the Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

aft go astray. . .

So, note to self- it is perhaps unwise to commit one's self to a two credit course, which is spread out over two weekends (Saturday and Sunday, 8 hours a piece), in addition to a four-credit semester long class, and two- half-semester classes, which I didn't know, used to be semester long. But they were reduced so that people could take more electives.

I am now looking at about 30 articles to read before this weekend, a paper that is due on October 12th, a book review on the 19th? two presentations- I think on the 24th and sometime in late November, and a paper due at the end of the semester. Grad school had been a cake walk until I came to this bed of nails. Tread lightly!

Oi, now I am $111 (?!?!?!?) lighter as I had to purchase a "reader" i.e. glorified photocopies spiralbound- no plastic cover nor back may I add!? in order to be within compliance of copyright and royalty laws.

Though I am thinking of being sneaky and going to Staples and having them just give me a new spiral binding as, being a resourceful packrat, I have a previous clear plastic cover and back from a prior publication that no longer suits my needs. *Cue evil laugh* I will work my way around the system yet!

Ugh, better get back to work, I have to finish Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by: Roger Fisher and William Ury before slugging my way through a TON of articles on public policy- yay light reading! :P

I demand answers!!! Ooh, this'll do. . .

I have officially embraced Facebook after months and months of very stubborn resistance. But I have found it to be an excellent networking tool, old friend finder, & unexpected place for me to get links to books, sites, etc., that might have skipped my notice.

One is also able to post whatever random thought is on one's mind- the slightly less obnoxious version of Twitter I feel- and on Friday I posted that I was looking forward to doing research on suburbia. And one of my oldest and dearest of friends left me a link for http://www.culdesac.com which is also the title of a book by a Mr. John F. Wasik.

The full title is called, the Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream and it looks riveting.

I know I still need to do a review of Tom Vanderbilt's work, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), which by the way, is FASCINATING.

Even and especially if you are not a traffic engineer nor a transportation planner, it is riveting. It certainly made me see the world differently- literally- and made me not wear a helmet when bicycling (among many fun facts) as apparently drivers drive closer to helmeted cyclists perceiving them, incorrectly, as having extra protection against their insane driving. Yes, my magic plastic brain bucket will surely protect me against the evils of your Escalade! I like my space when I'm standing or walking, I feel the same way on the road. "Share the road you maniacs!" as Calvin's dad, of the immortal beloved classic cartoon "Calvin and Hobbes" would bellow as he proudly pedaled. But I digress as always.

I have been watching the economic meltdown with a sort of morbid fascination. I tried to summarize what was happening in my January 21, 2009 post "Hardship = Opportunity," which also has a link to the absolutely excellent article, Um, What Just Happened?" by Richard Medley as it was called in the December 2008 issue of Esquire. But was given the more erudite title, "the End of America's Capitalist Fantasy and the Shape of Banks to Come"on their Web site- http://www.esquire.com/features/green/features-why-is-our-economy-in-a-recession-1208?click=main_sr

And it was only a matter of time before people starting churning out books about this subject, but this was a personal recommendation as mentioned above and I have no cause to doubt that it would be a waste of money. Though it is also on my amazon.com wish list ;-)

I have several articles that I have culled together to write for another post, but moving, starting grad school, etc., got in the way. Stay tuned. I'll post something sometime. In the meantime there is recommended reading!

A Socially Just City?

I have just finished reading what can be described as "fascinating," for lack of a better word, article about the "Taco Flats," or tent city in Fresno, CA called, "Tent City U.S.A." by George Saunders, author of the book Braindead Megaphone, in the September 2009 issue of GQ. It's the one with the young Michael Jackson on the cover, not Olivia Wilde.

I don't know what is wrong with GQ's/Men's Style Web site, but lately I can't find half the articles I want on there, or else I would have enclosed a link. This is unfortunate as I'm revising my definition of the aforementioned article to "excellent" upon further contemplation. (as soon as I figure out my new scanner/printer I will scan it in and "publish" it as a PDF- stay tuned)

Mr. Saunders, who is a professor at Syracuse University, sets out to find out what life is like living off the 41, between H Street and the Freight Yard, in Fresno, CA. He literally pitches a tent, (with the help of some of the local inhabitants as his initial lone attempts prove unsuccessful) and lives among them for a temporary period.

I have enclosed a link to Mr. Saunders's Web site, which mentions his research for this piece, but probably due to copyright infringement, he is unable to publish it. Yet GQ continues to have the articles from a few months ago that really well, why dedicate space to? Such as the sex extortion scandal in New Berlin, WI (my old old sortof stomping grounds- go Eisenhower! Or in the light of that article, maybe not) and Levi Palin (yawn. . .)

However, based on the note on his Web site, Mr. Saunders hopes to expand his piece into potentially a book, which I think would be a fascinating read.

When I first heard about the Taco Flats "project," if you will, in TIME magazine, I was horrified. How could this happen in America (?!) I wondered, and literally so close to me- Fresno was only an hour away from my last place of resident- yet I was doing nothing. . . again, conducting the car-less experiment sometimes has unexpected variables.

This article was incredibly insightful- painting incredibly illuminating and compassionate portrayals of the people who live here, but not flinching away from the traits that make them all too human and keep them tied to this unusual "settlement." Yes, most of them are "crazy" i.e. mentally ill, a lot of them are drug addicts, and just about all of them are liars to a pathological degree.

