Sunday in the Park. Also inspired and also fantastic. But unrelated to the election.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iojPaw8yX0
http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/taf.html?hp=1
I know you’ve all seen them, but these links are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the creativity has been inspired by this election. I don’t share this because I think I’ve discovered something, but more because I am really in awe of how much attention people are paying to what is going on. Say what you will about the candidates and about the way campaigns are run in this country, but this election has brought out an entirely new level of enthusiasm and participation. I can’t help feeling both excited and fearful. And I can’t believe it will all be decided in a week’s time.
I’ve always thought he was pretty brilliant. Turns out, other people do too. It’s funny though, particularly recently I’ve thought that his columns about the economic crisis were clear, and well considered but wondered whether he had any background in the subject…
Walking south on University Place (from the Union Square subway station to Saigon Grill) I passed a flannel-clad young man walking with a friend. As our paths crossed, I saw a slow smile/smirk creep onto his face and heard him say, “I cannot wait for the debate tonight.”
And then, not more than a few seconds later I was passed on the right by a girl around my age who was animatedly talking on her cell phone: “I mean, doesn’t she read any newspapers?”
Meanwhile, my dinner companion and I agreed to be done with dinner by 8:15 — in time to be safely in front of a TV by 9:00 p.m. Guess New Yorkers were on the same wavelength tonight.
My favorite subject as it relates to my future home. Can it get any better?
Unfortunately, the content of this article is exactly what I’m afraid of. Especially after tonight’s debate. No, she didn’t fall flat on her face but is that really our measure for Vice President? This brings me to something I’ve been itching to say for quite a while…
I am reminded all too often during this election season — and most recently by this article — of something a former neighbor said to me before the 2004 Presidential election:
“You must have heard that old joke about the Democrats…? When you tell the Democrats to get in a firing line, they stand in a circle.”
I think it’s time we learned to get in line. There is just too much at stake.
Wonder what they went with? Splenda or equal?
Eyes on the Street is a reference to two of my favorite things.
The notion of eyes on the street was part of Jane Jacobs’s theory about the safety of the big city. It was a prominent part of the History of the City of New York course I took during college — definitely a topic for another post — and became critical to my thinking about life in the big apple. The idea is simple: when you live in neighborhoods which are densely populated, where people sit on stoops, look out windows and hang out on the corner (yes, the drug dealers at the end of your block are part of why this cruise ship we call Manhattan doesn’t sink), there are literally eyes on the street. And those eyes, someone always watching, is what keeps us all safe. Had I not learned a little something about this line of thinking, I might never have lived in my very favorite-est of my New York dwellings. Permanently stationed on my corner was a team of tough looking fellows and their revolving door of canine companions — one pit bull connected to a chain-link leash after another. But they were a comfort to me. After all, while I was practically invisible to them, I thought it unlikely that anyone else would give me trouble while they were watching.
Besides my nerdy thinking about the metropolis, eyes on the street — to me — evokes images of my favorite pastime: people watching. Indeed, my eyes are on the street every chance I get. So, there you have it. I’m winding up a twelve-year stint in NYC and readying myself for a move west. Yep, finally taking that sage advice: this young woman is going (back) west. While I do my best to navigate the changes ahead, I’m going to enjoy my final opportunities to have my eyes on these streets before I shift my gaze to the streets of San Francisco. And as I go along, I’ll make some notes here — spill some digital ink, if you will. Hence, (and thanks to a certain little bro), I offer Spilled Ink — over which there is no use crying.
