Andanh.com

The abandoned high-rise hotel next to Chandler Fashion Center has been a black eye on the city since work stopped two years ago. We can’t make it go away, but maybe we can enjoy a little “poetic license” while the bankruptcy court sorts things out.

Developer Jeff Cline claims he has a potential buyer, but according to bankruptcy court documents the buyer lives inside a post office box at a UPS store in Tempe. As with past stories, several readers posted comments saying the structure needs to be torn down. But one, Wolf4, took a gentler approach, simply posting this poem:

Cline has created a glorious mess,

Please tear it down, I will not contest.

Please quickly level this ruin,

Worst Developer Ever Award, he is a shoe-in!

What a great idea — an Elevation Chandler online poetry slam. If we have to look at it, at least we can poke fun at it, too.

If you’re not a great poet, try haiku, a Japanese poetry form with these simple rules: Three lines, five syllables in the first line, seven in the next and five again in the last. Like this:

Concrete box of gray

Abandoned with graffiti

No one likes you now

Or this …

Chandler skeleton,

Leaking the sun day and night,

Seeks a wrecking ball

Or this…

Ugly hulking mass

Looming over Costco gas

Why do you taunt me?

You get the idea. Have at it.

Seniors at Chandler High, Basha and Hamilton passed through a moment of life Wednesday, picking up their diplomas and looking ahead. In west Chandler, students who attend Corona del Sol graduated last week.

Graduation is a snapshot in time, something we as parents help our children work toward from the time they make their first strides alone in kindergarten, through grade school, the middle years and finally high school.

Then, in what seems like a flash, it's here.

I can't count the number of times parents with kids older than mine have counseled me to cherish the time when they're young because in a blink of an eye it's over.

Kids, as the saying goes, grow up so fast.

I haven't experienced the full ride yet, but for the first time I'm peeking over the horizon and can see clearly what's ahead. My daughter, who has attended Chandler schools since we moved to Arizona when she was in kindergarten, wrapped up junior high this week. In two short months she'll begin her final four years, stepping onto the sprawling campus at Hamilton High School as a freshman.

Other parents have told me if you think those first years in school go fast, just wait until high school. That's when time really starts to move at high speed.

In short interviews with some of this year's high-achieving graduates, they offered their advice to incoming freshmen.

Cassandra Graziano, who spoke at Basha's ceremonies, stressed giving back: “Do community service, even if it's just once. You'll get hooked for sure,” she said.

Hamilton standout Iris Lee worked hard and had her pick of Ivy League colleges. She's going to Harvard. Her advice: “Take every opportunity that comes your way: academically, socially, community service. There is only so much time, but try to involve yourself as much as you can in school, with friends and in the community. Try to be a leader, but not a pushy one, in whatever you do.”

I like that last part.

To all the Chandler graduates of 2008, congratulations. Keep up the good work, head out into the world and make a difference.

To the incoming freshmen, take a deep breath. You've got four final years. Work hard, have fun and make smart choices. I'm rooting for you.

It is understandable that Gov. Janet Napolitano finds working through the Arizona Legislature frustrating.

Critics from the right and left have deplored an imperial presidency. An imperial governorship is no more desirable.

(column for 5.30.08)

I'm leaving tomorrow morning on a two-week European tour, so this blog will be on vacation until then, too.

(Unless I hit an Internet cafe in Madrid, Barcelona, Southern France, Florence or Rome.That's a possibility. I went to Europe a couple of years ago and used the front desk computer at a very small hotel in Prague. Had to check out how the Suns were doing in the playoffs.)

My wife, who is a high school guidance counselor, takes a group of teenagers to Europe every summer. This year, I'm lucky enough to tag along.

I know I'm skipping out on the last two weeks of OTAs, but it couldn't be helped. This trip was planned long before the Cardinals set their schedule. Of course, I'll see plenty of football practices when training camp starts in July.

The Republic will have someone covering for me during those workouts, so there will still be some Cardinals news in the paper and on azcentral.com. I'll report back to blogdom in about two weeks.

The Cardinals' rookies are scheduled to fly to Canton, Ohio this afternoon and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame tomorrow.

They will meet former Cardinals safety Larry Wilson, a Hall of Famer, there. It's a new program sponsored by the NFL, which wants to give its young players a better sense of the league's history. I'll write a little more about this for tomorrow's paper, but a couple of rookies I talked to, receiver Early Doucet and defensive end Calais Campbell, were very excited about the opportunity.

The Cardinals have completed six of their 14 OTA practices, with eight more scheduled over the next two weeks. Coach Ken Whisenhunt said many of the young players are making more mistakes than they were a week ago, but that's to be expected. Coaches are giving them more information, and their brains tend to lock up at times.