NEW DOCK INSTALLATION AT OCEAN ALLIANCE

One hundred and ninety-two feet of new dockage is being installed at Ocean Alliance’s headquarters at the old Paint Manufactory. Work began today and will continue through Friday. The E-shaped dock will be accessed via a new gangplank and until that is installed a temporary gangplank is going up.

Alicia Pensarosa, Ocean Alliance’s assistant director writes, “The new docks will be available for transient/seasonal rentals with the goal of getting more commercial, research, schooner, and educational vessels coming to Gloucester.”  The new docks look beautiful and it’s a hopeful sign for Gloucester to see work continue during these unprecedented times of hardship.

 

NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE PIPING PLOVERS TODAY AT GOOD HARBOR BEACH!

Throughout the day, a threesome has been actively feeding, battling for territory, and two of the three, displaying courtship behavior.

Often times I have read that Piping Plovers in Massachusetts do not begin to actively court until mid-April. That has simply not been the case with our Good Harbor Beach pair. As soon as they arrive to their northern breeding grounds, they don’t waste any time and get right down to the business of reproducing! Last year, the PiPls were courting within a week of arriving, and this year, on the first day.

I only had brief periods of time to visit the beach this morning, but within that window, FOUR separate times the male built a little scrape, called Mama over to come investigate, while adding bits of dried seaweed and sticks, and fanning his tail feathers.

Papa scraping a nest in the sand.

Fanning his tail and inviting Mama to come inspect the nest scrape.

Tossing sticks and beach debris into the scrape.

Papa high-stepping for Mama.

It was VERY cold and windy both times I stopped by GHB and the PiPls were equally as interested in snuggling down behind a clump of dried beach grass as they were in courting.

Mama and Papa finding shelter from the cold and wind in the wrack line.

Good Harbor Beach was blessedly quiet all day. Our awesome dog officer Teagan Dolan was at the beach bright and early and there wasn’t a single dog in sight, I think greatly due to his vigilance and presence educating beach goers this past week.

Heather Hall, Katharine Parsons, Alicia Pensarosa, Laurie Sawin

Saturday we had the pleasure of meeting Katharine Parsons, Director of the Mass Audubon Coastal Waterbird Program. She gave an outstanding program to a crowd of Piping Plover advocates and interested parties, which was held at the Sawyer Free Library. Katharine covered everything from life cycle, management strategies and tools, habitat conservation, and the fantastic role Massachusetts is playing in the recovery of Piping Plovers, Least Terns, Roseate Terns, and Oystercatchers. We are so appreciative of Alicia Pensarosa and Gloucester’s Animal Advisory Committee for sponsoring Katharine!

Ward One Councilor Scott Memhard and Katharine

City Council President Paul Lundberg, Katharine, and Alicia

Fun Fact we learned from Katharine’s presentation–a Piping Plover chick weighs six grams at birth. In comparison, and after consulting Google, a US nickel weighs a close 5.5 grams.

July Block Party

Although I wished I could have stayed longer, the brief hour that I was there at the Block Party last night was so much fun. A cooling and most welcome breeze arrived just as the party began and everyone was there to have a fabulous time. Many thanks to the “Block Heads” who bring us this wonderful event–times 3! Don’t miss the next two upcoming Block Parties, August 17th and September 21st.

Kirk Family Gloucester block party ©Kim Smith 2013Kirk Family and Friends at Jalepenos

Gloucester block party  ©Kim Smith 2013Alex Becket of Dr. Bones’ Circus of Marvels

Alicia ©Kim Smith 2013 copyAlicia at her studio open house yesterday; also open Sunday from noon to 6:00

Ryan Family Gloucester block party ©Kim Smith 2013Ryan Family

Madeline and Eloise Gloucester block party ©Kim Smith 2013Eloise and Madeline

Skyler Corbett and Mom ©Kim Smith 2013Skyler Corbett and her Mom, intent on choosing a design at Toodeloos

Skyler Corbett ©Kim Smith 2013Face painting with Susan at Toodeloos

Phoenix Gloucester block party Phoenix ©Kim Smith 2013Phoenix

Melissa Cox Gloucester block party ©Kim Smith 2013Melissa Cox, with her usual sense of humor

From The Blackburn Open Studios Weekend Event

Alicia Pensarosa forwards pics-

Hi Joey thanks! Here are some pics
My studio:

image
Nina Fletcher, in front of her button self portrait:

image_1
Robin Colodzin in front of her mixed media paintings:

image_2
Pam Courtleigh in front of her Assemblage:

image_3
Mary Beth Smith with her handmade Books:

image_4

Ask Joey C With A Twist- “What To Do With a Wiper Blade Kisser?”

image

EJ says that I need to answer the questions with a touch of the female perspective so I had an idea last night.  I will forward the questions that come in anonymously to two of our GMG contributors who will in isolation provide their advice.  I will not read their advice until I finish mine and then I’ll post all three responses and let you our readers decide which makes the most sense.  Maybe there will be some overlap, maybe they will be completely different.

The point will be that they will be from three completely different perspectives.

