greeneyedcity

Recyclebank's Green Your Vacation Challenge

2011-07-20T15:36:00.002-04:00

Recyclebank launched the Green Your Vacation promotion at greenyourvacation.recyclebank.com, an interactive contest where members can learn to green their summer plans, earn points, and win prizes including 2 grand prizes:

A ten day cruise to the Galapagos Islands, courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions and a stay at the Four Seasons Costa Rica at Papagayo. The contest will last through end of July.

Please visit greenyourvacation.recyclebank.com, and refer friends for multiple chances to win!

New On-Street Recycling Containers in Northside

2011-05-02T09:50:00.007-04:00

Assumed to have been installed to coincide with the Great American Cleanup on April 16th, the Cincinnati neighborhood of Northside has recently added on-street recycling containers along the Hamilton Avenue Business District.

The new receptacles are sleek, attractive, and easy to differentiate from the uniform trash containers, which can be found throughout the city. The containers were obtained through a grant, assisted by the Office of Environmental Quality. Recycling pickup has been contracted through Rumpke Recycling. Hopefully the design choice for the new recycling containers will encourage proper use, not as another place for passersby to throw their trash.

Located near Shake-It Records on the north side of Hamilton Avenue, near Lingo Street.

This measure capitalizes on Northside's growing reputation as one of Cincinnati's greenest neighborhoods. Already in the neighborhood are a variety of services and outlets for reuse, environmental awareness, and alternative transport methods.

Eateries Melt and The Grove feature a variety of locally-source, vegan and sustainable fare.
Fueled by the Easter Seals Work Resource Center, Building Value is the place to reclaim salvaged building materials and furnishings. They give a second life to quality, architectural components. Building Value also enables donors and buyers alike to obtain tax credits and LEED credits for their projects.
MOBO Bicycle Cooperative is the lone bike co-op in Cincinnati, boasting a membership of 600, as of 2011. Their central location enables reasonable access from all stretches of the city. A membership gives you access to tools, a slew of donated bikes for parts, and technical assistance from the friendly staff.
MOBO is part of the Village Green Foundation, which is a non-profit garden co-op that aims to grant "access to healthy foods for all the residents of the community.
Even reuse and consignment shops like Chicken Lays an Egg, Casablanca Vintage, and Shop Therapy offer a cornucopia of pre-loved clothing (the former), carefully selected clothing from the 40's to the 70's (second), and items for the home (the latter).
Fabricate is a gallery and retail store featuring locally homemade and handmade. Celebrating reuse and creativity!
Many Northside businesses recycle. Northside Tavern, for years, has diverted nearly all its glass bottle and aluminum can waste.
Let us not forget Northside Farmers Market, open year-round at Jacob Hoffner Park and North Presbyterian Church. Local organic produce, naturally raised meats, raw cheeses, and more.

Active Northside residents and businesses celebrate environmental activism, careful reuse of materials, and a sustainable urban neighborhood. Let's hope that Northside's hop to be the first neighborhood with on-street recycling will encourage others to follow suit.

Lost: the Famous "I Love Compost" Magnet

2011-04-18T17:16:00.000-04:00

About a week ago, I discovered something that confirmed why my car felt a little strange as of late. Someone had stolen the "I Love Compost" magnet" from the Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District from the back of my 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid.

They have been one with each other since the Recyclebank press event, back in October, at Annwood Park. Clearly, these buggers found this beautiful magnet to be a valuable find. If you have an extra one, or have any sightings to report of Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District giving these away during Earth Week, send me a line! This is a 21st Century, First World tragedy--yes. But it would be nice to get a replacement!

Details on the Great American Cleanup in Clifton (Cincinnati) - Saturday, APRIL 16th (8:30am-1:00pm)

2011-04-10T16:28:00.010-04:00

**IF YOU FEEL ANYONE YOU KNOW WOULD BE INTERESTED IN JOINING US FOR THE CLEANUP, PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH A FRIEND.**

We are rapidly approaching the Great American Cleanup for 2011. As the founder of the CTM Green Clifton Committee, I really wanted to get Clifton on track with annual cleanup events, after what I understood as a long dormancy. My goal is to make this second annual effort bigger than the last. Before I get into the details of this year's event, I want to thank everyone who has expressed any level of interest.

The basics...

Date and time: Saturday, April 16th at 8:30am

Meetup place (or home base): Clifton Plaza (333 Ludlow Ave)

Morning kickoff: Please arrive by 8:30am, so that we can coordinate the efforts with team leaders, assign teams for our volunteers, get liability forms signed, and get acquainted over coffee and eats.

Duration: We're looking at a 9:00am start time, expecting teams to return to Clifton Plaza by noon.

What's next?: I am working on a couple local partnerships within our business district that would provide food for our volunteers after great hard work. No one has any need to worry about not seeing food in front themselves after the cleanup. Lunch will be served from 12pm to 1pm.

The cleanup and supplies...

What's being picked up? We will be picking up trash and recyclables separately. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful will be supplying all teams in Cincinnati with different colored bags, white for one and clear for the other. Weeding out recyclables from our pickup materials is taken very seriously.

Electronics? Yes, electronics are being collected, as a part of the Great American Cleanup. However, they will not be a part of the regular cleanup activities. Instead, KCB has arranged for two drop off locations during the event--one is Blue Ash and another at a still unreported location central to all of Greater Cincinnati's neighborhoods. I will keep you up to date on that piece.

Supplies: Based on supplies from Keep Cincinnati Beautiful from last year, volunteers will receive bright KCB volunteer t-shirts. As stated earlier, KCB will also supply separate bags for recyclables and trash, latex gloves, a pocket first aid kit for home base, and posters for the event. You may see some posters around Clifton in the days leading up to the event. Until the Supply Day--Tuesday, April 12^th--I will not know exactly what we will receive but I planned for supplies for 30 volunteers. Do not fret--KCB overcompensates with supplies for team volunteer estimates, and I will make sure we are not running low.

Routes...

You will find a draft map of team routes attached to this email. The highlighted routes are suggested based on main vehicular or pedestrian routes, common cut-throughs, and known problem areas. I would encourage team leaders to cover other neighborhood streets within their zones if time permits. But I think these routes will take up a significant portion of our time. I will provide individual route maps on cleanup day.

Team leaders...

