The Contributor: August 14, 2019

BY HOLLY GLEASON

5

History Corner

Dr. Morgan was the only Vanderbilt trustee who voted not to expel James Lawson for his role in the Nashville sit-ins.

IN THE ISSUE

7

Vendor Success

Former vendor Rachel Rose reminds us the battle of homelessness doesn’t end once you get off the streets.

12

15

Reuse Reuse

Located in East Nashville, The Good Fill, Nashville's first entirely package-free shop, offers sustainable alternatives to

Vendor Art + Writing

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Contributor Board

Cathy Jennings, Chair Tom Wills, Bruce Doeg, Demetria Kalodimos, Ann Bourland

Contributors This Issue

Linda Bailey • Amanda Haggard • Hannah Herner • Tom Wills • Ridley Wills II • Holly Gleason • Bailey Basham • Joe Nolan

• Alvine • Vicky B. • Norma B. • Maurice B. • Mr. Mysterio • William B. • David "Clinecasso" C. • John H. • Victor J. • Mike P. • Cynthia P. • Sharon H.

Contributor Volunteers

Cathy Jennings • Tom Wills • Joe First

• Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • Ann Bourland • Patti George • Linda Miller •

Deborah Narrigan • John Jennings • Barbara Womack • Colleen Kelly • Janet Kerwood • Logan Ebel • Christing Doeg • Laura Birdsall

• Nancy Kirkland • Mary Smith • Andrew Smith • Ellen Fletcher • Michael Chavarria

Will Connelly, Tasha F. Lemley, Steven Samra, and Tom WIlls Contributor Co-Founders

Editorials and features in The Contributor are the perspectives of the authors. Submissions of news, opinion, fiction, art and poetry are welcomed. The Contributor reserves the right to edit any submissions. The Contributor cannot and will not endorse any political candidate. Submissions may be emailed to: editorial@thecontributor.org

Requests to volunteer, donate, or purchase subscriptions can be emailed to: info@thecontributor.org Please email advertising requests to: advertising@thecontributor.org

Mailng Address

The Contributor P.O. Box 332023, Nashville, TN 37203

Editor’s Office: 615.499.6826 Vendor Office: 615.829.6829

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Copyright © 2018 The Contributor, Inc. All rights reserved.

Our vendors write in this issue about, peace, love, barriers to voting, and someone gives the shirt off their back..

everyday essentials.

Cathy Jennings Executive Director

Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus

How

‘The Contributor’ Works

BY TOM WILLS, CO-FOUNDER

The paper you just paid for was bought by someone else first, otherwise it wouldn’t exist. That’s how The Contributor works. A vendor who experienced homelessness paid 50 cents for this paper and then sold it to you. By buying it and taking it with you, you’ve just encouraged that vendor to buy another. BOOM! That’s the solution. Now keep reading. This paper has something to say to you.

Street papers provide income for the homeless and initiate a conversation about homelessness and poverty. In 2007, The Contributor founders met at the Nashville Public Library downtown to form one. In a strike of lightning we named it The Contributor to infer that our vendors were “contributors to society,” while their customers could contribute to their work. But, thunder from lighting is always delayed …

It took three years, but Nashville embraced us like no other city in the world. The Contributor became the largest selling street paper per-capita on the globe. And today 50 percent of our six months or longer tenured vendors have found housing. BOOM! The thunder has struck.

The Contributor is a different kind of nonprofit social enterprise. We don’t serve meals or provide emergency shelter. We don’t hire people in poverty to create products or provide a service. Rather, we sell newspapers to homeless people who work for themselves. We train them to sell those papers to you, keep the money they earn, and buy more when they need to replace their stock.

Our biggest fans don’t always get this. Like lightning without the thunder, they see the humanity of the vendor but misunderstand the model. Case in point: In 2013 during a funding crunch, a representative of one of Nashville’s biggest foundations exclaimed, “I’m such a big fan that I never take the paper!” We responded, “Well, that’s why we are in a funding crunch.” BOOM! Thunder was heard. Taking the paper makes our model work — not taking it breaks it. And selling the paper twice doesn’t just fund the paper, it funds housing and change. BOOM! Our vendors report their sales to qualify for subsidized housing and even for standard housing deposits and mortgages. They don’t consider your buying the paper a “donation.” It is a sale. When they sell out, they buy more and build the paper trail of a profitable business. Until making these sales, many of our vendors had never experienced the satisfaction of seeing their investment pay off. And when it does, it liberates! They have become “contributors” to their own destiny. And Nashville has become a city of lightning and thunder. BOOM! Now that you are a SUPPORTER , become an ADVOCATE or a MULTIPLIER You are already a SUPPORTER because you know that taking the paper makes the model work. You bought the paper and you are reading it. Now your vendor is one copy closer to selling out, which is exciting! Now you can become an ADVOCATE when you introduce your friends to your favorite vendor, follow us and share our content on social media, contact us when you witness a vendor in distress or acting out of character, or explain why others should pick up a copy and always take the paper when they support a vendor. And, you can become a MULTIPLIER when you advocate for us AND directly donate to us or become an advertiser or sponsor of The Contributor. Our income stream is made of 50-cent- at-a-time purchases made from our vendors, matched by contributions, ad sales and sponsorships from multipliers like you. Because our vendors are business owners, your donations are seed-money investments in their businesses and multiply in their pockets. Every donated dollar multiplies four-to-seven times as profits in the pockets of our vendors. Thanks for contributing.

Cómo Funciona ‘ The Contributor’

POR TOM WILLS, EL COFUNDADOR

El periódico que usted acaba de pagar fue primeramente comprado por alguien mas, de otra manera no existiría. Así es como funciona The Contributor. Un vendedor que está sin hogar  pagó 50 centavos por este periódico y después se lo vendió a usted. Al comprarlo y llevarlo con usted, usted animo a este vendedor a comprar otro. BOOM! Esa es la solución. Ahora continúe leyendo. Este periódico tiene algo que decirle. Los periódicos vendidos en la calle proveen ingresos para las personas sin hogar e inicia una conversación sobre lo que es la falta de vivienda y la pobreza. En el 2007, los fundadores de The Contributor se reunieron en una librería pública en Nashville para formar uno. Y como golpe de un rayo, le llamamos The Contributor para dar a entender que nuestros vendedores eran “contribuidores para la sociedad,” mientras que los consumidores podrían contribuir a su trabajo. Pero, el trueno siempre tarda más que el rayo. Nos llevó tres años, pero Nashville nos acogió como ninguna otra ciudad en el mundo. The Contributor se volvió uno de los periódicos de calle más vendido en el globo. Y hoy el 50 por ciento de nuestros seis meses o más de nuestros vendedores titulares han encontrado casa. BOOM! Ha llegado el trueno.

