Manual

November 7 2009

Meet sarah in the Market after wrangling koi and dogs on the island. She was with Lisa…we all chat and shop and then after Sarah and I decide to walk the Dejuindre Cut. And its still gorgeous outside..and as we approached the end we could see construction workers and I started to get worried as I could not exactly recall if Manuals place was directly at the end or not…well I tried not to get upset and asked if she minded if we go look and as we were heading there the field next to the workers was empty…my heart sunk until we come over the small hill and I could she his shack.

It is much smaller than last winter, like it had been torn down. He was not home. But his shopping cart was. I was so happy his place was still there I started to cry as we continued our walk. I asked if she was cool going around the block as I like to take new routes. And I am glad we did cuz a man was approaching us from down the second block and it ended up being Manual!

I spoke his name and asked if he remembered me. Mind you he speaks Spanish and damn it all to hell I have not yet learned to speak it so we have a language barrier. I speak to him about coming around again as the weather gets cold and ask about his shoes. He has on good boots! I tell him I will see him soon, he tells me ‘everyday’ I tell him we shall see. And he gives me a magazine he has in hands..its some ladies mag. I take his kind gesture and introduce him to Sarah and we part ways.

I was very happy to see him and he looked healthier than last year..but it was not winter yet and living in his shack esp in the worse condition it was in was sure to take its toll.
Spent the next few hours sharing life love and stories with Sarah who is a sage for her age and someone I am so grateful to have in my life…to be called her friend.

I am blessed with some amazing people in my life and I am so glad I now understand that I can call on them in my time of need, or when they call on me, to accept there love and support and challenges and pushing and listening and words and just no non-sense bull shit to help me to continue to become the person I know I can be. To each of them I am honored.

Friday night 11-7-09.. a doozy

That night I was on my way to Union Street for Christophers (not Breedlove) birthday gathering and I dropped off soup and bread to four guys I meet on the street. And then after dinner I ran into Larry the 5gallon bucket drum guy- he is a regular in the Corridor. I told him we meet last winter at Avalon a few times, he remembered me. I told him I had no money but if he would like my leftover I would gladly give them to him..and I tried to remember what I had but completely space..and he was like ‘its all right-it will not go to waste’ I then ran to my rental and got him some canned chicken noodle soup and a loaf of bread.

I remember the first time I saw him a few years ago she scared me to be honest. He has a haggarded face and a mean scrowl and just looks angry. Well fuck he might be right. I am glad though that I have gotten over my fear of him and I really do like the fact he plays though 5gallon buckets even if they are loud as fuck and don’t have a great rhythm..who cares he is at least working at something and giving back in a way if you ask me.



Even later that Friday night…on way home I exit off of I75 at Holbrook and see a cop car pulled over to the left at the light talking to a person who I figure must have been beggin on the corner as its getting more and more regular in the past few weeks. I roll down my window to listen but cant really hear anything. The light turns red but they don’t pull away so I decide to pull in front of them and make a left in hopes that they will pull away, again they don’t. At this time I notice at this time it’s a woman so I want to wait for sure now.
I pull into the Coney, which btw has been celebrating it anniversary for like 3 months now…just take the banner down!..and I pull out the exit back onto Holbrook and wait for the cops to go away…its like 5 minutes before they do and I see this person coming toward me then notice there belongings at the light where they must have been begging. I pull up and flip a bitch and ask if she is hungry. She tells me yes and I hop out and pop the trunk and start to give her soup and bread…then she says to me..’I doubt it but area you going into Hamtramck?”, I tell her yes why..and she asked me for a ride. I ask her where to and just to the 75 service drive and Caniff…exactly the way I go home. I tell her to get in..and guess what…she got in the back seat too. WTF? Safer maybe?

We chat as I drive her. I ask her name, its Cheryl and I tell her mine. She asks if I am married, I swallow hard and tell her no. (a question I got asked a few times at the soup kitchen and like 5 times since over this last week…I never get asked that ? so why now?)
She then asks if I have babies..i look at her and gently shake my head. She tells me she an 8 year old and that she is 49 and she just got them a small place over in the projects on the other side of 75. I tell her I am proud of her and wish her well, she was proud too you could tell. She told me she will be looking out for me and will notice my hair …I told her I will be looking out for her as well…and I will be!

