It has been viciously cold for the past week, with cutting winds. There isn't the faintest hint of warmer weather.
I noticed today, though, that the tree outside my door has buds on it. BUDS. I think the tree is crazy, but it is giving me hope.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tear down this wall
HUD is spending $2.2 million to tear down houses in East Cleveland, where 20% of the housing stock--or 2,200 buildings--are abandoned. The budget is nowhere near enough money.
Really, I'm not exaggerating about the dire built environment.
More on this mess.
Really, I'm not exaggerating about the dire built environment.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Groundhog Day
Today is Groundhog Day.
Staten Island Chuck was hauled out of his burrow and predicted that spring is on the way. Nice!
Punxsutawney Phil, who lives much closer to here, saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. Shit.
As I was wondering which rodent oracle to believe, I found some groundhog-shaped cookies in a Cleveland coffee shop. Awesome, I thought. This ought to be good for some local divination. I'll get one and name it Cleveland Cookie! Maybe it means there will be an early spring.
I bought a cookie and headed out the door. Immediately afterward, I involuntarily skated down a giant ice patch that was the result of the melting and refreezing of January's 41 inches of snow. (This January was the second snowiest month ever in Cleveland records, which go back to 1870.) I went splat on the pavement. In the carnage, Cleveland Cookie was beheaded. So, uh, does that mean spring will never come? Eek.
Staten Island Chuck was hauled out of his burrow and predicted that spring is on the way. Nice!
Punxsutawney Phil, who lives much closer to here, saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. Shit.
As I was wondering which rodent oracle to believe, I found some groundhog-shaped cookies in a Cleveland coffee shop. Awesome, I thought. This ought to be good for some local divination. I'll get one and name it Cleveland Cookie! Maybe it means there will be an early spring.
I bought a cookie and headed out the door. Immediately afterward, I involuntarily skated down a giant ice patch that was the result of the melting and refreezing of January's 41 inches of snow. (This January was the second snowiest month ever in Cleveland records, which go back to 1870.) I went splat on the pavement. In the carnage, Cleveland Cookie was beheaded. So, uh, does that mean spring will never come? Eek.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Snow day
I got out of work early and thought I'd revisit my neglected blog.
There's at least a foot and a half of snow on the ground; about eight inches of that fell today. They're expecting lots more. I'm glad about it though--they canceled work, and I can hole up inside now. Plus, if it's warm enough to snow, that means my apartment won't hover around 55 degrees, as it does normally. (Normal=below 10 degrees; that stated, it was 20 below for a several-day stretch this month.)
I saw a pickup truck fishtail in the street. Poor broke Cleveland can't really afford to plow and salt all that much.
Last time it snowed this much, the nearby dorks made some giant snow cubes (instead of balls?). They were stacked, each about two or three feet across, in a sort of pixelated version of a snowman.
Maybe now's the time to plot not just a snowman, but a snow army!
There's at least a foot and a half of snow on the ground; about eight inches of that fell today. They're expecting lots more. I'm glad about it though--they canceled work, and I can hole up inside now. Plus, if it's warm enough to snow, that means my apartment won't hover around 55 degrees, as it does normally. (Normal=below 10 degrees; that stated, it was 20 below for a several-day stretch this month.)
I saw a pickup truck fishtail in the street. Poor broke Cleveland can't really afford to plow and salt all that much.
Last time it snowed this much, the nearby dorks made some giant snow cubes (instead of balls?). They were stacked, each about two or three feet across, in a sort of pixelated version of a snowman.
Maybe now's the time to plot not just a snowman, but a snow army!
Monday, November 17, 2008
One day in Cleveland
These are all stories that appeared in the Plain Dealer on November 14. All items are about Ohio.
New inmate denied Xanax prescription, dies in custody
41 people charged in child porn sting
10 year old shoots and kills 11 year old sister using their 15 year old brother`s gun
85 year old man kills wife
250,000 car-related jobs endangered in Ohio
Ohio Department of Transportation contemplates closing major Cleveland bridge for two years
National City (a Cleveland bank) sold on the cheap; job losses expected
Mayor plans to balance 2009 budget
Paramedic sentenced for stealing patient credit cards
30 year old man sentenced for six rapes
Bus driver exits bus to get gas; bus careens down hill and hurts 13 kids
Hinge salesman ex-Marine pilot recalls kamikaze attack in WWII
34% increase in Ohio unemployment applications over one year; benefits shrink
Forest City Enterprises continues plan for Brooklyn Nets stadium
Kosher beef shortage caused by immigration sting in beef plants
One in 417 Ohio homes in foreclosure; this is a drop of 30% from last year
CEO of A. Schulman (a plastics company) makes $2.3 million
Cavs win six in a row
OSU women`s basketball expected to be good this year
All Things Cleveland exhibit opens in a Tremont gallery. Polka, kielbasa, sauerkraut, and the song "Bernie, Bernie" at opening; refers to the long-extinct POC beer, "Pride of Cleveland," a nickname for Pilsener Brewing Company beer, whose brewery closed in 1984
Indians logo in an obituary (in lieu of a photograph)
Names in obits: Alma, Rose, Shirley, Josephine, Mattie Pearl, Loie, Brindusa, Flora, Ginger, Virginia, Dorothy, Delphine, Maxine
New inmate denied Xanax prescription, dies in custody
41 people charged in child porn sting
10 year old shoots and kills 11 year old sister using their 15 year old brother`s gun
85 year old man kills wife
250,000 car-related jobs endangered in Ohio
Ohio Department of Transportation contemplates closing major Cleveland bridge for two years
National City (a Cleveland bank) sold on the cheap; job losses expected
Mayor plans to balance 2009 budget
Paramedic sentenced for stealing patient credit cards
30 year old man sentenced for six rapes
Bus driver exits bus to get gas; bus careens down hill and hurts 13 kids
Hinge salesman ex-Marine pilot recalls kamikaze attack in WWII
34% increase in Ohio unemployment applications over one year; benefits shrink
Forest City Enterprises continues plan for Brooklyn Nets stadium
Kosher beef shortage caused by immigration sting in beef plants
One in 417 Ohio homes in foreclosure; this is a drop of 30% from last year
CEO of A. Schulman (a plastics company) makes $2.3 million
Cavs win six in a row
OSU women`s basketball expected to be good this year
All Things Cleveland exhibit opens in a Tremont gallery. Polka, kielbasa, sauerkraut, and the song "Bernie, Bernie" at opening; refers to the long-extinct POC beer, "Pride of Cleveland," a nickname for Pilsener Brewing Company beer, whose brewery closed in 1984
Indians logo in an obituary (in lieu of a photograph)
Names in obits: Alma, Rose, Shirley, Josephine, Mattie Pearl, Loie, Brindusa, Flora, Ginger, Virginia, Dorothy, Delphine, Maxine
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
On second thought
Fuck it. Squirrel picture.