But are they any less deserving of our compassion?

Reading the article I was relieved to know that they are not entirely destitute- there is a nearby shelter that provides them with free meals, no questions asked, as well as showers and laundry. There are also Port-a-Potties on-site and charity groups that come by to drop off meals and toiletries. No, it's not the Ritz, but I'm sure it is a step above some refugee camps in other parts of the world, and even some camping trips that I've had to endure.

Some of these people have "chosen" to come here. They didn't exactly make a wrong turn heading for Disneyland, but with few other options they have made a home and a community for themselves in admittedly squalid conditions. One woman named Sweet Mamma left home and headed straight here. Another woman was a recently released convict and ditched her prison-issued train ticket to squat at Taco Flats. Another couple, one of the disputed "settlers" of the area, had been living under a bridge and had relocated. A woman named Large Jo disputed that claim and said that it was the paisas who'd set up. One man left his life after his wife died and set up here.

I admit that I grew up in the suburbs/small Midwestern towns where we honestly just don't have homeless people. And if we did, I was too naive to see them.

I remember the first time I encountered a homeless person. I was in San Diego, with my family, and must have been about 9 or 10. The experience frightened and bewildered me. Why were there people sitting on the street? Why were they so dirty? Why were they asking for money? Didn't they have somewhere to go?

And the sad answer remains, yes and no. Some homeless people are too mentally unfit to make rational decisions, such as go to a shelter, others are too proud, and still others remain uncategorizable.

Every time I am confronted by a homeless person I'm not sure what to do. My dad buys them a cup of coffee, or a meal. But my dad is 5'10" and 195+ lbs. I am 5' and not. Also, I'm never sure if I do give the person money, if they are going to buy drugs, or actually buy food. And there are also shelters that will take the person in, admittedly only for a limited time. But surely there must be a long-term option for them? I can't believe that we can just let these people fall through the cracks.

In my History of Planning class we talk a lot about "socially just cities"- not just building for the wealthy, or even the middle class, but considering all peoples of a city i.e. the poor. But I'm not sure how much we consider the homeless?

As I'd mentioned in an earlier posting, "Helping Those Who Can't Help Themselves" (November 9, 2008) I have no prior experience in the social sciences and still do not.

I still like the idea presented in the Livable City: Revitalizing Urban Communities by Partners for Livable Communities, where in Washington D.C. a Business Improvement District (B.I.D.) opened a "daytime drop-in center in a local church where the homeless can eat, shower, wash clothes, and meet representatives of various government and nonprofit agencies offering job training and detoxification programs." (the Livable City, 166)

I don't think that there are any perfectly cut-and-dry answers to this problem. I'm sure that there are many solutions, as there are many solutions to fix what ails urban planning, not all of them are "right," though most of them are valid.

As I go to sleep I do know for one thing, that I must remember to be grateful now and always for what I have and not to forget those who lack.

The Frustrations of a Perfectionist

I have finally finished my legal environment of urban planning mid-term! It is finished! And she stretched out her arms. . .and there was no chocolate lying around!

I have decided the obstacle that makes this difficult is that I really don't know what the format is for this so I don't know if I'm doing it right or not. I have no precedent nor can I beat the system! This is very frustrating for a self-confessed perfectionist who borders on anal-retentive. <:-(

The premise was interesting enough- it is a hypothetical case and as a planning intern at Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe (a shoutout to the Three Stooges), I need to write a memorandum for the supervising partner discussing an legal issues including the plantiff's best arguments, the likely arguments of the County and the client, as well as the possible judicial review.

Our professor said that we need to identify the issues and what is going on, determine the criteria for the rules (is this really an example of a prior nonconforming use? etc.,) and use the facts where they satisfy. Uh huh, easy for you to say with your 40+ years of lawyer/judge experience behind you.

However, having zero pre-law background and IL work comp knowledge not being very useful I kind of feel like I'm being tossed in a pool and being told to swim, but never having taken a swimming lesson before. I don't really know if anything is missing and therefore can't correct it!

I've been working on it for the past four days and I doubt I can improve on what I have, if anything I'd make it worse. So, again, here goes nothing! I'd feel a lot better if 50% of my grade wasn't riding on this. . .

Life is a Balancing Act

Last night I went out for drinks with two friends from my concentration, Derek and Sylvia.

Internally, I have been wondering how everything that needs to get done, is going to get done.

I have a legal mid-term take home test due on Tuesday, I have a group project for history due in about a week and I am one of the people doing the research (i.e. need more research so the people writing the thing actually have something to go off of), I have two papers due in about a month+ (= have to get started on that research at some point, though thankfully, I have put together an outline), readings due for every class every week, a book review due in October (? specific date a little fuzzy as I think it was TBA?), and I'm trying to decide if I can swing work/study and an internship.

We were all discussing how we really need to find paying internships as there never seems like enough money to go around. The City of LA is offering internships, which is great as I could just take the DASH there and gain some experience in the public sector. The problem is, due to the cruddy state of our state budget (seriously!? don't spend what you don't have!) they are non-paying internships. In a perfect world everything would be paid, and big bucks at that, but for now I guess beggars can't be choosers. I guess, if I get it, I'd have to see how it is an opportunity that can lead to bigger things. Also, if it's non-paying, I can take off the two-three weeks I want at Christmas as hey, it's non-paying so they're not exactly in a position to argue about how I "owe" them anything.

