The fireworks in my neighborhood are unbelievable - for a few nights before and after the 4th, a lot of (Mexican) families set them off in their yards and on sidewalks, anywhere from 10:30am in the morning until 1:30am at night.
The houses are 3-4 stories and set close together, so I do wonder what would happen if any fireworks settled on rooftops. Could a fire start?
A couple times, too, these fireworks set off that had a loud "BOOM" like a mortar shell, and one of those even set 3-4 car alarms ringing at once, it exploded so loud.
I was taking a job one evening in the beautiful quarry park near me and was about to pass a(n Asian) guy jogging towards me when one went off. We both jumped and I involuntarily threw my hand over my heart.
"That scared me!", I said as I jogged past.
"Me too!", he said, in accented English.
He had a sweatshirt on advertising a lower level business school in the city, and we passed each other in different areas of the park several times after that.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Friday, July 11, 2014
Chatting up an AA office manager.
So for my cults class I'll soon be teaching at the art school, I went around and spoke with 9+ non-manipulative religious movements in order to see about the possibility of an open, long-term relationship where students could come and do site visits both in the upcoming and in future semesters.
One of those organizations was Alcoholics Anonymous, to which I made a drop-in call at their downtown office, where the (older) (black) lady at the front desk sent me in to speak with their (good-looking) (late 30s?) (Latina) office manager.
The office manager was very very kind and helpful and open, and at the end of our chat, she was like, "And hopefully this will help remove some of the stigma, too, and people will be able to see that alcoholism is something that affects many people, young and old."
Then, she paused and looked at me.
"You know, I've been a member of AA since I was 23."
"So you've only been in AA, what, two years?", I was like, winking, and at that she laughed.
. . .
Now that I think about it, I should have said something about how odd of them it was to give her such an important job when she was only 2 years sober.
One of those organizations was Alcoholics Anonymous, to which I made a drop-in call at their downtown office, where the (older) (black) lady at the front desk sent me in to speak with their (good-looking) (late 30s?) (Latina) office manager.
The office manager was very very kind and helpful and open, and at the end of our chat, she was like, "And hopefully this will help remove some of the stigma, too, and people will be able to see that alcoholism is something that affects many people, young and old."
Then, she paused and looked at me.
"You know, I've been a member of AA since I was 23."
"So you've only been in AA, what, two years?", I was like, winking, and at that she laughed.
. . .
Now that I think about it, I should have said something about how odd of them it was to give her such an important job when she was only 2 years sober.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Toe problem: Blister under a blister.
Like a month ago I got a blister on the outer side of my right big toe while I was out jogging.
It ended up popping, and eventually the skin got hard and I trimmed it off with a nail cutter.
Then, like a week ago, I went jogging again, and a *new* blister formed in the exact same place, under the layer of skin where the other blister had been.
That layer of skin is all weird looking now, from having had 2 blisters in one spot in such a short time.
It ended up popping, and eventually the skin got hard and I trimmed it off with a nail cutter.
Then, like a week ago, I went jogging again, and a *new* blister formed in the exact same place, under the layer of skin where the other blister had been.
That layer of skin is all weird looking now, from having had 2 blisters in one spot in such a short time.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Revived recipes.
This summer I've revived 2 recipes that I haven't made in a long while:
1) Homemade potato salad (potatoes, peppers, and celery, with a mustard - oil - vinegar dressing; it's so nice chilled to have as a light dinner on very hot days).
2) Sangria (I used to whip up batches to take to summer bbqs, but for some reason the past few summers I've taken homemade pasta salad, instead).
1) Homemade potato salad (potatoes, peppers, and celery, with a mustard - oil - vinegar dressing; it's so nice chilled to have as a light dinner on very hot days).
2) Sangria (I used to whip up batches to take to summer bbqs, but for some reason the past few summers I've taken homemade pasta salad, instead).
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Summer beach book!!!
My summer beach book is...
Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century!
I love to sit out by the water and tan and read that and take notes.
I really do find it fun!
Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century!
I love to sit out by the water and tan and read that and take notes.
I really do find it fun!
Monday, July 7, 2014
Gay socialist radicals (2 of 2): Immigration reform march.
This past weekend I marched with the gay socialist radicals as part of their annual Pride parade contingent.
This year's message? Immigration reform.
The contingent wasn't scheduled till the last third of the parade, so there was a lot of time to kill before kick-off.
Fortunately, a Latin radio station float had a flatscreen wired up to the Mexico-Netherlands World Cup game, so I joined like fifty (mostly Mexican) people there watching the game until the parade began.
