Today I was at the bodega across the street and this lady came in and asked the guy at the counter:
Lady: Are you Alex?
Alex: Yeah
Lady: My mom lives down the street and she said to come get her a turkey sandwich. She said you'd know how to make it.
Alex: OK. (calls over to the guy at the deli counter for a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes on it in some foreign language).
These are the kind of things people worry about losing when they think about communities getting destroyed by developers. Manhattan is a small island, and this neighborhood is one of the few patches left to exploit. Uptown, most of the affordable housing is being bought up by private equity firms who have a vested interest in getting rid of long-term residents and jacking up the rent. Downtown, the city is rezoning 125th Street, the main drag of harlem, for high-rise condos and such. (Not to mention the battle of morningside heights over the expansion of Columbia a little further downtown.)
While it may be an isolating and sometimes scary place to live for a transplanted 20-something midwestern white girl, this is the kind of neighborhood where families have had roots for many, many years, where everyone on the street seemingly knows each other, where people sit in chairs outside their places of residence (or employment) and chat with people as they go by. Progress and safer streets and better stores are all good, but I really hope I don't come back to visit this place in 10 years to find that it's turned into the upper-upper west side and all the longtime residents have been pushed up to the south bronx.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The tyranny of stuff. And creepy voicemails.
Moving is a process that makes you acutely aware of the sheer amount of stuff you have.
The thing about stuff is that at one point or another, the stuff you have inevitably becomes the stuff you need to get rid of.
Unless you die. Then that stuff becomes someone else's problem. And that's an even bigger problem, because some stuff has a lot of emotional significance, and when you die and leave someone else your stuff, some of that emotional significance gets passed on with it.
Why do we put so much emotional stock in stuff? Specifically, furniture.
The Times ran a piece that did some time on the most e-mailed list about the perils of inheriting furniture. Oftentimes, you're stuck with it, because to a lot of people, the person from whom you got the furniture (or ugly portrait or whatever) lives on in that stuff, and getting rid of it would be like getting rid of *them*.
My herirloom furniture, which is pretty much all of it, was all wanted furniture (of good quality too), and I have so damn much of it that getting rid of a few things isn't cutting any one person's material memory out of my life. Also, it's kind of comforting having such a variety of passed-on stuff here. I've got stuff from both parents, both sets of grandparents, my sister, my house on menomonie street, hell, even my ex-boyfriend.
And that will still be the case after I downsize a little bit, but it's been kind of a struggle to prepare myself to get rid of a few things I won't have room to take with me when I move on tuesday. I'm still struggling with the economic guilt of essentially giving away some good stuff, but the flip side of that is on Craigslist there are plenty of other people in the same situation, so it *is* possible to get good stuff for cheap here.
And the fact that I'm blathering on about this is proof of my point. It's just stuff. Sentimental value is a social construction. Don't let it imprison you.
And another point: If you're moving here, bring as little as possible.
(That said, I wouldn't trade my living room furniture and big comfy bed for a teeny studio on the upper west side. I'm a midwestern girl and I need my space.)
Now that you've made it through that rant, you need to listen to this. A woman named Olga got hit on by a man named Dmitri. They talked for about two minutes, she gave him her business card (probably to get him to go away). These are the messages he left her.
The thing about stuff is that at one point or another, the stuff you have inevitably becomes the stuff you need to get rid of.
Unless you die. Then that stuff becomes someone else's problem. And that's an even bigger problem, because some stuff has a lot of emotional significance, and when you die and leave someone else your stuff, some of that emotional significance gets passed on with it.
Why do we put so much emotional stock in stuff? Specifically, furniture.
The Times ran a piece that did some time on the most e-mailed list about the perils of inheriting furniture. Oftentimes, you're stuck with it, because to a lot of people, the person from whom you got the furniture (or ugly portrait or whatever) lives on in that stuff, and getting rid of it would be like getting rid of *them*.
My herirloom furniture, which is pretty much all of it, was all wanted furniture (of good quality too), and I have so damn much of it that getting rid of a few things isn't cutting any one person's material memory out of my life. Also, it's kind of comforting having such a variety of passed-on stuff here. I've got stuff from both parents, both sets of grandparents, my sister, my house on menomonie street, hell, even my ex-boyfriend.
