As a few of you might have noticed, I have significantly increased the number of links to blogs and media-related sites over the past few months. Mostly because I haven't had much time to write lengthy blog posts -- what with the part-time internship, the conference planning, the full-time studying and the trying to fit in a few hours here and there for socializing so I don't go absolutely insane -- I've been trying to enrich at least some of the content on this here mind dump I like to call my blog. So if you have some free time (and trust me, I sympathize with you if you don't) check out some of my newer links to foundations, blogs, and media-related content aggregation sites I've added under my Media Links and Blogroll.
Below, I've highlighted some of my new favorites.
MediaShift is a blog from PBS Online that advertises itself as "Your Guide to the Digital Media Revolution" (I don't really like the term "revolution" in this context, but I'll let it slide this time), which so far seems to provide a good mix of local and international topics ranging from the business end of New Media to the importance and impact of social media and to focus on niche topics like web comics. Scroll down on the page a bit to find their Guides to hot topics in digital media news, including issues such as net neutrality, online privacy, and the Iranian election.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is another recent find due in part to research on information and communications technologies (ICTs) for development for my New Media and Global Affairs class. Focusing on "social justice and sustainable development", APC's blog posts and articles create a lens into the world of attempted implementation of ICTs for developing countries and the obstacles met and overcome, as well as the myriad challenges presented with implanting ICTs into remote areas among populations of "unimagined users" with potential technological or literacy blockades to overcome. APC (and, for that matter, my NM&GA class) certainly helps me focus on a less US-centric view of the ICT world.
The First Monday podcast is the audio supplement to the online peer-reviewed journal of the same name. Browse their archives for topics relating to remixing/mash-up culture, Creative Commons, and cyber crime victims.
The Sociological Images blog takes images from the media and provides concise, intriguing analysis, reminding readers of the power of the image and importance of early media literacy education and sensitivity awareness. In their words (since they say it better than I can), they aim "to encourage all kinds of people to exercise and develop their sociological imagination by presenting brief sociological discussions of compelling and timely imagery that spans the breadth of sociological inquiry." I also totally love them because they wrote a brief analysis of the difference between the representations of male and female models in American Apparel catalogues and on their website (I wrote something similar a few months back).
Oh, and I totally want to do research here.
Showing posts with label Things Grad Students Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things Grad Students Love. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Future of Media: 2009 at NYU on June 3rd
For the second time, media news blog I Want Media is rehashing their (hopefully) annual forum entitled "The Future of Media" at 1 PM on Wednesday, June 3rd at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at 20 Cooper Square and 5th Street. Persons who will be speaking on the future of social media, the newspaper industry and sharing communities include Gawker Media founder Nick Denton, Twitter co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey, the WSJ's managing editor Robert Thompson, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. The hour-long event will be moderated by NYU Adjunct Professor and I Want Media founder Patrick Phillips. If you will be in the New York area I would highly recommend attending this free event, although the space is very limited by now (standing room only). For those of you who aren't in the New York area or are too late to RSVP (which might be my case, but we'll have to see if I'm lucky enough to get shoved in the back somewhere) there will be a streaming video of the event through Livestream's I Want Media TV page.
This event and many others are a part of Internet Week New York, an event beginning Monday, June 1st and culminating with the Webby Awards (invitation only) on the evening of June 8th. There is an extensive list of events on their site's schedule section, and I'm pretty excited for several of them that look like they are free with an RSVP. The week will include conferences and panels on social media, content, and advertising, the future of arts and entertainment in the digital age, and oh so much more. I'm starting to RSVP for some of the events today (especially since almost all of them are freeeeee!), although I might be too late for some of the events.
West Coasters, be jealous!
This event and many others are a part of Internet Week New York, an event beginning Monday, June 1st and culminating with the Webby Awards (invitation only) on the evening of June 8th. There is an extensive list of events on their site's schedule section, and I'm pretty excited for several of them that look like they are free with an RSVP. The week will include conferences and panels on social media, content, and advertising, the future of arts and entertainment in the digital age, and oh so much more. I'm starting to RSVP for some of the events today (especially since almost all of them are freeeeee!), although I might be too late for some of the events.
