2009: My year in music

2009 was a long year.  I guess a lot happened, a lot of it tiring, but at the same time, none of it was very interesting.  I’d say this was the year of insecurities for me.  There were several moments when my pride and my insecurity were at odds, which is something i’ve never dealt with before.  It caused problems here and there, but no permanent damage was done, i don’t think.  I’m just glad i didn’t let my pride get in the way of reconnecting with a special friend, which was one of my few proud accomplishments this year.  This was also the last full year of school for me, which had me agonizing over my impending graduation and the full time job search.  I still don’t know what i’m going to be doing after i graduate.  All i know is that it’ll be weird not being in school come next September.

Anyways, i would like to wish you all a happy new year.  Stay healthy and never stop dreaming.

2009: My year in music

Pre. Backwords – “Factory Angels”
Jan. Rickie Lee Jones – “Atlas’ Marker”
Feb. Fleet Foxes – “Innocent Son” ………… <listen>
Mar. 8mm – “Forever and Ever Amen” ………… <listen>
Apr. Rickie Lee Jones – “On Saturday Afternoons in 1963″ ………… <listen>
May. RENT Original Soundtrack – “Will I” ………… <listen>
Jun. Prince – “Purple Rain” ………… <listen>
Jul. 서태지 (Seotaiji)  - “Moai”
Aug. She & Him – “Black Hole” ………… <listen>
Sep. Sigur Rós - “Ný batterí” ………… <listen>
Oct. Bruno Coulais – “L’évocation” ………… <listen>
Nov. Kate Earl – “Come This Far” ………… <listen>
Dec. DJ Shadow – “Napalm Brain-Scatter Brain” ………… <listen>
Fin. Ani DiFranco – “Alla This” ………… <listen>

2008
2007

Protected: Actually, i do have something to say

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The last three months have been uneventful and uninspiring

I have nothing to say.  Sad, but true.  So, instead of words, here are some sweet images of works by artists i’ve been admiring lately:

Elspeth Diedrix

Dandelion

Blue Bottle

My last NYU September

The past week has been the best i’ve ever spent at NYU.  This is my third semester dorming (the first, fall of freshman year, and the second, spring of junior year), and i have never been this happy with my living situation.  Alumni Hall was definitely nice–you can’t beat its location, neighborhood, and convenience—but it was too loud and hectic, and i spent many a night cursing off the sophomores gathered under my second-floor window smoking, chatting, and generally being stupid all night.  And of course, there were the mice.

Now i’m at 26th and 1st, and while it’s the least popular NYU dorm, i’m very happy with the remodeled kitchen and i even like that it’s out of the way.  The walk to the subway is not bad at all, and the lack of good, cheap eating options in the neighborhood compared to the East Village will mean that i’ll be cooking most meals, which should be a nice change.  And it’s quiet.  There are mostly juniors and graduate students here (i’m the only senior on my floor, the rest being juniors), and despite living next to two big hospitals, i’ve only heard one ambulance so far.  While i sometimes miss the liveliness and convenience of the East Village, i’m relieved to be living in a peaceful, residential district this year.

Then there are my suitemates.  I don’t think i’ve ever gotten along this well with assigned suitemates.  We talk all the time, hang out all the time, and have tea and sweets together regularly (cute, right?).  I actually look forward to them coming back to the room, and i already miss one of them who’s been in Toronto for the past two days.  And if this weren’t enough, i have an awesome RA!  He’s so friendly and helpful and i love running into him all the time.  My freshman year RA was hard to get ahold of and ultimately failed to help me resolve issues with my disruptive neighbors (hence, the departure after one semester), and i never even formally met my junior year RA.

New Yorkers, this is for you

Recently, i’ve been experiencing NYC in a strangely sentimental way every time i commute into the city for work.  I find myself snapping out of my usual thought-filled daze, looking up from the sidewalk, and just taking everything in, as if i were discovering the city anew.  And i can’t help but assume that i wouldn’t fit in anywhere other than New York.  I have these thoughts regularly, but these days, the conviction is so unshakable.  Sometimes when i ride the subway, i like to stand and hold the pole even if there are empty seats and casually look around and observe the people.  I don’t know what it is about subway trains, but i instantly feel comfortable and content in that sea of strangers who are so absorbed in their own bubbles but also refreshingly friendly, when given a chance to be.  New York friendly is a rare kind of friendly:  not overwhelming, not interfering, and most definitely not forced.  Friendliness in New York is warranted, not expected, but it’s also surprisingly prevalent, if you know how to interact with the people.  It could be in a quick nod or even just a glance.  Wherever you find it, it’s cool, never clingy, and it always brightens up your day, if only for a fleeting moment.  Perhaps “friendliness” is not the right word.  Maybe it’s solidarity.

The bubbles definitely exist, but they’re so clumsy and thin and easily breakable, and not many people realize that everyone needs and wants to break out of them sometimes.  There’s a secret camaraderie among New Yorkers, and i’m not sure how much of that exists—and if it does, what it’s like—in other big cities.  And so this is the question i’m faced with now:  do i leave New York knowing that physically, it’s an unhealthy environment for me, but risking never getting used to a population that behaves differently?  Do i go for the people or the environment?  In a way, i guess they’re one and the same.  What i really wanna know is, what are people in other big cities like?

——
*photo is of street artist Keith Haring and was taken by Chantal Regnault.  found here.

On creativity

I do not believe that you’re either born creative or not–creativity is just as much a state as it is a trait–nor do i believe it is impossible to enhance creativity.  But a recent article in Scientific American discusses a research on “an easy way to increase creativity,” a research so preposterous that i couldn’t help but assume that its researchers are exactly the type to say something like the above.