Also, my letter of recommendation was turned in late for my potential work/study. The deadline was Friday, it got sent on Saturday. We'll see if it'll squeak through. If not, that's one less thing to worry about, or one more,( i.e. I'd have to find another work/study position and I'm not sure what's available anymore). It's hard to say.

What will be, will be, though I think I'm going to leave the lady in charge a message explaining that I found out it was e-mailed today and if there is any way I can come in and talk to her about my qualifications. Hopefully, I'm being considered based on the strength of my own merits, not just on my letter of recommendation. Though again, it'd be a great opportunity, as one of the schools where the program is held, is literally, right across the street from where I live.

All in all, it's reassuring that other people are trying to figure out how to get everything done, and eat, and pay rent, and not go insane.

That reminds me, I also have to redo my resume. Eh, if it's not one thing, it's another.

Re:think How People Think

I attended an event last night that was not what I expected and also challenged some of my pre-conceived notions.

With a friend from SC , Sylvia, who is also in the planning department I went to downtown LA, which is a stone's throw away from where I live (sortof), yet I rarely go there. Downtown LA is like a lot of downtown areas- it reminded me of the less fashionable sections of the Loop in Chicago, especially in the area around the Harold Washington Library on State Street- it's more than a little rundown around the edges. Yet there is evidence of its former glory in the delightful, yes I said delightful! pre-war buildings and architectural details. But it's hard to see the forest for the trees when the grime gets in the way. In other words, it has a long way to go before it can reclaim its former grandeur.

We had gone to what was described as "an interactive modeling workshop with James Rojas." This wasn't strip down and strike artful poses in the buff (thanks, but no) or looking emaciated in high-end couture, it was what I thought was going to be Mr. Rojas talking about his design process making little scale models of cities, etc.,

It wasn't that at all.

We walked into a converted art gallery- a rather narrow space with stark white walls, exposed duct work, etc., and a sparse selection of "art" on the walls- a few framed photographs of houses, some drawings, etc., We did our meet-and-greet with people we knew discussing our legal environment of planning mid-term that most people feel pretty confident about, but no one is 100% secure over, considering that it constitutes 50% of our grade!

After a while we were ushered into the back half of the gallery where there was a folding table strewn with bric-a-brac- bits of children's toys, broken necklaces, buttons, beads, oddly shaped little pieces of plastic, foam cut-outs, wooden blocks, etc.,

We were told that we were going to design our own visions of sustainable cities with the objects on the table.

A guy from my classes, Glen, who is also in my group project for history, and I collaborated and decided that our final design with a redesign of Amsterdam. We had started out constructing a canal composed of blue poker chips and built on our idea from there. Wooden blocks with buttons on top served as buildings with solar cells on top, little white tubes that lay between the buildings were urban gardens. We also designed a community center on one end of our proposed utopia, with a giant stage for gatherings and a light rail transit system snaked around the city.

After we were done we had to explain our vision and when everyone had presented, Mr. Rojas talked about how it is important, as planners, to think of ways to express how a proposed plan will look in order for greater visual comprehension. One can throw up a bunch of maps at a community meeting, but a lot of people are not receptive to that. People respond when they are invited to be involved and know that their opinions will be valued. Some people might like maps, others may want to see a model of a proposed project before they get on board, and still others would like to see images of what a potential scenario would look like. There is no one set way to guarantee cooperation or agreement from members of a community.

The same concept was conveyed in my History of Planning class with our first assignment. Part of the reason Dr. Sloane wanted it to be open-ended with no set parameters was because he wanted us to understand the importance of design in planning. But he also wanted us to understand that there is no one right way to convey an idea. One person might make a video, another might do a painting, other people put together presentation boards or construct models.

Regardless of how one goes about it, the importance that to effective communicate an idea, one can't rely on words alone.

I'll Beat Them At Their Own Game!

Greetings from Smug Mountain! I feel like a very educated consumer. I have been on edmunds.com and US News & World Report meticulously scrutinizing each and every flaw of my beloved Honda Fit.

US News and World Report also has a partnership with some company called TrueCar something Price-? and it shows in one's zip code, what other people have paid for their cars, what the dealer paid, what the manufacturer's invoice was, etc., Haha! Power to the people!

I have also weighed the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying and for now, in my current situation I think a lease is a better idea for me. I'm a hardcore renter and for now I think that I am also a car lease-r. I am hopeful about these new "electric" cars and would like to keep my options open in the future- no dependence on petrodictatorships! Tyranny no more! I hope. . . Here comes the sun doo-doo-doo and I say it's gonna power my car! Well, maybe. . .

Now to decide if I should get an in-dash nav system, which makes me think that the potential that it will be stolen a lot rises dramatically, as one can't just pop it like one can with some car stereos, or just upgrade my cell phone plan to get turn-by-turn directions. . .

Some days you are the pigeon, other days you are the statue

So after two fruitless weeks of waiting for my Legal Environment of Planning textbook that I'd ordered from a seller on half.com, I broke down and bought it at my campus bookstore due to my pending midterm that counts for 50% of my grade. Yipes!

Turns out, if I'd been smart and gone to the bookstore in the first place, I would have been able to buy it used cheaper at the bookstore and gotten it right away.

So much for sticking it to the man. I guess I got stuck :P

The Weirdest Library System Ever

Last Wednesday I unintentionally embarked on a campus library tour. As mentioned earlier I have several papers due and decided to get a leg up on the competition by checking out my books early i.e. look up for books that I wouldn't have to needlessly buy. Plus, I get to check them out for the whole semester! So, even if they are of no use to be scholarly, I am able to pursue them at my leisure- that includes all Thanksgiving long! Um, however long that is.

