I forget!
I just found a lawsuit, it looks like a really goofball setup.
I guess I gotta put my foot down and say "no."
Meh; it'll build character.........yay being a dad.......
What conscussionns?How many fingers am I holding up?
Nekkid ones!
Meh; it'll build character.........yay being a dad.......
Now hand out the snow shovels.
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Meh; it'll build character.........yay being a dad.......Now hand out the snow shovels.
Having never been to NYC, by the way that several of you are describing it, certain areas have gone through gentrification and lost some of its previous identity / charm in the process?You could say that again.
Having never been to NYC, by the way that several of you are describing it, certain areas have gone through gentrification and lost some of its previous identity / charm in the process?
Having never been to NYC, by the way that several of you are describing it, certain areas have gone through gentrification and lost some of its previous identity / charm in the process?You could say that again.
I sometimes feel like nobody noticed more dramatically than me, as I was living in Alabama when the whole Bloomberg/Giuliani purgation really got into full swing. Honestly, it's true some places lost some of their flavor, but the change is not all bad. I can't find the heart to complain, though I far from agree with all of it.
Take for example the hideous and disgusting shanty-town in Thomkins Square park, which was a haven for the unemployably mentally ill and druggies and all sorts of undesirables. I remember the OUTRAGE some people had when the police finally moved in to expunge this. I couldn't believe it. It was an eyesore and it was totally gross.
It got popular to ridicule the police for cracking down on homeless people and strong-arming them to move along rather than sleep around town. But a lot of people didn't see the other side of that -- I remember before the cops ushered the homeless people off (to god knows where, that's something that gives me pause) I would spend all day sometimes on weekends gaming during the winter -- and walk home at daybreak. A number of times (more than I'd care to remember) I'd walk home to cross paths with Ambulances scraping hobos who (drunk or desperate) sought to sleep on steam grates outside of restaurants who (again, drunk or desperate) never woke up and being soaked, froze to friggin' death when the venues closed and the heat stopped coming. I always wondered why the ambulances wouldn't come at closing time to save them. Hobos.Frozen.Solid. (shiver)
I also remember witnessing all sorts of craziness on the subway I would never witness today. Some of it was hilarious and I miss that, but I relish no longer needing to constantly keep my wits about me -- especially with my habit of walking the streets at really odd hours.
Crime still happens, and while I haven't seen anything terrible of late, friends of mine have still had experiences in the outer boroughs that are less than universally pleasant. It's much better for all though.
So yes, some charm has been lost. I miss some of the ornamental hermits my neighborhood used to have: The asian guy with Tourettes syndrome that cursed constantly but only about asian people, the beggar who only accepted quarters and was always on a pay phone, but New York had charm to spare. My friends don't get robbed playing basketball two blocks away from the police precinct anymore. I haven't gotten smacked by a skinhead because my friend was wearing a "Chai" lately either. I haven't had to wait for a four minute eternity standing off against a father-son mugging team that wanted my disc player lately either. Chinese gangsters haven't killed any of my classmates in a pool hall. Maybe I'm not as plugged in as I used to, and I suppose now that I'm older I'm in a lower drama demographic... but the town is safer, and I can negotiate the flavor lost in knowing that the juice bar on Avenue A near Yaffa Cafe has a secret back door where a guy will sell your friends pot through a sliding hatch... if the bottom line means less people got robbed and killed this year than that.
When I was a little kid, the waterfront south of waterside plaza was a bunch of burned out industrial shelters where druggies shot up, prostitutes plied their trade, and WE PLAYED HIDE AND SEEK. Now that very same area is a park called "Stuyvesant Cove" -- and it's GORGEOUS. I have no regrets balanced with that.
I don't feel so bad about the change. We still have the best variety of ethnic food and wildly diverse neighborhoods and cultures, and if you know how to do it right it doesn't even have to be that expensive.
Derek, I know what you mean -- There is a lot more chain bullcrap, and a lot less mom and pop personality. But the fact remains that if you're bored in that town it's your fault, that there is always something happening, and it's a throne world of culture. Go to a rooftop Bar, or have coffee in a Hooka spot, or have some real down and dirty cheap and delicious chinese food then wash it down with Vietnamese Barbecue in Chinatown. Bring some Lychee, Rambutan and breadfruit home then pretend you are trying to survive eating plants from an alien planet.
Go to a found film festival or some off off broadway theater. Go to the UCB theater and see some really bad improv followed by some really good standup. Go to Bedford avenue and scoff at all the douchey hipsters, then eat some REAL eastern european food or some provincial chinese cuisine that tastes like the real damn thing... 10 blocks apart.
Korean Fried Chicken, dude. That's the REAL KFC. Museums.
You're right... the soul of 8th street, the funk of St. Marks -- it's been utterly devoured. But I can still have a groovy time there and it gets funkier further down towards houston.
I can't hate on our town. It's still awesome. It's still the friggin' best.
Nail in the coffin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5gCeWEGiQI
(see also: Mermaid Parade)
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Y'know,....not that football that everybody else in the world plays but we call soccer.