West Coasters, be jealous!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Things Grad Students Love, Part 5
Welcome to another very over-due entry in my series "Things Grad Students Love". I'm trying very hard not to be repetitive and to make each one of these unique, and nothing has presented itself to me until now. Today I present to you Part 5 in the series, the topic being:
Reading that isn't school-related.
Cicero, Eliot, or school work?
It's simply too difficult to make the decision.
Let me explain:
Thanks to a 7 and a 1/2-hour plane flight and to multiple evenings of downtime while in Dar Bouazza, I was able to complete much of my reading and work for this week ahead of time. This will all change tomorrow, of course, when I start a new week's worth of work (Wednesdays are like all you people who actually have jobs' Mondays). So yesterday before class I finally was able to begin some recreational reading. I've received two recommendations lately that I've decided to undertake during the semester:
M.T. Cicero's Selected Works
and T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and other poems (the version below is not the one loaned to me, but it's a pretty amazing cover, don't you think?).
I started with the introduction to Cicero yesterday and skimmed some of his writings in the "On Duties" section, namely a letter to his son composed while he was away at college studying with Cratippus. This letter is encouraging him to work hard and to extract as much as he can from his education while he is away. Underscoring the importance of philosophy, he also reminds his son:
I must admit I was a bit intimidated to read something that was composed in the 40s BC, but his style and flow of composition (which I'm sure is aided by the wonderful translation by Michael Grant) is actually quite simple to follow.
--- ---
One of the teachers who was so gracious as to let me teach in her class while I was in Africa printed out "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot for me to read at my leisure. I must say that I while I'm familiar with Eliot, I had never read this poem, and was deeply impressed and moved by it. His disillusionment with Modernism and his constant need to improve and change himself and his style is oh so apparent and bold. I also found something new, had words take on a new meaning and stanzas unveil themselves to me each time I read it (which I've done five times now). I found something that I thought was just too clever not to include in a blog which I try to devote to media, and wanted to share it here. When speaking of his inner suppressed and perceived madness with the state of modernism and the world at large, Eliot uses the analogy:
So, thank you to Gwen and Geoff (the two who recommended Eliot and Cicero) and to Sheng for his usefully annotated copy of The Waste Land. Thank you all for giving me more to do than dink around on the Internet in between school readings. Even though that's what I'm doing now...but hey! writing posts to my blog is not just dinking!
Reading that isn't school-related.
Cicero, Eliot, or school work?
It's simply too difficult to make the decision.
Let me explain:
Thanks to a 7 and a 1/2-hour plane flight and to multiple evenings of downtime while in Dar Bouazza, I was able to complete much of my reading and work for this week ahead of time. This will all change tomorrow, of course, when I start a new week's worth of work (Wednesdays are like all you people who actually have jobs' Mondays). So yesterday before class I finally was able to begin some recreational reading. I've received two recommendations lately that I've decided to undertake during the semester:
M.T. Cicero's Selected Works
and T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and other poems (the version below is not the one loaned to me, but it's a pretty amazing cover, don't you think?).
I started with the introduction to Cicero yesterday and skimmed some of his writings in the "On Duties" section, namely a letter to his son composed while he was away at college studying with Cratippus. This letter is encouraging him to work hard and to extract as much as he can from his education while he is away. Underscoring the importance of philosophy, he also reminds his son:
the most luxuriantly fertile field of all is that of moral obligations - since, if we clearly understand these, we have mastered the rules for leading a good and consistent life.I'm taking this as basically his thesis statement for the section, and really enjoy that among his formal compositions the editor and translator decided to include his correspondence. I'm very much looking forward to continued reading of this section, although I found myself going back to the intro to better understand the difference between the Stoics and the Peripatetics and the several other schools of thought to which he makes reference. I'm also pretty sure I'll be getting through this only a few pages at a time, but since my understanding of Classics is so limited I feel this is something I must do, not to mention something that I really want to complete now that I've started.
I must admit I was a bit intimidated to read something that was composed in the 40s BC, but his style and flow of composition (which I'm sure is aided by the wonderful translation by Michael Grant) is actually quite simple to follow.
