and we're back.

I'm back!

You can find me here:
www.thishappenedhere.blogspot.com

I'm moving. Please come with me!

Hello all you readers out there in TV land!

I, Citizen Smith, and my blog Field Report are moving to a new cyber location and I'd like you all to join me at my new home. It was a fun year of blogging in 08 and I've learned a lot about how this thing works. I hope 09 will have even better posts, and maybe less gaps when I get too busy.

So, where will I be? Field Report 09! www.fieldreport09.blogspot.com

I'm thinking of trying out some new features, including the new category: somewhat interesting thing from the cambridge chronicle, and I might try having some guest field reporters from time to time. If you saw something crazy on your walk to work, (I think its okay to open this up to "commute" to work), and you want to report on it, send me an email at:

citizensmith.fieldreport@gmail.com

The only rules are that you must take a picture, and you must fill out all the categories, so keep that in mind.

happy new year!

what's the 4011?

The peel has begun the natural process of decomposing, but the sticker lives on. Probably forever. I know its a banana though because if you have worked at a grocery store, even only for a summer, you will never ever forget the PLU for bananas. 4011.

climate: overcast, mid 40's
shoes: burgundy sneaks
ipod: not today
somewhat interesting thing from the Cambridge Chronicle: city council in 60 seconds. your tax dollars at work.

the day after

This is a HUGE DEAL. Here's an excerpt from Obama's victory speech last night.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

It is our victory. I could see it on every single face I passed on Mass Ave this morning.

climate: sunny, low 60's
shoes: snake skin flats
ipod: none.
now what: Exactly. I need a new category! Any thoughts?

fruit roll up

The mailboxes on this house have tiny pineapples on them. Who was making mailboxes and thought "Hmmm, now what should I embellish these with? Mini ferns? No... tiny apples? No, but I like the fruit idea... I know! Pineapples!!"
Whoever it was: good thinking. Way better than ferns.

climate: sunny, mid 60's
shoes: work boots
ipod: bah. at least my mail order hardware came today.
vote Obama and not the GOP because: just go back and re-read all my posts. I think if you read them one after the other they'll have a much more powerful effect. Maybe they'll even make you cry!

obama08: 3 2 1 ...

A sign on the HUCTW office. (Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers).

climate: overcast, high 30's
shoes: silver flats
ipod: a long story involving mail ordering new hardware and 70's music
vote Obama and not the GOP because: Well, the elections are tomorrow, so you probably should have your mind made up by now about which way you're going to go. If you're still not sure, then think about this. McCain's joke on Saturday Night Live about only being able to afford time on QVC was funny because it was true. He's not getting the donations because he doesn't have the support. In that sense, the US has already voted. Obama has a bajillion dollars of campaign funding- enough to buy all those spots on major networks for his Obama Infomercial. That money did not come from his back pocket. That money came in twenty-five dollars at a time, from people that want a change in policy and agenda in the White House.
It is time to make that change. It is time to be that change.

cluck cluck cluck. 4 more days!

Yes, that is a chicken. Or a hen. I'm not sure which. Either way, we were both late for work today.

climate: sunny, high 40's
shoes: snakeskin print flats
ipod: elton john
vote Obama and not the GOP because: small businesses. I work at a small business. I support my local small businesses. Maybe someday I'll own a small business. Shop at the Gap? A small business built that store. Drop some bills in the mail? A small business keeps the post office clean, and the mailboxes painted blue. It takes small businesses to make big businesses. We all interact with small businesses everyday, even if we don't realize it- and that's what keeps our economy going! But small businesses are really suffering in this economy. Rotating credit and loans are hard to get. Health care costs are rising for the employers that want to do the right thing and provide it. Construction has alway been an indicator of the economic and business health, and I can tell you that right now, construction has come to a screeching halt. Obama proposes to provide small businesses with tax breaks and access to low or no interest loans. This will help keep businesses in business until all the King's horses and all the King's men can figure out how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Oh, McCain has a plan, too. I read it, and its only seems to apply to big corporations. Maybe McCain's definition of "small business" is like his definition of middle class; anyone that makes less than $5 mil.