Good for Good

I stumbled upon this tonight and since i feel this is a quality publication I wanted to share it with everyone. Good is offering a pay-as-you like subscription service. I would subscribe, but its only available for US residents (of course, once I leave the US everything goes socialist).

Check it here.

Holiday

You know how people ask you what profession you would choose if you had to change careers? I tend to tell people that I would become a bum. This is not true, but I wish I had the guts to drop everything and live life on the edge with nothing more than a backpack and ambition to see the world.

Starting in December I get to live out my 'bum dream' for a few weeks. Granted I will be traveling to places I have arranged in advance and will be joined by Calypsa (could you ask for a better travel partner than your best friend?) so its not like we'll be roughing it, but we will be seeing sights all over Europe. I'm starting my trip flying out of London and making my way down to Marrakech in Morocco. After my time in Northern Africa I will be meeting Calypsa in Barcelona where we will stay until we progress to Paris. We'll spend Christmas in Paris. After Paris comes Venice (A city I've been too, but am looking forward to seeing again). From Venice, we will head north to Frankfurt. Then its time for some air travel to Dublin to ring in the new year with some Guinness. I'll be heading back to London and Calypsa to Madrid after spending time in Dublin.

I am very excited to kick off my trip in Marrakech. I've come to romanticize cities which I don't know much about. Short of spices and rugs, I'm in the dark about the country, its fun its an adventure and its a step into the unknown life of the nomadic bum which I have dreamed about since high school. I'm trying not to build too many expectations into the trip, but I can't help but get excited about the cultures I'll soon be interacting with. The foods which will astound me. The streets I'll get lost down and the cities I'll catch a glimpse of.

Just so you can stay up to date with my progress I've decided to embrace this whole 'google lifestyle' and have created a map of my travels which you can follow. I've added a few other places on a separate map which I'm planning on seeing sometime while I'm over here, but I'll share that with you as time permits! Check it out here!

University Project #1... You are what you eat

I have completed my first project for classes. I am happy with the result and happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone to complete the project. I can give you a quick rundown of what I did for the project...

This project is was in response to a reading I completed by Walter Benjamins. His writing from the 1930's concerned with mechanical reproduction and how reproduction of art damages the original aura of the work. Embracing this sentiment I worked to create a link between Benjamins' thoughts and my own. I drew upon the subject of capitalist consumption as a topic as I tend to think of consumption as a term relevant to how people come to define themselves and their 'aura'.

With the extension of the text made, I was able to further evolve my ideas of what consumption represents. I wanted to show how even though we all live in a shared world of consumption that we often times find ourselves consuming too much of what we don't need. I wanted to remind society that consumption can be a good thing and what we derive from consumption can also be well intended. 

I then set out to figure on a platform for which I could share my ideas. I drew links between the word 'consumption' and it's ability to represent an intimate situation where people literally ingest goods which physically come to sustain and support themselves, namely food. I worked to craft food as representation of ambiguous terms which I tend to believe every person retains within their character, but often allow these characteristics to be hidden from their daily lives. Terms such as: Valued, Respected, Loved, etc would be messages I would attempt to share with the public, to encourage them that they are not forgotten in the masses of society, but rather they are individuals who posses these traits.

I set about baking, slicing and dicing food shortly after deciding on my grounds for communication. I baked the terms I wanted to share with people and would later attempt to have people 'consume' these words.

Here I've placed some of the words that I was able to document. I've also attached a video of myself as I walk up to complete strangers and attempt to convey what I was working on and get them to participate in my little project.

I hope this makes sense, I will attempt to repost my thoughts after I have had time to properly document and summarize my project. Oh, and just so you know, I received a perfect score on my project (but that might have had something to do with the fact that I made cookies for my class with the left over cookie dough I used for one of the works).

Doesn't miss a step does he?

The past two months have placed me in a situation I would have never imagined for myself. I am living in a country which affords me the ability to communicate without pause and without limitations. I am able to verbally communicate with my peers, a luxury many of my peers do not have (as they need to translate from their native tongues).

With a momentous occasion such as the 2008 presidential election acting as a catalyst, I was able to talk to my new friends and explain to them my opinions about my home country. I have learned very quickly that there are many differences in the world and the cultures which inhabit it, and have started to give meaning to 'why' these differences exist as well as their importance.

I have been following the Obama campaign for the better part of two years now. I was blown away the first time I saw him speak (the last DNC) and made attempts to keep up on his political positioning as his campaign evolved. I watched every debate and listened to interviews with both Mr. Obama as well as rival candidates from both major parties (as well as Ron Paul, just to keep things interesting). On Nov 5th 2008 at 3:30am I realized that Mr. Obama was officially going to be the next president of the United States. I could not have been more proud of my country at that moment. I broke down and cried many times over the next day. I could barely watch his acceptance speech or listen to foreigners provide commentary before welling up with pride and an extreme sense of relief that the political tides of the US were about to change.

Over the past week I have attempted to keep abreast of the dealings going on in Obama's current preparation for office. I was once again excited and proud when I read that both Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton would be joining forces to create a 'justice league' of political force within Obama's cabinet. 

I sincerely hope that Mr. Obama continues to keep pace in his quest for betterment of the United States. My thoughts are with my country as I watch from afar. I am ever grateful for Mr. Obama's embrace of technology which allows me to feel connected to the dealings currently going on in the states.

Toast

A few days back we Design Masters students met up in the Universitie's bar* for a drink. We had just finished our first project and all in all I was really happy with the work that was shown. I felt good about my work, but can also see room from improvement. I'm looking forward to future projects now that the cobwebs have been shaken off.