I have already received interest from individuals becoming team leaders. Due to the large expanse of our neighborhood, we may need two or more team leaders per route. It depends on the turnout by 8:30am or so on April 16th. Feel free to email me, if you are interested in becoming a team leader.

Please let me know if you feel that I am leaving anything out here. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to email me.

Very much thanks,

Christian Huelsman

Clifton Town Meeting, board member

CTM Green Clifton Committee, chair

GAC Clifton site leader

christianhuelsman@cliftoncommunity.org

NPR and PBS are in danger of being eliminated by Congress

2011-02-13T16:01:00.002-05:00

Our Republican Congress is aiming to eliminate all funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which would erase National Public Radio, PBS, and other public media from our lives. The cuts are claimed to be due to budget constraints, but a small fraction of a percent of the total budget helps to pay for public media.

In Ohio, we have already seen strong-armed (and successful) efforts to eliminate statewide rail from the radar, after years of planning and even federal funding allocation. More recently, newly elected Ohio Governor John Kasich has cut $70 million in state transit funding. Now, the possibility of nixed public media is threatening.

Please visit the CREDO action petition site to learn more about looming elimination of public media funding.

Below, I have included my letter to Congress via the petition in the link above. Please, strongly consider sharing your words with Congress.

Respectable members of Congress,

The high cost of eliminating public television and radio is abominable. The higher cost of eliminating public options across the board is stifling and offensive. In the past two months, as an Ohio Resident, I have witnessed years of statewide rail planning quashed by the sentiment of then-governor-elect John Kasich. He has since eliminated $70 of public transit funding in Ohio. Now you want to take away public radio and television for all, in the name of "budget issues".

I am offended by the narrowly representative interest of Republicans in Congress, who aim to take action against an "overinflated government". However, it is the government-aided non-profit organizations, institutional and public construction projects, and others that defend a public process and provision for all. In the case of PBS and NPR, listeners and viewers keep them afloat but government funding keeps it alive.

We need public radio and television to maintain last remaining near-non-partisan media outlets. Private enterprise has changed the way we are delivered the news--special interest groups with enormous lobbying power, former big oil/ag/industry executives appointed to government positions, and so on. These decisions are not in the interests of Americans but in the interests of the sovereign well-dressed and self-interested.

Please do not take away from us what millions actively support and value.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXX

Win 2,011 RecycleBank Points! What's your green resolution?

2011-01-11T15:11:00.005-05:00

To those of your with RecycleBank accounts, and to those who have yet to register for an account: this is for you. It is no mystery that I am one of two members of the Cincinnati RecycleBank team. A common goal of ours and yours: to increase recycling rates in our city.

Pledge to make 2011 your greenest year ever on Facebook.com/RecycleBank and be one of 20 weekly winners.

We want everyone to make this their greenest year ever. Each week in January, we're asking our Facebook fans to share their green resolutions. Every Monday at 11 AM EST we'll post a new topic to start the conversation. From that post, we'll pick 20 lucky fans to receive 2,011 RecycleBank Points! The giveaways started this week, so make sure you "Like" us on Facebook and join the conversation to enter!

RecycleBank in Cincinnati

2010-12-15T12:59:00.005-05:00

Cincinnati is enhancing their recycling service by partnering with RecycleBank - a rewards program that motivates people to take greener actions, like household recycling, by rewarding them with points that are redeemable online for rewards from local and national retailers, restaurants, pharmacies, grocers and more. Similar to frequent flier programs, the more a community recycles, the more RecycleBank Points participating households earn. Single or multi-family residences with Cincinnati curbside trash service are eligible to participate in the program free of charge.

• You must register to redeem rewards. To sign up for RecycleBank: visit www.RecycleBank.com or call 1-888-727-2978

• All eligible households have received their new recycling carts - to find out which phase you are in and which week you will be picked up, check out the City’s enhanced recycling program overview at: www.cincinnatirecycles.org or call 513-591-6000.

Recycling: Blow-molded vs. injection-molded plastics

2010-10-26T10:39:00.004-04:00

This excerpt is from the Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) website, which does a particularly good job at delineating blow-molded and injection-molded plastics. A waste hauler's ability to recycle and find markets for these materials differs. I have substituted Rumpke Recycling below, as they hold the same guidelines as DSWA. Perhaps Rumpke or the City of Cincinnati can post something similar on their respective websites. As a RecycleBank outreach intern, I get a number of questions regarding "bottles vs. butter tubs." I invite you to visit the DSWA, for additional insight on the similarities and differences of recycling programs abroad.

[Rumpke Recycling] only collects narrow-neck plastic bottles in both its Curbside Recycling Program and Recycling Drop-Off Centers. Narrow-neck plastic bottles such as water or soda bottles, shampoo bottles, and detergent bottles are accepted regardless of the recycling number found on the bottle and usually contains liquid contents. A narrow-neck plastic bottle is one that has a neck smaller than the body of the bottle. [Rumpke Recycling] does not accept wide-mouth plastic containers such as butter or yogurt containers because the manufacturing process differs from narrow-neck bottles. Narrow-neck bottles are what are referred to as blow-molded plastic while the butter tubs and yogurt containers are injection-molded plastics or a "punched" plastic. While the types of plastics for both blow-molded and injection-molded plastics is still the same, the manufacturing process is different. This results in each plastic having a different melt index, which means that they melt at different temperatures. There are not many markets for other types of plastics, which do not have a narrow-neck in the regions around [Cincinnati]. Without a market to accept the items, [Rumpke Recycling] does not have a resource that will accept and process this type of plastic.

The seriously silent revolution (hums like an air conditioner)

2010-07-07T17:00:00.008-04:00

Today's post is very much sparked by a recent MaddowBlog entry, which paraphrased a Salon article titled, "Losing Our Cool": The high price of staying cool. Salon spoke to Stan Cox, the author of the new book, Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer). It discusses the impacts of air conditioning on American population shifts, since the 1960s. The interview and book also (more than) allude to political implications for mass movement to the South and West, and how it corresponds to Republican constituency.

As should be typified by greeneyedcity, I prefer to assess the impacts of air conditioning--and, by association, overall quest for comfort--on our natural and social environments. Nature has incurred our wrath mostly in the last century or so. We consume and waste more as a nation than any country on earth. The international response among developing countries has been less than favorable. At international summits, lesser developed countries are reluctant to adopt carbon standards unless nations like the United States follow them too. The big boys seem to want to play by their own rules, reaping the benefits of industrialization and consumerism long after their peak.

