Busy, busy, beach

That was the order of my Friday and Saturday. Worked all morning and half the afternoon at the bookstore Friday, then all evening training as a bar-back at the restaurant. I did manage to go out with some friends and see an awesome cover band playing '80s (first song I heard: "Don't Stop Believin') and '90s (second song: "Blister in the Sun," which I thought was '90s until I found that video, saw how '80s the dudes were, and Wiki'd the tune to find out it's from '82. Oops.) down the street before working a function at the restaurant Saturday morning.


^Me. Kinda.

By the time I got out, I was dead on my feet. But it was sunny for the first time in four days -- I'm talking reaaalll warm and nice -- and I hadn't been to the beach all week. Now's the time to note: I'm not the biggest beach person in the world. I love going with my friends in Maine in the summer, but the trek to Old Orchard or Popham is something I only muster up the gusto for once or twice a season. Living a couple minutes walking distance from lapping waves and ultimate relaxation, though, it's hard not to be at least a little bit of a beach person.

The trip to the Ink Well, as the strip of beach closest to me in Oak Bluffs is called, was sweetened by bringing my guitar -- something I was completely giddy about being able to do by moving here. I have no case for the ax, so I walked over jamming like some kind of vagabond. Playing on the beach was the best. The sound of soft surf is the ultimate complement to acoustic strummin', hands down. No imposing silence when you stop playing, only waves rolling in. Mmm.

One of the best parts of the two-hour afternoon on the beach was meeting an islander, Cristina. An early highlight from the chat included, "We're not all crazy," in reference to natives as I explained my frustration with Swindler's Vineyard. She said the whole appearing-laid-back thing is more a characteristic of "down-Islanders," people from Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and Vineyard Haven -- the real tourist hotspots. Up-island (which makes no sense as it's 100 percent to the west, but it's impossible to argue this point) is where the actually laid-back people reside, according to my new friend and instant Martha's Vineyard reference (she's lived here her whole life and will move off-island for the first time to start college at BU in the fall -- there are no colleges on the island, Cape Cod Community College is the only semi-feasible commute). She also confirmed what I'd heard, that the summer population swells from about 20,000 to 100,000, and that she can tell tourists from Vineyarders in a second. Cristina recommended a weekly lobster roll feast at a church on the island. It's $13, but anyone who has been to a baked bean supper in a grange hall in Maine knows traditions like this are priceless. It's on my radar, as are the amazing up-island beaches she described, like Lucy Vincent Beach.

Lastly, Cristina got my now-automatic question for islanders: Have you seen anyone famous here? Her next-door neighbor in West Tisbury is Peter Farrelly, the writer-director-producer of "Dumb and Dumber," "There's Something About Mary," "Me, Myself & Irene," etc. And one time Drew Barrymore was running around in his back yard.

I'm off to start contacting and interviewing 14 sources for three stories for Martha's Vineyard Wedding magazine. Hey, I never guessed I'd write for a wedding magazine, either, but freelancing's freelancing.

Nothing for you today

Sorry! Working 11 - 3:30 at the Book Den and 4 - 11 or midnight at Mediterranean, training as a bar-back.

Hoping to have a post over the weekend.

Vineyard books, Vineyard writers

"When I think of the Vineyard, my ankles feel good -- bare, airy, lean. Full of bones. I go barefoot there in recollection, and the island as remembered becomes a medley of pedal sensations."
-John Updike, "Going Barefoot" essay, 1989


What a fitting quote for me to find in the bookstore yesterday, on a day when I was concerned with the well-being of mine own feets. (Faithful readers, no worries, my weird feet emerged unscathed from a day of no-sock boat shoe battle)

The first day working at Book Den East was marvelous. The owners, Ivo and Piret, are probably the coolest islanders I've met so far -- they're legitimately, as opposed to falsely, down-to-earth, easy to talk to, helpful, and, most importantly, book lovers.

Book Den East is the only actual used book shop on the island; the only competition is thrift shops and yard sales. This didn't stop us from only getting five buying customers and a few pairs of lookie-loos on a dreary, gray day, but a big part of the job is organization and maintenance in the shop, so it was still a solid day's work. I'll save more description of the shop and what it's like to work there for a day when I've taken photos. For now, suffice to say it was humbling and inspiring to be surrounded by books all day, to take hours to soak in exactly how many writers and works have been published.

