LV Voice

Dwindling City Density

2009-06-27T18:20:00.002-04:00

A recent hot topic in the world of urban planning is the idea of tearing down portions of cities that are largely abandoned and blighted in order to contract the city’s size. The money for most of these projects would come from state or federal funds and the goal is to remove seldom-used infrastructure and save money on the future repairs thereof. Money would also be saved, and the rest of the city would benefit, from a plan like this because the police force and other emergency vehicles would have a smaller, more densely populated, area to patrol and not be stretched quite so thinly.

All in all, these benefits sound incredible. This recession could be seen as a punishment for expanding our nation’s growth so rapidly and unsustainably and this contraction of our cities looks like an answer.

However, I’m not so sure. To be clear, I’ve not yet decided my stance on any of this and I certainly don’t know enough about the subject to make my decision any time soon. All I can do is throw the Pros/Cons that I can see out there and hope something comes out of the comments that makes me think, and think hard.

So the “Pros” of this are already listed: improved policing of remaining neighborhoods, less money spent on repairs of aging infrastructure that is seldom-used anyway, better response times from emergency vehicles, and (hopefully) increased density in remaining neighborhoods to support self-policing and bring foot traffic to local businesses.

What would be done with this land, in these grand plans, would be to return the properties to nature. I’m not sure whether this’d be done through city-run reforestation efforts (which is happening in our own parks) or simply letting the land return on its own time (which could take around fifty years, according to Andrew).

However, the “Cons” are glaring. You’re taking away homes, destroying sites of future growth (i.e. the conversion of industrial spaces into affordable artists’ lofts or the refurbishment of Victorian mansions) disconnecting many neighborhoods from each other (series of “linked islands” may force car dependency on residents if public transportation isn’t varied and frequent) and, as Roberta Brandes Gratzpoints out in her LA Times piece, there hasn’t really been a history of positive effects of massive clearance

Right now, the debate rages between those flung to the far ends of the spectrum of opinion about this: either tear it all down and reforest it, or preserve all of it.

I think there’s a compromise to be found. I’ll post about it later, since this is getting a bit long-winded right now, but I’d like to hear your opinions on the pros/cons before that. Which side do you prefer, and why? And how do you think you would feel if it were in your own Rust Belt city of Allentown that this was happening?

Seeing Green

2009-06-16T11:56:00.003-04:00

I seem to always have excuses not to update this thing. However, excuses are done with! My friend, Andrew, is putting me to shame with his "daily posting" nonsense, so I will step up to the plate* and attempt weekly postings. Maybe even more! I've been doing exciting things and want to tell you about them.

Tonight I'm off to the South Side Film Festival as soon as I get off work, but apparently there's also a Green Ribbon Committee meeting for anyone interested in the greening of Allentown. It's at the Lehigh County Government Center Public Hearing Room, 17 South Seventh Street, Allentown and will be done by 9:00, at the latest. It's a great opportunity to hear what's already getting done in the city and to voice your own opinion on what can be done and how. There's some more detail at the Good News Blog, so I guess it is definitely a Good Thing.

*hello, baseball metaphors! Maybe I've been hanging around Andrew's house a little too much. I'm starting to recognize names and such of Phillies players. All I'm saying is this cannot be good.

Recent Jaunts in Allentown

2009-06-03T23:47:00.004-04:00

I've been thin on the "posting things" but big on the "doing things" and I apologize!

In my jaunts around the city, I notice that the Liberty Street Tavern caught fire again. My friend, Steve, is a bartender there and he surprised me by showing up at the Hava Java tonight. The conversation went like this:

Me: Steeeeeeve! Steve Steve Steve! How are you! (I am kind of like a Jack Russell terrier when greeting friends)
Steve: Katie, why does my job always catch fire?
Me: What?
Steve: Some girl came into the bar and said "Uhm ... your building is shooting flames out the back..."

Apparently, a piece of marinated, raw chicken got thrown onto the grill and the flame that engulfed it jumped into the exhaust and caught the grease trap on fire! They're going to be closed until Friday or so, since all the city inspectors have to come through again once they replace the parts of the kitchen that got all "on fiyah."

Hmm...but what else is going on?

One of my jobs has me spending some time on Hamilton Street around the lunch hour. I don't often find myself on Hamilton Street unless I'm driving through it, but I've been hoofing it during the lunch hour to check out some of the events going on at the PPL Plaza and, sheesh, there are quite a few things going on! The Summer In The City series of local musicians sends out some nice background music for the lunch-goers, but the best is the Plaza Growers Market!