And that will still be the case after I downsize a little bit, but it's been kind of a struggle to prepare myself to get rid of a few things I won't have room to take with me when I move on tuesday. I'm still struggling with the economic guilt of essentially giving away some good stuff, but the flip side of that is on Craigslist there are plenty of other people in the same situation, so it *is* possible to get good stuff for cheap here.
And the fact that I'm blathering on about this is proof of my point. It's just stuff. Sentimental value is a social construction. Don't let it imprison you.
And another point: If you're moving here, bring as little as possible.
(That said, I wouldn't trade my living room furniture and big comfy bed for a teeny studio on the upper west side. I'm a midwestern girl and I need my space.)
Now that you've made it through that rant, you need to listen to this. A woman named Olga got hit on by a man named Dmitri. They talked for about two minutes, she gave him her business card (probably to get him to go away). These are the messages he left her.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Rent Control
So I'm trying to sell off some of my furniture that won't fit in my new apartment (that's the downside to having an actual closet, it takes up wall space so you can't cram in as much.) A woman who lives downstairs came to look at it, and she was telling me how her apartment's been in the family for 65 years and it's rent controlled. Know how much she pays for it? $300 a month. (My apartment is more than 4 times that).
Monday, June 23, 2008
Reading Way Too Much News So You Don't Have To
There's been lots of debate over the not-quite-verified teenage pregnancy pact in Gloucester, Mass. — What would possess a group of high schoolers to take on such a life-changing responsibility when they're so unequipped to handle it on purpose? In response, someone linked to this photo essay on poverty in upstate New York. Go read it. Seriously.
In contrast, I'm reading this book right now that I found on the free table at work about the world's super-rich and powerful who fly around the world on private jets to network with each other and make decisions that affect billions of people. There's your daily dose of inequality.
Also, don't pay for marriage counseling with a credit card.
In contrast, I'm reading this book right now that I found on the free table at work about the world's super-rich and powerful who fly around the world on private jets to network with each other and make decisions that affect billions of people. There's your daily dose of inequality.
Also, don't pay for marriage counseling with a credit card.
Friday, June 20, 2008
In Review: Lil Wayne: "Tha Carter III"
When it comes to hip-hop, reviewers at highbrow publications are mind-blowingly easy to impress. Saying that all rappers are talentless wankers who write little more than glorified ringtones makes a critic sound curmudgeonly and out of touch. But the thing is ... most rappers these days *do* write little more than glorified ringtones. So a reviewer will salivate over any exception (see also: the second to last graf on the first page of this review).
Hence the hype over Lil Wayne's sixth official album. Though it doesn't hurt that Tha Carter III went platinum its first week, which has been practically unheard of in the last few years (Kanye West's newest album, which came out last year, hasn't sold a million copies to date).
Is it worth the hype? Rolling Stone gave it 4 1/2 stars. I wouldn't go that far. But on the whole it's a solid album, which is saying a lot for any genre, and even more in a genre that produces a disproportionate number of bloated albums.
Whether or not Lil Wayne is in fact the self-anointed "best rapper alive," you have to give him some credit. Mid-90s OutKast comes to mind. Back before Big Boi got swallowed by Andre 3000's George Clinton complex, he brought the street cred and Andre brought the crazy. Lil Wayne can do both. He does the requisite smack-talking. He waxes political. He claims he is a Martian. And being that he is one of the most prolific mainstream rappers in history — he's done a ton of mixtapes and guested on more than 100 songs with other people — he has plenty of tracks on which to do all of that, and manages to not come off as an egghead rapper, a la Nas or Kanye West, which is no easy feat (nothing against either Nas or Kanye).
Tha Carter III probably won't be the album you play while you get ready to go out. But it's full of lines that will make you go wait ...what?! So put it on in the car when you can actually appreciate lil wayne for the brilliant MC that he is. (See also: "Georgia ... Bush," "Go DJ," "Shooter").