In the United States, we continue to consume about as much as we always have, relative to the number of cars on the road and number of miles to our jobs and supermarkets. Subsidization allows for lower quality, lower-priced products and services. Despite environmental disasters, we continue to drive down the street for milk. When we idle our automobiles, we leave our air conditioners running full blast. Despite the mindful construction of hundred-year-old buildings, we scramble for window units, when the temperature reaches eighty degrees. In other cases, central cooling systems are always running during hot days, because newer buildings do not have passive systems for temperature regulation. In fact, most of them rely on electric-dependent systems. Meanwhile, as Cox's book states, our A/C consumption causes climate change, and we respond by using it more as the temperatures rise.

What about the social side of air conditioning? As funny as that sounds, the quest for comfort confines us to our own spaces, which have become more personalized than ever. When air conditioning first appeared in performance and movie theaters, they were the places to seek refuge from the heat. But they were also places for people to meet, share leisure, and patronize local businesses. Theaters were centers of attraction when business centers turned dark, but they were certainly destinations during the day. What are our Twenty-first Century attraction centers? Nearly every private residence or multi-unit building has air conditioning (or the option to have it). Urban dwellers have less incentive to leave their homes to find both cool air and leisure.

Cox mentions how we keep our car windows closed and our A/C cranked, so that we keep automobile emissions out. But the number of road miles and hours of mobile A/C usage consumes gasoline fuel more rapidly than simple fan usage or rolling the windows down. (Keeping the windows down, however, leads to lower fuel efficiency after exceeding about 50 mph.) Either at home or on the road, we demand comfort from air conditioning, thereby contributing to climate change.

Like many contemporary revolutions or uprisings, since the late 1960s, the pushes to cut carbon emissions, protect forests, or regulate post-consumer waste are relatively segmented and unorganized. What impact does one person, not running their air conditioning, have on the environment. Not very much. Indubitably, air conditioning is also competitive edge. Businesses even think of cutting their cooling would suffer financially. Cox pointed out studying showing lower tolerance to hotter temperatures, when people experience long-term exposure to climate-controlled environments.

Are policy, tax, or credit mechanisms the only remedy for the cyclical environmental detriment we create, as we artificially cool our singular spaces? Should residential owners be given less freedom to cool their spaces, while given more incentive for business owners (and municipal entities, of course) to cool their interiors? Could it, in turn, stimulate consumer spending? I am not necessarily arguing that breaking the A/C cycle requires a solution oriented toward economic development. However, short of socialism and strict (and responsible) government regulation of consumption, I do not see an end in sight.

One of the most responsive business moves, with regards to climate change, was Britain's new Prime Minister capping the expansion of the tiny London Heathrow Airport. However, when city-regions are the largest culprits of greenhouse gases and energy consumption, adequate power is not in the hands of municipal governments but with state government, rural, and suburban constituencies. Until we restructure the hierarchical power structure in the United States, are we left with economic development measures to meet our future carbon goals. Or we left relegated to the seriously silent revolutions among individuals, who are left feeling like isolate extremists in a sea of apathetic consumers?

(See a related treehugger post titled, The Deluded World of Air Conditioning Revisited.)

Photo credits: (1) flickr user -WHITEFIELD-; (2) The New Press

Obligatory "Happy Earth Day" post

2010-04-22T17:52:00.004-04:00

Hello, readers! I hope you are celebrating Earth Day in your own respective ways. Living green is not about this one day of the year, of course. I like to think of Earth Day as a time to reflect on how we carry on from day-to-day, as our habits impact the environment. Many holidays are about giving gifts or giving thanks. Today, I encourage you to look at how we all individually impact the lives of others--other humans, all living creatures, and the Earth's composition as it was intended.

We all succumb to consumer culture, our own busy lives, and the incessant temptation to just do nothing. But it is vitally important to remind ourselves that we can always do more. As a community of any scale, a global village or a neighborhood, we have an abundance of untapped potential. We can absolutely enhance the lives of others through community, while impacting our own lives positively.

I ask you all to find time to become more involved in your communities, this year and every year beyond. As we empower our own communities, we increase the breadth of knowledge and experience--fuel or "people power"--that can be used to affect policy, create and recreate livable spaces, and build more lasting relationships.

I hope to see some of you, this weekend. Great American Cleanup activities will be happening throughout America, particularly in Cincinnati, local readers. Check Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to find a cleanup or landscaping project in your area. Carry your positive energy beyond today and this weekend.

Always thankful,

Christian Huelsman

Clifton Town Meeting, board member

CTM Green Clifton Committee, founder + co-chair

greeneyedcity, founder + proprietor

"Nature as an attraction": Have we gone too far?

2010-04-17T18:24:00.011-04:00

Blog Like You Give a Damn is the official blog of Architecture for Humanity in Minnesota, a local chapter of the volunteer non-profit organization that promotes architecture and design in social and global crisis intervention. The blog features interesting vignettes from other online publications exhibiting innovation, communication, and alternative interpretation of architecture and design through culture. Several posts provide a glimpse into the architecture and media community in the Twin Cities, but BLYGAD taps both design and alternative culture stimuli. As blogger Colin Kloecker states in the first of three posts on December 14th, while describing the supplemental use of tumblr, BLYGAD is about, “predicting the present to better design the future.”

The January 17th entry particularly caught my eye, which highlights the recent work of Finnish artist Ilkka Halso. His work "examines the tensions between our natural and built environments and ultimately, how we act to save and/or destroy both.” Included are several manipulated photographs that feature natural environments within scaffolding or enclosed altogether with structural elements. His work reminds me of how we treat priceless architectural works, which are now monetarily or environmentally cost prohibitive. The historic preservation movement and discipline arose when we began—especially in the United States—to treat our built environments as highly disposable and replaceable. Although we are no longer faced with the apathy we experienced with the height of 1960s urban renewal, multiple generations of sturdily built structures (with exceptional craftsmanship) continue to be sacrificed for supposed greater efficiency.

Just how efficient is it: to bulldoze a site every thirty years, to use cheaper materials that degrade or fall apart faster, or to shift so drastically to composite construction materials that cannot be reused or recycled (nor can many of them degrade under natural conditions, after they are disassembled from a building)?

