As someone more prone to dilly-dally than discipline, I’m surprised to even be writing such a thing as an “inaugural post.” Rather than display what dilly-dally looks like in my hands, it’d be better to provide a few words about motivation for the blog.

            In the spring of this year, my wife Caroline and I were discussing graffiti &blogs with our friend Daria over dinner. Certainly, Philadelphia has a world-class art museum, but some of the city’s best and most provocative art can be found on the exterior walls of the many abandoned factories & warehouses that line the sides of most of SEPTA’s regional train tracks. All three of us, including Daria’s husband Tommy, are committed riders of the R7 & R8, two train lines that serve Northwest Philly. So, when Daria asked me what I would call a blog if I ever started one I asked her if she had ever seen the disused rail car that sits in the rail yard at Wayne Junction. She hadn’t, which isn’t surprising considering how much there is to see while riding the train. On the side of the car, I told her, someone had written, “BEST NIGHTMARE YOU GET!” Ever since discovering that phrase shortly after moving to Philly in late summer 2006, I haven’t gone a day without uttering it, if not to others, then most definitely to myself.

            As the three of us continued to talk that night, Daria decided that Tommy, an avid photographer, would have to find a way to take a photo of the train. I wasn’t sure how it could be done considering that the train is smack in the middle of Wayne Junction, but Daria reminded me that this is precisely the type of reconnaissance problem that Tommy would be good at figuring out.

            Unfortunately, the four of us didn’t really see each other that much over the following months, but once summer arrived we had dinner together again and discussed the task of taking a photo of the mythological train. Tommy, in a stroke of instinctual genius, pulled out his laptop and, with a wry smile, began to google. After a few minutes, he turned to us and asked, “Will this help?” It was the satellite view, courtesy of Google Maps, of Wayne Junction. With that map, we were able to see the driveway that leads directly into the rail yard. Tommy noticed that there was a gate, but it didn’t appear that the gate in the satellite view was closed, so we thought maybe there’s a chance that we could get in there early in the morning to take a photo, which is exactly what we did the following day.

            With Sonny, Tommy & Daria’s standard poodle, in tow, Tommy and I set out on our mission around 7:30 AM. Not surprisingly, we were awkward as we walked around the yard. The photos taken that day demonstrated our unease. We wanted to give it another go, so a few days later, we walked into the yard more confidently, dressed in workman’s blues. Tommy’s photos from that session were much more precise. One of those photos from the second try is now the banner, thanks to Daria’s web design abilities, at the top of this page.

            Partly because Caroline, Daria, and Tommy encouraged me to start a blog because I had found a worthy name for one, but mostly because I’ve become interested of late in “physical/historical overlap” in urban and rural space, I’m inaugurating this blog in hopes that it will be a testing ground for new directions in my own writing, as well as a gathering place for other’s thoughts about “overlap,” not only in regards to urban and rural space, but in relation to poetics, politics, and art.