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!