A writer can't treat work in a bookstore like any old job. It'd be like Picasso punching a timecard mindlessly for a janitorial shift at the Louvre -- if that didn't cross time periods and I couldn't think of a more robust metaphor, which I cannot. The fulfilling nature of working in a used bookstore also includes endless opportunities to meet authors through their words, with no access to my lightning quick Wikipedia instinct. I spent quite a bit of time sifting through Mr. Updike's material and can't wait to pick up a full novel as soon as possible. [For more about reading, I'll post my summer reading list in the comments. Don't want to inundate this post with any more blather than necessary.]

The point of this entry, the interesting factoid you're hunting for, is that I learned about two Vineyard-centric writers yesterday. One is Henry Beetle Hough, a now deceased fella who helped found the Vineyard Gazette newspaper and spent many of his days as editor and author, writing, from what I can gather, a hybrid of journalism, non-fiction essays and maybe some fiction. I thumbed through a copy of his autobiography, "Mostly on Martha's Vineyard: A Personal Record," and am looking forward to spending more time with it on a slow day. A People magazine article I found calls Hough "almost synonymous with the Vineyard." Sounds like required reading to me. Comparing the experiences I have with places and the experiences writers have chronicled between covers is a blast.

The other author I investigated is Philip R. Craig, also deceased, who wrote a string of 20 mystery novels all set on Martha's Vineyard. They've got stupendously cheesy titles like "A Deadly Vineyard Holiday," "Dead in Vineyard Sand," "A Case of Vineyard Poison" and, my favorite, "Murder at a Vineyard Mansion." Leave it to me, a Stephen King fanatic who honed my suspense chops on heaping helpings of R.L. Stine, but I think Craig's bread and butter was cheap thrill novels meant to be read under a beach umbrella. I'll still give him a shot as he was an unarguably prolific Vineyard author. Plus, he wrote a charming little autobiography on his website, and I made fun of his titles posthumously. I owe him a cruise through at least one measley paperback...

Boat shoes

I've been wearing a pair of boat shoes with socks for two years. Today, in trying to be more of a true islander, I'm leaving the socks at home. I'll probably be on my feet all day at the bookstore -- I hope my feet don't pay me back for this with bruises and blisters.



Side note: Can't believe I couldn't find a Jimmy Buffet lyric about boat shoes to go with this entry.

Sider note: EELS fan or no, I think this soft, wonderful new tune may make your day.

Sidest note: How to know when you're a man: When your feet are as big or bigger than your dad's, even though he's still taller.

How I spent today figuring out ways to make and save money instead of blogging

Forget the recession, I'm in full-force money saving mode just for living on Martha's Vineyard and moving somewhere (likely forecast: Brooklyn) in the fall. Here's what I've got so far:

1) Pick up a second regular job, third job counting the internship (which I don't, because it's writing, which is my thang) at a used bookstore in Oak Bluffs, the Book Den East. Starting tomorrow morning. I've been visiting most bookstores that cross my path and writing about some of them for ages -- can't wait to work in one!

Not the bookstore I'll be working at, but a cool staircase I saw this weekend at a bookstore in Edgartown.

2) Call the editor of a wedding magazine my internship editor referred me to. Find out she'll pay me a decent price to write feature stories on couples and other articles about wedding venues and foods. It's nothing I ever imagined, but it's writing, the deadlines are soon, it's hefty word length, and I'm psyched. Getting paid to do what you love is an immensely fulfilling feeling.
3) Compare prices at two closest grocery stores (closeness matters when you're going on foot or with a bike and a backpack). We're talking two-columns in a notebook, cent for cent comparisons. Stop & Shop in Vineyard Haven (2ish miles away) or Edgartown (5ish miles away) will be my new go-to spots for big grocery loads; I'll keep using Reliable across the street for my oh-crap-I-forgot-something needs.

Annnd Stop & Shop wins by a landslide over Reliable, the ShurFine grocery across the street from me.