Here’s the question

Hey Joey,
I have a question that has been bothering me lately.  I met this wonderful man.  We get along very well, feels as if i have known him for years.  Every single time we make out i am instantly turned off.  He kisses like a windshield wiper…back and forth and back and forth with this firm, strong tongue.  This is so gross and such a turn off.  WHAT DO I DO?  Am i shallow and a horrible person if i end things with this person just because he is a shitty kisser?  I’m already a single mom and don’t need to teach another “thing” to another person.
Time for a new wiper blade?

image

Joey C’s response-

Dear Wiper Blade Kisser Victim,

I can sympathize with you.  Back in 95 or 96 I had gone through a time period where I was dating a lot of women.  It came to a point that going from one woman to the next and not really having an established relationship had left me feeling empty.  I met a really nice girl who was physically fit, pretty, smart and came from a nice family.  She was also a virgin.

Dating a virgin who is younger than you is serious business as you don’t want to ruin the girl for other men but I thought enough of this girl that I completely respected her standing as a virgin even though she was already in college.  There would be no pressuring her at all.  The thing was as I found out very early on was that she was a terrible kisser.  I mean brutally horrible.  Like she would just mash her lips up against mine and not even use the muscles within her lips or anything.  It was like pressing your lips up against a piece of liver.

At first I was sort of excited by the prospect of being able to mold this girl into a sexual dynamo.  The idea of taking this very shy virgin and helping her become a woman was something I thought would be fantastic.  So we continued to date even though the act of rolling around in the sack was incredibly awkward.  Even though I was completely patient and never pressuring her about her virginity she made absolutely zero progress toward becoming the least bit better of a kisser.  She was terrible.  I mean terrible terrible.  So after about three weeks of zero progress even though we were spending lots of time together I knew I had to end it.

There was no way I was going to take this girls virginity knowing that this kissing thing wasn’t getting any better.  There are things I might go to hell for that I’d done in my youth but this wasn’t going to be one of them.  I ended the relationship with the classic “It’s not you, it’s me” routine and even though I’m pretty sure her friends thought the reason I broke up with her was because she was a virgin, I swear on my soul the virginity thing had nothing to do with it.  It was the inability to pick up even the slightest nuances of kissing.

So the point is that I’m not even sure “wiper blade kisser guy” is teachable in the first place.  If he’s a great guy and you feel like you’ve known him for years I would tell you that maybe you try to make the switch over to hanging out as friends.  It may or may not be difficult to make that transition but if you really like hanging out with him I feel like it’s you’re only option if you still want him in your life.


Next Up we have Good Moring Gloucester contributor Alicia Pensarosa and her perspective as a 29 year old in a long term relationship.  Alicia also has her own blog-www.MadcapStyle.com.

Alicia writes-

Dear Single Mom,

Do you throw out the whole car if the wiper blades are hindering your vision?  No, of course not, you just update the wiper blades.

A few simple pointers on how you prefer to be kissed could go a long way.  I suggest, you don’t tell him he’s a bad kisser (let’s not kill his ego), but rather show him what you like and what gets you going.  Kiss him the way you want to be kissed. Try slowing things down. When he’s doing it right use your body to let him know.  Practice, practice, practice. I’m sure if he’s really into you, he’ll respond to the cues and you can say bye-bye to wiper blade mouth.

Of course on the off chance that a little coaching doesn’t work, you have to decide if you’re really into him and you’d be willing to commit to a bad kisser. Can you give up some good kissing for an otherwise wonderful man?  Try picturing the rest of your life kissing wiper blade mouth- could you do it? And if you can’t, you’re not a shallow, horrible person; you’re just a woman who knows what she wants and won’t settle for less.


And for our third perspective we have Kim Smith, creator of Kim Smith Designs and married mother of two adult children.

Dear time for a new wiper blade,

No you are not a shallow and horrible person. Because you are turned off by something as intimate as kissing in the early stages of your relationship you are wise to question whether or not this man is a good fit for you.

Is he wonderful in every other way i.e., a wonderful lover (excluding kissing issue), wonderful to your child, loving, generous in spirit, and kind? If that is so then perhaps you could very gently, but confidently, say something like, “ I love to kiss with you; let’s try something different.” Perhaps he is misinformed and thinks his method of kissing is exciting. You could guide him in a way of kissing that is appealing to you, and make it exciting for the both of you. You suggest that you don’t want to teach another thing. Try not to look at it that way. You are in a new relationship with a guy you really like/love. Look at the kissing issue not as though you are teaching a child, but exploring each other intimately.

If you decide to stay with this guy, let us know how your relationship progresses.

Please rate the advice by clicking on the title of the post and clicking on the stars below the post on the page that opens.  One star for terrible advice and 5 stars for spot on.

Oh Yeah Baby It’s A GMG Christmas

Starring Sharon, Paulie, David Cox, Manny Simoes and your Boy Joey.

click the picture for the video

image

A Rock n Roll Christmas From Paul Morrison, Alicia Pensarosa, Donna Ardizzoni, Beth Swan and Thom Falzarano-

Click the picture for the video

image