Cityscapes: why a megalopolis is, by definition, not pretty

I feel vindicated.

I’m reading Michael C. Boxall’s latest thriller “The GreatFirewall.” The action is taking place in Shanghai when I read the following comment about subways: “[Shanghai’s] subway didn’t smell like [a heady blend of vanilla, balsam and ambergris]. But neither did it have the roachy fetor  of New York, [...]”

My first thought: Thank you!

Since I commented on my not-love for NY, people have been jumping about how is that even possible, eeeeeverybody loves NY, because NY is sooo great. Apparently not linking NY is akin to not liking Paris. A cultural faux pas.

My take on the whole issue? People don’t really look at famous places for what they are, but for what they represent.

Women, violence, and media

Curious how sometimes they connect, the randomly drawn information dots:

 

Women against domestic violence (photo taken from here)

* a thousand black and purple women march in Montevideo against domestic violence and a picturesque gobbling of a president handles pro-women pamphlets, 

Working on the go

Enviando artículos desde una biblioteca.
Silencio bueno para trabajar
pero olvidate de conferencias en Skype.

El sueño del pibe: trabajar para uno, sin tener que rendirle cuentas a ningún jefe, estando en contacto sólo con gente que a uno le gusta y desde cualquier lugar del mundo. Fantástico. En teoría. En la práctica, no tan fácil.

En los últimos años hemos estado preparando el terreno para hacer exactamente eso. Desde las oficinas en Vancouver, lo de trabajar de forma independiente funcionaba estupendamente. Con conexión inalámbrica a Internet y muy buen ancho de banda, dos oficinas completas montadas en la casa (celulares, fax, impresora, escáner, biblioteca de consulta, archivo, documentos de apoyo), todos los servicios a dos cuadras (biblioteca pública, banco, correo, cafés) la consultoría de Fadi y mi empresa de servicios de textos e idiomas marchaban sobre ruedas.

NY, NY. Third Take: The (Mostly) Good

If there's something to say about NY is that it cramps a lot of different forms of life in a small space.

And, as always, it was the people who were the highlight. Not the high-end stores, the fancy restaurants. Certainly not the beauty (among the big US cities I know, I would pick Chicago or SFO anytime). The city didn't live to its reputation of having a bunch of pushy, rude dwellers who don't care about their fellow human beings. On the contrary, they were nice, open, helpful, caring, trusting and friendly. Partial proof of that were the places we stayed.

Great art pieces everywhere in Tami's place.

Thanks to AirBnB we stayed in the apartments of two born-again NYorkers. One a Jamaican, the other a Portland (OR) transplant. Both artists (Tami, a jewelry designer, and Debbie, a clothing and accessories designer) with very interesting homes. Super flexible with our last-minute, scrambling-to-get-accommodation needs, and they left their apartments basically to ourselves. Debbie's was by far the cleanliest and delightfully decorated place we stayed on our whole trip.