Clare Consultation, LLCPosted on June 8, 2012 by Mary Clare
Rose Festival, Jubilee and Jazz
My friend, Mark, is teaching himself to play the piano. He’s reading a book by David Sudnow called Ways of the Hand. Sudnow’s book sounds daunting (at its easiest). It’s a phenomenological inquiry into the intersection of physical forms (hands and all their linked physiology), consciousness and the music of jazz piano. Or at least that’s the closest I can come to a description. Mark says, “Music lives in the hands. Every… Read More
Posted on May 31, 2012 by Mary Clare
AIDS Lifecycle – “I’m doing this for all of us.”
“I am leaving on Saturday to join a team of medical professionals to support AIDS LifeCycle – a 7 day, 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA.” These were the first words of an email I received this week from Calliope Crane (Voice 99 in 100 Voices – Americans Talk about Change). Calliope and her cycling companions are pictured here. In the way people in this country do with pretty… Read More
Posted on May 24, 2012 by Mary Clare
“We have to talk about these things”
I am back in Portland. Three weeks, now. Shortly after my return I receive email with the subject line: yes-youmadeit/Dr. Dapo! My dear and long-time friend, Dr. Dapo Sobomehin (voice 90 in 100 Voices – Americans Talk about Change), wanted to get together for coffee. This morning we finally made it to the corner of Hawthorne and SE 37th for a few hours of catching up. Every time we meet, I am compelled… Read More
Posted on May 11, 2012 by Mary Clare
10,589 Miles Later
Here are some things I have come to know: The land of the United States remains vast and more beautiful than any imagining. The people of the United States remain more capable of wisdom, kindness and cooperation than our media and leadership lead us to believe. GPS systems can get you almost anywhere – sometimes by incessant nagging, sometime with astonishing grace. I hear there may be an annoyingly breathy replacement coming… Read More
Posted on May 2, 2012 by Mary Clare
American Words Heading West
A few days ago, a poet in Colorado Springs said to me, “I’m really not interested in theory. There is far more that is real in art. I like keeping my work close to life itself.” Later in the afternoon, a first year student at Colorado College said, “It’s been amazing to me to see how much we aren’t told about history in public school. Unless someone tells you, you never really… Read More
Posted on April 23, 2012 by Mary Clare
Gearing up for the Last Leg – 100 VOICES 2012 Road Trip
I’ve been on a rest stop 9000 miles down the road since March 3. Whitewater, Wisconsin – a rural community between Milwaukee and Madison where the Sweet Spot Coffee Shoppe greets the morning; farms, families, schools, businesses (conventional and cyber) and a university fill the day; and the newly opened Black Sheep Restaurant brings culinary art to the evening. In the two turns of winter to spring that I’ve spent here (last… Read More
Posted on April 17, 2012 by Mary Clare
Notes on Leaving
It is early morning in the middle of April. I am on a bus leaving Oxford, UK. I have kissed my daughter on the cheek more than twice. We have hugged one another many more times than that. Each embrace as if it were the actual goodbye – the one that would leave our parting fully signified and safe. All through, we smile into each other’s eyes to fill the gaps between… Read More
Posted on April 13, 2012 by Mary Clare
Listening International – A Brief Report from the UK on Friday the 13th
Yesterday I came into the Oxford University offices for public health. I was there to meet up with a friend and colleague. A slight woman greeted me. In contrast to the reserved decorum I have come to expect, this Oxford official nearly skipped up to meet me, smiling young and radiant above a cascade of pearls. Josephina was curious about my accent, about Oregon. She brought me water. I asked how long… Read More
Posted on March 27, 2012 by Mary Clare
Under the Hoodie
No, Geraldo. It’s not the clothing. It’s about looking under the hoodie. mc By now, most Americans are aware of the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old young man who was visiting his father’s home in a gated community of Sanford, Florida. Trayvon lost his life to a single gunshot fired by a man who lived in the same community. At the time the fatal shot fired, it was dark. Trayvon, who… Read More
Posted on March 21, 2012 by Mary Clare
Game Change -or- Change the Game
“It might feel good it might sound a little somethin’ but damn the game if it don’t mean nothin what is game who got game where’s the game in life behind the game “ Public Enemy Since the dawn of the species – a moment we can only approximate since the missing link is still…well…missing — human beings have had stories. Stories help us know how to live, how to endure. Through… Read More