Chapter One: Island

New York, new blog

2009-10-01T15:05:00.001-04:00

Hey folks,

I've been living in New York for nearly a month now. I'm blogging more regularly than I was here at zachdionne.tumblr.com. I'll be back here soon to write a Best of MV post and to link to all my favorite articles I wrote over the summer.

Thanks for reading,
Zach

Days remain

2009-08-30T11:59:00.010-04:00

A lot has happened. I'm sorry to inform you almost none of it has to do with Obama's visit.

I have three days left on Martha's Vineyard.

I decided last weekend that moving to New York is the best decision, regardless of job prospects. The day after the decision, I had my third interview with GQ and was told, "We'd love to have you aboard." The next day, I was officially offered the internship. I'll be an unpaid intern on the internet side of GQ, which is especially exciting as it means more writing opportunities (for web-exclusive content, mostly, I'm sure) and being able to be part of the company while they launch a brand-new website in mid-October. I'll be living in Brooklyn with two friends from Maine, which will be a huge breath of fresh air after living with 11 strangers in Oak Bluffs and making few real friends over the summer. Much more to come in a new blog after the move to the city.

I saw Spike Lee for a second time at Mediterranean and talked to him. Awesome! Transcript:
ME: [Passing Spike Lee at the door] Hey man!
SPIKE: Wassup?
[Several minutes pass, then Spike Lee and I are both chilling on opposite sides of the bar]
ME: Spike.
SPIKE: [Distracted, text messaging or something on his phone] Yo.
ME: I'm moving to Brooklyn in a couple weeks man. I'm really excited -- I've lived in Maine my whole life and have always wanted to live in New York.
SPIKE: Cool, what neighborhood?
ME: I don't know. It's up to my friends, who are trying to find a place right now.
[Pause. Spike is still fiddling with his cell.]
ME: ...watching "Do the Right Thing" is high on my list before moving to Brooklyn though!
SPIKE: [Smiles and nods.]

Considering his infamous surliness, this wasn't a half-bad interaction.

Yesterday my coworker Gilbert, the 60-something-year-old French waiter at Mediterranean I've deemed the best friend I've made on Martha's Vineyard, knowing it might have been my last day at the restaurant, gave me -- GAVE me!! -- his original "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" record as a parting gift and a souvenir of the summer. He said he listened to it the day before and it still sounds great. After a summer of hitting my stride as a Beatles fanatic and listening to their albums around the clock (halfway through disc two of "The White Album" as I write this, and no, I'm not exaggerating, I've hardly listened to anything but the Beatles and one new EELS album since June) and talking endlessly about the Beatles history, trivia, songs and styles with Gilbert, I was close to tears at this gesture. Incredibly kind and generous. Gilbert, who spent years in New York in the '60s and '70s, is soon to become my pen pal once I settle down in the city.

Okay, you want that Obama news. The most entertaining part of his visit came in the form of brief stories from the New York Times. He was in my neck of the woods a few times, but I never saw him. He ate at The Sweet Life on my street, but I was at work. He got takeout from Nancy's, not far off my street, but I wasn't around. He golfed at Mink Meadows, a course I was assigned to write about this week for the newspaper, on the same day I'd planned to go and interview some folks there. I lost my motivation to bike over and found out within an hour that Obama was golfing there. Other than that, the only other sign Obama was here for a week was an influx of satellite-dished news trucks, congestion on Circuit Avenue and the high point of the Obama merchandise zeitgeist. I originally had a photo blog planned for just this, but the New York Times beat me to the punch with an article a couple weeks ago. A few photos showing the zanier side of the Presidential preparation below.

The new aquarium on Circuit Ave welcomes the Obamas, later paints offer for free admission for Sasha and Malia.

Sharky's has been, without a doubt, the most ardent dreamer for an in-house Obama visit.

Scores of T-shirts like this are everywhere.

Front page of the Obama-themed Vineyard Gazette from Friday, Aug. 21, two days before the First Family flew in.

Every ad in the front section of the newspaper was geared toward the President.

Illumination Night

2009-08-22T10:06:00.010-04:00

The Grand Illumination, or Illumination Night, lit up the cottages of Oak Bluffs for the 140th time on Wednesday night. Fortunately Mary was on the Vineyard with me for the last time this summer and we enjoyed the festivities together.

This grand house is in Ocean Park, a small hop from the focal point of Illumination Night, but still saw fit to celebrate. I think this is where the Norton Antivirus guy lives.

We arrived in the MV Camp Meeting Association Grounds (the spot with all the gingerbread cottages) fashionably late -- there were somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 people already gathered, filling the Tabernacle and sitting on blankets on the grass, blaring songs like "Amazing Grace" and "I've Been Working on the Railroad" in a community sing.

The Tabernacle on the night of the Grand Illumination.

At 9 p.m., scores of paper lanterns hanging from the eaves and balconies of all the cottages were lit, many with candles, some with electric bulbs. The crowd dispersed from the Tabernacle and began a long, slow swirl of awe around the campground. The lanterns were intricate and beautiful, the atmosphere respectful and joyous, and the evening's numbers boggling -- so many glowsticks being swung and tossed by children, so many Illumination participants meandering along cottage lawns, so many delicate lanterns hanging brightly. I had to wonder how long the cottage owners maintain them for this one night of glory, and how the tiny cottages even have space to store so many fragile objects.

James Sanford really dug into the Illumination and blogged it here; the Vineyard Gazette also published a story. Yes, they somehow managed to fit an Illumination Night story in their Obama edition on Friday, an issue riddled with 11 Obama-centric stories and peppered with many other presidentially-tinged pieces. More to come tomorrow, when the President lands on the island for his weeklong stay and I post an entry about the ruckus that's been steadily building on the Vineyard.

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Coda to yesterday's entry: Mediterranean was the initial focus in a Boston Globe article titled "The action begins on the Vineyard." The premise: Although the President isn't here yet, plenty of big-name visitors are. Mediterranean hosted a gala for the cable channel BET with Erykah Badu performing on a stage in our dining room. My manager, Mike Ritchie, a great guy from Toronto, is the first source quoted in the article.

Celebrified

2009-08-20T21:31:00.004-04:00

Martha's Vineyard has been called Hollywood East, but for the better part of 14 weeks on the Vineyard, it has failed to sum up my experience. Although my friends have waited on Steve Carell at Giordano's, rung up Meg Ryan at the Katama General Store and seen Redman of Wu-Tang smoking illicit substances outside my restaurant, I hadn't seen anyone noteworthy until recently.

Saving the best for first, I'll spit it out: Spike Lee walked into Mediterranean while my girlfriend and I were having dinner at the bar and stared at us. It was awesome. He supposedly lives nearby.

Spike Lee peered into the bar at Mediterranean with something like this surly look.

A few weeks ago, Skip Gates, a Harvard prof and recent participant of the four-man White House Beer Summit, ate at Mediterranean. On the same night, I asked Gilbert how he was doing, and his reply was, "Ahh, the Belushis, always needing something..."

