Sunday, March 30, 2008

Just How Much Cream is in That Twinkie?

A topic of conversation (and humor) among some students and staff at New Urban Arts (where I work) has been the "Stuff White People Like" blog. There are a number of interesting topics that the blog could be a jumping off point for me to babble about (white privilege, gentrification, identity politics, class etc. etc.), but I'll spare you all any extended thoughts.

As funny as the blog is, my biggest beef is that it refers to a pretty privileged class and doesn't really get into how complex whiteness is in this country and how it's constructed. Of course, I don't think that's the responsibility/intent of this particular blogger. It's pretty entertaining and has us talking about race and identity in our studio community, which is pretty cool in and of itself.

So for shits and giggles, I decided to rate my own "whiteness" using a 1-5 scale for each item. I'm assuming that each item is weighted equally and I did my best to interpret questions that didn't directly refer to me as a non-white person (I'm Korean) e.g. being the only white person in a room. Check it out here. I'll keep updating it as I learn more about myself and as more items get added.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Long run in Flushing

Did this long run in Flushing today. I didn't come back up Booth Memorial Ave though, I just ran back through the Botanical Gardens coming back. Mileage should have been basically the same, I just got to bail on a hill! Very scenic. Some hills but nothing crazy:

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

New York, New York...

Ok, it wouldn't be fair for me to not rag some on my beloved NYC after (another) weekend back home:

1. Umbrellas. New Yorkers hold them just over the tops of their heads as low as possible and then don't look where they're going. I think I got my eyes taken out almost a dozen times on Main Street in Flushing. Well ok, maybe this is just an Asian thing...


2. It seems like in places other then New York City, you can actually lock and leave your bike for more than a few hours at a time and reasonably expect it to still be there when you return. I've gotten my fair share of jokes from New Urban Arts staff and students for a) checking on my locked bike from my work desk every couple of hours b) either releasing the front wheel and locking it to the rear wheel or c) simply taking the front wheel to my desk and sitting with it. Whatever, I'm still that fat Chinese (Korean) kid in Prospect Park. I tried to tell them that bike thieves were so good in NY that Kryptonite's "gurantee" was always valid everywhere except in Manhattan USA:
In the late 1980s, just as Kryptonite began to offer a newly designed mountain bike lock, anti-theft guarantee claims began to increase dramatically in Manhattan. This increase in theft forced Kryptonite to stop offering the guarantee in Manhattan and spurred the Zane’s to redesign their locks.

-Lemelson Center for the Study of Invenion and Innovation
I forgot that it was so bad that it was a huge promotion when they came out with a guranteed Manhattan u-lock in 1994.
Kryptonite introduced the New York Lock in 1994. This newly designed lock allowed Kryptonite to reestablish an anti-theft guarantee for $1,000 in Manhattan. The company recreated its earlier publicity event by successfully locking bicycles throughout New York City to prove the efficacy of its locks.
Problem was, it was way smaller than their standard lock so you couldn't do the double wheel lock with it making it not so useful.

3. I may bitch about RIPTA but you know what? RIPTA a) takes dollar bills and b) gives you change (even in if it's only in the form of a credit on a RIPTA card). Will NY buses ever catch up?

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Life in the Ocean State (No Peter Griffin Sightings)

So far, I've been adjusting to life in Rhode Island a lot better than I thought I would, but there are still some things (cultural adjustments) I don't get. In no order:

  • Why do drivers, when they have the right of way, wave me in front of them? It's nice, but I'm a New Yorker, as a pedestrian, I don't trust drivers. Just go, take the damn light! This practice gets even stranger on 2-way streets, a driver on one side will wave me to cross ignoring the oncoming traffic coming the other way. Thanks, but no thanks. Even worse, is the miscommunication that happens at night when you can't see if the driver is waving you to cross and can't tell if you're going to take the free pass. It's an accident waiting to happen.
  • Bus stop signs. Would it kill you to write the actual bus line number that stops on the sign? It makes learning the bus system a lot more difficult.
  • No one shovels their walks here. I've almost busted my ass so many times here walking around. I don't get it, I guess it's not enforced, in NY we always hopped to it to avoid a ticket. I walk on the streets here and it's all ice. How are there not more lawsuits over this?
  • So far, not a big fan of the pizza dough up here (too thick, too mushy). I hear Sicilia's on Atwells is ok, but when I see a sign that says "NY Style pizza", I keep right on walking. Sorry Aneudy, even Saki's is probably not going to cut it.
  • I still don't like the license plates. The serif font is too big and that wave looks really cheesy.