expertism unbound

family togetherness?

check.
tasty piece traipsing?

check.
newspapaper?

check.
haha.
things get weird down in hamden, kids.
that's no joke.
the town that borders culture and calamity;
that spans the gap betwixt white-collar academia, and blue-collar fingernail grease;
i'm from the exact spot that balances on the fine line
between super-crackery and ultra-'hood.
...and i think it shows.
i spent a sweet little minute down there,
and i was so cold, most likely only because i have a cold,
but,
it was a full furnace of fiery hot heat warmer
than the all the hours i've shivered through since
up here in the tundra-like ice of the woodsly goodness.
here's the truth, neighbors-
i love being FROM there.
as far as places to grow up go,
i think southern connecticut has a delicate blend of books and crooks,
which makes everywhere else seem sort of flatter,
and a little less interesting.
sure,
the bigger cities have all of that, too,
but spread out across the entire map.
hamden has it in spades,
block by block, and street by street.
that's why it's so great, and so crazy,
and such a unique little semi-precious gemstone in the rough.
i doubt my folks could've predicted that they'd settled in such a diverse and dynamic place,
but i'm glad they put their roots down long enough for their seeds to sprout.
they say if you've never lived in hamden,
you've never really lived,
well,
i've lived a half a dozen lives,
and all of them lead back to that grubby cubbyhole on the outskirts of
the crucial kaleidoscopic petri dish of dopeness and great pizza.
i'm grateful for the time i've spanned on this earth,
but there's no place like hamden,
and i'm triply grateful for having that on my resume;
never quiet, never soft.....