Ilkka Halso shows our current brand of nature romanticism through a lens that exemplifies nature as a museum attraction. Today we sacrifice our natural environments in the name of growth, prosperity, and economic development. Globalization allows small communities to “have what she's having,” resulting in a homogenous built environment from one populace to the next. Much like past generations of architecture, nature often cannot be replaced once it has been degraded or eliminated. No matter how exhilarating it would be to visit a preserved section of the Kitka River (shown above) in a controlled environment, what would the surrounding areas of the museum look like?

Nature is an infinitely complex, non-linear network of systems. Urban theory has been formulated for centuries on subjects such as “central place theory,” grids systems, view sheds, and public space. The latter certainly applied to a much smaller time span, but both nature and architecture have become subjects of case-by-case fascination. We must think of our environments as highly contextual, or quality of life will go the way of the do-do.

(Both photos shown above were taken from BLYGAD's January 17th for context.)

Clifton Plaza is now open!

2010-04-09T14:03:00.020-04:00

After more than a year in the making, the site of the former, nondescript, one-story building Bender Optical is now Clifton Plaza. Temporary fencing was removed from the public space and opened at approximately 12:45pm today. The plaza features scattered granite bench seating, circular table seating, two bar-style standing tables, and a solar-powered trash compactor. A can for recyclable plastics, glass, and metal containers will be installed at a later date. The finished product is perfect, attractive and modern public space for visitors and Clifton residents alike. The new plaza provides a more pleasant and accessible connection between the businesses on Ludlow Avenue and the merchant parking lot on Howell.

You will find additional details about the project in the coming days. Thank you to everyone involved with the project--workers and CTM Plaza Committee members alike!

DANCE_MOTHERNATURE and neighborhood bar recycling

2010-04-03T16:58:00.015-04:00

By now, many young and hip Cincinnatians know what the first Saturday of each month brings. Since 2008, local art, film, and event collective PROJECTMILL has been running the monthly DANCE_MF event at Northside Tavern to a healthy crowd. To keep things fresh and interesting, each month's event comes with a theme. The April 2010 edition of DANCE_MF is all about green. From the associated facebook invite description:

PROJECTMILL's Gone Pagan!

Spring has sprung so come celebrate your chosen sun and rock and twig gods with a sweaty raindance this Saturday at NST, where we bring you... DANCE_MOTHERNATURE!

Green is the new black, so wear it! Also bring your old cell phones to drop in a box and be recycled by the zoo... something about chemicals in the SIM card or something... we're not sure but we support it!!

Only recycled dance moves acceptable this time, mf-ers.

See you there! Save the world!

Reduce, Reuse, Re-Running Man,
PM

Well, greeneyedcity felt the need to get with the program, so to speak. There is always a need to improve recycling options and participation among bars and restaurants. However, the response from power wielders has left much to be desired.

Speaking to Northside Tavern owner Ed Rush, the Tavern was once part of a city pilot to augment recycling among bars. However, a changing of guards left a handful of public officials unwilling to support the project (which can be added to the mound of other useful projects that have been scoffed at by various elected officials). Rush, however, felt that Rumpke Recycling had reasonable rates. So the recycling of tons of beer bottle empties continued.

At the DANCE_MOTHERNATURE event, attendees are expected to wear green, bring in their old mobile phones for recycling (thanks to the Cincinnati Zoo's Cell Phone Recycling Program), and recycle those dance moves that only come out on special occasions. Perhaps some classics and mashups can be expected from the DJ.

In addition, greeneyedcity--with the help of HCDOES--will have installed several "clear-tainers" in the front and back bar areas. The tavern already recycles but many may not be aware of their longstanding commitment. The installation is symbolic of the unified support of waste reduction by the folks of Northside Tavern, PROJECTMILL, and greeneyedcity. Picture a multilayered array of back patting through progressive community brainstorming, and you're there.

Hope to see you out there on the dance floor.

Propounding on the documentary No Impact Man

2010-03-12T15:01:00.004-05:00

"Can you save the planet without
driving your family crazy?"

UC Sustainability recently screened the Colin Beaven documentary, No Impact Man, with which I completely fell in love. The film documents Colin, a New York City-based writer, and his journey through a year-long experiment to achieve net zero environmental impact, which began in November 2006. Prior the the film and book of the same name, he wrote a series of entries on his blog about his decision to take personal action, instead of waiting for “the senators and the CEOs to change the way we treat the world.” Colin thoroughly acknowledged that this transformation en masse was a marketing tactic for his next book. His transformation, however, had deeper implications—it had a profound effect on how his wife-with-child and he conducted themselves on a daily basis.

This film draws parallels to my own life as an evolving environmentalist, at times emphasizing “mentalist”. Over the past two years—especially since moving to my current apartment in Clifton’s Ludlow Business District—I have made the lives of my girlfriend and my friend-roommate more difficult. First it was simply recycling and minimizing how many times I ended up taking the trash out to the dumpster. That correlated with takeout and leftover food waste taking up room in the refrigerator. Now we use 100% recycled, post-consumer toilet paper and parsley infused surface cleaner. I buy bulk grains and use UV-sensitive, biodegradable kitchen trash bags. We now have an indoor composting bokaski unit. But Colin’s experiment was the truest test of his wife’s patience, love, understanding, and willingness to learn. Perhaps No Impact Man is not the conventional love story, but it is a story about love and all those other things.

A strong critic—and there are certainly many out there—might slight Colin simply for living in New York City. However, the fact that he conducted the experiement in NYC made it entirely possible. Access to healthy food is a heavy variable for anyone to impact his or her waste. (This is not to say that the same experiment could not work in Cincinnati, but it may be entirely impossible in a suburban community.) Colin and his wife Michelle regularly visited farmer’s markets, and eventually connected well enough with one to spend their vacation at the farm (using the plentiful commuter rail in the region). The couple got rid of their flat screen television and other frivolties. About halfway through the experiment, they cut the lights. All the while, they had a large network of associates and friends, trains and buses, which is a by-product (but not necessarily guaranteed in all cases) of living densely. That network was a helpful support system to keep their marriage and project intact. That network enabled Colin and the family to balance negative environmental impact with positive impacts, and to reach net zero.