The Plaza Growers Market had its kick-off today. There were about six vendors, but I'm told that there will be more each week as the season progresses. The best part is that the market's at lunch time! Last year, it sort of straddled the end of the work day, but this new time is much more convenient. Also, a lunch time market can feature vendors selling prepared food! Balasia, formerly located in Emmaus, now has its own stand at the market. It's the only outlet for the restaurant and my, my! the curry hummus is delicious!

I also ran into Sarina at the Chen Arts table and my, my it seems like they've got a show coming up! "Velocity" will be in the Allentown Arts Museum starting this Sunday! You should stop in for their opening and talk to me. Just say you're "from the internet" and we will talk!

Also, did you know that the old Saylor's restaurant will be a 24-hour diner? The West Side Diner should be open by the end of the summer and will bring some traffic to the 19th street neighborhood. I'm excited, since it looks like the neighborhood could support a 24 hour diner. The coffee shop closes at 11 on weeknights and midnight on weekends and there are several bars in the area. The local late night crowd now has somewhere to migrate to once at the end of the night (or is it in the morning ...)

More to come soon as I continue meandering around the city. I should start to meander with my camera. It would be helpful.

From The Ground Up Remains Of A City

2009-05-14T15:19:00.003-04:00

There are exciting things happening in Allentown!

One of these things is called Allentown From The Ground Up. It's a small social networking/activism* community that my friends and I started. Despite Allentown’s status as a “small city,” I’ve found some difficulty getting in contact with people my age who are interested in the welfare of the city.

We work to get Allentown’s active citizens to connect with each other outside of the workplace. Right now, it’s about having a good time in the city, but in the future it just might be about fixing up the city we care about.

Andrew, Bryan and I were in Bucky Boyle park not too long ago, kicking around the trash on the waterfront and we realized that there have got to be some other people who want to do things like this with us. Then we thought that kicking trash around isn’t such an appealing thing. So we decided to do events that are fun. Like the Iron Pigs!

So, come out and join us for an Iron Pigs game on May 30th. We’ll meet outside the gates at 6:30 and, since it’s the Iron Pigs, you can be sure it’s going to be a good time.

Also, check out our Twitter and Facebook page. If you can connect to us through that, too, we'll be sure to keep you in the loop for all the activities we're planing.

*Now, when I say “social networking” you’re going to think of those websites like Facebook. Don’t get the wrong idea, we’re on facebook, but we also exist in the real world. You know. That place from which you type up your comments? Where you eat? Yes, that one.

2009-05-11T17:05:00.003-04:00

As I said in the previous post, I only vaguely remember Hess's. I remember Santa and colored sugar and the circular kinds of clothing racks that were easy to hide inside. That last bit really drove my mom up the walls when we were in there. Since I was the kind of kid who behaved AWFULLY in stores, I didn't really get to go to Hess's much in the first place.

Last night's talk on Hess's department store let me in on the incredible history of an institution that holds a special place in the collective memory of Allentown residents. The speakers, Frank Whelen and Kurt Zwikl have published a book on Hess's heyday and shared their experience with about 30 locals in the basement of The Episcopal Church of the Mediator. The evening started with a potluck and quickly turned over to Mr. Whelen's lecture on how Hess's came to be. Apparently one of the Hess brothers took the TRAIN from Easton to Bethlehem to Allentown and decided to put his store in Allentown almost immediately after walking up Hamilton street from the train station. From the start, the store had character. The grand opening ceremony in 1897 featured the Allentown band, something no other Allentown dry goods store ever thought reasonable or feasible. The store continued to undergo massive expansion, annexing all the other buildings on its block. Mr. Whelen asked those of us who had visited the store before it closed "remember how you would have to take a couple steps up and down throughout the store? You were walking between all the different bulidings the store acquired and converted."

Kurt Zwikl then took over and spoke of his personal experience growing up in Allentown during Hess's "Hollywood on Hamilton" days. He listed names of celebrities that were clearly before my time and types of events I've never experienced. I can't imagine a department that doubles as a source of community pride – all I know are the monolith big boxes that land in asphalt strips like space ships. The portrait Zwikl painted of Max Hess Jr. reminded me, in a way, of Citizen Kane.

In the question and answer session, an attendee said something of interest. “Can you imagine what people would have said if they were told that Hess’s wouldn’t exist in thirty years? I don’t think anyone would believe it.”

“It’s just proof that things DO change,” said Zwikl.

Alright, Alright, I Know, I Know!

