Random Monday
1. I figured out that I have pnigophobia. That's the fear of choking for those of you not up on your phobia studies. I eat super slow and if you think it's annoying to watch me do it, try being me. It takes me an hour to eat a Costco polish sausage hotdog. I can't go to buffets because I can barely finish one plate to everyone's three. People label me a nibbler but the truth is, I can't take big bites cause it feels like my throat wants to close up on me. Some days are better than others, some foods easier to swallow than others. I was choking on water this weekend and that sucked. And no, I’m not going to a doctor. I've had enough doctors for now. I get along fine and I'm not starving to death, as most of you know full well.
2. I saw a white mazda miata today with the license plate: I EVICT. Um, okay..... So I can understand someone being highly involved in their job, taking satisfaction and pride in what they do (after all, if we all did that, we'd be so much happier as a society) but when it's something like evicting people out of their homes who can't or don't pay, I'm not sure how that could possibly be a fulfilling career. I've never worked for a company that does evictions (repos yes), I've never seen anyone be evicted (other than in Michael Moore's film Roger & Me) and I have never been evicted myself. But from what I gather, it is highly stressful and depressing to have to make someone homeless whether they deserve it or not. I don't know the Miata owner's deal, but if he truly is happy in that line of work, there must be a special place in hell for him. It's one thing to have to do something that you don't want even though you know it's wrong but you are forced to in order to feed, cloth, and house your own family. It's another thing to gloat to the world about it on your license plate.
3. It is so weird wearing flip-flops in October especially with leaves on the ground. It's even weirder to see roses still in bloom. The forecast is sunny and 70-75 degrees all week long.
4. I like these guys a whole bunch. If I had more time on my hands, I think I'd attend some of their events.
5. Since milk and cheese are supposed to settle an upset tummy, would a milkshake do the same thing? My stomach hurts today for no good reason. It might be the donut I had around 11 after I thought I was still hungry from breakfast. After a bowl of cereal, a high protein bar, and a yogurt I still felt funny. I am unofficially allergic to donuts and I knew it was a bad choice but it was a split 2 second decision that I made in order to get to class on time. Now I'm paying for it with my tummy all day. I bought a beautiful lunch of dahl, rice, chutney and cilantro at the vegetarian/vegan Holy Cow Cafe (cafeteria food has come a long way) but I feel too icky to eat it.
6. Blogger is being a jerky-turkey today and so the photos I want to put up will have to wait a little while longer.
7. I'm writing a paper about the American urban ghetto experience as expressed in the movie Candyman. Yeah, you read that right. I bet right about now my parents are glad they are unable to pay for my education. With papers like that, who needs a degree? I would end up asking if my customers wanted fries with their orders either way. Why pay thousands of dollars to have that privilege? Ha. No, seriously, my urban geography assignment is to review a movie and dissect the urban themes. Mind you this is a 400 level class (which is the highest you can go before grad school) so it's not like I'm getting off easy. The paper has to be damn good by upper division standards.
I decided I wanted to learn more about environmental psychology and how it relates to urban ghettos commonly referred to as "the projects". There is a great deal written about the 'death of modernism' when these huge honking buildings were demolished after their complete and utter failure to provide safe, respectable housing for the poor. Many people blame the buildings solely and as I'm learning, that isn't a fair assessment. The buildings need to be evaluated in conjunction with the large context in which they were placed. True, some of the blame lies in the fact that inexperienced architects incorrectly assumed that these designs copied from upper and middle class buildings in Europe could somehow be adapted with little modification for the working poor in this country. But there were other factors at work such as the federal government putting the squeeze on the local housing authorities funding (in most cases, the absolute cheapest materials possible were installed), displaced poor families evicted from their neighborhoods (under eminent domain statues), forcing them to find temporary housing before being asked back to these new alien neighborhoods and high-rise buildings, and welfare recipients gaining entry after new federal guidelines dictated a lowering of the income guidelines. There were many factors at large that made some of the inner city urban renewal efforts of the mid twentieth century total disasters. I’ve decided to highlight these by reviewing both Candyman and Dark Water (which is a remake of a Japanese film. That seems to be a trend with Hollywood horror movies lately).
The most interesting thing I’ve discovered is that the two urban settings from which these movies centered their storylines around couldn’t be more different in real life based on their success. Candyman is filmed in the infamous Cabrini-Green projects of Chicago while Dark Water’s setting is Roosevelt Island in New York City. Cabrini-Green was one of those failed urban renewal projects that suffered at the hands of city officials too ill-equipped and under funded to keep tabs on the projects. The result is a murderous reputation that lasted 50 years. Recent efforts have been made to clear out the rotting buildings and replace them with residential style two and three story row houses and apartments. Roosevelt Island, on the other hand, was never considered a “project” of any kind (despite the nickname it was given in the early 20th century: Welfare Island). I had the rare opportunity to view detailed plans for redevelopment by Philip Johnson and John Burgee thanks to the UofO’s extensive library collection. These architects knew what they were doing. They knew the demographics and the kind of residents they were trying to attract to the island. They understood essential details about open space, restricted vehicle access and communal areas (all present in Cabrini-Green, yet all contributing instead to the horrors of the site). I’d like to follow this a little closer and I’m highly interested in the differences between races. I found a few articles and papers that suggest major differences between African-Americans & Caucasians in how they perceive the physical environment and their temporal senses. It’s fascinating stuff. It has the potential to lead to a greater understanding of our built environment and where we should be headed if we want to improve lives through architecture. Which I guess is what I want to do with my life.