Unrelated note:
The democrats in Congress are a bunch of pussified, ball-less, spineless, useless saps. Except Russ Feingold.
And John McCain ain't any better.
Hence the hype over Lil Wayne's sixth official album. Though it doesn't hurt that Tha Carter III went platinum its first week, which has been practically unheard of in the last few years (Kanye West's newest album, which came out last year, hasn't sold a million copies to date).
Is it worth the hype? Rolling Stone gave it 4 1/2 stars. I wouldn't go that far. But on the whole it's a solid album, which is saying a lot for any genre, and even more in a genre that produces a disproportionate number of bloated albums.
Whether or not Lil Wayne is in fact the self-anointed "best rapper alive," you have to give him some credit. Mid-90s OutKast comes to mind. Back before Big Boi got swallowed by Andre 3000's George Clinton complex, he brought the street cred and Andre brought the crazy. Lil Wayne can do both. He does the requisite smack-talking. He waxes political. He claims he is a Martian. And being that he is one of the most prolific mainstream rappers in history — he's done a ton of mixtapes and guested on more than 100 songs with other people — he has plenty of tracks on which to do all of that, and manages to not come off as an egghead rapper, a la Nas or Kanye West, which is no easy feat (nothing against either Nas or Kanye).
Tha Carter III probably won't be the album you play while you get ready to go out. But it's full of lines that will make you go wait ...what?! So put it on in the car when you can actually appreciate lil wayne for the brilliant MC that he is. (See also: "Georgia ... Bush," "Go DJ," "Shooter").
Unrelated note:
The democrats in Congress are a bunch of pussified, ball-less, spineless, useless saps. Except Russ Feingold.
And John McCain ain't any better.
Monday, June 16, 2008
It's most definitely not all good in the 'hood
When I got off the train after work there were a bunch of people (of the 20-something male variety) who looked like they were being chased up lenox avenue. One of them tried to run into a bodega but they locked him out. I'm not entirely sure what was up and I wasn't going to stick around and find out. (I did listen for gunfire and didn't hear any, thank god.) All of which sucked because I really wanted to go to the corner store and pick up some food but after that I was scared to leave the building. Man I'm glad I'm moving out of here.
Work on sundays is always a slog. Even though I don't have to stay until 1 a.m., and even though for me it's more like a thursday. And then I always say I'm going to go home and crash and then I get home and don't feel like sleeping.
So now that it's 2:46 a.m. and I'm still awake ...
Always check the page one last time before you send it to print or this will happen. Or, perhaps, this.
Also, if you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months (in which case I kind of envy you!) Here's the entire democratic primary in eight minutes.
ok I'm going to bed now. Foreals.
Work on sundays is always a slog. Even though I don't have to stay until 1 a.m., and even though for me it's more like a thursday. And then I always say I'm going to go home and crash and then I get home and don't feel like sleeping.
So now that it's 2:46 a.m. and I'm still awake ...
Always check the page one last time before you send it to print or this will happen. Or, perhaps, this.
Also, if you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months (in which case I kind of envy you!) Here's the entire democratic primary in eight minutes.
ok I'm going to bed now. Foreals.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I have a mover
and it's only costing me $600. Recommended by stefania (aforementioned wise broker) and has pretty good online reviews, so hopefully all goes OK.
Today I went to the management office to get out of my lease. The guy said that because it's so easy to rent out an apartment in the city, there's no reason any landlord here should give you a hard time about getting out of a lease, other than to harass you.
And when I asked if they were going to take post-move-out cleaning costs out of my security deposit (my roommates from eau claire and I are down at least $150), he said, "that's not the way we do things."
There are some advantages to renting in the most brutally competitive market in the country.
Today I went to the management office to get out of my lease. The guy said that because it's so easy to rent out an apartment in the city, there's no reason any landlord here should give you a hard time about getting out of a lease, other than to harass you.
And when I asked if they were going to take post-move-out cleaning costs out of my security deposit (my roommates from eau claire and I are down at least $150), he said, "that's not the way we do things."
There are some advantages to renting in the most brutally competitive market in the country.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Hot damn ...
