the neighbors stopped by to check us out
“when strangers start acting like neighbors… communities are reinvigorated.”
-ralph nader
chris taylor atop a bit of art at ann arbor’s top of the park festival
—
i had a pleasant surprise
when i opened my front door
and standing there was
my mayor, chris taylor
he was walking around the neighborhoods
talking to people
about the upcoming primary election
we talked for a bit
and i thanked him
for all he’s done
and continues to do
for ann arbor
when he left
and i closed the door
i thought that this is how politicians should be
just walking around talking to people in their neighborhoods.
—
“the true privilege of being mayor
is that I have the opportunity to be everyone’s neighbor.”
-thomas menino
once again
it seemed
like a good idea
at the time.
–
i was seven years old
when my
very cute
neighbor/paper boy
jd
told on me
for riding my bike
where i wasn’t
allowed to be riding
i got caught lying
by my mother
who asked me about it
i never was
a good actress
and there were
consequences
so together
with one of my sisters
and our good friend
we planned
our sweet revenge
in a style
only young children
could create.
–
we would collect
a huge pile of burrs
from the field
behind our houses
hide it in our summer tent
wait for the boys to show up
and
throw it at him
so he’d see who he messed with.
–
but
it took so long
it was such a hot summer day
it was so boring in there
and
i fell asleep in the tent
but somehow curled up
right on our
prickly pile of revenge
and
i woke up
with my hair
horribly embedded
with the all the burrs
so i
burst out crying
walked inside
asking nana
to help me
brush them out
i lost lots of hair
it hurt
it took
what seemed like hours
and
when it was over
my hair resembled
a giant ball of split end fuzz
so i
i went out on the front porch
to relax and eat a popsicle
and saw jd
delivering our paper
and
his hair looked darn good.
–
map of pangea with current international borders
—
the good people at open culture
recently shared this map of pangea
with the present day country names.
if the band ever gets back together,
here’s who your nation’s neighbors would be.
-massimo pietrobon – mental floss magazine
—
we cannot live only for ourselves.
a thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.
~herman melville
—
*this post is dedicated to the brave journalists in paris, recently lost to a senseless violent act, to journalists everywhere, to the freedom of speech and to peace.