I want

...Told him my story. Told him about being laid off in Chicago. Told him about this new job I got in New York. Told him I only knew I got the job officially 5 days before Christmas- only about a week previously. Asked him how he was liking New York.

"It's great," he said. "Everybody's insane with loneliness, but that's OK. After a while you realize that's part of the edge."...
- Hugh McLeod, www.gapingvoid.com

"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a living breathing thing which belonged to everybody, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall -- it's wet."
- Banksy, www.banksy.co.uk

I want to go to New York and talk to a lonely person.
I want to be happy, and healthy, and helpful, in an environment where those things are positively discouraged.
I want to be able to pick out a busker's guitar chords over the roar of the traffic.
I want to paint beautiful things on ugly walls.
I want to see the adverts for what they are, and to choose to rise above it.

The other day, I was wandering around Bristol train station. It had been dark for hours, and I had a long journey ahead of me. Normally I'd sink into myself, try to avoid any human contact, like anybody would. But for some reason, I was excited. I was interested, curious about everything I saw. I took dozens of photos of the most insignificant things, just happy to be doing something slightly unusual because anybody could ask me about it without feeling uncomfortable. If anyone wanted someone to talk to, they could do a lot worse than starting with "why are you taking all those photos?"

Nobody did, though.