Happy Halloween

The Artificial Turf

I caught this column in the Post this morning - Silver Spring's Turf.

 

The author is all about saving it, and I have to agree that Urban planning has to take into account these type of open spaces. College Universities have them. GW has Kogan Plaza and the Quad (like every other college campus). Urban Planners have to plan responsibly and not just go where the money goes.

 

The space is great for the weekly farmers markets, outdoor film festivals, jazz fest and so on. People hang out and relax on it, and people watch. It's a shame it'll be torn up for construction this spring.

 

BUT am I the only one who thinks artificial turf is also kinda creepy? Sitting on it makes the hairs on my neck stand up a bit, like it's going to get up and swallow me whole into it's pit of artificial astroness and It's victims will become agents of the turf, roaming around to conform others to its plastic turf laying until the world is converned in green astro turf. Or that its grass will start growing all of a sudden to drown me in a sea of green where it slowly decomposes its victims and grows more.

 

I'm all for saving it, infact, I'd like to take it to the next step. Let's make this Pinnoccio a real boy and plant some real grass, maybe a bush or two, a row of trees and some benches. That'd be cool.

Icky Update and my pelvis hurts

I don't really know how it happens, but I just get put in charge of stuff. Like last year, people wanted to do fantasy football. The boss comes into my office - "hey Dat, why don't you set it up" Next thing you know, I'm Commissioner Dat. Softball wasn't my idea either. I said, "sure, I'd play." Other people did the research, next thing you know I'm the one buying bats and gloves and writing the e-mail updates each week. I'm all about the idea of ' anything worth doing, is worth doing right.'

Last night I was pitching one of those softball games where you feel like you've finally gotten into groove. I have five or six strike outs and only walked two players. Anyway, on one pitch at the top of the last inning, I got a line drive four inches above my manhood and went down like a pile of bricks. Good news is, I got up and made the play at first. hoorah! So it goes. My pelvis is sore and I can still have kids.

Update: Icky is moving around a bit. He hasn't come out of his shell yet. He's probably still exaughsted. It'll take him another few days until he finishes growing his exoskeleton. And I was serious about the Pirate party. This is one of my reminders for it.

Congratulations Icky!

Icky, my Hermit crab of a year and a half now just molted. Molting is the process hermit crabs and other antropods go through when they out grow their exoskeletons. They burrow into the sand for about a month and store lots of food and water. Then it'll take a week or so for the hermit crab to get out of it's shell and another 10 days for it to regrow his exoskeleton.

 

I'm pretty proud of the little guy. I had noticed he has been pretty quiet in the past week and gave him a bath on Friday night. I checked his cage on Sunday morning to find what looked like a dead Icky hanging out of his shell. It wasn't! It was his exoskeleton. I almost tossed the whole cage out before I noticed his little naked claw hanging out under his hard shell. Whew.

 

And to think of the hard life he has had -  His friend Steve dying early on to unknown causes, then almost being abandonded after weeks of neglect. Flies and bugs were crawling into his cage before I got to him.

 

His cage is clean now. I got him some carribbean blue sand, a new water sponge and made him a log cabin which he is quiet fond of. Sometimes during the day he hangs out on top of it, taking in the view, enjoying some fine hermit crab food, probably thinking about Steve. At night he'll crawl underneath it to sleep.

 

He likes to work out too. He'll pick up and toss around his log now and then. I've seen him benching that thing with one hand. Takes after his owner.

 

We're throwing a pirate party for him this weekend - Seriously. And if anyone knows a good place to get hermit crab gifts and accessories - drop a line. 

A heart wrenching cause - Please help

Dreamland

She looks like a little girl,

Sleeping and Drifting,

Curled on white sheets,

Legs and arms curled up,

Underneath an ocean of white comforter.

 

Her red hair swims in a mess of blue covered pillows,

Lazily danging into the pool.

 

While Rain drops against the window,

Light and easy, she drifts off to Dreamland.

Shit on the poor

What ever happened to responsible capitalism?

 

New York Time article about dumping waste alond Africa's poor Ivory Coast.