I saw a homeless guy fall onto the train tracks this morning. Two guys immediately pulled him out, and there wasn't a train coming, luckily. The man was obviously mentally handicapped and seemed really out of it. He was yelling gibberish and lying there sort of slowly wiggling his arms and legs once the two guys pulled him back onto the platform. It was kind of a scary thing to see. You have to wonder what would have happened to the guy had he fallen in when it wasn't rush hour and full of people. I know people like to say that some homeless are that way by choice, or are just addicted to drugs (so it's their own fault [?]), but what about people like this one? He probably has no family or anyone to take care of him. And yes, there are services out there to help the homeless, but how is someone like this supposed to take advantage of them, much less even take the initiative to seek them out?
It's just really sad to see. I mean, what can you do for someone like that? Throwing change at him won't exactly help anything, even if your heart IS in the right place for doing so. I hope the police or paramedics or whoever that got there after I was gone got the guy to a shelter or something.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
!
Stephen Colbert is speaking at Barnes & Noble Union Square tomorrow FOR FREE!!! Who's going?? Leah's going!!
SO EXCITED!!!
SO EXCITED!!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Stephen T. Colbert Award for the Literary Excellence
Stephen Colbert's new book, "I am America (And So Can You)" is HILARIOUS. I'm only about a third of the way through it so far, but it's been making me laugh out loud (literally--I'm not being hyperbolic [is that a word?]). I've been chuckling on every subway ride I've taken for the past few days. The whole thing is written in the same style as the way he talks on The Colbert Report. He seems serious, but you know it's a joke because the things he says (writes? dictates?) are just so abdurd. The book really is the television show in bound form. There are even little snarky notes written in the margins, which is reminiscent of his "The Word" segment from the show. The entire thing is split into chapters on issues that affect America today ("family, "old people" [hee-hee], "religion," etc.), and consists of Steve giving his opinion (which we're ordered to all follow) on each of the topics. I'm currently in the religion chapter, and just HAD to post this one line from his section on Shinto:
"...a whole bunch of magical beings based in different parts of nature? That's not a religion, that's Pokemon."
HA!!
Oh Stephen Colbert, you are just too much...
He's doing a talk and signing books next Tuesday (Oct. 23) at the 92nd Street Y. I thought t was free, but I just looked it up, and it actually costs $35 and is SOLD OUT!!! The L Magazine did not say it cost anything OR that you had to reserve tickets in its listing! LAME!!! Though a "limited number of tickets may be available an hour before curtain," so I think I'm gonna try to get in anyways.
"...a whole bunch of magical beings based in different parts of nature? That's not a religion, that's Pokemon."
HA!!
Oh Stephen Colbert, you are just too much...
He's doing a talk and signing books next Tuesday (Oct. 23) at the 92nd Street Y. I thought t was free, but I just looked it up, and it actually costs $35 and is SOLD OUT!!! The L Magazine did not say it cost anything OR that you had to reserve tickets in its listing! LAME!!! Though a "limited number of tickets may be available an hour before curtain," so I think I'm gonna try to get in anyways.
Monday, October 15, 2007
mini review
One of the people I met at the Haystack Arts Camp alerted me to an exhibit currently displayed at SUNY Stonybrook called “No se sabe más: No more is know: Anonymity and the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez.” The show features work influenced by and in reaction to the hundreds of serial mutilations, murders, and disappearances of women and girls that have been going on for the last 15 years in Cuidad Juarez, a Mexican city near El Paso, Texas. I stumble upon an article about these murders once every couple years or so, and it just keeps getting worse. The Mexican government does almost nothing to solve or prevent these crimes, and the few suspects they do catch are tortured until they confess (or die), leaving serious doubt as to whether they’re actually guilty. (Confessions given under torture are almost always false, since the person being tortured will usually do anything to make it stop.) I won’t be able to get over to Stonybrook in person, but the exhibit’s website has a photograph of each piece in it, as well as a deeper explanation of this situation, so here’s a little mini-review. I hope this exhibit will teach some new people about this horrible phenomenon. The longer it goes ignored, the longer it’s going to go on.
