je ne sais pas

book #21 - 1776

let us call her Hazel

There is a specific prostitute that I see more than others. She is working our corner tonight and I feel the need to vent a little. She is light-skinned, with hazel or golden eyes, very distinct. She also looks mean, in another part of town I would've assumed that she was really a man. One day I might take her picture, if I am ever feeling that brave (and she works days, too, though using a flash might be interesting).

She seems to be the last consistent hold-out to work 23rd and Fairmount, to 24th, and up to Q Street and back to 22nd. Tonight she is wearing tiny shorts and weaving across the road, drunk. She just got picked up by a car beside that white church on Fairmount there (10th Baptist, maybe?). The hookers work church corners because there are steps to sit on, and no one to call the police on them.

There was another prostitute, shorter and always wearing a bandana. She may be on maternity leave. The one-legged hooker with the crutches has been gone for a while, too.

on the launch of Vacant Richmond

Vacant Richmond launched today, and the site looks and works beautifully. Pharrout and Farrel IT put this together in 2 weeks. Great job, guys!

Fulton Hill to get neighborhood site, eventually

VCU's School of Mass Communications has gotten a $12,000 grant to built a neighborhood portal for Fulton Hill. Projected launch date is December 2007.

This had really better be freakin' awesome for all of that.

books #17-20 (vacation week)

17. Founding Brothers
18. The Design of Everyday Things
19. Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000
20. Virginia Quarterly Review (Spring 2007) (not technically a book, but as long as most books and roughly the same size, so...)

neat Google map detail but not in Richmond yet

This snippit of a Google mapping of an address in the French Quarter in New Orleans shows the footprints of the buildings.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

at the New Orleans Aquarium

That shape at the top left is Midas, a 250-pound sea turtle. He is one of the few animals in the aquarium that survived Katrina.

Hills and Heights: a new neighborhood news blog in Richmond

Back at the end of January, due to the success of Church Hill People's News in building community, I said that there need to be more very local community-oriented blogs. In the wake of that, West of the Boulevard News and Petersburg People's News have popped up and hit the ground running.

Today a new Richmond hoodblog launches: Hills and Heights, a neighborhood news blog for the near Southside area ("the general idea is to follow the general Forest Hill/Semmes corridor, including such neighborhoods as Westover Hills, Forest Hill, Woodland Heights, Forest View Heights and Stratford Hills"). Stop by and leave them an encouraging word and spread the word to your southside folks.

book #16 - Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 was a great read when I was 9 or 10 and it was a great read at 35.

book #15 - Walk Two Moons

bicycle race

I've got some photos of the bicycle race that came through today. There are better photos by folks other than myself in the Church Hill Flickr group.

a recent crime that sounds like a band name

Via the Church Hill/East End Crime Map:

letterbox

Make Apple's Mail 3-columns.

more fun than xmas 1995

We'll be out working to reclaim a small piece of Evergreen Cemetery this Saturday. Clay will probably be there from about 10AM, I'll get there about noon. YOU are invited to come on out and do some good.

Bring gloves and your favorite gardening implement. Comment below if you'd like more info or have any questions.