I started out at what I thought was the be-all-end-all library, called Leavey. It is the newest library and based on its size alone I thought that it would house all the volumes for which I was looking.

Appearance can be deceiving, as I soon found out. Though it is by far one of the biggest buildings, at least at first glance, on campus, it only had two of the books that I was interested in. It does however, have a rather impressive amount of labs and quiet study sessions. I have designated this my favorite study area with outlets for my new best friend, Macbook.

It turns out most of the books that I wanted are at VKC, named after somebody rich and famous, well, famous to USC. VKC is a very period-specific building. It practically screams 1970's architecture, which is like the old quote about pornography, "I-know-it-when-I-see-it" kind of style.

Not that I have anything against 1970's architecture. In fact, I find it quite comforting, as half of Wisconsin's built environment is still encased in 70's architecture. So in a way, those salmon-orange-y colored bricks and beige concrete trim remind me of my childhood.

I felt like a kid in a candy store hitting the VKC bookstacks- half of my amazon.com wishlist was on those shelves! I admit I went a little overboard, but better too much than too little, right?

It is a little odd that they have taken off all of the bookjackets at Leavey and VKC. If a book is softcover obviously they are not going to rip off the cover. Perhaps this is to discourage students' from using Publisher Weekly's review of book X for their report? Though I doubt you can write a whole paper based on the phrase "an inspiring work, I couldn't put it down". . .

I did check out a book at Doheney (see below) that had a book jacket, but they cut out a spot on the bookjacket's spine in order for a person to be able to see the Dewey Decimal label on the actual book itself- motivation = ?!

Then, I realized that one more book, which was essential to my research was at Doheney, one of the buildings that made me want to come here. If you've never been to USC, you must, for the architecture alone. Whoever was in charge of approving the architecture here must have had a thing for medieval-inspired architecture and I begrudge him or her not.

It is a beautiful, well-manicured campus and should be darn-it! considering how much I am shelling out! The old student union building now pharmacy/ticket office/and other stuff building, the President's office/cafe/again other stuff building, Mudd Hall, and Doheney are all testaments to gorgeous medieval style/revival-? architecture. If you ignore the girls in their tiny tank tops and guys on skateboards you'd almost think, in some areas, that you had wandered onto the set of a Brother Cadfael TV movie. OK, there aren't any monks or nuns wandering around on a daily basis, but you get the point.

There is one weird thing about Doheney though, and that's the way the books are stored.

Doheney is huge and looks like it should be at a monastery so one would think that the entire inside would look like a monastery too. Once you manage to heave open the oppressively heavy doors one enters a gorgeous atrium -? narthex-? area. There is a long stately counter where one checks out books and hallways on either side that look almost wide enough to play a decent game of Frisbee in. But once you go behind the check-out counter, (I know weird already) things get a little odd.

Behind the check-out counter are where the vast majority of the books are kept. And this area is not as swank. In fact, it's downright utilitarian. The floor is that industrial smooth linoleum? tile? something. . . The bookstacks are the old school metal kind, with adjustable shelves and look a little rickety, as if they are going to cave under the weight of the books they hold. They are also crammed together so tightly that my friend, Jeannette, who is an interior designer, declared that they were not ADA-compliant. And I had to agree. A few aisles are open enough for a person in a wheelchair to go down, but I imagine that a very large person I would have a difficult navigating back there in many spots.

Also, the ceilings are freakishly low. There is no set ceiling height for nearly any interior, but these are barely 6 and a 1/2 feet. To add to that, there is a lot of exposed pipe and ductwork. Gazing upon this we both wondered how a classmate of mine, who is easily 6'3" would be able to walk around here safely without winding up with a major shiner.

In addition, there are electric tape, or some kind of more permanent tape markings, on the floor to sort of guide you where to go. I navigate via the Dewey Decimal system and have found the tape system as useful as the bread crumbs that Hansel and Gretel employed on their journey into parts unknown.

And to add to it, almost all of the bookstacks are below ground. I found this very confusing the first time I went there looking for my book and unable to find it on the initial level. I was told that I should consult the chart by the elevator. Turns out my book was on the 4th floor and I was on the "5th," which based on the elevation, would only be the second floor.

I know that the French don't count the ground level as the 1st floor, but this was a little ridiculous. Clearly, I was not consulted when they put in the elevator buttons.

I observed to Jeannette, when I showed her the library, that it would be ironic to be stuck on level 3 for example, i.e. two stories underground, during an earthquake, and to be crushed under a bookstack. Death by literature. A fitting end for a bibliophile.

My mom will probably find this remark unnecessarily morbid. But I try not to spend too much time in the subterranean levels for too long. Hopefully, at least, the whole building is up to earthquake code.

After visiting Leavey, VKC, and Doheny and lugging around about 75 lbs. in books I was wiped out. But I feel very smug looking at my teetering stacks of tomes that I am well equipped in my research. Added perk, one can have articles from journals, magazines, periodicals, etc., e-mailed to one's self or downloaded as a PDF. No more giving the copy machine half of my life savings! Death to tyranny!