JENNINGS

The Contributor es una empresa social sin fines de lucro muy diferente. Nosotros no servimos comida or proveemos alojo de emergencia. No contratamos gente en pobreza para crear productos or proveer un servicio. En vez, nosotros vendemos periódicos a las personas sin hogar para que ellos trabajen por ellos mismos. Nosotros los entrenamos como vendedores, ellos se quedan el dinero que se ganan, y ellos pueden comprar más cuando necesiten reabastecer su inventario.

Nuestros mas grandes aficionados no entienden esto. Como un rayo sin trueno, ellos ven la humanidad de el vendedor pero no comprenden el modelo. Un ejemplo: En el 2013 durante un evento de recaudación de fondos, uno de los representantes de una de las fundaciones más grandes de Nashville, exclamó: “Soy un gran aficionado, y es por eso que nunca me llevo el periódico.” Al cual nosotros respondimos: “Y es por esa razón por la cual estamos recaudando fondos.” BOOM! Y se escuchó el trueno! El pagar por el periódico y llevárselo hace que nuestro sistema  funcione, el no llevarse el periódico rompe nuestro sistema. Y el vender el papel dos veces no da fondos para el periódico, pero da fondos para casas y causa cambio. BOOM! Nuestros vendedores reportan sus ventas para calificar para alojamiento subvencionado y hasta para una casa regular, depósitos e hipotecas. Ellos no consideran el que usted compre el periódico como una “contribución” pero más lo consideran como una venta.

Cuando se les acaba, ellos compran mas y asi logran establecer un negocio rentable. Hasta que lograron hacer estas ventas, muchos de nuestros vendedores nunca habían experimentado el placer de ver una inversión generar ganancias. Y cuando logran hacer esto, da un sentido de Liberación! Ellos se han vuelto contribuidores de su propio destino, y Nashville la ciudad de el trueno y el rayo. BOOM!

Ahora que te has vuelto nuestro SEGUIDOR, vuelve te en un ABOGADO o un MULTIPLICADOR. Ya eres nuestro SEGUIDOR, porque sabes que al llevarte este periódico sabes que esto hace que nuestro modelo funcione. Compraste el papel y lo estas leyendo. Ahora nuestro vendedor está a una copia más cerca de venderlos todos. Que emoción!

Ahora que te has vuelto nuestro ABOGADO cuando presentes a tus amigos a tu vendedor favorito, siguenos y comparte nuestro contenido en social media, contactanos cuando seas testigo de un vendedor actuando de manera extraña o fuera de carácter. O explicale a tus amigos porque ellos deben de llevarse el periódico cuando ayuden a un vendedor.

Te puedes volver un MULTIPLICADOR cuando abogues por nosotros, Y directamente dones a nosotros o te vuelvas un anunciador o patrocinador de The Contributor. Nuestra fuente de ingresos consiste en ventas de 50 centavos hechas por nuestros vendedores, igualadas por contribuciones, venta de anuncios, y patrocinios de multiplicadores como usted. Porque nuestros vendedores son dueños de negocios, las donaciones que den son dinero que es invertido y multiplicado en sus bolsas. Cada dólar donado se multiplica de cuatro a siete veces en la bolsa de nuestros vendedores. Gracias por Contribuir.

PHOTO BY JOHN

Photo by ALVINE

WHO WON, WHO LOST AND WHO’S HEADED TO THE RUNOFF IN THIS YEAR’S MAYORAL AND METRO COUNCIL RACES

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

For several candidates, this year’s Metro Council campaign is not yet over — Aug. 1 settled some races, but more are headed to the runoff on Sept. 12.

Most notably Mayor David Briley is headed to a runoff against John Cooper, who bested Briley by more than 10 points on Aug. 1, but did not get more than 50 percent of the vote. Carol Swain came in third and John Ray Clemmons came in fourth.

In the at-large race, Councilmember Bob Mendes is the only candidate not headed to the runoff. Eight others will compete for the remaining four at-large seats: Zulfat Suara, Gary Moore, Sheri Weiner, Sharon Hurt, Burkley Allen, Fabian Bedne, Howard Jones and Steve Glover.

Here’s how the 35 districts shook out after the Aug. 1 election:

District 1: Councilmember Jonathan Hall beat Rudolph "RJ" Mamula and Finis Luther Dailey III.

District 2: Councilmember DeCosta Hastings will face Kyonzte' Toombs in a runoff.

Yolanda Hockett and Andre Southall did not make the runoff.

District 3: Jennifer Gamble defeated Elise Hudson and Barry Barlow.

District 4: Councilmember Robert Swope won against Mike Cortese.

District 5: Sean Parker beat Charles Flowers Jr. and Pam Murray.

District 6: Councilmember Brett Withers kept his seat.

District 7: Emily Benedict and Clint Camp are headed to the runoff. Stephenie Downs, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Jacob Green, Stephanie Johnson, Randy Reed and Cole Rogers lost the race.

District 8: Councilmember Nancy VanReece defeated Danny Williams.

District 9: Tonya Hancock defeated Thomas George and David McMurry.

District 10: Zach Young defeated Councilmember Tim Garrett.

District 11: Councilmember Larry Hagar kept his seat.

District 12: Erin Evans beat out Geric Smith.

District 13: Russ Bradford and Andrew Dix-

on are headed to the runoff. Dan Meredith lost the race.

District 14: Councilmember Kevin Rhoten kept his seat.

District 15: Councilmember Jeff Syracuse kept his seat.

District 16: Ginny Welsch will face former Councilmember Tony Tenpenny in the runoff. Paul King lost the race.

District 17: Councilmember Colby Sledge kept his seat.

District 18: Tom Cash defeated John Green.

District 19: Councilmember Freddie O'Connell kept his seat.

District 20: Councilmember Mary Carolyn Roberts defeated Tori Goddard.

District 21: Councilmember Ed Kindall faces Brandon Taylor in the runoff. Denise Bentley, Ted Chapin and Melissa "Clark" Covington lost the race.

District 22: Gloria Hausser beat out Art Allen and Todd Sneed.

District 23: Councilmember Mina Johnson faces Thom Druffel in the runoff. Rob McKinney lost his race.

District 24: Councilmember Kathleen Murphy kept her seat.

District 25: Councilmember Russ Pulley kept his seat.

District 26: Courtney Johnston and Councilmember Jeremy Elrod are headed to the runoff. Chip Cruze lost the race.

District 27: Robert Nash won his seat with no opponents.

District 28: Councilmember Tanaka Vercher defeated Riki Dwivedi.

District 29: Councilmember Delishia Porterfield beat out Constance Smith-Burwell. District 30: Sandra Sepulveda faces Rep. Sherry Jones. They defeated Reuben Ford and Lydia Hubbell.

District 31: John Rutherford won his seat unopposed.

District 32: Joy Styles defeated Cheryl Mayes. District 33: Councilmember Antoinette Lee beat out Martez Coleman.