4) Little things: No more juice. It's nice with breakfast, but expensive, easy to drink a lot of, and water's fine. Make own hummus instead of buying pricey ready-made stuff. Start buying yogurt in the huge containers instead of the single serving guys. Realize that while a tub of ice cream may seem like a luxury purchase, it will actually save me money from frequently buying cones at the bazillion places located around the island. Splurge sparingly on ludicrously priced microbrews. I'm sure this part of the list will extend rapidly.
5) For every dollar spent on alcohol, deposit one dollar into savings account. Ingenious method of turning the cornerstore of recreation for 20-somethings into a strong savings foundation, if I do say so meself.
6) Tell the manager at the restaurant I'll work as much as possible. Train for bar-backing on Friday and work bussing a function on Saturday morning.
7) Keep scouring the Web for freelance writing. Keep networking. Keep writing every day.

I decided today if I'm going to keep up with my daily post quota, a lot of these entries will be blurbs rather than all-out blogs (I'd classify this entry as a blurb). As I've said, bear with me, because real, insightful writing and occasional actual reporting are destined for this page as the summer wears on.

Memorial weekend update

Sorry for the abrupt posting hiatus. The Mrs. was visiting from Maine and I decided to take some time off from being writerly. We did a rickshaw tour of Oak Bluffs, walked on the beach, saw "Terminator: Salvation" (awesome, totally edge of your seat with a bunch of cool little throwbacks to the originals -- PS, matinees are $7 here, surprise) and took a bus ride around the entire island to see some new things together.

We walked around Edgartown and did some window shopping (one shop has a massive, $12,000 hand-carved door from northern Pakistan ... just what I was looking for!) and bussed through West Tisbury, Chilmark, and Aquinnah. Aquinnah seemed great with its high vantage point on the corner of the island and cliffs and stoic lighthouse, but it was too foggy and cold to make much of it. I'll be back on a nice day. I also got Mary addicted to "Lost" -- WHILE on an island. Score.

I will visit you properly some day, mysterious lighthouse in Aquinnah.

My first shift at Mediterranean on Friday was fantastic. It's so cool to join dozens of people in the same boat; living on the island for the summer and making some green at a restaurant. The atmosphere is great, the people are fun, and the food we get to munch on in the kitchen is unbelievable. Hopefully this'll kick up my social life on the island a bit (meaning more experiences and more blogs and more delving into "island living"). I met Marcio on the first night, a 30-something Brazilian bartender who is giving tennis lessons (for $87/hour) and wants to hit around some day soon. Woohoo!

The high point of my first shift bussing tables (will soon try my hand at bar-backing and waiting) was when I heard a table of four speaking German. I studied Deutsch for both my senior semesters at UMaine and have a good friend from Austria. I dove on the opportunity to ask, "Sind sie von Deutschland?" (not the best way to ask if they were from Germany, but it did the trick). Then we had back-and-forth for a couple minutes -- solely in German. Awesome! I touched base with them once more in the evening, auf Deutsch, and was thrilled at how well it went over. Unfortunately I won't be making tips until I've "trained" for a few shifts...

Another thing that's great about Mediterranean is that people dine for two, three hours easily. Reminds me of Europe. Awesome.

Mary just left and the weather is amazing. Going to read on the beach before work at 4.

Please bear with the occasional lull interesting posts or posts of any kind -- the summer has barely begun and the pieces are just getting set in place for some great writing and island experiences to come.

First article for TW on MV: Cruisin' in a rickshaw

Tonight I'm starting my first tipped job, in the front of the house at Mediterranean. Not sure if I'll be bussing, waiting, hosting, or bar-backing, but I'm looking forward to it. I should have some solid tales as I join the massive, college-age summer work force in restaurants.

I'm interested to see how much Memorial Day weekend catalyzes the shift from 20,000 annual inhabitants on Martha's Vineyard to the 100,000-plus in the summer season. I'm sure the Vineyard will begin its transformation to a madhouse pretty swiftly over the weekend.

The first issue of This Week on Martha's Vineyard came out yesterday. I've got two articles on facing pages. Since I don't think the website will be up until the weekly goes into full force on June 18, I'll post my first story below. Disclaimer: This story belongs to This Week on Martha's Vineyard. Check out their website when it's up and read the paper when you're on the Vineyard! Another disclaimer: If you visit me, we're going for one of these rickshaw rides.

NOTE: Hover over pictures to read captions.
DOUBLE NOTE: Wrote a short story on Wednesday night and finalized it yesterday. Comment or e-mail me at zachary_dionne@umit.maine.edu if you'd like to read it.

