Steve Drake expresses delight in Princeton in general, and in Communiversity and Not in Our Town Princeton in particular, here. 
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“When,” a poem by Daniel A. Harris
May time keep running back to me — and may I use it wisely.
Daniel Harris, poet, scholar, environmentalist, and long-time Not in Our Town supporter, had the following poem accepted for publication in the Connecticut River Review. Daniel has given us permission to publish it on the blog. Daniel invites you to visit his website, danielharrispoet.net.
When
Since time is running out for me
to say about
the currents of oceans
gulls on their errands
the wind-lashed palms
And time is running out for me
to say about
the horses, their riders
beasts of burden, oxen
yoked to plow the many fields
And time is running out for me
to say about
the other chattel
people caught and shackled
shipped and bought
enslaved for free labor, profit
While time runs short for me
to say about
women abused to breed
the owners who used them
children, men schooled by whip
Time’s run out for me
to cough up phlegm and tell
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Dirty Dancing’s Princeton Connection
Eleanor Bergman (photo: Urban Joker)
The author of Dirty Dancing, Eleanor Bergstein, lived in Princeton in 1986 when she wrote the movie (she was married to English professor and poet Michael Goldman). U.S. 1 Newspaper did a cover story on her. I remember her telling me what a tight time budget she had (less 2 months), how she wished she could have reshot some scenes, and that she based it on her adolescence doing what they called ‘dirty dancing’ (actually the mambo) at basement parties.
This article tells how they kept the cameras running during rehearsal breaks in case there was usable film, how she prepared to write the movie by emceeing dance parties in her Princeton home, how she was pressured to take out the abortion scene, which was central to the plot.
Another Princeton connection was one of the dancers, Jennifer Stahl
What brought it up now? An Urban Joker post on 35 things you probably didn’t know about the movie. And I fell in love with this movie all over again.
‘Dust does not discriminate’
A shout out to Telequest who produced this great video for Isles on how to fight dust with effective house cleaning methods. Watch it if you need motivation to use a vacuum cleaner more often. I just found the video and like the tip about getting an extra damp mop bucket instead of using the kitchen sink.
Leaning in for Slaughter and Morris
I just registered for the WIBA program featuring Anne Marie Slaughter for (as I write on Monday) for Tuesday, April 12, 5 p.m.. Finally broke down and did it, wasn’t going to (my favorite choreographer Mark Morris is at McCarter that night) but I will just have to leave Greenacres Country Club early. Wasn’t going to go because I have mixed feelings about Slaughter’s opinions on why women can’t have it all as blurted out in the notorious article in The Atlantic.
Of course women can’t have it all. We pre-Gloria Steinem brides knew that all along.
But I got so confused by the discourse (she said/ She said/ she said/ She said) that I gave up and went on doing what I was doing before, which was trying to have it all and not succeeding.
So I’m hoping this former Princeton professor turned media guru will enlighten me on her current views about women. (Will she also weigh in, as a former Woodrow Wilson School dean, on the Wilson/name controversy?) . I will have to leave early to see Mark Morris Dance, but at least I’ll take home a copy of Unfinished Business, her new book based on the article that caused so much commotion.
As for Morris — Virtually all of Morris’s choreography is to live music, including Whelm to Debussy and The, a four-hand arrangement of Bach’s first Brandenburg concerto. (There will be one piece to recorded music; the songs of Ivor Cutler. Complete program here.) I firmly believe the commotion surrounding the excellence about Mark Morris is well deserved.
Diamond Anniversary for Buttons
If “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” as Marilyn Monroe liked to sing, a very big cake and a diamond anniversary button will help members and guests of New Jersey State Button Society (NJSBS) celebrate its 75th Anniversary on Saturday, May 7, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The NJSBS will hold its Spring Show and Sale at the Union Fire Company hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560, where there is plenty of free parking. All are welcome; admission is $2 for adults, free for juniors to age 17.
More than a dozen dealers and artists will offer buttons made from enamel, china, metal, and ivory — plus modern and vintage buttons made from fruit pits, rubber, and glass. The anniversary button, made by New Jersey studio artist Nancy DuBois, will be distributed. At an information table, guests can learn about buttons and the collecting hobby. After the anniversary cake is cut at 1 p.m., there will be a button raffle, an NJSBS business meeting, and Annie Frazier, past president of the National Button Society, will lead a forum on how entries are judged for state competitions.
