Yesterday I took the day off from doing anything and walked around the city with Tamas. We made quite a day of it despite the fact that we didn't get out of the house until at least 11. We started our voyage in the West Village, then hopped the train to Chinatown where he got ripped off by a shopkeeper who sold him a bag and then gave him the smaller one wrapped up. We then walked down to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked over. I have been on the Manhattan Bridge, but never the Brooklyn. I did like it despite the fact that it was completely crowded with tourists. It was kind of humorous to watch exasperated cyclists dealing with peds encroaching on their lane. Clearly a lane of car traffic should be removed in each direction for the sake of bikes so that peds and bikes can be separated here. We then hung out in the park in DUMBO and then checked out Brooklyn Heights before heading home. BH, which is the original suburb in the US, is actually a very nice neighborhood since it was built for rich people who walked everywhere. There is a nice commercial street with very little traffic and lots of nice restaurants with outdoor seating.
When we got home, I was looking forward to relaxing a bit before Brandy got home, but this was not to be. Nick called and convinced us to go to some show at BB King's up at godforsaken Times Square. It was $18 and then the fucks had a ticketmaster AT THE DOOR for the sole purpose of screwing you out of another $2. The band Nick wanted to see was some marginal Reggae band that opened for some really shitty band that did Reggae covers of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead. We ended up getting the hell out of there, feeling the hole in our pockets. We then strolled through Times Square since Tamas had not seen it at night, and he was very hilarious joking about how amazing and spectacular it was. Turns out Times Square is much more tolerable when you aren't actually trying to get somewhere.
We then went to McSorley's for a few cheap ass beers and then headed over to the Bulgarian Disco. The Disco was completely dead so we wandered around for awhile, had a beer at Max Fish, which was filled with hipsters, including many cute women. We then rounded out the evening at this "speakeasy." You have to go through this little tunnel and alley to get to it, and then they serve your drinks in coffee and tea cups. There is also this little back room for VIPs and private parties that is behind a revolving bookshelf. There are a lot of nice couches and the beer is pretty good. Tamas was very excited that they had Radeberger, which comes from his hometown.
I just made some chocolate chip cookies that are not as good as I'd like, but I cannot stop eating them.
So boring post, but my mind is not here so...
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Ridiculous Rutgers
Just an example of how absurd my university is:
Hourly employees need to turn in time sheets by noon on Thu, after having them signed by a supervisor. The pay period ends on Friday, so that means that if you might work on Thu or Fri, you have to guess how many hours you will work and report them before you actually work them, or else they will withhold your paycheck two weeks. If there is a holiday involved, you have to turn them in by Wednesday.
Hourly employees need to turn in time sheets by noon on Thu, after having them signed by a supervisor. The pay period ends on Friday, so that means that if you might work on Thu or Fri, you have to guess how many hours you will work and report them before you actually work them, or else they will withhold your paycheck two weeks. If there is a holiday involved, you have to turn them in by Wednesday.
Crossing the Mason-Dixon
I am finally free of the semester and have been enjoying not going to New Jersey every day.
This past weekend Brandy and I went down to VA to visit her family. It was a shame that it was this weekend since Eric left for the summer before we got back, and he had his going away party as well, but it was the only weekend we could really take the trip, and Eric and I had gotten some time to hang before we left.