--- ---
One of the teachers who was so gracious as to let me teach in her class while I was in Africa printed out "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot for me to read at my leisure. I must say that I while I'm familiar with Eliot, I had never read this poem, and was deeply impressed and moved by it. His disillusionment with Modernism and his constant need to improve and change himself and his style is oh so apparent and bold. I also found something new, had words take on a new meaning and stanzas unveil themselves to me each time I read it (which I've done five times now). I found something that I thought was just too clever not to include in a blog which I try to devote to media, and wanted to share it here. When speaking of his inner suppressed and perceived madness with the state of modernism and the world at large, Eliot uses the analogy:
As if a magic lantern threw the nerves in pattern on a screenI just think it's so clever that Eliot chose to compare the pages onto which he throws his words and ideas to a screen onto which a film is projected. Using, as the introduction to the book by Helen Vendler points out, "a famous modernist simile", Eliot compares the medium of film and its relationship to the screen to the medium of a piece of paper and its relationship to the author. Eliot is known for attempting to encapsulate human emotion and for believing in a poet's responsibility to language, and through the medium of paper he is able to project his emotions and beautiful, unique, unpredictable use of language from the "reel of film" in his brain.
So, thank you to Gwen and Geoff (the two who recommended Eliot and Cicero) and to Sheng for his usefully annotated copy of The Waste Land. Thank you all for giving me more to do than dink around on the Internet in between school readings. Even though that's what I'm doing now...but hey! writing posts to my blog is not just dinking!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Things Grad Students Love, Part 4
Fare thee well, Winter Break, for tomorrow, I embark on my first day of my first spring semester as a graduate student. And to ring in the fresh start, I've decided to showcase all the amazing cultural cuisines I've sampled, enjoyed, and fallen in love with since I've moved to this city. Which brings me to Part 4 of Things Grad Students Love:
Eating food beyond one's cooking abilities and usual financial limitations.
Now that I'm back on the East Coast after having my fill of Mexican cuisine and, well, more Mexican cuisine, I've began exploring and experiencing food far beyond what I would eat on a normal basis. Usually my daily food intake looks something like this:
Breakfast:
Tea
Cereal with soy milk, or
Cereal bar
Orange juice if I have it
Lunch:
More tea
Water
Over-easy eggs over a tortilla smothered in Valentina hot sauce with a small green salad, or
Mac and cheese, or
Tuna melt
Dinner:
Pasta with some green vegetable (zucchini, broccoli, etc.), or
Grilled ground turkey with assorted vegetables in taco form with cheese, lettuce, and a whole buncha Valentina, or
Assorted vegetables stir-fried in soy sauce over white rice.
And really, that's about all the selection I allow myself. Anything else requires too much effort, and, for that matter, funds.
If I'm out drinking I'll grab a slice at about 3 in the morning, and occasionally a friend will want to go to a coffee shop to get some tea or a pastry or something. Now that I'm kinda seeing someone I'm sure it will become increasingly difficult to NOT eat out places, especially since this guy never cooks for himself and is also bursting with a wealth of interesting places to check out or visit or eat at. But either way, I've definitely been exploring and trying different food lately that I normally would never think of trying/allow myself to consume.
Case in point: Chicken and waffles.
Now, I've had chicken and waffles before at one of the more famous chicken and waffle joints in California called Roscoe's. But seeing as this dish was invented in Harlem in the fair city of New York, it's no wonder that Roscoe's simply pales in comparison to Amy Ruth's, a two-story mecca of soul food found in the heart of Harlem just off 116th (waaaaay uptown) and Malcolm X Blvd. Myself and 20 other friends (yeah, we were at 3 separate tables) took the trek up to Amy Ruth's this afternoon, and since the god damn unreliable piece of ass L train wasn't running past Union Sq. we had to take a bus across town to the 2 train which only had local service since it was a Sunday and therefore took us to every since stop along the track only to dump us off at 96th to take a shuttle (which, in the city's defense, was free) up along Central Park to 116th and Lenox WHEW!...Sorry, that got a little ranty and ridiculous, but honestly, the trip took about an hour, and as we walked into the cloth- and plastic-lined entrance way to the restaurant I was literally about ready to kill someone over a basket of corn bread.
