Monday, April 13, 2009
A brief comment on scooters, vacation, and fall
I like the examples the blog people give for possible labels for your post: scooters, vacation, and fall. My favorite is scooters. I have never actually owned a scooter, but I think I did try to ride one once. I definitely got to ride an electric scooter once, which was fun because we crammed 3 to 4 people onto the narrow metal base, seat, and handles. It was also great because my intimidating German rowing coach tried it out after us. Needless to say, he looked ridiculuos. Aside from that, my knowledge of scooters is decidedly limited. I would really like to read a blog specifically dedicated to a serious discussion about scooters.
Riding Topless
Today in my Media Law and Ethics class, we somehow began to discuss what is lawful behavior while one is riding a subway in New York City. It is, by law, acceptable for one to ride topless. Because of equal opportunity statutes, etc. this law technically should apply to people of both the male and female persuasion. On the other hand, I have a vague feeling that when this law was created, it was not intended for the latter gender.
However, I must note that due to the tightly packed nature of New York subways, I would not particularly like to ride next to either gender if they were topless. I can't help but imagine standing at the hairy sweaty armpit of a middle-aged, smelly man (or woman) without the at least vague shield provided by a thin layer of fabric between us. And while the freedom of being topless on a subway would be quite nice, ladies, I can't help but think that the vile nature of male humans would somewhat tarnish that freedom.
But if you're ever in New York, ladies, give it a try once or twice, and see what happens...Keeping some mase on hand might do you good too. Of course utilizing your mace in a closed subway car in an underground tunnel doesn't provide much in the way of fresh air flow. It would much more likely result in the macing of the entire population of the subway car and a teary, angry bunch of passengers. It would also make for a serious opportunity for some Type 3 fun: It's not fun now, but it's fun later - in other words, it would make for a good story.
Maybe there are some rights better left untested.
However, I must note that due to the tightly packed nature of New York subways, I would not particularly like to ride next to either gender if they were topless. I can't help but imagine standing at the hairy sweaty armpit of a middle-aged, smelly man (or woman) without the at least vague shield provided by a thin layer of fabric between us. And while the freedom of being topless on a subway would be quite nice, ladies, I can't help but think that the vile nature of male humans would somewhat tarnish that freedom.
But if you're ever in New York, ladies, give it a try once or twice, and see what happens...Keeping some mase on hand might do you good too. Of course utilizing your mace in a closed subway car in an underground tunnel doesn't provide much in the way of fresh air flow. It would much more likely result in the macing of the entire population of the subway car and a teary, angry bunch of passengers. It would also make for a serious opportunity for some Type 3 fun: It's not fun now, but it's fun later - in other words, it would make for a good story.
Maybe there are some rights better left untested.
In Case You Missed It
This weekend I was home for Easter with the fam. The entirety of my family and my dad's side of the family went out for lunch, which includes only one other family of 3 and my grandmother. As we were eating lunch, a guy at another table caught my eye. It finally occured to me that I used to actually know him. In fact, we were engaged, if I remember correctly. We went to school with each other until 5th grade and he was my only friend in preschool. He used to be a history-obsessed, chubby, pushy litte boy. Turns out, puberty did him good. Shit, he's like really cute. Is that actually him? I can't believe it. Ha! I was totally engaged to that fine specimin of a human being...
After our meal, I was getting ready to leave when suddenly he appeared beside me, hand outstretched. "Hey, do you remember me? I'm Ryan."
As if to say, in case you missed it, I'm all grown up now.
I took his hand, "Yeah. Hey, Ryan, of course I know who you are."
We started talking. Apparently his summer plans are to go to Sudan for 2 weeks and then to Scottland to do research on the origins of the banjo in celtic music. His green eyes locked confidently on mine as he started to explain the history of the conflict in Sudan. I stopped him, explaining that I was really interested in this trip because I had been working with a student organization that works to stop genocide, Sudan being one of the main focuses. I asked him what he was majoring in. History. I laughed.
"You always did like history."
I'm not sure how he took this, but he responded perhaps sarcastically "Yeah, that's a good memory of me."
How is this happening? I haven't seen this guy since 5th grade when he still had cooties. Did he notice that I was blatantly stalking him all through lunch? He's cute. His eyes are kind of green. Why is this conversation not as awkward as I feel like it should be? (Note: I was having an exceedingly awkward day.) He is no longer a boy, he is a man. Maybe our preschool engagement was telling of things to come. I would love a fall wedding. Maybe in that place on the bluff -
Our conversation ended shortly thereafter as we both were being left by our families. I was flustered and interested. I couldn't tell if he was still the pushy know-it-all of a boy I used to know or if he was as interesting as he sounded. Because, honestly, if you have the intention of spending a summer studying the origins of the banjo in celtic music, then I'm intrigued. I need to know more.