Rickshaw company pedals for a cause

Leisurely rides provide transportation and social experience for gratuities only

By Zach Dionne

5/21/09

Saturday afternoon, there’s no wait for Oak Bluffs’ newest cab service. It helps that Vineyard Pedicab is based around bicycle-pulled rickshaws and that locals and tourists alike aren’t sure what to make of the service yet. Is it an expensive gimmick? Is it practical? Is it even fun?

Pedicab offers its efficient, four-vehicle service for free, solely requesting tips and donating its proceeds to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, a cause driver Clairetta Stutzman, 24, from Vermont says “makes it worth pedaling.” And yes, it’s plenty fun – in a half-hour ride with Clairetta, pleasant conversation never dwindles.

Clairetta, who has been driving a Pedicab for a week, doesn’t struggle lugging two average-sized males up hills on a loop down Circuit Avenue, Narragansett Avenue, around Ocean Park and through the Martha’s Vineyard Campmeeting Association grounds. Even in the grueling portions of the trip, she’s all smiles and friendly, informational banter. Clairetta gleans tidbits of insight from local riders; now she can casually dish bits like the fact that dogs are “hired” to scare geese in Ocean Park in the summer.

Virtually every person the rickshaw passes on this particular ride either says hello or receives a greeting from Clairetta. A painter waves, shortly followed by a couple in an SUV greeting the rickshaw at a stop sign while two golden retrievers poke their heads out the back window to contribute to the hello. Comments range from “You got business! Good work!” to “How’s the legs?” from a worker high atop a lift.

The rickshaw-bike weighs 150 pounds without passengers. Clairetta weighs 130. The rickshaws typically carry one to two passengers, but three or four is possible, although strenuous on the driver. There is no suggested tip amount.

On Pedicab’s first Saturday night, cabs were expected to be out until 9 or 10 p.m. The drivers called it quits at 2 a.m.

John Pasquina, 26, began Vineyard Pedicab with his brother William Pasquina, 28. The younger Pasquina prides the company for its Oak Bluffs centricity.

“It’s pretty local. It’s a good way for tourists to see areas they wouldn’t normally see,” Pasquina said. “Pedicab is a really cool approach and it’s really community-based.”

The Pasquinas, from West Newbury, modeled the service after Newburyport Pedicab, a business partner operating since 2007. The Pasquinas were friends of the Newburyport business’s creators and worked with them.

“We were really successful there and have been achieving our goal of donating a lot to charity,” Pasquina said. He stressed Vineyard Pedicab’s role as a green, charitable organization.

According to Pasquina, safety is not a concern. Newburyport Pedicab has had no safety issues in three years of business.

“The rickshaws are pretty secure,” Pasquina said. The ride with Clairetta is smooth, evenly paced and cars are given right of way.

Vineyard Pedicab contributes to charity in several ways. Local sponsors Eco MV, Squash Meadows, Sharky’s Restaurant and Martha’s Vineyard Saving’s Bank cover expenses.

“They’re all directly green or green friendly, which is really what we’re pushing,” Pasquina said of the sponsors.

The tips both compensate drivers and help Pedicab’s goal to raise $20,000 this summer between Oak Bluffs and Newburyport.

"We lease the cabs for 30 percent of the drivers' tips and whatever is left after any business expenses goes to Dana Farber through the Pan Mass Challenge," Pasquina said. "It is our goal to get this number as close to 30 percent as possible, but seeing as it is a start up year, we have quite a few costs to cover."

On Pan-Mass Days, named for a bike trek fundraiser for cancer charities, all tips will go to charity. Vineyard Pedicab recently hosted the Dana Farber Jam Bash concert in Newburyport and earned $1,500. Pasquina said he thinks the Dana Farber Cancer Institute is “doing the most for the cancer community.”

Clairetta’s favorite part of Pedicab is the eco-friendly aspect and the fresh way of seeing the area.

“There’s so much history here,” she said. Her favorite locale to ride through is the camp grounds, pointing out her favorite "gingerbread houses."

“I think the novelty is a pretty big thing. People say they feel like royalty,” Pasquina said. “It’s a great way to have a short trip.” Most rides are under one mile.

As of Sunday, Pedicab had six drivers with four more in training. Pasquina said he hopes for about 15 drivers.

