Overheard in Philadelphia Potpourri

"You want some fries with that shake?" - 11 year old boys across the street from me up at Fern Rock station. I never thought I would actually hear these words uttered in any measure of seriousness.

"I just wanted to let you ladies know that you are smelling good and looking fine. Mmm yes." - Girard Ave., 9PM. My only scent that evening was Secret antiperspirant, so only part of this compliment could possibly apply to me.

"It's like when you go in your room. What do you do? You close the door." - 12-year-old in one of my classes describing the act of fertilization in an example his friend could understand. The sperm shutting the door to the egg so that no other sperm may enter, for those of you who were unclear.

"Oh, I love Harrisonburg!" - lead singer of Perkasie after I gushed about seeing them last summer at Blue Nile (they'll be playing there again soon). I got to see them on Sunday at the XPoNential Music Festival and am now even more in love with Peter Bjorn & John, among others.

running & walking

Philadelphia has inspired me to run again. Of course, I live in the hilliest part of the city, so this may not have been the best athletic decision on my part. It is happening nonetheless as I roughly follow the Couch-to-5K plan. I skipped ahead a little (the former track runner in me needed less walking and more sprinting) and I am running two miles straight on week 5. Perhaps I will end my triumphant completion of 3.1 miles by running up the art museum's steps, Rocky style. Probably not.

Several college friends have visited me here, each with varying degrees of touristy activities in our itinerary. I think Greg P's wins for walking distance, though:

We took the bus from my place to center city around 11AM, getting off at 19th and Chestnut, then walked to Rittenhouse to eat our Wawa breakfast (no food or drink on the bus). We then walked around City Hall and Love Park before heading to Chinatown (10th and Arch). We wanted dim sum and mistakenly believed the restaurant called 'Dim Sum Garden' would have what we were craving. Not so. We decided to order a duck entree (I have frequent duck cravings), and several small appetizers of dumplings and buns. We unknowingly ordered Xiao Long Bao, or Shanghai soup dumplings and managed to eat them successfully, which entails poking them with your chopstick and letting some of the soup drain out so that you don't scald your tongue when biting into them.

We had many leftovers and dropped them off at a friend's office refridgerator, only after a trip to CVS for blister pads. I wore the wrong shoes for city gallavanting, that's for sure. We then took a bus from Broad over to 22nd (only 8 blocks but I was in pain) to visit the Mutter Museum. Fetuses in jars, horns growing from heads, and a special exhibit on conjoined twins. After this, it was cocktail hour at Continental in Old City. They were premiering their new martini menu and I had a couple on the sweeter side. There was also partaking of the cheesesteak spring roll, a Philadelphia classic. Then we strolled down to South St., purchased a new pair of sandals for my aching feet, and met up with relatives at Gnocchi, a delightful cash-only Italian BYOB on Passyunk which has a killer recession special.

Total walking distance throughout the day was around 4 miles, give or take. I managed to cross the Mutter off of my 'Philly Bucket List', too. Not bad for a Monday. Pictures of other visitors and happenings (The Roots Picnic on my birthday weekend, happy hours galore, and more) to come.

Philadelphia tourism

Lacking a degree in marketing, I can only guess what runs through the minds of those that try to visually persuade visitors to this fair city. But a writeup in Budget Travel was only the start. I present to you:

Feel the Love, which will make you wonder if Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross ever did hook up. They had an open casting for this one (show up with a partner) and it obviously took over Love Park right before Valentine's Day.

With Love, Philadelphia, XOXO, the newest campaign from the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Campaign (that's a mouthful). I've been in the habit of writing love letters to the city of Philadelphia, but certainly wasn't expecting any to come back my way.

36 Hours in Philadelphia, because even New York wants to give us props.

Coming soon: my own personal photographic ad campaign to get more visitors (that I know) to Philadelphia. Not being versed in Photoshop, it will solely involve me putting up more photos.

the sounds of Philadelphia

Em after giving some money to an amazing busker on Broad St. one Friday night












Of Montreal at the Trocadero, 4/22












And there was Drake at the Tritone, PFUNKT at the North Star Bar, jazz combos at my restaurant on Wednesdays, and now outdoor festivals in the parks. Plus Andrew Bird, Jenny Lewis, Metric, and the Roots Picnic all coming soon. My Woodstock-attending father would be so proud. I love living in a city that houses so many venues for music, art, and creativity. Even when it's the side of buildings, like the Mural Arts Program.

