at school, but not in school

Ah, the joys of being a young staff member at a university: everyone thinks you're either a student or a prodigy-type professor. So I can slum in the library with the undergrads, but I can also eat in the faculty/staff only restaurant. On my way to get my new ID, I was accosted by Comcast workers, offering me a giant Pixy Stick to showcase their "it's kind of a big deal" cable/internet promotion for students. This might have been awesome back when Anchorman came out, but...oh, who am I to turn down free candy. I might have to buy a bottle of soda just to relive the middle school field day memories of pixy stick-induced explosions. Take that, adult responsibility.

Coming soon: draft post potpourri, where I summon up snippets of all the great blog posts I started bu failed to finish in the first year of writing this. Because apparently Blogger saves them for you.

ice cold

Just sharing my love for Philly-based company Rita's Ice. Which up here, is not Italian Ice, but Water Ice. And they pronounce it "wooder" ice. I tried it once last summer in Abington, and didn't have it again until this summer. Blue raspberry in Wilmington got me started, but it's the new Swedish Fish flavor that got me there twice in a week. You get an extra bag of mini Swedish Fish with it. And with a location near you, how can you turn that down?

With that said, I have also hit up Capogiro Gelato recently, as well as every major new tart frozen yogurt with toppings place in town (Yogorino, Phileo, Sweet Ending) in the last two months. summer came a bit late, but it is here and the frozen treats are on.

Forbidden Drive

So last Wednesday, a jogger got killed by a large tree branch falling and hitting her while she was running in Fairmount Park. The story freaked me out because we were the same age, taught in local schools, and lived in the same neighborhood. Oh, and she was also 4th in her high school class (nothing like the little details to really shred your nerves). So I decided to continue with my running routine in preparation for an upcoming 5K, without the use of my iPod while on trails. There I was yesterday afternoon, just jogging along Forbidden Drive (it's a popular jogging trail, not at all forbidden) when I passed by the spot where she died, marked with various crosses. Nothing makes you want to get out of the woods quicker than that, so I decided to head up a hiking trail in an effort to get back to the main roads. As I was emerging back into the sunlight, I noticed a man in a FOX 29 news van. He yelled to offer me a word of warning, which I figured was about falling tree branches or the like.

Nope. Seems there was a reported "attack" on a woman in the same stretch of park near a parking lot a mile down the road. I had inadvertently run to where the press conference about said attack had just finished. He then cautioned me not to run alone. I made it back home and read the story. For some reason, the word attack made me conjur the image of a mugging, or attempted assault where the would-be victim got away. No, this was rape. It reminded me of a Jezebel item about the news media's inability to use the word. It happened before dark in what I thought was a pretty active and popular parking lot. Finally, if you watch the FOX video, the women interviewed say they plan to bring their husbands or other large, burly men along next time they go running. Which leaves us unmarried running ladies with not as many options. I have pepper spray and a cell phone, but no large dog or running partner. Also, I hate treadmills.

Newspaper update

So I should probably find it ironic (or just sad) that I read about the Philadelphia Inquirer's serious troubles in the New York Times. What's a Big City Without a Newspaper?

But while reading one of my favorite local food blogs, I found this great article from the Inky's Craig LaBan all about hard-shell crabs. And the inevitable drive further south to obtain them. It made me want to incorporate the phrase "regional foodways" into my daily vernacular. Isn't that most of what I write about anyway?

P.S. If nobody's going to click on the funny, interesting or cool buttons, then I'll get rid of thme. But then I expect any lurkers to actually comment once in a while.

home again home again

I went home to VA last week (albeit briefly) and forgot to have any sweet tea. Sacrilege, I know. But I did have Chesapeake Bay steamed crabs, and encountered beach traffic on I-95 both Friday and Saturday. So 2 out of 3 summer rituals in Virginia were successfully upheld. Thanks to my parents who are probably reading this with their new and exciting broadband.

We're about to get a grocery store right by my office. It's slated to open later this month (probably when all the students come back). My excitement can hardly be contained, because it means an end to the weekly Rite Aid trips. These usually culminate with bags of hot fries for me, pork rinds for my colleague, and too much chocolate and/or soda. This week, we had a taste testing of the new Sour Patch kids in fruit shapes. I'm hanging my head in shame as I write this. Once Fresh Grocer opens, there shall be healthier lunches and snacks around here. I will need to vacate my desk around September when the new AmeriCorps person comes in. Right now, the top middle drawer holds office supplies, the bottom right drawer contains files and important documents, and the top right drawer is home to my snack collection and extra plastic bags I keep meaning to recycle.

If you just read the above paragraph, you may realize that a new AmeriCorps person will be starting here in September, meaning that I am no longer in AmeriCorps. My term ended two weeks ago and it hasn't really hit me yet. I'm still doing the same basic things (teaching summer programs to middle schoolers, helping out with the home visiting paperwork, living in the same place, etc.). I'm waiting for it all to sink in: no more member meetings, no capacity building sessions to plan, no Dexter St. parties or cookouts, many fewer rides on the last bus home. Sigh.