For the record, I've never heard a Vineyarder say anything nice about Jim Belushi or Spike Lee. I was still intrigued to see both, enough so to do a little main dining room creeping to scope them out eating, being normal people. The coolest celebrity experience thus far was Belushi taking the stage with Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, the band at Med that evening, and singing a few blues songs with them. On the final track, Belushi busted out a harmonica and dueled with the harmonica wizard Johnny Hoy. Super cool.

Rewinding to Skip Gates, I just dug this up on Travel and Leisure's website: Gates's testimony as to why Martha's Vineyard, and Oak Bluffs in particular, is his favorite place. As somewhat of a world traveler with a hierarchy of my own favorite places, I can't say I agree with Gates, but I enjoy reading others' sentimental thoughts on the Vineyard and comparing their experiences to my own.

Keep your eyes peeled -- I've got a flurry of blogs coming as August winds to a close and the prez's vacation draws nearer.

Nothing gold can stay

2009-08-09T10:41:00.000-04:00

There's not much permanence here.

Oak Bluffs was once Cottage City. Vineyard Haven is actually Tisbury, but listed officially as Vineyard Haven in numerous instances. All kinds of restaurants and shops this year just opened, are in new locations, new ownership, new theme. Hearing locals talk about the island's past, almost all the places they're fond of have washed away with the tides and come back in different iterations. Another thing that would drive me crazy here. In a wedding story I did, the couple fondly referenced a post-nuptial brunch at Lola's. It doesn't exist anyone. (It's Mediterranean now, where I work.) I wonder what the actual turnover rate with businesses here is.

Et tu, Edgartown? One name couldn't pull you through three and a half centuries?

This all leads to a lack of community, as well. I'm sure any stalwart Vineyarder would tell you differently, but a place where people summer (using the season as a verb makes me shudder) inevitably is a place with a shifty community. You may live in a house year round, then be happy to have neighbors come June, then be unsettled when you realize, oops, they were weekly rentals, your new neighbors will be arriving shortly. Best of luck forming a true bond and sense of community.

There's certainly something here that draws people to come for a lifetime, as it's happened 20,000 or so times, enough to flesh out a year-round population. But I doubt it's the reliability or permanence of the place. More likely the isolation or eccentricity of island life that calls to some.

Who says CNN is the official source for verifying Obama's visit?

2009-07-27T20:11:00.005-04:00

It's clearly the chalkboard at Sharky's:

A few other photos from today:

Relaxing bike ride to East Chop in the afternoon. Can't help but wish my Vineyard experience allowed me to live in a country spot like this.

For you, Mary :)

Heading to New York on Wednesday morning for the big dance at GQ on Thursday!

Shark attack

2009-07-25T20:47:00.006-04:00

It's Shark Week, and not on Discovery Channel. Real life, baby. The annual Monster Shark Tournament is this weekend and I didn't even know about it was in my backyard until tonight. I knew the tournament was happening, but never thought I could see a shark, so was disinterested. I stopped by Mediterranean tonight and learned from Marcio that fisherman were pulling out huge maneaters for everyone to see all day.

Took a stroll through along the harbor this evening; didn't see any sharks like my friend Marcio did earlier, but did see a ton of boats and activity. Nice atmosphere. Photos below. I'll go back tomorrow and try to see some actual beasts.

Oak Bluffs Harbor, packed even more than usual.

Looks like someone landed a hand.

Wonderful.

Lot of rods.

Also, as far as I can tell, the Sunday New York Times will feature Martha's Vineyard for its "36 Hours" travel story this week. The article has been online for a couple days -- check it out here. Some bizarre observations ("Martha's Vineyard is like a miniature Ireland" and "The island isn't known for night life," followed by a faulty recommendation for a "cool spot" when there are much better watering holes within a minute's walk), but also some dead-on recommendations like seeing the island from a boat (did it this week) and Back Door Donuts (on my street, a late-night donut cult while they're baked fresh, I indulge frequently). The story also convinced me to get over to West Tisbury some morning to check out the farmer's market. You win, New York Times.

Back from the dead

2009-07-24T21:44:00.005-04:00

That's me, hopefully. This week, after a cripplingly short visit to Maine for "The Kings," I've been paralyzed with lack of motivation, lack of a social life in Martha's Vineyard, stress for the future, and a champion's penchant for napping (i.e. totally wasting my time). Some combination of these factors and others have led to a sour grapes between the Vineyard and I, so I'm hashing some of this out to enlighten you who might be wondering where the exciting travelogues and entries of discovery, self- and island-, have been.

I'm going to New York from Wednesday to Friday of next week. The only full day, Thursday, will serve the purpose of an interview at GQ for a full-time, unpaid fall internship. I'll also start scoping out Brooklyn apartments, even the cheapest of which may take a 90% bite of my meager summer savings. So be it -- an internship at a magazine as solid as GQ is an investment I'm prepared to go through hell (financial, personal, sleepwise) for. When you know there's one thing you can do (write) and you have a destination in mind (have since I was at least 15, reading a videogame magazine cover to cover every month on my bed), you don't have much of a choice but to go for it. Plus, being in New York will not be any kind of hell for me -- I've been wanting to try life there since I first visited at the young age of however old, and being with a few timeless friends from Maine will make all the difference after this lonely island summer, no matter how many hours I'm putting in or how few I'm sleeping. I have a dream, to be a self-respecting writer doing what I was born to do, and when I arrive, the view will be sweet.

I'm ready to be done with Martha's Vineyard. Something about living in a hotbed of summery people enjoying their leisure time and drinking on their boats while I scrape together money for rent, food, and Silas Marner-like saving to move to the apocalyptically expensive New York has not boded well with my system. See also: Swindler's Vineyard, the taste of which never faded from my mouth but rather worsened with the more people I met. See also: Not meeting anyone I'll leave this island considering more than an amiable co-worker, a far cry from the lifelong friends I made abroad and even in a short last year at college. A bonus "see also" would be increasing bitterness over not seeing any celebrities while my friends ring them up at general stores, pass them on the streets and wait on them in restaurants. (Steve Carell! Come on!)

On the up side, I'm focusing on what I need to do to knock 'em dead at GQ and working up the motivation to look at other internships and jobs, trying to write a novel (one handwritten legal pad complete, moving on to the next with gusto), finalizing a new piece of short fiction, continuing to write for my internship, the wedding magazine, and the Morning Sentinel. I also vow to make some fun, blog- and photo-worthy excursions like a trip to Aquinnah on a nice day or deep into Chilmark and West Tisbury on my bike. Maybe I'll see Obama, who'll be holing up in a Chilmark farm, according to the Vineyard Gazette. Lucky him -- the more he can enjoy himself and avoid the ruckus in Oak Bluffs, the better.

Last thing: Switched from my UMaine e-mail to zachdionne@gmail.com. I'll still receive your e-mails if you send 'em to my old address. Just filling you in. Thanks for reading.

Unrelated photo to leave you smiling or mildly amused: Cool rabbit who camps outside my bookstore.

