imagined-community

11:30 a.m. on Broadway Street in Somerville. Brunch eaters are already lined up from Sound Bites to the end of the block. It is my first time doing the Somerville brunch thing and I am astounded to find so many inexpensive and wildly popular brunch joints within walking distance of each other. Strolling up Broadway, I pass a cluster of folks congregating in front of Kelly’s Diner. Next, I hit the block long queue in front of Sound Bites. I walk a few feet and join a smaller group of diners waiting outside of the Ball Square Café. After grabbing a free mug of coffee from inside BSC, I start people watching. As far as I can tell, no one appears particularly bothered by the outdoor wait. Just the opposite, a kind of mellow, cheerful camaraderie pervades the entire scene. According to my companions, people are lined up like this rain, snow, or shine. I’m charmed. I’ve been falling in love with Somerville for some time now, and this oasis of brunch activity, which has stirred up happy memories of living in San Francisco (a city that knows how to enjoy a Sunday morning) and Madison (think Ovens of Brittany or the Fess at the height of their popularity) fuels my ardor.

We only wait 15 minutes before the host ushers us into the BSC (if you tire of the longer Sound Bites line some Sunday, definitely give the Ball Square Café a try), which is a small dining room with brick walls and faux marble tables. Cute and cozy. I am not a brunch food snob, I like brunch for the scene and the laid-back brunch conversation, but the food at the Ball Square Café is good. Lots of pancakes (special pancakes this Sunday were pumpkin pancakes - $5.95 and buckwheat pancakes with fruit - $7.95), omelets, other egg dishes, waffles, etc. Our waitress is attentive and friendly; we don’t have to ask for the check. : ) All in all, a fun way to spend a Sunday morning!

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Revolutionary Snake Ensemble

On Saturday I spent a couple hours hawking dog tags for the Somerville Arts Council at the ArtBeat (ArtBeast is the theme) arts festival in Davis Square. I was feeling good about how many dog tags I’d sold when I discovered that some guy had sold 3x as many. He claimed to be using some Jedi, positive thinking, people want my product, mind powers (I think he just has a nice soft approach…but who am I to disparage the strength of creative visualization). After learning that I had been crushed by the force, I couldn’t help thinking about my mom, who at that very moment was probable losing a rally in a senior badminton match thanks to the bad sales energy my performance had lobbed out into the cosmos. Before she retired my mother made her living working on commission and could sell anybody (except me) anything. When I think about my mom’s “people don’t know they want it and they need me to show them that they do” personality and my “people want to figure out whether or not they want it on their own” personality, I can hardly believe that the two of us, who look and sound like twins (except that I am much taller), came from the same gene pool. I highly dislike selling stuff although I enjoy the hawking part – paying attention to people and getting them to laugh. But I don’t like convincing people to hand over their cash even if it is for something that I really like and would buy. The minute a person pulls out their wallet I start thinking, “Geez, I wish I could just give you this for free.” So… maybe selling is all about Jedi mind tricks…in that it REALLY matters what you are thinking when you are trying to get people to buy something.

Anyway, my favorite ArtBeast moment was a performance by the Silver Swimmers, a group of performance artists from Western Massachusetts. The kids were gonzo for them. I would like to know though… are the Silver Swimmers a spin-off from the original British group, or are they the original group that is now based in Massachusetts? Anybody know?

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(This blog entry is dedicated to Chrissy, who, after 7 years enjoying Davis Square coffee and ice cream, is leaving Cambridge for L.A.)

Davis vs. L.A.

• In L.A. they have lots of skateboarders. But in Davis we got handmade (at least they look handmade) motorized skateboards.
• Sure, L.A. has that Art Deco Wiltern Theater where you can see Lenny Kravitz and Moby. But at the historic Somerville Theater you can pay $7 to see a film that has been out on DVD for 2 or 3 months…you rock Davis!
• And what is so special about that Hollywood Four Ladies Statue? I mean, compared to the peeps of Davis statues? Come on…!
  FYI: According to the City of Somerville, “the statues, which are actually based on real people who lived around Davis Square, were all placed in the brick plaza in front of J.P. Licks and Store 24…have you ever noticed how the faces of the statues are darker than the rest of their bodies, as if they’re wearing some kind of Halloween masks? As stated by Steven Post, “the statues were meant to be ‘temporary’ in that they were not made of bronze. Vandals destroyed some of the faces of the statues over the years, so the artist and the city decided to replace the faces with the bronze ‘mask’ that the statues all now ‘wear’.”

• And yeah, L.A. has Fosselman’s, Scoops, Mashti Malone’s, blah blah blah, ice cream. But do they have J.P. Licks noodle kugel ice cream? Didn’t think so.

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