#schenectady

[stonedmountain]

Schenectady, New York (2016)

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Where's the rest of the orion constellation?

I'm gonna say Schenectady.

[unteriors]

Summit Avenue, Schenectady, New York.

[haveyoubeentothiscity]

Population: 67,047

[popping-your-culture]

[servantoftheye]

We take statements about incidents of the occult and paranormal these do not include:

Pizza Rat, it's just a rat dragging a slice of pizza. Get over it.

'Suspiciously' low rent for a nice apartment in the city: that's not paranormal, it's just a deal, in fact give me the number.

SCHENECTADY: yes, we are aware of what's happening there, if you are, fill out a form.

The man who is cursed to ride the MTA forever. HAHA yes, it's a song reference, you are very clever.

[strangectadypodcast]

My Protagonists

▪    MAIN CHARACTERS

Fawn Davies - Late 20s early thirties. She’s one of two officially licensed paranormal investigators in Schenectady. Winchell Vega is her business partner and the other licensed paranormal investigator.   She is mediocre at magic, but is a good medium and most importantly  has  good people skills, which Vega lacks. She also has good deductive and investigating skills. Her mother Heather, was murdered by  serial killer Sebastian Cunningham when Fawn was about six and her father is unknown. She was raised by her grandparents in the upscale suburb of Niskayuna. Cunningham never revealed what he did with her mother’s body, he was executed in 2000. Fawn wants to find his body and contact his spirit to get answers. But right now she’s working on other people’s paranormal problems. One the main characters. I think she might be queer but not sure, likes mostly men but so too busy to form a relationship. 

Notes for people auditioning: Calm, professional, mostly slightly soft voice, up talks, she sees the ghosts but they do not alarm her, usually. Tries to sound more in control then she might feel or think.  More prone to anger than sorrow. 

Winchell  ‘Win’ Vega - Half Puerto Rican, (dad’s side) English- German descent (Mom’s side).  Winchell is in his late 30’s he didn’t look on the verge of a mental collapse, brushed his hair and was clean shaven he’d be good looking. He has a rough tenor voice.  He has a wild look in his eyes, and he wears a rumpled trench coat and slightly stained sweater vests over button up shirts also rumpled and usually a pair of khakis and scuffed dress shoes. Winchell is highly talented at magic, also very sensitive to the paranormal; he can see what others can’t. He’s good at his trade, but the years and things he’s seen have taken its toll. He smokes like a chimney and is cheap, will shake someone down for a loosey.  There are rumors that he was diagnosed as schizophrenic  as a young man and has been medicated ever since. That is partly true, being able to see things and perceive things normal people can’t make him look schizophrenic also the pills do nothing. He took Fawn under his wing when she was in her early 20s and helped her get the training and license for this. Personality wise, he’s blunt, he rambles, and stubborn with a paranoid streak.  He’s an asexual permanent bachelor. Even though when he was seventeen he had a brief intimate relationship with an extra-dimensional being who was in the form of a girl about his age. He’s closer to his Dad’s side of the family then his Mom’s, his older half sister Jasmine takes care of his domestic chores when he can’t. He’s autistic but has never disclosed it.  Also a POV character? Has be AMAB sounding.

Notes for people auditioning:  For the person auditioning for my male protag think Fiver from Watership Down only human and  North eastern American: anxious, scared, frail with a tenor voice. ' Remember he has seen horrors beyond most people’s comprehension, is seeing horrors now and will see horrors in future.

[basedhighsenberg]

[mozillasticks]

Ah vale cemetery.. you is old, you is scary, but you is beautiful

[dorianroark]

Last weekend I was with Black Brush Crafts making an awesome showing at Proctor Theater's craft fair. Always being camera ready, I couldn't resist asking a security guard if I could be granted access to the main theater for a photoshoot. Surprisingly she said yes (!!) and let me loose in the empty theater for about 10 minutes. These shots are the result of that opportunity.

