whew. we made it back to nyc friday night, and it's so good to be back. we're not thrilled with the dreary weather yesterday and today, but at least saturday was pretty good to us. we had ethiopian for dinner last night at awash. it was a treat.
we just walked around the city a bit on saturday and stumbled upon a street fair. walking around is the thing i missed the most about new york. not necessarily people watching or feeling the energy of the city. it's just being able to walk around and maybe finding something of interest.
i have to admit, i do miss surrey's and blue bird cafe in nola. they were great breakfast places. we did benny's burritos for brunch on saturday, and it was really good. it's probably our newly found favorite breakfast place. cheap, easy, simple, delicious. we had dimsum for brunch yesterday. i need to make a trip to the bagel factory in south park slope, brooklyn by the week's end. i probably would put that at the top of my ny breakfast place.
two doves just landed on the branches in my view. i will take that as a welcome home.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
fuel efficiency
seeing this article today, being earth day, reminded me how furious i was, and still am, when i first heard about this possible legislation: federal regulators are expected to unveil on tuesday an accelerated schedule for auto companies to work toward a fuel-efficiency goal of 35 miles a gallon by 2020 for their vehicle fleets.
seriously, this is all we can accomplish in the next 12 years? why even bother? let's just keep raping this planet for all we can. why bother making any effort to reel back what we've collectively done as a species? this is a futile piece of regulation. we should ALREADY be at this level of fuel-efficiency. 12 years later, all vehicles should be at the level of what the hybrids are offering now. 12 years later, a fuel-efficiency goal of 50 miles a gallon is acceptable, not really that progressive, but it's still realistic to obtain. why bother making a regulation when it's meaningless? it's like implementing a blood alcohol content level at the point of alcohol poisoning for a dui.
any progress we make is good, but is this the best we can do?
seriously, this is all we can accomplish in the next 12 years? why even bother? let's just keep raping this planet for all we can. why bother making any effort to reel back what we've collectively done as a species? this is a futile piece of regulation. we should ALREADY be at this level of fuel-efficiency. 12 years later, all vehicles should be at the level of what the hybrids are offering now. 12 years later, a fuel-efficiency goal of 50 miles a gallon is acceptable, not really that progressive, but it's still realistic to obtain. why bother making a regulation when it's meaningless? it's like implementing a blood alcohol content level at the point of alcohol poisoning for a dui.
any progress we make is good, but is this the best we can do?
Monday, April 21, 2008
orlando, fl
r and i traveled to orlando this weekend for one of his friend's wedding. the only other time that i've been there was when i was little with disneyland as the destination. we didn't see much of anything other than what was on mickey's campus. this time, even though our time was consumed with the wedding and hanging out with r's friends, i saw a bit of the city.
orlando feels so clean. maybe that characteristic stands out especially because of having been in nola for the past few months, and the griminess is one of my biggest complaints here. i don't remember encountering any potholes in orlando whereas we'd come across 3 of them on average a day in nola. the amount of development, mostly strip malls with large plots of asphalt for parking lots, was a little sad and very scary. the amount of vegetation that has cleared since r's childhood was astounding to him. unfortunately, it's the way all new cities are headed with commerce as the target and any environmental concerns falling to the wayside.
before the wedding, we made a trip out to the edges of orlando to visit r's mom and grandparents. they are the nicest folks. he spent part of his youth on the ranch with lots of dogs and horses, unlike me having grown up in urban/suburban areas. his mom keeps 4 border collies, 3 horses, 2 birds, and a greenhouse. horses are such large creatures in person. i didn't know they grow a winter fur and then shed it when the season changes. it was so refreshing to be in the country, knowing the air i was breathing was clean, and to see so many shades of green instead of grey.
the wedding was nice, and we had fun, especially r. it was also a reunion for him and his high school buddies. i learned a few things about his past that i cherish and find adorable. his friends are great people. being boys, the groom requested a mosh pit at the end of the night to recapture their youth. it was weird seeing r in the pile of guys shoving each other around. and then, it was kind of pathetic that they couldn't last for one entire song. it was cute while it lasted.