After our meal, I was getting ready to leave when suddenly he appeared beside me, hand outstretched. "Hey, do you remember me? I'm Ryan."
As if to say, in case you missed it, I'm all grown up now.
I took his hand, "Yeah. Hey, Ryan, of course I know who you are."
We started talking. Apparently his summer plans are to go to Sudan for 2 weeks and then to Scottland to do research on the origins of the banjo in celtic music. His green eyes locked confidently on mine as he started to explain the history of the conflict in Sudan. I stopped him, explaining that I was really interested in this trip because I had been working with a student organization that works to stop genocide, Sudan being one of the main focuses. I asked him what he was majoring in. History. I laughed.
"You always did like history."
I'm not sure how he took this, but he responded perhaps sarcastically "Yeah, that's a good memory of me."
How is this happening? I haven't seen this guy since 5th grade when he still had cooties. Did he notice that I was blatantly stalking him all through lunch? He's cute. His eyes are kind of green. Why is this conversation not as awkward as I feel like it should be? (Note: I was having an exceedingly awkward day.) He is no longer a boy, he is a man. Maybe our preschool engagement was telling of things to come. I would love a fall wedding. Maybe in that place on the bluff -
Our conversation ended shortly thereafter as we both were being left by our families. I was flustered and interested. I couldn't tell if he was still the pushy know-it-all of a boy I used to know or if he was as interesting as he sounded. Because, honestly, if you have the intention of spending a summer studying the origins of the banjo in celtic music, then I'm intrigued. I need to know more.
Oh Dear Me
ATo the younger more naive Kate:
You have so much to learn. On the bright side, you do know what it is that you need to work on. And "the first step is admitting your mistake" as They say. It's also good that you will realize that your writing isn't as coherent to others as you think it is. And you suck at conclusions. Unfortunately, while having learned a lot, most of it is what needs improvement, not the brilliance of your writing as it exists in your head. The trick is to convey the importance of something in your world that no one cares about into the world on paper that people are meant to relate to. So, you need to find better conclusions that make your stories more care-about-able, if you will. Another helpful tip, concentrate on A main idea - like ONE - instead of 6 main ideas - you don't do a good job making multiple intricate points without your writing becoming awkward and confusing. Focus on one main idea and save the others for other papers because - you know - you can write other papers, after all. On a final-ish note, doing all this is far easier to talk about that actually do. Have fun!
You have so much to learn. On the bright side, you do know what it is that you need to work on. And "the first step is admitting your mistake" as They say. It's also good that you will realize that your writing isn't as coherent to others as you think it is. And you suck at conclusions. Unfortunately, while having learned a lot, most of it is what needs improvement, not the brilliance of your writing as it exists in your head. The trick is to convey the importance of something in your world that no one cares about into the world on paper that people are meant to relate to. So, you need to find better conclusions that make your stories more care-about-able, if you will. Another helpful tip, concentrate on A main idea - like ONE - instead of 6 main ideas - you don't do a good job making multiple intricate points without your writing becoming awkward and confusing. Focus on one main idea and save the others for other papers because - you know - you can write other papers, after all. On a final-ish note, doing all this is far easier to talk about that actually do. Have fun!
North Carolina Tree Climbing Competition
So last weekend the prestigous tree climbing competition (7th annual, I believe) was held in Charlotte's own Freedom Park. Fortunately, almost no one in Charlotte knew about it, or perhaps they simply overlooked the opportunity before them. This is fortunate because it wasn't too crowded. Most of the crowd consisted of other tree climbers. And by tree climbers I mean of the world class variety, not your next door neighbor's kid who refers to himself as Monkey Man. In fact, the women's world champion tree climber was there. We were in the presence of greatness, in other words.
I spent the two days of the competition taking pictures and the majority of the second day unknowingly working on one of the worst sunburns of my life.
