gung hay fat choi
happy new year! it's the year of the dog. read a list of traditions that i did not follow
here. and of course , the tradition that i do almost always observe - wearing new clothes so that the evil spirits won't recognize me in the new year - is not listed. but no, i did not use the new year as a reason to go shopping. really.
infrastructure + shopping carts
so most people know that i’m a total city nerd – i love knowing about things like how to get onto the
high line, the beaches at
floyd bennett field, the ramshackle piers in williamsburg, random train lines in bushwick and where the office of emergency management is. i just got the most perfect book to satisfy my thirst for random new york city-isms.
the works: anatomy of a city by kate ascher (who is a mover and shaker with the
n.y.c. e.d.c.) explains how this crazy metropolis works, everything from the subways to the bridges to how pot holes form, how street cleaning machines and sewers work - and did you know there's a special machine for cleaning the
holland tunnel? and is filled with other fun facts like how the average n.y.c. resident uses
half as much power as an average american. if nothing else the book promises to be a fascinating description of the interconnected systems that makes this city go and how they
evolved over time. i'm so thrilled.
on another note: since
the L train is not running this weekend, thankfully cutting brooklyn off from the rest of the city, this absurd shopping cart race the
idiotarod might just be the most fun alternative transportation method for getting from brooklyn to manhattan this weekend, leaving
williamsburg at 2.30 p.m. on sunday. note that riding
in the shopping cart is not recommended. too bad this wasn’t an option during the transit strike! although i don't think there are enough shopping carts to satisfy demand in a city that doesn't have very many
big concrete boxes surrounded by oceans of asphalt.
nyc:iditarod
coincidence?
here i am, monday morning, at a hopelessly boring and botched computer training by overpaid, incompetent consultants, when i was reminded by a certain tattooed motorcycle ridin' chef from the U.K. that
Computer
Based
Training (CBT) is really not very different from
Cock and
Ball
Torture at all...
Thanks Chriss!
behavioural tendencies
apparently, i am
only 17.55424% geek, which makes me less geeky than
andrew but not geeky enough to understand how or why my score was calculated to seven
significant digits. can geekiness really be measured that precisely? what did you get?
and, scientific proof that
men revel in revenge and women are softies even if the fuckers deserve it.
UPDATE:
sadie scored 30.99647%
dan dine scored 15.58185%
ian scored 15.3% (note how he dropped the extra significant digits!)
and clearly, the canadians are leading in the great geek ranks, with
neil scoring 39.44773%
and my brothers nic and jonie scoring 38.65878% and 25-something% respectively.
(btw, sadie is an honourary canadian due to her commonwealth heritage)
(more) hurricane relief
my good friend lizzie has been working her tail off helping to put together
Act Local, which is a group of local NYC artists and musicians coming together in an all-day event to benefit the
Southern Arts Federation Emergency Relief Fund. The Relief Fund's goal is to help artists throughout the Gulf region rebuild after losing an estimated $82 million worth of equipment, studio space, live venues - basically, all the things artists need to be creative and make a living.
i'm sad i can't go because i'm going to be out of town - but it's going to be amazing and it starts on Sunday at 1, with bands and booths throughout the 3 floors of
the Knitting Factory. Rumour has it that the early bird gift bags will contain a vibrator and lube from every girl's favourite store
toys in babeland... so show up early and get an extra dose of fun.
hurricane:culture
word of the day
or i guess technically, the word for tomorrow.
paraskavedekatriaphobia who knew?
it's a new year
and some notable events to date:
- getting my best friend laid (actually twice, but since the first instance was at the tail end of the year, i won't claim more credit than that)
- screwing up my neck having sex on/near new year's, two years in a row
- successfully fixing my car's leaky sunroof - now if i could just figure out the wiper blades...
- 100% procrastination on my research papers so far
- finding out that i don't have a credit rating because i've never owed any money on a credit card (wtf? if anyone has any thoughts / advice on this situation,
help! because i'm trying to buy a flat)
- more or less communicating with my acupuncturist in mandarin
i am off to a great start!
