a hodgepodge collective: keep athens funky

      the sun is setting on a particularly productive day here in athens, ohio. i was out and about on a walk, taking pictures with my old roommate, when i noticed how our small town is teeming with life on days like these. hibernation is the trend during winter quarter, a trend i take part in. this town is dead in the winter, it's quiet in the winter, it's cold here in the winter, bitterly cold, even for me. but today is the beginning of spring, i can hear the people living in the apartment below me out on their balcony drunkenly serenading blues traveler, spring has sprung.
     i've seen a lot of cars with a bumper or window sticker that reads, "keep athens funky". as if athens will ever be defunkified. this phrase has been on my mind lately. why would athens be classified as funky? i thought long and hard, but i already knew the answer; the people.
      we all tend to forget what a diverse collection of people this place we call home has. there is little that divides us here. i've made many close friends that are my polar opposite, nothing really separates anyone. you could say that this phenomena is due to the entire student body's undying loyalty and love of beer, but it has to be deeper than that. doesn't alcohol drive people apart? i don't really know, but i know that athens is a town all it's own, it's funky, it's artistic, it's athletic, it's preppy, it's musical. it's a plethora of unique, and it's widely accepted. some could say that establishments like casa (pretentious/hippyish? layed back bar/restaurant) creates the funk, but places like the crystal (over crowded frat bar/ underage drunk magnet) take away from it. but i'm realizing now that therein, this contradictory condition, lies the funk.

    here are some fotos from my walk.