Obama definitely visiting

2009-07-20T20:35:00.003-04:00

After my harrowing account of island life, our president has decided to come to Martha's Vineyard and see for himself. CNN.com verified it Saturday. Thanks to James for enlightening me that the news is official. An interesting Politico story also reads:

"An article about the Vineyard in New York Magazine reported: 'In the past, Obama has spent time playing golf with Vernon Jordan, swimming off South Beach, playing basketball ... reading and watching the ferries, and taking the girls for ice cream on Circuit Avenue.'"

Ice cream on my street? Alright!

Just because the news is official doesn't mean rumors can't continue a'flyin'. I've heard Obama will be staying with Spike Lee, only a little over a mile from my restaurant, Mediterranean (probably not true), that secret service agents have been in Mediterranean to scout out its safety as a dining location (almost definitely true), and that Michelle Obama and the gals will be here August 15, with the main man showing up two days later. They're supposed to be vacationing here for a couple weeks, and it'll definitely be a media blitz. Can't wait for the circus.

PS - This justifies the Boston Globe column where the author wrote vacation advice to the Obamas.

'The Kings' and I

2009-07-15T09:47:00.005-04:00

How this entry relates to a Martha's Vineyard blog:

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to."
-John Ed Pearce

Before I go any further with blogging tomfoolery, let this story I wrote for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, Maine sum up and hopefully pique your interest.

And/or perhaps the trailer?

"The Kings," the independent movie I acted in and lent other various talents to for the entirety of last summer, is premiering this Saturday in Maine as part of the Maine International Film Festival. It's been an exciting run -- the showing was originally slated for a 150-seat theater Railroad Square Cinema, but the demand for tickets bumped it up to the 940-seat Waterville Opera House. I promise I'm in it a lot more than the trailer depicts. Hope to see you at the premiere!

"The Kings"
Saturday, July 18, 9:15 p.m.
Waterville Opera House,
Waterville, Maine
Advance tickets
Facebook event page
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Vineyard theater tales

2009-07-12T23:51:00.006-04:00

It's a given that the New York Times gives their fluffy material front and center coverage online late at night. It's usually the type of stuff I'm most interested in reading and writing. I was stunned to see a Vineyard-centric article on there last night though, a piece by Patrick Healy about the Vineyard Playhouse. Check it out here. Pretty neat -- one of the other This Week on MV interns, James, has been helping out with this theater. Wonder if he knows the Times was at his show this weekend.

Best bits pertaining specifically to MV:

“A lot of theaters set up shop in a community but don’t really involve or reflect the community,” [artistic director MJ Bruder Munafo] said. “Integrating the community into the playhouse has been an essential goal of mine.”

“There’s something special when your audience is not an anonymous crowd but instead your dentist, your kid’s soccer coach, the guy who built your house, other artists in the community,” [year-round Vineyard resident Jon Lipsky] said. “People talk about having a wonderful theater community in Boston, but that word is misused. A community is people who are different from one another and who come together, as we have at the playhouse — not a theater clique or a theater gang.”

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This is a double dose of theater writing, but I wrote a feature for the community programs page this week about an improv summer camp on the island. Check it out below. Story will first appear in This Week on Martha's Vineyard on July 16. Thanks to Mary for coming with me on the first day of her visit and spending two hours with these campers.

Summer camp onstage
Non-profit acting collective hosts sixth season of improvisational theater program
By Zach Dionne

A small, pony-tailed girl and a shaggy-haired boy twice her height are equally uninhibited during an improvisational theater game in the center of the Edgartown School’s gym.

“Make it bigger. Take it up a notch,” says Donna Swift, the director of IMP Theater Camp. The tall boy and the small girl are among a dozen others on the makeshift stage that is center court, walking in and out of the limelight in character, saying lines and mimicking each other. Another dozen children sit, watching. The ages range from six to 16.

“Very good job everyone. You just learned how to create characters,” says Swift, a 1990 theater arts graduate of Emerson College. The campers break for a snack.

In its sixth year, IMP Camp is a branch of the adult comedy improv troupe WIMP, a not-for-profit organization on Martha’s Vineyard. The summer program offers three one-week sessions and a pair of two-week sessions through August 21. IMP camp’s mission is to build confidence and theater skills with improv games and focused theater workshops. The philosophy is “no mistakes, only gifts.”

“They can’t mess up,” says staff member Ed Cisek, a 20-year-old Vineyarder studying theater in Chicago. He emphasizes the campers’ ability to take risks with improvisation and the way this lesson extends to taking chances in daily life. “We try to create a no-stress environment and really let them find their creative voice,” he says.

After the mid-morning break, the campers are divided into three age groups: 6 through 8, 9 through 12, and 12 through 16. In the youngest group, a blond girl climbs onto the gym stage and says, “Look, I’m a movie star!” They begin a game called “Interview,” creating characters, taking the spotlight and speaking about themselves. One young boy goes up and boldly creates a history: “My name is Phil, I’m from New Jersey and I work at Stop & Shop.” For these children, there’s a fine line between playing imaginary games at recess and practicing improvisational theater.

Another youngster is unsure who his character should be for this game. “Well then you make it up,” a staff member encourages. “We’re doing improv right now. It’s your own choice – no matter what you do, you’re not wrong.”

Cisek contends what the kids practice at IMP Camp is “not that far from going out in the back yard and playing house.”

“There is no difference except you have to point your toes toward the audience and be loud,” Swift adds.

Cisek says IMP Camp simply puts a little more structure to the fun. “Theater in general is sometimes easier for kids. It makes more sense to them; they don’t have the insecurities that you get in high school and beyond. They really have no problem being silly and committed and loud,” he says.

Cisek loves the progression he sees in campers, whether it’s across the summer or in a single day. Seeing an 8-year-old flawlessly perform a Shakespearian monologue is a favorite memory of Cisek’s.

In one Shakespearian performance at IMP Camp, Othello was 16 years old, his bride, Desdemona, was 6. “I like mixing the ages because they have a lot to offer each other,” Swift says. She treats the campers as actors rather than children, eliminating age as a restriction for talent or casting.

Some actors have attended the camp every summer for six years. This year, the first session has a large amount of new faces. “It’s mostly islanders, but we get a good amount of summer people,” Cisek says.

The program strives for a breadth of choices, offering campers full- and half-day options and themed sessions including Trust, Ensemble, Commitment and Inspiration. Experienced campers can become ‘IMPterns’ – they pay half the tuition and begin teaching and directing, with eventual opportunities to advance to junior and full staff positions.

Each week closes with the campers going to State Beach for the last half of the day and performing for each other. At the end of the two-week sessions, the campers perform a production of their choosing. “For a lot of kids, it’s their first show. They get to pick what they want to do,” Cisek says. Choices in the past have ranged from Shakespeare to camper-spun stories to technical theater. But even with options, Cisek says, “Improv is the through line to our whole philosophy with the shows here.”

Swift had borne witness to more dull and mechanical children’s theater than she cared to remember when she formed IMP Camp. “[Those kids] didn’t know what to bring to a role. Whereas if you say, ‘You’re making up the dialogue, you’re making up the character,’ they commit to it. It’s a lot more lively on stage. They have a lot more fun. It’s a little bit messier but you have to learn how to guide the mess,” Swift says.