2009-05-09T17:59:00.003-04:00

I know I promised to post, but things have been hectic and I've got a particular post I am going to write tonight or tomorrow (after I go to the event tonight) and, um, is that a good enough excuse?

Tonight I am going to see Kurt Zwikl and Frank Whelan speak at the Church of the Mediator by West Park tonight and I'd like to do a write-up about it. It'll be on Hess's! I remember going to Hess's! I got my picture taken with Santa there every year until it closed because my mom insisted that it was the REAL Santa Claus. Now, I am a junior in college and I know a thing or two, but I think I may still be tricked into thinking he was real if I saw that Santa Claus again. I mean, he had a real beard and everything!

I also remember my mom complaining about Hess's a lot once it got sold. After the place closed up, we stopped going to downtown. My mom remembers that Hess's was a major "plus" to the Valley when she and my dad moved here in the eighties. She also remembers that "downtown started going downhill" pretty much right after they moved in. She cites the movie Funny Farm whenever we talk about Allentown's core; specifically the part where Chevy Chase is shouting "Release the deer!" into a walkie talkie. I am not sure if you understand what I mean, but I am officially late for this potluck and I've got to get going!

Real post; real soooooon!

A Funny Farm refresher for ya:

I Am Returned!

2009-05-08T00:43:00.001-04:00

Finals are over. Sophomore year is done. Expect a real blog post tomorrow!

Look! It's Right Behind You!

2009-05-02T19:46:00.003-04:00

I have been awash in the swashbuckling terror of finals these past weeks and posting has been scant. I am sorry, I have lots of things to post and I just haven't gotten to them. I assure you, exciting things are happening.

Posting should continue after Thursday. I will be done with finals and school by then (woo-hoo! summer!).

In the mean time, I urge you to check out a relatively new Allentown blog, Remember. It is written by my good friend Andrew Kleiner who is a lifelong Allentown resident and has quite a few opinions and ideas that have only recently found an outlet in blog format. His posts are incredibly well-written and reflective. They're a real treat. Read his latest post on Trexler Park, if nothing else.

It's Spring!

2009-04-24T23:38:00.003-04:00

Oh, Winter. We won't be seeing you for a while.

It is spring and I can tell. I do not use the feeble greens sprouting up from muddy earth to tell these things, oh no. I judge the emergence of spring by the incessant shuffle of flip flops on the quad and the appearance of low cut shirts.* And the hey baby's I get. Yesterday I got a "Wassup, Princess?" And instead of being slightly repulsed, I just smiled. Spring, indeed!

*ladies, please, you don't need sunburn there. TURTLENECKS FOR ALL.

And Now I Am One Of Those Crazy Hippie College Kids

2009-04-22T21:11:00.005-04:00

We spread a bazillion wheelbarrow loads of compost! And just look at those fence posts! Put 'em up myself (with the help of a few teammates).

Today is (was) Earth Day! To celebrate, I was supposed to finally plant seeds in the community garden my school's EcoSense club developed. This is the garden's first year, and expectations are high but I'm worried that we won't be able to get stuff into the ground in time since it's been so rainy and muddy (read: really, REALLY muddy). Today's intention was to picnic out by the garden plot and sprinkle cucumber, carrot, basil, eggplant, sunflower, marigold, lettuce and pepper seeds around. My partner and I got there, and there was a reporter waiting for us and a whole lot of mud.

So much care has gone into this garden so far! I've got a real attachment to that 100 square foot plot - I helped put up the deer fence and wheelbarrow half a ton of dirt over it. I even did my first on-camera interview about that garden!* The garden will, hopefully, be a place where students, faculty and local elementary school students can congregate and enjoy the community atmosphere that surrounds sustainably raised food. We're hoping to eventually divide the garden up into individual plots for faculty members/classrooms/student groups/departmental offices to take over while maintaining a portion of the garden for community outreach and education purposes. There's a nifty little patch of grass that could make a nice picnic area or herb garden, too! The place has got tons of potential...

...and also tons of mud. Such is the nature of gardening, I guess.

We ended up putting the row markers and leaving it be. I rolled around in the mud enough on Campus Beautification Day, anyway. Maybe this Earth Day was, for me, a bust, but we've gotta remember that EVERY day is Earth Day!

*I am pretty good at talking to reporters (especially if I know all about what I'm talking about!) but I got all nervous for the on-camera stuff and then the reporter asked a difficult question: Why is it important for young people to be involved in sustainability and green movements? I sputtered a response that included things like "setting patterns for the rest of our lives" and "creating an Earth worth inheriting for our own children" which sounds good written down, but not when it's spoken through a nervous, dirt-encrusted, visibly sweating college kid. Maybe I'm a hippie now.

