The Cookblog by Brian Cook

Volunteering for the Homeless Vulnerability Index

Last week, I volunteered as part of the Homeless Vulnerability Index (PDF), a method of determining which Hartford-area homeless were at the greatest risk. Based on the information gathered, those with the greatest need would be helped first. The project involved searching for the homeless in the early morning hours over two days, and visiting homeless shelters in the city in order to administer a survey. I was part of the latter effort at a shelter called Immaculate Conception, temporary home to about 80 men.

My first reaction was astonishment at the friendless and high spirits of the men I interviewed. While I expected them be guarded and reticent, they were remarkably candid in speaking about their history on the streets, where they typically slept, their medical conditions and how they made money. Since five of us had to survey all of the men over just three hours, I was disappointed that I didn’t have time to ask follow-up questions outside the scope of the study. I wanted to understand more about how they became homeless, what they did during the day and what was most difficult about their situations.

Ultimately, it was a touching and deeply fulfilling experience, particularly the results. An organization called Journey Home is now focusing on the 40 most vulnerable individuals of those surveyed, with the remaining 115 classified as “vulnerable” next in line for help finding housing. I’m already looking to volunteer again doing something similar, hopefully with the same group of men.

The Practical Hand

We went strolling around Eastern Market, idling past jewelry vendors and fruit merchants. Next to a tent hawking odd fur caps, we found a mess of unsorted books; some were on shelves, some on a table and some in boxes. The Book of the Hand caught my eye and I began leafing through it, wondering how its antiquated nomenclature would divine and define me based on the geometry of my hand.

As I turned to page 48, I saw it there, my hand with its stubby fingers and knotted knuckles. Eagerly, I read the caption. This is what I saw:

Interview With Myself

Wherein I answer questions asked by me.

Q: Where are you getting your inspiration for the type of things you’re working on now?

A: In my latest stuff, I’ve been trying to achieve the kind of aesthetic found in Little Golden Books; I love the saturated colors and rough textures of those drawings. There’s a fascinating mix of simplicity and complexity in those images. Plus they have more than a whiff of nostalgia, which I can’t really resist.

Q: What parts of your work are you dissatisfied with?

A: Originality has become more important to me, particularly in terms of the materials I use. It’s the main reason I’ve begun moving away from photographic stuff (especially photos taken by others) and towards hand-drawn things. To me, the work I’ve entirely entirely from scratch is more fulfilling. I also think I’m better at it than photography or collage.

Q: What skills would you most like to gain or improve?

A: I’m actually pretty pleased with how my Photoshop skills are progressing (advice to aspiring designers: learn how to use the pen tool!), though obviously I’d like to get better. Understanding and creating color palettes are areas where I could definitely stand to improve. More generally I’d really like to be able to play music better. My friends and I meet fairly regularly to play together and it would be nice to be able to contribute a little more complexity and variety to proceedings.

Q: Speaking of music, what are you listening to right now?

A: A lot of folksy stuff (Department of Eagles, Tom Brosseau, Beach House) and also a lot of more electronic things (Phantogram, Miike Snow, Dan Deacon). Both types of music are different, but I find them equally good for a work soundtrack. Naturally, I also listen to the music my friends and I have made.

Q: What projects are you working on now?

A: I’ve actually just made a spreadsheet to track them all because the sheer number demanded organization. I’ve got 18 different projects to work on. Most are posters, but there is also a board game, some video things, some music things, some architectural things, some events and a few others that I can’t say too much about right now. I’ve been fortunate to do stuff for CT comedy troupes & Mark Twain House and there are plenty of other irons in the fire!

Maybe my favorite part about all of this is working with friends. They’re a fantastically smart, talented and interesting group of people and it’s thrilling to be able to collaborate with them on stuff.

Q: Any insufferable, curmudgeonly final words?

A: Yes, actually. Turn off the TV and do something. It’s more fun and energizing to create than to consume.

Celestial Flagellation – A Space Opera

So we’re calling it a space opera, despite the exclusion of arias and inclusion of accordions. The story is simple: a 1961 NASA test monkey named “Ham” reluctantly leaves his expecting chimpanzee wife to make his fortune in space. During a space walk to perform routine maintenance  on a heat plate, he becomes separated from his craft drifts through the vacuum, uncertain of his future. A passing meteor nudges him gently but at great speed toward an unknown corner of the universe that bustles with commerce and romance.

Ham trades his favors for rocket parts in a far-flung bazaar, sleeping on the couch of a lonely synthonium player while he builds a new craft. Hitching his contraption to a comet, he speeds back towards Earth, the bosom of his wife and the soft breathing of his infant daughter.

(mp3) Celestial Flagellation – Immortality

(zip) Celestial Flagellation – Of Uranus

Chymera Harbor – In Extremis EP

A few weeks ago, I went into the mountains of Vermont with friends for skiing and visiting. Almost as an afterthought, we brought a collection of instruments including a keyboard, xylophone, accordion and guitar. As it turned out, we had such a great time playing together that we’ve done it again several times since we’ve been back. Each time the band is slightly different, so each time we rename ourselves. There’s been Ham on Houndstooth, Lovers and Dreamers and Widescreen Thumbs. Now, there’s Chymera Harbor.

Recorded in a studio far from the maddening crowd, the In Extremis EP is an organic storytelling of the whaling ship ZOROASTER that sailed from New Bedford on July 6, 1843. Master Joseph Seabury guided the vessel south and west around Cape Horn and across the South Pacific to the fecund whaling grounds of the Indian Ocean. Meditating on themes of freedom, depravity and loneliness, In Extremis articulates the introspective nature of a life spent at sea. It is heaving waves and rough whiskers. It is stale bread and red sunsets.

(MP3) Chymera Harbor – Three Dowries of Breadfruit

(ZIP) Chymera Harbor – In Extremis