In the middle age group on this second day of camp, the budding actors are taking turns reading a script in a neutral tone, then adding a motivation for the second time around. A girl named Penelope reads as if she has to pee while a boy named James reads like he wants to marry Penelope. Their peers crack up.

The oldest age group is playing a game called “Freeze,” where one actor enters the frozen fray and dictates what the scene must immediately morph into. Ironically, these teenagers play a kindergarten class impeccably. In ensuing scenarios, they employ accents, eccentric walks, defined characters and clever, impromptu gags.

Close to noon, all three age groups convene and create short plots together, culminating in performances of rapid-fire scenes integrating actors of all ages.

“Don’t try to be funny,” Swift tells the campers before they begin brainstorming. “Funny will happen. Go for truth. Make it honest. Make it a believable time, place, relationship. That’s your assignment.”

For more information on IMP Camp, visit troubledshores.com/Summer_Camp.html or e-mail info@troubledshores.com.

Jumper and Couldn't Stand the Weather

2009-07-11T11:51:00.016-04:00

On the Fourth of July (ancient history, but that's how this blog rolls sometimes), I didn't have to work until 5 p.m. I made sure I took advantage of the day by getting some sun (it had just showed up the day before after a month hiatus) and doing something out of my usual routine.

I jumped off a bridge.

State Beach, a long strip of beach bordering the isolated causeway between Oak Bluffs and Martha's Vineyard, has two bridges -- the first and second bridge. I'm not sure if those should be capitalized, but I'd wager that Vineyarders would say yes. The second bridge is long and sits above an isolated bit of ocean, lined with rocks on both sides. It's not much more than a ten-foot jump, but it's a blast. On any given warm day, the bridge is packed with kids and adults alike tossing themselves into the ocean. And as with any jump-off-able structure, there was a gaggle of small children who initially wanted to jump and found themselves weeping and sobbing to be let down. There was an equally large quotient of parents and friends in the water, beckoning fiercely for these scaredy cats to jump. Click here for a panoramic of the whole scene.

I jumped twice -- my first time swimming after seven weeks on the Vineyard -- and took a handful of photos and videos. Happy to have taken part in what seems to be a Vineyard tradition.

Don't forget to scroll over photos for captions, and check out a video I took of the jumpers below.

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Even ancienter (ancienter? ancienter.) history is a video I took of the absurd weather on July 2. Check it out. Below the video is a set of before and after photos proving the old maxim, "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes." I don't know where that saying originated -- New England, some think -- but it absolutely holds for this island.

Returning soon

2009-07-08T21:13:00.003-04:00

Got a few good entries in store for you soon. I've had company this week, a rarity I like to savor with as little work as possible. Be back around Friday!

Hi from Mary and I at night two of fine dining.

Tourism strikes

2009-07-04T11:02:00.008-04:00

With incredibly temperamental weather (and maybe a bad economy to blame?), tourism has been pretty dead on the Vineyard so far. As of July 3, that became a hazy memory. The weather was sunny, hot and beachy. People were unloading from boats and buses like locusts into the streets, Mediterranean was three times as packed as it's ever been, and my street promptly metamorphosed from Circuit to Circus Avenue.

Best moments of the touristy day:

Man getting off the boat stops me: "Do you know where John Belushi's grave is?" No, sir, I don't. Enjoy your day.

Man on the bus to tourists on the bus: "We had shaahks here, but we ain't evah had no Great White shahhks." ("Jaws" was filmed here.)

Hostess at Mediterranean: "Is that Meg Ryan in the Moroccan Room?" No, it's not. At all.

After asking the guy taking the cover charge for the New York City DJ at Mediterranean if we'd gotten any famous people yet: "Not yet man. I heard there's some big ones on the island though." Like who? "Like Oprah." Oh. Hopefully they come out tonight, since I'm closing the outside bar as a bar-back. Must...celebrate...Fourth of July...before work at 5 p.m.!

Circus Avenue at 1 a.m.

Have a fun Fourth of July, everyone. I hope the weather is nice for you and the fireworks are big and purty and you're with family and friends and a grill.

Flowery feature

2009-07-01T13:47:00.005-04:00

Just finished my story on "The Kings" -- the Morning Sentinel was nice enough to let me do a first-person account of the filming. They're always great to work with. Also finished a cover letter to GQ in hopes of a possible internship in New York in the fall (also waiting to hear back from Entertainment Weekly). After this post I'll be working on some fiction and going to review a restaurant at 5. Pretty writerly day, eh?

Below is one of three articles I wrote for Martha's Vineyard Wedding magazine. It's the one I'm proudest of, the most readable and interesting, a feature on a Vineyard florist. This one goes out to Claire, the floweriest, plantiest person I know.

Flower girl on the Vineyard

By Zach Dionne

For Martha’s Vineyard Wedding magazine, July 2009

As a young girl, Louise Sweet didn’t like florists. At all.

“I never thought of becoming one. In those days, everything was very stiff and manufactured looking – nothing I would ever do with a flower,” says the woman behind Flowers on the Vineyard. It would end up being her own passion for flora, rather than the dull scenes in flower shop windows, from which her signature style and successful business would blossom in the years to come. “Growing up in Pennsylvania, I loved nature and flowers. I used to pick flowers and make things all the time.”

Then Louise Sweet came to Martha’s Vineyard for a summer in the early 1970s and ended up marooning herself on the island, learning to call it home.

“I started selling flowers out of buckets. We wouldn’t arrange them, we would just put flowers out for sale,” Ms. Sweet says. “It became my life. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Her business began on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven, dubbed Tellurian, Greek for “of, pertaining to, or inhabiting the earth.” The establishment evolved from a general flower store, selling by the stem, to its current multifaceted presence as Flowers on the Vineyard.

The drive to Ms. Sweet’s business and home winds down bumpy dirt roads, scenic rock walls and serene, bucolic estates. She speaks fondly of her formative days as a Vineyard flower seller, when large shipments would come on the ferry and boatloads – literally – of flowers would be unloaded on the dock.

Ms. Sweet’s home and headquarters for Flowers on the Vineyard is situated cozily atop a hill in West Tisbury, surrounded by gardens, a chunk of the house hidden in greenery and flowers. No vista around the property is without eye-catching landscaping – even the noisy, metal compressor box to her flower cooler’s compressor is adorned with attractive vegetation.

“This is my workshop, my studio,” Ms. Sweet says of a formerly unfinished basement, the third space she has designed and developed for her work. It’s also her favorite.

Inside, a wall of timeless-looking stoneware vases makes a right angle to shelves of distressed silver vessels. A chalkboard is littered with marker-written reminders, a sunflower postcard and magnetic letters, one batch spelling “crazy.” A weather-worn wooden flower cart Ms. Sweet has toted around the island through the years sits just outside the door. But no aspect is more noticeable than the immediately striking, fresh, well … flowery, fragrance.

“We have our own aromatherapy here,” Ms. Sweet says, laughing and dealing casually with a bride for the upcoming weekend. They interact like old friends. “I’m glad I found you,” the bride says, here to pick up her flowers – dazzling Massachusetts-grown peonies Ms. Sweet fawns over amorously.