The 13 female artists of this show each have one piece pictured on the website. Some are also accompanied by an artist’s statement or explanation of the item. Unfortunately, some have neither, and some have a more general artist’s statement, rather than an explanation of how the piece ties into the theme. The general statements almost take away from the idea behind the exhibition, as they seem self-indulgent in comparison to the heartfelt words written on the murderous situation in Mexico.
There’s also quite a wide variation in skill level. Some of the art just looks amateurish compared to the better pieces. Marisa Cornejo Kasterine’s watercolor drawing features a roughly hewn girl diving head first out the backseat door of a moving van, with five male figures seated inside the vehicle. The background consists of brown and yellow scribbles for the road, and flat red with a layer of yellow forked trees for the space behind the van. The artist’s explanation is a short treatise on the artist’s nightly dreams, which this piece is presumably based on, though it doesn’t outright say so. How, then, does this fit in with the theme? A personal statement unrelated to the exhibition’s inspiration just seems out of place. In addition, the drawing itself is unimpressive in its child-like quality. It’s a purely two dimensional drawing: no depth, no shadow, and simple line rendering of the figures and vehicle, right down to the horizontal lines trailing the van to indicate motion.
Kasterine’s drawing fits in neither with the exhibit’s theme, nor with the skill level in the more accomplished pieces, such as Jain Hutzell’s sinewy carved wooden sculpture. Her upright log has subtle flows that vaguely resemble a human body and a stretching hand near its top, as if it’s reaching out for help.
Erica Arce’s ceramic sculpture, however, is by far the standout piece of the show. It’s a ceramic, mutant human torso painted cream with dusty gray in the corners and cracks. The gray corners and allover scratchy texture make it look dirty and beat-up. The figure’s head, back of the neck, and back of the shoulders are jaggedly broken off, and its arms clutch its belly at the base of the elongated torso. A split down the figure’s center, and a bloody red stain at the broken edge of the shoulders, make it all the more disturbing. I only wish the online photo were bigger, so I could get a better look at the details and the shreds of clay scattered at its base (I can’t tell what they are from the photo). Overall, the figure evokes pain, sadness, and serious abuse. It sympathizes with the mutilated and murdered women of Cuidad Juarez. Taken in a broader context, the figure can be seen as representing the women across the globe who are maltreated and killed every day while their government and society do nothing to stop it and the rest of the world remains ignorant or apathetic.
I wish the website included bigger and more photos, and it’d be nice if media were listed with each piece. At the very least, they ought to list the titles of the pieces pictured online. But I guess the website really isn’t the focus; the idea is to GO to the show.
For those who ARE able to go to Stonybrook, the exhibit is located in the Student Acitivity Center Gallery, which is open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will be on display through November 2. Website is http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/sacgallery.
The 13 female artists of this show each have one piece pictured on the website. Some are also accompanied by an artist’s statement or explanation of the item. Unfortunately, some have neither, and some have a more general artist’s statement, rather than an explanation of how the piece ties into the theme. The general statements almost take away from the idea behind the exhibition, as they seem self-indulgent in comparison to the heartfelt words written on the murderous situation in Mexico.
There’s also quite a wide variation in skill level. Some of the art just looks amateurish compared to the better pieces. Marisa Cornejo Kasterine’s watercolor drawing features a roughly hewn girl diving head first out the backseat door of a moving van, with five male figures seated inside the vehicle. The background consists of brown and yellow scribbles for the road, and flat red with a layer of yellow forked trees for the space behind the van. The artist’s explanation is a short treatise on the artist’s nightly dreams, which this piece is presumably based on, though it doesn’t outright say so. How, then, does this fit in with the theme? A personal statement unrelated to the exhibition’s inspiration just seems out of place. In addition, the drawing itself is unimpressive in its child-like quality. It’s a purely two dimensional drawing: no depth, no shadow, and simple line rendering of the figures and vehicle, right down to the horizontal lines trailing the van to indicate motion.