The trip was very nice and relaxing. It was great to get out of the city and enjoy the quiet and fresh air on the farm, and while the farm is in danger of being eaten by disgusting suburbs, their road has thusfar remained relatively unscathed, so it is still very quiet. I am also starting to feel a lot more comfortable around her parents. I must admit that it is a bit intimidating to be a liberal, non-religious, academic type meeting the girlfriend's Southern Baptist farmer parents. It is surprising though to realize that liberals (at least this liberal) and farmers have a lot more in common than I used to think. It is so important to spend time around people who you would never imagine spending time with as it really helps to show how much more complicated people and politics and beliefs are in this world than what the propagandists of our two beloved parties would like you to believe. I have been getting much more interested in farming and food systems lately because I feel like it is so very important, but is not a very sexy topic for academics and politics and intellectuals, so it is left to the corporations. It seems like this is slowly changing with the organic and buy local movements though. I entertain romantic notions of being a farmer one day, but I really doubt that I would make a very good one since I am so lazy. I guess not so much laziness, but the fact that I couldn't commit myself to being tied to the farm indefinitely. You just do not have the freedom to spend a month away, or even a week, although I imagine that depends on the type of farming. I do like the idea though of working outdoors and being a steward of the land and feeding the people. Nothing like throwing away almost a decade of schooling. Jesus god, I've been in college for something like 8 of the past 10 years. If I do a PhD, add a few more to that.
Brandy turned 30 last Thu, and she has been jokingly lamenting the fact that she is now getting "you know your old when..." cards. Had a trapper keeper, know that Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael are not just artists... That's us folks.
I wanted to throw a surprise party for her, but I knew I would just flub it since the semester was ending at the same time, so we just went out on Wed night. She was worried about not having friends any more because not a lot of people responded to us going out, but in the end a lot of her favorite people showed up and the night was a resounding success. She almost didn't call one of her friends because she had been flaky lately and they just hadn't hung out in awhile, but then she randomly read her horiscope and and it told her to call someone she hadn't spoken with for awhile, and that tonight would work out, although not in the way that was expected. So she called Lauren, and she had just randomly read her horiscope, which told her something about wishing an old friend happy birthday or something, so Lauren came out.
I had my last exam that night, so I didn't get back to the City until 11, when I met them at some stupid bar that some Couchsurfer who had taken over Brandy's birthday post by posting numerous times about this bar and getting CS discounts, etc. The bar sucked and the discounts did not exist, so we went to our favorite hookah lounge, followed by a karaoke bar. At karaoke there was this weird guy who looked like he was from some 80s hair band. He was alone and would sit staring at the screen transfixed and would randomly yell out yeeeaaahhh. We invited Lauren, who is also from Lynchburg to come with us and she accepted. She has a friend who she met on Birthright who lives in DC, so we ended up staying with him and not having to make the 8 hour drive in one shot.
Down in VA we didn't do a whole lot except hang around the farm and visit Brandy's grandma who is in the hospital after falling down some stairs. We did acquire a ridiculous amount of plants for the house.
We got back on Monday night, and then yesterday a German/Hungarian guy I know from Budapest came for the week. After he arrived we went to the sushi bar around the corner where they have free sake, and then afterwards we grabbed some beers and chilled out at the house with the roommates.
Today he went on his own, and I am supposedly working. I have basically just been out enjoying the warm weather while buying hardware and produce and being very happy to be a student. I also had a phone meeting with John, for whom I'm working on the cycling in NYC paper, so I haven't been completely unproductive.
Tonight we will probably go to Brooklyn Brewery. As much as I hate to give a German that mediocre beer, it is only $1 for Bike Month, and I will make it up to him by going to Barcade after.
This past weekend Brandy and I went down to VA to visit her family. It was a shame that it was this weekend since Eric left for the summer before we got back, and he had his going away party as well, but it was the only weekend we could really take the trip, and Eric and I had gotten some time to hang before we left.
