Just over a month ago, five young women from New England Climate Summer — Team RICONN — biked through Hartford, after starting their trip in Providence. Their goal was to make stops in Rhode Island and Connecticut, before heading straight from New Haven to their final destination: Boston.
They did it.
On Wednesday evening they rolled into Boston.
What does one learn after spending ten weeks away from home?
In a thank you letter sent by Team RICONN, Ellie said, “This summer has restored my faith and confidence in humanity. [...] I found myself constantly in awe of the level of hospitality and warmth with which we were met and the short amount of time that it took me to feel at home wherever we went.” Continue reading 'Climate Summer a Success'»
I don’t usually write self-promotional posts because the material here can speak for itself. But, with the increase in readership over the last few years, I’ve decided it’s time to give a refresher on ways to interact with what is here and how you can get the word to others.
- Comment on the blog: Others may disagree, but I find it valuable for readers to engage right here. Conversation elsewhere, like on Facebook and Twitter, is also appreciated, but doing so naturally excludes readers who do not use those forums.
- Email: if you find an article that a friend, relative, neighbor, or enemy should read, then send him/her that specific link, and please, provide some context. We all want to know what we are going to click on when we are at work. To link to a specific article, click on the title of the post and then copy and paste the URL.
- Follow my blog with Bloglovin or on Google Reader, or other similar sites if you are inclined to use them. Sometimes the formatting gets lost, but you can always click on posts that interest you, taking you back to the actual blog. (You can “+1″ something on Google+, but this seems redundant with what Google Reader already offers.)
- Follow us on Networked Blogs or become a fan on Facebook. On Facebook, there are sometimes previews of what will be coming up in the next week or so. You are also invited to share links to articles using your personal Facebook account, or with groups you belong to there. LinkedIn offers similar sharing possibilities.
- You can follow Real Hartford on Twitter or tweet the link to a post you think others should read. To do the latter, just click on “comments.” Right above the comment box you will see a row of icons, including one for tweeting. This is also where you can “stumble” a post, adding it to Stumbleupon, as well as add it to Digg.
- Link to Real Hartford from your own site or blog. The blogroll on this site indicates a lot of what I read.
- Bookmark it. You know when you are killing time waiting for dinner to finish cooking and you want to show your date something hilarious/wrong that you read/watched on YouTube during the day, but you can not remember what it was now that you have an audience? Avoid that through the magic of bookmarking.
- Word of mouth. If you know someone who has a local-to-Hartford story or event, have him/her contact me.
- Join our mailing list
- Don’t steal our stuff — text, photos, or otherwise! Ask permission first!
Thanks to those who are already doing any of these things, and a thanks in advance to readers who may begin to do so.
Image courtesy of Jenny W. at stock.xchng
Three hours later, the two dozen volunteer participants were asked to describe – in one or two words — their experience with the pilot community dialogue. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and several people were eager to put their ideas into action.
The National Leadership Grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services provides funds ($637,896) for the Immigrant Civic Engagement Initiative of which this pilot dialogue was a part. Everyday Democracy is partnering with the Hartford Public Library on this three-year initiative. The hope is that the Immigrant Advisory Group will take a leadership role in continuing the Community Dialogue work after the grant dries up.
A cultural brokering program, which pairs a newcomer family with someone who acts as an advocate and mentor, is another component of this initiative The cultural brokers and families will meet for a minimum of three hours each week at the Hartford Public Library, over the course of twelve weeks. The library was selected as a meeting place because of its central location, neutral setting, resources, and history of serving the immigrant community. This service is for families who have been in the United States for less than two years.
The need for advocacy was spelled out by Homa Naficy, the Multicultural Education and Outreach Manager, and Nancy Caddigan, the Intercultural Liasion, at the Hartford Public Library. They spoke about newcomers who, though learning English, were still confronted with the daily challenge of language barriers. Some suffered health issues because they did not understand doctors’ diagnoses, or were unsure of what medication they were given to treat ailments. Continue reading 'First Talk, Then Action: Increasing Civic Involvement in the Immigrant Community'»
Entrepreneurs, clear your schedules for late September. Hartford will be joining cities around the world — including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and New York — in hosting a Startup Weekend: 54 hours focused on building web and/or mobile applications.
From September 23-25th, the Hartford Public Library will host speakers and mentors; participants will make pitches and the ideas that get voted up will be worked on by teams. At the end of the weekend, the teams will make presentations, which will in turn be judged; the winner(s) will receive prizes.
Think of it as a sexier, more interactive version of grantwriting. Continue reading 'Startup Weekend Hartford'»
Live in Hartford explains how Hartford makes losing weight easy. If you aren’t interested in the weight loss angle, then allow me to vouch for its magical ability to increase leg muscles for the same reasons Julie provides.
The flashing, honking mob going through Bushnell Park last night? That was the Real Ride.
The first Real Ride was in 2010. These begin in the Real Art Ways parking lot and take slow, meandering routes through the city, winding back to the gallery. A previous ride ventured into West Hartford.
Saturday evening’s ride went Continue reading 'Real Ride 3'»
There are some gaps in this blog post. You should check out what Live in Hartford writes about this same forum in order to fill in those blanks.
