feed the hungry, blow up the coliseum

Photo courtesy of yours truly, ACCESS Inc.

From the The New Haven Independent:
FEED THE HUNGRY, BLOW UP THE COLISEUM

Only in New Haven can you do both. City and Connecticut Food Bank officials announced a unique holiday-season promotion Monday: Donate at least six canned goods or non-perishable food items to the food bank, and you'll receive a personalized, engraved seat from the New Haven Coliseum, which the city is in the midst of demolishing. You'll also receive a raffle ticket. If you win the raffle, you get the push the plunger to start the final implosion of the joint (probably) next month. To donate: Visit City Hall weekdays from 9 to 6 or the Food Bank (150 Bradley St., East Haven) weekdays from 8:30 to 4:40. Click here for a list of preferred items. “This is a great opportunity for people to come together and help those working families who are struggling,” Mayor John DeStefano said. “Why the Coliseum? So many people have an emotional attachment to it and this is a perfect way to honor that.”

Man, I would kill for the chance to push that button. Even loving the Coliseum as I do, I need to satisfy my slightly destructive tendencies somehow.

no surprises

A heart that's full up like a landfill,
A job that slowly kills you,
Bruises that won't heal.
You look so tired-unhappy;
Bring down the government,
They don't, they don't speak for us.
I'll take a quiet life,
A handshake, some carbon monoxide,

With no alarms and no surprises,
No alarms and no surprises,
No alarms and no surprises,
Silent silence.

This is my final fit,
My final bellyache,

With no alarms and no surprises,
No alarms and no surprises,
No alarms and no surprises, please.

Such a pretty house
And such a pretty garden.

No alarms and no surprises,
(Get me outta here)
No alarms and no surprises,
(Get me outta here)
No alarms and no surprises,
(Get me outta here) please.

[radiohead, "no surprises"], the song of my captors.

and oh how it rains

I finished the last chocolate tonight. What does that mean?

biking in LA

Nobody Bikes in L.A. - But they'd be a lot happier if they did. Maybe I'd consider living in SoCal one day after all. If they build a carillon for me, that is.

innocence

Last night I dreamed that I was going to an abbey for a birthday party and ended up joining the abbey and taking vows of chastity (never mind that I'm not actually Christian). But somehow I also ended up being responsible for transporting some extremely large cargo that could only be lifted by crane. It was necessary to transport it by plane, but to be economical, I had to rent a car and drive to the destination in Mexico to meet the load, and from there, somehow take the cargo to its destination outside the airport.

That dream morphed into a wedding party at a resort. Immense crowds of people were taking public transport to the event. However, evildoers had planned an attack, and I perished in it with countless others. When I awoke, I found myself at the beginning of the dream with a second chance.

I failed again, but awoke for the third time alive, knowing that this chance could be my last. Working my way backwards on the train lines, switching and sneaking through underground passages, I struggled to lead myself and others to liberty. Finally, we reached our escape, the departure point of the trains... and I awoke to the morning darkness and the pain of my leg.

leven te huur

I haven't ever really found a place that I call home
I never stick around quite long enough to make it
I apologize that once again I'm not in love
But it's not as if I mind that your heart ain't exactly breaking
It's just a thought, only a thought

If my life is for rent, and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cuz nothing I have is truly mine

Always thought that I would love to live by the sea
To travel the world alone and live more simply
I have no idea what's happened to that dream
Cuz there's really nothing left here to stop me
It's just a thought, only a thought

If my life is for rent, and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cuz nothing I have is truly mine

While my heart is a shield, and I won't let it down
While I am so afraid to fail, so I won't even try
Well how can I say I'm alive?

If my life is for rent, and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cuz nothing I have is true tonight...

[dido, "life for rent"]

gooo ssp in the news!

IDL Provides Support for the Summer Science Program

amazing

A New Haven police officer established an organization, The Chain Fund, to financially assist cancer patients. Now that's inspirational.

just google it

"We think there is plenty of opportunity for innovation in the Google economy," Mr. Breyer said.

Key words: "Google economy." Google has become a verb as well as an adjective for the wealth and resources of a region. Frightening, but a friendlier alternative to Microsoft.

wifely

Today's fortune on Orkut.com for me:
You and your wife will be happy in your life together

First line of a self description from Yahoo! Personals in Köln: "Allein sein sucks! Denkst Du auch so?" Languages might sometimes do better without incorporating English words into everyday usage.

The photos of Halloween CritMass in New Haven made it look like an rockin' party... talking with Zoe about biking in NYC only made me miss it even more...

strange beauty

I still wonder how the hell I got into urban spelunking as a nature-girl/city-girl.