New blog announcement; this one is going on indefinite hiatus.

It should be no surprise to anybody at this point that I’m putting this blog on indefinite hiatus. My posts have been getting more and more sporadic over the past year. I have a few reasons for this. First, and more importantly, it was taking up too much of my writing time. A few months ago I started writing in a personal journal which I find much more fulfilling. Of course I wish to become a published writer and as such will have to keep an audience in mind (well, probably…). But with the journal I’ve been able to let myself go and I find my writing has improved as a result. Considering we’re talking about writing down my personal opinions on life that’s probably for the best. Besides, that’s probably for the best. When it comes to current events, as I have said before—who needs to read the opinion of another middle-aged white guy?

But this isn’t the end of my blogging. Instead, I’ve decided to start The Marston Retrospective and Review. With this blog I’m going to focus on reviews and thoughts on books and film. The “About” page on that blog explains my intention in a little more detail. To start things off, I wrote a review about the book The History of Torture by Daniel P. Mannix and the film Les Créatures. I have no theme to what I pick next (although I’m toying with the idea of theme months now and then… perhaps a Ben Hecht month this year). I just picked the book I was reading when I started as well as a Varda film that I haven’t seen yet.

I hope with this new focus I’ll be able to write more consistently and maybe even get more readers. The reviews on this site always seemed to do well. Well, those and for some reason a post I wrote about toilet paper a few years ago but I can only use that topic so many times. But even if I don’t necessarily get more page views the writing exercise will do me good.

I’ll still keep Ragged Good Looks running in case anybody else wants to read any of my old posts but I doubt I’ll write any new ones here. If I do finally get to the point when I can use the blog to promote my other work I will, but for now, it’s running silent.

Three ideas that could make living in Kittery, Maine just a little easier.

I’m not exactly the most civic-minded person in the world. At least, I haven’t had too many problems in my own home town of Kittery, Maine. But there are a few issues, albeit minor ones, that have been on my mind lately. Changes to these could make life just a little bit easier for us residents. Now I just have to decide whether or not I’m going to take them to the town.

This first one is probably the easiest to convince the town to at least study in terms of necessity and feasibility. The town dump is located off of route 236, a major route running from Kittery through Berwick. As such it’s usually busy throughout the day. Unfortunately, that means it’s sometimes nearly impossible to make a left turn. More than once I’ve had to turn right and turn around down the road as soon as I could make a left turn onto a parking lot. The dump is also near the border with Eliot, so that means that most residents using the dump will want to turn left.

This would be made much easier by the installation of a traffic light. The light doesn’t have to be running all day—just during the dump’s hours. The only potential downside is that there is another set of lights not to far heading towards town, which could potentially slow down the traffic leaving the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on weekday afternoons. I have no solution to offer for this other than anecdotal evidence that people typically don’t go to our town dump that often during those times. It’s not like the light would be going off constantly all day as long as the weight sensor is working.

The next issue I would like to bring up may not be the town’s responsibility but the State’s. The Route 1 Bypass is one of three routes that connect Kittery with Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the other two being Route 1 and Route 95. Route 95 is a high-level bridge while the other two are drawbridges. There are two on-ramps from 236 onto the bypass, and right after they connect there is a set of lights that are supposed to flash when the bridge is up (or about to). There’s my first complaint—the last few times I’ve gone that way the lights were not flashing when it was up.

Secondly, it would be very helpful if there were lights somewhere before getting onto the bypass from 236. Once on the bypass it takes a long time to turn around and get onto 95. If you’re able to backtrack, even close to the off-ramp that can take you back onto 236, you then have to get onto the Kittery traffic circle. It’s very difficult to get onto the circle from that particular ramp, which adds more time. If you’re a little further down the bypass, you could take a route to the next 95 on-ramp—when it’s open again. But even if the seemingly endless construction is ever finished, it’s still time-consuming to get to that exit, which in turn is a really short ramp and therefore dangerous for an inexperienced driver.

As the bypass is a state road, that’s why I’m not sure if the town is the right channel to go through. I also don’t know how easy it would be to put lights for a state bridge onto town roads, such as 236. The bypass actually goes over 236 in the form of an overpass, so it could be possible to put the lights on the side of that. That is, of course, as long as the lights are flashing when the bridge is up in the first place.