For those who are unaware, eHow is a website that specializes in providing advice that should be obvious, but since it exists, I suppose the instructions are needed. In an article about dealing with bratty kids the advice given is to set boundaries, follow through, pay attention to the child, reward for good behavior, and if junior doesn’t adjust her attitude, seek professional help. Sound advice that any rational person could write, yet in everyday observation of the world around me, can see that there is a lack of thinking parents. Likewise, there is advice provided for those who wish to campaign for mayor. These bits of wisdom include:
Only release information to the public about the current mayoral administration if it is factual.
and
Don’t verbally bash your opponent. It takes away from your positive campaign.
Obvious, right?
Not to everyone. Continue reading 'Mayoral Candidate Forum Spotlights Pressing Issues like Robocars and Raspberries'»
Crime & Justice, Economics, Education, Environment, Gender & Sexuality, Hartford, Race & Ethnicity, The Mayor, Urban Renewal, Youth, blight, commentary, downtown, elections, how to, library, political b.s., quality of life, transportation
From time to time, people ask me questions about how to start blogs, how to promote themselves, etc. Other times, I find people should be asking questions instead of taking certain actions. I’m not an authority on any of this, but I have been on the internet forever and have written on blogs/websites for about a decade, so I’ve had the benefit of experience. Here, I’m going to answer some of the questions that are being or should be asked: Continue reading '“What is a Google?” and Other Internet-Related Questions Answered'»
Lack of imagination is what creates limitations for people. We observe this in folks who see cities as mere expanses of concrete and asphalt. These are the ones who have trouble viewing anything as a success if it lacks the structure of the standard suburban shopping mall surrounded by a sea of parking spaces; predictably, this vision, this type of American Dream, is held onto most tightly by those who spend very little time in cities.They are also the ones who are surprised, if not in out-and-out denial, by the news that urban dwellers can garden. Some people have backyards that can compete with most in West Hartford, Wethersfield, or Newington. Others, like myself, have smaller yards. I like to think of mine as comparable to the “fun size” candy bars– enough to satisfy, but not so much that I feel gross when I’m done with it. Some only have windowsills or balconies to work from, though a way around this is to rent space for something like $25 per year in a community garden. At $25, without needing to fork over anything for property tax or water bills, this is a bargain. After establishing what space one will have, the next step is to plan for how it should look and where you will get your plants from. Phase one and two should probably take up most of your time, but if you are new to an area or just new to gardening, you might be just as lost about phase three (phase four, of course, is planting the goods and then maintaining them). Here is a review of some places in the area to obtain materials for the garden/yard/windowsill.
The Criteria:
- convenience of location: is this in a residential part of Hartford, another part of Hartford, out of town, on a bus line, or way out in the sticks?
- convenience of hours: does this vendor hold normal business hours, times geared toward morning people, or are they open when the planets are all aligned and the moon is in Venus?
- ambiance: no frills? warehouse? an oasis of inspiration? Is this a place that you would visit to linger, even when not seeking to purchase plants? Is this a destination or a quick stop?
- cost: dirt cheap or do they inflate the price of potting soil?
- the goods: obviously, all the above criteria doesn’t matter if the vendor does not have what you need. Is there a wide variety of plants, or just the standards? Are the plants healthy? What do they have besides plants?
- eco cred: selling plants does not automatically earn a person green cred. Are all or even some plants organically grown? Does this vendor use or sell lawn poison? Do they recycle? Do they use earth-friendly pots?
The Contenders: Continue reading 'A Guide to Getting What You Need for Growing Your Own'»
Environment, Frog Hollow, Hartford, South Meadows, Suburbs, access, how to, not Hartford, photos, quality of life, shopping
For students to do well in school, there are five criteria that need to be met, according to Jo Ann Freiberg, who is a consultant at the Connecticut State Department of Education:
- have a connection with at least one adult (teacher, counselor, etc.)
- feel happy to be at school
- feel like they are a part of the school
- feel as though adults at the school treat them fairly
- feel safe (physically, emotionally, etc.)
Dealing with bullying behaviors in the schools, then, is necessary if we want students to succeed.
This was the focus of tonight’s community forum — “Making a Difference: The Bullied Respond” – at the Hartford Public Library. Before the panel discussion, the audience viewed a series of It Gets Better and Make it Better videos. The discussion began with a look at what LGBT youth are enduring, but it was quickly acknowledged that the bullying that occurs is because of any real/perceived difference. An adult audience member shared his story about how he now has a metal plate and screws in his mouth because he was assaulted in high school; he had been picked on because of his name and for wanting to start a religious club at his school.
Panelist Danielle Procaccini — a drama teacher and gay-straight alliance advisor at Hartford Public High School Law and Government Academy — said she found it “very frustrating [...] that we’re still even having this conversation,” noting that the issues that exist today are the same ones that existed when she was in high school as a student. What she hears from teachers is that there is so much teasing and name calling that this has become the students’ “natural language.” While there is some physical bullying, things like cyber bullying are more prevalent. For those out of the loop on this, imagine rumors passed on a note, except that many peers are receiving that message all at the same time. Some improvements are happening, though. There is now a GSA at this school, which before this year, did not have one. This has allowed some conversations to occur that did not previously. She also noted that over fifty students participated in the Day of Silence this year.
The message of “it gets better” might be hard for some to understand when their day-to-day lives are so awful. David Perry, one of the panelists and a graduate of Hartford Public High School, described his own experience succinctly:
I hated high school. I hated being threatened.
Perry’s experience is one that others can relate to. When he complained to teachers about how he was being mistreated by other students, the teachers claimed that they saw nothing. Continue reading 'Bullying By Any Other Name'»
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