Kasterine’s drawing fits in neither with the exhibit’s theme, nor with the skill level in the more accomplished pieces, such as Jain Hutzell’s sinewy carved wooden sculpture. Her upright log has subtle flows that vaguely resemble a human body and a stretching hand near its top, as if it’s reaching out for help.
Erica Arce’s ceramic sculpture, however, is by far the standout piece of the show. It’s a ceramic, mutant human torso painted cream with dusty gray in the corners and cracks. The gray corners and allover scratchy texture make it look dirty and beat-up. The figure’s head, back of the neck, and back of the shoulders are jaggedly broken off, and its arms clutch its belly at the base of the elongated torso. A split down the figure’s center, and a bloody red stain at the broken edge of the shoulders, make it all the more disturbing. I only wish the online photo were bigger, so I could get a better look at the details and the shreds of clay scattered at its base (I can’t tell what they are from the photo). Overall, the figure evokes pain, sadness, and serious abuse. It sympathizes with the mutilated and murdered women of Cuidad Juarez. Taken in a broader context, the figure can be seen as representing the women across the globe who are maltreated and killed every day while their government and society do nothing to stop it and the rest of the world remains ignorant or apathetic.
I wish the website included bigger and more photos, and it’d be nice if media were listed with each piece. At the very least, they ought to list the titles of the pieces pictured online. But I guess the website really isn’t the focus; the idea is to GO to the show.
For those who ARE able to go to Stonybrook, the exhibit is located in the Student Acitivity Center Gallery, which is open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will be on display through November 2. Website is http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/sacgallery.
Friday, October 12, 2007
gross
So I know this is totally old, but it's so messed up that I had to post about it. I was surfing around dlisted.com and found a post from this past February about a London restaurant, Bumpkin, which was offering free meals to size zero models with a BMI under 18 if they presented their model card. Bumpkin only gave free food to size zero models--no size one fatties allowed!
Are you KIDDING ME??? These are women who choose not to eat! Even though I doubt any models who are that skinny would even take advantage of the offer, it's still ridiculous. Why are models being rewarded for being morbidly thin?? I've also (sadly) been watching the new season of America's Next Top Model, and the judges called the one girl who's not skin and bones (she's maybe a size 7/8) "almost plus size." WHAT??? I used to really like high fashion (not that I can afford it, but it's still fun to follow it), but it's gotten to the point where I just can't stand anything remotely related to the world of high fashion anymore. The New York Times Style Magazine, which has become my main source of fashion reading, drives me insane--every article is written in this pompous, pretentious tone of voice, as if owning ridiculously overpriced clothes is the true mark of success in life. Most women's magazines do the same thing, as well as presenting a new "must-have" list every few months. And god forbid that a "fashionista" wear something from (gasp!) last season. How important can any of these clothes be if no one wants to wear them again three months down the road??
And this obsession with thinness is completely out of control. While walking down the street with a male friend recently, we passed a really tall, ridiculously skinny blonde girl wearing a short black dress, and my friend made some comment about how hot she was. I said, "Are you kidding
me?! She has no boobs or butt!" and he responded by saying that she looks good that way because she's so tall or something. Then some random guy behind us was like, "Yeah, man!" and the two of them laughed it up about their shared observation. I don't understand how a woman in her 20s having the body of a twelve year old boy is attractive or, more importantly, healthy. And these designers who claim that clothes "just look better" on thin women are ridiculous. How many designers are that thin? Where do they buy their clothes? (P.S. If you make clothes to fit someone that thin, then, yes, it is going to look better on a skinny-minny. It's no different than plus-size clothes looking better on plus-size women. It's not that clothes in general look better on super-skinny women, it's that everyone looks better in clothes that are designed for their specific body type! Sheesh!)
And this restaurant thing--why don't they give free food to people who don't eat because they legitimately can't? There is rampant starvation around the world and they're donating food to people who choose not to eat, to the point that some of them are actually dying. Disgusting. It's gotten to the point that I just don't understand how anyone can embrace or enjoy high fashion anymore. Designers suing cheap chain retailers for copying their admittedly unoriginal designs (http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0739,yaeger,77905,15.html), aestheticizing morbid thinness, and the exclusivity and whole annoying aura of self-importance in the fashion industry... it just disgusts me. I can't even enjoy Betsy Johnson and Vivienne Westwood anymore, and I've loved their clothes since forever.