The trip was very nice and relaxing. It was great to get out of the city and enjoy the quiet and fresh air on the farm, and while the farm is in danger of being eaten by disgusting suburbs, their road has thusfar remained relatively unscathed, so it is still very quiet. I am also starting to feel a lot more comfortable around her parents. I must admit that it is a bit intimidating to be a liberal, non-religious, academic type meeting the girlfriend's Southern Baptist farmer parents. It is surprising though to realize that liberals (at least this liberal) and farmers have a lot more in common than I used to think. It is so important to spend time around people who you would never imagine spending time with as it really helps to show how much more complicated people and politics and beliefs are in this world than what the propagandists of our two beloved parties would like you to believe. I have been getting much more interested in farming and food systems lately because I feel like it is so very important, but is not a very sexy topic for academics and politics and intellectuals, so it is left to the corporations. It seems like this is slowly changing with the organic and buy local movements though. I entertain romantic notions of being a farmer one day, but I really doubt that I would make a very good one since I am so lazy. I guess not so much laziness, but the fact that I couldn't commit myself to being tied to the farm indefinitely. You just do not have the freedom to spend a month away, or even a week, although I imagine that depends on the type of farming. I do like the idea though of working outdoors and being a steward of the land and feeding the people. Nothing like throwing away almost a decade of schooling. Jesus god, I've been in college for something like 8 of the past 10 years. If I do a PhD, add a few more to that.
Brandy turned 30 last Thu, and she has been jokingly lamenting the fact that she is now getting "you know your old when..." cards. Had a trapper keeper, know that Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael are not just artists... That's us folks.
I wanted to throw a surprise party for her, but I knew I would just flub it since the semester was ending at the same time, so we just went out on Wed night. She was worried about not having friends any more because not a lot of people responded to us going out, but in the end a lot of her favorite people showed up and the night was a resounding success. She almost didn't call one of her friends because she had been flaky lately and they just hadn't hung out in awhile, but then she randomly read her horiscope and and it told her to call someone she hadn't spoken with for awhile, and that tonight would work out, although not in the way that was expected. So she called Lauren, and she had just randomly read her horiscope, which told her something about wishing an old friend happy birthday or something, so Lauren came out.
I had my last exam that night, so I didn't get back to the City until 11, when I met them at some stupid bar that some Couchsurfer who had taken over Brandy's birthday post by posting numerous times about this bar and getting CS discounts, etc. The bar sucked and the discounts did not exist, so we went to our favorite hookah lounge, followed by a karaoke bar. At karaoke there was this weird guy who looked like he was from some 80s hair band. He was alone and would sit staring at the screen transfixed and would randomly yell out yeeeaaahhh. We invited Lauren, who is also from Lynchburg to come with us and she accepted. She has a friend who she met on Birthright who lives in DC, so we ended up staying with him and not having to make the 8 hour drive in one shot.
Down in VA we didn't do a whole lot except hang around the farm and visit Brandy's grandma who is in the hospital after falling down some stairs. We did acquire a ridiculous amount of plants for the house.
We got back on Monday night, and then yesterday a German/Hungarian guy I know from Budapest came for the week. After he arrived we went to the sushi bar around the corner where they have free sake, and then afterwards we grabbed some beers and chilled out at the house with the roommates.
Today he went on his own, and I am supposedly working. I have basically just been out enjoying the warm weather while buying hardware and produce and being very happy to be a student. I also had a phone meeting with John, for whom I'm working on the cycling in NYC paper, so I haven't been completely unproductive.
Tonight we will probably go to Brooklyn Brewery. As much as I hate to give a German that mediocre beer, it is only $1 for Bike Month, and I will make it up to him by going to Barcade after.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Fuck Danger Party
Last night was entertaining despite large amounts of suckiness. Since I've been semi-done with the semester I've been taking advantage of the freedom to actually do things. Last night Eric was supposed to have a party on his roof, but he canceled it due to the potential for rain which never materialized. We ended up going to this party that looked like it would be really awesome. I was supposedly in a 5-floor reclaimed strip club way downtown and was going to have dancers, fire shows, DJs, bands, etc. It was put on by these fucking pieces of shit called thedanger, who supposedly had put on pretty awesome parties in the past. I'm unconvinced.
On the way down there I took the chance and walked across a wet spot on the subway platform. This is dangerous because the source is generally up, but I didn't see any dripping, so I went for it. Right then a huge splash came down on my head and arm. Ugh, but usually it's just condensation from a pipe. Not this time. I smelled it, and AAAHHH, it was urine!! And I had to wait to get to the party before washing it off...