An important piece to note is that Colin’s experiment was designed to work in stages. Stage one was to figure out how to create no garbage waste, including packaging and disposable products. The second stage was to create a smallest environmental impact with their food choices (which, for a short while, included using unsuccessful, primitive cooling techniques instead of living with a actual refrigerator). The third stages involved consumption of only necessary items, and learning how to do it sustainably.

Planning for Sustainability: Six hours with Price Hill Will ... and beyond

2010-03-09T06:46:00.013-05:00

Last Saturday afternoon I spent six hours roaming the neighborhood streets of Price Hill. The Census officer never showed up at the Corryville Branch Library, so my contention for a temporary job would have to wait. Thus I got an earlier start to working for Price Hill Will (PHW), a non-profit development corporation in East Price Hill. Through my current co-op with Community Building Institute, I connected myself to various organizational partners through the place matters Comprehensive Community Initiative they manage. My volunteer opportunity spawned from several visits to PHW Eco-neighborhood Community Action Team (CAT) meetings. Emily Horning, a community organizer for PHW, regularly mediates and delegates at meetings. The neighborhood business district is due for streetscape improvements in the summer, so this presented a perfect opportunity for some first-person fieldwork.

PHW’s Beautification CAT identified several projects that would benefit from my initial mapping of the business corridors. These included:

1. Old, painted municipal waste containers along Warsaw are fading and falling into disrepair. I was to map them and show examples of those in poor shape. The mapping would be use to identify redundancy with other municipal waste facilities and where they are current lacking.

2. The Beauty CAT is working with Metro to consolidate bus stops with benches and shelters in Price Hill. Once again though, there may be a problem with advertisement benches in locations not zoned for them. Some are zoned; some are not (“parasitic as in nature,” as Emily put it). I was to map and photograph the benches in Price Hill, who owns them, and if they are authorized. Those that are not can be relocated or eliminated altogether. This may reduce eyesores in the community and augment Price Hill’s reputation as a “Cincinnati’s greenest community”.

3. Compile a photographic inventory of each block from Warsaw and Grand through Glenway and Crookshank.

So, what were some of my findings?

There is an unusual oversupply of bus stops throughout East Price Hill. I would venture to say that every other stop could be eliminated. Every block?
Advertising benches are not as plentiful as I expected, which could be a good or a bad thing. Many bus stops simply do not have seating for waiting. However, in higher traffic areas—as I mentioned Emily stated—they are “parasitic,” abundant and redundant.
Near one pocket park I found unnecessary duplication of waste facilities. Four were located on park property, while two were found immediately off park property on the sidewalks. There were even recycling containers for plastic + glass and aluminum cans on park property. When the park closes, are we no longer allowed to legally recycle?
As I mentioned in recent business association and community council meetings throughout the city, public recycling drop-offs seem to be located in very auto-oriented areas. In Price Hill these resources are especially sparse. Behind Holy Family School are two ABITIBI Paper Retriever containers, a clothing drop, and one Rumpke Recycling ommingled container. In this case, however, the drop-off location is quite walkable by comparison.
No systematic scheme is apparent in the placement of municipal waste cans. Some are midblock; others are at corner bus stops. And, as stated earlier, style and condition of the facilities are inconsistent.
In one specific case, there is a defunct bus stop on Seton Avenue, afront the long-abandoned KFC location at Five Points (Warsaw, Glenway, Seton, and Quebec). A bare signpost still remains without a Metro route sign badge. Its corresponding municpal waste can was empty on a Saturday, even though Emily and I both believe that trash is pick up on Mondays. Many other trash facilities are located at Five Points.

The sidewalk redo on Warsaw Avenue should be underway in Summer 2010. Hope is that bus stop consolidation, augmented litter control, and bus stop safety measures will conincide with the project. I will provide you all with an update when the comprehensive inventory, survey, and index are complete.

You are always invited to any of Price Hill Will’s Community Action Team meetings. The next Beautification CAT meeting is this Thursday, March 11th at 6:30pm at Price Hill Chili. The next Eco-neighborhood CAT meeting will be held tonight at 5:30pm at PHW, as last week’s meeting was rescheduled.

Propounding on the new documentary Tapped and our world of plastic (bottles)

2010-02-12T19:59:00.004-05:00

Brought to us by the those who brought us Who Killed the Electric Car, Tapped—a documentary mostly about bottled water—recently screened as part of the UC|Sustainability Film Series for Winter 2010. The film exhbited where bottled water is sourced, which companies are behind the various brands of “natural spring water”, the containers in which it is sold, and the generally hidden impacts of bottled water on our environment and health. Although I was aware of the concerns of plastic packaging, as well as the unnecessary use and waste of water resources, Tapped was an engaging work that seemed to impact all in attendance.

Several topics in the film caused my innards to sink. It was the same disgust when I feel when the following ingredients are applied to the same recipe: individual ignorance by choice and corporate apathy. It is fairly simple for someone to point the finger solely at the insiders’ club—vile industry and the government at its mercy. But several times during the film, it was expressed that voting with our feet is ever so important. In this case, it is all about voting with our wallets.

One topic that disturbed me was environmental degradation in the name of plastic, If I recall correctly, 30 million plastic bottles are disposed every day, but only half make it into the recycling stream. The other half makes its way into landfills, rivers and streams, and even wash up on distant islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The film exhbited one such beach that no longer had the pure white sand it solely featured for thousands of years. Instead, it was littered with millions of small pieces of plastic. Our consumer choices translate into loss of habitat for marine life. Our culture of convenience translates into a lower quality of life for fellow humans and entire ecosystems alike. This is precisely the big picture thinking that I fear lacks in collective society only days after seeing realm-rocking documentaries about real life quasi-chaos.

My primary concern leads me to borrow a couple terms from the business world, both of which I picked up an Organization Theory course. After seeing several environmentally focused documentaries like Food Inc, The Age of Stupid, No Impact Man, and others, I cannot help but think of a class discussion on the difference between “corporate responsibility” and “corporate responsiveness”. Companies like Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Nestle likely will not alter their practices of virtually stealing water from local water bodies, (which was shown to result in “overharvesting” even during droughts), unless they are trounced with government regulation. Their image of “pure” and “clean”, and their sleek bottle design is about as bad a Starbucks’ recent greenwashing.

