saving it for later

Found this walking around East side (28th and 3rd) on Sunday October 12th around 12 pm.

I know it sounds terrible but I really do miss hurricane season. I love the panic, the rush to get your home secure. The shopping frenzy to stock up on nonperishable items. Listening to the news on the TV while you still have elctricity, the ringing of the phone from friends and relatives ‘Are you ready? Do you need anything?”. Waiting in line to get gas before it all shuts down. Taking the last shower with running water, bringing a flashflight with me before going to sleep on the makeshift bed I made in the living room…so I could see the storm come. I love the sound of the rain when it falls, and keeps falling, and seems to never stop until the next day.  The way the sky is dark and cloudy, it’s the end of the world, it seems like!

If it’s a nighttime hurricane you wonder whether you’ll get the next day off.  Americans living in the North call these “Snow Days”. We call them “Hurricane Days”.  You secretly want the day off, even though you do hope no one has been hurt, and no houses have been lost. Usually, we’d get the day off, and I’d spend it by playing board games with the family or playing outside with my friends to see the trees that have fallen down (we’d make up stories like,  we’re in the jungle! etc, etc). The nighttime was the absolute best though. Without any electricity, the sky was perfectly clear and the roads were empty, less a few people that absolutely had to leave home for work or an emergency. It was so peaceful - the way a hard workout feels good after a few days, or how taking a sour tasting medicine helps you heal.

Sure, when I was in it, I complained after the 3rd week without running water. The whole bucket-shower thing gets old quick, and even with a generator and water preserve you’re constantly aware of the fact that you have to limit your use of these ‘modern day’ amenities. And hello, Puerto Rico is HOT.  Life without A/C or even a fan every once in a while sucks.

I realize that hurricanes kill, hurt, and damage many families and communities. I was very fortunate to be safe everytime, sometimes just minor window damage. And, I don’t wish devastation on anyone.  It’s just that natural disasters make you realize how small you are, and how beautiful and powerful nature can be.  These storms might just be nature’s way of reminding us who’s the man, so to say, and sometimes we need that reality check.

Earlier this week, I tried to incorporate my old Facebook posts and notes into WordPress. Clearly, that did NOT happen. I downloaded several PlugIns in hopes that I could somehow transfer the posts easily. I tried creating an RSS feed. Nope and nope. I can, however, transfer my WordPress posts into Facebook. Which is fine, if you like templated crap. I want to customize my page, I want it to give my website it’s own unique look and feel. I don’t want the same Facebook page everyone else has. Isn’t customization part of the whole ‘creating my own identity’ idea? And yes, I know there are PlugIns that transfer my status updates and all that jazz, but what if I don;t want everyone knowing EVERYTHING. WAH WAH WAH.

I’ve had the “Facebook is going to take” over conversation with colleagues and friends, but it wasn’t until this moment I realized just how frustrating the takeover will be.

There are some MAJOR issues here. Facebook is building up to be a freakin huge monopoly. Going to every website online social site is annoying. I never check Twitter. I hardly go to Plannersphere. And why can’t I just compile all my pics under ONE site. If Facebook is going to take over, it needs to let me use every other site I use in a fluid manner. And until it does, I won’t be happy.

Dumping the blame on all these issues onto Facebook isn’t really fair. Clearly the concept of Open Source Platforms is much much bigger than that. But it just feels good to blame someone when you can’t get your way.

They kinda feel the same way:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/26/facebook-to-open-source-facebook-platform/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_open_is_facebook_really.php

I’m sure many of you have seen this trailor, but I stumbled upon it today and it does seem quite interesting. I always find myself questioning whether it’s better to be in the media industry and make change from within, or to rally against it from the outside. Don’t we all?

Something new: http://type.salsen.com/

I’ve been on a brief hiatus the past week or so. I had a unique opportunity to visit my friend Mo in London. This was a HUGE deal for me since:

1. Mo is the most amazing person in the world
2. I’ve never been to London, or the UK, for that matter
3. NYC was seriously cramping my style

What can I say? IT WAS FANTASTIC. I did the usual touristy stuff, but there were some really excceptional places, people, and events. Some of the highlights inlcluded:

The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London - I didn’t expect much because I’m not usually the ‘bling bling’ kind of girl (or as Lauren/Catherine Tate would say “Bing bing”). I admit though, once I saw the shiny gleam of diamonds and gemstones,  I couldn’t get enough. These were the most beautiful jewels I have seen in my life. The only thing stopping me from trying the jeweled tiara on and prancing around like a princess was the glass box and 5 million security guards.  *sigh*

National Portrait Gallery: Probably one of the best museums I’ve ever been to, if not the BEST. The main selling points are that it’s free and boasts one of the most impressive collections in the world. The biggest reason worth going is that it’s a museum that you actually WANT to go. Located in the  center of Trafalgur Square, it’s close to all the major sights (Westminster, Covent Garden) and surrounded by beautiful sculptures (those famous lions). What made this museum better than the MET or Whitney is the learning center by the cafe downstairs. You can search for art pieces by artists name or piece name, even just part of their name., What’s even cooler, let’s say you don’t know what you want to see, just that you want to see famous things because you’re a tourist and that’s what tourits do. So you can select ‘Themed Tours” and the computer will give you a selection of tours pre-made for you (ready-made seems to be a very British thing).  They had a great variety from “Greatest Hits” to  “Drinking and Debauchery”. Some others tours were “Michaelnagelo Top 10″ “Impressionists Inspirations” and “Love and Romance” “Creepy Crwalies for Kids”. You could click on each painting to enlarge the image on screen and read more. OR, you could also print out the entire tour (usually 5-10 paintings) and the printers would print (for free!) thumbnails of the paintings and highlight a map for you indicating which room the painting was in. AWESOME. Such a great way to use technology in the arts. It truly encouraged visitors who are pressed for time to actually see what great pieces are on view.

Sunday Roast: Sunday Roast: Overall, the food wasn’t spectacular, but Sunday Roast was worth waiting for. Mo and I visited his friend Yasmin (sweetest girl ever) who lived in Crystal Palace. It was there that we had this traditional meal that only takes place, obviously, on Sunday.   Even though I’d had tea and cake that very morning I still ate most of my meal because it was THAT good. It consisted of Yorshire Pudding (pronounced York-Sheer), cinammon broccoli and carrots, sirloin beef in a sort if gravy, and roasted potatoes. I didn’t have high expectations, but this was delicious. Yum!

On the last day of my trip Mo and I went down to Paddington Station to see my favorite bear. It was cool to see my furry friend, with his tag and suitcase. This trip certainly rejuventaed me in a way that was very much needed. I feel much more focused and inspired. And if P-bear can travel from Peru to London and make do, I can do anything too.

I have the best friends in the world. Thank you, Mo.

Well this Wikipedia article pretty much explains it all.

This summer I received a book called “100 Greatest Trips”. It’s not the greatest book ever, it’s really just coffee table piece - but one day I was lounging in the AC and longing to be anywhere, anywhere but here. I read about cute villages in Kenya and interesting cultural trips to Europe  - but the one that stood out was Vietnam. The culture, the people, the land…it seems so incredibley different that I just can’t get over it. For now, it’s just these pictures.