Don't think I'll be taking fast food orders anytime soon… at least I hope not.
2. I saw a white mazda miata today with the license plate: I EVICT. Um, okay..... So I can understand someone being highly involved in their job, taking satisfaction and pride in what they do (after all, if we all did that, we'd be so much happier as a society) but when it's something like evicting people out of their homes who can't or don't pay, I'm not sure how that could possibly be a fulfilling career. I've never worked for a company that does evictions (repos yes), I've never seen anyone be evicted (other than in Michael Moore's film Roger & Me) and I have never been evicted myself. But from what I gather, it is highly stressful and depressing to have to make someone homeless whether they deserve it or not. I don't know the Miata owner's deal, but if he truly is happy in that line of work, there must be a special place in hell for him. It's one thing to have to do something that you don't want even though you know it's wrong but you are forced to in order to feed, cloth, and house your own family. It's another thing to gloat to the world about it on your license plate.
3. It is so weird wearing flip-flops in October especially with leaves on the ground. It's even weirder to see roses still in bloom. The forecast is sunny and 70-75 degrees all week long.
4. I like these guys a whole bunch. If I had more time on my hands, I think I'd attend some of their events.
5. Since milk and cheese are supposed to settle an upset tummy, would a milkshake do the same thing? My stomach hurts today for no good reason. It might be the donut I had around 11 after I thought I was still hungry from breakfast. After a bowl of cereal, a high protein bar, and a yogurt I still felt funny. I am unofficially allergic to donuts and I knew it was a bad choice but it was a split 2 second decision that I made in order to get to class on time. Now I'm paying for it with my tummy all day. I bought a beautiful lunch of dahl, rice, chutney and cilantro at the vegetarian/vegan Holy Cow Cafe (cafeteria food has come a long way) but I feel too icky to eat it.
6. Blogger is being a jerky-turkey today and so the photos I want to put up will have to wait a little while longer.
7. I'm writing a paper about the American urban ghetto experience as expressed in the movie Candyman. Yeah, you read that right. I bet right about now my parents are glad they are unable to pay for my education. With papers like that, who needs a degree? I would end up asking if my customers wanted fries with their orders either way. Why pay thousands of dollars to have that privilege? Ha. No, seriously, my urban geography assignment is to review a movie and dissect the urban themes. Mind you this is a 400 level class (which is the highest you can go before grad school) so it's not like I'm getting off easy. The paper has to be damn good by upper division standards.
I decided I wanted to learn more about environmental psychology and how it relates to urban ghettos commonly referred to as "the projects". There is a great deal written about the 'death of modernism' when these huge honking buildings were demolished after their complete and utter failure to provide safe, respectable housing for the poor. Many people blame the buildings solely and as I'm learning, that isn't a fair assessment. The buildings need to be evaluated in conjunction with the large context in which they were placed. True, some of the blame lies in the fact that inexperienced architects incorrectly assumed that these designs copied from upper and middle class buildings in Europe could somehow be adapted with little modification for the working poor in this country. But there were other factors at work such as the federal government putting the squeeze on the local housing authorities funding (in most cases, the absolute cheapest materials possible were installed), displaced poor families evicted from their neighborhoods (under eminent domain statues), forcing them to find temporary housing before being asked back to these new alien neighborhoods and high-rise buildings, and welfare recipients gaining entry after new federal guidelines dictated a lowering of the income guidelines. There were many factors at large that made some of the inner city urban renewal efforts of the mid twentieth century total disasters. I’ve decided to highlight these by reviewing both Candyman and Dark Water (which is a remake of a Japanese film. That seems to be a trend with Hollywood horror movies lately).
The most interesting thing I’ve discovered is that the two urban settings from which these movies centered their storylines around couldn’t be more different in real life based on their success. Candyman is filmed in the infamous Cabrini-Green projects of Chicago while Dark Water’s setting is Roosevelt Island in New York City. Cabrini-Green was one of those failed urban renewal projects that suffered at the hands of city officials too ill-equipped and under funded to keep tabs on the projects. The result is a murderous reputation that lasted 50 years. Recent efforts have been made to clear out the rotting buildings and replace them with residential style two and three story row houses and apartments. Roosevelt Island, on the other hand, was never considered a “project” of any kind (despite the nickname it was given in the early 20th century: Welfare Island). I had the rare opportunity to view detailed plans for redevelopment by Philip Johnson and John Burgee thanks to the UofO’s extensive library collection. These architects knew what they were doing. They knew the demographics and the kind of residents they were trying to attract to the island. They understood essential details about open space, restricted vehicle access and communal areas (all present in Cabrini-Green, yet all contributing instead to the horrors of the site). I’d like to follow this a little closer and I’m highly interested in the differences between races. I found a few articles and papers that suggest major differences between African-Americans & Caucasians in how they perceive the physical environment and their temporal senses. It’s fascinating stuff. It has the potential to lead to a greater understanding of our built environment and where we should be headed if we want to improve lives through architecture. Which I guess is what I want to do with my life.
Don't think I'll be taking fast food orders anytime soon… at least I hope not.
posted by punkindunkin at 3:32 PM
1 Comments:
That Mazda you saw is either the owner of Stewardship Properties(also known as campusrentals.com) or someone that works for them.
Post a Comment
<< Home