#photography #photoshoot #theater #proctorstheater

[fallauween]

Stockade Inn by Paul

Built in 1815 as the headquarters of the Mohawk National Bank. From 1905 to 2003 it was home to the Mohawk Club, then to the Stockade Inn, which closed its doors in 2020. Stockade District, Schenectady, New York.

[corgiteatime]

People in Schenectady shutting the fuck up while in a movie theater challenge (Impossible)

[firstumcschenectady]

“Hosanna” based on Psalm 118:1-4, 19-24 and Matthew 21:1-11

Within Christianity, we use “Hosanna” to express joy, and praise, and adoration. Just one little issue with that – the actual meaning of the word. Hosanna is a Hebrew word meaning “Save us, we pray!” The people around Jesus weren't shouting “Great is God” or “Jesus is good!” or “YAY, Jesus, YAY God!” Instead, they were shouting, “God, save us from our oppressor” which was clearly the Roman Empire, who – let's be honest – didn't appreciate that. “God, help us, the enemy is bigger than we can take on ourselves.” “God, we're in over our heads, help us out here!”

And, of course, they were shouting, “Save us, we pray” during a PASSOVER celebration, when Passover celebrates God's actions in saving the people from oppression in Egypt, which made the Roman Empire's representatives a “little bit” antsy.

The Roman Empire's representative Pontius Pilate was already coming to the city, like he did every year at Passover, with soldiers and fanfare meant to keep the Jewish people in check. The Roman Empire saw QUITE CLEARLY that getting a whole bunch of people together in the city to celebrate God's acts of freeing them from oppression was a tinderbox for revolt, and they sought to tamp it down with displays of power and reminders of their violent capacity. In fact, they came in from Pilate's normal abode on the Mediterranean – so from the West. With gleaming horses, and banners with the golden Eagle of Rome, with drums and the crowds shouting “Hail Caesar, son of God; Praise be to the Savior who brought the Roman Peace; Caesar is Lord….” the Empire sought to intimidate people out of revolt.

But.

Then there was Jesus. Jesus who seems to have let the crowd claim kingship of Ancient Israel on his behalf, which sometimes feels a little bit strange but is in the story nonetheless. The Palm branches were a flag of Israel- the opposite of the Golden Eagle. The donkey was expected to be ridden by the Messiah entering the city – but also is rather opposite a gleaming horse. The soldiers accompanied Pilate – while a large crowd of people impoverished by the Empire accompanied Jesus. And Instead of “Hail Caesar” the people shouted “God Save Us (from the empire).”

The Roman Empire took this Jesus parade as a significant threat.

I believe they were meant to. The protest made the violence of the Empire stand out. They crucified Jesus with the accusation “King of the Jews” above his head, as if this was the charge against him. And, after all, they shouldn't have killed the leader of a PEACEFUL revolt, only a violent one. But sometimes the authorities have a hard time telling the difference between violence and what scares them. (Still true today.)

Then, of course, Jesus did another PEACEFUL demonstration – this time managing to make visible the ways the Empire had put in place Temple leaders who were aligned with Empire and not God's people. That one many of us learned as the “Cleansing of the Temple.” John Dominic Crossan reflects on the “den of robbers” the Temple is said to be saying, “Notice, by the way, that a 'den' is not where robbers do their robbing but where they flee for safety with the spoils they have robbed elsewhere.” (God and Empire, 133.)

Jesus made clear the city of Jerusalem was where “conservative religion and imperial oppression – had become serenely complicit.” (131) And, he dies for it. Crossan says, “He did not go to get himself killed or to get himself martyred. Mark insists that Jesus knew in very specific detail what was going to happen to him – read Mark 10:33-34, for example – but that is simply Marks' way of insisting that all was accepted by both God and Jesus. Accepted, be it noted, but not willed, wanted, needed or demanded.” (131)

Beloveds, this Palm Sunday parade is one of the most brilliant acts of non-violent direct action I've ever heard of, but it is part of the story of why the Empire responded with violence. I can't hear the Palm Sunday story without knowing that it walks us to the Good Friday Crucifixion and the Holy Saturday grief and disillusion. They're all a part of this one story – that when you make clear the ways people are oppressing others, there is a fierce lash-back and the power of violence is immense. Thank God, that isn't the whole story – we get to Easter next week – but it is a real story, one that we can't dismiss.