“This show of collectible clothing buttons attracts antique enthusiasts, quilters, crafters, re-enactors, and those seeking special buttons to wear,” says Sara Mulford, president of the NJSBS. “Whether you are fascinated with their artistic quality, want to examine their material and construction, or seek to delve into their history, there will be buttons for everyone in all price ranges.”
Members of the NJSBS share an interest in studying, collecting, and preserving clothing buttons, both old and new. The group was founded on March 27, 1941, at a time when a nationwide interest in button collecting was surging. Many authors of classic books on button collecting come from New Jersey.
The anniversary celebration will continue on Saturday, September 10, at the Fall Show and Sale, same times and place. The Union Fire Company & Rescue Squad building is located at the intersection of Route 29 and Park Lake Avenue in Titusville, opposite the Delaware River and D&R Canal State Park (within easy access to the canal park), a half mile north of Washington Crossing State Park in Hopewell Township, and some five miles south of Lambertville and New Hope, PA.
For questions contact Sara Mulford, president, slmulford@verizon.net or 856-275-6945 or see http://newjerseystatebuttonsociety.org
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Saturday, May 7, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., New Jersey State Button Society Fall Show and Competition, Union Fire Company fire hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560. Diamond Anniversary Celebration. Admission: $2 for adults at the door. http://newjerseystatebuttonsociety.org
Saturday, September 10, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., New Jersey State Button Society Fall Show and Competition, Union Fire Company fire hall, 1396 River Road (Route 29), Titusville, NJ 08560. Admission: $2 for adults at the door. http://newjerseystatebuttonsociety.org
Cleaning out the Little Closet of Horrors
Source: Cleaning out the Little Closet of Horrors – this blogger’s discoveries about the decluttering could be an inspiration to me. And you?
Princeton to move forward with historic district designation
A historic decision — for the Witherspoon Jackson neighborhood. Many members of NIOT Princeton came out to support this. I was not able to attend, but here is the story from Shelley Krause.
If you were unable to attend last night’s open meeting of Princeton Council, in which it was decided that Princeton will move forward with an historic designation for our Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, here are some highlights:
Princeton’s 20th Historic District
Guest author: Chrystal Schivell
Chrystal Schivell: “Any person’s story can be fascinating, but every black person’s story is an education for me.” Here is an important post from her blog
I’d be more optimistic about achieving a post-racial society if some of my neighbors were black. Recently I visited a town in rural New Jersey. A white couple lives across the street from a black friend of mine, who has just returned from the hospital. The couple promised they’d drop over daily to help her out. Down the street three young black men pulled into their driveway, next door to a white guy mowing his lawn. An integrated community with at least one neighborly neighbor! Do they even bother to notice black and white?
In Princeton, some of us constantly notice black and white because we’re worried. As the value of land increases, along with taxes, black people whose families have resided in Princeton since its early days may be forced to leave. We say that we want to keep Princeton’s diversity, but it’s not certain that, even with white…
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Mel Leipzig and Leon Rainbow: for Trenton Kids
One of my favorite people, celebrated realist painter Mel Leipzig, will give a gallery talk at Princeton Shopping Center where two of his paintings on display including the one above (Gregory at Gallery Henoch, photo by Tasha O’Neill). The talk will be Monday, December 14, 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Princeton Shopping Center on North Harrison Street. He will be joined by Leon Rainbow, a graffiti artist who — I believe — has one foot in the corporate world as a web designer, his work below.
These paintings are part of an exhibit “Art for Read to Achieve,” hosted by the Center for Child and Family Achievement, which has come up with an efficient way to really improve education for children in Trenton. It’s worthy of support.
Faith Ringgold one of the other featured artists and other names you’ll recognize are Alonzo Adams, Romare Bearden, Judith Brodsky, Elizabeth Catlett, Aminah Robinson, Lucy Graves McVicker, Sydney T. Neuwirth and Thomas Malloy. There is a range of prices.
It’s an exciting exhibit, to see all these artists together. The exhibit and sale. cosponsored by the Arts Council of Princeton, runs till December 22, open daily except Mondays (and events like this one).Mel will be a superb lecturer/teacher on December 14.
“See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” by Leon Rainbow
Credit: Tasha O’Neill
Tuesday – Thursday 11 am – 7 pm
Friday 1pm -8 pm
Sat – Sun 1pm – 5 pm
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Princeton Comment 