6 posts tagged “manhattan”
- Turned down four party invitations for this past weekend. I already went out on Friday night with a friend whom I haven't seen for months, so can't go out Saturday and Sunday again.
- What the hell?? The sun comes out and all of a sudden everybody wants to party? There is no sympathy for the swamped *sigh*.
- More parties this week. Mandatory attendance for two of them:
- Wednesday going on a cruise around Manhattan, already paid for it and invited guests so can't flake out.
- Saturday office picnic - department funder is going to show so need to start preparing small talk material. Com'on I'm totally worth my paycheck!
- Saw the American Ballet Theatre production of "Sleeping Beauty" at the Metropolitan Opera House last week.
- TOTAL DISASTER!! Of course Gillian Murphy is still the best, but there should be a law against bad choreography.
- Finally finished "Bush at War" by Bob Woodward. Must blog about it on VOX.
- Poor Colin Powell, he never had a chance. How can rationality prevail when the president trusts his own "gut instincts" (aka "truthiness" ala Steven Colbert) more than reason?
- I beat God of War on PlayStation2! Yay!! Even with a glitch at the end, I still prevailed. I am now the new God of War!!
- No wonder the gaming industry has a hard time breaking into female consumership - Kratos (the protagonist) is really ugly. If it weren't for the cool Greek mythology sceneries I would totally ditch this game based on his looks.
- My first sole author manuscript got rejected by the journal *sob sob*...
- It was a really prestigious journal, and it was a special issue, so I was glad that they even decided to send it out for peer review. Got some helpful comments back, totaling 11 pages - pretty rare for reviewers to write this much. So ultimately it turned out well, will work on revising the paper and send it out to another journal.
- Finished entering all my dissertation references into EndNote - 385 thus far. Now I just need to finish READING all of them... damn it.
I feel like I have been buying baby gifts nonstop. A couple months ago a good friend of mine had a healthy baby boy. Then a few weeks ago my best friend from high school, Heathbar, had her second boy - Atticus, at 6lbs and 12oz. Congratulations Heathbar!! Then this month I have to attend TWO baby showers! Ugh, it's infectious. These babies are so damn cute! So soft and huggable!
Of course it's easy for me to say. All my friends are apparently dying from lack of sleep and cannot tell night from day.
I actually made several offers to babysit, since they are so adorable! But a friend of mine who was about to die from exhaustion was mindful enough to ask, "Do you have any experience with babies?" I was like.... ugh, good question... do I just let them sleep and hug them when they are awake? Needless to say, she never mentioned it again.
Then there is the neighborhood. Babies babies everywhere! Granted I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where the babyboom is happening, it's still kind of weird to see so many strollers and power-moms everywhere.
I think there is something about Manhattan babies, they can sleep through ANYTHING. Just like I no longer hear the nightly police sirens, honking, screaming, cursing, and ambulances from the hospital behind my apartment anymore. These babies can sleep through the rumbling of the automobiles and trains as well as the jerks of being hoisted up the stairs of a subway station. I once saw a nanny with one of those organic looking shoulder cradles sprint through an entire train station to catch a departing train. Maybe she's very skilled, but man that baby never even stirred.
There is SO MUCH data supporting the saying: "The poor gets poorer, rich gets richer" in America that there is no point in citing any references anymore. In NYC, the socio-economic disparity has gotten so bad that it's prompted Mayor Bloomberg to dub New York a "Specialty City". In line with more tax breaks for big businesses and the rich, Bloomberg's argument is that New York is so special that it shouldn't be subject to the criticisms of inequality and segregation, like rest of the country. The real sad thing is, when he says "New York", he really means "Manhattan", and maybe "Hipster Manhattan", i.e. west Brooklyn. Because the truth is, the rest of NYC really isn't so "special", or wealthy in his eyes.
In the past 15 years, NYC has become more segregated, with more and more rich whites in Manhattan, and the poorer populations, the people of color, as well as immigrants concentrating in the other boroughs. And that trend is segregated, too. The Asians, blacks, and Hispanics all are moving into separate neighborhoods.
Manhattan is like a separate world compared to the other four boroughs of New York City. Welcome to the real playground of the rich:
- In 1990, the richest 20% of manhattanites made 33 times the income of those in the bottom 20%.
- In 2000, the difference was 50 times.
