« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 »
November 24, 2004
Proof that food = love
Last week I lamented the fact that Bombay Harbour, an Indian restaurant I used to go to regularly for their chicken biryani, had closed down. That Friday, Adam surprised me by making chicken biryani for dinner. As if that weren't enough, he also surprised me by making a warm chocolate torte that has lasted us until today. We love warm chocolate tortes and order it as a dessert whenever it's on the menu and we still have room left for dessert so I was very impressed that he ventured to make one and do a very good job with it. Happy T-Day everyone--hope it's filled with good food and good company!
Posted by Jennifer at 07:48 PM | Comments (1)
November 21, 2004
Guillermo Gomez-Pena
Several years ago, back when I had started graduate school, I really got into Latin American studies, including Chicano and Latino culture. It was during this time that I had first heard of Guillermo Gomez Pena, a well-known Chicano performance artist. I haven't kept up with the literature in recent years, but when I heard that Guillermo Gomez Pena was performing at the Guggenheim, my interest was piqued. I wasn't sure what to expect because I knew he played characters from Aztec Gods to cyborgs but he put on a really good show. He performed for an hour and a half, which is a feat into itself and did pieces that played with the ideas of language to a speculation piece on what if H.G. Wells had been Chicano. He's a very political artist and his performance was a very inspired and inspiring one. I hope to have more experiences like this one.
Posted by Jennifer at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2004
Greenpoint-Williamsburg
Thought I'd post on a subject that I am passionate about and that is gentrification. Brooklyn Community Board 1 held its public hearing on the Department of City Planning's proposed rezoning of Greenpoint-Williamsburg which is intended to phase out manufacturing and to open up areas for housing, particularly along the waterfront. You can read about it here. In theory, this may sound like a good thing, but the majority of housing that would be developed would be beyond the means of most existing residents within Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and have a ripple effect as far as the real estate market in north Brooklyn goes. Rents and housing prices will inevitably increase significantly and the area will become increasingly less affordable for the area's existing residents and people who would have ordinarily lived in these neighborhoods. Most people are aware of this but, as an urban planner whose focus has been gentrification, I can affirm this. So, if you live in either of these neighborhoods, I strongly urge you to become more aware of this proposal and get involved, whether it be through attendance at community board hearing or other meetings or some other form of engagement. Plans for high-rise residential towers and other forms of luxury or other housing that only people with means can afford are already in the works in anticipation of the rezoning.
Make your voice heard and oppose this rezoning and the wholesale gentrification of Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
Posted by Jennifer at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2004
Gay Boyfriend
It was my sister's ex's birthday recently, so we took him out for dinner and then went to Luna Lounge to see Eating It. We go periodically, though mainly when Janeane Garafalo is in the line-up (Where has Janeane been lately anyway?--I would love to see her do stand-up with all the political stuff that's been going on recently). Ed Helms was in tonight's line-up and since we're all fans of The Daily Show, we decided to go. Surprisingly, Luna wasn't packed tonight (when we've gone in the past, it's been standing room only) and not only did we manage to get seats, we got good seats. The theme of tonight's show was music, so everyone had to have something related to music in their performance. Ed Helm's piece, one poking fun at Yanni, was funny but a little disappointing. The hostess, Colette Hawley, did a really funny musical piece involving former NJ Governor Greeley's first night with his staff member. Another favorite was The Hazzards, who sang funny songs, including one on temping. There's a good interview with them on Gothamist and they have a cute video on their website for their song "Gay Boyfriend." To top off a fun night, of course we got cupcakes from here.
Posted by Jennifer at 11:54 PM | Comments (1)
November 14, 2004
I continued sifting through the old e-mails tonight and thought I'd share some more details of Adam and I's relationship.
When Adam and I first started dating:
- We wrote many haikus to each other (I published some of them in my zine)
- Aisha Tyler still hosted Talk Soup--neither of us watched talk shows but we watched it whenever we caught it because of the hostess (unfortunately, Aisha hasn't had much of a TV presence since then, but we still like her)
- I was actively working on my thesis (I still have all my research material)
- Adam was still in college (my dad periodically says, "So, Adam must be glad he's not in school anymore" until I exploded one day and told him it's been years since he was in school.)