District 34: Councilmember Angie E. Henderson defeated Terry Jo Bichell.

District 35: Councilmember Dave Rosenberg beat out Michelle Foreman.

“BUDDY” MORGAN AND STANDING UP FOR REV. JAMES LAWSON

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

Born in Nashville in 1893, Hugh J. “Buddy” Morgan entered Vanderbilt University as an undergraduate in 1910. There, the strapping 6’4” 215-pounder was twice an All Southern center on the football team.

After receiving an M.D. from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1918, Dr. Morgan was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Medical Section, Officers Reserve Corps, and served as an assistant surgeon in France during World War I. Following the war, he returned to Hopkins as a staff member before becoming resident physician at the Rockefeller Institute.

Morgan came to Vanderbilt in 1924 as an associate professor of medicine. In 1935, he became the hospital’s physician-in-chief as well as professor of medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine. During World War II, he commanded Vanderbilt’s 300th General Hospital Unit, and served as chief medical consultant in the office of the attorney general.

In December 1942, he was promoted to brigadier general and named chief of the Medical Consultants Division,

Office of the Surgeon General. There, he was responsible for supervising all medical work (excluding surgery) of the entire United States Army. For his outstanding work, he received the Distinguished Service Medal.

Early in 1946, Dr. Morgan returned to Vanderbilt as professor of medicine and physician-in-chief. He was soon chosen president of the American College of Physicians.

After his retirement in 1958, Dr. Morgan was elected to the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. In 1960, he was the only member of that board to vote not to expel James Lawson, an African-American divinity student, for his role in the Nashville sit-ins.

Following Dr. Morgan’s death on Christmas Eve 1961, the Vanderbilt Board of Trust named Morgan Hall in his honor. In 1989, Vanderbilt established the Hugh J. Morgan Chair of Medicine honoring Dr. Morgan for his 23 years as chairman of the Department of Medicine and for the contributions and significance of his life.

RACHEL ROSE: THE STRUGGLE IS NOT OVER

BY HANNAH HERNER

Rachel Rose, 24, lives with her mother in an apartment about 15 minutes east of Nashville. She’s saving up for a car. She’s worked at places like Sonic, Waffle House and a gas station nearby. On Monday nights she plays Dungeons and Dragons with some friends in a strip mall near her house. A self-described nerd, she’s obsessed with assembling the perfect Magic the Gathering deck. She’s also a singer-songwriter, although she’s been suffering from writer’s block lately.

Rachel lived on the streets of Nashville from the ages of 18 to 21. She sold The Contributor during that time.

“Something that I’m not sure a lot of people understand is that the battle of homelessness doesn’t end once you get off the streets,” she says.

Rachel cannot apply for a driver’s license due to a pair of trespassing charges she incurred while homeless back in 2013. She can’t afford to pay off the fines. Having a driver’s license would enable Rachel to get a better job, become a more dependable employee, and start playing her music at open mic nights, all of which she hopes to do.

“The struggle is still real, and even aside from the way it continues affecting me in [a legal] sense, there’s still trauma from it all,” she says.

Rachel grew up in New Paltz, New York, but fled to Knoxville with her mother after her abusive father threatened to have both women killed. Rachel had just turned 18. Her mother had grown up in Tennessee and several friends there offered to help them get settled. However, when Rachel and her mother arrived, most of these friends fell out of the picture. In the end, one friend offered to house just one of the two women, but not both. Rachel convinced her mother, who suffered from several compounding health problems, to take the roof. She knew she could survive on the streets, but that her mother could not.

“I figured, I’ve always wanted to go camping, it’ll be like an extended camping trip,” Rachel says. “I think having that attitude is a big part of how I survived as well as I did. I figured I’d make the best out of it that I could.”

Rachel’s life in Nashville was a far cry from her childhood in New Paltz. She describes the town where she grew up as, “what would happen if a hippie village and a college town had a baby.” She lived at the top of a hill overlooking a park. It was simple.

“I miss that small town feel. There’s nothing like it,” she says. “You can’t get that in the big city, even on the outskirts of the city, it’s just not there. Imagine my surprise coming down to Tennessee and ending up homeless in a big city after growing up in

by Hannah Herner

a small town.”

While on the streets, Rachel had to find a new community. She knew she had to stick by someone, and a couple of times that person ended up being an abusive boyfriend or ‘the wrong crowd,’ but she says she was making the best choices that she could out of the unfavorable options she had available. The money she made from selling The Contributor, as well as from “busking,” a term for playing music on the streets, paid for food and necessities for herself and the group she stuck with while she slept at homeless encampments. Meanwhile, her mother applied for Section 8 housing, and after a 19-month wait, they got in.

Rachel developed a “street family,” but she only uses that modifier when asked for clarification. Rachel is biologically an only child, but there are multiple people she met on the streets whom she just calls ‘my sister’ or ‘my brother.’ Now she also has nephews and godchildren she adores. Though one of the youngest of her group, she’s taken on a mothering role toward her friends. She recently dropped everything to travel to a different state to be with one of her sisters who was experiencing a high-risk pregnancy. Back on the streets, when her friends would venture out with the intention of doing drugs, Rachel would insist that she tag along to make sure they were OK.

“I’m a bit of a rarity when it comes to

people who have been on the streets. I’ve never touched meth, crack, cocaine, heroin, speed, nothing like that. I’ve seen what that stuff does to people I love... I don’t do drugs. I don’t need to. I’m weird enough,” she laughs.

During her years living on the streets, Rachel would often wear a Batman hoodie. Others on the street called her Batgirl and made up a tall tale that she was a ‘psycho killer.’ It’s a myth that she laughs about now, but she’s thankful for the reputation that she feels protected her. Because of her time spent on the streets, Rachel often struggles to let her guard down. She also deals with the physical pain of scoliosis, arthritis, breathing problems, the aftermath of broken bones, and the mental strain of manic depression, anxiety and PTSD — conditions that began or were aggravated while she was homeless.

“There’s learning how to get out of that survival mode, there’s learning how to not look at everybody and wonder ‘How are they going to try to hurt me? How are they going to try to steal from me?’” Rachel says. “It’s been four years, almost, that I haven’t been homeless, and I’m still going through that adjustment. The process isn’t finished yet.”

Rachel is in a much safer place than she once was, but living in Section 8 housing in the suburbs makes it harder to access the cluster of resources for those in need in the

Downtown Nashville area. The closest bus stop is a 30 minute walk from where she lives.

“It’s like a cruel, ironic humor. I ate better when I was on the streets,” she says. “Because there are so many food banks and things like that. But now that I’m in an apartment, I’ve got bills to pay. I can’t get to these food banks. The busses here suck.”

Rachel longs for transportation to an open mic night. She’s written enough songs to put together an album and sees her songwriting as a vehicle to connect with and help others. She particularly likes it when audience members can come talk to her after a performance.