US "tackle the s$%* outta people and everybody has destroyed knees and pinched disks" football.
I had the opposite problem.
In Massachusetts it's not quite the religion it is in Tejas, but they take their High School football pretty seriously here. When I was younger, I was an early developer, so I was like 5'8" in 6th grade, and I'm naturally a fairly large/wide fellow. I screamed linebacker to every school coach who saw me. Problem was, I disliked sports. I didn't want to play football because frankly I loathed the folks who played it. I got tired of the hints people would drop (Oh you'd be so GOOD at it!), and avoided organized sports like the plague. Considering I would have never made it into a college program (my early growth spurt was, sadly, the end of my growth basically) I think I made the wisest descision. I still have two functioning knees *knock on wood*
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Lower East Side was no big deal- saw that coming miles away. Williamsburg is a bit of a tragedy, but an entire generation of people of hispanic/latino and yes, italian descent retired at *exactly* the same time and moved outside of Brooklyn.What happened to the lower East Side and Williamsburg is way beyond mere gentrification.Having never been to NYC, by the way that several of you are describing it, certain areas have gone through gentrification and lost some of its previous identity / charm in the process?You could say that again.
Gotta remember. last time I was there, Dinkins was still Mayor. No one saw anything coming back then ;-)
DIE ZOMBIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!! ~rolls a dice~ Die
Having never been to NYC, by the way that several of you are describing it, certain areas have gone through gentrification and lost some of its previous identity / charm in the process?You could say that again.I sometimes feel like nobody noticed more dramatically than me, as I was living in Alabama when the whole Bloomberg/Giuliani purgation really got into full swing. Honestly, it's true some places lost some of their flavor, but the change is not all bad. I can't find the heart to complain, though I far from agree with all of it.
Take for example the hideous and disgusting shanty-town in Thomkins Square park, which was a haven for the unemployably mentally ill and druggies and all sorts of undesirables. I remember the OUTRAGE some people had when the police finally moved in to expunge this. I couldn't believe it. It was an eyesore and it was totally gross.
It got popular to ridicule the police for cracking down on homeless people and strong-arming them to move along rather than sleep around town. But a lot of people didn't see the other side of that -- I remember before the cops ushered the homeless people off (to god knows where, that's something that gives me pause) I would spend all day sometimes on weekends gaming during the winter -- and walk home at daybreak. A number of times (more than I'd care to remember) I'd walk home to cross paths with Ambulances scraping hobos who (drunk or desperate) sought to sleep on steam grates outside of restaurants who (again, drunk or desperate) never woke up and being soaked, froze to friggin' death when the venues closed and the heat stopped coming. I always wondered why the ambulances wouldn't come at closing time to save them. Hobos.Frozen.Solid. (shiver)
I also remember witnessing all sorts of craziness on the subway I would never witness today. Some of it was hilarious and I miss that, but I relish no longer needing to constantly keep my wits about me -- especially with my habit of walking...
It was not that the police moved in to escort the homeless elsewhere, it was how they went about it. And yes, to a lot of people who do not work with the homeless directly, it was very much like they just up and disappeared, which wasn't really what happened, but considering the police's strongarm tactics and dispassionate EMS crew's looking the other way at times, all parties involved can get arrogant and stupid with EDPs- no, that's not a condemnation, it's just how people can get on a nerve-wracking job sometimes- they deserve some criticism. People still get stupid on the trains, but it's a whole lot safer, natch. That is one of the few things I give Giuliani credit for, although I would say numerous vigilante groups making the cops look bad in the 80s(it wasn't just the Guardian Angels, although they got the most play and did a lot of damned dangerous work) played a major role in that. I'm very glad you don't have to worry about father and son mugging teams(I would have laughed very nervously in that situation), or that your friends don't get robbed playing ball, or that your other friends aren't killed in a pool hall(?!??!?!?!?!?!? When/Where the hell was this? This isn't Cali!). That said, you are very much correct that crime has not disappeared, and I wish people would realize that more often. Stuyvesant Park sounds nice and all, but there are still prostitutes and places to score some primo s*@*, I would point out that the internet has given people into that kind of thing a way to hook up and party. I have had numerous bikes stolen, and been held up several times, and it wasn't because I was in a bad neighborhood or doing drugs or any other stupid accusations idiots from out in the middle of nowhere accuse me of, it was because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, which can happen to anyone anywhere at anytime. I still keep my wits about me and my eyes open for danger, unless I happen to fall asleep on the subway, which is something I relish doing nowadays and fully admit I would not be able to do a few years back. I also very, very recently walked all the way from the West Side Highway to the Bowery(took a wrong turn), and I admit that is something I might not have been able to do when I was a kid. Still, I have more of a problem with how the changes were brought about and just what NY is giving up in the name of security.
