What’s Geeks Who Give?

Geeks Who Give seeks to mobilize this community to reach beyond its self contained boundaries, to route that amazingly powerful and positive energy to people and causes that really need it. [...] Long term goals include idea, goods & services, and resource banks from which we can draw as well as coordinating volunteer opportunities on an individual basis and organizing large scale volunteer efforts for continued organization-based support.

Alex Hillman has a great write-up on his site, but there’s also the official GWG Events page, the Facebook event page. You can also follow GWG on twitter to get up-to-the-minute info.

I’d first like to tip my hat to Frazgo over at Los Angeles Metblogs for getting the hook up for me here at Philadelphia Metblogs.

My name’s Aaron Proctor. Otherwise/formerly known as “The Noticeable One“, “The Proc“, or “The Most Electrifying Man In Pasadena” and generally known as a damned handsome man. I like long walks on the beach, “Arrested Development“, corporate slang, vodka tonics and house cats that sound like they’re meowing with a “Brrrrrrrowww” instead of Meow. You know what I’m sayin’?

I moved back to the Philly burbs – Delaware County, right in the Chichester area – after living in Los Angeles for the past eight years. You can read about my exploits, triumphs and tribulations in Los Angeles by going here. It’s wiki-accurate.

I grew up in various parts of the Philly area. Was born in Chester. Moved to Mt. Airy to attend the first part of grade school. Moved back to Chester for a short period of time up until around 5th grade and then I finished out my middle and high school experience in the Marcus Hook/Lower Chichester/Upper Chichester area.

I headed to Los Angeles (well, Pasadena, it’s pretty much the same thing but…shhhhh…don’t tell them that or some Caltech kid will throw a thorny Rose at you) eight years ago with an eyeliner-smeared face and a liberal heart and ended up moving back with a v-neck sweater & collared shirt with a conservative head. And since I’m a Republican AND a cigarette smoker, it’s nice to be in an area where I’m not quite a fifth-class citizen. (You know, I really wish there was a “cut and paste” option for real life so that I can always add ‘but I don’t hate gays and don’t mind abortion..I’m a libertarian with a lower case l’).

I ran for Mayor Pasadena back in 2007 and got 11.2% of the vote. In a leather jacket. While wearing eyeliner. How California is that!? Soon enough, I didn’t forget my roots and took a bit of Philly with me. After deciding that being 25, balding, and a Goth socialist wasn’t cutting it, I did a complete 180 and started a somewhat-hilarious, mostly-acerbic, profanity-laced Conservative blog. It was a hit (well, it got a lot of hits – and e-mail from angry Councilmembers) in Pasadena as it equally angered and offended the same amount of people as it made spit out their morning lattes in laughter. I got a writing gig at a local paper (The Pasadena Weekly) – who pretty much gave me ink for shock value (controversial character = cash?) but then, for some reason, only gave me fluff stories to write. I did get to meet my hero, Huell Howser, however.

One thing lead to another, I pushed the envelope too far (people in Los Angeles don’t have a sense of humor and will be quick to call a lawyer or the police even if you make an unharmful WWE-style video challenging a newspaper publisher to a wrestling match) – and I came back to the Philly area after being fired and finding out my parents needed some assistance with their living situation.

Getting adjusted back to life in Delco has been really fun, really enjoyable. You know, to me, the Philadelphia area is truly the greatest metropolitan area in the whole wide world. One doesn’t appreciate the luxuries – both in terms of Tastykakes and peoples’ attitudes – until one lives in plastic-fake-boob-perfect-teeth Los Angeles for nearly a decade. I feel like a lot of people don’t appreciate it here. “Oh, the weather sucks”, “Oh, our sports teams suck”, “Oh, this place sucks, “You’ll get sick of it here”, “Why in the world would you leave CALIFORNIA?” – it’s something I’ve heard a multitude of times. Let me tell you something from my own perspective – the LA area ain’t that great of a place to live these days unless you’ve got a lot of money and are super progressive. Philly has its own charm, an incomparable state of mind and being and something unmatched by any other metropolitan area (and I’ve been to 26 of these great United States AND Washington DC) anywhere else. Other cities should be quite envious of how unique, fun, and awesome Philly has remained in a country full of carbon-copy “up and on the move” cities.

The differences between Delaware County and Philly itself are even more striking. I’m not even an hour from Center City and it can feel like I’m world’s away when I take the R2 into the City. It’s a nice compare and contrast of suburban and urban lifestyles – blue collars vs white collars – and all that Lebanon baloney.

Man, did I sure miss Wawa. And Turkey Hill ice cream and iced tea. And cheaper cigarettes – WAIT A MINUTE – why are cigs more expensive here, even in Delaware County, than in California? Guess I gotta go down to Bidenware and stock up. Oh..what else did I miss? Pathmark. SEPTA. Die hard sports fans. The whole “Philly attitude”.

Especially the latter. People here are sometimes rude, crude, in your face, and – especially in Delaware County – often just look haggard or harsh. I love it! It’s more honest, it’s more real, and by gawd, I’d rather have that than whatever is going on over in Hollyweird. And…the Phillies won the World Series. That was just the icing on the cake, considering I moved out here during the middle of the NLCS and was getting peanuts thrown at me every time I went to a bar. Yeah, peanuts. Los Angeles fans aren’t that tough.

Being gone for a while has also led me to make some prolific and poignant observations. I’ve decided to put together some of the things I’ve either said to myself or shouted out loud into a Top Ten List, a/la David Letterman (one of my heroes). Submitted, for your approval….:

TOP TEN THINGS I’VE BEEN OVERHEARD SAYING SINCE MY MOVE BACK TO PHILLY

10. “Damn, Dawn Stensland is pretty hot.”