Planning To Procrastinate

2009-04-20T11:57:00.005-04:00

That is one heck of a rendering, Chicago!
I am up to my ears in finals work and I am procrastinating. Just a little bit. Just enough to keep me sane. The point of procrastinating is to redirect the channel of energy from the insurmountable task at hand (which inevitably gets done and done on time, which is why it's called "procrastinating," not "leaving work incomplete") and distract oneself with that veil of productivity. I may not have written my paper on lesbian pregnancies, but I sure as hell did all my laundry, cleaned my room, updated my twitter feed, and read ALL my bookmark tabs.

This last little bit is something I'd like to post today. I know I've been thin on the posting recently but don't worry, I've just been procrastinating on procrastinating.

One site I read all the updates on is Planetizen.com. It's an incredible source for the latest news in planning and sustainability - literally. The feed I subscribe to aggregates articles written about cities and planning them and it just pulled up a nice blog post on Chicago's Burnham Plan and what made it successful. The blog is The Urbanophile and tucked neatly into a numbered list is this second point the writer makes:

It took two years to create. The Burnham Plan was not an overnight creation. It took a lot of research and deliberation. Today, it would likely take even longer. This is another reason why politicians aren't likely to be the driving force. They need solutions that show results within the election cycle. They need to cut ribbons, not produce three year studies.

He also mentions that the plan was private, and driven by businesses, which is something I don't often hear much of in what planning literature I read. Policy change is oen way to promote sustainable growth, but can it be done humanely on a big-business scale? It seems to have worked, but I haven't researched it past a wikipedia article and this blog post I just read.

Equally interesting is the comment section on the blog post. They're long, involved and thoughtful. How strange! Here's one quote about "Brain Drain" that I thought was interesting:

If you are mayor, alderman, business leader, merchant or anyone else and who thinks your commercial corridors are heinous, your urban cores are hard on the eyes and that your public realm, in general, really bites (parks, plazas, etc.), then everyone else probably thinks so, too.

Especially your nearby and newly minted college grads who now packing their suitcases.

Plain and simple.

I will put this subject on a list of things to research when I feel like procrastinating more at a later time (probably in a few hours, let's be honest). But right now I've got an analytical paper to write for a literature class. Then onto lesbian mothers for sociology. I am learning so many interesting things in college!

Best Laid Plans...

2009-03-30T23:05:00.002-04:00

There are kinds of traffic that are lovable.

If all goes as planned, I will be studying in Copenhagen this time next year! I am crossing my fingers and throwing pennies into wells and doing constructive things like keeping my grades up, setting up meetings and sprucing up my resumé in hopes that I will be accepted into the architecture and design program. I do not speak Danish, or any language other than Spanish and English and, since "the incident"* I harbor a fear of cycling in the city. But I can overcome this! My courses and homestay will be in English and maybe I can pick up a few Danish phrases along the way ...

*ah, "the incident"! Last semester I thought it would be a good idea to go on a leisurely bike ride. Except I violated one of the major rules of bike riding in a city - I thought like a car driver. So, I took a very, very busy and car-filled road to get to one particularly picturesque street (which ended up being all uphill) and OH GOOD GOD THERE WERE SO MANY MANY CARS and they were going fast! and honking at me! and I was scared! and I haven't written my bike since. Sigh.

Oh, Those European Beauties!

2009-03-26T01:27:00.008-04:00

El Parque de Buen Retiro in Madrid (Literally, the Park of Pleasant Retreat). I did no doctoring to this photo and I'm not that great of a photographer - it's just really that beautiful.

I just read this from Planetizen.com and remembered exactly what it was like to visit Europe. My preconceptions about the place turned out to be misconceptions (I had expected even the air to smell old) and I was blinded by the beauty. It may be why I tend to see things through rose-tinted glasses around here - I can only see potential. Allentown is so beautiful! Why does no one else see it?

"As you sit near the Piazzetta in Venice, clarity of mind about the present state of cities or their future may wither. Determined to deny the clarions of sentimentality, you think “What is it precisely about contemporary urbanity that seems so much less satisfying than the urbanity here?” Is it bigness, not of the entire city but of its individual elements? Is it the bifurcation of functions, a lack of overlapping textures and details, the compartmentalization of activities, the intrusions of the automobile? Is it too much newness or the “lack of human scale”?