on our way to the airport the next day, r drove by his house situated in a part of town called colonial town. it's actually populated by a sizable vietnamese community with storefronts bearing vietnamese writing on their signs. we stopped by viet garden restaurant to grab lunch to go. the food deserved all the rave that r had given it. the peanut sauce was powerful. i licked the little cup that held it clean.
it was a great trip, and i wish we were able to stay longer, especially for r to have more time to hang out with his buddies and family. it'll have to wait until next time. nyc is next on our travel agenda, heading back to home. we're counting down the days.
orlando feels so clean. maybe that characteristic stands out especially because of having been in nola for the past few months, and the griminess is one of my biggest complaints here. i don't remember encountering any potholes in orlando whereas we'd come across 3 of them on average a day in nola. the amount of development, mostly strip malls with large plots of asphalt for parking lots, was a little sad and very scary. the amount of vegetation that has cleared since r's childhood was astounding to him. unfortunately, it's the way all new cities are headed with commerce as the target and any environmental concerns falling to the wayside.
before the wedding, we made a trip out to the edges of orlando to visit r's mom and grandparents. they are the nicest folks. he spent part of his youth on the ranch with lots of dogs and horses, unlike me having grown up in urban/suburban areas. his mom keeps 4 border collies, 3 horses, 2 birds, and a greenhouse. horses are such large creatures in person. i didn't know they grow a winter fur and then shed it when the season changes. it was so refreshing to be in the country, knowing the air i was breathing was clean, and to see so many shades of green instead of grey.
the wedding was nice, and we had fun, especially r. it was also a reunion for him and his high school buddies. i learned a few things about his past that i cherish and find adorable. his friends are great people. being boys, the groom requested a mosh pit at the end of the night to recapture their youth. it was weird seeing r in the pile of guys shoving each other around. and then, it was kind of pathetic that they couldn't last for one entire song. it was cute while it lasted.
on our way to the airport the next day, r drove by his house situated in a part of town called colonial town. it's actually populated by a sizable vietnamese community with storefronts bearing vietnamese writing on their signs. we stopped by viet garden restaurant to grab lunch to go. the food deserved all the rave that r had given it. the peanut sauce was powerful. i licked the little cup that held it clean.
it was a great trip, and i wish we were able to stay longer, especially for r to have more time to hang out with his buddies and family. it'll have to wait until next time. nyc is next on our travel agenda, heading back to home. we're counting down the days.
Friday, April 18, 2008
abita springs
r and i have only one more week of work in new orleans, and then, we'll be back in nyc. r has a calendar by his desk where he's already started marking off the days with a red pen.
of course, this weekend, when we thought we were getting a reprieve from the big easy and heading for orlando, r's friend invited us to a crawfish boil, which we're going to have to miss.
his friend lives in abita springs, which is a really cute small town just across from lake pontchartrain. we drove there last sunday. r took me to the ucm museum that was full of wacky things that the people in town seemed to have found in their basements and attics and contributed to the place. there's apparently some mythical alligator-bass that's the equivalent of the lochness monster. we called his friend to see if they were home. they were but weren't near the phone so we, unfortunately, didn't get to visit them. r's friend is a signwriter on movies and had made a lot of the signs that we saw around town. his house is full of crazy signs that he's made in his career. it would've been fun to see his collection.
on our way out, we got sno-balls. not that i've had a hawaiian shaved ice before, but i imagine that it's similar. it's basically just shaved ice with syrup. i can see how much of a treat it will be when the summer hits this place. i won't be here to find out, however. i'm just going to be stuck with sorbets in new york. oh well.
of course, this weekend, when we thought we were getting a reprieve from the big easy and heading for orlando, r's friend invited us to a crawfish boil, which we're going to have to miss.
his friend lives in abita springs, which is a really cute small town just across from lake pontchartrain. we drove there last sunday. r took me to the ucm museum that was full of wacky things that the people in town seemed to have found in their basements and attics and contributed to the place. there's apparently some mythical alligator-bass that's the equivalent of the lochness monster. we called his friend to see if they were home. they were but weren't near the phone so we, unfortunately, didn't get to visit them. r's friend is a signwriter on movies and had made a lot of the signs that we saw around town. his house is full of crazy signs that he's made in his career. it would've been fun to see his collection.
on our way out, we got sno-balls. not that i've had a hawaiian shaved ice before, but i imagine that it's similar. it's basically just shaved ice with syrup. i can see how much of a treat it will be when the summer hits this place. i won't be here to find out, however. i'm just going to be stuck with sorbets in new york. oh well.