Bomb scare

Friday on my way to work 11-6-09 I was running late as is par of the course..or mind you I just don’t worry when I go in…I just stay later if I am late..which is everyday. So anyways I came around off Cass to Third by the MGM Casino after going to Avalon for breakfast. And while there I decided to not use cash but debit my food, which I thought to myself was odd cuz if I have it I like to use it but not this day, I might need it.

Well fast forward to about 3 blocks from work and I see a rolling suitcase sitting on the curb unattended. I instantly thought of Europe where that shit don’t fly and they will shut down areas and call in the bomb unit..i remember when it happened at the Heathrow Airport when I was there in 92. Dumb ass American not getting why I was being pushed out of a store and having its doors slammed shut and being sectioned off to a secure area..i must have looked like an idiot cuz someone asked “You’re an American right?” I was like uh yea..and they explained there was unattended luggage found (most likely by and American!) and the airport went into crack down mode.

So yea I see this luggage…and I see a guy walk past as I drove up..he barely noticed it. i pull over cuz I see tags on it and then I see a woman walking up and I ask if it is hers. She tells me yes and then I see her grab it and continue to walk away. I start to drive away happy it has a home when I look back and see another piece of luggage on the road. She must have forgot it? I’m confused. I toss the car in reverse and ask her if she meant to leave that and she said she was going back for it.

You see she was walking half a block with half her luggage and going back getting the other pieces, of which she had 3, 2 on wheels one not and then repeating the whole thing over again. I asked her where she was going assuming she just got off Grayhound. she told me Ford Field..i did the map in my head and figured it would take her like 4 hours. I looked at her and motioned to the back seat and told her to throw her bags in and get in. She looked at me stunned but was happy to get in. Mind you she got in the back seat which I felt bad about but she was content with all her luggage.

She told me I must be a good church going lady because I was doing the work of god helping her out. Inside my head I told her I was the farthest thing for god but instead of telling her that I asked her name. It was Jean, I told her mine and we chatted while I drove her the bus station at Grand Circus Park, you know the one with the two statues of dead white guys. (Pingree being one of them)

She told me she came from Saginaw and seemed embarrassed. I asked if she was on the streets long, she told me no and was heading to a Shelter at 32 mile road..whoa quite a distance to travel but she seemed to know what she was doing. She told me she missed the bus and NSO shelter the night before and that it was expensive to get a lift from there back to grayhound to sleep.

I pulled over on the side of the ‘other dead white guy’ statue and a cop car pulled up right behind me. Too bad I thought I am getting out and put on my hazards, I motioned to them I would be a moment and unloaded Jeans belongings. I had also before I got out reaching in and got the cash from my bag that I had not used for some reason at Avalon and was so happy that I had not as I realized why. We hugged goodbye on the curb and I tugged the money into her hand. She looked at me with such gratitude and tried to give it back, no luck Ms. Jean and I wished her good luck as she thanked me and blessed me…she thanked me and blessed me. hmmm

St. Lads Soup Kitchen - November 5, 2009

St. Lads Soup Kitchen

Started volunteering at St. Lads soup kitchen in Hamtramck last Thursday because I figured if they contacted me to give me all the left over loaves of bread from their weekly kitchen the least I could do was offer to help them.

I had found out through Amber at work that our job actually offers 16 hours of community service a year…BUT no one tells you about it …somehow she learned and told me so of course I jumped on board and since St. Lads had just hit me up .. I filled out my application with there info and asked to have the 16 hours split into 3 hour increments. So I leave work at 1pm covering me from 1 to 4pm when I leave work so I can have 5 Thursdays to be at the church kitchen at 1:30pm to help prep the food. Which they do pretty much all from scratch.

Mind you that was not a great day to start cuz I was an emotional fucking basket case but I told them I would be there and I planned on not letting them down…trying not to let everyone down in my life right! (oh self floggin.)