You snap out of it. You’re in Venice, a city besieged by tourists and short on residents. The local economy is based on visitors’ capital. The air quality is poor. The water smells and looks nasty. The city is sinking. It is sustainable due only to human stubbornness, not any contemporary criteria of environmental sustainability. Ah, but it is so beautiful!"

-Alex Krieger

Love Wash Post, Love Virginia

2009-03-22T21:27:00.003-04:00

New Virginia Rules Target Cul-de-Sacs.

"The state has decided that all new subdivisions must have through streets linking them with neighboring subdivisions, schools and shopping areas. State officials say the new regulations will improve safety and accessibility and save money: No more single entrances and exits onto clogged secondary roads. Quicker responses by emergency vehicles. Lower road maintenance costs for governments.

"When you have 350 to 400 miles a year of new roads you have to maintain forever, it's a budgetary problem," said Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who pushed the new regulations through the Commonwealth Transportation Board last month. Virginia has had to cut more than $2.2 billion from its six-year transportation spending plan. "But it's not just about the money. It's about connecting land-use and transportation planning and restricting wasteful and unplanned development.'

"If a firetruck or ambulance is stuck in traffic on the Fairfax County Parkway, they just can't turn in to a subdivision and go through local streets, because they don't connect," said Nick Donohue, assistant secretary of transportation."

Tell me that this doesn't make sense to you and I will freak out. Virginia is taking down the suburbs with rationality. I don't know if you've ever driven all the way from one end of Tilghman to another, but you may notice that, as you move westward, more and more cars stack up at the lights even though the population gets less and less dense. It is because of suburbia. All those subdivisions (have you ever driven through Green Hills? It is CRAZY) pretty much have only one option to get to the highways: Tilghman. Unless, of course, they want to take Snowdrift to 309 North and then wait at those ridiculously long lights to get on the expressway.

Urban Transfomations and Root Shock

2009-03-22T20:26:00.003-04:00

I had the Best Saturday Ever! I went to Urban Transformations, a conference hosted by my school, and learned about public housing, redlining, gentrification, food security, prison reform, root shock and crime reporting.

I've gotta say that the most interesting thing was the food justice panel, not just because I felt like I had the most to contribute in the post-panel discussion, but because of a little thing that happened - Allentown came up on the slide show. Right there. In front of me. In D.C. No one in the panel was from Allentown and the guy who brought it up had never actually been to Allentown, (he was from Portland, Ore). The whole discussion was about walking-based access to supermarkets in Portland, and showed some research he got from Lehigh County. He is going to send me the source information for his slide on Allentown, I'll post it when I get it.

The second most interesting thing was a concept I had never before heard about: Root Shock. Coined by Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove (she's a psychiatrist, not a scholar - something she made clear to us several times) and it's "a traumatic stress reaction related to the destruction of one's emotional ecosystem." So it relates directly to urban renewal and gentrification and any destruction of urban infrastructure.

I've oscillated a lot on my opinion of gentrification. The main problem with the term is just how loaded it is. It's a political weapon that automatically calls up images of Starbucks plowing over corner grocery markets. Or white people moving in and driving up housing prices that force the previous, minority, population out. Or classism. Or zoning technicalities that are intentionally indecipherable so they confuse local populations into inaction when plans come through to change all the internally-illuminated signs to wooden signs of such-and-so size and put all the shopkeepers out of business. And those are just a few problems with the word.

Many planners and urbanists have skirted the issue by using slightly less political terms, but whatever you call it, it looks the same to residents. Dr. Fullilove made the point that those who are anti-gentrification are considered to be "stuck in the past," which, in a way, they might be, but it's the current issue of racism in processes like redlining that really bring a neighborhood to the point of disinvestment and deindustrialization that make an area a target for gentrification and urban renewal.

Her suggested solution is connection: "the logic of apartheid is deeply rooted in the American conscious, it is imperative to the mental health of all to connect these neighborhoods to the greater fabric of the city." So, instead of removing busses from a particular street, there really should be more busses there that go more places (i.e. not just to the malls) and maybe not any sort of new zoning laws that target low-income shop keepers? I think that's what Dr. Fullilove would suggest.

She was really incredible. A great speaker. I can't do her any justice. She's a great writer, too. Her book is Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, And What We Can Do About It.

Weddin'

2009-03-17T18:40:00.004-04:00

LV Bridal Expo featured Bridals By Sandra gowns. My sister's dress does not look like this.

Spring break! Woo-hoo! Go crazy!