*I am still getting used to the fact that there is a bar on the main floor of my University... It's easier to get to the bar than the library, so sometimes you get tripped up on the way to library and have to make a pitstop.

River Run

I've been back and healthy now for about a month and have been running three days a week in the morning before classes start up. Normally I'll get up with the sun (since it shines right into my window) and then strap on my running shoes and head out for a little jog.

There's something about running alongside the Thames which I have romanticized over the past weeks. To think that I run the banks of a river which has supported a city for over 2,000 years is a real trip. I am jogging along streets walked by Shakespeare, Churchill and Roman peasants.

My favorite is when I get to run across the river on one of London's many bridges. I've turned it into a game when i run, where I try to never run the same bridges in the same order. I'm literally running out of options for my morning run however since I am now running further and further to get to new bridges.

Another thing I've noticed has been the air quality while running. Not that it was much of a surprize that the air is rough and thick but I am surprised by how much I notice it when I run alongside cars on the motorways. I try to steer clear of transit routes in favor for parks and the river (which I'm sure puts off it's own special kind of polution).

Rooftop terrace anyone?

Last night I went out with a few people to my friend Greg's house downtown. Greg is from Switzerland and has recently moved to London after living in NYC for the past five years. He's staying with his father who works for a bank downtown, and did I mention that his flat is amazing?!

A few of us got together and shared meals which we prepared for one another. Some brought wine, others cooked Chinese Dumplings and stir-fry, while Guilia brought Tarimisu (which she made!) and I made some cookies... which went well with the post dinner espresso. Yes, life as a student is hard.

After a few beers and bottles of wine had been cracked we sat down and enjoyed in the never-ending cultural exchange of opinions and stories.

All in all a great night, the photo is from Greg's terrace! (From left to right: Greg, Joao, Ying, Gulia and Danica)

Oh and I had an older woman lick my face on the London Underground last night... I think she was really drunk, she kept referring to herself as Irish (even though she told me she was born in London). And in case you're wondering, no she was not a hobo, she was a well put together woman who looked like she was on her way home from her own dinner party (and had too much to drink). This is a memory I'm sure to have burned into my memory for some time to come.

Greenback on the rise

I'm not sure how many of you use 'igoogle', but its something I've been using for the better part of a year now and I have it set as my homepage. iGoogle allows me to customize my homepage with my mail, relevant news, London Underground news, London Maps and of course the exchange rate between the British Pound and the US Dollar. It was much to my surprise (and joy) that this morning upon seeing the newest exchange rate that the dollar has continued to strengthen against the pound. Money here has increased in value some %20 since I've been here, lets hope this trend continues!

Ink and Haircuts

In trying to keep up to date with my blog here's what's happened thus far in my latest journey into London's underbelly:

I've been hanging out with Joao (there's an "~" over his name as well, but I have no idea how to make the computer do that) a lot and he showed me how to use Argos on Friday. For those who have no idea what 'Argos' is, well its like a giant mail order catalog, but then you go inside and pay at a store, then the Argos team goes into their warehouse and within minutes you have your item. Imagine Amazon.com with instant shipping.

So anyways I was trying to price printer costs for my first project here at Chelsea and I was noticing a trend... Everything is too expensive. I decided to buy a printer (Calypsa was right, I should have brought mine). Anyways I ended up buying a really nice Cannon printer/scanner/copier, way better than my last printer, but an expense I had not planned on.

Then on Saturday Joao and I headed uptown to Covent Garden. We toured around looking for a book binding shop (masculine I know!) and found it just as the London sky opened and started to pour. Joao bought a ruler and I bought some supplies to bind my book that I will be documenting all my work in, they it was out into the rain with us. We walked around the city and went into a Design/Art supply shop, then found our way over to Chinatown. This is when the rain really started to threaten my newly bought paper samples so we ducked into the nearest Chinese restaurant and sat down in our soaking wet clothes (waterproof Gortex is no match for the rain of London).

The food at the Chinese place was satisfying and it was nice not to have to cook for the first time in a while. Chinatown was my kind of place! Cheap! I think I'll be going back to one of their buffets sometime after I've had a good long run.

After Chinatown Joao and I split up and he headed north to check out a street which had nothing but music shops. I on the other hand decided to try my luck at the local barber shop, this would later turn out to be mistake #1.

Here's a little list of things I failed to notice as warning signs upon getting my hair cut:

1. Haircuts advertised at $7 in the windows
2. The woman cutting my hair spoke very broken english ("you want it short?")
3. The only other hairdresser had to ask in Polish 'how to do say "follow me to the sink" in english to the woman who was frantically cutting my hair.
4. My haircut lasted maybe 10 min

All in all I got what I paid for... A Chinatown haircut from a Polish woman who had really bad hair herself.

In my defense though, the place was packed with other people and their hair looked fine. Not much I can do after the hairdresser takes that first swipe at your head with clippers!

Not a bad cut considering...

Up and Blogging

Well its been a month now and I have finally set up my blog. I was holding out since I wanted to design and code my own blog which would look all nice and professional, but in light of how I have no internet at home until next week and how little time I have to set up a blog, I have decided to use blogger for the time being.

I will try and post some of the events that I have attended and the trips I have taken already as I get time. I will let you know as soon as I have uploaded them to the 'archive' section of the blog.

Not much to report today. I am heading out to talk to a few vendors to help me create my first project for class. Everything is fine in London, the weather is much better than anyone warned of. Today it is sunny out and it has yet to get really cold out. Not that the weather is ideal by any sense, but it is so much better than I thought it would be!

Classes are going well and I am having a ton of fun with my new classmates.

Well thats it for my first post (kinda lame) but they will get better with time... lets hope so anyway.