We got there just after midnight and there was this huge line. I need to learn to listen to my instincts in these situations, but we saw some people we know, so we got in line and waited for about 45 min. We got in and it wasn't immediately terrible. It was kind of crowded and smelled like paint, but there were hot girls dancing behind the bar and we could move. We went upstairs and suddenly I felt like I was in college again. It took several minutes to get up the stairs, and upstairs it was completely crowded and hot and the music sounded so shitty I couldn't tell if it would have even been any good on a decent system. The place was big, yet every space was way too small and people were crowded and jostling everywhere. I think the whole party was moving at once looking for a place that didn't suck. We found a dirty scaffold and sat there for awhile. We were there about 15 min and then they turned on the lights and informed us that the fire department was there and kicking everyone out, which I don't blame them because the place was a total death trap. Worse than any "underground" party I've ever been to, although they had a permit or whatever. I was so annoyed that I stole a roll of duct tape on the way out and then stood right in front of one of the organizers and talked about how that was the shittiest party I've been to in years and even a fucking child could do a better job. I was actually kind of glad to be kicked out b/c it gave me even more reason to talk shit about the terrible party. It also seems obvious that the scumbags knew they were getting shut down and quickly packed in a bunch of extra people to make more money. Fuck you danger party.
There were six of us, Brandy, me, J, two Irish dudes and a German girl and we decided that we were going to crash Eric's roof, even if he wasn't going to be there since most of us hadn't had a beer and we knew that even if a party wasn't going on there, we'd have a nice view (and Brandy and I would be close to home). After unsuccessfully searching for a minivan cab (or one that wasn't too big a pussy to take 6 people. Screw that guy), we got on a J train and headed over. Brandy had brought her new stripper shoes, which have flashing lights in them, and had been unfulfilled by the party, so she decided to do a little show on the pole in the train. We went through three stops, and each time some dudes would get on tired from a night of party, and then she would start dancing and they'd be like, "What the fuck?!?" A couple of them noticed the shoes before she danced, and then were like, "wow!" One dude exclaimed that he was on so many drugs and this was just too crazy. He came over to get a closer look and make sure it was actually happening and then spotted J's ridiculous white wig and said, "Woah, your hair is crazy man! I dropped a bunch of E! I love New York! I don't want to get off." At his stop he requested a hug and Brandy complied. He was a gentleman on E and didn't try to grab anything, just wanted a hug.
When we got to the roof it was not that great of a party, but the view wowed as usual, and there were a lot of hot girls. Brandy and I were a bit tired from all the adventure and a bit cold from the insane wind, so we bailed and got to bed around four.
Oh yeah, the bus ride home was also entertaining. There was this group of something like six black teens, probably middle school or freshman hootin' and hollerin' in the back and picking on each other, you know, teen shit. They were making a huge racket trying to decide where to get off and which train to take where. Everyone on the bus was grinning deep down, but you'd have to have been there to really get the funny. And I even scored a free transfer since it had been less than two hours since I had gotten on the J. Sweet.
On a side note, I completely embrace the use of 'like' as a quotation signifier, whatever that is called. It just sounds so much better than any of the alternatives in many cases, so prescriptivists be damned. As a filler though, blah!
On the way down there I took the chance and walked across a wet spot on the subway platform. This is dangerous because the source is generally up, but I didn't see any dripping, so I went for it. Right then a huge splash came down on my head and arm. Ugh, but usually it's just condensation from a pipe. Not this time. I smelled it, and AAAHHH, it was urine!! And I had to wait to get to the party before washing it off...