“It’s not just about the flowers, it’s what you present them in and what that feeling evokes. There are subtle nuances,” Ms. Sweet says. She utilizes her time-amassed collection of vases, free of charge to clients, to “complete and put the little twist on the overall look.”

Different sections of Martha’s Vineyard call for diverse decorative approaches; silver or glass containers suit Edgartown, up-island “just begs” for stoneware and vintage pieces, Ms. Sweet says.

“It is truly a unique and beautiful place to be,” she says of the Vineyard, unsurprised at its destination wedding status. She calls weddings a central part of her business. “I love to work with each bride. Each job is a custom piece. I’ve never done the same wedding twice. I just sit down with them and get a really good sense of what it is they are trying to convey.”

From each meeting, a detailed proposal arises, full of options, suggestions and price ranges. “We fine-tune it until we get the budget the client is comfortable with. I’ve never done any proposal only once; they evolve and grow with time. It’s a collaboration,” she says.

Ms. Sweet assures that Flowers on the Vineyard doesn’t necessarily mean an armada of floral elegance. “I’m also happy to do just the bride and groom standing on the beach with one boutonniere and one bouquet,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be a huge production.”

Speculating that she may have passed the 1,000 mark without knowing it, Ms. Sweet has worked with hundreds of events and weddings in her career – including her own. After a divorce and her two sons moving to college, Ms. Sweet married her high school sweetheart, James. She orchestrated the flowers for her remarriage – white tulips for a winter wedding in her hometown, near Philadelphia.

Flowers on the Vineyard goes beyond flora to offer staging and styling services for homes and events. Ms. Sweet’s repertoire includes various décor for weddings; she can supply antiques, pillows, tabletop items, any type of bric-a-brac to tie together an event, to paint the blank canvas of a wedding. “You create this entire physical space from nothing. We have a million ideas and we love to share them,” Ms. Sweet says. But flowers are the mainstay. “Everything started with the flowers. All the other pieces followed.”

In a long chat about Ms. Sweet’s business and her history, the conversation continually returns to flowers. She is irrefutably in love with her work.

“Our style is very unique. It’s not something you’re going to see in corporate U.S.A. at all. It’s a look I’ve developed over the years and really strived for. It’s seasonal, indigenous, and within that there’s so much flexibility for people’s individual tastes,” she says.

Ms. Sweet meets with clients and works on proposals year-round, occasionally working on winter weddings. She spends part of the colder months in California. She loves traveling, but flowers remain in the back of her mind no matter where she roams. “I love to get new ideas. I always bring them back here with what works here.”

She rattles off her favorite flowers instinctively: tulips, peonies, hydrangeas – “They drive me wild. I have to have them.” She quickly revises her favorites to include lilacs, and there’s a sense she could continue adding until the entire phylum of flowers comprised the list. Her favorite weddings aren’t as easy to cite. “I give each wedding, really, my full attention. So a favorite is really hard to say.”

Ms. Sweet is happy to report “almost nil” negative feedback; she cherishes baskets of handwritten thank-you notes. She’s worked with clients from all over the world – Italy, New Zealand, China, Switzerland, London come to mind.

“I’ve gotten to work with incredible people on the island – if you heard about a dignitary visiting here, I got to meet them and I got to do flowers for them. It’s another bonus to the business,” Ms. Sweet says. She prefers to go on the strength of her work and reputation than to namedrop celebrity clientele. A breeze through her shop, however, reveals two framed letters of appreciation from Bill Clinton and Martha Stewart nestled in bunches of flowers on a preparation table.

Working with weddings, it becomes easy to get jaded to the importance of the day – but it’s also easy to step back and remember how momentous the journey is for each couple. “You really come into their lives a little bit,” Ms. Sweet says.

Silver screen

2009-06-29T23:35:00.004-04:00

A movie theater opened at the end of my street. It's a minute-and-a-half walk from my doorstep. This is one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me. I love going to the movies, so much that I'll go even if it's something I only mildly care about.

Pro: I can see movies under two minutes away from me. I'll never be late, I'll never miss the trailers, which are a crucial part of the experience for me.

Con: $7 matinees, $9 regular showings.

Pro: The theaters here get pretty solid movies.

Con: I'm often forced to go by myself, like tonight, when I saw (and enjoyed) "Away We Go."

Pro: Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" with Christian Bale and Johnny Depp premieres Wednesday and it will be playing for three showings at what I'm now referring to as my theater. Yahoo!

USA vs Brazil: Perfect football match for Martha's Vineyard

2009-06-28T15:06:00.009-04:00

I'm in Seasons pub on Circuit Avenue watching the final of the Confederations Cup, US vs Brazil in South Africa. It's 2-0 US at the moment -- the entire bar is going crazy after every goal. I'm not sure how many Brazilians are here -- we'll find out if they score a goal -- but I know the island is a Brazilian hotbed and this is a big match, not only as a World Cup barometer, but for bragging rights on the island.

UPDATE: We may have a few more Brazilians in the house than I suspected, based on the reaction of that just-missed kick by Brazil in stoppage time in the first half. Yikes.

UPDATE: Nope, no Brazilians here. Absolute silence after that goal less than a minute into the second half. Oh, wait, one woman's started clapping and cheering. My bad.

UPDATE: Texted Brazilian amigo on the Vineyard, Marcio, and said, "You're goin down, Brazil." Reply: "Wait till the game is over."

UPDATE: Marcio is talking more crap. Tied 2-2. I have to be at work soon...ahh!

UPDATE: Ugh. 3-2 on a header. Maybe I won't have any problems getting to work early.

UDPATE: Oof. Nice comeback, Brazil. Heartbreaker for the US.

The Vineyard's most endearing chef-writer-illustrator?

2009-06-26T08:51:00.009-04:00

At The Book Den East, we have an "island" -- like an offset kitchen bar kinda deal -- of Martha's Vineyard books and island writers. Today I found a charming Vineyard gem, Susan Branch, by way of donation.

Branch hand-writes, illustrates and watercolors entire cookbooks. The books are filled with quotes by people like Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, E.B. White and Branch's crush, Mark Twain. They're also generously filled with endearing watercolors and cursive script that reads like a long lost friend's most carefully penned letter. These books are a knockout; a pleasure just to flip through even as a picture book -- the kind that, like a Pixar movie, is simple enough in its beauty for kiddies but profound and detailed enough to hold adults rapt. There's a sense of genuineness in Branch's books that's scarcely found; even the copyright page is fully handwritten in her lilting pen.

The quotes are prolific and Branch is as apt to whimsically transform a single letter into a sunflower as she is to paint the entire spread of a meal she's tantalizingly described in that signature script. But she also muses on Vineyard life, offers advice on how to draw or how to sun-dry tomatoes, and provides an old-fashioned picnic menu.

Anyone who loves cooking will be bowled over with these books. Anyone who loves New England and books that sweep you off your feet will enjoy and likely be inspired to whip up something in the kitchen. I flipped through every page of four volumes -- even her Christmas book -- and was enlightened throughout. Find her books here, here and at the Book Den East.