Well I got there and the lady who contacted me Donna was not going to be there and I was told to ask for Pat. There was a room full of ladies in there 50’s 60’s and 70’s all bustling around preparing food cutting veggies, sorting bread (omg the amount of bread donated by a bakery on Mc Nichols is amazing), cooking soups and hams and pork chops and oi

I was introduced to everyone and promptly forgot every name except the two Pats. And was put to work making ..no joke..coffee. I tried to explain to them I do not drink coffee but they had a new machine and no one wanted to learn it….yea.. ok. I asked if people liked it light or strong…and I instantly realized by all the answers I got that no one in this room agrees on anything…and I have a feeling that happens often. A little old lady who kinda reminds me of my maternal grandmother told me to make it so she can see the bottom of the cup..that confused me…what the hell kind of cofffe is that...So as you can guess I made coffee too strong! And Sophie, I did remember her name, gave me a hard time and told me I might not be welcomed back. I was told to ignore she cuz she harasses everyone. I gathered that very quickly and looked forward to seeing how she operates.

I was put to work cutting pies, peeling taters, and a bunch of other stuff I cant recall all the while suffering from a UTI that decided to start on my way walking there and I had no Azo Standard on me..ie..i was in a mess of pain and had to excuse myself like 10 times to the bathroom to either cry or try to pee…tmi..i know -whatever .

The doors opened at 4pm…and the people piled in. we served baked ham, boiled potatoe, salad, soup, bread and pie ..oh and milk…quite a bit of food. And open to anyone who needs a meal not just homeless folks. Most the people were white but you tell they were not recent immigrants nor where they from the eastern block as the poles have a certain look to them from that area. But all were polite and thankful. One guy got out of hand and the priest had to have a talk with him.

Everyone was allowed to take 3 loaves of bread or 2 depending on who you asked. And that is par for the course there I figured out quickly too. One person tells you do something one way and 30 seconds later another is telling your wrong and do it another way..it was confusing to say the least and in my fragile state oh my god..but it was funny too like a Laural and Hardy skit. (part of me wonders why I wrote that and not Abbot and Costello cuz I liked them as a kid and L&H..i disliked the fat guy cuz he was soo mean to the little guy- but I really liked Costello the chubby guy and not Abbot the skinny mean guy..hmm wonder if they changed it up on purpose so as not to seem too much like L&H..or I am thinking about stupid stuff right now for no reason…ok shut up!)

So yea 50+ people came through..all have to sign in before they get food, sometimes they can get two servings. The kitchen is only open til 5:30 used to be 6pm but with it getting dark they changed it. At the end I went to get my rental cuz they had a ton of bread to give me and Pat had taken me into the store room and gave me like 48 cans of chicken of soup. All of which I gave out over the last week and ran out Tuesday, good timing.

Using Facebook Mobile and Twitter

October 2009

Using Facebook Mobile and Twitter to my advantage..something good can come from them.

I think it was last month I set up my mobile accounts so I could upload from my celly to these two social networking sites…and no not so I can tell you what I had for lunch or what the woman in front of me at Kmart is wearing (is Kmart still around?- couldn’t think of a store..not much of a shopper)

But instead I figured since this year I don’t have a partner in crime to take to the streets with like I did last year and getting people to come on a whim is not easy to do…hard enuf to know when I am going to do it ..or I do it directly after work now cuz its dark so soon. (talk about the dark later oi)

So I set it up cuz I was going to meet a guy named Neil who read about me in the Hamtramck Review section of “get to know your neighbor” where they highlighted the homeless work I do. So along with St. Lads he wrote to the email in the article (doxiedetroit@gmail.com) to contact me.

This guy has a house in Hamtramck that is getting foreclosed but his friend who lived there had a ton of XL and XXL men’s clothes. He told me the day he would be there and I told him I would meet him. Then the am I brave or stupid gene kicked in and I realized I don’t really have anyone to get my back on this….so I signed up for mobile uploads. Posted the address I was going to and went.

The house was tore the fuck up, in various stages of construction. But I did not sense anything wrong so I went in …we chatted for what was quite a long time and we went through the clothes and bedding and I felt my celly go of a few times but felt safe.

Then he asked if I normally do what I did today by going to strangers places..and I admitted to him that I do not and that I set up a mobile thing-a-ma-bob on Facebook, he didn’t know what it was I was not able to explain well enough…telling people what I was doing and that is why my cell phone was going off. And that I needed to check in. I took a call from Christopher telling him I was ok and would be out soon. We loaded my Mimi (oh how i miss her) with stuff and continued to talk outside. I could see Gypsy had called and texted as well as Sputnik and another friend.

I knew I was past due for checking in..so I bid my adieu and texted the troops. I guess I didn’t realize that people were actually watching and timing me…but I am very grateful that they were. Gypsy was ready to call the cops and come looking for me. (thanks doll!)