Corporate responsibility usually comes into play when a company comes under fire for objectionable practices. It is a chicken-and-egg issue though. The film interviewed a former EPA official, who quit the agency after being told that he was not permitted to take action against a petrochemical company (those which make the petroleum-based resin used in plastic production), which was causing adverse health effects in residents of nearby Corpus Christi. However, if enough people complained to the agency, he would then be allowed to enforce penalties. But where do we obtain that critical mass, when much our bountiful news and informational sources tell us what they want us to know?

However, I would actually like to concurrently mention both my concerns by replacing “corporate” with “environmental”—and not just our natural environments. Both industries and communities must find a way to coexist in good health somehow. Leveraging partnerships with big corporations seems to be a key ingredient of establishing sustainable relationships, no matter how large or small your neighbors really are. Perhaps it could be via institutions with government as a silent figure at the table—a mediator of sorts. The creation of a long-term plan to live in harmony with each other—that is necessary, I feel. But like the uprising against tobacco companies and their evil mind tricks, government must play a facilitiating role. Government has regulatory measures in place to prevent the free market from taking over our societal reins. It seems that we run into problems when an adminstration comes along that deregulates the corporate realm.

We are ingrained in a culture that responds to chaos but does not do a very good job at using preventative measures, that is, until tragedy strikes. That is environmental responsibility, motivated by a range of factors tied to consequence. Environmental responsiveness—I believe—in achieved when two or more partners engage in a long-term commitment to address the always-looming issues in our lives. The different is that environmental responsiveness can be an antidote to the cynical response that laymen have against the limited scope and results of environmental and corporate responsibility. In the case of bottled water, government can help to take back our local waters. There is evidence that it is always working.

greeneyedspotlight: Cincinnati-based emersion DESIGN's LEED Platinum HQ

2010-02-10T21:10:00.022-05:00

When one visits Cincinnati-based emersion DESIGN's website, they notice the plethora of services they currently offer. The architecture firm also offers engineering, interior design, and planning services, as well as building inspections and drafting. Oh, but you say you have seen such a firm before. What makes emersion DESIGN and its team of eighteen designers special may be the space in which they work. After all, does the space make the person make the space, or does the space make the person?

Located in Norwood and within walking distance from Xavier University, the Hamilton County Business Center has been home to the emersion DESIGN office since 2007, where former KZF owners and architects and the nine-member team began. In 2007, after just five months of operation, the firm realized the need for more space to accomodate its influx of projects. The sprint for a LEED platinum-rated renovation was a no-brainer.

The result: emersion DESIGN became the first architecture and engineering firm in the world to achieve LEED platinum status for its office. The team carefully researched its options to achieve a maximum rating, while remaining focused on practicality and cost efficiency. No LEED Platinum certification is easy to obtain. The key is a cross-balance of credits and utilization of existing resources. Their answer was a salvage and module design purposed for disassembly.

Sustainable Sites: Although site selection is a typical category in any LEED rating system, in emersion DESIGN's case, it seems they had the certification in mind all along. Their location in a historic building trumps new construction in terms of a sustainable vision; utilization of a former brownfield site is yet another. The workspace's centerpiece is the large work table near the north-facing windows, taking advantage of daylighting. Proximity to a walkable neighborhood and transit both provide a suitable capstone. All these features are built-in advantages to the firm's vision.

Also worth noting is the firm's lease renegotiation to limit the number of parking space to the minimum required by code (11 spots for 18 employees). The firm would also pay a base rent with utilities as a usage cost. Thus, the emersion DESIGN paid for their energy consumption, rather than an artificially constant, incorporated rate.

Water Efficiency: Other than relocation of a sink from the general work area to the front vestibule (which also houses indoor composting and recycling facilities), few credits were acquired through Water Efficiency. However, the retrofit included low flow integration.

Energy + Atmosphere: From the ceiling still hung the original fluorescent lighting, abundant and redundant as ever. Task lighting and reduction of overhead lighting accounted for a 35% reduction. 90% of their equipment was also EnergyStar eligible. Motion sensors for lighting also save on wasted energy in their meeting space. emersion DESIGN also earned the elusive Enhanced Commissioning credit to ensure that appliances and energy-hogging equipment worked properly.

Materials + Resources: This one was where cost really came into the picture. The firm's focus for attaining Platinum certification was in renewable materials and recycled waste. The long work table is made from sheets of renewable bamboo plywood, which amounted to $800 for each of twelve sheets. That's more than the combined cost of some of the office's salvaged material furnishings! Icing on the cake (an understatement) was that all wood was FSC-certified.

Indoor Environmental Quality: The aforementioned daylighting pitched in for IEQ credit, as well as E+A and Materials. Using salvaged 2x2 ceiling tiles from a Cincinnati Public School, sunshades were installed between the north-facing windows, saving the eyes of hard-at-work designs from the rising and setting summer sun. Although they originally preferred to do without carpets or rugs, they also chose to install removable, non-VOC rugs to earn a Low-Emitting Materials credit. Use of non-VOC paints and improvements to the ventilation (cleanout out duct space, modified roof unit) earned emersion DESIGN a couple more stars for doing their homework!

Innovation + Design Process: When you leap for Platinum certification, there are bound to be some Innovation credits. emersion DESIGN's pinnacle achievement was that 99% of project waste was recycled, reused, or repurposed, excusing two BAGS (18 pounds) of foam from around two TONS of waste!

From their website: "Key contributors include: BC&E, HA Kahler, Urban E, HCBC, HGC, APG Office Furnishings, Applied Lighting, Masland, Smith & Fong and Building Value."

Whew! Well, if you are interested in replicating the results of emersion DESIGN's renovation pursuits, the firm also specializes in LEED certification. For more information on services that emersion DESIGN provides, visit http://www.emersiondesign.com/services.html.

Resource tab: Multi-Family Recycling Assistance Program

2010-01-31T15:02:00.004-05:00

The following is a flier produced by the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District. This is part of an effort to consolidate information about recycling, composting, reuse, and waste reduction in Cincinnati.

Multi-Family Recycling Assistance Program
http://www.hcdoes.org/SWMD/

The Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District can help apartment owners and condominium associations provide their residents with recycling! Through the Multi-Family Recycling Assistance Program, the District will work with you and your waste hauler to coordinate the easiest and most efficient method of recycling for your property. The District will then pay for the first year of your recycling contract if you agree to pay for the following two years.