We got there just after midnight and there was this huge line. I need to learn to listen to my instincts in these situations, but we saw some people we know, so we got in line and waited for about 45 min. We got in and it wasn't immediately terrible. It was kind of crowded and smelled like paint, but there were hot girls dancing behind the bar and we could move. We went upstairs and suddenly I felt like I was in college again. It took several minutes to get up the stairs, and upstairs it was completely crowded and hot and the music sounded so shitty I couldn't tell if it would have even been any good on a decent system. The place was big, yet every space was way too small and people were crowded and jostling everywhere. I think the whole party was moving at once looking for a place that didn't suck. We found a dirty scaffold and sat there for awhile. We were there about 15 min and then they turned on the lights and informed us that the fire department was there and kicking everyone out, which I don't blame them because the place was a total death trap. Worse than any "underground" party I've ever been to, although they had a permit or whatever. I was so annoyed that I stole a roll of duct tape on the way out and then stood right in front of one of the organizers and talked about how that was the shittiest party I've been to in years and even a fucking child could do a better job. I was actually kind of glad to be kicked out b/c it gave me even more reason to talk shit about the terrible party. It also seems obvious that the scumbags knew they were getting shut down and quickly packed in a bunch of extra people to make more money. Fuck you danger party.
There were six of us, Brandy, me, J, two Irish dudes and a German girl and we decided that we were going to crash Eric's roof, even if he wasn't going to be there since most of us hadn't had a beer and we knew that even if a party wasn't going on there, we'd have a nice view (and Brandy and I would be close to home). After unsuccessfully searching for a minivan cab (or one that wasn't too big a pussy to take 6 people. Screw that guy), we got on a J train and headed over. Brandy had brought her new stripper shoes, which have flashing lights in them, and had been unfulfilled by the party, so she decided to do a little show on the pole in the train. We went through three stops, and each time some dudes would get on tired from a night of party, and then she would start dancing and they'd be like, "What the fuck?!?" A couple of them noticed the shoes before she danced, and then were like, "wow!" One dude exclaimed that he was on so many drugs and this was just too crazy. He came over to get a closer look and make sure it was actually happening and then spotted J's ridiculous white wig and said, "Woah, your hair is crazy man! I dropped a bunch of E! I love New York! I don't want to get off." At his stop he requested a hug and Brandy complied. He was a gentleman on E and didn't try to grab anything, just wanted a hug.
When we got to the roof it was not that great of a party, but the view wowed as usual, and there were a lot of hot girls. Brandy and I were a bit tired from all the adventure and a bit cold from the insane wind, so we bailed and got to bed around four.
Oh yeah, the bus ride home was also entertaining. There was this group of something like six black teens, probably middle school or freshman hootin' and hollerin' in the back and picking on each other, you know, teen shit. They were making a huge racket trying to decide where to get off and which train to take where. Everyone on the bus was grinning deep down, but you'd have to have been there to really get the funny. And I even scored a free transfer since it had been less than two hours since I had gotten on the J. Sweet.
On a side note, I completely embrace the use of 'like' as a quotation signifier, whatever that is called. It just sounds so much better than any of the alternatives in many cases, so prescriptivists be damned. As a filler though, blah!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Broke down trains and Russians
Ugh, got stuck on the NJ Transit today. Some train got stuck in the tunnel this morning. Since there are only two tracks under the Hudson and it was rush hour, they stopped letting trains out, including mine which was the next scheduled train. We had to wait over half an hour and we are just now finally getting moving. If I'm lucky I might just barely make my quiz, although it doesn't really matter since I did none of the readings, opting instead to work on my paper. There was some raspy-voiced lady bitching and moaning who kind of made up for the whole ordeal. “C'mon, get that shit out the tunnel... let's go.” was her first sound, and it only got better after that. Cell phone conversations alternating between a thick Brooklyn accent, and then yelling in Russian at her ma. Perfect. Now there's some bum trying to get a free ride. Getting tossed out at Secaucus. He was trying to get the conductor to give him a free ride to Newark. WTF? You can catch a PATH train to Newark for a buck seventy-five. I'm sure you can spange that in like 15 min.
