Ahoy,
One of my most favorite things ever that I've heard about Chicago is "I'm from Chicago. I can cross the street any time I want." I followed this edict religiously in Berkeley. Everyone thought I was insane. And I remember biking and walking during rush hour downtown Chicago. I'll never forget how majestically planned it looked, people would just step into the street, in between and around the cars - like organized chaos. It was lovely.
It's interesting to experience what pedestrian etiquette is like in other cities. In the Bay Area, they might stand on the edge of the curb, but they follow the signals. In LA, no one dares approach the curb until the light has changed - forget about stepping off the curb. In NY, the streets can get so crowded - people walk in the road. But New Yorkers never pay attention to the crosswalk signal - they look at traffic or traffic lights for the other direction. I have jaywalked in front of police officers many a time, and have yet to be given a second glance. Jaywalking in the LA bus turnaround - not even the street - someone came up to me and warned me they fine people for doing that.
How can I start a revolution to make jaywalkers out of Angelenos?
mischievously forlorn,
jt
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Looking for Chicago: my brother
Ahoy,
Some of you may know that my brother and I have developed an alarmingly peaceful relationship based on obedience and friendly aggression. He is, in many respects, my best friend. Having grown up on the premise that he was born to play with me, we have become excellent play buddies. The story usually goes that I decide what we do, and he does it. No matter what adventures I drag him along on, I'll always relish the times we are just lounging.
No one has played as humble and powerful a role in my existence as he has. He has pretty much been with me his whole life - a lot of times probably because my mom made me bring him - but nonetheless! He is my brother, my confidante, my editor - always honest, always insightful, always questioning. I don't know what I'd do without my crossword buddy. I really don't.
siblingly wistful,
jt
Some of you may know that my brother and I have developed an alarmingly peaceful relationship based on obedience and friendly aggression. He is, in many respects, my best friend. Having grown up on the premise that he was born to play with me, we have become excellent play buddies. The story usually goes that I decide what we do, and he does it. No matter what adventures I drag him along on, I'll always relish the times we are just lounging.
No one has played as humble and powerful a role in my existence as he has. He has pretty much been with me his whole life - a lot of times probably because my mom made me bring him - but nonetheless! He is my brother, my confidante, my editor - always honest, always insightful, always questioning. I don't know what I'd do without my crossword buddy. I really don't.
siblingly wistful,
jt
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
red eyes and shut eyes
Ahoy,
Red eye flights seem like the smartest thing ever. They are great because you can sleep the flight away. You would be sleeping anyway. And you won't lose any productive hours. As a student, I'm always keen on maximizing productivity. There are so many moments when I'm in a scramble that I wish there were more hours in a day, that I didn't need to sleep, that I didn't need to eat, that I didn't get my run into the day. For all these reasons - red eye flights seem like the best thing since sliced bread. At the time you book it.
And then you fly it. And you realize your seat can never push back far enough, that the person in front of you has a seat that pushes so much farther back than yours, that the guy next to you thinks he can spill into your seat, that your feet can't stay still, that the air and the lights and the noise are all messing with your circadian rhythm. And you realize it is nearly impossible to sleep on a red eye flight and just as impossible to be productive.
blisteringly wired,
jt
Red eye flights seem like the smartest thing ever. They are great because you can sleep the flight away. You would be sleeping anyway. And you won't lose any productive hours. As a student, I'm always keen on maximizing productivity. There are so many moments when I'm in a scramble that I wish there were more hours in a day, that I didn't need to sleep, that I didn't need to eat, that I didn't get my run into the day. For all these reasons - red eye flights seem like the best thing since sliced bread. At the time you book it.
And then you fly it. And you realize your seat can never push back far enough, that the person in front of you has a seat that pushes so much farther back than yours, that the guy next to you thinks he can spill into your seat, that your feet can't stay still, that the air and the lights and the noise are all messing with your circadian rhythm. And you realize it is nearly impossible to sleep on a red eye flight and just as impossible to be productive.
blisteringly wired,
jt
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Looking for New York: Subway
Ahoy,
There's nothing that makes you appreciate NYC Subway more than navigating other places. For its faults and rat population, it is the best public transit system in the States. So how am I ever supposed to lower my standards? I've come to realize it takes a long time to get anywhere in LA. Traffic conditions play far too critical a factor in mobility, which really makes me appreciate the Metro.
One of the most blatant differences is the kind of people and interactions on the systems. Everybody rides the Subway in NY, but in LA nobody rides the Metro if they don't have to (but I really think a lot of people would be a lot happier with their life if they rode the Metro rather than drove). And in NY there's this unspoken policy that you don't talk to other people. Ever. You don't even make eye contact. And if you talk to other people - clearly you're not from here. But people talk to me so much in LA. It interrupts my reading time. And the wandering eyes are nothing like the alone-ness of riding the Subway.
No light rail system could ever compare to the size and coverage of MTA's. The Metro reaches everywhere important in a reliable manner. It has real-time schedules that have been mostly accurate and consistent, which I can't necessarily say for MTA. Metro doesn't allow food which is accountable for why it's so much cleaner. One thing the MTA is is dirty - the tracks are littered with debris and bags of garbage that catch on fire sometimes. Great grub for the Subway rats. And all this I'm sure is a significant portion of the budget to handle - which one would think would be covered by the $2.25 fare (but it isn't). The $1.50 fare doesn't cover much either, but looking at my salary I'll take what I can get.