“I don’t even care about being famous, I really don’t. It’s not about that for me. It’s about that human connection, that communication, that compassion. I sing a song, and somebody comes up to me crying, saying thank you. I literally had someone come up to me before and say ‘thank you, I was going to commit suicide tonight but now I’m not,’” Rachel says. “Maybe I can tell them a story about what inspired me, and maybe that’ll save them, maybe that’ll help them. Maybe that’ll put an idea in their head that wouldn’t have spawned otherwise, help them solve a problem, tell someone they love them, maybe not make the same mistakes I did.”

This year has been a rough one for Rachel. One of her closest friends, whom she met on the streets of Nashville six years ago, passed away unexpectedly. Having to leave work for the funeral, plus the visit she paid to her friend who was struggling with the high-risk pregnancy, led to her parting ways with her job at Waffle House. Although Rachel is a hard worker, she found herself unable to “check her baggage at the door.” She still speaks fondly of her boss and takes responsibility for her struggles with the position.

Women who live on the streets are highly vulnerable. When asked what advice she would give to people who are in the same place she once was, Rachel pauses and stares at the table, deep in thought.

“Stick together,” she says. “Don’t do each other wrong. Don’t take from those who need it just as much as you do. Recognize that you’re not the problem, you’re a symptom of the problem. No matter what anybody tells you, it’s not your fault. And you can get out of it. It’s just going to take some time and some effort and some determination. And it’s hard. It’s so, so difficult. But it’s doable. Until then, make a camping trip out of it. Have some fun.”

to Richie Andino, 1992-2019 “We can make it if we try”

Dedicated

Photo

THE GOOD FILL

BY BAILEY BASHAM

Four years ago, Megan Gill and her husband embarked on their lowwaste journey. They started taking stock of the single-use plastics, recyclables and non-recyclables that were coming into their home and did what they could to reduce, reuse and recycle.

But Gill said she knew that wasn’t enough. Most of the everyday essentials she and her husband needed to purchase came in plastics or contributed to the waste stream.

“Shortly after that, we realized we were still creating a good amount of food waste and that recycling wasn’t the solution. Most things like plastics and cardboard are downcycled to landfills so we took a deeper look at what that meant for us at home,” Gill said.

So, she came up with a plan — The Good Fill.

The Good Fill is an online and Nashville-based package-free store that aims to offer sustainable alternatives to everyday essentials, because Gill said we all need to eat, use a toothbrush and clean our bodies, homes and bathrooms.

“I came up with the idea for the shop around the same time but spent months doing research. Practicing living almost completely without creating trash was exhausting — it was always at the forefront of our thoughts throughout the day. I felt guilty anytime I ended up with something as small as a twist tie. We quickly realized that it was too much pressure on us with the lack of options available, and I wanted to alleviate that

pressure by providing access to alternatives to the most wasteful things we use or come in contact with every day.”

What started as an online shop in 2017 is now Nashville’s first entirely package-free retailer.

It is the country's wasteful mentality, Gill says, that she hopes to begin to address on a small scale with the store.

“We have created wasteful systems and ways of thinking that serve us temporarily but don’t consider the consequences beyond our personal convenience. When people take a second look at the trash they create, they’re forced to think more intentionally about their consumption decisions. When things are no longer seen as easily disposed of, you start to question why you bought it, where it came from, how long can you make it last and where it’s going when you no longer need it,” she said.

“My hope is that zero-waste shopping opens the conversation to the very real impact consumer culture has on communities, particularly low-income communities of color. We have to take responsibility for changing our habits because no one is going to do it for us.”

Kate Mason, who maintains the online zero-waste resource Reduce Reuse Nashville, said she is thrilled by the opening of The Good Fill. After living in New Orleans and seeing firsthand the impact that single-use plastics and the overall waste stream can have on coastal communities, Mason began making the shift to living a zero-waste lifestyle.

“It’s important to think critically about how our daily, individual choices impact choices the government and large corporations make on behalf of our planet, and I think The Good Fill is a great entry point for many Nashvillians into the sustainability movement. It shows us there are ways to consume more responsibly without relying so heavily on disposables,” she said. “It’s my hope that more people start thinking about the very real impact our throwaway culture has on our neighbors and that this gets people thinking about changes they can make in their own lives. Then, we can begin to focus on the harder, systemic changes that need to be made.”

Gill said for those looking to make small changes, single-use plastics are a good place to begin.

“Things like plastic grocery and produce bags, disposable water bottles, cups and cutlery, coffee cups — these are easily avoided by bring-your-own alternatives, and you don’t need a fancy cup, bag or bamboo fork to make those changes,” she said. “Reuse, reuse, reuse what you have. I love what we sell and believe in our products and their makers but if you have a mason jar and lid, you now have a to-go container, reusable water bottle and a coffee cup. Use what you have until it’s no longer practical. There are a lot of fancy new zero-waste items for sale out there, but the point of the movement is to reduce and reuse before you purchase again.”

The Good Fill is located at 1006 Fatherland St, Suite 303 in East Nashville.

BY HOLLY GLEASON

Sheryl Crow is going on about Eric Clapton, about the part he played on George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness,” one of 14 songs on her new album Threads. As someone who’s lent her voice to Don Henley and Michael Jackson, the songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist rock icon understands the power of a supporting player to really drive home a song’s essence — and she knows even the most gifted legends can still find ways to lift others up beyond measure.

To hear the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s quavering guitar solo on “Darkness” is to plug into another dimension of vulnerability. Crow knows that both the song and the performance, which also features Brandi Carlile and Sting on vocals, borders on the divine.

“George for me, musically and personally, is a giant hero. All Things Must Pass is maybe my favorite record of all time. So, I felt like this song for these times, it’s a good moment and is important. I wanted my children to hear it; I wanted them to know it.

“I called Eric and asked him. He told me was feeling a little nervous about it. And I think what he did on the song was just... I felt like he was tapping into George, or into his love for George, or his relationship with George, because what he played, it is just out of this world. It’s some of the best playing I’ve ever heard him do.”

Certain artists have a gift for recognizing — and bringing out — the best in others.

Even more importantly, some have a self-awareness that allows them to drop back, consider their place in the world. Without being preachy, they’re able to bring a gravitas to their music that makes the human condition shine even at its most doubtful. Crow is one of those fearless women, willing to dig in and offer the tricky parts.

“For me, most of my songs are expressing something I’m going through,” says the woman with hair the color of maple syrup and eyes that look into the person she’s speaking to. “My struggle has always been about being OK with not knowing what’s next. My struggle is with things being out of control.”