- I e-mailed Adam numerous links on an almost daily basis (I had a lot of time to surf in those days)
- One of my roommates and I weren't talking (she initiated it) (occasionally, I still have nightmares about the girl)
- Adam and I ordered take-out a lot and one time I ordered an Indian entree that had full-sized grapes swimming around in the sauce--one of the most bizarre items inside an entree I had ever seen (thankfully, this hasn't been repeated)
Posted by Jennifer at 11:41 PM | Comments (1)
November 13, 2004
The early days
I've gone through all my files on my old computer and have started going through my old e-mails to see if there are any ones I want to save. My old computer has e-mails dating back over four years, which is when Adam and I first started dating. It's almost hard to believe there was a time when we were still dating and not living together and I'd have to go to his apartment or vice versa. Before we moved in together, Adam lived in an apartment that would be difficult for me to imagine spending a significant amount of time in now. He had a tiny bedroom--it was a closet of a bedroom with only enough room to accomodate his computer, bed, and stereo and a sliver of space to walk up and down. His roommate had two cats--two cats that I miss now, but she kept their litter box in the bathroom and there was litter sprinkled all over the floor which made taking a shower a less than desirable experience.
Not that he probably found my apartment that much more enjoyable. My apartment was fine, except for the fact that my room was probably the messiest bedroom in all of Greenpoint. It was a large bedroom but I kept all my things inside the room and I have a lot of things. Also, between graduate school and spending most of my weekends with Adam, I was having a difficult time keeping up with the New York Times which I let accumulate in embarrassingly large piles.
Not that I've gotten that much better, but my clutter is not as expansive since we live together and I can utilize the whole apartment, I am no longer in school, and my piles of unread New York Times are not as out-of-control. Adam and I, of course, are married and have been together longer now. I'm a little more mature (I think) and well-settled into my job. This past week was pretty crazy at work between a presentation on one of my larger projects and a grant application that I had to start and complete by yesterday. Until recently, I've never so much as opened Powerpoint and this and next week will be all about the Powerpoint (not my choice really). But, hopefully Adam and I will embark on a new (and a good new) chapter in our life with the co-op and moving out of casa numero uno. Like I said, overall, casa uno's treated us well but we both feel like it's time to move on and hopefully the moving will be good.
Posted by Jennifer at 08:38 PM | Comments (1)
November 10, 2004
Things to read and juicyness
After Amy Sohn stopped writing for NY Press, I had no reason to read the Press, save for the rare interesting story or two. I still thumb through the Press, though mostly for the listings and my horoscope. but this week's Press is actually a worthwhile read. The feature story about a serial cheater is engrossing and the Dategirl Column is the best I've ever read. An excerpt:
Unlike what most people smugly believe, stupid can happen to the smartest kid in the class. Stupid lays the groundwork by making sure you feel like shit about yourself. Having a recent ugly breakup or a long dry spell under your belt will help you get to stupid a lot quicker. Once you've completely convinced yourself that nobody will ever again put their mouth on your boobies, you are a prime candidate for the Worst Relationship of Your Life.
I realize this may sound like a confession, but I lo-ove gossip--celebrity gossip, personal gossip, I lap it all up. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered my boss, a well-respected individual and happily married father of two, had dated Lucy Liu! I mean Lucy freakin' Liu! Granted, this was a very long time ago, but an impressive piece of information nonetheless. I still can't believe it.
Posted by Jennifer at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2004
Picture perfect day
Went on a site visit for work with the digital camera today and ended up getting some nice shots (I don't know why the first three look more like postcards than real photos):
And my favorite--the first time I've ever spotted a red-tailed hawk!
If anyone can guess where these photos were taken, bonus points for you. When I was still a lowly intern (which actually wasn't that long ago), I had two internships involving being outdoors and I really enjoyed both of them because they gave me the opportunity to photograph a lot. One of them actually involved taking photos--I was fortunate enough to get an internship involving doing profiles for community gardens so I got to go out to each garden and take photographs. This internship took me to many neighborhoods throughout the city and I loved taking pictures of the gardens. The other internship involved doing survey work for a street tree planting project in Greenpoint-Williamsburg. This was during the summers of '97 and '98, just as gentrification was really beginning to take a hold of these neighborhoods but before all the factories would close and get converted into lofts. I loved it--I took tons of pictures during the course of these two summers and, one of these days, hopefully I'll get to share these photos with you.
Posted by Jennifer at 08:27 PM | Comments (3)
November 02, 2004
Le Tigre and reasons to vote Bush out of office
I first heard of Bikini Kill around 1997 just as I was getting into punk music. I liked their music and found it empowering but found it a little too dark to really get into. Flash forward to 1999 when the lead singer of Bikini Kill and famed feminist, Kathleen Hanna, formed the band Le Tigre, a feminist band with noticeably more poppier tones and released their self-titled album, one of my favorite albums of all time and if you haven't got it then shame on you--you should run out and buy it immediately, for the music if not for their feminist content. I first saw Le Tigre perform at Maxwell's and they put on a great show, with all these self-made video clips projected on a screen behind the band while they played. I wasn't as enthusiastic about their follow-up albums and didn't go to any shows until last night. Their new album is on a major label and, while it didn't grab me in the beginning, going to the show has definitely made me appreciate it more. One reason to buy it-- it has a great cover of "I'm So Excited" which has been on my replay button many times.