On a more positive note, here's today's moment of surreality: Last night, I walked through Abingdon Square Park on my way to The Spotted Pig, and there were three clusters of three massive gourds (maybe 16 inches long and 9 inch diameter at the widest part) in the bushes in the center of the square. It was dark and I didn't get that good of a look, so I don't know if they were real or not, but it was still pretty random. And if they were real, then that is some serious genetic modification going on.
Are you KIDDING ME??? These are women who choose not to eat! Even though I doubt any models who are that skinny would even take advantage of the offer, it's still ridiculous. Why are models being rewarded for being morbidly thin?? I've also (sadly) been watching the new season of America's Next Top Model, and the judges called the one girl who's not skin and bones (she's maybe a size 7/8) "almost plus size." WHAT??? I used to really like high fashion (not that I can afford it, but it's still fun to follow it), but it's gotten to the point where I just can't stand anything remotely related to the world of high fashion anymore. The New York Times Style Magazine, which has become my main source of fashion reading, drives me insane--every article is written in this pompous, pretentious tone of voice, as if owning ridiculously overpriced clothes is the true mark of success in life. Most women's magazines do the same thing, as well as presenting a new "must-have" list every few months. And god forbid that a "fashionista" wear something from (gasp!) last season. How important can any of these clothes be if no one wants to wear them again three months down the road??
And this obsession with thinness is completely out of control. While walking down the street with a male friend recently, we passed a really tall, ridiculously skinny blonde girl wearing a short black dress, and my friend made some comment about how hot she was. I said, "Are you kidding
me?! She has no boobs or butt!" and he responded by saying that she looks good that way because she's so tall or something. Then some random guy behind us was like, "Yeah, man!" and the two of them laughed it up about their shared observation. I don't understand how a woman in her 20s having the body of a twelve year old boy is attractive or, more importantly, healthy. And these designers who claim that clothes "just look better" on thin women are ridiculous. How many designers are that thin? Where do they buy their clothes? (P.S. If you make clothes to fit someone that thin, then, yes, it is going to look better on a skinny-minny. It's no different than plus-size clothes looking better on plus-size women. It's not that clothes in general look better on super-skinny women, it's that everyone looks better in clothes that are designed for their specific body type! Sheesh!)
And this restaurant thing--why don't they give free food to people who don't eat because they legitimately can't? There is rampant starvation around the world and they're donating food to people who choose not to eat, to the point that some of them are actually dying. Disgusting. It's gotten to the point that I just don't understand how anyone can embrace or enjoy high fashion anymore. Designers suing cheap chain retailers for copying their admittedly unoriginal designs (http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0739,yaeger,77905,15.html), aestheticizing morbid thinness, and the exclusivity and whole annoying aura of self-importance in the fashion industry... it just disgusts me. I can't even enjoy Betsy Johnson and Vivienne Westwood anymore, and I've loved their clothes since forever.
On a more positive note, here's today's moment of surreality: Last night, I walked through Abingdon Square Park on my way to The Spotted Pig, and there were three clusters of three massive gourds (maybe 16 inches long and 9 inch diameter at the widest part) in the bushes in the center of the square. It was dark and I didn't get that good of a look, so I don't know if they were real or not, but it was still pretty random. And if they were real, then that is some serious genetic modification going on.
Friday, October 5, 2007
the end of (another) hiatus
So it's been another crazy ridiculous couple of months, and blogging has ONCE AGAIN taken a back seat to the rest of life. I have been simultaneously searching for a job and a new apartment.
After sending out about 30 resumes with no response whatsoever, I got an interview and was hired about a month ago as a proofreader for a real estate marketing company. They don't really do marketing in the traditional sense here. When a building or piece of property goes up for sale, the seller hires a brokerage company, and the broker hires us to create an "offering memorandum," which is a book with anywhere from 30 to 150 pages full of information on the property, and is intended to convince potential buyers to purchase it. So, really, I would say this is more of a graphic design firm, it's just that they only design one thing.