“It leaves you pretty happy at the end of the day,” Pasquina said, adding that an expansion to Edgartown may be in the works. “We think that it would fit in quite well with the colonial style. This is still up in the air.”

Vineyard Pedicab operates from 10 a.m. to midnight or 1 a.m.

“We’re stationed everywhere. We’re always driving. You’ll hear our bell dinging in the distance,” Pasquina said.

Call (978) 270-0652 or (978) 270-6150 to hail a cab or listen for that signature bell.

^Video of a Pedicab tour. Sorry for the wind.

Swindlers' Vineyard

I feel like everyone here is trying to rip everyone off. I'm paying at least $5 to do my laundry as I write this. It's $9 for a six-pack of craft beer brewed a block away from me.

Worst of all, my landlords want $30 per night for visitors. Oh, hey, scratch that whole, "Come visit me in this beautiful place!" thing unless you're rich. Scratch the whole idea of having a smooth summer with my girlfriend despite being 6 hours apart and each of us having to spend more money than we can afford just to get to the other. How the hell does $30 per night stack up to "defray the costs of cleaning"? Delusional. Things are going to get real miserable real quick between my landlords and I if there's no room for compromise.

I've been trying to put together a post about my initial impression of the people who populate this island and I just can't get past this overwhelming sense of people trying to make a quick buck at the cost of decency and sense. It seems like a lot of folks here are trying to get away with the laid-back, cool islander image when they're really scheming as many ways as they can to gouge tourists and probably their own year-round kind.

Take my bike repair, for example. The shop was manned by a bleach-blond, surfer kind of dude and an all-smiles Brazilian guy. The place was empty on Sunday morning and they were all about fixing my bike and helping me out. New tape on the handlebars (which they conveniently omitted was $18 and I had to spy for myself), air in the tires, new dinky reflectors and not much else came up to $45. They charged $25 for labor to work on it for 20 minutes. Prime example of people here acting laid back until the check rolls around, when you find out you've been screwed. Landlords were the same way. No mention in the lease of $30 per night, no mention of it being a "rooming house, not an apartment," as I was bluntly told this morning. But, oh yeah, there were plenty of smiles when I first viewed the apartment -- oops, rooming house, sorry! -- plenty of faux, laid-back vibes emitted from the landlords, and the promise of a new patio on the roof which, shucks, turns out that on move-in day, that whole shebang didn't quite happen. Sorry if the roof thing was a big selling point for you, along with the allure of such a beautiful place for your family and friends to come visit! Oh well, enjoy your stay, thanks for the ludicrous chunk of change. We'll be laughing all the way to the bank while we devise other ways to rip you off and inflict misery on your otherwise lovely summer.

In a foul mood. Out on the bike with my eyes peeled for a better blog to write.

Life before job

I don't start working at the restaurant until Friday. Here's a typical day for me so far (which doesn't say much as I've been here since Saturday, but c'mon. Lists rule):

9 a.m. – Alarm goes off. Fall back asleep.
10 a.m. – Wake up.

10 to 11 a.m. – Breakfast, shower, get ready to go out.
11 to 11:30 a.m. – Find out laundry will cost at least $5 per load. Comb Circuit Avenue for sunglasses; too bright to read outside without them. Find a pair for $6. Rock and roll.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Read Stephen King’s “Desperation” in Ocean Park, on the grass. Pretty chilly actually. Also strange to be reading something gruesome outdoors on a beautiful, sunny day.

Ocean Park reading vantage point. Not the best picture of the nice spot, but this kid was absolutely terrorizing the geese. Running at them, screaming, nonstop. Probably something I did at age whatever.

12:30 to 1 p.m. – Skype with Mary.
1 to 2 p.m. – Write for blog.
2 to 4 p.m. – Nap way longer than I mean to. Mum will later justify this to me by saying, "You've worked hard for four years in college. You deserve to rest." Nice. No more guilt.
6:30 to 7:15 p.m. – Bike a little more than two miles to Vineyard Haven to buy sesame tahini from Stop & Shop. They don’t have it at the grocery store directly across the street from me. I need it to make hummus. Think of some stuff for the blog and jot it down.
7:15 to 8 p.m. – Stop at a beach on the ride bike and watch the sunset. Write some more.
8 p.m. – Reset my trip meter on my GPS so I can have a vague idea how much I bike this summer. Unfortunately I only bring the GPS with me if I don’t know where I’m going. I need a bike mount for it. Anyway, get up to 26 mph. Cruisin'.
8:15 – 9:30 p.m. – Make hummus. Eat hummus, red peppers, cheese, pita bread. This will not help me become less skinny. Talk to mum and sister on phone.
10:30 p.m. – Reinforcements arrive: Rhiannon and Andrew from UMaine show up to live in MV for the summer. We grab a beer at Offshore Ale, an island brewery and pub where you can throw peanuts all over the floor. I have a delicious coffee porter.
12 a.m. – G’night to Mary, doze off with a movie.

