Not as bad as last week

My car looked pretty lonely as I walked to the parking lot tonight, but last week was worse. Then, mine was the only car left in this lot that holds maybe 500-1000 cars.

On Mondays I rarely leave the building before 10:30 pm. After my 6-9:50 pm Portfolio class I end up talking with students or catching up with late-night office chores.

Tonite the campus police locked the doors right after I left, and outside the 4-degree temperature made the long walk to the parking lot worse than usual. As I drove home in the warmth of my car I thought about those people who have to wait outside for busses on a night like this, or the homeless who struggle to stay alive.

43 Things

It's hard for me not to like a site where the big words that jump out at you are "go on a road trip with no predetermined destination" and even bigger, "fall in love." The site is 43Things.com a very "webby," Web 2.0 kind of gathering place for people who want to share their goals with the world. At 11:41 pm on Feb. 5, 9,170 people wanted to take that road trip. 12,376 people were more interested in love. Explore the desires of the world in all their ordinary craziness.

Or... click on a city that interests you and get a different kind of look at it, a sort of impressionistic travel guide.

My neighborhood's more PR-oriented name gets bigger play, but you still see the name we 've always used at left. And I'm happy to see that one of my favorite hot dog places in town (Old Fashion Hot Dogs, formerly Hot Dog Inn) got tagged by one person. I was a sucker for their chili/slaw dog back when they still served all-beef dogs. Things have gone downhill in recent years.

Don't let us forget

I took this picture March 6, 2005. Since then the number killed is over 3,000. It's easy to not think about the numbers and more importantly the faces and stories represented by the rows of crosses. A group of people in Santa Monica, CA set up this memorial called "Arlington West" every week on the beach, literally in the shadow of the midway with its music and rides. Seeing it is both strange and very moving.

More pictures of Arlington West by Alan Levenson.
Much more at Arlington West website.