Friday, April 11, 2008
ice-cream truck at work
there's an ice-cream truck that's been pulling up to our office recently. i guess it's out and about with the weather warming up in new orleans.
the music drives me NUTS! it's like a repeating 15-second long piece of carnival music, and it begins with "hello" at every rotation. it's not as if we're at a location surrounded by residences. we're in a business district, mostly warehouses. there are no children around. they're probably enticing the working adults which is fine, but HELLO! TURN OFF THAT MUSIC!
the music drives me NUTS! it's like a repeating 15-second long piece of carnival music, and it begins with "hello" at every rotation. it's not as if we're at a location surrounded by residences. we're in a business district, mostly warehouses. there are no children around. they're probably enticing the working adults which is fine, but HELLO! TURN OFF THAT MUSIC!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
mobile, alabama
i went on a trip to mobile, alabama today. the project i'm working on involves a car race. the company has decided to use the mobile international speedway as the location, and i joined the group of coworkers to check it out. this is the first time i've stepped foot in the deep south. (in my head, the DEEP south consists of mississippi, alabama, and georgia. louisiana has creole and cajun influences that distinguishes it, and south carolina is geographically not as south.)
granted, we were only there for a few hours to check out the speedway and then had lunch at a local joint in mississippi so i know i'm not giving the deep south a fair chance. but i still had a feeling that i wouldn't see much diversity in the population today. i was right. people i met and saw were either white or black. everyone was nice, but i felt like an alien.
i've lived in lexington, ky, but there's a tight-knit chinese community. being a marine town, jacksonville, nc is really diverse (especially the female population). then, there was durham and chapel hill which are college towns. los angeles and new york which are metropolises. the only other time i felt so out of place was stopping for gas in kansas. come to think of it, at least the people i met today were really nice. the people at the kansas gas station stared with no reservations.
it's just odd to still run into places in the 21st century where i feel out of place on a racial level. i guess america will always be america.
granted, we were only there for a few hours to check out the speedway and then had lunch at a local joint in mississippi so i know i'm not giving the deep south a fair chance. but i still had a feeling that i wouldn't see much diversity in the population today. i was right. people i met and saw were either white or black. everyone was nice, but i felt like an alien.
i've lived in lexington, ky, but there's a tight-knit chinese community. being a marine town, jacksonville, nc is really diverse (especially the female population). then, there was durham and chapel hill which are college towns. los angeles and new york which are metropolises. the only other time i felt so out of place was stopping for gas in kansas. come to think of it, at least the people i met today were really nice. the people at the kansas gas station stared with no reservations.
it's just odd to still run into places in the 21st century where i feel out of place on a racial level. i guess america will always be america.
Friday, April 04, 2008
couldn't hold it any longer
i stopped by walgreens the other night. it was around 7p. on my way out, i walked past this guy by the wall just a few feet from the front door of the pharmacy. i noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a stream of liquid shooting from his hip area. it took me another second to realize that he was urinating on the wall of the building. just feet away from the front door. in front of a row of cars.
i picked up my pace to the car, and told r about what i had just witnessed. he, then, made a valid point: even in nyc, people have the decency to avoid urinating in public (that's not a restroom) where other people are around. they, at least, make the effort to be discreet about it.
maybe this guy just HAD to go. when i was little, my parents would pull over on the side of a highway to let us relieve ourselves in cases of emergency. so i admit to having urinated in public. but my mom would stand close by and shield me. also, i was a child. this was a grown man. what is this world coming to?
i picked up my pace to the car, and told r about what i had just witnessed. he, then, made a valid point: even in nyc, people have the decency to avoid urinating in public (that's not a restroom) where other people are around. they, at least, make the effort to be discreet about it.
maybe this guy just HAD to go. when i was little, my parents would pull over on the side of a highway to let us relieve ourselves in cases of emergency. so i admit to having urinated in public. but my mom would stand close by and shield me. also, i was a child. this was a grown man. what is this world coming to?
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