Here's a squirrel dressed as Ohio's newest has-been, Joe the Plumber.
For more, including a creepy Squirrel Palin, look at Sugar Bush Squirrel. Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.
Here's a squirrel dressed as Ohio's newest has-been, Joe the Plumber.
For more, including a creepy Squirrel Palin, look at Sugar Bush Squirrel. Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.
Winter
They said it would happen.
Yesterday it snowed pretty heavily, although it all mysteriously vanished by the afternoon. Last week we had days in the 70s. This week, 30s.
The sky is getting grayer and grayer. I've heard that in Cleveland you won't see the sun for five months in a row. I think that's starting.
Plus it's getting dark early.
There are still some leaves and red berries on a few trees. The squirrels here are reddish. (I think they're fox squirrels, not eastern gray squirrels.) They're digging all over the place, hiding the berries and buckeyes. So there'll still be some color--albeit rodenty--when all the leaves are gone.
I'd include pictures, but I'm kind of creeped out by rodents in general.
Yesterday it snowed pretty heavily, although it all mysteriously vanished by the afternoon. Last week we had days in the 70s. This week, 30s.
The sky is getting grayer and grayer. I've heard that in Cleveland you won't see the sun for five months in a row. I think that's starting.
Plus it's getting dark early.
There are still some leaves and red berries on a few trees. The squirrels here are reddish. (I think they're fox squirrels, not eastern gray squirrels.) They're digging all over the place, hiding the berries and buckeyes. So there'll still be some color--albeit rodenty--when all the leaves are gone.
I'd include pictures, but I'm kind of creeped out by rodents in general.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A plea
Ohio, please. Please. PLEASE. Do not fuck this one up.
The toilet lama and I both voted early. On two separate occasions, we each waited an hour and a half to vote at the board of elections. Turnout was huge even weeks ago.
Now the sun is setting, it's after five, and the nailbiting gets more extreme.
If you buckeyes are voting for McCain, I do not forgive.
PS. Did you know a buckeye is a tree? It drops a kind of false chestnut, sometimes called a horse chestnut. Horses can eat 'em but people can't.
PPS. AAAAAAAH!
The toilet lama and I both voted early. On two separate occasions, we each waited an hour and a half to vote at the board of elections. Turnout was huge even weeks ago.
Now the sun is setting, it's after five, and the nailbiting gets more extreme.
If you buckeyes are voting for McCain, I do not forgive.
PS. Did you know a buckeye is a tree? It drops a kind of false chestnut, sometimes called a horse chestnut. Horses can eat 'em but people can't.
PPS. AAAAAAAH!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Obits, redux
There were a lot of generalizations in the last post. I thought I'd get some data and include some qualitative analysis. This is from today's Plain Dealer. It skews older than it seemed to me yesterday. No kids.
Age of death / number of people
0-20s / 0
30s / 4
40s / 1
50s / 5
60s / 10
70s / 10
80s / 15
90s / 10
unlisted / 15
total / 70
unlisted age breakdown by my subjective impression:
young / 1
middle aged / 4
old / 9
?? / 1
youngest: 35
oldest: 97
number of obits with pictures: 38
of which are of white people: 22
of which are of black people: 16
Cool names: Sil, Snookie, Papa John, Cachon, Tick, Top, Tino.
Some details about people:
-wife of 61 years
-38 year old Navy vet who worked for the post office
-ex-nun with 10 grandkids
-Holocaust survivor
-literacy educator
-principal
-artist/lawyer
-veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I
Age of death / number of people
0-20s / 0
30s / 4
40s / 1
50s / 5
60s / 10
70s / 10
80s / 15
90s / 10
unlisted / 15
total / 70
unlisted age breakdown by my subjective impression:
young / 1
middle aged / 4
old / 9
?? / 1
youngest: 35
oldest: 97
number of obits with pictures: 38
of which are of white people: 22
of which are of black people: 16
Cool names: Sil, Snookie, Papa John, Cachon, Tick, Top, Tino.
Some details about people:
-wife of 61 years
-38 year old Navy vet who worked for the post office
-ex-nun with 10 grandkids
-Holocaust survivor
-literacy educator
-principal
-artist/lawyer
-veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I
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