other reasons to love Philadelphia

So, Budget Travel (which I am not yet a regular reader of) published a story of their 25 Reasons to Love Philadelphia here. I've already covered some of their favorites (Halloween's "Terror Behind the Walls" at Eastern State Penitentiary, photos of Elfreth's Alley from my August tourist tour, the epic cheesesteak battle, my immense love for Rittenhouse Square at Christmas or in warm weather). But now is the time to conquer the rest, especially visiting Bartram's Garden, kayaking the Schuylkill, and art viewing at The Barnes Foundation. Fortunately, I have already purchased many a 1/4 lb. of cheese at DiBruno Brothers (the enormous Rittenhouse location is my food mecca even more than Whole Foods), eaten at a Jose Garces restaurant (Tinto, his Basque-inspired outpost), and stuffed myself with the many delightful flavors of Capogiro Gelato.

As for sports superstitions, the Flyers lost in the playoffs. Is it wrong that I'm now rooting for the Caps?

Coming up this weekend: Winterthur Point-to-Point, the Delawarean answer to the Kentucky Derby, Charlottesville's Foxfields Races, and Richmond's Strawberry Hill Races. All of which are partially an excuse to get dressed up, wear a big hat, and consume alcohol very early on in the day. Thank goodness this tradition is not limited to the South.

Philadelphia Inevitabilities

You can not walk around any of Philly's assorted neighborhoods without witnessing someone spitting onto the sidewalk or street. It's a fact. Nobody puts the effort in to hock a loogie like we did back in elementary school or summer camp. Not everybody is sick and trying to expectorate the phlegm. They just naturally possess the spitting frequency of a camel or llama. High schoolers, little old ladies at the bus stop, well-dressed businessmen, everybody. I feel lucky that to this date, I have not yet found saliva on my clothes or shoes.

Another inevitability is that the afore-mentioned SEPTA buses are often early or late to their respective destinations. This will leave you sprinting after the #9 as it cruises down Walnut St. a few minutes early, or the #27 will show up 30 minutes later than expected on a Sunday, leaving you to hail it down after you have given up hope on its arrival and changed transportation plans. It's a daily gamble, but it's good exercise.

Also, I'm beginning to realize the downfalls of the (inevitable, if you will) citywide last call at 1:30AM and closing of the bars at 2AM. Fortunately, as a server in "the industry", I am allowed access to a number of sketchy after-hours bars, so long as I furnish proof of employment. I'd usually rather just go home, or fall asleep watching TV on friends' couches, but it's good to know. Besides, Atlantic City never sleeps.

avoiding the fax machine

I accidentally left the Mural Arts Program off my checklist, which is ludicrous because I have a book about it (thanks, Dad) and see them all the time. I'll be sure to go on one of the walking tours and maybe one of the trolley tours when the weather gets nicer. I also need to go to the Philadelphia Zoo, though one of my Friday classes was interrupted by the Zoo on Wheels program. My 8th graders got to learn about tropical rainforest animals instead of STI's. As for the rest of my to do list, I have since been to Chinatown twice (for late-night karaoke and Malaysian food, respectively) and purchased a book on Philadelphia beer by Joe Sixpack. If any of my loyal readers are planning a trip up here, Beer Week is March 6-15. Just something to think about.

Both of my jobs are going pretty well; I received a February-induced kick in the pants that should combat those winter doldrums. Or maybe it was the Girl Scout cookies. I've been here for 5 months now, so there are less than 6 to go in my AmeriCorps program. Hopefully I'll know and choose where I'm going next (or if I'll stay here) by sometime in June, so I'm not making crazy last-minute decisions about my life and living situation like I did last year.

Also, I need to take more photographs. The only ones I have of late are from New Year's in DC, and happy hour last week in Philly's oldest pub. Not exactly picasa-worthy.