Note: Love that wonky formatting! Happens every time I import a blog I write in MS Word. Blah. Don't forget, mouse over photos for captions.

Rock lobster

2009-06-25T09:52:00.003-04:00

There was a nine-pound lobster on special at the restaurant I reviewed last night, Oyster Bar Grill. Wow. You can bet all nine pounds it's included in my article for next week's newspaper.

I'm sad to say that in many ways, Martha's Vineyard is out-lobstering Maine -- the hotspot for some of the world's best lobster. I had to move to the Vineyard to learn about lobster macaroni and cheese, lobster scrambled eggs, and lobster ice cream. I haven't tried any of the three, but I think the first two will be ingenious, the third may be dubious. Also planning to boil some critters up in the kitchen with some of the other This Week interns soon.

Handwrote a blog yesterday but no time to post as my bike is loopy and I'll be walking to both jobs today. New entry late tonight or early tomorrow.

Island life from another writer's eyes

2009-06-24T10:06:00.006-04:00

Before I get to the point, I have to share that the bartender I bar-backed for last night said Jake Gyllenhaall used to bus tables for him in Edgartown before he went all Donnie Darko and got famous. The bartender, Greg, an islander born and raised, said JG was "a good kid." Greg was also was acquainted with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was as unattractive in real life as onscreen.

Okay. The point. Um...um....oh, yeah. Another intern at This Week on MV, James Sanford, has been blogging profusely since he trekked from Michigan to the island for the summer. He is a former film writer from Michigan's Kalamazoo Gazette and had a column/blog called At The Movies. He's interviewed Stephen Spielberg, Leo DiCaprio, Chris Walken and, most recently, McG, director of "Terminator: Salvation" and a Kalamazoo native. Wow. [That last link is James's' McG profile]

James blogs at http://jamesislandlife.blogspot.com much more regularly and often longer than me, but the real clincher is that if you browse his blog, you'll be getting a totally different perspective from a guy who has a car, more money to spend, an insane passion for dining out -- he's tried a ton of lobster dishes already -- and an earnest approach to exploring the Vineyard. He also got a jumpstart on me with just-for-blog reporting with this awesome article about a Bulgarian bartender flippin' bottles around. Read him, follow him, enjoy. Just don't completely defect to his blog and forget to check back here.

Quick snapshot of my bookstore, the Book Den East, as I head in for a day of book organizing, selling and reading. I'll acquaint you with my store more thoroughly in a future post.

Back on-island

2009-06-23T11:05:00.007-04:00

What a fantastic trip to Maine, and what a fantastic waste of time public transportation is. It takes over nine hours to get from Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts to Orono, Maine. A walk or bus ride to the ferry, a ferry trip, a bus ride to Boston, an exhausting bus ride to Maine. I will be twisting any arms I can to get a ride to Maine next time, when I'm in an independent film called "The Kings," which'll play in the Maine International Film Festival on July 18. Spent my entire summer last year acting and helping out the director -- I can't wait for the payoff. Check out the trailer below.

So the entire visit to Maine was wonderful -- I tend to feel closer to home than ever when I'm farthest away, and it's gratifying to have a taste of what you miss so much, especially after five weeks. And to have a taste of multiple cookouts. Yum. And to be able to see some house cats again. Meow.

With Mary on the Two-Cent Bridge in Waterville. Finally got to show m'lady m'stompin' grounds of olde.

Now I'm back on the island, ready to find some new freelance, keep rocking at the newspaper, and start making plans for the fall -- and for visitors this summer. It's a sticky situation working so many jobs and trying to have guests, but if you want to visit, we can work it out.

I know the graph is super small. Click it for a deeper understanding of the complexity of this issue.

Went out with four of the other This Week on Martha's Vineyard interns last night. Bad: All draft beers at Danny Quinn's Irish Pub are $6 -- except Guinness, y'know, the traditional Irish pint? That one's $7. Good: Danny Quinn busted out Irish tunes all night. Below is a vid of him playing somewhere else and looking considerably different and more like a chubby, Irish John Denvery than he currently does, but you can see his solid chops and his Irish cadence.

An article to tide you over while I'm off-island

2009-06-17T17:27:00.012-04:00

Leaving the island tonight to go to the mainland (Maineland? Anyone?) for the weekend. Boston tonight and home in Maine until Sunday. Here is one of my new articles for This Week on Martha's Vineyard. It's a restaurant profile. This issue will hit Vineyard streets tomorrow (Thursday). For next week, I've written an article about where to get ice cream on the island. Weee/yum!

Will update soon about newspapering on MV. I'm aware the font sizes and formatting in this post are loopy. No more time to try to fix them -- I to catch a ferry in 20 minutes to get off this rock for the first time in a month! Have a nice rest of the week.

Wining and dining with your toes in the sand
Oak Bluffs restaurant offers great seafood and one-of-a-kind harbor atmosphere
By Zach Dionne - 6/18/09

The harborside entrance to Sand Bar & Grille, the only on-island establishment with a sand floor.

Sand Bar & Grille is like being at the beach with a personal bar, chef and waitstaff at your service. It’s not only that it’s the one spot you can legally drink with your feet in the sand – the restaurant is the sole on-island establishment using grains of the beach as the dining room floor – but also the laid-back vibe and location. Sand Bar sits on Oak Bluffs Harbor, one of only a small handful of restaurants boasting such status. Dual surfboards hang coolly above the harbor-side entrance.

It’s the type of joint you can spend 30 minutes grabbing a quick Corona – or one of the other 10 draft brews or 10 bottled beers – or three hours with friends, indulging in several courses and soaking in the daily live music.

Appetizers like burger-sized snow crab cakes with Cajun aioli sauce and house-smoked salmon with crisp, herbed bread are delightful, well-presented and leave room for the main course – or for one appetizer truly worth a derivation from an evening of seafood: warm spinach and artichoke dip with an all-star addition of fresh, sweet red peppers, served in a soft bread bowl.

Sand Bar diversifies its menu by offering more than 75 selections of sushi in addition to seafood, prime steak and lobster, burgers and sandwiches. The restaurant has doubled for several years as a respectable sushi destination; Sand Bar’s new sushi chef has crafted delicious creations at his own off-island restaurant for 20 years.

Entrees of pan-seared scallops and grilled swordfish prove what gregarious and resourceful server Alex indicates; the fare is locally caught, never raised in hatcheries, and, most importantly, the chefs know exactly what to do with the finest seafood. The menu offers several methods of preparation for each fresh special and chef-inspired entree.

The scallops are tender and tasty; not surprisingly one of chef Dan Kelleher’s favorites.

“I like it just pan-seared with a nice medium cook on it so it’s still a little fleshy in the middle, with that flavor,” says Kelleher, a chef alongside manager-slash-chef Pete Bradford, a Vineyard native and culinary veteran.

The swordfish is also delicious and expertly prepared – fresh, juicy, hot; an explosion of rich taste in every bite. Smashed potatoes and a bright vegetable medley serve as perfect compliments, occasionally garnering their own attention away from the sensational swordfish.

