Pump Up the Volume

I arrived home to a tripped out car blurring music. Can I say welcome to the ghetto. Someone must till this guy with his tinted windows and flashing rims, that this is not the 1980s. Let’s just say that I felt every vibration on the street halfway down the block and when I got into my apartment. I believe it would be considered noise pollution.

December 28, 2005 at 5:27 pm · Rant & Rave· Permalink ·

After Holiday Sales

Of course, there are all these after holiday sales. They’re trying to make up for the lackluster sales during the holiday. And the MTA transit strike. So the stores are all slashing prices. I went to Anthropologie to check out their sale. Picked up two items and promptly put them back on the rack because I didn’t want to get in line. Then I made a beeline to get my holiday cards. I know. But they’re 50% off. How can anyone resist. Off to Urban Outfitters, I go. Can say there was no sale. I’m done with my shopping this year.

December 27, 2005 at 5:32 pm · Shopping· Permalink ·

Holiday Cheer

As I walked out of my house this morning, I was bombarded by various SMS from my friends wishing me a Merry Christmas. It’s quite funny. Partially, since I haven’t been out of my house since the night before Christmas. Why you may ask? Most of my friends are either out of town, spending time with their family or hanging with their gfs. They fled the city like they did Thanksgiving.

I’m not much of Christmas person. Perhaps, it’s because I’m not Christian. Hmm.. maybe I should stop being so cynical, I might be so lucky to bombarded by comments from the Christian fanatics trying to convert everyone. Don’t get me started on that. And I’m not Scrooge.

So what, I don’t celebrate Christmas. It’s a very commercial holiday. I may not be Christian, but I do celebrate my friends and family. They’re the most important to me, not something anyone can take away from you. And I do get that warm fuzzy feeling when I get a text from my friends on Christmas day. Shhh.. That’s a secret.

December 27, 2005 at 5:09 pm · Friends & Family· Permalink ·

What is Art?

I was waiting in front of the Guggenheim Museum for my friend ML. Who had called me to tell me he’s coming. In which I inquired why a line was forming. Which apparently was to get into the museum which was for free admissions after 6pm on Fridays. To get another frantic call from ML not to enter the museum without him. Of course, he saunters by the museum. He can not wait till 6pm because he must head over to a family dinner at 6:30.

So we lugged ourselved down to the MET to see the Robert Rauschenberg. We experienced a few mishaps before we entered the exhibit. At first I was experiencing a little deja vu of when I went to the Brooklyn Museum with KH to see the Basquiat exhibit. Which by the way I hated. At first I disliked the Rauschenberg exhibit because anyone can slap on some comics, paint and frame it to call it art. Then I encountered the free standing pieces which were much more though provoking. He does have an obsession for poultry. There was a number of stuffed birds in a few of his paintings and pieces. As I was standing in front of one his pieces I was thinking product placement. There was a Coca Cola bottles and a Sony box. He was a man before his time. I was expressing my thoughts, when ML promptly told me to march my cynic self to the description of the few pieces I was lookings at.

Okay, I am a cynic. It wasn’t like this was a Monet, Rembrandt or DaVinci. Then again, I don’t really like Van Gogh. Well at least the stuff I saw in Amsterdam. The masters were about how realistic their art was. But with contemporary art it’s pretty subjective. It’s about how much a consumer is willing to pay for your piece. If they are willing to buy your art then you could be deemed talented. I find that Basquiat stuff isn’t exactly though provoking. Perhaps because he was high most of time, and everything is art when you’re in that state. I must admit that Rauschenberg got more interesting as it went along. It made you think. Then what am I to say what is art. Considering one of my favorite artist is Jackson Pollacks. Perhaps it the symmetry in how the paint drops on the canvas. Either way, people don’t necessarily buy contemporary art these days for appreciation but more for investment value. There’s a cynic for you.

December 23, 2005 at 5:54 am · Arts & Entertainment· Permalink ·

Transit Strike Over

Free at last. Today was first day that trains were running again. Can we say how much this strike has inconvenience all New Yorkers. Over what. Their main point was about a pension for future workers. That’s just insane. What’s more insane is they have the audacity to ask if they can get amnesty from the Taylor law. Crazy talk, that’s what I say. They can ask the New Yorkers that lost their jobs because they couldn’t get to work during strike or the stores they are going to close because they can recover from the strike.

Aside from having cabin fever. I was suffering from some pain in the joints of my hand. There was no way I would have been able to get to see my doctor since she’s in the Upper East Side and I’m in Brooklyn. Darn, transit strike. I finally hiked up there this afternoon. After more through examination, I was diagnosis with tendinitis. Probably caused by pottery amongst other things. Which means I’m going to have to take medication and wear a wrist brace around the house for the next few weeks. Bah hum bug. Now I must see if I can get out of pottery for this semester.

December 23, 2005 at 5:41 am · Straphanger Chronicles, Just Me· Permalink ·

WordPress vs. Textpattern

It is done. The finally transition from Textpattern to Wordpress. Before the switch i did a lot of research on the topic. It seems that most people that commented on the topic had moved back to Wordpress (WP). And to export your blog out of Textpattern (TP) or Blogger was going to be messy with the Wordpress import. So it was just faster to republish everything. Well over 400 + entries. I just did that this past July when I moved from Blogger to Textpattern. I must admit the template system on Wordpress rocks compare to Textpattern. You can edit different sections a whole easier. The learning curve of Textpattern is just insane. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to properly get my archives working. And documentation is just crap. Do yourself a favor and just stick with Wordpress.

At some point we all have to move off of Blogger. Xanga and LiveJournal are definitely not an option. It would be taking a step back. I guess it has a community thing. But that’s about it. Most people look to move Movable Type, WordPress or Textpattern. Who really wants to deal with Perl or pay to use Typepad. Enough of ranting. If you’re thinking of switching I highly recommend WordPress. In the end, it’s still going to be a pain in the ass moving your blog to another blogging software. Can I say argh!

December 22, 2005 at 8:52 am · Rant & Rave, Site Update· Permalink ·

Cabin Fever

I’ve been working from home for the past 2 days because of this Transit strike. This is all over a freaking pension for future employees. For god sakes. Has the union management even consider what their members think. And who is paying for this. All the commuters in NYC. Well I’m getting a bit tired of working from home and I can’t wait to get back. I’m about to climb the walls.

December 21, 2005 at 9:19 pm · Rant & Rave, Mishaps & MisAdventures, Essentially NY· Permalink ·

Pottery Away

I went to the pottery studio to pick up my last 3 pieces. I’m pretty excited how they turned out. Now, I’m having a bit of a hard time selecting my 3 pieces. It’s pretty cool, that I get show my friends and family what I’ve been doing in the basement of the pottery studio. Even my mom is coming to my first pottery show this Friday. A first show only happens once. Woo hoo! But not all my friends are going to be there. Some have something better to do. Oh wells! I’m a bit nervous about showing my work. I start to think maybe I should have shaped the clay this way, or trimmed it that way, or glazed another way. You never know what your piece is going to look like. It’s pretty much up to fate.

December 6, 2005 at 3:59 pm · Getting Crafty· Permalink ·