Jeannette says that we should start a BDSM club in some of the sublevels of Doheney, which I am inclined to consider putting together to supplement a little income. Madame X says you have a late fee! *whip snapping* Hey, it's a fitting space for such an activity, why not put it to good use?! :)

Metropolitanism and How I Went Down the Rabbit Hole, or Why Wikipedia is Awesome

I have been doing a little research for my papers, and one of the subtopics that I was considering was sprawl and McMansions. I thought to myself, hmm, I wonder if anyone has written about those on Wikipedia? If Panic! at the Disco had a page before I realized how much they suck then someone must have written about McMansions.

Sure enough, someone had written about it and they had also thoughtfully provided links to several very good sources that I will probably utilize for my paper(s).

One of the topics was from the Atlantic Monthly, which had an article from 1999, (yikes! 10 years!?) called, "Divided We Sprawl," Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, Atlantic, December 1999

It introduced a concept called "metropolitanism," which I'd never heard of, but I guess would now fall under the blanket term of sustainability as its concepts are very similar, if not identical. See below-

"The idea that cities and suburbs are related, rather than antithetical, and make up a single social and economic reality, is called metropolitanism." (Katz and Bradley)

"THE metropolitanist policy agenda has four basic elements: changing the rules of the development game, pooling resources, giving people access to all parts of a metropolitan area, and reforming governance. These are interlocking aspects of how to create good places to live; they are closely related and can be hard to distinguish. To understand the cascade of consequences that policies can have, consider the policy chain reaction that would begin if the rules of the development game were changed to fit the metropolitanist paradigm. Those rules are mainly the policies that guide transportation investments, land use, and governance decisions, all of which are themselves entangled." (Katz and Bradley)

To expound on the movement's basic tenants would probably tax the attention span of the average reader, but I highly encourage one to check out the article. It is written in a very accessible manner, it is admittedly though, a little on the long side. But very good reading nonetheless.

The authors don't reveal the origin of the concept of metropolitanism and Wikipedia didn't come up with a page on metropolitanism, but the authors of the Atlantic article may have borrowed the phrase from Friedrich Ulfers and his work, "Times Square as an Exemplar of Postmodern Urban Space. Toward a New Metropolitanism: Reconstituting Public Culture, Urban Citizenship, and the Multicultural Imaginary in New York and Berlin." Ed. Friedrich Ulfers, Gunter Lenz, and Antje Dallmann. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag

Regardless of the provenance of the word it is an interesting and exciting concept, which deserves more attention. I'd always seen the Atlantic on the newsstands, but I didn't know that they wrote anything that would be of particular interest to me. Yay!

Toot! Toot! Yep, that's the sound of my horn

Can I just say that I feel rather smug right now? And not sweating as I am not at my house, but surrounded by the air conditioned bliss of the library, which like Goldlilocks's preferred temperature of porridge is not too hot and not too cold.

I have been working on my outline for my history and Sustainable Cities papers and I am feeling rather good about them. Despite years and years of churning out meaningless papers I still get a certain amount of anxiety when faced with the prospect of writing a paper for a new professor.

How hard is he or she going to grade it? Will s/he hate my thesis? Are they super sticklers for punctuation? I had a professor who docked me 5 points for the lack of use of a semi-colon and yet he constantly and consistently mispronounced one of the most famous Italian Baroque (or arguably Romantic) artists- calling him Kid-a-vahgio, not Car-a-vaggio, like Carrara marble. Sheesh.

Anywho, having already formulated some thoughts on my paper I can now branch out my thinking and consider hm- does sprawl develop the same way everywhere in the US? Or is it different in Atlanta vs. Phoenix vs. Seattle? Armed with these questions I can scour my library's online book database for relevant titles. Though I think I have already checked out 1/3 of the VKC's collection, or at least 1/3 of their titles on sprawl :)

Now I could really go for some ice cream, but I don't want to leave my spot! Oh the afflictions of the academic!

the Car-less Experiment

I have been car-less for the past two years and for the most part it has been incredibly freeing.

However, lately, it has been putting a crimp on my social schedule. Superficial, but true. And if you'll bear with me I'll also explain that my social schedule is also my professional networking schedule.

My bff J is currently playing part-time chauffeur to me and my grocery store-Target-Barnes & Noble needs, and the carpooling has been great for us and the environment. We catch up, act silly, sing along to the music, and reduce our carbon emissions.

However, there SC events that could be of great use and interest to me- such as a visit to an artist's studio, who builds architecture models, which is in downtown LA in the evening. I have asked if J, who has an interest in urban planning, would be able to come too (as she would be my ride) and the powers that be said that they thought so, but to check back. I have also submitted a request for carpooling if she is unable to come due to space limitations.

My legal professor was sharing a story in class today about his dinner party encounter with a planning commission member for the city of Culver City (CA), who made the error of asking him what they should do to improve Culver City. He said that they should reduce parking (anathema in LA!!!), widen the sidewalks, narrow the streets, and reduce the speed limits to 15 mph. Needless to say, the other party did not talk to him for the rest of the night. He was saying this in all seriousness and I agree with him. But he also has a job (and a car I presume) and doesn't need to get to an internship!

One of the good/bad things about SC is that there is a mandatory internship- it's between 400- 1,000 hrs. (to be completed over the course of your studies). It forces you into getting real experience in the real world. But things get a little trickier when one wants to work in Santa Monica, but has no access to get there, short of lots and lots of excruciating long bus rides- Chicago and your amazing El trains, where are you when I need you?!