Suffice it to say that I obviously ordered fried chicken and waffles, I obviously ordered tea and it never came to the table (such is the luck of a lowly, unimportant tea drinker as she bows to the might of the coffee consumer), and our table of seven people obviously finished the entire syrup container in a matter of a half an hour. I, obviously, was in a sugar- and lard-induced coma that lasted the rest of the day, going home immediately after to change into my comfy clothes before heading to my neighbors to watch The Dark Knight, after which I came home to lay on my bed and listen to music for about 3 hours. If one is looking for a time suck, look no further than a meal of fried chicken and syrup-slathered waffles.
Might I add that the texture of these waffles was simply perfection. Some of those crap Eggo waffles get all hard and chewy and unsatisfying, and I almost never order waffles just for that reason, but this place knows how to make a mean waffle. Fluffy, easy to cut into, and just the right thickness to act as a base for a piece of crispy, sticky, glistening chicken, Amy Ruth's waffles are, to put it mildly, the shit.
This soul food adventure was far different from my Ethiopian food venture I embarked on in Midtown a few weeks ago with my neighbor and a friend from out of town, vastly different from the Greenwich Village sushi restaurant with the beautiful and delicious mochi (note to bank account: these were both free! Thanks, out-of-town visitors!), almost as indulgent as the Belgian french fry place with the most amazing poutine I'll probably ever eat, just as bad for me as my favorite lasagna pizza slice, and decidedly less healthy than The Hummus Place on St. Mark's (who knew I could crave chick peas and falafel in my sleep?).
I really have to chalk one up for this break, without which I would currently be violently ill when looking at my depressingly boring slab of turkey meat in my fridge and the same old boring vegetables. Here's to more fantastic food adventures!
Eating food beyond one's cooking abilities and usual financial limitations.
Now that I'm back on the East Coast after having my fill of Mexican cuisine and, well, more Mexican cuisine, I've began exploring and experiencing food far beyond what I would eat on a normal basis. Usually my daily food intake looks something like this:
Breakfast:
Tea
Cereal with soy milk, or
Cereal bar
Orange juice if I have it
Lunch:
More tea
Water
Over-easy eggs over a tortilla smothered in Valentina hot sauce with a small green salad, or
Mac and cheese, or
Tuna melt
Dinner:
Pasta with some green vegetable (zucchini, broccoli, etc.), or
Grilled ground turkey with assorted vegetables in taco form with cheese, lettuce, and a whole buncha Valentina, or
Assorted vegetables stir-fried in soy sauce over white rice.
And really, that's about all the selection I allow myself. Anything else requires too much effort, and, for that matter, funds.
If I'm out drinking I'll grab a slice at about 3 in the morning, and occasionally a friend will want to go to a coffee shop to get some tea or a pastry or something. Now that I'm kinda seeing someone I'm sure it will become increasingly difficult to NOT eat out places, especially since this guy never cooks for himself and is also bursting with a wealth of interesting places to check out or visit or eat at. But either way, I've definitely been exploring and trying different food lately that I normally would never think of trying/allow myself to consume.
Case in point: Chicken and waffles.
Now, I've had chicken and waffles before at one of the more famous chicken and waffle joints in California called Roscoe's. But seeing as this dish was invented in Harlem in the fair city of New York, it's no wonder that Roscoe's simply pales in comparison to Amy Ruth's, a two-story mecca of soul food found in the heart of Harlem just off 116th (waaaaay uptown) and Malcolm X Blvd. Myself and 20 other friends (yeah, we were at 3 separate tables) took the trek up to Amy Ruth's this afternoon, and since the god damn unreliable piece of ass L train wasn't running past Union Sq. we had to take a bus across town to the 2 train which only had local service since it was a Sunday and therefore took us to every since stop along the track only to dump us off at 96th to take a shuttle (which, in the city's defense, was free) up along Central Park to 116th and Lenox WHEW!...Sorry, that got a little ranty and ridiculous, but honestly, the trip took about an hour, and as we walked into the cloth- and plastic-lined entrance way to the restaurant I was literally about ready to kill someone over a basket of corn bread.
Suffice it to say that I obviously ordered fried chicken and waffles, I obviously ordered tea and it never came to the table (such is the luck of a lowly, unimportant tea drinker as she bows to the might of the coffee consumer), and our table of seven people obviously finished the entire syrup container in a matter of a half an hour. I, obviously, was in a sugar- and lard-induced coma that lasted the rest of the day, going home immediately after to change into my comfy clothes before heading to my neighbors to watch The Dark Knight, after which I came home to lay on my bed and listen to music for about 3 hours. If one is looking for a time suck, look no further than a meal of fried chicken and syrup-slathered waffles.
