christmas: Philadelphia Metropolis

Whose Willie Was It?

My favorite story of Christmas week was about the Philadelphia Traffic Court judge escorted off the premises because he allegedly showed photos of his genitals to a female court employee. The appropriately named Willie Singletary was relieved of his judicial... (Comments)

The Case of the Crumbling Shoes

Best of VoxPop» On Christmas Eve day, as I was getting out of the car, I noticed an odd-looking thing on the ground: an oval plastic pillowy thing a little smaller than a credit card. It turned out to be the inner heel cushion from the Nike boots I was wearing. They looked fine when I put them on in the morning, but now the heel had separated into a top slice and a bottom, spitting out the air cushion that had been imprisoned inside. An hour or so later, the other heel started flapping and disgorged its cushion. Next, the front of one sole started flapping like a clown shoe. All day, everywhere I went, I left a Hansel-and-Gretel-like trail of black crumbles as the bottoms of my shoes continued to disintegrate. (Comments)

Philadelphians Are Nice. Really, I'm Not Kidding.

By Emily vanSonnenberg» Philadelphians perplex me. I have lived in seven zip codes. Boston (my birthplace); San Diego (raised, 17 years); Galveston, Texas; Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Salamanca, Spain. For the past year and a half, my zip has been a Philadelphia code. I left LA to attend graduate school in Philly to study the 'Science of Happiness.' Thus, the virtue of kindness intrigues me. As a Philly-"import", I have come to believe that Philadelphia is the apotheosis of genuinely kind and friendly people, anywhere, though I know this perspective is atypical. If you're a Philly native, you are now doubt aware of your reputation. Philadelphians are notorious for being rogue and brash. Philadelphia is (Comments)

Shoes on a Wire

By Dalyn Montgomery» If one moves to Philadelphia from anywhere not in the Northeast, or even possibly just from the suburbs, there is one detail of the city that most ignore, and no one ever thinks of beforehand. Wires. Wires are everywhere. They not only line the streets but cross over them. When city life is described as electric, no one thinks it is due to the electrified spider web cocooning the entire metropolis. Yet there it is. As with most webs, this one also catches things that are meant to move, it catches shoes. (Comments)

Signs of Affection

By Kat Richter» At the age of 17, I prepared a handmade Valentine's Day card for the man that was my boyfriend at the time. Being 17 as well, however, he was more of a boy than a man and my calligraphic talents failed to elicit the desired response. A few years later, I found myself dating a man 12 years my senior; although he appreciated my hand painted, red and gold stationary, he reciprocated with a box of cheap drug store chocolates. Seeing as the majority of these were milk chocolate and not dark, I deemed them hardly worth the calories. (Comments)