With the Multi-Family Recycling Assistance Program, you will receive:

Consultation meeting and a customized recycling plan
Coordination of recycling services with your waste haulter
First year of recycling contract paid
Education about recycling for residents

Recycling could save you money! Property managers can often reduce their total solid waste management costs if residents recycle enough material to reduce their trash container size or collection frequency. This is because many haulers collect recycling at a lower cost than collection and disposal of an equal volume of trash.

Why recycle? Recycling saves energy, conserves natural resources, and creates new products.

Recycling one aluminum can save six ounces of gasoline!
Recycling one aluminum can saves six ounces of gasoline!
Recycling five plastic bottles can make one sq. ft. of carpet!

For more information or to determine if your property is eligible, please contact Michelle Balz at 513-946-7789 or michelle.balz@hamilton-co.org.

Municipal recycling infrastructure: A Chicago Case Study for Cincinnati

2010-01-19T00:52:00.010-05:00

This past weekend, several friends and I took a trip to Chicago. megabus ran a promotion for free seats, back in December, and we decided to take a 24-hour trip to the Windy City. I had plans to visit old standbys like Reckless Records, but also visit sustainable spots I found online. Unfortunately, our time ran short for running to Green Grocer Chicago, 360SEE, and Crop to Cup Coffee Company. I did, however, satiate my desire to find green assets in Chicago by doing photographic research for my upcoming presentations in Cincinnati neighborhoods.

The following are some new and old examples of recycling infrastructure in Chicago. Of course, these examples cannot be found all over the city, but they exhibit clear evidence of the power of partnerships.

Corporate-sponsored newspaper bins:

First is a basic newspaper recycling drop, which can be found in nearly all CTA transit stations, indoor and outdoor. Tied to Chicago's former Blue Bag Recycling Program, the bins originate from an agreement in 1997, between the Chicago Transit Authority and the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper provided the CTA funds to both purchase and install them in stations (link), which obviously resulted in advertising in prominent locations. Over the next year, 300 containers were placed at 90 stations. (The photo on the left, as you can see, does not have the feature the Tribune logo. I could not find evidence that reflected this change to the design of the newspaper bins.)

Currently, Cincinnati's Government Square does not currently have recycling bins installed at its bus bays. Perhaps Metro could benefit by leveraging partnerships with The Cincinnati Enquirer or Cincinnati CityBeat. In Cincinnati, we only have a single daily newspaper, which no longer has competition. (Business functions were actually handled by the Enquirer, since the Post entered a joint operating agreement in 1977.) Nonetheless, CityBeat and the Enquirer cater to opposing political views, and compete for ad revenue. As little ad space I have seen used above the seating on Metro buses, I believe that ad-supported or corporate sponsored recycling infrastructure is a great opportunity.

Ad-supported sidewalk recycling bins:

The bins pictured at the right were found in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. After a visit to eco-andersonville.org, I found that the Andersonville Development Corporation formed a committee to develop the Eco-Andersonville initiative. The idea was to create a certification program designed scaled for small businesses. Their sustainability efforts now cover the following areas:

Sustainable Business Certification Program

Business district recycling

Energy audits

Green and sustainable events

Community and commercial composting research

The initial funding for the purchase and installation of the bins was made possible by a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Recycling collection is made possible by the sponsorship of its 15 bins. They illustrate the importance of leveraging public resources and private partnerships to create attractive public spaces. Additionally, the installation exhibits a wonderful visible sense of neighborhood pride. (Although the bins shown above accept only paper, Eco-Andersonville's bins line the business district to accept paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass.)

It should also be noted that eco-Andersonville's partnership with the Chicago Resource Center has made it possible to boast a 99% recycling rate in the neighborhood.

Instead of waiting for the city to fund and fulfill our sustainable visions, neighborhood community councils and development corporations can leverage resources and partnerships to create more sustainable urban corridors.

Book exchange bins:

And finally, just the for heck of it, how about book exchange bins? The installation of these bins, as was found outside Quimby's Books in Chicago's Wicker Park, can be as easy as salvaging non-functioning newspaper boxes. Where *did* all those Cincinnati Post boxes end up anyway, after the paper folded in 2007?

As we have seen over the past couple years, reuse and mobile markets have proven to be popular in several Cincinnati neighborhoods. Northside Up for Grabs, an annual "free market" enables anyone to bring unwanted items in exchange for others. The new Share Some Sugar -- a Cincinnati-based, online borrowing service -- also provides opportunities in the realm of waste reduction. Book exchanges can be a very inexpensive addition to a bustling neighborhood center.

Sustainability on Crack: The Trash Diaries

2010-01-06T23:11:00.004-05:00

Ahem, make that "trash diary".

So, as some of you know, I am pursuing a degree in urban planning as well as a minor in sustainability. Even though I am on co-op (a paid internship) this quarter, I am taking a introductory sustainability course in DAAP, which is not necessarily going to count toward any of my goals. The director of the Sustainable Urban Environments program is usually missing in action, over in Africa or some other exotic location. Thus, I'm not certain whether this course will actually work in substitution for the Intro to SUE. *However*...

In the course requirements, there are five projects from which we must choose two to complete. While it's a risk in itself that I am taking this class, it's another that I will overcompensate by completing all five projects. I mean, how could someone *not* give me credit for the course, after I go apeshit on five projects in ten weeks?

I will own this class.

So, included in the list of projects is to keep a trash diary:

For 2 straight weeks, throw nothing away, and keep a diary of the trash you have generated. At the end of the 2 weeks, submit your Trash Diary indicating itemized list of trash generated with total weights of paper, plastic, glass, metal and food that you created. Follow the rules and guidelines as identified by the blog 365 Days of Trash – available here:
http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com/2008/03/frequently-asked-questions.html

That means that from January 6th to 19th, I will be logging my trash, my recyclables, and my food scraps composted. Each piece of waste will be photographed and filed by date. The results will be tallied by weight, and will end up in an in-class, Pecha Kucha presentation. It goes without saying that this is going to be an exercise and a challenge to create the least amount of waste I can. I. Am. Stoked.