Finally we come to my third and probably more controversial option. I know this one would be unpopular and wouldn’t even get considered by the town. But I have to air out my frustration, at least here on my blog. (Let’s be honest, I don’t feel that strongly about any of these issues. I probably won’t do anything about them. But they’re helping my daily word count.)

Bicycles should not be allowed on the stretch of Route 103 from the town border with York to Gate Two of the Shipyard. There, I’ve said it. The road is far too narrow for both bikes and cars. It’s also very windy and hilly, making it difficult to pass the bikes. Add to that the increased business at Pepperrell Cove and you have a collision waiting to happen.

I get it. It’s a nice road to ride on. Hell, I leave on that road myself. I’m also not one of those people who complain about bicyclists all the time. Sure, there are assholes on bikes out there. There are assholes in cars as well. But for the most part I haven’t had much problem with the bicyclists themselves. It’s just not a good road for both them and cars. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of other scenic routes around here.

Like I said, the third one won’t ever happen. The town holds bike marathons on this specific route once a year. But I can at least raise awareness that not everybody is comfortable with bikes around here.

Those are three issues that I think that could make something of a difference for the better in Kittery. Should I bother going to the town (or state) with them? Which make the most sense? Am I missing some problem with my ideas? How far should I take this?

Stop asking if I want my coffee hot or iced.

Before I start: look, I know this is a petty, trivial issue that I’m about to rant about. I know it sounds like somebody who comes from a place of at least some privilege whining about nothing. It is. But this issue is an irritant that happens often enough I have to say something. I’m hoping to throw this idea out there and that it will make the rounds on the Internet. At the very least I’m getting it off my chest.

If I order an extra large black coffee, that is a complete order as far as that one item is concerned. I’m getting really tired of when I go on to order something else and the barista cuts me off to ask “Hot or iced?” The default setting for coffee is hot. If I wanted iced, that is a specialty drink. Therefore, if I wanted iced coffee I would have ordered iced coffee. If I wanted hot coffee then I would have ordered… coffee.

The worst part is that they’re cutting me off when I’m talking (which is already my biggest pet peeve anyway) to ask me a question when they already should assume the answer. I answered it by omission. If I meant to get iced but I forgot to say so that’s on me. Either way, if you still really need to ask the question then wait until I’m done giving you my order.

There’s a drive-through coffee shop in my town where I go at least twice a week when I’m working in the early morning. It’s the same barista taking my order every time. They clearly recognize me. I feel like they’re trying to train me to make my order the way they want me to. I’m refusing to cave in but at the same time I’m too polite to say this directly to them. So yeah, this specific case is partly on me but at the same time I’m still running into this elsewhere. Yet I don’t think it’s part of their employee training to ask the question. This location is part of a larger chain and the baristas don’t always ask.

I have no real way to elegantly conclude this blog post. Like I said, it was just a rant that I’ve been bottling up for too long. It’s not something that colors my entire morning each time. It’s still annoying, though.

FOUND: Paintings by artist Greg Myers, found in Portsmouth, NH.

This weekend somebody had either lost or abandoned some paintings at the department store where I work in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They were in the bushes at the end of the parking lot alongside a bag with some odd shoes and other items that make me believe that they were perhaps on the way to a nearby thrift store and possibly fell outside of the vehicle they were in. At least I hope they were on their way to a thrift store and not a dump, as most of them are too good to throw away:

I apologize for the low quality of the images as I wanted to get this out there quickly so I can hopefully find the owner of the paintings. I also hope that the above picture of a naked lady doesn’t get me in trouble with WordPress, but as it’s fine art as opposed to porn and is not very detailed I’m assuming I’ll be okay.

