update, I didn’t think, blue state or red state. At this point, we were all fellow Americans coming together. Tree cutters from Pennsylvania told us how glad they are to have jobs but that it’s tough on their families. They are away most of the time. One young fellow talked proudly of his 5-year old son starting kindergarten.

Thanks, everyone, for your messages of concern.

Over and out for now.

guestwriter@zestoforange.com