- Has 9/11 changed anything? Nope, the trend continues. In 10 years, Harlem will be a predominantly white neighborhood
"Investment income" used to be called "unearned income" by most
population surveys. But I guess we don't want to hurt the feelings of
the rich by pitting them against the working class. These surveys also
hide the data on the very rich, meaning we really have NO IDEA how much
the top 5 percent of the wealthy really makes. The argument is made on
privacy issues. Okay, but how come nobody worries about privacy for the
poor, because we know EXACTLY how much the poorest of the population
makes. Statistically, the very rich is also less likely to respond to surveys than the very poor. Trust me, it's not that we don't need the info. It's that they don't want you to know!
The next biggest industry in demand in Manhattan is going to be the child-care sector and primary education for the children of the rich. We are seeing almost 100% increase in households with children younger than five AND with over 300,000 annual income in certain areas within Manhattan. Meanwhile, the supply of prestigious pre-k services hasn't risen much, if at all. Competition is fierce. Who's heard of a 3 year old with a talent portfolio? Well, in NYC, you better have one, or NO PRE-SCHOOL FOR YOU! What about paying a Chinese nanny 80K a year to raise your toddlers to be fluent in Mandarin? Man, I'm in the WRONG profession....
Universities know exactly what is going on. The number one goal of all major universities, esepcially the Ivy League, is to EXPAND, EXPAND, EXPAND. Even at a 5% increase in admission, the admission rate is still dropping like dead flies. You don't know what popularity means until you've met an admissions officer. Aiya... maybe I shouldn't have any children... I'll never be able to afford to send them to college. *sigh*
NB: If you are interested in population trends, social changes, and schooling competition, I think I will post more data and analyses on my other blog, as soon as I get to it...
A couple of years ago when Target rented a cruise ship, named it the Target Boat, stocked it up with goods, and docked it at a Manhattan pier so they can cater to New York holiday shoppers, I thought I had seen it all. But no! This holiday season, the "Only in New York" Award goes to Charmin's Restroom Extravaganza at New York's Time Square. Yes, from November 20th to December 31st, 8am to 11pm daily, next to the Virgin Megastore on Broadway, you can access 20 themed Charmin Bathrooms complete with its own on-line Flush-o-Meter. Free of charge. There is even a waiting room with couches, flat-screen TVs, a fireplace, and a kid's play zone. According to the Associated Press, an estimated 10,800 rolls of (presumably Charmin brand) mega-tissues will be used for this endeavor.
Yeppy.
Okay, after having lived in Shanghai briefly I thought I would NEVER complain about subway commutes in America. But I WAS WRONG!!! I was one stop away from having anal sex with some guy in a three piece suit this morning when the 1, 2, 3 lines were ALL diverted due to an incident at Columbus Circle. This is NOT how your typical exhibitionist anonymous sexual fantasy is supposed to play out!
Make note to self: Must avoid 9 to 5 jobs after graduation. Or make enough money to have a chauffeur.
The MTA won't elaborate on what happened at Columbus Circle. What incident? Everybody knows it was more likely a cover-up for a system breakdown after being overloaded yesterday for the New York Marathon. I know we put up with a lot of things here in New York, breathing the smell of urine, sharing communal space with subway rats. But man we have to do something about this giant dinosaur beneath the streets.
This city never ceases to amaze me. Every once in awhile I would be walking down a random street, looking at the people, the architecture, the shops, and this wonderful feeling of belonging would overcome me. Just the sheer happiness of beinging there, right at that moment.
I had another one of those moments again, but it's really the culmination of everything this week.
This Week I...
I think that's it. The rest of the week was pretty boring, work, dissertation, procrastination, the usual stuff. But beinging here makes it all worthwhile!Walked home via Central Park.
Got farm fresh baby arugula and spinach at my neighborhood farmer's market.
Got served by two hot mini-skirt clad cross-dressers at a Chelsea Thai restaurant.
Enjoyed the Jefferson Market Library.
Attended a lecture by Habermas.
Had crystal baby shrimp dumplings delivered to my office for lunch.
Took a belly-dancing class at my gym.
Had a moment of excitement when a plane crashed into a nearby building. Then took the rest of the day off.
Had cream puffs from Beard Papa's.
Saw a guy wearing nothing but a potato sack (and Italian leather shoes) as a fashion statement.
Attended my first mass ever at a church designed by James Renwick Jr. and chowed down on Soul Food (how totally appropriate!).
Decided I am going to build an herb garden!
Got some Chinese DVDs from Chinatown that turned out to be bootlegs. Had a Beijing subway bootleg raid flashback.