Might I add that the texture of these waffles was simply perfection. Some of those crap Eggo waffles get all hard and chewy and unsatisfying, and I almost never order waffles just for that reason, but this place knows how to make a mean waffle. Fluffy, easy to cut into, and just the right thickness to act as a base for a piece of crispy, sticky, glistening chicken, Amy Ruth's waffles are, to put it mildly, the shit.
This soul food adventure was far different from my Ethiopian food venture I embarked on in Midtown a few weeks ago with my neighbor and a friend from out of town, vastly different from the Greenwich Village sushi restaurant with the beautiful and delicious mochi (note to bank account: these were both free! Thanks, out-of-town visitors!), almost as indulgent as the Belgian french fry place with the most amazing poutine I'll probably ever eat, just as bad for me as my favorite lasagna pizza slice, and decidedly less healthy than The Hummus Place on St. Mark's (who knew I could crave chick peas and falafel in my sleep?).
I really have to chalk one up for this break, without which I would currently be violently ill when looking at my depressingly boring slab of turkey meat in my fridge and the same old boring vegetables. Here's to more fantastic food adventures!
Friday, January 9, 2009
I found me a table!
Oh, Stuy Town trash, you never let me down...Now when I move out next year and no longer have New School-provided furniture, I will have a dining room table! Let's just hope my current roommates don't mind our apartment having two tables for the next 4 months.
Props to Arthur for helping me roll this thing from the basement into the hallway into the elevator and into my apartment while slightly under the influence.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Things Grad Students Love, Part 3...plus an apology.
Ok, so before I launch into this let me just apologize (like any of you really care, like it was really eating away at your soul that I wasn't producing anything for you to read) for my extended silence. I've been home for the past two weeks (which is also the subject of this entry) and have just been way too busy running around actually socializing and doing something with my days other than sitting in front of a computer screen to update. Now that I'm back in the big city and still not started my spring semester, I'm sure I will have much more down time.
Which brings me to Part 3 of Things Grad Students Love:
Being home for the holidays.
Not just the title of a really entertaining Jodie Foster-directed Holly Hunter-starring film, being home for the holidays instills a sense of purpose and directive in a graduate student. Not only was I afforded a chance to see all of my California friends who I've been without for the past four months, but they were actually happy to see me due to my extended absence from the space I used to occupy weekly on their couches. My family was oddly happy to see me as well, showering me with encouragement, affection, and to be honest, lots of money. They must have heard me complaining about my lack of funds from the other side of the Rockies. Actually, it's not weird at all that they were happy to see me; I'm lucky enough to have one of those families that isn't competative with each other's accomplishments and is actually supportive and happy to see someone else succeed.
Another amazing thing about being home for the holidays was the money I was able to not spend. From dinners with my mom to drinks with friends to lunch with old acquaintances, I don't think I spent a single cent until my 4th or 5th day home in California. And believe me, I totally appreciated it. Everyone was incredibly generous and helpful, affording me a chance to have an amazing time while also saving a bit of coin. Also, the price of gas has totally tanked due to our fantastic economy. Filling up a 13 gallon tank used to cost about $60; last week I spent $32 to fill 16 gallons of my mom's Hyundai. In other words: Sweeeet.
There's nothing that I love more than spending time reminiscing with old friends and family, discussing music and remember when?s and telling stories, noticing that even though I may live thousands of miles away I can still relate to these people, these amazingly encouraging, positive, lovely people, like a beat was never missed, like a day was never spent without them, like I've been sleeping on their couches for the past four months, like I've been to all the familial get-togethers, like it wasn't completely refreshing to wake up and hear one friend groaning from his hangover in the other room, to hear another stressing out about losing her phone only to find it minutes later, to my sister in the bed on the other side of our shared room blowing her nose because the heater was on too high, to my step-father passing me in the hallway saying "'ello!", to my friends laughing at my pain from the night before, like it wasn't completely amazing and exciting to hear these sounds without the assistance of a telephone wire. At least I know that these people will always be there, that I have their love and support, and that they are really just a phone call away.
