An Evening at Cedarmere

A few weeks ago a friend said to me, "Every morning on the drive to preschool, my son and I wave to your big picture and say, 'Good morning, Miss Gina.'"

And my reaction was something along the lines of, "What the hell are you talking about?"

For about a month, The Friends of Cedarmere, the non-profit that supports the historic estate of William Cullen Bryant has had a rather large banner posted alongside a bucolic, but busy, stretch of Bryant Avenue. Despite often driving on this road, I had somehow missed it.

So I took a walk over one day with a different friend who kindly stood in the middle of that busy road to snap the photo above.

Since moving to the North Shore, Cedarmere has been an important place for my family. The grounds and gardens overlook Roslyn Harbor. It's free and open to the public. It's a beautiful place to walk, to read, to gather.

When I was invited to read excerpts of my poetry manuscript on 40 years of education in America, currently under review at a press, I was delighted.

What I did not anticipate was the vibrant community fostered by the Friends of Cedarmere. The room was packed! And I only had less than a handful of friends as guests. Mostly everyone who attended was there because they love poetry.

I look forward to sharing more about the poetry book project in a future newsletter.

I wish to thank Bob Sargent, Stephanie Maura, and Christina M. Rau, of the Friends of Cedarmere, for the invitation. Maura and Rau are accomplished poets and yoga teachers. Rau's How We Make Amends is a favorite of mine.

I received so many lovely messages from folks far and near on the day of the event who wished they could be there in person. One of my oldest friends, whose closet I have been foraging for almost 30 years, loaned me (gifted me?) this lovely frock.

And my mother-in-law, forever memorialized in the first line of Just Here For the Comments as the "first person to call me a lurker," sent this gorgeous autumnal arrangement.

I feel very blessed to have your support along this journey.

For Warriors, Lovers, and Lurkers

The reading at Cedarmere began with an Open Mic. Each poet's voice was unique and powerful. I was particularly struck by the work of Keith Rivers, a former NYC police officer, who was a first responder on 9/11. I recently ordered his book and look forward to spending more time closely reading his words.

I recently finished Andrew Leland's The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. Leland is a prolific journalist (and the grandson of Neal Simon) who has retinitis pigmentosa and has been slowly going blind since his adolescence. I became interested in his book because I heard Leland on an NPR technology podcast discussing new iPhone updates and how they increased literacy access for the blind.

The book meditates on what it means to be blind and explores disability in its historical and contemporary context. It weaves nicely between personal journey and America's evolving stance(s) on equitable design. Many of the tech features that we love on our smart phones and mobile devices were invented for/by the blind and have since been scaled for every day use.

Leland also has a whole chapter on the lurkers! Internet lurking has been a valuable part of access and identity formation for the blind. Each new accessible tech feature is designed to increase the opportunity for lurking.

I also really appreciated his (deservingly) snarky descriptions of bad alt text in eBooks and in periodicals. I am a struggling alt text writer. I want my images to be accessible and I also want to avoid excessive tagging and algorithmic feeding. I welcome suggestions on how to level up my alt text descriptions.

Meme Guide

The chapter by chapter meme guide for Just Here For the Comments is available on my website. I'm going to do a chapter by chapter break down in greater depth in the November/December newsletter for folks who want to strategically read a section or two.

September to Remember

Events Calendar

I taped a few more podcasts and they will air some time in the coming months. These are the last few events wrapping up the Book Launch for Just Here For the Comments. I'll still be doing events related to the book, but this is the official end of the launch period.

🚆 North Shore Library Consortium (Sept 30 / Zoom)

A collaborative effort of six libraries on the North Shore of Nassau County brings the work of local scholar and researchers to patrons on Long Island and beyond. Register by 6:45pm EST on September 30. https://goldcoast.librarycalendar.com/event/internet-lurkers-371

🚆 Follett Bookstore Garden City (Oct 22 / Nassau Community College)

This is a Hybrid Event and will also be available via Zoom. The link will be posted on my website closer to the date: https://www.ginasipley.com. There's no better way to close out the book launch tour by raising funds for one of my favorite places on Earth, The Children's Greenhouse https://www.ginasipley.com/greenhouse

Thanks for walking beside me!

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