If you're interested, I guess I'm Twittering -- twitter.com/ZachDionne.

Vineyard Sunsets: Numero Uno

Going to start having categorized posts once in a while. The first is sunsets. I'm a fiend for 'em and there are few better places to enjoy them than on the ocean. I'll give you the high-res, Photobucketed versions for today. These are from a beach between Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. I guess I'm at a point in my life where if "long walks on the beach" was a favorite interest of mine, I could indulge on a daily basis. Maybe I will.

Enjoy ze fotes. I've got some fun writing for you mañana. NOTE, again: Mouse over the photos for captions!












Annnd a video for the road:


Thanks for reading. See you soon.

Night ride

NOTE: Hover over the photos with your cursor to read captions, y'all.

Worked my first day at the This Week on Martha's Vineyard on Sunday. Biked six miles to the office in Edgartown and started at 10 a.m. It was an awesome day -- the editor and his staff are all cool and laid-back. I did a variety of tasks -- editing my two stories (should be online soon), finding pull quotes in articles, writing sub-headlines and info boxes, cropping a photo of me that'll run as my headshot with every article (woo!), and putting together a big, long calendar. Unfortunately the paper doesn't go into full-force as a weekly until June 18. This first issue was just a teaser to get people ready for our rockin' seasonal paper.


The adventure part of the day came on my ride home. I stayed at the paper until 9 at night; just long enough for it to be completely dark. I wasn't worried since I'd gotten new reflectors and a tune-up on my bike that morning, but I didn't anticipate miles of pitch black with no streetlights whatsoever. I walked my bike for a long while before getting super bored. I started to ride tentatively, knowing that the tiniest, dumbest twig or pothole would send me flying, put my helmet to the test and strew delicious chicken fingers all over my backpack.

Photo over the cove/lake thing on my left of the causeway. This was with the shutter open for 15 seconds.

What started out as a nervous affair eventually became a blast. I went for a half-hour without seeing any man-made lights. Cars passed occasionally and I'd try to memorize the road, making sure it was clear, and then gun it at top speed in the wake of each car's light. When I got to the several-mile-long causeway (reminds me of the long bridges between the Florida Keys, sort of), it was absolutely silent except for smooth waves and cackling sea-birds. Lighthouses were beaming on my left and right horizons and the dunes and vegetation all morphed into weird, shapes. Surprising my imagination would act up on a long night ride alone? Not at all.

Made it home safe. Went down to the water and took a short video (video used loosely -- it's me talking and you seeing nothing) somewhere in the middle in case I didn't get to jot down any details about the excursion. I might utilize video entries independently at some point, but for now have this reheated account of the tale -- just moments after you read all about it!




More about Vineyard life and the Islanders themselves soon. Aiming to do some actual interviews and journalism-type writing here as long as my days stay this commitment free.

Lastly, I'd be doing you a huge disservice if I didn't direct you here. Nothing to do with Vineyard life, but it'll make your day. And I did see it for the first time while I was here, so maybe it's sorta relevant...

Batch of late afternoon photos

I might add riding my bike to the main areas this blog will cover. I took a monstrous nap today -- it was dreary, cold and raining all day so I had no guilt about staying inside, lounging and trying to sort out my room. When I woke up, the sun was out, the clouds were gone, and the time was prime for biking.

I hit the road with no particular place to go. Had a great ride and took some nice photos. Found my first lighthouse -- one of five that "represent the most diverse group in a small, contained area in the country, according to lighthouse buffs," according to mvy.com, a great resource for island info. I should note that in addition to my enthusiasm for writing, simple point-and-click digital photography is a huge passion of mine.

Enjoy the pics. New post tomorrow morning or early afternoon.