While the music business contracts and streams, ebbs and changes modalities weekly, Crow’s stardom is fairly fixed. An eventual Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, “All I Wanna Do,” “My Favorite Mistake,” “Strong Enough,” “Every Day Is A Winding Road,” “Steve McQueen,” “Soak up the Sun” and “A Change Would Do You Good” are part of the last quarter century’s soundtrack. Her willingness to invest even pop songs with lyrical meat affords her an endurance many post-MTV acts have not enjoyed.

Just as importantly, her self-awareness allows her to dive deeper rather than chase trends. Today, the woman living in South Nashville admits songs have to matter, or they’re not worth doing. And it’s not just intellectual vanity, but a deep passion for the world around her.

“I can’t even imagine writing anything that didn’t have meaning attached to it at this point,” Crow says, leaning forward in the beige overstuffed armchair. “I have small kids, and I’m just enraged when I watch the disregard for the future of the planet and the undermining of what the whole country’s built on. I watch everything slide backwards.

“As a songwriter, it’s really difficult to not address that. And at my age, I have absolutely nothing to lose. So, it’s sort of liberating.”

Threads, Crow’s all-star reckoning, combines the various strands of music the nine-time Grammy winner twisted into her signature rock-pop varietal. The 14-song collection shows a woman fully aware of not just what her music means in terms of sales, but the power the message can contain.

Launched with a stark duet of “Redemption Day,” merging Johnny Cash’s vocals from his American Recordings sessions with her own prayerful offering of a song she’d written in 1996 after visiting Bosnia, palpable awareness colors many of the songs. But it’s not just a call to awareness, as much as a buttressing of hope.

Originally titled People I Love, the seeds of Threads were sown when Lisa Kristofferson approached Crow during a taping for the 40th Anniversary of Austin City Limits about recording some of her husband’s songs with him. Kris Kristofferson was battling the impact of Lyme disease; his wife was looking to create a fresh sense of the iconic musician’s legacy.

“Just for a brief moment, I felt like, ‘This is it!’” Crow recalls of the sessions with her hero. “You realize life is tiny, it’s so short — and you really have to embrace the people you have loved. (The experience) was just a moment that I needed to acknowledge that in my music, to honor that and kind of immerse myself...

“For about three, four days, I felt really heavy after hanging with Kris, contemplative, really introspective. It struck me. ‘What do I do next?’ And I called Steve [Jordan, the drummer-producer], saying, ‘I feel like making a record with the people I love. Lets sit and dream about who would be the ask.’”

Jordan, who anchors Keith Richards’ Xpensive Winos and has produced Robert Cray, John Mayer, Herbie Hancock, Buddy Guy, Patti Scialfa and Boz Scaggs, holds a special place in Crow’s world. Someone who understands music from the blues undertow and the rock thrust provides the right framework for what Crow had in mind. “I’ve known him and run into him for 20 years, and we’ve always said we needed to do something together. But we never got around to it...”

For a woman with a career as storied as Crow’s, the guests are a who’s who of rock, soul, hip-hop, country, gospel and alternative. And it’s not just genres, it’s generations. Crow’s record serves as a work where future legends and established icons are all part of the creative thread that holds her latest — and possibly — last work together.

Jason Isbell. Stevie Nicks. Chuck D. St. Vincent. Willie Nelson. Andre Day. Keith Richards. Mavis Staples. Gary Clark Jr. Bonnie Raitt. Maren Morris. Joe Walsh. Lucius. Vince Gill. Margo Price.

which I was looked down on when we went to Australia! Just the fact anyone would weigh in on who you love, especially because at the end of the day, the only thing worth fighting for is love.

“And I asked Vince, who has shown up for me in so many ways, if he’d sing on it. I really thought, ‘There needs to be a male point of view in the bridge,’ and he’s the guy who’s such a great singer and player, who lives and breathes music and friendship.”

Gill, as well as Clapton, Walsh, LA rock royalty Waddy Wachtel and Isbell, all invest Threads with a real guitar-driven feel. For a woman with two medium-sized boys who knows rock is a young woman’s game, she’s not flinching when it comes to rocking or making records.

“The expectation is once you have kids, you’re never going to write another great song; you’re never going to be sexy again. Sure, there’s the physical challenge of your kids coming first, and being invited to come play or sing at someone’s show. You have to ask, ‘Do I miss my kids ball game? Or go sing?’ Men go on the road, (while) it’s a woman’s job to keep the home together. — and the men can come and ago.”

While judicious about what she leaves home for, there is nothing lagging in her writing, playing or singing. Inspired in part by Staples, who celebrated turning 80 with all-star birthday concerts in New York, LA and Nashville, Crow thinks female voices can be as fierce as they need to be.

“Live Wire,” which she shares with Staples and Raitt, bristles with raw erotic charge from loving a certain kind of lowdown man.

“I wanted something she could sink her teeth into. Mavis is 80, and still making some of the best records ever. So alive, so filled with energy and passion. You want to bottle that up! And Bonnie I’ve known for years, but I was 17 when I saw her in St. Louis. I’d never seen a woman play guitar like that, and it really changed the way I saw myself. I wanted to learn to play lead, and I’d never played guitar.”

She’s never really hip hopped, either, but the right now social commentary of “Story of Everything” finds Crow flank-to-flank with her Rock the Vote cohort Chuck D and soul siren Andra Day. She offers, “Andra’s not conforming to anything, and I love what she sings about. She’s a — I don’t want to say Billie Holiday, but Billie Holiday wrote about a lot of really hard stuff, and Andra’s like that. Then to juxtapose that with Gary Clark, who’s obviously the fire in the belly and Chuck D?

“I just felt really urgent about this lyric, and I’d known Chuck for years. I asked him if I sent him something, would he do what he felt on it. Chuck has a great bead on everything. He’s so smart and savvy, and he’s so honest that I felt like what he brings will give it the weight it needs.”

No flex as she says this, just a musician explaining creative pairings. So much of Threads leans into other artists’ strengths and sovereignties, whether Emmylou Harris’ silvery voice on “Nobody’s Perfect,” Chris Stapleton’s white knuckle soul for “Tell Me When It’s Over” or Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) bringing a terse reality-checking alt-rock churn “Wouldn’t Wanna Be Like You.”

James Taylor. Brandi Carlile. Lukas Nelson. Emmylou Harris. Sting. Vince Gill. Kris Kristofferson. Eric Clapton.

“I thought of the people I wanted to emulate when I was a kid, whom I’ve gotten to know and who have been with me, like Stevie, whom I adore, Keith Richards and Willie Nelson. They’ve all embraced me and welcomed me to the party. And the younger artists, I had the good fortune of being on tours where I got to see Margo Price and Jason Isbell. Brandi I’ve known for years. But I wanted to show there was a before, there is a now and there’s an after. I love all these people; they’re wonderful. I wanted to have a really loving recording experience, something uniquely honest.”

