After School Matters

So today I got off the bus and started to walk home when a group of students approached me. Great I thought, what are they going to try and get away with? Something pretty neat in my opinion. Their spokes person, a well spoken girl with purple eyeshadow and a purple heart clip to match in her spikey modern hairstyle, introduced them as part of After School Matters and they just wanted to ask me five questions. I said I had time and to go ahead. This interview was recorded on a home video camera by the way. I was also told that I didn't have to give long and involved answers. So I kept them short.
The questions:
1. What would you do to improve the neighborhood?
2. Is graffiti art?
3.Is there a point that graffiti crosses the line?
4. Are you influenced by propaganda?
5.Does music influence how people act? For example actions like the Columbine shooting.

My answers:
1. Pick up trash, put more green things like flowers, bushes and trees.
2. Graffiti is art. It's a way for someone to express themselves that is creative.
3. Graffiti crosses the line when it is meant to harm the building and/or the people that are connected to the building. There are buildings that could improve with graffiti on them.
4. I don't think I'm influenced by it if you mean influenced by going and buying the product.
5. Music does influence people. It's the people who choose to act out negatively.

After thanking me and wishing me a great evening the teenagers moved on. I continued my walk home and felt uplifted. Uplifted by the fact that not all kids are hooligans and if they are sometimes they at least are constructive with things like interviewing people for an After School Matters project. I thought the kids that I talked to were professional, smart and cool (or what ever the current word/slang is).

Now, I hope you take a moment to think how you would answer the five questions.
Kids are great!

A Miraculous Bike Ride

So last Friday I was riding to work on my bike and suddenly I realized that I had yet to stop for a stop light. It wasn't that all the lights were green. I admit I run red lights on my bike but ONLY when absolutely no cars are coming. So this is how it went. The light was green/no cars are coming at all. All. The. Way. To. Work.

My thought process went something like this: Wouldn't it be cool if I could make it all the way with out setting foot on the pavement? This is amazing, I will probably have to stop at this next light. Ok, so maybe not there but I'll have to stop at some point. How is this happening? I have to stop at this one I'll just get up to the...Oh, it's green I guess I'll go. Wow, I made it this is amazing I never had to stop. This will never happen again. That was so amazing.

I ride a rout that has at least a dozen stoplights if not more (I have never counted them.) so this was pretty amazing. It wasn't until I set foot down just outside the door of my destination that I had to stop. Miraculous.