Philly checklist

very Philadelphia-specific things I have done in my 4 months here:
- eaten multiple cheesesteaks
- gone to a Phillies game, and tailgated in the parking lot between Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field ("The Linc"
- taken a trolley in West Philly without knowing how to exit
- eaten at a restaurant by one of Philly's celebrity chefs (Morimoto, Vetri, Garces, Perrier, etc.)
- thrown a penny on Ben Franklin's grave (if it lands heads up, you'll have a good marriage/life/what have you)
- correlated my beers to the amount of Eagles plays in a game
- gotten a parking ticket (ok, 2); the TV show Parking Wars is based in Philadelphia
- become a more aggressive but quicker-with-reactions driver (ride with me and you'll understand)
- run up the "Rocky" steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I've also walked up them slowly with my parents.
- heard the phrase "youse guys" used in all seriousness
- eaten water ice, used Cheez Whiz as a condiment, started putting Old Bay on my french fries, soft pretzels with mustard, my weight in Tastykakes and more
- battled rush hour traffic (both ways) on I-76 aka the Schuylkill
- been in City Hall (the world's largest municipal building); Mayor Nutter said hi to me
-shown people how disappointingly small the LOVE statue is

things on my Philadelphia list I still need to accomplish:
- more time in Fairmount park
- Mutter Museum (I need to devote an entire day here)
- weekend trip to the shore (the Jersey Shore and its beaches)
- eating at a Stephen Starr restaurant (they're everywhere in Center City, how have I avoided these?)
- Italian market on a Saturday
- attend a Flyers game
- try beers from all of the surrounding breweries
- take a road trip to Amish country (though they do staff my local farmer's market)
- spend enough time in Chinatown, buying interesting stuff
- watch the bike race in Manayunk or crew showdowns on the Schuylkill River
- go to the City Hall observation deck, or any of the other skyline buildings for that matter

It's a work in progress to say the least. Please add to the list or come visit and I'll make an effort to explain and show everything.

minuses and pluses

My socks are wet, and I spent my morning teaching 30 Catholic school 7th and 8th graders about values. I just had the 'energy green tea with guarana + yerba mate' from teany but I still want to take a nap. I woke up with a sore throat that has persisted despite my tea and water consumption.

Buuutttt.....there are so many good things right now, too. The office is empty and quiet, so I can actually get some work done (or write in my blog). My roommates and I all hung out together Tuesday night and picked out a house Christmas tree. I actually like driving in and around the city of Philadelphia between the hours of 10AM-2PM. 7th and 8th graders actually seem to like and respect me, and some of the girls treat me like a cool older sister who has all the answers. I had one of the best salads of my life from Grocery at lunch (the other top contender is the goat cheese/spinach/bacon salad at Clementine in Harrisonburg). This weekend, I have a fellow AmeriCorps member's birthday party, the JMU vs. Montana national semi-final football game to watch, new job orientation, and a day of making cookies for everyone. Plus, tomorrow is payday!

See how much bigger that second paragraph was? I won't find out my home-for-Christmas schedule until after job training (I got hired as a server at a new Asian tapas restaurant near me) but as long as I get a few days back in Virginia, I'll be happy. I'm debating whether or not to send out holiday greeting cards, or if it's feasible to just track everyone down and hand out cookies/brownies/cupcakes in tupperware. We shall see.

More Philly food review coming in the next installment!

2 months in

Things have calmed down here considerably, so it seems as though there will be no more parades or marching in the street for a while. Temperatures are dropping and appear to be staying this way (no more freakishly warm highs in the 70's), so I suppose autumn is finally here to stay. With that comes drier air (other than November rain), biting wind (would wearing a balaclava be too weird for my every day commute?) and fewer people loitering around outside. I may be switching up my public transit way to work to include longer stretches of sitting in warm buses and subway cars, and shorter periods of time standing on street corners waiting for the bus. It will be longer travel time overall, but I sure do get a lot more reading done while sitting down, not worry about missing my stop.

Due to a series of strange (but certainly not unfortunate) events on Friday, my likeness may be part of a photo mural at 1845 Walnut St., an office building downtown by Rittenhouse Square. The planned day of surveying middle schoolers at a charter school went down the tubes; the project director called me at 8:30AM to tell me not to go there and I showed up 10 minutes later, much to the confusion of the school's staff). My colleague and I ambled back to Broad St., where cheery Starbucks employees were handing out $5 gift certificates. We each took one and found the nearest location (not too difficult, though I'm pretty sure Dunkin Donuts would be easier to find), then took our lattes and pastries to Rittenhouse Square where we sat chatting for a while, enjoying the mild weather. Then one of several people taking photographs of the area asked if we wouldn't mind moving benches to be part of their photo mural. We obliged since they were clearly professionals, and attempted to look natural while sipping our drinks and chatting. I'll have to follow up there in a few months to see if my likeness really is in the lobby.