When we finally did kick off, I held a sign saying -
- and I was towards the front when we began, and within the first block already 2 (older) (Latinas) pointed and clapped when they saw me and my sign.
As the parade progressed, however, I fell in towards the middle, and so I didn't get to see people's reactions as much, saddly.
I also wore Polish flag mardi gras beads that I had gotten down in New Orleans; since the theme was immigration, I figured that I might as well highlight that immigrant half of my family, and show immigrant solidarity.
As my one Czech literature prof friend texted -
Cool. Very cool.
- and, as it turns out, I had 2 people yell out to me in Polish during the parade, one fatter shorter young (brown-haired) guy who yelled out "Pane!" ("Man!"), and another, a tanned muscled blonde very drunk guy in a light blue tank top with royal blue trim, who was like, "JAK SE MASH!!!!!!" ("How are you?").
After the parade, I texted those responses to my one Czech literature prof friend, and she was like -
awe2thesome!
. . .
Later, when me and my roommate were at a bar afterwards, a (young) (Latina) woman was talking with us, and she said that though she was born here, her cousins are undocumented and it's sad, since they're smarter than her and could be nurses and doctors and lawyers and stuff, but they can't even make it to college because of all the barriers that come with their status.
Her uncle was also deported, and then he walked back to the city from Mexico - all the way back.
For a while at the beginning they lost touch with him, too, and they wondered if he had died or been murdered at the border.
Right before then, my roommate had been wondering aloud just how major of an issue deportation really was to people, since she knew it was a problem, but didn't know the details of it.
This year's message? Immigration reform.
The contingent wasn't scheduled till the last third of the parade, so there was a lot of time to kill before kick-off.
Fortunately, a Latin radio station float had a flatscreen wired up to the Mexico-Netherlands World Cup game, so I joined like fifty (mostly Mexican) people there watching the game until the parade began.
When we finally did kick off, I held a sign saying -
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
STOP DEPORTATIONS NOW!
- and I was towards the front when we began, and within the first block already 2 (older) (Latinas) pointed and clapped when they saw me and my sign.
As the parade progressed, however, I fell in towards the middle, and so I didn't get to see people's reactions as much, saddly.
I also wore Polish flag mardi gras beads that I had gotten down in New Orleans; since the theme was immigration, I figured that I might as well highlight that immigrant half of my family, and show immigrant solidarity.
As my one Czech literature prof friend texted -
Cool. Very cool.
- and, as it turns out, I had 2 people yell out to me in Polish during the parade, one fatter shorter young (brown-haired) guy who yelled out "Pane!" ("Man!"), and another, a tanned muscled blonde very drunk guy in a light blue tank top with royal blue trim, who was like, "JAK SE MASH!!!!!!" ("How are you?").
After the parade, I texted those responses to my one Czech literature prof friend, and she was like -
awe2thesome!
. . .
Later, when me and my roommate were at a bar afterwards, a (young) (Latina) woman was talking with us, and she said that though she was born here, her cousins are undocumented and it's sad, since they're smarter than her and could be nurses and doctors and lawyers and stuff, but they can't even make it to college because of all the barriers that come with their status.
Her uncle was also deported, and then he walked back to the city from Mexico - all the way back.
For a while at the beginning they lost touch with him, too, and they wondered if he had died or been murdered at the border.
Right before then, my roommate had been wondering aloud just how major of an issue deportation really was to people, since she knew it was a problem, but didn't know the details of it.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Gay socialist radicals (1 of 2): Outdoor concert.
The other week I was at the free classical music series downtown when I ran into this (older) (white) gentleman who I know from sometimes protesting with this gay socialist radical group over the years.
"You're welcome to come sit with me and my friend," he said after we re-introduced ourselves.
Since they were sitting in a kind of shitty section and I prefer to sit in this one area that tends to have a quiet audience, I declined, but said I'd save my seat where I usually sit but then come back and chat with them for a bit before the concert started.
"Man," the (older) (white) guy said to his friend, when I came back to chat with them. "Look at how inflexible he is, and at such a young age. How bad is he going to be when he's old like us? He better watch out!"
"You're welcome to come sit with me and my friend," he said after we re-introduced ourselves.
Since they were sitting in a kind of shitty section and I prefer to sit in this one area that tends to have a quiet audience, I declined, but said I'd save my seat where I usually sit but then come back and chat with them for a bit before the concert started.
"Man," the (older) (white) guy said to his friend, when I came back to chat with them. "Look at how inflexible he is, and at such a young age. How bad is he going to be when he's old like us? He better watch out!"
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