I'm in new haven on account of Julie being on the east coast for the first time in a year and a half. I bumped into AP and LK - my first organizer, six years ago - today randomly on Dwight street when i walked by their house. They complimented my GSOC IS HERE TO STAY t shirt and i wished them good luck with their organizing and then I remembered what it's like to live somewhere where it sometimes feels like the entire community is standing in solidarity with you in a broad, multifaceted struggle for social justice.

They finally turned the Farmington Canal into a footpath (they had to evict the homeless in order to do it back in 2003.) The new Labyrinth store makes me envious - bought Selections from the Cultural Writings and slobbered over the Marxism, Cultural Studies, and Labor History sections for a while, then freaked out about what a shitty grad student I am - a daily occurence but that doesn't make it any less true. I walked up orange down livingston and thought about how difficult grad school and gsoc have been and The burrito cart is still way way better than chipotle.

Last night I was watching TV and I saw a Honda commercial which used "Huddle Formation." My heart broke - one of my favorite bands of the last three years being used to sell not only cars, but non union-made cars. But then "the bridge," an old school hip hop show on channel 25 came on, did a show entirely about the bronx, and played Afrikaa Bambaata's "Renegades of Funk" and BDP's "Love is going to get you" and I felt somewhat better, although I suppose i should be uncomfortable with the nostalgification of hip hop culture - particularly the complete evacuation of politics...