I love sidewalk chalk! Perhaps my enthusiasm stems from the need to be a little girl again playing oustide with all the neighborhood pals (cue music: Memories...(teary smile gives way to soggy snot rag)), or maybe it's because I like to express myself artistically through a more unconventional medium, OR maybe it's just freaking fun! Much to my father-in-law's dismay, I chalked up the front sidewalk to his house, welcoming all to the party they were having that afternoon. (I don't think he believed me when I said the chalk would wash completely off.) Sidewalk chalk was used as a fundraiser at our school's magazine release party/concert, Temporary Utopia (not a plug...ok it is a plug: Buy your copy of the finest, award winning literary magazine in the nation! In the Margins is $8.00 without the CD, $10.00 with the CD. Get your copy TODAY!). People paid a dollar for a share of the cement canvas in the school's courtyard. We made it a competition, and the winner got a free magazine. The runner-up got a candy bar. There was a certain satisfation in temporarily defacing school property (sorry, Mr. A, but we did hose it off, and we even remembered to unplug all of the electronic equipment! Gold star for us!). Yes, sidewalk chalk rules! Speaking of which, one of the People in Common sent a cool link for a world-wide Chalk for Peace event. Check it out! Here's to another creative protest! To all you closet chalkers out there: you're not alone. Keep on chalkin', friends!