The main argument put forth by the researchers is that psychological distance enhances creativity, and one can effect psychological distance by displacing an event into the future or a far-off place or imagining an event to be unlikely. This makes sense (as one commenter put it, “Ask an artist – these are no new ideas to us.   We do this naturally”), but the research seems over-simplified and i am highly skeptical of some its conclusions. For instance, the article ends with the suggestion that modern technology gives us ready access to faraway “people, sights, music, and food,” which might mean that we are getting more creative. I would think the exact opposite:  the web, whose communication transcends space and time, makes these faraway and exotic things seem near and familiar. Is anything even “faraway” anymore?

My latest obsession

“A Case of You” has got to be one of the greatest songs of all time.  It’s a Joni Mitchell original, but there are many, many covers, my favorite of which is Prince’s from the 2007 album, A Tribute to Joni Mitchell.  I’ve listened to it 278 times in less than a month, and as much as i love Joni, i have to admit that i like his rendition more than any of hers.  Check it out here, and Mitchell’s original here (live version of the Blue version, which was her original release).

Third yogurt post

joghurtbecher © beierle + keijser (via lensculture)

I haven’t found a new favorite yogurt, but i did try some worth blogging about.  First up, Liberté’s Méditerranée line:

via ZauBEr Hour (click image to visit)

Donna-Lynn Kovic from Liberté left a comment on my first yogurt post notifying me of Liberté’s upcoming lemon and coconut flavors in the Méditerranée line.  As per her suggestion, i contacted Julie Rivest in the marketing department to find out where i might be able to find these supposedly “European-tasting” yogurts in my area of Central Jersey.  I didn’t have much luck finding grocery stores near me that stocked them, but when i went back to NYC for school, i found these everywhere and eventually bought some from my favorite local cheese shop, East Village Cheese.  I’d been reading all over the foodie blogosphere that the Plum & Walnut flavor from this line was jaw-droppingly good, so naturally, i bought one of those, and one of Lemon and one of Coconut, both favorite flavors of mine, though i gotta admit, this is the only brand i’ve ever seen carrying coconut-flavored yogurt.  I normally hate fruit on the bottom yogurts (the water from the fruit purée forms nasty clumps in the yogurt once it’s mixed in), so i was disappointed to find out that the plum+walnut mixture was in the bottom of the cup.  But there was a resurgence of hope when i pulled back the foil lid and noticed that there wasn’t a single drop of that disgusting liquid that forms on top of most yogurts (which FAGE nicely avoids by placing a sheet of fibrous, woven parchment directly on the top surface of each of its yogurts).  I thought, as long as the fruit mixture is similarly devoid of extra liquid, this could turn out to be good.

On eating meat

When i was leaving Pace Wildenstein on 57th yesterday, i saw a handful of women picketing on the corner of 57th and Park Ave in front of the Korean Consulate General.  They were trying to get people to sign up for a petition to stop dog and cat meat consumption in Korea.  A little research has shown me that demonstrators from the IDA (In Defense of Animals) congregate in front of Korean consulates and embassies across the country every year on the first of the Korean bok days (literally the “hot, dog days of summer”).  Apparently, some Koreans consume more boshintang (dog stew) this time of year to help their bodies fight the summer heat.

I walked closer to the demonstrators to read what their posters said, but i was in a rush to find a bathroom, so all i caught were some images of dogs.  Curiously, though, the lady whose poster i tried to read didn’t approach me or try to get me to sign the petition even though she had been pestering all other passersby.  To tell you the truth, she avoided eye contact with me.  On the way back from the bathroom, i saw a different protestor harassing two Korean (and non-English speaking, it seemed) tourists.  These women didn’t have the guts to confront me (because they would’ve confronted, not asked) about the issue so instead harassed Korean tourists who couldn’t even argue back.  How mature.

I have a couple issues with this protest:

questions on the loo, issue #6: Which of your senses would you lose if you had to lose one?

This is a common question that i’ve seen pop up in many places, but i never thought deeply about it until my best friend asked me it the other day.  At first, i confidently said, “Smell.”  I couldn’t give up sight; i’m a visual artist.  I couldn’t give up hearing either because i think it’s even more powerful than sight.  Touch was out of the question because i’m too sensuous, and as for taste, well, everyone knows i’m foodie.  Smell and taste work together, of course, but between those two, i thought smell would be the least useful.  But then i remembered all those days of snuggling with loved ones and breathing in their unique smell emanating from their bosom; those days of hallucinating their smell when i missed them and smiling inwardly knowing that my nostrils had somehow “memorized” their smell; those days of stumbling upon articles of clothing they’d left behind, the pillows they’d slept on, and being hypnotically reminded of the tender memories.  I think i could live without smelling all those other scents i love like that of the rain, the ocean, the fresh-tilled soil, but i don’t think i could give up the scent of the human being.

So which would i lose?  I’d lose hearing.  I honestly think i appreciate dead silence more than the most sublime music, the pristine sounds of nature, maybe even the human voice.  Sound is more often an irritant to me than a pleasure.  There are surely things i’d miss hearing, especially water and wind and certain voices, but when i imagine myself first without smell and then without hearing, i see myself much unhappier in the former case.

Now it’s your turn:  which would you lose?  And a bonus question:  if you could choose one last thing to sense before losing your chosen sense, what would it be?  I chose hearing, so i’d choose to hear my love’s voice, whoever that may be at that moment.