I have to give Adam credit for going with me to the show last night--he doesn't dislike Le Tigre but doesn't feel that strongly about them either and he knew we'd be in a room filled with post riot-grrl era girls but, fortunately, I think he enjoyed it as much as me. Le Tigre put on a great show--they had video clips again last night which were really good, all their songs were strong, and last night had a palpable energy due in part to being the eve of the election and the activist nature of their songs. I strongly recommend you go to a Le Tigre show at least once in your lifetime.
Reasons at least to buy their first album:
"My My Metrocard"- one of the poppiest, catchiest songs on the NYC subway
One of my favorite lines in a song:
Linoleum floor, linoleum floor, your lyrics are dumber than a linoleum floor
And, now, as it is Election Day and I hope we get a new president by the end of the night, I thought I'd share something my brother wrote. He's 22 and I've always seen him as my younger brother and I was super impressed when I read this, an article that got printed in his college newspaper:
In Yoni Rubin's column, "When asked ... anyone but Kerry" (The Daily Targum, Oct. 27), he takes a look into Kerry's record and reiterates the Bush campaign's label of Democratic presidential candidate Kerry as a flip-flopper, yet he neglects to mention Bush's record. How about we break it down: record deficits on a reckless spending history, first president in 75 years to lose jobs, soaring health care costs, ruined Social Security with broken promise of setting aside $2 trillion of the surplus left President Bill Clinton left for Social Security, a growing rift between the rich and poor and a divided country alongside increased hatred toward America. But I guess Rubin would argue he is purely a victim of circumstance, and none of our current problems could be attributed to our president (read: ZERO responsibility).
Now let's talk about social issues. For a man who claims he doesn't let his religious beliefs affect his policy making, he seems to often wear his religion on his sleeve. I wonder where he got the idea to introduce a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage? Although his stances and actions on such controversial issues may seem God-inspired, the church isn't on his side with all issues. Religious leaders, including the Pope, denounced the War in Iraq, yet Bush often invokes God's name when speaking of his decision to invade Iraq, saying "we're spreading freedom and liberty," and that "freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in the world." Christians once waged many wars and shed much blood in the name of Jesus. Must we do the same and impose our will onto others in the name of democracy in order to spread freedom?
Bush was rather quick in reaching his decision and quite eager to invade Iraq. We now know secret planning for the invasion took place far before this "threat" was brought the public's attention - not even in the months after Sept. 11. Despite opposition from top advisors such as Colin Powell, Bush quickly dismissed the criticisms, urging them to side with him, which they eventually did. Powell argued against war before supporting the president and is even recorded as saying Iraq posed no serious threat and possessed no "significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction," statements which national security advisor Condoleezza Rice reiterated.
I love how easy it was for him to make the decision to go to war when neither he nor his children have to fight. Tell the families and mothers of the thousands of soldiers who died fighting in Iraq that this was just war, used as a last resort. Even now, knowing Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and learning there was no connection between Iraq and Sept. 11, the president said he would have done everything the same way, which is pretty scary if you ask me. The administration continues to insist Iraq is an essential piece in the war on terror, and amazingly, after all the evidence that contradicts the president's previous assertions, polls show that over 50 percent of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was tied to Sept. 11 and that they do in fact have weapons of mass destruction.
Does this show they are delusional, or has Bush cleverly swayed the American public? To his credit, he was successfully able to divert our attention from the real terror threat that is Osama bin Laden right into Iraq.
Now, whenever anyone questions the war, the administration is quick to pull out the unpatriotic card. Criticize the war, and they immediately go on the offensive, willing to say anything short of calling you a traitor. So whenever we go into war and invade another country I suppose we should never question our president? Reminds me of when Hitler's authority was never questioned. What makes this country so great is our freedom to question our government. I think it's dangerous for us not to speak out against the government when you feel it is doing something wrong. Instead of answering the criticisms, Bush often replies with, "You're simply denigrating our allies and troops."
This is the same man who said he believes there should be restrictions on free speech. In response to a question regarding his thoughts on all the criticisms and jokes made about him on the Internet, he said, "There ought to be limits to freedom."
Do I think Bush is a modern-day Hitler? No ... but I do believe he is bad for America, and for the sake of our future, I will be voting for Kerry.
Posted by Jennifer at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)