Finally, I am getting better at finding cool free stuff to do here in the city. Last week's election party, tonight's Drambuie-sponsored event with free drinks and hors d'oeuvres, free Sundays at The National Liberty Museum, and of course First Fridays.

The latest installment of Philly food:
Tastykake Sugar-Free Sensables Cream Filled Koffee Kake Cupcakes: That's right, I dared to try the sugar-free version of my favorite packaged sweet snack here. They came in a 6-pack of pairs at Super Fresh, have an impossibly long ingredient list, and leave a weird faux-sugar residue in your mouth. Also, its beyond me why they spelled sensible that way. 10g of sugar alcohols, still too many calories, and no feelings of real Tastykake satisfaction. Never again.

I finally visited some legitimate restaurants here, but still have yet to eat a Philly cheesesteak at one of the big 3 places (Pat's, Geno's, Jim's). Maybe I'll go on a weekend cheesesteak and Miller Lite bender just to test my limits.

excitement

THE PHILLIES WON!

OBAMA WON!

HALLOWEEN HAPPENED!

I SPENT A WONDERFUL 24 HOURS IN DC!

I'M TAKING A TRAIN HOME FOR THANKSGIVING!

now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

things I have learned in the last 1.5 weeks

- Yes, a city's collective mental state can be put on hold by a rain delay. Game 5 (5.5?) of the World Series resumes tonight. I have joined the masses not allowed to discuss possible outcomes (a collective desire not to jinx anything), but I'm still hopeful.
- Nissin Cup Noodles is the work lunch of champions. The styrofoam makes me cringe, but they're cheap and only require a microwave or the hot water function of our water cooler. Plus, miniature shrimp.
- Water cooler jugs are 5 gallons, which is surprisingly difficult to lift. I have done my strength training for the day.
- Middle schoolers are a handful. After I was introduced, one boy shouted out "Hilary Banks!", which was a nice change from the usual Clinton remarks. Also, we were legitimately in West Philadelphia, so it was very geographically appropriate. Then a seventh grade girl told me I looked like Hilary Duff. Hmm.
- After a grease-heavy lackluster coffee cake this morning, I may put myself on a Tastykake moratorium until further notice.
- Loud office chitchat is best avoided by closing the door (if possible), or attempting to concentrate solely on your work. I think bringing in my iPod would be a little unnecessary and rude, but I guess I like working in silence or at least ambient music.
- You can successfully construct a Halloween costume for $15 that will hopefully be a winning combination of witty, cute, and unique. Pictures to come.

I went to Terror Behind the Walls last week, and it was incredible. I guess we went by Al Capone's old cell without my realizing it, but there was a lot of other stuff to see (zombies, cadavers, a 3-D glasses area).

I finally added some new photos from late September - early October to my picasa account. I still need to upload about 125 pictures from my camera and make executive decisions about which ones are facebook and blog appropriate (flowers and harvest festival, yes). But after work today I'm making a quick trip downtown to complete my costume with a single piece of yellow felt.

you give me Phever

Phillies fever: I have caught it.

Wednesday evening was spent yelling at the TV with my roommates, then running around our street (and the bigger ave. up the hill) getting people to honk, screaming "wooooo!" for home videos and waving rally towels.

If you couldn't tell, this is a huge deal. This is their first trip to the World Series since 1993, and beating the LA Dodgers to get there felt great. I am part of this as an outsider; my enthusiasm is only a small fraction of my roommate Melissa's (who has tickets to Game 5 if such a game will exist) but it's still very exciting. This is definitely a sports town and the celebrations across the city proved that. Philly fans have stuck with it through the years (and all the letdowns) but they're still so hopeful. The only thing I can compare it to is more baseball analogies (Red Sox in 2004), which may be lost on some of my audience. This helps to settles which sports team's bumper sticker I will put on my car.

