the_city claw they awoke with a start, the city looming ahead of them, menacing, yet comforting; inside it were horrors unmentionable, but outside it was worse, at least in the city, they knew the terrain, they could navigate, to a degree, and they knew that that was worth more than anything else in this world, for without the ability to get from node to node, they were all lost, in more ways than one. Climbing up the girders, they entered from below, above them, searchlights scanned the sky and the desert, helicopters hovered and autotanks roamed, the occasional blast rocking the stilts on which the city stood. 030425 ... flowerock (gets a little angry sometimes) the city is... a prison disguised as a playground a hammer with a loose head a sail boat with a stiff sail 140405 ... flowerock the city is... a prison disguised as a playground a hammer with a loose head a sail boat with a stiff sail 140405 ... epitome of incomprehensibility Hm - partly in response to a) cyberpunk adventury paragraphs and b) cities as prisons, I was thinking (I do that, but only sometimes) that I like the idea of cities, but most don't live up to their potential. Too much litter. Not enough local food. Hardly any climbable buildings. You could be a giant playground if you wanted to, city. If you really felt the need. 140405 ... e_o_i Outside of Place des Arts, at least last year, there was a musical swingset. Swinging on them would generate different notes. J and I tried, harmonizing. The sound coming out was like a cross between a slide whistle and the less-scary side of Ligeti, or Penderecki perhaps. That's what I mean by the good side (of cities). 140405 ... flowerock San_Francisco is quite literally kicking my ass. I'm tired and it's never quiet. Broken and the hills never stop. 140618 ... e_o_i I don't know if I'd want to live there, but it's on my list of places to visit. San Francisco, I mean. 140618 ... kerry is dusted with pollen and crusted with grime, bracing itself for the 90-something degree weekend. the neighborhoods with the fewest trees tend to be the poorest, the darkest, the hottest. the heat can be deadly; the concrete sidewalks, already glittering with tiny shards of glass, sizzles. too hot some days for a dog's paw. there is a project in the works to increase the city's tree canopy. some trees have been planted along 15th recently--i don't know what kind, but apparently bradford pears have been banned--and when i pass them, squinting in the sun, i wonder how many years it will be before they cast shadows and offer gulps of sweet shade, oases in the sweltering city. 220519 what's it to you? who go blather from