chou 'nuff

Back in Somerville, where it's 30 degrees out. I biked to get some pizza at Pinnochio's (because I smelled tomato sauce as I walked to customs at Logan Airport) and convinced myself the cold's not so bad, right as it started to sleet--a raspy, stinging sleet that sneaks behind your glasses into your eyeball. Last month's heating bill came in while we were away, but tonight we're going to crank up the themostat like, well, like Americans.

Blame it on the altitude, the cough I got 2 days into the trip, the lack of sleep, the heavy taco meats--I did a lousy job of posting while I was in Mexico City. Rather than try to sum up the whole thing in one epic post, I'll just send bits and pieces from my notebook over the next few days. Highlights to watch out for:

• Street Vendor Toolkit
• Urban Gardening (or What To Grow in Pavement Cracks)
• Murals 101

While we were floating down the canals in Xochimilco's Ecological Park, Justin, Danielle, and I drew portraits of each other. That's Justin's drawing of me at the top. (The shirt says "Drink Haterade, OK?"--a reference to the Giant Robot-purchased t-shirt that I was wearing that day, which actually says "Lovers: 1 Haters: 0".) Justin's blog, by the way, should be out any day now. In the meantime, he suggests I ditch the name "Amateur Night" and go with the heading for today's post. I'll take votes for either the rest of this week.