GO CRAZY AT THE LEHIGH VALLEY BRIDAL EXPO, MORE LIKE IT. Indeed, I went to Stabler Arena with my sister (the bride-to-be) and a buncha bridesmaids and we went CRAZY. It was my job to try all the flavors of all the cakes available and, by golly, I took my job seriously. What I'm confused about now is how do PROFESSIONAL PASTRY CHEFS manage to make a wedding cake that tastes like trans fat and dish soap? It was also my job to enter my sister in prize drawings and that was fun (especially because I don't know my sister's house address, so she ended up living at my house in Caribbean Cruise Vacation Prize Drawing World).

Also, my sister got her wedding gown! It was the first one she tried on and it was also only 99 dollahs! It is beautiful and fits perfectly and my mom almost cried because she didn't get to see it first.

While walking around trying all the cake samples and talking to photographers and DJs and caterers, I realized why I was getting no feedback on my whimsical girlish flirtations: they though I was a bride. GAWD, NO. EEW, BOYS HAVE COOTIES. Also, I am going to marry a Jonas brother, DUH.

I really should travel around with a ginormous Maid Of Honor sticker.

Speaking of MOH duties, does anyone have any ideas of non-alcoholic bachlorette parties? One of our bridesmaids will not be 21 by the time the wedding rolls around, and I want at least part of the day to be alcohol-free. My ideas (and these are just ideas, so far) include some sort of trip to Premise Maid to see if we can tour something chocolate-y, a Banana Factory trip to make our own glass sculptures (although my sister has already done this one), or a trip to a local winery to witness wine making! (Wait, that last one is alcohol related ... I am no good at this!)

Back In The Valley ... Again

2009-03-08T01:04:00.003-05:00

I rode Amtrak all the way from DC and now I am in the Valley again! Magic? Magic.

Magic especially because the trains ran on time. I do not own an ipod (no cell phone either, right now. It's a long story.), so I had to open up my laptop to listen to music to drown out the middle schooler who yakked on her cell phone for the whole time.

So now I am trapped in the suburbs.

I use the word "trapped" when I can't get anywhere without a car. "Trapped" when I'm stranded by gas prices. "Trapped" when all my friends live further than I can walk in a day. "Trapped" because I don't know who my neighbors are. "Trapped" when the internet is more appealing than taking the effort to arrange a meeting with people I know.

"Trapped" when I have to share my car with a younger brother whose got a very busy teenage schedule.

I've got a week to make the most of it.

Housekeeping

2009-02-19T18:33:00.002-05:00

I'm working on tidying things up around here. I realize that I've strayed from the intended content of this blog - to write about my life when it intersects the Lehigh Valley. The most obvious reason I've neglected to write about the Valley is because, of course, I'm not in the Valley right now and I've still wanted to post regularly. So, as a warning, I may not update this quite as often in an attempt to stick with the program.

Some good news is that my future posts will be "tighter" and that you can still read my nonsensical blatherings at my radio show blog: TDR Jams.

This move is mostly spurred by my rather recent realization that I was featured in the Morning Call's Blogger Tuesday page. Again. Without being asked. Again.* I realize that the content here is being monitored and I really don't want to slip up, so I'm going to be more careful. Despite what I've been told.

*I have got to learn to stop reading the comments on the mcall.com forum. Man, do they STING.

TDR Jams

2009-02-18T13:01:00.003-05:00

If you're anywhere near a computer at 8AM on Mondays (or if you're awake, because that is also a requirement), you can listen to my radio show, TDR Jams. It is not a talk show, so I won't beat your brains out with opinions on the "news" stories that pop into my AOL welcome page, it is a music show! Which means I will beat your brains out with opinions on music! My co-DJ (Nick) and I wake up extra early to play our favorite music. I play the indie, he plays the soul and R&B.

We realize that there are lots of people who are not awake at this hour! Maybe not too too many people, but pretty much all of our target market is unconscious (fun fact: college kids are not usually awake at 8 am!). To still send out the message of indie/soul/R&B/dining hall food, we've created a blog! TDRJams: The Blog! A blog as an effective means of communication? Isn't that like screaming in a room full of people screaming? That is for you to decide.

But, hey, we've got our latest playlist up there if you miss the show. Nick and I both make posts, and it is pretty clear who is writing what since we have such different styles. I mean, there is also a little by-line, but in case you ever wanted to read it and play a guessing game, you can tell Nick wrote it when it is sensible and information-ridden and you can tell I wrote it when it is silly and maybe a little bit insane. (fun fact: I do not take blogging about my radio show very seriously at all!)