9. “Hearing it pronounced ‘wooder‘ sounds more annoying than it did eight years ago.”

8. “Sweet Yuengling. Nectar of the gods.”

7. “The bus fare is how much?!”

6. “Oh, Dawn, you just made that triple homicide sound so f’n HOT!”

5. “LOL. Eight-Twelve. That never gets old.”

4. “Yeah, that’s a California ID. No, it’s not fake.”

3. “Where’s that UN—CLAIMED—-FREIGHT! guy?”

2. “I’d like to form an exploratory committee into Dawn Stensland’s pants.”

1. “I live in Delaware County, not Delaware.”

Over the next few weeks and months, I’d like to share my Phil-adjustments with the rest of you. Since I don’t own a car and work in retail now (yep – the mighty have fallen!), I have yet to discover or re-discover some of the awesomeness I left behind 8 years ago and want to share those adventures with you, the reader, for the low, low price of $19.99 plus shipping and handling. Operators are standing by.

Be seeing you.

- AP

I had no idea where I wanted to spend my 30th birthday—this accomplishment required an impressive night of partying, right? I went through many suggestions before a friend of mine mentioned a place I’d never heard of before: Yakitori Boy at 11th and Race in Chinatown.

I decided to spend the extra money and reserve a 20-person private room for my party, which was great because some people who’d normally never get up in front of a crowd of people and belt out “Eye of the Tiger” did so that night. The system (as illustrated in a photo on my flickr) is somewhat disorienting to search through, and all songs in English are listed under “Foreign”. All songs are under Men, Women, or Bands, listed alphabetically… except when they are not. For the life of me, I could not find Hall & Oates, and believe me, I tried.

We discovered that standing, jumping, or dancing on the couches was allowed, so long as we removed our shoes first. (It astounds me that this has happened enough that a rule was made about it!)

Besides that, YB is amazingly awesome. The servers were quick and polite, even when we made a mess with my birthday cake. Drinks and food were all wonderfully tasty, but I must admit, I spent most of my evening with a Pom Lychee in one hand and the mic in the other. Most everything was offered in small plates (hence the upstairs lounge name Japas) so we all got to sample a few different things. Sweet potato tempura! Oh my, that was good.

I had a bit of a mix up with my credit card near the end of the night when we went to settle the bill, but our server was graciously patient with me as we figured it out. I just hope my tip was enough, because I can’t imagine how frustrating my party must have been. Oh, not that we were obnoxious or nasty, there were just so many of us! I’m used to having small gatherings for my birthday, but because it was my 30th, about 25 people showed up.

On the way out of the place, so many people told me how much fun the evening was, and most of us plan to go back sometime. Perhaps a Metblog Happy Hour?

Ladyfingers, Nervous Cabaret, & Dillon Minacci perform for you. There’s an afterparty at For Pete’s Sake, too. Tickets: $15 now/ $20 at the door.

The pitch: If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers. Ignite is a series of speakers talking about inspiring projects for 5 minutes. The presentations can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between. We just hope that it would help ignite something in someone.

Check the site for more details. Speakers start at 7!

This a specific day to get out of your house and go to a local event (with your knitting in tow) just for you and people like you. Who knows you might even bump into your neighbor! Consider this a spark, to ignite a fire; getting all of the closeted knitters out into fresh air.

There are a few Pennsylvania events listed, but only one in Philadelphia that I know of: My knitting group, the Third Street Ravelers, is hosting a KIP event at Rittenhouse Square beginning around 11 A.M. More information is available on the WWKIP event page.

Do all you knitters and crocheters out in Philly-land know about Ravelry? This site combines the best resource of patterns and yarns with all the fun of social networking. Tag your projects, tag your yarns, tag your forum posts.

While Ravelry is still technically in beta, the wait list for sign-ups is short, so withing a couple weeks you’ll be just as addicted as the rest of us.

You can join the Metblogs group or one of the many other Philadelphia based groups.

Friday is National Bike to Work Day. Dust it off! Nutter gives out free coffee and bagels: 7:30 – 9:30 a.m., while supplies last.

Saturday, I’m getting up early, because of the day’s lineup. First off, there’s a flea market at Gloria Dei Church (Old Swede’s, at Columbus & Christian), from 8-3. Behind the brick walls lies one of the area’s oldest churches and cemeteries. You can get a tour of the church, hear the Mummer’s Choir at noon, indulge in some chili, hot dogs, and, of course, soft pretzels. “The Best Fleas at the Oldest Church”

Another Flea Market: 10th & South, 9-5.

Next up – The Italian Market Festival. You should know where this is: south 9th Street. (Saturday & Sunday, 10-5). I went last year, and was surprised at the diverse performances of dancers, singers, etc. There are all types of arts & crafts, foods, and wares in general being sold on the street. Tasty!

I wish I could be 3 places at once. There’s also the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, on the corner of Trenton and Norris Streets at noon on Saturday. “A celebration of art and non-motorized transit at the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival.” There will be: art vendors, food, bands, beer, prizes!! I hope to see the spaceship biker that was on 3rd. Street this past Sunday. Cumbersome – yes. Hilarious – yes! On the way up, I’ll probably stop and check out the Old City Stroll & Sidewalk Sale. J. Karma, Foster’s – I will be there, so look out!

If you are rested from all that, use Sunday to head, (again?) to the Italian Market Festival, then the Philly Book Festival. I’ll be manning the table for Quirk Books, at least for a couple of hours! Books, music, writers, poets, and over 80 literary exhibitors. Maybe you will see Baba Wawa. She’ll be headlining. (Festival is Saturday AND Sunday, 11-5, Parkway Central Library, 19th and Vine streets.)

Enjoy your weekend!