Also, I suspect that it will start to get a little unspokenly "weird" if I keep dragging J to SC social events that I want to go to and she isn't an enrolled student nor is she my girlfriend in that sense of the word. And people start to wonder, who is that girl? I never see her around. . .

And whenever there are field trips listed on a syllabus I wonder who I can charm into picking me up and taking me, or if there are other people who are car-less. :(

I totally admit that currently I am unable to meet friends for drinks anywhere as 1) I would need to find a way to get there and 2) I would need to find a way to get back- safely! And relying on the kindness of friends wears thin on all parties fast.

And I realized that I have to limit my studying on-campus at this present moment. As the a/c guy failed to show today I tried to stall as long as I could before I trudged home. But it was fast approaching dusk and I've never walked home at night and I wasn't in the mood to conduct a social experiment. I don't live in a super "sketchy" neighborhood, but we don't leave our front doors unlocked either.

The final realization I have come to, is that I need a car in order to not only get around, but to literally succeed!

Alas, one of those things you hear about LA that "you need a car to get around" is pretty much fact.

Obviously, many poor people do not own cars and have to rely on public transportation. But I also doubt that a lot of them need to put in a 1,000 hour, or maybe it's 400 hour mandatory internship for school! Can I also say that a lot of them also have very strong local social ties so in order to meet their friends they don't have to traverse three different zip codes? I have friends in Little Tokyo, Los Feliz, and Marina del Rey! None of the places, with the exception of LT are that easy to get to by public transit :P

There is a strong emphasis on social justice at my school, so hopefully one of my peers in the transportation concentration will be able to start addressing our abysmal state of public transit. Though the big big and big green buses to Santa Monica and Culver City, respectively are cute. And our metro local is a zippy shade of orange.

Unfortunately, I was not smart enough to put aside the money that I saved on transportation each month- partially because I was paying off the bill for a rebuilt tranny on my last car (RIP) and partially due to Target- darn you Target! Why must you be filled with shiny objects?!

So, now I am crunching numbers on 2009 Honda Fit's, wondering if I can eat and make a car payment. I'll keep ya posted.

This isn't due to ego. If I had my way I'd buy an old beater and drive it into the ground until I get a real job. The problem is my last car, my baby, was a used vehicle and I opted against buying a dealer-certified vehicle. This meant that I'm pretty sure I inherited a daddy's girl/boy's car, which they drove around and didn't pay any mind to the maintenance. Final result? I wound up paying for a completely rebuilt transmission, which cost almost as much, or more than the car was worth. And I don't even own it anymore. (the fact that this was due to a cross-country move is beside the point. Then the timing belt/the engine blew on said car. When it rains it pours. Too bad it was owned free and clear.) And I don't know a crankshaft from a gear shaft, so if anything goes awry I'm at the mercy of a mechanic.

But I am nothing if not a scrupulous researcher and I've done my homework and the Fit has earned rave reviews. It also meets my needs exactly- a small car = easy to park, loaded with safety features and a/c and a CD player come standard. :) My needs are simple and few- I only want the best!

Apparently, shopping in October is the perfect time to wrangle a deal. There's also a tall drink of water in my classes who I hope will be able to come with me as I've heard that dealers are outright biased against women buyers. So I'll bring me a tall strappin' fellow to do the talkin'. And a former co-worker was a former car salesperson so I'm tapping her for tips too.

Plus, with a car I could pick up a small job, ugh, maybe. Unless my parking costs eat up what would be considered my paycheck. Hmm, I'm rather partial to Trader Joe's, and they always have ample parking!

The adventure continues! If it's not one thing, it's another!

Things are falling down on me. Heavy things I could not see- Phish (Never thought I'd quote them)

Tonight I am sitting mere inches from my desktop fan, with a pervading smell of "dog" wafting by every few seconds- I think some of the dog dander was absorbed into the dust of the fan and now blows on me- ewww.

Suffice to say the a/c guy did not come today. But luckily, it is cooler than it had been, which is good because I need all the energy that I can muster- as projects and assignments are raining down on me!

I have a pretty good idea/execution for assignment 1 for my history class. Just have to cut up the photos, layer some pieces on pieces of foamcore, print out some descriptors (as apparently we are not getting in front of the class and presenting them) and mount 'em. Eh- with the cats always climbing on the counters perhaps this is best saved for my bedroom @ 2 AM as it will be cooler there and I have no prior engagements in my bedroom at that time ;-)

We also have a group assignment for history, which should be an interesting collaboration as the people I am working with I don't know very well/haven't hung out with socially. As always, the terms of the assignment are a little vague. We are supposed to rewrite a community plan's history as

"A community's history, like a community plan, is a mosaic of planning concerns. It should consider transportation, economic development, social planning land use, and urban design issues from a historical perspective."

Um, OK. . . I guess write what a town's history should have been??? Rewrite history?

"The product will be a short history of 4-6 pages,. . .The brochure (I know, he went from product to brochure???) should have one-inch margins, have appropriate sources, and be effectively illustrated.

We were thinking that Detroit would be a great example, for reasons that are pretty self-explanatory. Despite its current sorry state, it does have a rich history- Jazz Age, Motown, a proud history of making America's cars (uh yeah. . .), still pretty good sports teams, etc.,

And of course the ever-present readings for Sustainable (Cities). Granted, we don't have class for two weeks, but I'd rather get it over with so that I can put a major dent in my reading for my papers that will be due a lot sooner than I'd like. Six weeks sounds so safe and far away and then the wolf is breathing down your neck! Actually, one of the papers isn't due until November 30th (!? wow that sounds like forever from now!), but still yipes!