House in the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association grounds. Every house is unique and like a little gingerbread house. So cool. I'll have a whole album/post about it eventually.

Pole in a puddle.

East Chop Lighthouse on Telegraph Hill in my town, Oak Bluffs. Not astounding, but hey, at least I found a good spot to see sunsets in the future.

Write stuff

“No matter how much rejection I faced, I kept writing and recording because I had some unspeakable need to do it. I just kept doing it, even if no one was ever going to hear it, I loved doing it.”
-Mark Oliver Everett, aka E of Eels, “Things the Grandchildren Should Know”

I might not be facing the same adversity ol' E did for quite a while trying to become a noteworthy musician in L.A., but I feel his unspeakable need to write, his love for it. I'm planning to write and read every day for the four months I live on this island. With the all-consuming stress of simultaneously being a senior in college and an editor at a twice-weekly newspaper behind me, I've got renewed energy to read for fun and write anything I want. Doing something you love for an education or a living -- whether it's enjoying literature, making art or music, or writing -- can sap your creative juice so by the time you're done your work, you have no energy to write or read what you'd really like to.

Part of the great thing about being a journalist is that you don't need any kind of license, certification, or really any education. You could be a Russian major and write for the New York Times doing standard news stories or a first-year journalism student learning more at a newspaper than in your classes. Still, with a degree and an internship at a newspaper, I feel more like a professional writer than ever, and it's great -- and I still have a ton of ambition to write for pleasure. I love it -- this is what I was made to do. Here's a scribble from my notebook that may illustrate this all better than I have up to this point. I wrote this at a cafe yesterday.

Write write write. Write something -- or think or something, write nothing. Crack knuckles, click pen, close eyes, open eyes. Is this writing or a sketch, a doodle, a scribble? Something about writing by hand I forgot somewhere along the way. Good to have remembered. Longhand just works. Whether this scrawl is worthwhile or a waste, it's fun. Pen on paper reminds me why I love this, why I was made to do this. News, a short story, an e-mail, a song, a note, a letter, a blog, a text message, a nothing-scribble filling a page in one of many notebooks -- it's all writing, and it's all energizing. Can't wait to do this for the rest of my life.

Not sure if it's living in this new place, my new post-college circumstances, the new love I'm reveling in (Mary's at home, in Orono, but we Skyped last night and saw each other's faces and are doing well) or a swirling combination of things, but I en't arguin'. I'm going to ride this muse while it lasts and keep on scrawlin' on.

In keeping with my promise of staying brief, I'm wrapping this up here. I'll post another notebook scribble in the comments section if you're down for more. It's what I wrote on my first time on a beach in MV.



Stay tuned. Another post coming later today.

The Beginning of the Beginning

I joined the Dharma Initiative and moved to The Island yesterday.


I graduated college. I came to Martha's Vineyard for an internship at a weekly newspaper. I'll spend the next four months writing arts and entertainment, features, and stuff-to-do stories for This Week on Martha's Vineyard [Web site isn't up yet] and working -- see: hopefully getting crazy mad insane wicked good tips -- at Mediterranean Restaurant.

My new pad is at 37 Circuit Avenue -- a main street in the island's most hoppin' town, Oak Bluffs. I live above a Black Dog store, the LL Bean of Martha's Vineyard, where all the schwag with the black pooch is sold. Incidentally, I've seen a bunch of real-life, tongue-waggin' dags that resemble the MV icon already.

I'm living with -- wait for it -- 9 girls and two guys. My friend Kiwi asked if Hillary Duff will be my roommate and Steve Martin will be my dad. Ha. Ha. Ha. Here's hoping it's more like my living situation in Wales than a sorority -- or a homeless shelter. Regardless, I don't plan to waste much time stagnating indoors, although I do have a desk in a little corner nook of my bedroom (like, ahem, my main man Stephen King) that I'm looking forward to writing at.

I'll keep this blog as fast, furious and as far as possible from my everything-I-write-has-to-be-epic-length tendencies, so as to stay encouraged and motivated to update many times a week. I'm titling it Chapter One since this summer on MV is my first step in the REAL real world, after college. I'm not sure what Chapter Two will be yet, but no worries -- I'm just going to chronicle my life, exploration, and writing experiences on this island as thoroughly as possible in this blog. Stick around -- it's going to be fun.