Neil was very nice, he was out of work and had hoped to get into fixing and renting then the bust happened. He will be starting school in February to work on Wind Turbines to get in on the new industry. I told him about my friend Paul Masters who does that same thing and makes bucks…and was in Alaska all summer installing them and sending me pic from 300 feet in the air on them…scary..and cold.

It was a pleasure to meet Neil and I am thankful for all the large clothes as those are the hardest to come by. He wrote me an email the week MiMi was stolen to give me another address on Evaline where he left another page of clothes on the porch for me. I retrieved them just last week after all the car drama and pulling my brain out of my ass and getting back to the project.

The Season has started.

on my way to work this morning i stopped at the light on the service drive and saw a homeless man in a wheel chair with a sign telling passers by that he was homeless and asking for help. i was bummed cuz i had no food to share with him.

I tried to make eye contact with him to acknowledge him and we finally did. At that moment I simultaneously reached in my bag for a dollar as I read the small sign that he had propped on his big sign...it told drivers to drive careful and blessed them.

i pulled my car to meet him and handed the dollar out the window and asked his name, i recognized him at that time. He told me his name is Amir and I told him my name and I reminded him we met last winter one night on the service drive by 14th. (it was a night that dft and I picked up a woman from MLK cuz a man was harassing her and took her to the place of her request)

His face lit up and he remembered me, He remembered i had gotten out of my car to get in my truck to get him food and a blanket and covered him. And told me I also helped him on the 75 service drive as well. i told him i would be out again this year and asked what size shoe he wore as i saw he was in socks and sandals.

He told me 10 or 11 and i told i would be on the look out. We started to say our good byes and then he blessed me...and you know what? I felt as if I had been touched...no I know I was!

I cried tears of joy the rest of the way to work...Thank you Amir, thank you!

Making Change in Chicago

found on the streets of Chicago..

honest..and really nice penmanship too!

DAMNED exhibition and BWB & a gig for you?

he art experience DAMNED II is coming up on Thursday October 29th and Friday (Devil's Night) October 30th...

this year I will working with DAMNED II doing production and they have offered to help Burners without Borders do a food drive at the door, they did this last year for another organization. ..this is a great opportunity for BWB Detroit to ramp up donations at the beginning of the winter season.

Another great opportunity is that we are looking for some help...have a look and see if you are interesting in a quick gig.

thanks
~doxie


Subject: Servers & valets needed for DAMNED II pre-Ball dinner

22 attendees are needed for the exotic 6-course dinner served presentation
style before the DAMNED II Masquerade Ball

(Presentation style where each course plate is presented and served
individually)

Needed:

- 10 servers to roll out cart for each presented plate to their assigned
table and placing plates before each of 8 diners at table

- 10 table valets to service diner needs (refilling glasses, etc) and
placing finished plates onto cart for removal

- 2 drink servers to bring any possible bar orders to table valets

Elegant uniform will be provided. $7/hr rate with free VIP admission for you
plus guest after dinner to formal masquerade ball and Jill Tracy
performance.

Must be available exactly 6-9pm on Friday October 30 2009 at the Tangent
Gallery/Hastings Ballroom in Detroit

Serious professional- minded applicants only. Female and male equally
employed.

Send personal information, JPG photo and any related experience to:
- Hide quoted text -

server09@thatdamned show.com

Deadline midnight October 16 2009.

Interesting link on poverty statistics worldwide;
http://www.poverty.com/internationalaid.html
its a very embarrassing reflection on our country..
which unless you are daft you should already know about..this
just gives the numbers.

this link it to a site that exhibits art down by homeless
http://www.communityworks945.org/Artworks945/subShell.html

“A City to Yourself”

a highlight of the filmmaker Nicole MacDonald for the upcoming fundraiser for Burners without Borders...



WHAT:

A film by Detroit filmmaker and Co-Director of the Detroit Film Centers, Nicole MacDonald; “A City to Yourself” (http://tinyurl.com/nl846w) followed by a special screenings of “Dust and Illusions” by film maker Olivier Bonin (http://dustandillusions.com/trailers)

WHEN & WHERE :
July 17th 2009. 6:00pm Artist Village -17340 Lahser Rd. Detroit, MI
July 18th 2009. 3:30pm, 5:30pm Artist Village -17340 Lahser Rd. Detroit, MI
July 18th 2009. 10:30pm Theater Bizarre- 967 W State Fair Detroit, MI

(Please note viewing at Theatre Bizarre is outside, bring a chair or blanket to sit on ground.)