I have been trying to save myself a little time by thinking of writing papers on subjects that would work well for both my Sustainable Cities class and my History class. Another post will discuss what I have been mulling over as potential theses.

Though, I do have to do a presentation for class on the 14th on the article, "Twenty-five Years of Sprawl in the Seattle Region: Growth Management Responses and Implications for Conservation" by: Lin Robinson, Joshua Newell, and John M. Marzluff, published in Landscape and Urban Planning, Issue 71, pages 51-72.

Years spent quivering and wondering what on earth was I doing in junior-high debate club has primed me for any public speaking engagement, but one time I do bow off practicing my presentation and I admit it wasn't as smooth as it could have been.

Oh yeah, and I'd like to at least start, the End of Energy Obesity by Peter Tertzakian and Peter Hollihan. Tertzakian also wrote A Thousand Barrels a Second, as we have to do a 10 minute review presentation on a selected book related to urban sustainability. Hm, breaking our ties with non-renewable energy should fit the bill. Just gotta read the sucker! It was/is a new book at the Santa Monica library, but it looked so interesting that I bought myself a copy on amazon.com- plus double points with my new credit card!

I have yet to receive my "legal" book for Legal Environment of Urban Planning, so I can't put any notes in there yet in anticipation of our open-book test. They have six weeks dang it! But I can type up summaries of the cases he has presented thus far. . .

I am a little tired of alternately standing and sitting on the barstool in the kitchen, which puts just enough pressure on the back of my thighs that I wonder if I could get a blood clot. Only 1 1/2 hrs. til tomorrow, add 8-10 hours for sleep, and then I shall hightail it to campus for some of that free a/c!

Perhaps I shall retire up to my room to continue my studies, if I crank the fan up to high and set it to oscillate I might live :P

You Can't Believe Everything You Hear, or Refuting Misconceptions about LA

"He's in California becoming someone else."

"He'll fit right in. You can be anyone you want to there, as long as you don't mid being stuck in traffic. -Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

When I first visited LA I was terrified to leave my friend's house.

As Craig Ferguson observed in his hilarious show, A Wee Bit O' Revolution, "I'm too fat, I'm too old, I'll be judged!" (though this was in the context of stepping out in San Francisco, which I believe is much more forgiving in terms of aesthetics.

I was afraid that everyone would be super skinny, or super fit, blonde, super tan, and extremely judgmental of those who didn't quite reach that elusive mark of so-called "perfection." And while this is true in a lot of Beverly Hills, it is not the case in a lot of the rest of LA.

I highly recommend coming out here so that you can hang out in Silverlake Junction and indulge in some fabulous gelato, peruse the bins at Amoeba Records in Hollywood, which isn't the Hollywood that er, Hollywood-the-Star-Machine tries to sell, or Santa Monica to really enjoy a true beach town. OK, Santa Monica is technically LA LA, but it is there and it is fabulous and I love it and I want to work there someday. Malibu isn't LA LA either, but that doesn't stop people from associating it with the Barbie Nation.

And in all these places and elsewhere yes there are girls that look like wannabees from the TV show, the Hills and guys who look they spend more time in the bathroom "grooming" than is socially necessary, but there are also very average people here. I am proud to say that I am one of them. Yes, there is a disproportionate amount of incredibly attractive people here, but I would say that there many people who don't fall under the "conventional" label of attractive, who are still very pretty to look at. For those of you whose appearance I stared at perhaps for a moment longer than was appropriate I am sorry. But wow, you were pretty.

In fact, a lot of those "perfect" people are a little freakish looking. There is something that is not quite "natural" about them. Sometimes it's really obvious- hello tan-o-rexic! Other times it's more subtle and then you realize that while her driver's license says 55, her face is trying to stay frozen in 1974. Ladies aren't the only ones to blame. I still have a hard time absorbing the image of the super "ripped" guys who are older than my dad (birthdate 1955), but are in better shape than most of my peers. Please, being a slave to the gym will not stave off mortality forever. Look at FloJo. (RIP FloJo)

Yes, the traffic still sucks, at most times of the day. But every once in a while one is pleasantly surprised that the rest of the maniacs decided to stay home. This is the inevitable outcome of building a city based on the automobile and not giving a fig about what we now call "sprawl."

Also, it's not all palm trees and movie stars. While I would love to say that I have met actor X and actress Y, I have not, and not for lack of trying. So far, no encounters with the rich and/or famous, but I spend most of my time in Silverlake and Santa Monica, where LiLo and Tom Cruise tend not to be.

The number of model/actress/waitstaff is unknown as I hate to pay someone else to make something that I can make myself and tip them to boot. But I imagine as long as the Dream Machine chugs along that there will be starry-eyed hopefuls trickling in every day and introducing themselves to tourists as "Hi, I'm Brittney, and I'll be your server today" until they get "discovered."

But the weather is temperate- one can visit the mountains, the beach, or the desert all in a matter of hours. Just goes to show that you can't believe everything you hear.

So as Interpol, the band, says in their song, "the Heinrich Manuever" "how are things on the West Coast?" I dunno, why don't you come out and find out for yourself? See you soon!

I left my heart in. . .Chicago

In my "history of planning" class, as I call it, we are studying Daniel Burnham, a turn of the 20th century architect and one of the world's first urban planners, and his plan for Chicago.

