The Front Porch

Sheep in the City?

2011-03-31T09:14:00.002-05:00

Here’s what goes on in my brain whenever I drive across the 35th street viaduct: “ .” That was until two weeks ago. Then it was more like: “What the–?” Why? One word. Sheep. That’s right. Sheep. As in the kind that block quaint countryside roads in the movie The Quiet Man and all other Irish-y type films, of which I can’t get enough of. Sheep? At first, when I spotted the

Somebody Needs A Hug

2010-11-01T16:18:00.000-05:00

First, the good news: The $50 million, 10-year Zilber Neighborhood Initiative to revitalize poor Milwaukee neighborhoods will expand on the south side to include three neighborhoods that are part of the Layton Boulevard West Neighbors area, Zilber Family Foundation executive director Susan Lloyd announced Thursday. -- Georgia Pabst, JSOnline Yes! That means we – > disclaimer< I am involved

Mea Culpa.

2010-10-12T08:54:00.001-05:00

You know how it is. I meant to post regularly, but I missed a day. No big deal. I mean, it was a self-imposed deadline, no money lost, and to tell you the truth, I really didn’t think anyone cared. A day turned into a week and Front Porch writing sat there on my back burner among the other things I have simmering – that book I’m working on, those two other blogs, volunteering, a couple of paying

2010-05-30T10:59:00.001-05:00

Nature is keeping me awake at night with worry and you know who I blame for my sleepless nights? Walt Disney.Yeah. Because I was raised on those lovely movies where bunnies had eyelashes and skunks that were endearing. Somehow, though, I didn’t make the connection between Bambi’s mother and the dead deer that my father shot and strapped onto the top of the station wagon.There’s a nest in the

Auction Hero

2010-05-08T09:56:00.001-05:00

The 3rd annual Mining for Silver Dinner and Auction was last night at The Rice Palace and if you weren’t there, then you missed out on what was a really, really fun time, and I’m not just saying that because I was on the committee. I’m saying that because of how I feel this morning – bone-tired and a tad hung over – but, basking in the glow of what I think was a job well done.Not only did the

It's Not About The Spoon

2010-05-03T19:03:00.003-05:00

I’m a big Everybody Loves Raymond fan. There was an episode, last week, Deborah snuck over to Marie’s kitchen in the middle of the night, under the pretense of returning a spoon. She bumps into Robert, the NYC cop, and tries to sell him on her version of why she’s there at 2 a.m.“In my career, I’ve been to a lot of break-ins, and, one thing is for sure . . . it’s never about the spoon,” he

I'm Baack!

2010-04-23T08:56:00.005-05:00

I know that I haven't been posting to this here blog on a regular basis, but ... you know how it is? The weather gets nicer (meaning something above a temperature that freezes my eyeballs and causes my nose to leak) and I don't like to sit in front of my computer typing, unless there is a stipend involved, yes, I'm that shallow, but, anyway, I promise and you 14 followers are my witnesses ...

Summer of Strange

2009-08-22T11:17:00.001-05:00

This has been the Summer of Strange. 1. Our Mayor responds to a citizen’s cries for help and gets hit repeatedly over the head by an assailant with a tire iron and his heroics bump alderman, Bob Donovan (ours) out of first place in the new, Channel 12’s A-list “ Best Fighting Elected Officials,” category. And makes the front page of the Huffington Post three days running. 2. My black lab that

Extremely Slow Makeover: Neighborhood Edition

2009-07-14T10:37:00.002-05:00

I love Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Love. It. I watch it every Sunday with my box of Kleenex at the ready for the reveal, when the family falls to the asphalt and praises Jesus.Ty Pennington? Don’t get me started. He and his army of volunteers can and do a total tear down of a house, rebuild it, landscape it and change the lives of one lucky family forever in 40 minutes (real time, a week).I’ve

Caution, low flying children

2009-06-08T09:20:00.002-05:00

I’ve got this alley in the back of my house. It’s like a lot of other alleys in Milwaukee – the place for garbage and recycling carts, pick up basketball games, car washing. The one thing that is different about my alley from all the other alleys? A 45° hill that for as long as the oldest resident (the crabby guy on the corner) can remember, has been the perfect place for kids to coast, slide,

2009-04-28T10:43:00.000-05:00

I didn’t know that there was a Reliquary in my neighborhood!There is a room, above the Saint Joseph Chapel, in the International HQ of the School Sisters of Saint Francis on Layton Boulevard, commonly called The Bone Room – a fact I found out when I toured their Chapel, last Sunday for their 135th Anniversary as an Order.Maybe the word chapel isn’t the right way to describe it. To me, that

Local woman blames self for rash of neighborhood foreclosures.