Thanks for the amazing vacation time, everyone. Love you all.
Which brings me to Part 3 of Things Grad Students Love:
Being home for the holidays.
Not just the title of a really entertaining Jodie Foster-directed Holly Hunter-starring film, being home for the holidays instills a sense of purpose and directive in a graduate student. Not only was I afforded a chance to see all of my California friends who I've been without for the past four months, but they were actually happy to see me due to my extended absence from the space I used to occupy weekly on their couches. My family was oddly happy to see me as well, showering me with encouragement, affection, and to be honest, lots of money. They must have heard me complaining about my lack of funds from the other side of the Rockies. Actually, it's not weird at all that they were happy to see me; I'm lucky enough to have one of those families that isn't competative with each other's accomplishments and is actually supportive and happy to see someone else succeed.
Another amazing thing about being home for the holidays was the money I was able to not spend. From dinners with my mom to drinks with friends to lunch with old acquaintances, I don't think I spent a single cent until my 4th or 5th day home in California. And believe me, I totally appreciated it. Everyone was incredibly generous and helpful, affording me a chance to have an amazing time while also saving a bit of coin. Also, the price of gas has totally tanked due to our fantastic economy. Filling up a 13 gallon tank used to cost about $60; last week I spent $32 to fill 16 gallons of my mom's Hyundai. In other words: Sweeeet.
There's nothing that I love more than spending time reminiscing with old friends and family, discussing music and remember when?s and telling stories, noticing that even though I may live thousands of miles away I can still relate to these people, these amazingly encouraging, positive, lovely people, like a beat was never missed, like a day was never spent without them, like I've been sleeping on their couches for the past four months, like I've been to all the familial get-togethers, like it wasn't completely refreshing to wake up and hear one friend groaning from his hangover in the other room, to hear another stressing out about losing her phone only to find it minutes later, to my sister in the bed on the other side of our shared room blowing her nose because the heater was on too high, to my step-father passing me in the hallway saying "'ello!", to my friends laughing at my pain from the night before, like it wasn't completely amazing and exciting to hear these sounds without the assistance of a telephone wire. At least I know that these people will always be there, that I have their love and support, and that they are really just a phone call away.
Thanks for the amazing vacation time, everyone. Love you all.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Things Grad Students Love, Part 2
Welcome to Part 2 of Things Grad Students Love. This installation's title:
Distractions from Finals
Oh the weather outside is frightful...
Aaaand I wish I had a fireplace so I could begin to finish that song.
So begins the first few days of intense (to me, that is) snow in New York City. I could say I was ready for it. I could say that I've been holed up in my room, typing away at my last paper on my last weekend on the East Coast for a few weeks. I could say that my feet have stayed dry, that I haven't been cold at all, that of course I've completely acclimated to below-freezing temperatures. But this would all be a lie.
Instead of slaving away on my final paper in my bedroom, I've decided to stage an ambush and throw snowballs at my neighbor's face. I've decided to attempt to "ice skate" on packed-down sidewalk snow (extremely hindered by the red wine in my system) while walking to Hi Fi on Avenue A, throwing snow at friends every two blocks. I've decided to draw obscene images in the snow on every car parked between A and B on 14th Street at 4 AM while threatening Sheng and Arthur with lethal chunks of ice. I've decided to destroy every patch of unadulterated snow with my footprints.
And it's been marvelous.
Despite the cold, COLD temperatures, the fact that I've grown a strict and impassioned aversion to pants lately (preferring, of course, leggings/tights and skirts/dresses) and the reality of the ONE pair of waterproof shoes I own (shoes, mind you, not boots), it's been marvelous.
So even though I don't have a fireplace, I'm making do with the cranked up heater that cannot be adjusted, the heater that causes me to wake up each morning with a sore throat and a bit of dried blood in my nose that somehow reminds me to be distracted and look out the window at a sight I've not yet seen in my adult life, a distraction I really wouldn't mind getting used to.
Distractions from Finals
Oh the weather outside is frightful...Aaaand I wish I had a fireplace so I could begin to finish that song.
So begins the first few days of intense (to me, that is) snow in New York City. I could say I was ready for it. I could say that I've been holed up in my room, typing away at my last paper on my last weekend on the East Coast for a few weeks. I could say that my feet have stayed dry, that I haven't been cold at all, that of course I've completely acclimated to below-freezing temperatures. But this would all be a lie.