Buy presale tickets; (and save a few bucks)
http://dustandillusions.com/blog/special-screenings-in-detroit-july-1718th#tickets http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=98437072738


WHO:
Organized in part by Burners without Borders- Detroit Chapter for the world wide
Benefit Without Borders (http://www.benefitwithoutborders.com/index.html)

About the films:

A City to Yourself by Nicole MacDonald. In 1950, when Detroit was the auto production capital of the world, there were 1,849,568 people in the city. Today there are half that many remaining. Everyone's heard of the crumbling infrastructure that follows a shrinking, post-industrial city like Detroit. But what about the increase in space for outdoor art, less traffic, little gridlock, the return of urban wildlife and green space, and some of the pluses of having a city to yourself?

Filmmaker Nicole MacDonald was born on the East side of Detroit. She is a filmmaker and artist (her landscape paintings have been in shows from the Scarab Club to the Detroit Artists Market), makes her living as acting director of the Detroit Film Center and a freelance videographer.

This year her film was one of the 125 films selected for competition in the Ann Arbor Film Festival, an international festival is known for art and experimental films. The film was shot between the years of 2005 and 2008 where she saw many changes occur in the city from building demolition to the planting of flowers. “It was one of many contradictions … I tried to document in my film,” she says.

The film has won the John Michaels Award at the 31st Big Muddy Film Festival in Carbondale, Ill., which awards films for community activism and social consciousness and was accepted to the Washington, D.C. Independent Film Festival and Media City International Festival of Film and Video Art in Windsor.

Nicole lives in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighbor and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, where she studied philosophy and anthropology. She is positive about Detroit and appreciates the kind of rural tranquility in an urban setting. She sees Detroit as something of an escape from the congestion and pollution of the surrounding suburbs.

DUST & ILLUSIONS

DUST & ILLUSIONS; a history of Burning Man


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- July 6, 2009


WHAT: Special screenings of “Dust and Illusions” by film maker Olivier Bonin, (http://dustandillusions.com/trailers) with a preview of the film by Detroit filmmaker and Co-Director of the Detroit Film Centers, Nicole MacDonald “A City to Yourself” (http://tinyurl.com/nl846w)

WHEN & WHERE:

July 17th 2009. 6:00pm Artist Village -17340 Lahser Rd. Detroit, MI 48219
July 18th 2009. 3:30pm, 5:30pm Artist Village -17340 Lahser Rd. Detroit, MI
July 18th 2009. 10:30pm Theater Bizarre- 967 W State Fair Detroit, MI 48203

(Please note viewing at Theatre Bizarre is outside, bring a chair or blanket to sit on ground.)Buy pre-sale tickets; (and save a few bucks)
http://dustandillusions.com/blog/special-screenings-in-detroit-july-1718th#tickets

WHO: Organized in part by Burners without Borders- Detroit Chapter for the world wide Benefit Without Borders (http://www.benefitwithoutborders.com/index.html)

About the films:

Dust & Illusions looks at 30 years of history of Burning Man all the way back to the late 1970s deep into the origins of the event. Through 21 interviewees the film presents the philosophies that fueled the creation of the festival, and its evolution from a small gathering of friends to the largest “counter-cultural” event in North America. It offers a new perspective of the meaning of the event, and questions whether its organizers are more concerned about making sure the show is ready when the gate opens or if they still truly engage in building a community and fostering art

A City to Yourself In 1950, when Detroit was the auto production capital of the world, there were 1,849,568 people in the city. Today there are half that many remaining. Everyone's heard of the crumbling infrastructure that follows a shrinking, post-industrial city like Detroit. But what about the increase in space for outdoor art, less traffic, little gridlock, the return of urban wildlife and green space, and some of the pluses of having a city to yourself?

About Burners without Borders:
Detroit Burners without Borders is an opportunity to help people on our streets ease the discomfort of homelessness. You do not have to give money, instead donate goods, better yet give of yourself and do community service that not only helps others but leads to building stronger community, networking and friendships with people you might not otherwise come in contact.

Contact: Danielle Kaltz
Email: doxiedetriot@gmail.com
http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org/