Art in an Ugly City

Worcester
This is a gathering of misfits,
Thrown togther in a shallow grave.
We dig to the surface
with anger and a purpose.
Because art in an Ugly City, not redundant
But a narcotic.
We need out fix.
-E. Garamy 2000

Street names

I live on Ashland Street, bordered by Pleasant and Elm. Pretty names, names of trees, or neighboring towns, Shrewsbury Street, and names of families who owned farms years past, Bullard Street. Some are positive descriptions: Sunny Lane, Morningside Drive. Famous People, Martin Luther King Blvd. Pretty, so pretty. And then there is the name of streets in Hungary.
When my father died, my mother moved back to Hungary to be closer to her brother and friends from College. She found a wonderful little flat on a section of Buda called Rose Hill. Pretty name. Street name: Vérhalòm Utca. Let me breakdown the name for you. Loosely translated it means 'Street of my bloody death', which if you know my dear mom, it's not terribly surprising that she would find a home for her golden years on the 'street of my bloody death'. She is not the most cheery woman and she does carry a lot of baggage from her youth in wartorn Hungary. Still, I had to ask.
'Anyu, Vérhalòm utca?!! '
'Vell,' she sighs,'It's named after a big battle against the Turks....'
'And in one thousand years they couldn't come up with a new more cheerful name??
'Vhy does the name have to be cheerful?' (Yes, Anyu pronounces her W's as V's)
She is right. It would be much easier if street descriptions were more realistic, then instead of Ashland street, where I live would be called 'Crack House Corner,' and maybe people may not need a Nav system to get to my home. Practical, not pretty, but practical.
Vérhalòm u., despite its name is a pretty street. Here on the east in the U.S. there are plenty of ugly, if at least practical streets with pretty names. I love ugly streets. They are real and they are a catharsis for the living, breathing anger that is all around us.

New At the Job

Sometime ago, Silly, my partner and I went to the Boulevard diner on a Sunday. It was crazy hectic, but always with a smile was the small blonde server. That day, however we had Butch. Now I don't know if that is his real name, but we will call him Butch for now. Butch was new, he took 20 minutes to come over, and when we asked for coffee, it.....just never arrived. Ms Blonde nice lady server kept looking over apologetically, we thought it was funny. Butch was saying, 'I got it, I got it!' everytime Ms Blonde nice lady wanted to help. We eventually got our meal, but we had no utensils. When we asked he said, 'You'll get it, you'll get it!...' At this point Ms. Blonde nice lady quietly slipped utensils onto our table in the most clandestine manner.
        Now Butch was a sight to behold, intense eyes, bald head with a scar running diagonally on his scull.         I leaned over to Silly and asked, 'Your take, brain surgery or prison knife fight?'
          She gave Butch a sideways look and said to me, 'I'm going with knife fight'
          We never got the coffee, and as we left Silly left a big tip. I said, 'Really?'
           She said, 'Yeah, I'm afraid.of him.'
       Boulevard Diner, the prettiest diner in Worcester.

You need to eat in an ugly city



The Owl Diner Fitchburg, Ma. Acrylic on canvas 6"x9"

Fancy restaurants are so ridiculous in an ugly city. Why does Worcester have 111 Chop House or The Sole Proprietor? Sure they are popular restaurants, and high end, but they seem silly  in the embrace of triple deckers.  The only restaurants that make sense in Worcester are hole in the wall ethnic joints and diners. Both have good food and resonably priced. Also you are not shamed when you spill the food on your clothes. This is why I paint diners.

New Year

How did it become 2012? That was a date in Science Fiction, not reality? Where are the flying cars?