Instead of slaving away on my final paper in my bedroom, I've decided to stage an ambush and throw snowballs at my neighbor's face. I've decided to attempt to "ice skate" on packed-down sidewalk snow (extremely hindered by the red wine in my system) while walking to Hi Fi on Avenue A, throwing snow at friends every two blocks. I've decided to draw obscene images in the snow on every car parked between A and B on 14th Street at 4 AM while threatening Sheng and Arthur with lethal chunks of ice. I've decided to destroy every patch of unadulterated snow with my footprints.
And it's been marvelous.
Despite the cold, COLD temperatures, the fact that I've grown a strict and impassioned aversion to pants lately (preferring, of course, leggings/tights and skirts/dresses) and the reality of the ONE pair of waterproof shoes I own (shoes, mind you, not boots), it's been marvelous.
So even though I don't have a fireplace, I'm making do with the cranked up heater that cannot be adjusted, the heater that causes me to wake up each morning with a sore throat and a bit of dried blood in my nose that somehow reminds me to be distracted and look out the window at a sight I've not yet seen in my adult life, a distraction I really wouldn't mind getting used to.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Things Grad Students Love, Part 1 (edited)
First installation of Things Grad Students Love:
Free shit.
I recently had an old friend from California come to stay with me in the city for five days. This friend is only two years older than myself, but already has a stable job, lives in his own apartment, owns a car, and is somehow able to use all of his free time traveling the world; no kidding, this guy's been almost everywhere one could want to go in Europe including several places in the UK three or four times, been to about three times as many states as myself, and in March is planning a trip to Tokyo with his girlfriend. I, on the other hand, am unemployed, live in an apartment that I by no means can afford that is paid for with money that isn't mine (loans, loans, loans), cook almost every meal at home on a food budget of $50/week, and sometimes can't even afford the $4 round-trip fare to get to Midtown, let alone any where else in this state. Needless to say, his life of comfort is far and beyond anything I experienced this semester.
Back to Jason's visit: By the time day five rolled around, Jason couldn't help but point out my free shit radar that I've keenly developed over the past few months.
At the Parson's Grad Program Open Studio night, to almost everyone I walked past: "So, I heard there was going to be free wine here or something?"
While trying to think of something fun to do: "I know how much you hate galleries but there's a space in Chelsea that's giving out free wine from 6 to 9 tonight."
At the Mixed Messages film show for my department: "Yeah, I know we just ate dinner but in the other room is the reception with free wine and snacks!"
While hyping Crocodile Lounge: "...AND you get a free pizza with every drink you order!"
After stepping inside the 3rd Ward Holiday Craft Sale in Brooklyn: "Ooooohhh, swag in a screen-printed canvas bag! And check out the other room, free coffee! I mean, I don't even like coffee but maybe you want some?"
Now that I lay it out here, grad students really like free consumptive items, usually in the form of
1) food
2) beverage (preferably alcoholic)
Of course, the bag of free stuff was pretty cool too: business cards, gift ideas, a magazine called "Heeb" that I'm sure was catering to the Jewish community ("Featuring the First Ever Jewish Swimsuit Calendar!"). Being a New School student gets me into the MoMA for free. I have several friends in the creative writing MFA program, so there is an abundance of high-quality poetry and fiction readings that also tend to have free booze and snacks; The New School just loves to get their students liquored up.
A good resource for all cheap-living Manhattanites: http://nyc.myopenbar.com, the site where I found out about the Chelsea gallery and where I find oh so much more every week. These locales are usually floundering bars that are looking to ramp up their traffic flow by offering free well drinks or two-for-one specials, artists offering free wine to whoever is willing to visit their space and look at their work, or liquor companies trying to get their names out by offering free scotch/vodka/gin/rum within a one hour window. I subscribe to their email list; you should do the same. There's one for San Fran and LA for all my West Coast pals, too.
Oh goodness! And let's not underestimate the always reliable Stuy Town trash and sidewalks. Myself and other friends have found several treasures there, including but not limited to:
1) About 10 classical vinyls
2) 80 or so VHS tapes, ranging in quality from 2001 to Shark Attack 3.