Two summers ago I lived in Eau Claire and did manual labor for the Menards distribution center. There was a week or two when the temperature broke 100 degrees every day. The Menards warehouses are decidedly not air conditioned. Neither was my house. That was not a fun summer.
So I'm trying to keep a little perspective ... but damn, it's hot in my apartment. I think tomorrow I am going to go out and buy 3 or 4 more fans so I don't have to keep moving my one broken one around with me. But only three more weeks and I'll have air conditioning.
Remember the guy who was banging on my floor because my neighbor was playing loud music all night and he thought it was me? I met him today. He says when he called the landlord to complain, the landlord said, "I really don't think it's coming from her apartment. She works for the New York Times." Apparently, journalists don't have loud parties.* The neighbor, incidentally, also works for the Times. Crazy. And he did apologize for banging on my floor. And I forgive him because he actually put forth the effort to complain. And the noise has since stopped.
Know what I realized today? Once I move, my new place will be the fifth place I've lived (like, for more than a month) this year. And the third state.
*LG, are you reading this??
So I'm trying to keep a little perspective ... but damn, it's hot in my apartment. I think tomorrow I am going to go out and buy 3 or 4 more fans so I don't have to keep moving my one broken one around with me. But only three more weeks and I'll have air conditioning.
Remember the guy who was banging on my floor because my neighbor was playing loud music all night and he thought it was me? I met him today. He says when he called the landlord to complain, the landlord said, "I really don't think it's coming from her apartment. She works for the New York Times." Apparently, journalists don't have loud parties.* The neighbor, incidentally, also works for the Times. Crazy. And he did apologize for banging on my floor. And I forgive him because he actually put forth the effort to complain. And the noise has since stopped.
Know what I realized today? Once I move, my new place will be the fifth place I've lived (like, for more than a month) this year. And the third state.
*LG, are you reading this??
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Home Sweet Hoboken!
I signed a lease Thursday, so I am officially moving to hoboken. Yay!
Next Step: Finding a mover.
Next Step: Finding a mover.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
It's Spiderman ... twice!
I came out of Dunkin' Donuts on my way to work this afternoon and everyone on the sidewalk was gawking at the Times building. I looked up and around the 50th floor, there was a guy. Climbing up one of the tallest skyscrapers in manhattan.
It was crazy. The police had half the block roped off. When I got to work the security guard told me the guy made it to the top and was immediately arrested.
The guy was Alain Robert, a French stuntman who's climbed other skyscrapers before. On the window outside the international weekly, where I was working today, he put up a green banner that said "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week."
A few hours later we were watching the footage on the news. After a few minutes we noticed that it said LIVE in the corner of the screen.
A second climber. Seriously. What the hell?!
So we all ran to the corner of the building where he was, but he was up to about the 30th floor by that time. Traffic in the entire neighborhood had completely stopped and people crowded the sidewalks for blocks and blocks. On the news you could see employees standing inside the windows gawking.
This second guy did not seem as sure of himself. He stopped by the windows to rest at every floor, and a few times it looked like he was going to slip. We all cheered as he finally made it to the top — 52 floors up — where the police were waiting on the roof to arrest him.
Had the climbers done some research they would have realized that the Times building his a history of things falling off of it. They got pretty damn lucky.
Alain Robert said he chose our building to make his statement because it's a green building. Which, incidentally, is why Renzo Piano decided to do the whole outside in WHITE FUCKING HORZONTAL BARS to make it more energy efficient.
I'm not surprised that someone climbed the building. I'm surprised that it took this long for anyone to try.
It was crazy. The police had half the block roped off. When I got to work the security guard told me the guy made it to the top and was immediately arrested.
The guy was Alain Robert, a French stuntman who's climbed other skyscrapers before. On the window outside the international weekly, where I was working today, he put up a green banner that said "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week."
A few hours later we were watching the footage on the news. After a few minutes we noticed that it said LIVE in the corner of the screen.
A second climber. Seriously. What the hell?!