Honest it is. “For The Sake of Love,” featuring a breathtaking vocal turn from Gill, is an unflinching endorsement of transcendent love, while the Burt Bacharach-era Dionne Warwick-invoking “Don’t,” showcasing Brooklyn-turned-LA alt pop’s Lucius merges feminism and romanticism. Even the more straight up, whirling country-forward rebuke “It Wouldn’t Take Much,” with Nicks and Morris, suggests a candor that makes most people tremble.

“I’d had ‘For The Sake of Love’ for years, and it always came back up for me, especially when I see people defending who they love,” the classically-trained former music teacher offers. “That’s the whole point of the song, especially now when I feel there is such an attack on people who are gay, or trans, or even I had ... I’ve had several boyfriends who were black, and there was a point at

Even her post-mortem duet with Johnny Cash is fraught with a weighty immediacy. “I really felt when I wrote it, it was so important it be out that moment. Then when Johnny did it, he felt like it was important that it be out in that moment — and he was very careful with the song. He called and we talked about the song, what the lines meant line by line.

“And now we have this version, and I can’t imagine a more appropriate time for it to come out. Who knows when it’s 25 years from now, will things be even more dire? That’s the greatest gift a song can give you: timelessness. And that it finds its moments.”

Pausing again, not wanting to come off as preachy, Sheryl Crow weighs her words and the reality she’s currently living in. “You have to look at the change of consciousness, and it’s difficult to compete with the demise of the attention span. Do I feel like we have a responsibility to educate people? I do, and I know you can’t compete with commerce.

“The reason we’re here is because of commerce. It’s tantamount. The dollar is king, but that’s not... where I am now, I just tend to, it’s hard for me to not write about reality. I gravitate towards it. You can’t really define what inspiration is, and there is that great work ethic, where you get better and better the more you write — and you understand. There are more moments of divinity where you’re tapped into something that’s larger than your cellular make-up, which is good.”

“I’m just enraged when I watch the disregard for the future of the planet and the undermining of what the whole country’s built on.

I watch everything slide backwards.”

Nocturnal Street Life

BY JOE NOLAN Film Critic

In the opening scene of Nightcrawlers , a young man sits cross-legged on a bathroom floor. He glances at the camera in the lo-fi image that reads more like a video found on a phone than the first scene of a documentary feature. He wraps a belt around his arm and bites the end between his teeth to keep a tight squeeze above his elbow. He picks up a hypodermic syringe before the shot cuts to the same young man looking into the same camera, sitting against a block wall in a hoodie with a black backpack, seemingly homeless.

Filmmaker Stephen McCoy received his first camcorder in 2011 during the last semester of his senior year in high school. After the sudden death of his father, McCoy began obsessively documenting his everyday life in a small town outside of Boston, MA. In Nightcrawlers , McCoy ceaselessly films his friends and teachers during a day at school. It’s a bleak and wintry spring day, but the kids are already restless to graduate. He lenses his adorable toddler

little sister who shouts “baby!” when she recognizes herself on the camera’s display. Then we cut to a swing music dance at a public park. Nightcrawlers began as a visual diary, but evolved into a film about street people in Boston. Before long, drugs and an unraveling personal life found McCoy living among his subjects, swallowed by addiction, poverty and his own dangerous art.

The film includes footage McCoy captured over his first five years out of high school, and seeing his transformation from a sweet young kid to a desperate heroin addict is like watching a horror movie monster metamorphosis in slow motion. But McCoy also captures the decline of America in the background of his scenes: the 2008 economic crisis and the Occupy Movement, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the opioid/heroin epidemic are all contemporaneous echoes of McCoy’s own exodus on the nightmare side of the American dream. Many of the images in this film are almost a decade old, but Nightcrawlers feels up to

the minute timely despite is beautifully dated hi8 camcorder images. That said, the film is never preachy or moralizing, and McCoy even brings some humor to the proceedings in his naturally charismatic, very respectful interviews and interactions with a gallery of Boston street people whose stories are captured in the film.

Nightcrawlers is constructed like a video diary that does away with common narrative and editorial presumptions. The film’s unscripted capturing of actual people in real situations certainly qualifies it as a documentary film, but there’s a surreality to the nomadic days of homeless artists and wandering subway singers, and there’s a twilit somnambulism to the scenes of McCoy’s strung-out subjects living on junk time. Nightcrawlers definitely doesn’t glamorize drugs, but McCoy and editor Luc Benson’s gorgeous, repetitive, free associative montages communicate a feeling of what attracted McCoy to this life in the first place. And the inventiveness of McCoy’s lensing and

Benson’s cutting finds this project hovering between journalism and an art film. McCoy gives viewers a seductive mix of sounds and images that range from the grimly realistic and difficult to watch to the purely poetic. And even though he acknowledges debts to filmmakers like Werner Herzog and Harmony Korine, McCoy’s movie stands on its own merits as the relentlessly intimate memoir of a uniquely obsessed filmmaker.

See the world premiere of Nightcrawlers on Friday, August 23 at 8:10 P.M. at the Defy Film Festival at Studio 615 in East Nashville. Stephen McCoy will be doing a Q&A immediately following the screening. Go to www.defyfilmfestival.com for tickets and a full schedule for this twoday experimental cinema celebration.

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/ songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.

There is a buzz in the air as the students go back to school. The excitement of little ones living, learning, and laughing as they engage society. College students moving back to Nashville, registering for classes and believing that their investment will change their future. Learning is such a wonderful experience of both expectation and vulnerability. The Salvation Army too will be using the fall for a learning experience, a vulnerability exercise for learning.

We recognize there is a measure of accountability and responsibility for everyone, the grade school student, the college student, the adulting, and social institutions. Just like each school has a culture, processes, and experiences, so does each community. Our concentration is the culture, processes, and experiences of the least, the last, the lost of our neighbors. For it is within the community choice architecture that the poorest, the most vulnerable amongst us must make their choices. We fully recognize that we cannot know

the reality of the decision making process of scarcity living when we are not experiencing the same scarcity or the same choice architecture. Simply, to know the greater truth of matters, we must listen to those living in different circumstances.

Therefore this fall we will be learning in partnership with Metro Nashville Central Police Precinct, with special appreciation to Commander Howey. I have shared previously that I believe a special “Quality of Life District” would be helpful to Nashville. Areas, where there is a high density of social displacement, should have increased resources invested so all of our neighbors can experience a TN quality of life of peace, safety, and happiness. So, we will be investing time and resources to listen to those who are outside of housing, outside of services, and outside of the social, economic, and environmental quality of life expectations of Nashville.

Starting in September, MNPD Central Precinct will help us ask those living outside;

their name, and why they chose not to enter into Nashville’s system of sheltering. The Quality of Life District will start from Broadway to Union, 1st to 7th, over seven weeks. Part of the learning process will be to determine the best means of hearing the person living outside, our MNPD, our judicial system, and our systems of care.

