1. Philly took off its winter coat and sashayed itself around on Tuesday and Wednesday and I took full advantage. Tuesday I walked up to the Art Museum to see two of the MLK Keep Marching busts painted by students (I think these two are from CAPA and Overbrook School for the Blind) and what I consider to be one of the best views of the city.
3. I didn't want to stand in the middle of the sidewalk because people forgot sidewalk etiquette over the winter. To review: If you are walking six people abreast on a large sidewalk and a person comes at you, you do not make the single person step on the freaking grass to go around. Some of you fall back. And if you are on a smaller sidewalk pushing two strollers side by side, same thing. One of you fall back into a single file line. Sidewalk hogs! Single file line!
4. Yesterday I walked 20 minutes down to the acupuncturist and 20 minutes back. It was sunny and glorious and I ran into some murals along the way on Pine Street, which are my very favorite things to run into. Both are part of the Mural Arts program. The left is Spring by David Guinn and the right is part of the Famous Franks by David McShane.
5. This week in dog town: Gus is snuggly, Mae is surly, and Bruce Springsteen really wants to drink out of straws.
6. I couldn't get it together to do this so thank you Kim. Please read Kim's post Safe, Loved, and Warm - where do the guns fit in? Also for your consideration, this post by a Parkland father that contains a quiz at the end to see if you are a gun fetishist or sociopath. If you are someone who regularly runs to the Internet to defend guns in the wake of a mass shooting, please, do take the quiz.
7. Action makes me feel better, how about you? Things you can do: Write a letter to students (see below). Support them in any way you can by showing up on March 24 for the March for Our Lives in DC or a city near you (Sister Marches are still populating - this is student led action and a little slower to organize than adult action). If you are an adult, do NOT to take over and shape or direct this action from students but instead follow their lead. Be aware of/supportive of the March 14 National School Walkout organized by EMPOWER Youth, the youth component of the Women's March, that happens on the one month anniversary of Parkland. Be aware of/supportive of the April 20 National School Walkout on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting - many students are wearing orange so that's a good way to show support. On March 14 the plan is for them to walk out for 17 minutes at 10 am and on April 20 the plan is to walk out at 10 am for the remainder of the day. Get involved with your time or your money - check out Everytown and Moms Demand Action (for non-moms too). Don't spend your week defending guns as if they are people when there are actual people involved here and they're children and some of them are dead and others watched or were crawling around on floors thinking they were going to die too. Just don't. If you want to talk to someone sympathetic to protecting guns over kids, call up a Congress person who's taken the NRA's blood money. They're not too hard to find.
8. LOL and yes, true.
9. Reminder. Thanks GenaHo! Breathe. Allow for a little space.
10. E-card of the week
Peace out.
Can y'all send your winter jackets down to Texas because holy goodness! It's been cold & rainy for about a week now!
ReplyDeleteI refuse to move for people like that on the sidewalk, I just stick to my path and they can either fall back or run into me, I like to see which they choose
ReplyDeleteOMG gus' face as you're cuddling him! so cute.
ReplyDeleteI was a sidewalk enforcer in college -- main pet peeve was cyclists on the sidewalk, but the sidewalk hogs were a close second. I just got The Wife Between Us yesterday - ready for a weekend of reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the Parkland father's post. SO SO powerful. And I love Philly's art scene and am so grateful to see it via your posts.
ReplyDeleteSnuggly Gus is so cute! There is much etiquette that the general public needs to be reminded of!!
ReplyDeleteHere in dog town we have psycho Jake, special needs Hailee, and rambunctious Ruby... it's a wild and crazy world!
ReplyDeleteReading what Kim wrote has me questioning why why why Republicans/those in pro-gun camps feel like they can/should try to "fix" the variable. Murderers are murderers and there's very little you can do about it... But you can amend guns and laws and mental health care and the education system and politics and.... a whole bunch of stuff. Yet some set their sights on the variable as a cop out.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thank you for sharing the words from the FL teen's father.
#9 is so good. That dad that called out Marco Rubio last night made me proud as does that dad's post you shared. I wish I could go to the event in DC but I will be slinging BBQ to raise money for pediatric brain cancer. Glad you got some sunshine, nice walks and good library books!
ReplyDeleteThat little thought on nowhere is deep.
ReplyDeleteGus' face is priceless. Nothing makes me feel better than seeing a happy, loved animal. Mae wanting in on the action is pretty darn cute too. I remain so damn proud of the Parkland students. Thanks to them we may actually see some change. Thanks to them I actually feel some hope again. I continue to remain stumped, though, why owning an AR-15 is a right while healthcare for being shot by one in a mass shooting is a privilege.
ReplyDeleteUgh, #3. I struggle with this every single bloody afternoon and it drives me freaking bananas. Even walking in the same direction as people, there’s no reason to walk six people wide so that I have to jut put on the road to pass those people, and it’s even worse if they’re in no hurry whatsoever, it’s like step aside so that gaggle of people behind you can kindly pass you, thanks!
ReplyDeleteOh and Bruce up on the coffee table thinking he’s the cats ass is just awesome. Lol!
ReplyDeleteI've heard good and bad things about The Wife Between Us. Interested to hear your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteIt's been freezing here...like heavy coat, not just regular winter coat.
I'm really proud of the colleges coming out to support students who participate in walk-outs, protests, etc and not inhibiting them in the admissions process. I am not proud of the school systems that are threatening to discipline or suspend students if they participate. I walked to the Y today... it was good for my soul. I'm glad to see hints of spring after a rainy, cold week. Bruce Springsteen is a hot mess who wants to be king of the castle, which includes drinking out of straws. He makes me laugh.
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