Then I spent about a month trying to find an apartment. October 1st is probably the worst possible move-in date. Returning college students snatch up everything good in September, and then no one's moving out in October, so there's very little to choose from, especially if you have a low budget. But I did manage to find a nice place right in Williamsburg (only a block from the Lorimer L stop!) a week before the lease ended in my old place. It's a really cute, fairly big place in a fun neighborhood. It's around the corner from the Alligator Lounge, only one of the best bars ever, so designated because you get a free pizza with every beer you buy--and it's a good-sized pizza too, none of this "personal pan" nonsense.
However, even though I'm pretty much settled into both my job and new apartment, I still won't be updating this regularly for a bit longer, as internet is not yet installed at home. I am going to try to start a new, short feature that I can update here while I wait for internet at home, though.
So here's the plan: Every day, I see something surreal or funny or just smile-inducing (most often on the subway), so I'm going to start writing down all these little moments here for all to enjoy.
Moment numero uno:
9:15 a.m., L train: A young (maybe 21-22?) guy gets on the train wearing a too-small tuxedo with a bubblegum pink bowtie. (Who wears a tuxedo at 9:15 in the morning?? And with a bowtie--a pink bowtie--no less? Fantastic.)
Moments later, same train: I spotted a billboard for a palm computer, upon which someone had scribbled "GO HOME, GET A LIFE, AND STOP CHECKING YOUR EMAIL!" I could be really pretentious here, and claim it as a cry against our constant need to be plugged in at all times, but I'm more reminded of a postcard in the first "Post Secret" (postsecret.blogspot.com) book that says, "I hate billboards so much that I have started to vandalize them." Made me smile, in any case. Sometimes I really wish I had a camera in my cell phone so I could document these things visually. Pulling out my big, wonky digital camera is too conspicuous.
After sending out about 30 resumes with no response whatsoever, I got an interview and was hired about a month ago as a proofreader for a real estate marketing company. They don't really do marketing in the traditional sense here. When a building or piece of property goes up for sale, the seller hires a brokerage company, and the broker hires us to create an "offering memorandum," which is a book with anywhere from 30 to 150 pages full of information on the property, and is intended to convince potential buyers to purchase it. So, really, I would say this is more of a graphic design firm, it's just that they only design one thing.
Then I spent about a month trying to find an apartment. October 1st is probably the worst possible move-in date. Returning college students snatch up everything good in September, and then no one's moving out in October, so there's very little to choose from, especially if you have a low budget. But I did manage to find a nice place right in Williamsburg (only a block from the Lorimer L stop!) a week before the lease ended in my old place. It's a really cute, fairly big place in a fun neighborhood. It's around the corner from the Alligator Lounge, only one of the best bars ever, so designated because you get a free pizza with every beer you buy--and it's a good-sized pizza too, none of this "personal pan" nonsense.
However, even though I'm pretty much settled into both my job and new apartment, I still won't be updating this regularly for a bit longer, as internet is not yet installed at home. I am going to try to start a new, short feature that I can update here while I wait for internet at home, though.
So here's the plan: Every day, I see something surreal or funny or just smile-inducing (most often on the subway), so I'm going to start writing down all these little moments here for all to enjoy.
Moment numero uno:
9:15 a.m., L train: A young (maybe 21-22?) guy gets on the train wearing a too-small tuxedo with a bubblegum pink bowtie. (Who wears a tuxedo at 9:15 in the morning?? And with a bowtie--a pink bowtie--no less? Fantastic.)
Moments later, same train: I spotted a billboard for a palm computer, upon which someone had scribbled "GO HOME, GET A LIFE, AND STOP CHECKING YOUR EMAIL!" I could be really pretentious here, and claim it as a cry against our constant need to be plugged in at all times, but I'm more reminded of a postcard in the first "Post Secret" (postsecret.blogspot.com) book that says, "I hate billboards so much that I have started to vandalize them." Made me smile, in any case. Sometimes I really wish I had a camera in my cell phone so I could document these things visually. Pulling out my big, wonky digital camera is too conspicuous.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