The Salvation Army will then challenge Nashville’s data systems to determine how long each person has been socially displaced. The longer someone experiences homelessness, the more likely they are to die while being homeless. Thus, the individual’s reasoning will be considered, with system processes, and data reviews in order for us to listen, learn, and change.

Yes, as stated, this is a learning exercise. The lessons are for The Salvation Army and those who choose to join us in our 2019 Quality of Life Dialogues and the Nashville Nudge Network. What can we learn from listening, research reviews, and real-time data? What

“Sludge” can we remove from processes that discourage shelter, housing, and other social determinants of well-being? What “Nudge” are we willing to create to encourage the dignity of communication and process so those who are new to our community quickly engage and those who gave up may try again?

Will you join us as we spend this semester learning? You are always welcome.

Major Ethan Frizzell serves as the Area Commander of The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has been serving in Middle TN since 1890. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, his focus is the syzygy of the community culture, the systems of service, and the lived experience of our neighbors. He uses creative abrasion to rub people just the wrong way so that an offense may cause interaction and then together we can create behaviorally designed solutions to nudge progress. Simply, negotiating the future for progress that he defines as Quality of Life in Jesus!

Do Homeless People Vote?

BY VICKY B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

On Monday, Aug. 1, I started my day at 7 a.m. as usual. My RV was plugged into electric, which actually makes a good night’s sleep possible, and being able to make a cup of coffee inside the camper was the icing on the cake. I started my thumbing through social media and remembered that Bill was coming by to fix the pipes and it was Election Day — a day when we as Americans get to raise our voices and send a clear message to those who govern our city and surrounding towns.

But, what if Bill took all day and I missed my chance to vote? I decided to go early because I learned on social media that free rides were being offered to those needing to get to the polls. Great! That’s fixed. They arrived pretty quickly and soon I was standing in line to cast my ballot and to let my voice be heard.

I returned to the parking lot where the RV is parked and sat for a moment thinking about what just happened.

A homeless person voted. Voted! It made me wonder how many of us homeless people voted today. I started to think about the barriers that I’d had to overcome to be able to vote. It took me five years of trying to register until I was allowed to use a church’s address to receive my mail. Before that I only had a P.O. box and they required a physical address in order to vote. I guess they thought I was a bit big to fit in the P.O. box, and they were right.

These days, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State, “In order to register to vote in Tennessee, a person does not have to live in a building. Instead, a person who finds himself or herself homeless must describe where the person usually stays or returns to when absent. This location may be the address of a shelter where the person stays or frequents, or it may be the description of a street corner where the person may often rest. A physical description

of the location must be given so that the election commission knows in which voting precinct to place the person.”

It goes on to say that the election commission must mail a voter registration card to people who register to vote by mail, so if a homeless person tries to register to vote by mail they must include an address where they can receive mail. That could be a shelter or a friend or family member’s house, but not everyone has an address they trust for receiving mail and if a voter registration card is returned to the election commission as undeliverable, the voter will be placed on inactive status.

What other barriers do homeless people have for voting? Some homeless people do not have an ID, which is required to show at the polls. It’s easy to lose an ID when you’re on the streets and it can be difficult to obtain a new one.

How do we make it easier for homeless people to vote? For myself it

was something as simple as getting a ride to the polls. For others it may be more complex issues, but we as a community have to vote. When we vote, we’re given a bigger voice in the decisions that affect our lives and our communities. Voting in local elections is the first step in bringing much needed changes to housing and poverty issues. How do we encourage homeless people to vote? We have to let our voices be heard, we have to do better at steering our political future. This is our right under the constitution and one we should all be exercising. If we don’t vote we don’t really have the right to complain and be a computer avatar that simply complains about this law and that law. If we don’t like the laws we have it in our power to change those laws. We are “We The People.” It’s time we start coming out of the shadows and start protesting in the front row. If we don’t like how things

are let’s change them. Let’s create a community that sets its path to what “We The People” want and need. Let’s make it so that everyone has the right to vote. As a homeless community or any community we need to be that voice at the polls because your voice does matter — it does make a difference.

We now are down to two candidates: David Briley and John Cooper. Let’s open these conversations about what we want: more affordable housing, more opportunities and more jobs that will pay enough to live in Nashville.

Visit the Davidson County Election Commission at 800 2nd Avenue South, 4th Floor, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday or online at www.nashville.gov/ Election-Commission.aspx.

She Gave the Shirt Off Her Back

BY NORMA B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

One day while I was waiting for my granddaughter’s gymnastics class to start, I found myself making summer travel plans using some of my reward points I had earned from my “extended stay” at the hotel. A lady overheard me and asked if we were going away for the upcoming spring break. I told her as much as I’d like to, I needed more time to plan than that. She commended me for keeping my grand-

daughter active first with gymnastics and then with the trip. I explained to her that the trip was basically free — all I had to do was feed us and I had to do that if I was home or out of town.

It was at that point I noticed her shirt, partly because it was purple (my absolute favorite color), and partly because of what it said: “Don’t Worry God’s Got This.” It also had Matthew 6:33 on it which says in part to, “seek God’s Kingdom first and ALL other

[necessary] things will be added to you.” I told her how much I liked it because that’s how I try to live my life and it generally works out pretty well. I asked where she’d gotten it and she said her daughter had given it to her. Not long after that, she stepped out to take or make a call, and I got busy watching my granddaughter flip and tumble and do her thing. At the end of the class the lady reappeared and placed a

bag on my lap and she was gone again.

When I made it to the van I looked in the bag, and what was inside? It was the shirt!

We’ve all heard the expression, “They’d give you the shirt off their back.” Well, this lady actually did just that. As happy as it made me to receive such a wonderful gift (after all, remember, her daughter had given it to her) I can only imagine how happy the good Lord above must be with her self-sacrificing spirit!

Where is it That Everyone truly Wants to Be?

BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

We all start at the beginning in life, at the very bottom. Every individual has their own bottom. Just as tubs have their own different depths all humans have theirs also.

It’s understood that we are to “overcome” the struggles or challenges that life presents.

Peace within self is the overall goal that all are searching for. But the pieces of the puzzle of life are sorta hard to find because of the misconceptions of peace and piece.

A humble human being has more than the wealthiest of the whole world. In history,

there’s a story about a tower that was built so high in the skies that it was struck down and individuals were separated. Today, in an attempt to live, there are so many still striving to get that high by all the materialistic avenues possible as their means of peace. But at the same time there are those that are comfortable in their bottom stages of life.

Until one finds self-worth and understands their true potential in life the major materialistic things of life and the sob stories will be one’s forever more concept of “it is what it is.”

Every individual has been created equal and at the same time different.