“You can actually mix and match a little bit. If you want a pan-sear and you want the herb butter on it instead of the soy glaze, we can do that. I think it’s a little more customer friendly that telling them, ‘This is how it is and this is how it’s gonna be,’” Kelleher says.

An island-style bar juts out into the sandy patio, an area replete with guests whiling away sunny afternoons with ambient live acts like local strummer Mike Benjamin. The sandy outdoor seating – the largest portion of the seating area, which also includes an indoor bar and tables – is Kelleher’s favorite aspect of Sand Bar. “You’re out on the harbor. It’s a good atmosphere,” he says.

Indeed, Sand Bar has character. In a tourist Mecca where restaurants are a dime a dozen, it’s almost magic to dine at an unforgettable spot overlooking a serene harbor, your toes in the sand.

Internationality Pt. 2

2009-06-15T09:32:00.006-04:00

When I came back from Wales, I changed my residence on Myspace (it was still cool then) to Citizen of the World. I'd had my first taste of internationality -- meeting dozens of friends from around the world, talking about differences in our cultures from the big (politics) to the small (what noise a rooster makes in German, French, Spanish, Italian) and saying goodnight to flatmates in three or four different languages. It was incredible, and I learned what an astonishing amount you can discover about the world and about your own culture from conversation alone.

When I moved into my apartment in Oak Bluffs, I knew there were five Bulgarians and 11 total roommates. I was hoping we might be able to have a watered-down duplicate of the experience I had in Wales, but no dice. Everyone ended up staying in their own rooms and doing their own things. It's rare to see anyone else in this house, even if I cook a meal and spend an hour and a half in the kitchen. A few of my Bulgarian roommates are pleasant and we smile and wave when we pass each other in the street, but they're here to make money, not friends. They've told me.

But all hope for internationality was not lost. Martha's Vineyard is a huge hotbed of Brazilians -- some summer workers and many year-round residents. The restaurant where I work, Mediterranean, is no exception -- at least five Brazilians work there, meaning their mother tongue is Portuguese, meaning I get to use some of my kinda-similar-but-not-that-similar Español with them. On Sunday morning last weekend, I had most of a conversation with one of the dishwashers in Spanish, peppering the rest with Portuguese from her and English from me. (Favorite parts: Her asking if I had a girlfriend -- "Tienes una amorada? Tienes una novia?" and learning she has a son my age in Brazil).

One of the only real friends I've made thus far is Marcio, also de Brasil, from Rio de Janiero. He'd been living in Orlando for the last seven years working for Disney. He's a surfer and tennis fiend. He has some great stories to tell. I like Brazilians if they dream to go to Portugal, since it is to Brazil what France is to Quebec or England is to America (sort of). Marcio wants to. Danubia, a server at Med, does not. [That link is a cool story about her in the Vineyard Gazette]

There's a crowd of five or so Serbians my age who work at Mediterranean. Haven't learned too much about them yet although they're wicked nice. Drago's eyes absolutely lit up when I told him I like football/soccer and he said, "Soccer is my life," and told me how he's played his entire life, semi-professionally most recently. The Red Sox are always playing on our bar's TV, so a few of these Serbian gents have afforded me my first opportunities to explain baseball from point A to point Z. Thanks, Oggy and Zell.

Mediterranean's secret weapon is Gilbert (pronounced Jill-bear) from beautiful Nice, France (I saw the city last March and was enamored beyond belief). He has the authentic French half-mustache, with the top half carefully shaved, and sees serving and restauranting in general as an art. If you dine at Mediterranean, I'm going to stringently suggest you request Gilbert. He's lived in America since the '60s, first moving to New York, and talking with him about The Beatles and New York in the '60s is out of this world. He saw the Rolling Stones on 14th Street right after "Satisfaction" dropped and the show began with an hour of nonstop screaming from excited girls -- screaming so loud he couldn't hear anything but the band's bass. He also saw The Doors before they had an album out. He can be a little snooty about some things, but he calls the Canadian variants of French "a treasure." He said he felt at home the first time he visited Quebec. This Frenchman also reminded me how cool it feels to walk or ride your bike with a piece of long grass jutting from your mouth like a cowboy.

I work with Ben, from Israel, where military service is requisite. I said something like, "Yikes...not like it's exactly a peaceful place to serve." He replied matter-of-factly, "Yeah. I had friends get killed." Yowch...

Our floor manager is Mike from Toronto. I went a whole shift without noticing his Canadian accent, and now I pick it up in every sentence. It's awesome. He chimed in on a Beatles conversation Gilbert and I were having, adding that Montreal seems to still be in Beatlemania -- it's all he hears on the radio the entire time he visits the city. Mike also says cheers for thanks, something I sorely miss from living in the UK.

Piret, the woman who trained me at the bookstore, is from Estonia. She and the owner, Ivo, run a resort in Estonia. They're going there for the summer. They invited another Estonian to be the caretaker of their home for the summer and to work in the bookshop. The day Piret and Ivo trained Anna, with Anna's miniature Estonian son prancing around the shop, it felt like I worked in a used bookstore in Estonia. The four of them spoke the language the entire day.

These are some little tastes and stories of internationality from everyday life here. I'll spin some of these threads out more in later entries, especially the Brazilianness of Martha's Vineyard, but even just at the tip of the iceberg, it's an eye-opening blast to be around so many cultures again.

Obrigado [Portuguese for thanks] for reading.

Reggae Vineyard?

2009-06-10T09:25:00.003-04:00

Chalk my tally of in-the-works blogs to two -- both of which will hopefully surface by the week's end. Here's a quick blurb for the day: I'm putting together a brief article about all the venues for live music on the island. So far, three or four have weekly reggae nights. What did I say about the ooh-yeah-we-be-jammin' attitude here?! Called it.

Speaking of Jamaica, mon, I'm either in a spell or this is flat-out becoming the summer of Red Stripe. I've always enjoyed this tasty Jamaican lager that sort of reminds me of a brown ale. It's on hand at most bars and I've fallen back in love after a few transcendental sips last Saturday after a grueling night at work. Also found them for $2 down Circuit Avenue at Island House the other night -- which is a steal here.

Yum.

While we're jammin' about reggae, if you've never heard The Fugees' cover of "No Woman, No Cry," spin it.

Back soon with a post about my internship and the newspaper folks.

EDIT: Moments after I posted this, I saw this sign on my street:

Monday meandering

2009-06-08T11:07:00.005-04:00

Rather than give you the substantial blog I've been writing in my head for more than a week, I've got some frenetic Monday morning musings for you. And the more I wait on that bigger blog, the more experiences enrich the final product. So no worries, mate.

I love living on Circuit Avenue. I woke up at 10 this morning for my first day off after a 12-day stretch without a free day (also worked 70 hours in seven days last week -- and people following me on Twitter and Facebook, I promise this is the last time I'll spout this stupid fact). Before eating breakfast or doing anything morning-ly, I tossed on some gym shorts, an old T-shirt and some flip-flops and sauntered down to the bank and the post office.