Oh, dear. Some days I wonder if the part of my brain that is occupied by extensive knowledge on the entire discography of Bright Eyes could be better used as a place to store, you know, Spanish vocabulary. But then again, some days I wonder about a lot of weird things.

Fun fact: TDR stands for Terrace Dining Room. In DC, they don't call it "basement," "cellar," or "dungeon." They call it a Terrace! DC, you are clever.

Nose To The Grindstone - What I'm Doing This Semester

2009-02-16T11:38:00.001-05:00

Dearest, darlingest readers, I have decided to detail to you what I do to fill my days. Why? Because you care. I may be lying to myself, but it's a nice lie, isn't it?

Let's start with extra-curriculars. I just got back from my radio show! Every Monday from 8-10AM, I host a show called "TDR Jams!" on the school's radio station. Our dining hall here at AU is called TDR (Terrace Dining Room) and its awesomeness is debatable if you're judging based on food alone, but its music is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Honestly, we hear Stevie Wonder every time we eat lunch there. This music inspired the show. I don't think I've ever had so much fun fumbling with outdated technology in a room the size of a closet before! You can listen in if you want, since we broadcast worldwide on wvau.org (if your computer is having trouble with that link, just go for searching "wvau" in your iTunes).

Next up is EcoSense! This is the school's environmental club. I am the director of the club's garden! It sounds small and simple but it is really actually huge and complicated since a ton of people wanna help out. So that means orchestrating the people who wanna plan the garden and break soil and make videos and teach local elementary school kids and harvest and such. Since this is the first year we're doing a garden, we've got to figure out just how to break the ground and how to make it critter-and-student-safe. I know deer will get into it (I've already accepted that) but what about hungry students?? They break into anything for a snack.

Then I go to Creative Writing Club! Well, not right after EcoSense, but the next day. Friday. I'm running for president of the club. It's pretty sweet. We sit in a circle and write poems. And we go on field trips! We get to go to the Naval Observatory and look at stars and write about them. From what I hear, there's a library to rival Beauty and the Beast in there. Elections are this Friday, so I will let you know if I win. I am pretty sure I am running unopposed. Will this be my opportunity to turn writing club into a dictatorship? Maybe! (I don't think I'm actually allowed to do that because we're monitored by Student Government).

AND THEN I have American Literary. This is the school's literary magazine! We publish poems that may or may not have gotten written in creative writing club. It is a good lookin' piece of published stuff, too. I don't do much in this club but review submissions. And submit things. That, too.

Now for curriculars. My classes are awesome. Right now I'm only taking four because I made a huge mistake in selecting a marketing course, but we won't talk about that right now. I am a sociology major, so I am taking some sociology courses! I've got Contemporary Issues in Social Theory (economic meltdown, ahoy!) and The Sociology of Birth and Death. Right now we're on the Death part of the course. It's INCREDIBLE. We laugh, we cry, we tell sad stories, we tell gross stories. We went on a field trip to a funeral home. You will look at me like I am crazy but I will say it anyway: it was great. Don't worry, we didn't go into the morgue. I probably would have totally lost it.

On a lighter note, I am also taking Intro to Spanish Translation. There is not much to say, except that we speak Spanish.

And I have a literature course. Funny thing: we're reading Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (it is a "graphic novel") and a large portion of the book takes place in a funeral home! I got it all confused up with my death class! Quite the kerfuffle, I'd say.

At any rate, enough about me. Tell me about YOU.

Aaaaand Back Again

2009-02-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

So I'm back in DC.

I feel like a slingshot. I'm tired of traveling. Time to settle into some good ol schoolwork.

Why, Hello There!

2009-02-13T18:31:00.000-05:00

Did you know I am back in Allentown for the weekend? I hardly knew, either! It is pretty dark out right now. And cold. I suppose we ARE north-er than D.C.

This weekend I plan to do some class projects that could only be done at home (interviews and the like) and maybe seeing some friends? I do not know. What I do know is that there are some chocolates on the counter that will meet their demise very soon.

Why are Hallmark holidays so delicious?

EDIT: Thought the Chen Arts group would find this article interesting: Arts Ban in Stimulus Bill Is Stupid Economics.

National Climate Change Teach-in Day! OR Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of ... Profit Margins?

2009-02-08T22:21:00.001-05:00

The kids were great, some were quite punk-y, but they all had a great time! For the composting section we gave them food to eat and I don't know if you've ever seen a 6th grader eat, but they eat FAST.