2009-04-27T09:01:00.005-05:00

Was it something I said, or maybe didn’t say? Was my friendly waving misunderstood? Did the toot of my car horn have a tone?The house next door is empty. The one across the street? Vacant. The big Victorianright across the alley from our garage? Yeah, nobody home. I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s something I did. Or didn’t do.I always meant to invite the next door family over for a barbeque

2009-04-06T18:50:00.001-05:00

Hung Up On Double Hungs

2009-04-05T10:38:00.004-05:00

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then, windows are . . . what? In my case? They are single paned, inefficient, energy suckers. Our windows came with the house, new, 120 years ago, and I'm sure were quite something to behold at the old turn of the century (as opposed to the recent turn of the century.) Windows were on the top our must-be-replaced-repaired-destroyed list that we made when

2009-03-30T09:30:00.002-05:00

Couple of things I want to write about. Number one? Stimulus $$$. Now, you (and I) would have thought that LBWN as an organization, doing all the good deeds it does – stabilizing and revitalizing the neighborhood – that it would be right up there on the list of eligibility for some Big Money. Well, my friends, not exactly. See, it would be different if LBWN were doing things citywide, then . .

2009-03-21T10:35:00.002-05:00

Sorry if this posting is a bit of a downer, but . . . I wouldn't be honest if I didn't write about how the mortgage crisis has hit my corner of America.The house next door to me is empty. Late, one night, I heard my neighbors coming and going, which wasn't unusual for them since they worked long hours and spent what little free time they had with their Church. I'd often see them rushing into

2009-03-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

Why Layton Boulevard West? Click on the link below to see the video clip.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlRR9Q8unCk

2009-03-10T09:07:00.003-05:00

Ick. It’s early March and . . . while it’s not really winter, it’s not really spring, it’s . . . sminter? Wring? Sprinter? Whatever this is, it sure isn’t pretty. The snow, what’s left of it, is gray tinged with black and hard as concrete. Whatever was underneath it, has now resurfaced, but soggier, flatter and even more lifeless than it was when whoever it was discarded it – the Mountain Dew

2009-03-05T11:44:00.002-06:00

Let’s face it, my neighborhood, like my family, is not perfect. Everybody has cousins, aunts, uncles who on any given day can drive one ca-razy, right? Do I wish that the video store had a better sense of display? I do. But, you know what? The hodge-podge of cardboard cut-out movie stars, dried hanging plants, and flashing neon, just like my 86 year old great-aunt who likes to wear plaids with

2009-02-22T11:34:00.003-06:00

I live in a house that is 120 years old. It’s been through a lot. Wars. Storms. Civil unrest. Christmases. Birthday parties. Deaths. Boy, think about it. How many arguments are embedded in the plaster? Bad vibes in the woodwork? Dogs (cats) buried in the yard?Whose idea was it to put indoor/outdoor carpeting on the walls in the upstairs bathroom? Why had someone decided it was better put

2009-02-16T09:45:00.002-06:00

Saturday was Valentine’s Day – which made me pause for a moment and assess the state of my relationship, and . . . after 26 years, I think we are in a rut, and by “we” I mean me and my neighborhood.We’ve let ourselves go. Gotten too complacent. I’ll be the first one to admit that over the course of a long, cold, snowy winter, I may have let certain things slide . . . the last time I ran a razor

2009-02-07T09:52:00.002-06:00

I grew up in a neighborhood where the people – like the two-bedroom ranch houses – were all alike. Short. Squat. White. The only color came in the rows of red geraniums regimentally planted in the flower beds at parade rest.And then I went to college to study art and thought that I would put down roots in the neighborhood that surrounded UWM, because it was where I found “my people.”

Thanks to the Hank

2009-01-31T12:36:00.000-06:00

I never thought that I would admit this to anyone, but, okay, here goes . . . I can’t get enough of this winter.Seriously. I’m not being sarcastic. I really love it.And, it has nothing to do with my meds, but everything to do with the Henry Aaron State Trail. And Seamus, my black Lab.I started walking down there in the fall after my dog Harvey – a 13 year old Golden Retriever – died. See, we had