With ropes, climbing gear, helmets, and harnasses, each competitor used his or her preferred method of hoisting themselves into the designated tree. Once up, they would swing, scramble and leap their way from branch to branch in an effort to ring the strategically placed bells throughout the tree in the fastest time. This included cleaning their ropes and anchors from the tree after they got back down. Arguably the most exciting part of each round was the person wrestling their rope down from the branches before time ran out. There were competitors from Australia, New Zealand, and Minnessota. The most impressive participant in the competition was possibly the tree. I had reasonable skepticism that the combination of precariously placed bells on the far-reaching ends of branches with the weight of the climbers would end in some dismembered tree branches and climbers, but the tree hardly seemed to make a distinction between 180 pound man and 2 pound squirrel scrambling around it.
I spent the two days of the competition taking pictures and the majority of the second day unknowingly working on one of the worst sunburns of my life.
With ropes, climbing gear, helmets, and harnasses, each competitor used his or her preferred method of hoisting themselves into the designated tree. Once up, they would swing, scramble and leap their way from branch to branch in an effort to ring the strategically placed bells throughout the tree in the fastest time. This included cleaning their ropes and anchors from the tree after they got back down. Arguably the most exciting part of each round was the person wrestling their rope down from the branches before time ran out. There were competitors from Australia, New Zealand, and Minnessota. The most impressive participant in the competition was possibly the tree. I had reasonable skepticism that the combination of precariously placed bells on the far-reaching ends of branches with the weight of the climbers would end in some dismembered tree branches and climbers, but the tree hardly seemed to make a distinction between 180 pound man and 2 pound squirrel scrambling around it.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are
One of the greatest children's books of all time is Where the Wild Things Are. I adore this book. Everything about it makes me happy. One of my favorite pictures is when the kid's bed is growing into the ground and turning into part of the forest.
I read an article about a year ago that made my world a little brighter. It said that they were making Wild Things into a movie. Now, normally, I am not impressed with Hollywood adaptations of movies, and find them to be all the same. They try to hard to make these film adatpations (especially children's stories) far more action-packed than they actually are. But this time, the one and only Dave Eggers, my favorite author, is helping write the film. I just looked up a trailer for it the other day, and I'm a bit skeptical, but still hopeful.
I read an article about a year ago that made my world a little brighter. It said that they were making Wild Things into a movie. Now, normally, I am not impressed with Hollywood adaptations of movies, and find them to be all the same. They try to hard to make these film adatpations (especially children's stories) far more action-packed than they actually are. But this time, the one and only Dave Eggers, my favorite author, is helping write the film. I just looked up a trailer for it the other day, and I'm a bit skeptical, but still hopeful.
My Big Date
I am bound and determined to see the Watchmen movie while it's still in theaters. I had the odd pleasure of reading the brilliant graphic novel last semester. I left the experience thoroughly impressed, if a little jolted and feeling slightly guilty for being part of the human race. I have long awaited the arrival of the film, and now that it's here no one will go with me to see it.
My solution is: a) a bit of a revelation; b) getting me through this week; and c) magnificent.
I have decided to...go...alone.
Because, oh yeah! I don't have to have other people with me all the time (what a wonderful thing!). I cannot put into words how much I'm looking forward to my date with me.
I'm not really sure why I'm so excited to see this movie, but I know this is the one I have to see. I have heard there's a lot of sex in it, which is fun (especially with costumed vigilantes!), or maybe I'm just looking forward to seeing a movie damning the human race, but whatever the reason, I will be sorely disappointed if it sucks.
That said, I have talked to people about it, those who have and have not read the novel. Those who did read it, said it's definitely worth seeing, even though they messed up the ending.
So, all in all, if I must go sit alone to watch the film adaptation of a comic book, with only my $10 small bag of popcorn (because, face it, you really just can't beat movie theater popcorn) and smuggled-in Coke for company, then I am pretty damn sure it's going to be a good night.
My solution is: a) a bit of a revelation; b) getting me through this week; and c) magnificent.
I have decided to...go...alone.
Because, oh yeah! I don't have to have other people with me all the time (what a wonderful thing!). I cannot put into words how much I'm looking forward to my date with me.
I'm not really sure why I'm so excited to see this movie, but I know this is the one I have to see. I have heard there's a lot of sex in it, which is fun (especially with costumed vigilantes!), or maybe I'm just looking forward to seeing a movie damning the human race, but whatever the reason, I will be sorely disappointed if it sucks.
That said, I have talked to people about it, those who have and have not read the novel. Those who did read it, said it's definitely worth seeing, even though they messed up the ending.
So, all in all, if I must go sit alone to watch the film adaptation of a comic book, with only my $10 small bag of popcorn (because, face it, you really just can't beat movie theater popcorn) and smuggled-in Coke for company, then I am pretty damn sure it's going to be a good night.
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