Excessive heat warnings and a record hot day and I decide I want a chicken sandwich. The previous record was 112F or something (this from old Royal). And no, the damn sandwich was not worth it. Everyone has a flat tire story, what is yours?

Congratulations Phoenix! At 117F (47 C) today was the hottest day of the year, the hottest day since July 16, 2003 and one of the hottest on record in Phoenix. (Source: AZCentral.com)

It sure felt like to too – as I was riding my home from the gym, my route took me head-on into the wind and it felt like I was in front of an industrial sized hair-dryer! My cat usually likes to have an afternoon constitutional on my porch but even he didn’t want to go outside today. Right now he’s passed out in front of the fan.

I hope everyone has a safe and cool weekend :)

Light rail construction downtown. A few blocks away from where the Ramada Inn, errr, new ASU Downtown dorms are. 30 days till classes start and they are converting old motels into dorm spaces.

A friend of mine in Washington, who also has a 4 month old child, just told me she takes her son to a playgroup at the hospital that he was delivered. I thought maybe it was about time my daughter found some playmates too. Poor thing, she’s been cooped up at home since the summer started. Hopefully, somewhere close and maybe during the weekends would be nice. I searched for closest hospitals and they didn’t have any playgroups. The only ones were in Phoenix or Scottsdale – bummer. I wasn’t going to give up. I was going to find friends for my daughter if it means staying up all night looking for a place. Then I found it. Playgroups created by SAHM (Stay at Home Moms), Only Child Parents, and Young Mom and Dads all over the Phoenix area. They go to this site called MeetUp. It’s like MetroBlog but a place to meet in terms of your interests. Everything from pets to scrapbooking to films broken down by topics and/or cities. How cool is that.

So apparently Hollywood and Jamie Foxx are in town filming a movie called The Kingdom. This is fine. What is not, is that ADOT has allowed them use of the 202 freeway which they will shut down in Mesa between Higley and Power for three extended weekends starting the 27th (from Thursday night thru early Monday)! Not only is this annoying as we’ve had MANY weekends of shutdowns for the laying of rubberized asphalt, but get this, ADOT is not receiving any money for this. The studio has, however, agreed to reimburse for all signage and ancillary costs ADOT may incur due to the closures. Give me a break! Hey Hollywood, how about a reimbursement for Arizona drivers inconvenienced by this! I think I’ll boycott the movie. Read the AZCentral article here.

On our one year anniversary I decided to browse around other Metroblog cities to see what they write about and how often. There are some hugely active cities and a few others less active than Phoenix. Seems like the people in the active cities have a shared knowledge and history – features that Phoenix is too young to possess. Except for the infamous “dry heat”, this Valley is new, new and newer. It reminds me of the rubber stamp/clone tool in Photoshop – move around, set down and you pretty much can’t tell the difference between where you were and where you are. All the little strip malls with the same stores. All the same franchise restaurants. All the stucco and tile-roof houses built 6 inches apart. All the walls – walls, walls, walls. I guess sameness is inevitable in times of boom growth, especially since it takes time, repetition and stability to build a patina of individuality. I love Arizona – it is so unique and yet I hate all the sameness. A paradox, indeed.

It all started a year ago, when Tom invited us all out for late night pizza. Thank you to Tom for hanging in there and the rest of the team for steping up. Here’s to the coming year. Cheers, everyone, thank you for reading.

I knew what the number one thing I loved about Phoenix was, but struggled to find a way to express it. Sung Kang delivered the line and when I heard it, I knew. This is not about immigration but the creation of identity.

At our meet-up the other night, fellow bloggers remarked about the transient nature of Phoenix. Most residents are not from here. A lot are just passing through. Most of them do not yet realize that.

I came here following Presh. Phoenix was the first stop on her tour. The trip was to go from here to Tucson to Austin. I figured we would end up in Austin. Within a week of being here (between trips to every mall in the Valley) she found a great job, a nice place to live minutes from her office, and a whole new wardrobe. She cancelled the rest of the trip.

I arrived soon after and was dazed and confused. Most of who I was thousands of miles away, my network, my career, my gigs. It took a few months to adjust but then everything just opened up. When all the external expectations and pressures that twist and pull you go away, you revert back to being who you really are. Presh is a very smart babe. She knew I needed to get away.

So this is what I have come to love.

“This is my Mexico” is a line from TFatF3:TD and I will not do it justice so you just have to go and see the movie. I do not know if I am here or just passing through, but it has been a year and it has not sucked. And that, if you knew me, is very high praise indeed.

The adventure continues…

Following up on Kangamini’s post about Changing Hands, I spent a good hour or so at Bookmans in Phoenix today. More times than not, I end up in a book or record shop on my days off. Lucky for me, Bookmans has ‘em both.

I didn’t come up with any books; I really need to read the ones I have before I buy more. But I did pluck three records today: Roxy Music’s first LP; 10cc The Original Soundtrack; and Pearl Bailey More Songs for Adults Only (to be used as art).

So I go to check out, and when the clerk is about to ring up my total, he tells me, “You’re a winner.”
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One of my favorite things to do when I get bored is to waste time in bookstores. I could blame my parents for this – but since being well read isn’t a bad thing I guess I’ll have to find some other bad habit to blame on them.

Last night I visited Changing Hands Bookstore, which is located at 6428 S. McClintock Drive (SW corner of McClintock and Guadalupe in Tempe). I love independent bookstores! Independent stores, in my experience, tend to have a larger and better selection than the big national chains. Browsing through a bookstore also gives me that instant-gratification that I enjoy that online shopping could never give me.

I especially like that Changing Hands has a LOT of interesting books at very discounted price. Everyone loves a nice bargain and with some books marked down 75% (or more if you look hard enough) from suggested retail it is really hard for me to leave the store empty handed.

Being next door to Wildflower Bread and across the street from Pei Wei certainly doesn’t hurt chances that I will visit again soon either!