Another edition of Philly food review:
- Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak: this is what I want from my "steaks" here. Warm, gooey, spicy, cheesy, delicious. No onions or peppers necessary. I plan on trying this at many different restaurants/bars/street vendors.
- DiBruno Brothers cheese selection: I'm not sure how many they carry, but they had all of my favorites from the Kluge Estate Farm Shop; Monte Enebro, Idiazabal, several types of Manchego, Prima Donna, and Hoch Ybrig. There are a few other cheese shops in town, but this is part of the most awe-inspiring gourmet market and store I've laid eyes on.
- Breakfast/lunch cart goods: There is a magical silver truck (Lien's which apparently used to serve Chinese food) that parks right on campus and serves delicious, cheap made-to-order food all day long. I had the cheese fries a few weeks ago and was impressed, but yesterday I got bacon, egg and cheese on a sub roll for $2.50 and it was perfect. I couldn't even eat my lunch hours later.
- Campus food in general: I'm allowed access to the Faculty/Staff restaurant, which is actually very reasonably priced. My coworker took me there last week and I enjoyed their soup & salad bar as well as their tempting menu. Then the convenience store/grab&go food market on campus is also surprisingly cheap. They had TastyKakes for way less than Wawa, along with an enormous selection of energy drinks.
- I'm baking again, after over a month of resisting the call of the oven. I made these last night, and they are calorie-laden bites of mint chocolatey goodness. Thank goodness I've also taken up running again.

My parents visit this weekend and I also have a morning flu drive on Saturday, so hopefully I can get my room and photos re-organized by Sunday. Along with some grad school essays. The World Series starts Wednesday, so I know how my weeknights will be spent.

Week 4, in words

The highlights of my workweek thus far have been self-defense training on Monday, a pediatric dental symposium Thursday, an academic talk on aut mechanics Wednesday, and actually trying potato knish. Secondary activities included cheering on the Phillies during their playoff games, more phone calls, and watching the VP debate last night. I didn't fall on top of anyone on the bus (like last week), nor did I receive any particularly interesting catcalls. I only went on a few home visits, due to my supervisor being on vacation for half of the week and my being out of the office Monday and Thursday. As I write this, it's Friday afternoon and I have very little left to accomplish. I'll be coming in to work tomorrow morning (9AM) to get trained for the Sex After Marriage program. Apparently, they especially want my teaching skills for the lessons involving reproductive anatomy. My college coursework speaks for itself.

It's getting colder here and fall is in the air. I'm excited for the leaves to change and the addition of scarves and blazers to my wardrobe, but have already had to deal with seasonal allergies. So after taking some Claritin-D last Friday, I was really feeling my Golden Monkey at Happy Hour. Then again, it's 9.5% alcohol. Victory Brewing Co. isn't too far from here, so I may add it to my list of brewpubs to visit. I'm sure my Dad wholeheartedly encourages this effort. Our group's Social Committee has been doing a great job of planning fun stuff around the city, particularly on Friday evenings. I'm on the Professional Development committee, which sounds important but apparently serves little purpose. Also on the topic of season changes, I need to get a space heater ASAP because it's house policy to avoid turning on the gas heat for as long as possible. Of course, I'm one of those people who feels cold at temperatures under 70 degrees, so this October weather is already doing me in.

This is not supposed to be a food blog, but rather one chronicling my experience moving to and living in Philadelphia. Along with that, however, comes trying Philly-specific foods. Expect updates on this front starting now. I will spare you the tales of shrimp-flavored ramen and PB&J on English muffins.

I had my first Philly cheesesteak (with provolone, without onions & peppers) back in August but wasn't too impressed. Apparently I simply must try the peppers & onions and get Cheez Whiz. Although there are the main three cheesesteak places in their hot competition with each other (Pat's, Geno's, Jim's), there are plenty of others. I will have to try this again.

As for TastyKakes, I've been trying new ones from the nearby Wawa every so often (well, weekly). My favorites are the Cream Filled Koffee Kake Cupcakes, the Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, and the Oatmeal Raisin Snak Bars (my attempt to feel healthier). The AmeriCorps person in my position last year (another Southern tall blonde) got to attend a health fair at the TastyKake factory, and received her just desserts. This event may become the pinnacle of my year. I'm imagining the factory as straight up Willy Wonka, complete with chocolate river and waterfall. I'll keep you posted.

Week 3, in pictures

CPR and First Aid training at the Red Cross. I am certified in both now. This is some of us, doing chest compressions. The rescue breaths were more comical.








Learning more about spectrum disorders (especially autism) as well as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and more. Plus, teratogens during pregnancy and their effect on babies.