Most of the paintings are signed by an artist named Greg Myers. I did find a painter named Greg Myers online, but I’m led to believe that it’s not the same artist. His website links to a Facebook page and (even though I deleted my Facebook account earlier this year) I was able to ascertain that he went to college from 1969 to 1973. The above painting of a jazz guitarist had a label on the back which mentions the artist as having painted the piece for class in 1986. It also mentions the instructor as an “A. Dudzinski.” I did find a polish artist with that name living in New York at the time, and as the box most of the paintings were in came from a New York art supply store, I think it might be the same guy. However, no mention of the school is mentioned on either the label or any bio about Dudzinski (or indeed that he taught at all), so I’m not following that lead at this time. I doubt he would remember a specific student anyway. If I do decide to contact him, it would be to find out the name of the school.

The above painting also leads me to believe that this might not be the same Greg Myers, as his website showcases more conservative paintings, usually landscapes, and his bio mentions that he is very religious and wishes to spread the glory of God through his art. While the above work might have been painted years ago I doubt that the same guy painted it. Also, the paintings on his website don’t match the style of the paintings that were left at the store. I’m not going to contact that artist at this time. Neither “Greg” or “Myers” are uncommon names so it’s entirely possible that this is a coincidence.

There was also an unfinished portrait of a woman:

While the other paintings were in a box, this one was left out in the open. I only discovered the label on the back of the jazz guitarist this morning, so I didn’t realize that these might have all been made for school. For a while the unfinished portrait intrigued me: why wasn’t it finished? Did they have a falling out? Did they disagree on price? Did he not like the way it was going? Who is she? Why does it say “Fritz” on the back next to the artist’s name? Now that I know that it may have been made for a class it loses some of its intrigue. Nonetheless I now have a prompt for a writing exercise at some point.

I hope I’m not violating somebody’s copyright by posting this. I’m just putting this out there to try to find whomever owns these paintings. Did the artist himself decide he didn’t like his early work and decide to donate them himself? Did he sell them and the buyer change their mind? For that matter, perhaps Mr. Myers doesn’t paint anymore and these don’t mean anything to him. The sad thought also occurs that the artist no longer is with us and the paintings were left behind.

If these do belong to somebody I want to find out who they belong to. If they are truly abandoned, then okay, I have some paintings for my apartment. I would hate to throw them away. Originally that’s what my manager at the store wanted me to do (and we did end up throwing out the other stuff). Fortunately she let me take the paintings home. Nobody else at work wanted them. I’m hanging onto them for now, but if they rightfully belong to somebody else I will return them (and then take the pictures down from this blog post).

So if anybody has any leads, please leave me a comment below. I’m also going to try other avenues. Craigslist is an obvious choice, although I admit that I’m apprehensive about using it as I have no idea who I might be dealing with. I also know an artist who is (or at least was) on a local art association and has connections in the area. I might give her a call at some point this week. But I’ll try the blog first. Who knows, the rightful owner might come into the store looking for them.

Some thoughts on solitude.

For today’s writing exercise I started writing a story about a guy who was convinced that he was the only person on the planet that had any right to live. He started amassing an army that allowed him to topple all of Earth’s cities. He wasn’t setting out to conquer all of humanity but to destroy it, allowing only those he kept around to serve him—as long as he didn’t have to set eyes on them.

The writing of this one came unsettlingly easy. I don’t think the way that this character does—at least, not consciously. Could my unconscious be telling me something? I have often had a daydream that I was the last person left alive on the planet, though usually in these fantasies the rest of humanity was only displaced by aliens that allowed the planet to stay intact for my sake. (Now that I think of it, this would be a good writing exercise for some other day.)

I don’t want the rest of humanity to go away. I do like to be left alone most of the time but not because I feel that I’m the only one who has any right to live. I just function better in solitude. I have friends and when we’re not in the middle of a pandemic I will often go out among people. Yet I’m often alone in a crowd. I don’t know if I project the air of “leave me alone” but I think most people get the hint. I also have a job in retail in which I have to interact with others but I don’t go hiding in the break room hyperventilating as a result. Making it a job makes interacting with others easy.

Of course there are also individuals whom I give my time to occasionally. I still like to go home alone at the end of the day but I have a few friends whom I will hang out with on the weekends. I still like the moments when we can be quiet around each other without offense. I don’t feel the need to fill the silence. When there’s something to say, say it. When the conversation gets lively and entertaining, enjoy it. When there’s no need for any words, don’t waste them.

With that, I’m going to cut off this blog post now.