So we all ran to the corner of the building where he was, but he was up to about the 30th floor by that time. Traffic in the entire neighborhood had completely stopped and people crowded the sidewalks for blocks and blocks. On the news you could see employees standing inside the windows gawking.
This second guy did not seem as sure of himself. He stopped by the windows to rest at every floor, and a few times it looked like he was going to slip. We all cheered as he finally made it to the top — 52 floors up — where the police were waiting on the roof to arrest him.
Had the climbers done some research they would have realized that the Times building his a history of things falling off of it. They got pretty damn lucky.
Alain Robert said he chose our building to make his statement because it's a green building. Which, incidentally, is why Renzo Piano decided to do the whole outside in WHITE FUCKING HORZONTAL BARS to make it more energy efficient.
I'm not surprised that someone climbed the building. I'm surprised that it took this long for anyone to try.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Update
While I was furiously posting the previous rant, I got a call from my management company about a whole bunch of places that they're showing in Brooklyn in my price range. No broker fees and they can just transfer my security deposit over. So that lowers the panic level a little.
waiting ...
On Sunday I looked at my first apartment, in hoboken. The place, for $65 a month less than I'm paying now, is roomier than my current place even considering that there's another person living there (who seems quite nice). And the building is super-close to everything I would need (ie, the train to manhattan). So yesterday, not having seen any other ones, I went to the management office, dropped $75 and applied for it.
So now I wait.
Apparently, some management companies actually, like, do background checks.
Note to my current and former bosses and landlords: Please say something nice :o)
On the other hand, do I really *want* to move there?
I love hoboken, it's an adorable town, about 2 miles square, with lots of bars and shops and restaurants and a few lovely organic grocery stores. And it's cheaper than manhattan — and closer to most of it than I am now.
But there's still the nagging, somewhat illogical voice in my head that says why are you moving to JERSEY??? Also, the fact (for those of you not up on this, as I'm keeping it off the record*) that I'm dating someone there. Have been for about two months now. Most definitely not long enough on which to make a geographical decision, even in New York. He doesn't believe me when I say this, but the fact that he lives there is not part of my decision to move there except that had it not been for him I never probably would have seen hoboken in the first place.
Oh, and also, there's the fact that I put in 30 days notice to my current landlords and have to be out by July 1.
I think there needs to be some kind of bureau of housing counseling in the city. I could really use some assistance from someone knowledgeable who doesn't stand to make huge amounts of money off me. Seriously, New Yorkers spend more time, money and energy thinking and talking about housing and neighborhoods and apartments and gentrification and rent than anyone else in the damn country or possibly the world. With the possible exception of people whose houses have been foreclosed on them. And they have an excuse.
*To protect the innocent, and the not-so-innocent, this is NOT a dating blog. All personal details are off the record.
So now I wait.
Apparently, some management companies actually, like, do background checks.
Note to my current and former bosses and landlords: Please say something nice :o)
On the other hand, do I really *want* to move there?
I love hoboken, it's an adorable town, about 2 miles square, with lots of bars and shops and restaurants and a few lovely organic grocery stores. And it's cheaper than manhattan — and closer to most of it than I am now.
But there's still the nagging, somewhat illogical voice in my head that says why are you moving to JERSEY??? Also, the fact (for those of you not up on this, as I'm keeping it off the record*) that I'm dating someone there. Have been for about two months now. Most definitely not long enough on which to make a geographical decision, even in New York. He doesn't believe me when I say this, but the fact that he lives there is not part of my decision to move there except that had it not been for him I never probably would have seen hoboken in the first place.
Oh, and also, there's the fact that I put in 30 days notice to my current landlords and have to be out by July 1.
I think there needs to be some kind of bureau of housing counseling in the city. I could really use some assistance from someone knowledgeable who doesn't stand to make huge amounts of money off me. Seriously, New Yorkers spend more time, money and energy thinking and talking about housing and neighborhoods and apartments and gentrification and rent than anyone else in the damn country or possibly the world. With the possible exception of people whose houses have been foreclosed on them. And they have an excuse.
*To protect the innocent, and the not-so-innocent, this is NOT a dating blog. All personal details are off the record.
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