Leaving my house, I remembered I've wanted to note on here that we don't lock our front door. Ever. And we live on a very hopping street. Um? Not sure if this is the norm around here -- probably not since no one in our 12-person house is an actual islander, but it feels like it goes hand-in-hand with the let's-be-casual-we're-livin'-on-an-island-ooh-yeah-we-jammin' attitude. Oh well, I'm not freaking out about it -- just hoping you've forgotten where I live and you don't have the ambition to hunt back through this blog and find out and come rob whatever riches you can discover in our house's common areas; i.e. the kitchen and weird living room.

Stepping onto Circuit Ave., I saw a guy that looked nothing like John Krasinski but nonetheless made me think of John Krasinski walking down my street. If someone did one of those little charts of a brain for me, there would certainly be a small piece of the pie dedicated to celebrity sightings, a field I am severely unversed in. Anyway, I pictured it being John Krasinski (Jim of "The Office" if you've stubbornly refused the above-offered link) and imagined my reaction being a casual, gun-shaped finger point, the gesture saying without words and with ultimate slickness, "Ayyy, you're John Krasinski!" and continuing my walk down the street, smilin' and whistlin'.

Hopefully I can keep my cool to this degree when I actually do see some stars here. If I see some stars? No, when. Stay optimistic.

The bank where I opened a savings account (your bank is probably not on this island -- accept it) is directly next door to the post office. Makes for a nice one-two, bing-bang-boom experience. The post office was actually a great experience this morning. There's usually a brief wait to check your mail (I have general delivery -- the post office doesn't deliver to my house) and up ahead in the line, the postal employees congratulated some old fella on his birthday. I was thinking, wow, that's local service. Pretty cool they knew his birthday.

I got to the window, slapped my MaineCard down on the counter after a nice "Hi, how ahh ya?" from the lady and asked her for general delivery for Zach Dionne. The woman started rifling through some cubbies and a guy deeper in the mail room goes, "Is that Zach?" I said yeah, and he held up a package he'd just found for me, saying, "Hi Zach, how ya doin? Good timing!"

If you don't get how cool that is, never mind. I love New England.

Going to play tennis with Marcio de Brasil. First time on an island court!

On Tourism

2009-06-05T12:18:00.007-04:00

Another weekend is here, which in normal life means it's time to say, "Wow, that week cruised by." But on Martha's Vineyard, in the tourist mania of Oak Bluffs, Friday is the day to remember people are flocking here like seagulls to an errant Pringle on the beach.

It's strange being from Maine -- Vacationland, "The Way Life Should Be," "Worth a Visit, Worth a Lifetime" -- and having barely given a thought to tourism any summer of my life. It's obviously because I'm not from the coast and don't spend much time there, but places like Bar Harbor are on the same page as Martha's Vineyard in the summer; tons of tourists, tons of foreigners coming to make money, and general, abundant insanity.

It's funny that I acknowledge the tourism in oblique ways without remembering what's actually going on. "Cool, it's Friday, the restaurant should be pretty busy tonight" or, "Hey, it's pretty congested on my street. Walking down the sidewalk, past all these shops, is annoyingly unpleasant today." Not just because it's a weekend, but because it's one of the few days in the week in this pre-summer period when tons of people are unloading from the ferries and kickin' it with some island living for a few days.

I'm sure as the summer wears on into late June and further, weekends might take a backseat as tourists teem 24/7, but right now, it's an interesting shift from Friday to Sunday.

Tourism as a whole fascinates me. A waitress I work with is vacationing at Old Orchard Beach for the weekend, and while part of me is excited she's going to my state and to a beach I've been to tons of times, it's also unfathomable to me that she'd leave this island, surrounded by magnificent beaches, to go to Maine for something only mildly different. Ditto for people who go to Maine specifically to camp. I appreciate it and love Maine's outdoors, but isn't there allure for people to do this stuff in their own neck of the woods? My guess is it's the human, more specifically American, need to always be on the go, to be somewhere you're not, even if it's the same. I love traveling as much as anything, so I promise I'm not being cynical -- just trying to sort out the whole tourism thing. I'll be back with more of a diagnosis later this summer, when I've really stared the phenomenon in the face.

A sign on the island. You have to be blunt with tourists.

Downshift

2009-06-04T14:23:00.005-04:00

Hey gang,

It's time for a slight downshift in my bloggery. While I want to update every day, the summer isn't even close to fully started and I'm getting into the swing of two jobs and freelance writing on top of that -- while trying to cultivate a social life here and stay sane. Today is my ninth straight day working out of at least 12, not including the insane interviewing and writing I've been pulling together for Martha's Vineyard Wedding magazine. While I thrive on stress and this blog is still one of my summer's highest priorities, I don't want it to become a burden where I'm contriving daily entries. There will still me multiple weekly, worthwhile posts, including the feature I was reporting for today.

So I'm taking from fifth gear back to third or fourth.

Happy Thursday. Treat yourself to seeing Pixar's "Up" -- I saw it last night and was unsurprisingly delighted by Pixar again. Terrific movie in the charming movie theater in Vineyard Haven. I'm prepping to freelance a feature on the cinema scene on Martha's Vineyard very soon and shop it to whoever will take it -- or I'll just post it here.

I know your eyes are starving for a visual, so here's what $2,200 will buy you for four months in Martha's Vineyard:

Cool column about MV in the Globe

2009-06-03T00:27:00.002-04:00

A UMass professor and author wrote a guest column Monday in the Boston Globe under the guise of advice for the Obamas if they are truly vacationing here later this summer, in the tradition of the Clintons in years past. What it really served as was a nicely nuanced piece from a writer who is clearly intimately familiar with the Vineyard -- leagues moreso than my been-here-two-and-a-half-weeks self. I'm very grateful to the kind old fella who dropped this article off at the bookstore for my boss but recommended I read it first. I won't post the whole text below, but here are some bits I liked:

"Like all islands, Martha's Vineyard is a head case, mysterious, a unique coinage, cut off, stuck-up, a loner, a bit of a drama queen. Newcomers often experience the island as snobby, and not just in the obvious terms of how much property you own and its value. The island sometimes feels like a club for which there are secret rules that no one appears all that eager to share."

A few genius grafs about island's etymology include:

"The names play games with your head, teasing fake definitions from the sounds themselves. Edgartown could be a scary theme park based on stories by Poe. . . Oak Bluffs a strategy in poker . . . Tisbury a quaint way to describe the inside of a pie."

Although none of my jobs are listed, I can relate:

"Memories of having held certain summer jobs are a badge, whether the work was backbreaking, such as picking any of their 10 different kinds of lettuce at Morning Glory Farms, especially if you biked to work in the predawn hours, or mundane, such as bagging at Stop & Shop, or high-toned, such as being a hostess at Atria in Edgartown, or classic, such as scooping ice cream at Mad Martha's."

Check it out if you like what you see. Great way to get a better sense of this island I'm calling home for another three months.

Busy, busy, beach

2009-05-31T11:28:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-29T10:41:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-28T01:14:00.000-04:00

"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

2009-05-27T10:18:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-26T16:06:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-25T13:23:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-21T13:09:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-20T09:54:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-19T22:09:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

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

2009-05-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

“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

2009-05-17T21:15:00.000-04:00

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.