3) My apartment's current table cloth
4) A combo VCR/DVD player
5) A lamp
6) Four red and white chairs which now reside in our living room
7) A mosaic end table
8) Four Shakespeare plays in varying conditions
9) Several hilarious children's books
10) A totally amazing old lady skirt
11) This blue dress, to which I've added two belts and rolled up the sleeves:
And don't worry, none of this stuff was in a literal trash can; most of these items were found in bags on the ground. And of course, I've washed all the fabrics.
Craigslist is also a good resource: We obtained our couch and our bookshelf for free. Quite finds, these items. I've recently dubbed myself a freetarian. Much more fulfilling than being vegetarian, let me tell you.
Free shit.
I recently had an old friend from California come to stay with me in the city for five days. This friend is only two years older than myself, but already has a stable job, lives in his own apartment, owns a car, and is somehow able to use all of his free time traveling the world; no kidding, this guy's been almost everywhere one could want to go in Europe including several places in the UK three or four times, been to about three times as many states as myself, and in March is planning a trip to Tokyo with his girlfriend. I, on the other hand, am unemployed, live in an apartment that I by no means can afford that is paid for with money that isn't mine (loans, loans, loans), cook almost every meal at home on a food budget of $50/week, and sometimes can't even afford the $4 round-trip fare to get to Midtown, let alone any where else in this state. Needless to say, his life of comfort is far and beyond anything I experienced this semester.
Back to Jason's visit: By the time day five rolled around, Jason couldn't help but point out my free shit radar that I've keenly developed over the past few months.
At the Parson's Grad Program Open Studio night, to almost everyone I walked past: "So, I heard there was going to be free wine here or something?"
While trying to think of something fun to do: "I know how much you hate galleries but there's a space in Chelsea that's giving out free wine from 6 to 9 tonight."
At the Mixed Messages film show for my department: "Yeah, I know we just ate dinner but in the other room is the reception with free wine and snacks!"
While hyping Crocodile Lounge: "...AND you get a free pizza with every drink you order!"
After stepping inside the 3rd Ward Holiday Craft Sale in Brooklyn: "Ooooohhh, swag in a screen-printed canvas bag! And check out the other room, free coffee! I mean, I don't even like coffee but maybe you want some?"
Now that I lay it out here, grad students really like free consumptive items, usually in the form of
1) food
2) beverage (preferably alcoholic)
Of course, the bag of free stuff was pretty cool too: business cards, gift ideas, a magazine called "Heeb" that I'm sure was catering to the Jewish community ("Featuring the First Ever Jewish Swimsuit Calendar!"). Being a New School student gets me into the MoMA for free. I have several friends in the creative writing MFA program, so there is an abundance of high-quality poetry and fiction readings that also tend to have free booze and snacks; The New School just loves to get their students liquored up.
A good resource for all cheap-living Manhattanites: http://nyc.myopenbar.com, the site where I found out about the Chelsea gallery and where I find oh so much more every week. These locales are usually floundering bars that are looking to ramp up their traffic flow by offering free well drinks or two-for-one specials, artists offering free wine to whoever is willing to visit their space and look at their work, or liquor companies trying to get their names out by offering free scotch/vodka/gin/rum within a one hour window. I subscribe to their email list; you should do the same. There's one for San Fran and LA for all my West Coast pals, too.
Oh goodness! And let's not underestimate the always reliable Stuy Town trash and sidewalks. Myself and other friends have found several treasures there, including but not limited to:
1) About 10 classical vinyls
2) 80 or so VHS tapes, ranging in quality from 2001 to Shark Attack 3.
3) My apartment's current table cloth
4) A combo VCR/DVD player
5) A lamp
6) Four red and white chairs which now reside in our living room
7) A mosaic end table
8) Four Shakespeare plays in varying conditions
9) Several hilarious children's books
10) A totally amazing old lady skirt
11) This blue dress, to which I've added two belts and rolled up the sleeves:
And don't worry, none of this stuff was in a literal trash can; most of these items were found in bags on the ground. And of course, I've washed all the fabrics.Craigslist is also a good resource: We obtained our couch and our bookshelf for free. Quite finds, these items. I've recently dubbed myself a freetarian. Much more fulfilling than being vegetarian, let me tell you.
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