Philadelphia mom has been seriously busy

I know that these scammy Internet marketers want to grab my attention with something relevant, but honestly! I'd rather hear that "Philadelphia homeless man finds a mortgage" or "Philadelphia cheese shop owner discovers low-fat, delicious cheese." It seems Philadelphia mom has really gotten her life back on track, so I think it's time we start hearing about someone else.

Last night, I had a dream

Actually it was two nights ago. I was sitting in a little courtyard with wooden benches, and a few girls I was friends with in college were sitting with me. It was summer, and we were enjoying being outside. Some of us were reading, some just basking. But we were also at the bottom of a ski slope, which of course was green with no snow. 

There was a ski lift as well, but it was really old and not working. We noticed a guy sitting on the lift, and he was pushing it all by himself so he could get to the bottom of the mountain. He was African American and he scared me. When he got to the bottom of the mountain, he ran over to us and I could tell he was homeless and probably drunk or high. He came up to me specifically, and started screaming at me and trying to kidnap me.

Then he pulled out a gun and started shooting. We all scattered, and I hid under the wooden bench. He kept shooting. Finally I heard the police coming and they struggled with him but finally got him in their car and drove off. I watched them and as they were driving over a tunnel, my vision zoomed in on the police car and I noticed that there was a hole in the floor of the car, and that the man was smiling knowing he could escape.

Then I woke up, and I was pretty freaked out. 

So of course I went to a dream analysis site and looked up what it all meant... supposedly. But let me paraphrase. Basically I feel threatened or victimized by something, represented by the homeless man, and it might have something to do with my relationship with other girls... jealousy perhaps? And I may feel like I have this threat under control, but the truth is I don't. 

So what of the ski slope? Well the site says that represents that I'm pushing my physical abilities, and that I'm my own "fiercest competitor". This makes sense given that I've been trying really hard in the past weeks to get in shape, and I'm doing a pretty good job of running/working out and then I feel proud of myself. But the fiercest competitor part may also signify that what is threatening me is all in my own head. 

Well gosh darnet... I guess I just have jealousy issues that I need to overcome by realizing that it's my own insecurities that cause it... plus I need to stop blaming it on other girls and thinking I've successfully kept it at bay. Easy enough, eh? Thanks, dream, for that insight. 

Philly Sidewalks, Broad Streets

So last night I was up until 2:30 AM waiting for Will to get home from NH. His flight kept getting pushed back due to the wet conditions. But eventually he got in, we got like 5 hours of sleep, and now it's Monday and I'm back at work wondering exactly what I'm doing here (and wishing to God I was still in bed). 

Walking to work this morning felt like going through an obstacle course. We had to dodge some trucks that were parked right at the curb in the crosswalk, make sure we didn't get drilled into by some big construction equipment (that was so loud it practically made my ears bleed) and of course squeeze around the limping homeless people that take up 3/4 of the sidewalk. One man, who was waddling around asking people for quarters, had tucked his pants into his socks. I guess that's one way to keep your ankles warm? Or make a fashion statement? Not really sure what he was going for. 

It seems like there's always a construction project happening in this city. But I can't complain that they're keeping sidewalks walkable and streets drivable. It makes me think, though, about the budget problems the city is going through right now. We're very much in debt, which isn't surprising with the economic climate and other cities (ahem, almighty NYC) also faltering. But as with any situation like this, people are questioning what should be cut and what should stay. Mayor Nutter says he won't cut "core" services, like police forces, fire houses, and trash collection - which I think is important because we don't want more crime or dirt blowing through the streets (well... any more so than there already is). 

But he is going to cut things like library branches and city workers, and raise fees like parking tickets. (Read some of this here.) I want to jump on the bandwagon with my fellow English majors and proclaim the importance of literary outlets in the city, but I actually kind of agree with this move. I wonder how many people actually USE those libraries? And I know of lots of privately funded non-profits that work to ring literacy to the city. If they're so upset, why not get some rich donors to buy up a property and store books there? It's just as good as library. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for the government to promote reading since I think it's getting more and more unpopular as time goes on, but I think in a time like this, it's necessary to focus on getting the debt under control so that, in the future, we can have surplus to bring these services back and make them even better. 

In other news, last night I saw STELLA live and got their autographs after the show! How's that for arts and culture?