Gotta remember. last time I was there, Dinkins was still Mayor. No one saw anything coming back then ;-)Lower East Side was no big deal- saw that coming miles away. Williamsburg is a bit of a tragedy, but an entire generation of people of hispanic/latino and yes, italian descent retired at *exactly* the same time and moved outside of Brooklyn.What happened to the lower East Side and Williamsburg is way beyond mere gentrification.Having never been to NYC, by the way that several of you are describing it, certain areas have gone through gentrification and lost some of its previous identity / charm in the process?You could say that again.
What a time. The poor dumbass.
Man, I truly love Goddannar. The spiritual successor to the greatest giant robot series of all time, Dangaio. It's so awesome it's terrifying.
Howdy Scales! How's tricks?
So far things are looking quiet here. On one hand that is a good thing. ~looks at the mound of "busy work" that needs to be done~ OTOH it can be a bad thing.
I still want to visit NYC sometime or another. ~sighs~ Maybe in a few years after some of my money issues get better.
I guess it is time to (pretend to) look busy. I have the fire extinguishers to check, some defective equipment to send back, and a T3 that should be ok to disconnect.
Lost count of how many times I nearly fell asleep on my way in today.
God I need caffeine.
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Cold milk is the nectar of the GODS!!!!
Hello FAWTLies! It's been a whirlwind of a weekend and early week, what with basement flooding, water heater repair, doctor and dentist appointments, baby showers, gaming, baseball games, and finding out I (and the rest of my unit at work) will be relocated to another floor in the building within the next month. We knew the relocation was coming, but had previously been told it would happen 'after the reorganization', which is hung up in HR at our parent agency. Now we're moving first and reorganizing later. So life's going to be even more hectic at work than it has been.
I've only had time to skim the last few days worth of posts. What's been going on with all of you?
Hello FAWTLies! It's been a whirlwind of a weekend and early week, what with basement flooding, water heater repair, doctor and dentist appointments, baby showers, gaming, baseball games, and finding out I (and the rest of my unit at work) will be relocated to another floor in the building within the next month. We knew the relocation was coming, but had previously been told it would happen 'after the reorganization', which is hung up in HR at our parent agency. Now we're moving first and reorganizing later. So life's going to be even more hectic at work than it has been.
I've only had time to skim the last few days worth of posts. What's been going on with all of you?
Twas a kickass weekend for me, Spokesmodel. Burlesque show with a friend getting proposed to, Manhattan exploration, and a surprise from another friend... Fantastic. Good to hear you had fun too.
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So, it seems that in trying to mend a situation, I have succeeded in making it far, far worse.
F$$$. :(
sorry man. I truly hate it when that happens.
Twas a kickass weekend for me, Spokesmodel. Burlesque show with a friend getting proposed to, Manhattan exploration, and a surprise from another friend... Fantastic. Good to hear you had fun too.
Hello FAWTLies! It's been a whirlwind of a weekend and early week, what with basement flooding, water heater repair, doctor and dentist appointments, baby showers, gaming, baseball games, and finding out I (and the rest of my unit at work) will be relocated to another floor in the building within the next month. We knew the relocation was coming, but had previously been told it would happen 'after the reorganization', which is hung up in HR at our parent agency. Now we're moving first and reorganizing later. So life's going to be even more hectic at work than it has been.
I've only had time to skim the last few days worth of posts. What's been going on with all of you?
Oh, I envy you! I love a good burlesque show. Maybe I'll make that my special birthday outing this fall...
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2 days 'til vacation!
Oh, I envy you! I love a good burlesque show. Maybe I'll make that my special birthday outing this fall...Twas a kickass weekend for me, Spokesmodel. Burlesque show with a friend getting proposed to, Manhattan exploration, and a surprise from another friend... Fantastic. Good to hear you had fun too.
Hello FAWTLies! It's been a whirlwind of a weekend and early week, what with basement flooding, water heater repair, doctor and dentist appointments, baby showers, gaming, baseball games, and finding out I (and the rest of my unit at work) will be relocated to another floor in the building within the next month. We knew the relocation was coming, but had previously been told it would happen 'after the reorganization', which is hung up in HR at our parent agency. Now we're moving first and reorganizing later. So life's going to be even more hectic at work than it has been.
I've only had time to skim the last few days worth of posts. What's been going on with all of you?
Birthday outing in your birthday suit? O.o
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012
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Also: Good morning FAWTLY Folk! Happy Wednesday! I get my job performance review today! Huzzah? We call them PARS - it's an acronym, but I could give two s*#+s less what it stands for.
I hope your review is above PARS.
Er, below PARS?
Stupid pun doesn't work with golf terms!
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There is this strange zen place where you realize that it doesn't really matter anymore if the person that has been mistreating you, insulting you and using you is doing it out of an actual inability to understand how cruel they are being or out of a desire to deliberately hurt you.
There is that one last act that says "I don't care how much I hurt you, as long as it makes things easier on me," that pushes you past all the hurt and the pain.
Hmm...a little cathartic yelling also helped!
Ahh. Zen. Done.
Hope things get better for you soon Jess. Ditto to Wolf.