Jersey.

After my cousin's wedding, I wanted to go to Storm King or Dia Beacon and walk around, but my Sass and her fella didn't.

So I walked around my neighborhood. It was a crisp Saturday in New Jersey (my dad even put a fire on in the woodburning stove that night...) and I spent the day walking around the blocks... it gave me the great reminder that art is everywhere, even at Memorial Field where the peewee football team was getting blasted by its angry little coach... but that's another story.

The park down the street was hosting a "Day in the Park" party complete with balloons, hotdogs, kids swinging and sliding, and parents talking about whatever parents talk about.

It might have been the last park event of the season; during the summer there are weekly concerts at the bandshell there. Local bands usually play each week-- oldies, celtic, rock, whatever-- my folks said that Pete Seeger even played there this summer. I have vivid memories of going to those summer concerts with my family when I was little; we brought lawn chairs and we kids danced like hippies.

As I was walking back to my house, I heard some Bruce Springsteen (no joke, I know that seems too cliche to be real, but it honestly happened). At first I thought it was just someone playing it on the radio, but it seemed to echo.

Was this just the heartbeat of New Jersey coming out on this beautiful afternoon?! Nah, I think it was a cover band. I took out my camera to try to record it as I walked down the street. Unfortunately, the sound isn't as good as when I was walking (and you might suffer from vertigo watching it), but I'm glad I have proof. Lowng live da Jerse.

More Better Bikes

We had a photo shoot at last week's meeting after the kids fixed some bikes. Better Bikes is a project that we are starting within TAASC.

We are focusing on community service through offering great bicycles to those who cannot afford them in Asheville.

Here are the three steps to the Better Bikes Project:

1. TAASC students find old, but fixable bicycles (from home, from friends or neighbors, etc…)
2. Each works on his or her own bike project, learning how to fix it up
3. We help students match their bicycles with someone in the community who needs a good bike and cannot afford one.

In addition, the older kids are going to partner with other bicycle advocacy programs in Asheville to do an additional project such as making a documentary.

Connor

So my ploy to get attention resulted in more attention to a dog than to me. Fair enough, he's pretty freakin' cool. To answer the fans: no, Connor is not my dog, he is his own dog. The people who live with him are my friends who started TAASC.

Here are some facts about Connor:

• He is from South Africa.


• He didn't know what cats were, but was used to chasing monkeys on a blueberry farm.


• There is going to be a fabulous book series published about his adventures.


• He loves vienna sausages and beef jerky.


• He loves to jump completely into the air when catching tennis balls.


• He has a higher position in TAASC than I do (I am Project Manager. He is CFO...). See our staff webpage for details.


• He has his own email account. (Again staff webpage...)


• Homesick kids are comforted by him on trips. One boy said, "I wasn't going to get out of my tarp, but then Connor came to the door and wanted to play."