This year, the Palm Sunday parade that walks Jesus into Jerusalem sounds terrifyingly like Nex Benedict walking into school on their last day. I can't separate out Jesus being faithful to God despite the consequences from gender-queer and non-binary people claiming their space in the world – despite the consequences. But, friends, it is sickening.

There is a story out there, one that says people are supposed to stay in tight little conformist boxes that help others make sense of the world and, heavens, the VIOLENCE that comes out when people speak up and say, “this box doesn't fit me.” And it can be such small stuff:

I'm a woman, but the box “quiet and gentle” doesn't fit me

or

I'm a man, but the box “stoic” doesn't' fit me

or

I'm a woman, but the box “looking for a man” doesn't' fit me

or

I'm a man, but the box “looking for a woman” doesn't' fit me

or

… the box “wants to have kids” doesn't fit me

or

… the box “monogamy” doesn't fit me

or

… the box “woman” doesn't fit me

or

… the box “man” doesn't fit me

or

… the box “gendered” doesn't fit me.

And, I mean, you all know this but... WHO CARES? They're all just silly little made up boxes that no one should be forced into and everyone should have the space to occupy, or adapt or not occupy as they see fit? Sure, some people want the world to be black and white without shades of gray – that everyone is cis-gendered, straight, sexual, and single raced ;) But, too bad because that's just not true.

And yet, the violence that comes when people try to force others back into the boxes they think they should live in – it reminds me of the violence of empire. There seem to be gleaming horses, loud drums, and shiny swords all over the place. And, worse, it isn't just the external violence that attacks people – the very people who are brave enough to leave their ill-fitting boxes behind end up internalizing the violence. They're courageous, they're clear, they know who they are and they won't go back to pretending to be otherwise – but that violence is so darn insidious, and it gets inside them. Those silly stories about how we're supposed to be are so poisonous. That human need for connection gets twisted around and turned against people. And the beautiful ones who are brave and unique and wonderful end up dead.

Jesus could have stayed out of Jerusalem, except he couldn't.

Nex could have pretend to have their gender assigned at birth, except they couldn't.

They couldn't. It would have been safer, easier, …. some would say wiser. But they couldn't.

Friends, as you know, the trans and queer communities around the country and world are aching for Nex and Nex's family and friends. Their death has reminded people of prior losses, of other brave and beautiful souls who also internalized the violence against them. The heartbreaks are everywhere.

This holy week, we will worship through the blessings of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the heartbreak of the disciples, and land on the wondrous reality that God's work can't be stopped by violence or death.

But how do we make sense of Nex? And the ones before them? And the ones after them? How do face the violence of the Empire today, and the ways it gets internalized?

There aren't easy asnwers.

We grieve.

And we share the aches with God.

And we name the problems with each other.

And we keep on learning how to undercut the broken narrative, and break open little boxes, and keep people safe when they leave them.

We aren't going to do it fast enough – we already haven't, but just because we can't do it immediately doesn't mean we can stop. Jesus showed us the power of violence to stop people, and the ways religion can become complicit with violence. And he paid for it, paid to teach us those lessons. But we have them! So, we know that God and love are more powerful than violence, and love is the way we respond. And we know that religion that oppresses isn't religion at all, and we shout it from the rooftops.

Hosanna.

God save us.

We pray.

Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron First United Methodist Church of Schenectady 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305 Pronouns: she/her/hers http://fumcschenectady.org/ https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

March 24, 2024

[ballparksaroundtheworld]

McNearney Stadium, Schenectady, New York, USA

[unteriors]

Summit Avenue, Schenectady, New York.

[frenchcurious]

Vue de State St. à Schenectady, NY, a été prise à 14 h 15 le 3 mai 1960. - source The Old Motor.