Sixty-five middle schoolers and climate change makes for a pretty decent Thursday, I will say. I am on what can be best described as the Eco-Garden Planning Committee for my school's environmental club, EcoSense. One reason it is great is that I get a lot of great t-shirts, another is that I get to put theory into practice and see where improvements need to be made.

Other than planning the full-day event and training the other student-teachers, I got to teach the students about the importance of eating locally grown foods and organic foods. Despite getting briefed on the cultural differences between AU's students and the DC public school sixth- and seventh graders and despite my cross-cultural communications study background, I faltered time and again when group after group of kids had never heard the word "organic" and, most of all, had rarely shopped at a grocery store. The green movement is largely white upper middle class and for good reason - it's expensive to get organic food. Most of these kids come from neighborhoods where there are few, if any, grocery stores. These places they come from, where quality or healthy food isn't the easiest to access and money is tight, are called Food Deserts. Residents are now considered "food insecure" (which is really a politically correct and polished replacement for the word "hunger") and it's a pretty significant barrier to personal success.

That a physiological need like food is subject to the pursuit of profit margins is appalling to me.

Does it make sense that the people who can afford it best - those who live in the suburbs - have access to the least expensive food while those who need it most - inner city residents who may or may not even have access to a car or reliable substitute (I have no clue how reliable LANTA is) - have their food outlets few and far between? Of course, it makes sense if you simply look at the laws of supply and demand. It makes sense that a grocery chain is likely to situate itself in an area where most of the residents are not on food stamps and tend to do things like bring snacks in to their child's 3rd grade classroom and host dinner parties, but I mean from a social perspective. From an economic development perspective, would anyone really be interested in moving into an area where there's not a place to get food?

This phenomenon isn't limited to D.C. - Allentown and the Lehigh Valley has plenty of evidence to attest to this. In my experience, I can say that there are a heck of a lot more grocery stores with a much wider and more affordable selection in the suburbs than in the city, just drive from one end of Tilghman street to the other.

Food Security - no, let's just call it what it is, hunger- Hunger is one of the directions my studies are taking me. Hopefully, I'll learn some practical ways to combat this through my EcoSense-sponsored forays into teaching gardening and cooking to these middle schoolers (we've got an ongoing partnership with Brightwood school) and the Rooting D.C. community garden conference on the 21st.

Hopefully.

Gay Clubs and Regret

2009-02-06T21:12:00.000-05:00

To all the straight guys who go to gay clubs to hit on unsuspecting girls who just wanna dance:

Y'all are creeping creepers and you creep me out. STOP IT.

Sincerely,
Me (who is taking a break from all the clubbing this week)

He Calls Himself 'Niggy Tardust'

2009-02-03T00:53:00.000-05:00

Saul Williams calls himself 'Niggy Tardust' for reasons I do not have enough space to explain. You should check his website or myspace.

We have six more weeks of winter! Hooray? Also, it is February! And February means black history month! Apparently, we do not have to acknowledge black history during the other 11 months, because we have February for that. A brilliant solution, government! I understand the original intent, though. Like, how else are we going to talk about black history in schools, if it is not brought to the forefront in a dedicated month? We would have to talk about it into regular history classes on a regular schedule! TRAGEDY.

I am going to give you a song. This is called 1987 and it is by Saul Williams. It is either new school poetry, or alternative conscious hip hop. I love hip hop, I will not go so far as to call myself a hip hop head, but I really like it. It's the most relevant and popular form of poetry we've got, so we better listen to what it's saying.

Saul Williams - 1987 (link: http://www.mediafire.com/?1d2ohetwnvg)

Click the link, hit "download" (it is all good!), listen to it in your media player, and look up the lyrics (here is a link). Follow along like it's a church hymnal. Understand that the song jumps between the past and present without wont. If you are iffy about downloading things, youtube it! Here is a youtube link.

Additional link: Saul Williams' Black Stacey. This is actually an interesting sociological concept that is credited to W.E.B. DuBois, the idea of the cultural veil, that members outside the culture cannot identify with it because the mainstream culture pretends like they don't exist. So, an example, my sister's mother in-law (who is Indian), complaining about Sarah Palin, saying "She can identify with any mother, so long as her children play hockey."

This "veil" is what things like Black History Month try to overcome. Whether it works, because it brings to light the fact that there is a whole lot of really, really, really important history that we're missing or whether it doesn't work, because it lets us, in good conscience, ignore the history for 11 months out of the year is up to debate.

So I am not sure if I can say "Happy Black History Month" because, like most oppressed peoples, it is not the most happy of histories. So instead I will say this: Barack is president!