Getting caught in the rain today with a newly purchased, non-waterproof reusable grocery bag, stuffed to the brim with food. I think my sugar is a little clumpy.








Getting kasha knish at a Jewish bakery with my boss (buckwheat, more delicious than the potato knish pictured) after a tough day of home visits (she also got me a cupcake).








(from xkcd.com), I will remind myself in the future to cram future international package contents into tiny boxes, so as not to incite the tall box fury of the USPS. Also, Japanese addresses are written differently than here.















Phone calls. Lots and lots of phone calls. Thanks everybody!
<3 (yes, my phone looks like that. bright but primitive, I know).

so this is service

This is pretty belated, as I originally started writing it September 19th, after my first week at my site. It's as though last weekend was almost entirely unproductive. Oh right, it was.

----

After my first week of training, the AmeriCorps group hung out on Friday night (at a house in Manayunk where four of the girls live). We had all done a group service project at Philabundance that afternoon, where we sorted and stacked donated food products. I have never seen so many Curry flavored potato chips or Oreo Cakesters in my life, and it took a lot of willpower to not dive into the candy bins. It started raining (which I was caught totally unprepared for) on our way back into the city, and it continued as Behdad (my Manayunk bus buddy) and I waited half an hour sans umbrellas for the #9 bus in Center City by the bridge over the Schuykill. The bus then crawled along on its route, despite taking a shortcut to avoid I-76. I indulged in a nap once home, though I'm attempting to do away with these on weekdays. I usually wake up around 7AM, 7:30 if I'm driving and earlier or later depending on special meetings. I'm a bit of a night owl, but am trying to actually sleep by midnight.

Saturday was my roommate Melissa's birthday, so our celebration mainly entailed attending the 4PM Phillies game since she is a sports journalist and huge fan. Little did I know, baseball games here involve hours of tailgating in the parking lot. I learned the exciting new game of Washers, which is sort of like horseshoes. Then hours of sitting (or standing if you bought standing room only tickets to the sold-out game), eating more food, drinking more beer, cheering, and booing. The Phillies won, and I was completely knackered by the time we left the parking lot. I'll post photos once I change the name on my picasa account, as per my mother's suggestion. Quite a few people came over afterward to continue the birthday celebration, but I fell asleep upstairs by 11PM or so.

Then there was the first week at my site. It began very differently (and much more busily) than it ended, although I'm not sure if this will be the usual flow to my weeks here. Home visits galore, meeting the rest of the staff (all ladies), getting a very informal La Salle tour, figuring out timesheets, etc. The home visits are a near-daily occurrence, where we go into client's homes and provide them with help accessing services through other agencies. This can include assistance with Welfare (finding the nearest regional office which may be many miles away), food stamps, child health insurance (CHIP or medical assistance, depending on income), rides to medical appointments through LogistiCare, and other such actions. Several of the people in this office (center?) work with my supervisor's main program (Health Intervention Program for Families, HIP for short) and a few others work on another grant-funded program, Sex After Marriage (SAM). Guess what that one is about. I'll be helping out with both for my field service work, which will take up most of my hours here. There will also be other, smaller projects to work on (flu shot drives, grant writing). I also get to attend many a meeting with various agencies. I'm a huge fan of these because I like networking and learning about random topics (asthma in children, teratogens and genetic defects, child dental resources, medical and hospital personnel structure so far) along with the occasional free breakfast.

This week was much of the same, but with an AmeriCorps group training on Monday at the Red Cross to get First Aid and CPR certified. That's right, if you're choking or unconscious, I'll take care of you. We're doing self-defense training on Monday at a karate school, which should be interesting. I took embarrassing photos of everyone wrapping themselves up in bandages and giving rescue breaths to the dummies which I need to upload. Our group's social committee has started a weekly happy hour at various locales. I love trying new restaurants/bars, but will probably have to start skipping out or smuggling in my own snacks. This stipend does not cover much fun, but we as a group are always on the lookout for free or cheap stuff to do.

Next time: a more timely post, photos, and why you should hold on to the rails on the bus.

soapbox derby photos

These were my favorites of the ones posted by ku- on flickr here, used with permission. The rain didn't let up, so I was quite wary of using my camera. You've got to love the display of 'Benergy' in the second one.