The fight that needs to be fought is the one within the self to truly know and understand and receive what the two words mean: PEACE & PIECE. Because, yes, everyone deserves their piece within peace. See, peace brings about comfort but one must truly find it within their own self. There are those that give assistance in many ways on a daily basis by giving a little piece of themselves. So as we strive to overcome the many barriers of life by placing the pieces of the puzzle together let’s reach the top of the mountain in our own ways by being at peace and being a piece.

HOBOSCOPES

LEO

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about people suffering from FOMO. I assumed it was some new mosquito-borne parasite or maybe a bladder condition, but it’s something far more sinister. FOMO is what the kids are calling “fear of missing out.” It’s spread through social networking and texts. Fortunately there is a cure. If you want to avoid FOMO, just always be doing exactly the thing you want to be doing. You’ll never miss out again.

VIRGO

I got an invite to the 10-year class reunion for the Raging Oaks Amateur Astrology Institute. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years! I guess time fl ies when you’re living your dreams. Apparently, time also fl ies when you’re desperately floundering, looking for meaningful work, and barely using your degree. I wonder, Virgo, where I’ll be 10 years from now. Where will you be? What can you do today to get you where you want to be then?

LIBRA

Have you seen those kits where you can power a clock using a potato? I think it has something to do with the reactions between zinc, copper and potato juice. Somehow it generates enough electricity to power a tiny clock. The point is, Libra, that I know you’ve felt a little low on juice lately. I think you may need a new power source. Don’t just get a bigger potato. Go straight to the wall socket.

SCORPIO

Spring allergies get all the attention. All those pretty spring flowers puffi ng out bright pollen that coats my car and windowsills. But springtime never hits me as hard as the late summer. I start wheezing and sneezing and my eyes swell shut. My allergist says it’s mold and ragweed. Sometimes a thing may hit you a little harder than it hits everybody else, Scorpio. You can’t go around acting unfazed just because everybody else is.

SAGITTARIUS

I can’t decide whether or not to go to my 10-year reunion. What if nobody remembers me? Worse yet, what if they do? I was hardly top of my class at the Raging Oaks Amateur Astrology Institute. Still, I don’t know if I want anybody to know what I became. But how can we ever become something new, Sagittarius, if we can’t even tell people who we are today. Don’t hide the truth of your life. It’s the only way forward.

CAPRICORN

The word “ersatz” comes from the German verb “ersetzen” meaning “to replace or substitute.” In current usage, the implication is that an ersatz item or experience is not as good as the original. But I want you to question the idea that the thing that came first is best. Maybe this week the replacement is actually exactly the thing you’re looking for.

AQUARIUS

My calendar app tells me that in some traditions this week marks The Feast of the Assumption. I assume this has something to do with feasting and … assumption. I guess I could look it up. But it’s a good opportunity to realize how easy it is to make assumptions about other people’s beliefs and daily lives. Try to back off on the assuming this week, Aquarius. Instead, try asking questions. I’ve got some googling to do.

PISCES

So I bit the bullet and showed up for the 10-year class reunion of The Raging Oaks Amateur Astrology Institute. And I hardly recognize anybody. I’ve had the same conversation about 12 times. “Where do you live?” “What do you do for work?” and then just awkward staring at the buffet. Maybe I need tools for better small talk. This week, Pisces, skip the basic questions and go for the hard-hitters. We’ll never know each other if we never ask.

ARIES

In the 1986 comedy film Short Circuit , a military robot is struck by lightning and becomes sentient. This kind of thing happened all the time in the ’80s. The streets were practically swarming with bulky, wisecracking, inappropriately curious robots. It seems like you could use a lightning strike this week, Aries. Something to make you come alive again. But you’ll never get hit by a bolt if you don’t go out rolling in the storms.

TAURUS

I have a lot of respect for Smokey the Bear. I think he’s done some good work. But what if you truly lived his mantra that “only you can prevent forest fires?” Only you, Taurus. Not me. Not Gemini. Not even some other Taurus. Just you. Well, if you really believed that, you’d either wear yourself out trying to prevent them all or you’d give up in despair. The good news this week, Taurus, is that you’ve got backup.

GEMINI

So my 10-year class reunion was not what I expected. I thought it would be like old times, catching up with friends. Instead it was all new times. Getting to know all the people I never even talked to back in my school days. And I think maybe that was better. Because we aren’t so different as I thought we were back then. We’re all different but we’re all trying. Pretty much everybody’s trying, Gemini.

CANCER

They say if you can’t stand the heat you should get out of the proverbial kitchen. But I say you can stop running from the open oven doors in your life, Cancer. If you can’t stand the heat, just wait a while. The heat will pass. This current wave is making you stronger and wiser. When the cool comes you’ll appreciate it all the more.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, an elected class officer, or a trained proverbial chef. You can email Mr. Mysterio at mrmysterio@thecontributor.org, or check in on Twitter at twitter.com/mrmysterio. This set of Hoboscopes originally ran in August 2015.

ONE BY ONE

WILLIAM B.

Oh Lord, I’ve been in a prison. So many things they said I’ve done. It’s been one hill after another. Lord, you know I climbed them all one by one.

This time, Lord, you gave me a mountain, a mountain I may never climb. It’s been one hill after another, but I managed to climb them all one by one.

If it hadn’t been for The Contributor, there’s not telling what my life would be.

So this time, Lord you gave me a mountain, a mountain I may never climb. But with The Contributor, I managed to climb it, day by day by day.

Lord, this time you gave me a mountain. You gave me life, you gave me food, you gave me hope. Now I’m no longer blue.

This time, Lord, you gave me a mountain, without The Contributor, I never would climb.

So thank you Lord for giving me that mountain that, for I have now climbed.

In Jesus name, I pray to all, Amen.

MY LIFE

BY DAVID "CLINECASSO" C.

When I was 19 I graduated from high school. I was homeless for six years and that was like 27-28 years ago. I am a vendor and published artist for The Contributor since August 24, 2010. And since May of 2016, me and my wife Ellie have been artists with a non-profit organization called Poverty and the Arts. I am more of an artist than a writer. As an artist I use acrylics, sharpies, Azure. I enjoy doing art because it calms me down. My artisitc name is Clinecasso!

WHAT YOU BEEN MISSING

JOHN H.

Been a busy day, you’ve sinned to the max. Go home. Sit in recliner. Is it easy to relax? Lean all the way back, say Lord forgive me for the bad I did today, Come into my heart, teach me how to obey.

Think of all the things you did, try not do anymore That way you can relax and rest better than you tried to before. Anyway, talk to him every day, he will always listen Not having him in your heart, you don’t know what you been missing.

GO GET IT

VICTOR J.

People need food, you go get it People need money, you go get it People want to be something, you go get it People want to be somebody, you go get it

[Editor's Note: We've been mistakenly writing "Victor C." instead of "Victor J." We apologize for this error!]

LIFE

MIKE P.

The Past is a Lesson. The Present is a Gift.

The Future is Motivation!