ambient awareness

New York Times Magazine Article:
I'm so totally, digitally close to you

I'm aware of the irony of posting this article to my blog, and sharing it with you in a virtual medium. But reading this article nearly made my head explode, and I had to do something about it. In case you don't feel like reading it, the article is about our constant contact with people in an online world. Facebook, twitter, flikr, these are words that didn't even exist 6 years ago (besides twitter, but you get what I'm saying). The relation we have to the people who we read about on our Facebook news feeds is now being called "ambient awareness." It's this idea that we don't have to devote a lot of attention to people in order to maintain a relationship with them. I am certainly guilty of this, as I'm sure you are too (you're reading my blog, aren't you? why don't you just call me?).

In the back of my mind while reading this piece, I was thinking of a line from the movie Before Sunset, when Celine is talking about time she spent in Warsaw as a teenager and she is cut off from her habits. She says:

My brain felt like it was at rest, free from the consuming frenzy. And I have to say, it was almost like a natural high. I felt so peaceful inside, no strange urge to be somewhere else, to shop... Maybe it could have seemed like boredom at first, but it quickly became very, very soulful. It's interesting, you know?

I have to say I am longing for my brain to be at rest. While reading the article, I seriously thought about leaving facebook (gasp!) but decided against it because I don't want to lose touch with a lot of people who I wouldn't have any contact with if it weren't for facebook. But at the same time, I constantly feel the "urge to be somewhere else," and I mean constantly. The "somewhere else" changes on nearly a daily basis, but the feeling is always there. And I think that shedding all my digital crutches would certainly be helpful in resting my brain and being at peace with where I am. But, as the article points out, it is nearly impossible now to be an integrated part of society and not be part of some form of social networking. Although I certainly don't feel more connected to my friends since I joined facebook--if anything, I feel more disconnected from people in general. More solitary, but with an excess of this ambient awareness.

One thing that has been a real eye (and ear) opener recently was losing my iPod. Sure it was a tragic accident, but now when I ride the subway, I do not have one entire sense shut down. I can hear people's conversations, their breathing. I have also become much more aware of how 95% of the people who ride the subway do have headphones in their ears. What did people do before iPods? Talk? Heaven forbid.

Anyway I am curbing my desire to rant here, because I don't want this post to get absurdly long. Also there are just too many thoughts bouncing around in my head. I will just say one more thing: establishing a human connection in a natural way--meeting on a train, or striking up a conversation over a common interest--is one of the most fulfilling things I've ever experienced. And attempting to establish a relationship of any kind in a digital arena has always left me feeling unsatisfied and lonely. But in a world dominated by digital communication, how do we find other people looking to establish friendships the old fashioned way?

some pretty photos from the beach

I spent this weekend at the Jersey Shore with a group of people who I've been friends with for so many years... and somehow they still like me! It was a wonderful weekend.

The umbrellas we lazed under

On Sera's boat... Sera, Laura, me, Billy, and Katie

The sunset

future album cover?

challah at your girl

This week I thought about writing to tell the tale of my tragic/freak accident involving my iPod, but I don’t like to dwell on the negative. Plus I’ve told the story about a million times already, so.

Last weekend I found myself once again on the fair shores of Philadelphia. It was a great trip—my dear friend had a party that was super fun, and the next day we all went out for breakfast at a place called Honey’s. The restaurant specializes in Jewish and Southern cuisine, so I had grits and challah with my eggs. It was excellent! We spent the rest of the day lazing, and in the afternoon founded a spontaneous band, “interior design,” comprised of guitar, accordion, harmonica, plastic recorder, and toy piano. Look for us soon on YouTube, and then, inevitably, Radio City Music Hall.

Tomorrow I am jetting (via bus) to the Jersey Shore, to spend the second-to-last weekend of summer with some of the best people I’ve known in my life. Needless to say, I am excited.

I’ve still been listening to Blood on the Tracks a whole lot, and even learned “Tangled up in Blue” on guitar. And if my last post didn’t convince you to listen to Bob Dylan, maybe this one will? Just do it, you know you want to.

jumbled pile of person

...is how I've been feeling lately. Has it really been 12 days since I've posted?

Anyway, things are kind of strange right now. It seems like a lot of things are changing really rapidly, and yet it feels like each hour drips by like so much molasses. Maybe that is just adulthood?

I have itchy feet lately too--I think it has something to do with the time of year, as I've spent the last 17 Augusts of my life getting ready for a new school year or a new apartment. So I've come up with various schemes to get moving. One is that I will move to Seattle in a year. I'll spend the next 12 months saving money, planning, etc, and then next summer get the hell over to the west coast and stay there. I'll have a room with a view of the mountains and ocean, and a garden with basil, and a cat.

Another plan has been getting an MBA, which I must admit is less picturesque, but will allow me to fund my new life on the west coast. Plus how cool would it be to get into Harvard business school?

In other news I have been listening to Madeleine Leyroux lately and would highly recommend Careless Love to anyone with ears. Even though there is a song on the album called "Careless Love," I like to think she named the album after the lyric in the Dylan song of track 4:

Dragon clouds so high above
I've only known careless love-
it's always hit me from below

Oh, bob.

Man on Wire

Last week I went to see the above movie, about Pierre Petit: the man who walked a tightrope between the twin towers in 1974. The movie was really quite arresting. The shots of New York City in the 70s, of all the men who worked on the towers and their progress. It was amazing to see them as skeletons before they were completed.

Anyway, Pierre first had the dream of walking between the towers when he saw a picture of them in a Paris newspaper - before they were built. He practiced for years and planned his secret feat down to the inch. before he walked between the towers, Pierre had also wire-walked between the towers of Notre Dame and over a bridge in the Sydney Harbor. He practiced walking the distance between the towers in his french countryside backyard, and had his friends shake the wire back and forth so he could prepare for the wind that would be blowing a mile up in the air.

The most amazing thing about the movie, I thought, was how much of it was comprised of historical footage and photographs. The view from the top of those towers was breathtaking, and made New York City look like a tame wilderness. In some of the shots all you can see is sky, and you can't help but think how beautiful it is how a preposterous dream can become a reality.

Jerusalem Hot Pita

Yesterday I tried the above restaurant in my neighborhood. People have been telling me since I moved here, "Oh, Astoria? Good Greek food." Well A-MEN brothers and sisters. I went into Jerusalem Hot Pita (the unassuming awning reads Pita Hot) looking only for some falafel. Little did I know that I was about to taste the best falafel. Ever. The man behind the counter is a true artist: he carefully constructed my falafel sandwich with the focus of someone who really cares about providing a good sandwich. For three dollars and fifty cents I got a sandwich that did not fall apart or dissolve as I ate it. It held together for every satisfying, delicious, chick pea filled bite.

The ambiance did not even leave anything to be desired. Putamayo Cairo mix playing, post-cards covering the walls, and a hookah in the windowsill. Tonight I went back for the hummus-falafel combo. Please, how could one ask for more?

they say i need a post

I had this whole thing written up about the state of American education, but it was rambling and pointless, so I just deleted the whole thing.

Last week I rang in my 24th year with a bang--a few bangs, actually. I experienced many of New York City's outdoor pleasures: movie in the park, concert in the park. I went to the famous Beergarden of Astoria and I had a lovely dinner at Bar Americain.

I haven't reflected too much on my birthday, but I do hope that this year will be even better than the last. I am in a brand new place physically, and that is certainly a good start for turning over a new leaf.