I often wonder where I am "from," especially in new social situations when people ask. I like to deflect the question and usually tell people that I've lived in a lot of places, but I like to say Chicago. This is partially because people know where it is and partially because it is true.

I am a citizen of the universe, and while I'd like to say that I'm from Rome, that's just not true.

However, in the US, Chicago is a city that makes me proud. I love the CTA, which gives New York stiff competition, the fact that the library has a pass that you can check out to go to the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Art Institute, etc., for free, the people who are eclectic and proud of it- they don't play second fiddle to anyone- though they may be considered New York and LA's younger, scrappier sibling they pay that categorization no mind and go about their lives with a devil-may-care attitude.

And reading through the Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City by Carl Smith, I have a renewed sense of civic pride. There are lots of tidbits of Chicago history, of long-dead people, whose names now mark streets, like, the General Committee vice chairman (of the Plan of Chicago) Charles H. Wacker, whose name is now synonymous with Wacker Drive, which yes, elicits giggles from school boys and girls for reasons I won't go into.

Yes, Chicago is a little flawed, mainly due to a long and not-so-secret history of political corruption, but as one of my best friends, who is a born-and-bred Chicago native observes with an impish smile and shrug of the shoulders, would we (Chicagoans) have it any other way?

As Vince Vaughn's character in the movie, the Breakup, observed in one of his Three Brothers tour of Chicago, "Chicago is called the Second City. But that's because in 1871, there was the Great Chicago Fire, (which destroyed about four square miles), but we rebuilt. And now we wear that nickname as a badge of honor." Contrary to the people who think that it stands for the fact that theoretically Chicago is "second" to New York.

Great, great public transportation, amazing culture- so many museums, concerts, history, etc., world-class sports teams (for those who care about those things), incredibly diversified neighborhoods from poor immigrant communities who still shine with pride at what they have accomplished to super posh zip codes filled with money almost as old as the city itself, and a mayor who responded to allegations of political corruption as "That's just silly, silly, silly." What more could you want?! Oh yeah, less freezing cold winters, but you can't have it all, though Chicago comes really close.

Will You Be My (Study) Buddy?

I have realized, to my detriment, that it takes me about three hours to complete a reading that normally should probably only take about an hour and a half. It's not due to adult-onset reading disabilities or anything like that, I just have become more easily distracted over the years. I place the blame partially on working in retail, the thankless, dull-yet-taxing enterprise, which requires distractions in order to get through the day. Though, yes most of the blame rests on my cute (and yes still un-tattooed Mom) shoulders.

Plus, having a solid and fast Internet connection on my new laptop along with iTunes and Photo Booth doesn't make things any easier. Seriously, how did I live without this before!? :)

Maybe I just need a study-buddy. Nah, I tend to infect others with my bad habits ;-) If it were a guy would it be better? No, probably much worse! lol

I do feel better knowing that my housemate, Emily, is equally bad at just sitting down and hammering out her homework. See, it can't be that bad!

Nor does it help that even when I do take copious notes in some classes it doesn't matter because the professor has to charge ahead because it is only a half-a-semester class.

Oh well, onward through the fog!

In other news,

Academic purgatory

I feel quite lucky this week as my Sustainable Cities class isn't meeting for two weeks due to the impending Labor Day holiday.

Therefore giving me a luxurious amount of time to focus on

I also felt a lot better knowing that a lot of my classmates are freaking out over our first graded assignment for our Planning History and Urban Form class entitled "Considering Urban Form.". Our professor is great and really knows his stuff. However, he is less specific in the syllabus for the assignment.

We are supposed to go to a place and analyze why it "somehow symbolizes urban planning." Then we need to find a way to represent it visually. He doesn't give us restrictions in terms of media and in fact, discourages us from "overthinking."

He says that "the place you pick is important." It needs to be "clear, concise, and analytical. Third, it will be easy to lose the third attribute in the last sentence. How is your product both descriptive of the place and analytically of its importance? This will be the difference between the excellent and the good project."

He is self-aware enough to slyly remark, "So, is the assignment vague enough for you? I hope so. The idea here is that you figure out what you think it should look like. Don't try to figure out what I would like, because that is impossible since I don't know."

I think that that last sentence is the final nail in a lot of our coffins. We, luckily, were not as brainwashed as some of the overachievers and members of the meritocracy as David Brooks calls them, that came after us- slavishly chasing: 1600 SAT scores, valedictorian, president of the student council positions, while being the starting QB and first chair oboe player all at the same time, etc., But I do know that the majority of my peers and I were academically brainwashed to parrot what our teachers wanted to hear, despite their insistence on "critical thinking," which to this day I still don't know what they meant.

Ironically, I went to art school, so I should be pretty confident in terms of visual representation, but there is that old high school self-loathing/self-doubt/perfectionism that constantly worries is this good enough?!?!?!?! When 20% of your grade is riding on this, one wants to be more than a little secure!

I am fairly confident in my concept- sorry I can't disclose it til next week just in case one of my peers is feeling academically lazy, which I highly doubt they will, but in this age of intellectual copyright one can never be too careful.

We won't be presenting these unless he likes the idea that is represented and feels that it warrants class discussion, so it really has to speak for itself. I think that my idea has legs on which it can stand and I have a brand-new printer so that should help.

Ugh. I can stand everything but limbo. Here goes nothing!