So even though the Metro doesn't run 24 hours or every 2-5 minutes or leave me alone, it is less expensive, runs when it says it does, is cleaner and there's no traffic. No traffic!
despairingly impatient,
jt
There's nothing that makes you appreciate NYC Subway more than navigating other places. For its faults and rat population, it is the best public transit system in the States. So how am I ever supposed to lower my standards? I've come to realize it takes a long time to get anywhere in LA. Traffic conditions play far too critical a factor in mobility, which really makes me appreciate the Metro.
One of the most blatant differences is the kind of people and interactions on the systems. Everybody rides the Subway in NY, but in LA nobody rides the Metro if they don't have to (but I really think a lot of people would be a lot happier with their life if they rode the Metro rather than drove). And in NY there's this unspoken policy that you don't talk to other people. Ever. You don't even make eye contact. And if you talk to other people - clearly you're not from here. But people talk to me so much in LA. It interrupts my reading time. And the wandering eyes are nothing like the alone-ness of riding the Subway.
No light rail system could ever compare to the size and coverage of MTA's. The Metro reaches everywhere important in a reliable manner. It has real-time schedules that have been mostly accurate and consistent, which I can't necessarily say for MTA. Metro doesn't allow food which is accountable for why it's so much cleaner. One thing the MTA is is dirty - the tracks are littered with debris and bags of garbage that catch on fire sometimes. Great grub for the Subway rats. And all this I'm sure is a significant portion of the budget to handle - which one would think would be covered by the $2.25 fare (but it isn't). The $1.50 fare doesn't cover much either, but looking at my salary I'll take what I can get.
So even though the Metro doesn't run 24 hours or every 2-5 minutes or leave me alone, it is less expensive, runs when it says it does, is cleaner and there's no traffic. No traffic!
despairingly impatient,
jt
Monday, March 12, 2012
Looking for New York: Central Park
Ahoy,
As I'm approaching the home stretch of my time in NYC. I find myself accustomed to certain habits. Something I've come to begrudgingly enjoy is living less than a block from Central Park, the pivotal factor in why running has become a recreation I continue to partake. I remember the first time I went for a run in the park. It was a night run in September of 2010. One of the first days we had just moved in and I wanted to blow off some steam. I decided to stay on the main road since it was night. I ran down probably less than a mile to a fork, I don't remember which one, and back up to my entrance.
I remember going again during the day around the reservoir once, building up to twice. It is 3 miles twice around. To change the scenery I would go down to the 59th St. entrance and again back up. That was about 3 miles too. I would eventually make it all the way around the main road - 6 miles. This year I mixed up the routes with different turns onto the main road, across the horse trails, around the reservoir. I built up to 7.8 miles around the park, and could go 6 miles pretty consistently. I became familiar with the roads and trees, landmarks and smells.
There are a million steps I've probably taken around that park, and I'll be sad to part from such a fantastic amenity. I know I have uncommon access to it, but I've come to see it as my backyard - a reprieve from the city. There was a point when I was running everyday for about 2 weeks. I've since calmed down, but I'll miss having Central Park there.
This past weekend, we went running in Santa Monica - down San Vicente and then along the beach. A tricked me into 11 miles. This route had some shade on San Vicente, but none on the beach. Central Park has pockets of shade all along the routes I've done. I don't like running next to traffic, which was what San Vicente was like. Central Park has horse and carriages, and taxis and cars along the SE corridor, but it's minimal compared to San Vicente. Running along the beach was beautiful, anybody's dream, but it was windy the whole time. There's pros and cons for both routes, but I'll make do with what I can get. I'm not good at staying still, and I guess I should be less picky about running conditions if I'm going to continue running.
deceivingly tricked,
jt
As I'm approaching the home stretch of my time in NYC. I find myself accustomed to certain habits. Something I've come to begrudgingly enjoy is living less than a block from Central Park, the pivotal factor in why running has become a recreation I continue to partake. I remember the first time I went for a run in the park. It was a night run in September of 2010. One of the first days we had just moved in and I wanted to blow off some steam. I decided to stay on the main road since it was night. I ran down probably less than a mile to a fork, I don't remember which one, and back up to my entrance.
I remember going again during the day around the reservoir once, building up to twice. It is 3 miles twice around. To change the scenery I would go down to the 59th St. entrance and again back up. That was about 3 miles too. I would eventually make it all the way around the main road - 6 miles. This year I mixed up the routes with different turns onto the main road, across the horse trails, around the reservoir. I built up to 7.8 miles around the park, and could go 6 miles pretty consistently. I became familiar with the roads and trees, landmarks and smells.
There are a million steps I've probably taken around that park, and I'll be sad to part from such a fantastic amenity. I know I have uncommon access to it, but I've come to see it as my backyard - a reprieve from the city. There was a point when I was running everyday for about 2 weeks. I've since calmed down, but I'll miss having Central Park there.
This past weekend, we went running in Santa Monica - down San Vicente and then along the beach. A tricked me into 11 miles. This route had some shade on San Vicente, but none on the beach. Central Park has pockets of shade all along the routes I've done. I don't like running next to traffic, which was what San Vicente was like. Central Park has horse and carriages, and taxis and cars along the SE corridor, but it's minimal compared to San Vicente. Running along the beach was beautiful, anybody's dream, but it was windy the whole time. There's pros and cons for both routes, but I'll make do with what I can get. I'm not good at staying still, and I guess I should be less picky about running conditions if I'm going to continue running.
deceivingly tricked,
jt
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