Friday, May 1, 2009
End of semester
I have been pretty ill the last week or so, which is a huge drag since it is also the end of the semester and I am insanely busy. Doc says it's some kind of virus wreaking havoc on my lower intestine. However, that doesn't seem to explain to me why I keep getting splitting migraine like headaches, although she says it does. Today I have decided to fast for awhile since the muffin I had for breakfast made my stomach feel like it was going to explode. Honestly though, I haven't felt like this ever. It's really bad. It's also pretty strange that, when bombs aren't going off in my brain, I'm totally fine in the head.
I'm starting to get a little concerned about my overall health, actually. I feel like I've been having a lot of little and annoying maladies, one after the other for about a year and a half now. I guess I'm just getting older, but it's pretty annoying after being spoiled with little to no health issues for pretty much my whole life.
Other than pissing and moaning about my health, I've been working pretty hard trying to finish the semester. Zeus parted the skies and struck twice in the same place as both of the assignments that were due today got extended to next week. Of course this just means that my weekend will suck that much more, but it also means that I won't turn in complete shit work. Only underwear stain shit work.
I am sure looking forward to getting done with my semester so that I can start working on the things that are a little more interesting to me, namely the cycling project for John, my falscheeinbahnstrasse project for the conference in June, and my summer directed study, whatever that may turn out to be. I'm hoping to do something with carsharing. I am also looking forward to having a little more time to hang out with Brandy, go to shows, and relax a bit.
Still sweating weather or not I'll be funded next year. Me not getting funding basically = me fucked. I got an email saying I was not being extended and freaked, but then realized that it is just that they had to meet a deadline for the Uni, and are still not done deciding. I'm pretty concerned though.
In the good news, it looks like I won't have any lack of work this summer, and I don't have to do a damn bit of job searching. I like when that works out like that because job searching is one of my least favorite things to do in the world. I was just told that Dan wants me to work on the data analysis portion of the parking research project I was doing last summer, whenever we get all our data. It also looks like National Transit Institute wants to keep me around over the summer. So this on top of the work for John should keep me busy and liquid until I take off to Europe in August.
Hey, I just noticed it's not freezing cold in the computer lab. Good sign to get back to work.
I'm starting to get a little concerned about my overall health, actually. I feel like I've been having a lot of little and annoying maladies, one after the other for about a year and a half now. I guess I'm just getting older, but it's pretty annoying after being spoiled with little to no health issues for pretty much my whole life.
Other than pissing and moaning about my health, I've been working pretty hard trying to finish the semester. Zeus parted the skies and struck twice in the same place as both of the assignments that were due today got extended to next week. Of course this just means that my weekend will suck that much more, but it also means that I won't turn in complete shit work. Only underwear stain shit work.
I am sure looking forward to getting done with my semester so that I can start working on the things that are a little more interesting to me, namely the cycling project for John, my falscheeinbahnstrasse project for the conference in June, and my summer directed study, whatever that may turn out to be. I'm hoping to do something with carsharing. I am also looking forward to having a little more time to hang out with Brandy, go to shows, and relax a bit.
Still sweating weather or not I'll be funded next year. Me not getting funding basically = me fucked. I got an email saying I was not being extended and freaked, but then realized that it is just that they had to meet a deadline for the Uni, and are still not done deciding. I'm pretty concerned though.
In the good news, it looks like I won't have any lack of work this summer, and I don't have to do a damn bit of job searching. I like when that works out like that because job searching is one of my least favorite things to do in the world. I was just told that Dan wants me to work on the data analysis portion of the parking research project I was doing last summer, whenever we get all our data. It also looks like National Transit Institute wants to keep me around over the summer. So this on top of the work for John should keep me busy and liquid until I take off to Europe in August.
Hey, I just noticed it's not freezing cold in the computer lab. Good sign to get back to work.
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