So, for today, I have only created one piece of waste: a box from the spaghetti I made tonight. Throughout the day, I carried an organic cotton washcloth for runny noses. I ate at Aquarius Star & Om Cafe, which features local and organic fare with a cloth napkin. My purchase did not require a receipt. Later in the day, I had a doughnut from the Expressmart in TUC, on UC's campus, for which I paid cash and declined to use the wax paper. So far, so good. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, which should be hell for most commuters. That means I get to work from home, eat my bulk food items, and get into a better program by drinking more water.

I will be covering more of my trash diary endeavor, as well as my other sustainability class projects, regularly. Fortunately, that will also give me more motivation to post about my neighborhood initiative....tomorrow.

Bring your own container

2010-01-02T08:09:00.006-05:00

Skyline and Sigg. The paths of these two staples in my life have finally converged. None of us are saints--certainly not green saints. As a long-standing Cincinnatian, and a resident who lives across the street from a Skyline Chili location, the question is not *if* it's Skyline Time but rather "dine-in or carryout".

Earlier last year, I decided to significantly reduce my carryout trips. However, it is Skyline's carryout packaging makes me cringe. (I rarely visit fast food establishments, and most locals would agree that Skyline doesn't exactly qualify as a try fast food eatery. It's a chili parlor.) Coneys (which is what I'd ordinarily order to-go) come in polystyrene foam containers. Ways come in #5 plastic re-fastening containers. The corresponding grated cheese and oyster crackers come in plastic baggies, sealed with sticky fasteners. Put that all in a brown take out bag or two.

No thank you. That is why I went for round two of my Sigg lunch container experime

nt. The first time around, I asked the cashier if I could have my order of coneys placed into my Sigg container instead. He said they could not do it because the health department would have a fit. Well, I certainly don't like being told no. This time, I was encountered with a "what...are you doing?" by my regular server. I told them that I didn't want to consume any more Styrofoam containers. I live right across the street, so I regularly refuse drink straws, napkins, and bags. In the end...they actually admired my stance! So, as long as I don't expect them to do accommodate me during the bar rush or after a UC game, I'm golden.

As for the health department excuse that I got, the first time around? The staffer assembling the meal still must change his plastic gloves, after handing an outside container. The food must also be placed in the outside container away from the serving island. Even so, it comes down to two plastic gloves in the trash or a polystyrene container, at the very least.

I would also recommend bringing your Sigg drink bottle to your favorite establishment. If you're like me, and still helplessly fixed on a certain carbonated beverage, restaurants are actually more willing to fill your drink container. Of course it's better to eat at home, eat local, avoid meats, and avoid sodas. But we also have our weaknesses for traveling consumer food products. Every one of those times deserves an offset.

Dawn of a new era

2009-12-28T20:06:00.003-05:00

2010 will mark a new era for me, which technically began just a few months ago. Since September, I realized that I became so restless with my desire for a more sustainable community. Although the City adopted its Green Cincinnati Plan and Climate Protection Plan in 2009, I still do not feel that we have a strong, comprehensive, city-wide effort. Our neighborhoods can be greener. Our transportation priorities can be much greener. Our concept of localism can be much greener.

In November 2009, I decided to start the conversation of creating community green opportunities for our neighborhood, particularly in Clifton. At Clifton Town Meeting, I presented a slideshow on various possibilities of how our neighborhood can partner with other entities to achieve greater recycling volumes, community composting, better connection between residents and community gardens, and overall waste reduction. My bit was so well-received, in fact, that the trustees of Clifton Town Meeting requested that I setup a green subcommittee under their umbrella. Over the past two months, I have been working to assemble a working team that will address these issues in our community.

Little did I know the attention that my presentation would receive. Soon after, after many carbon copy e-mails, I was requested to do a similar presentation for the CUF Neighborhood Association meeting. The reception of that engagement overwhelmed me. I could not even get through my slides, as hands flew into the air. One man said he could not even remember the last time then had a presentation effect everyone in attendance to such magnitude. The e-mails also reached representatives of other community councils in Uptown, who have a vision of a larger, regional green strategy.

Now I and many others envision a collection of green assets for our region. It will be used to help recognize our existing strong points and areas of greater desire, such that money may be leveraged for more sustainable neighborhoods. It matters where a neighborhood gets its food, where it is sourced, and who benefits or suffers from the current system. It matters where our waste goes, how much energy is required to get it there, and what alternatives we can find to redraw our waste stream. Food, post-consumer waste, personal energy exerted, and our physical limitations--measuring and gauging how these types of energy are wasted, reused or diverted is vital to the enhancement of our natural environments and communities.

The above is primarily a proclamation, but it is also the beginning for a new focus of this blog. Up until now, I felt that my aforementioned efforts were not mature enough to spout about it here. I anticipate that I will have a lot to say my own personal goals to live more sustainably as well. Plastic will play less of a role in my life. The local grocery and farmer's market will have greater priority in my daily grind. The new, local, food delivery co-op also has caused me to reassess how I get my food. The way that information is dispensed to others can also exhibit a more sustainable path. The oft-encountered crossroad of "less sustainable and more sustainable road" can depend on which results in a greater net benefit. The mind swirls with these thoughts, but I feel that I am close to attaining that green confidence I have been wanting. Even so, always more can be done.

Until next time...soonsoon.

Project anxiety and neighborhood pickup therapy.

2009-07-17T11:35:00.005-04:00

So, I have an independent study during this summer quarter, for which I chose to examine the economic opportunities of an urban agriculture property run by the university. Thus far, however, I have made little progress. My mind has been muddled with so many thoughts: my current classwork demands, my girlfriend's impending move to Cincinnati, and the fear-based anxiety of doing something I have never done before--not even close.

At this moment, my grumbling stomach is in alliance with the work that is being done at the farm. Both long for a greater availablility of healthy, organic food in area. I ate so well yesterday, until I was tempted by my girlfriend's run to Skyline Chili. I should have gone out to the farm earlier this morning, but waking up early has become more difficult over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, I sit here at my desk, watching the fickle storm clouds volley between sunshine and torrential downpour. Of course I do not want to be caught in middle of the west side in a downpour on my bike.

The weather is interfering with an alternative to my trip out to the farm site: something I have not done in a while is a neighborhood pickup. I remember riding my bike between my former residence and a chain-linked, vacant site at Calhoun and Vine, picking up several bags worth of glass and plastic bottles. Bus riders waiting for the 46 or 78 buses--or late night bar hoppers on the way to or from their cars--would throw their garbage over the fenced property. Setting aside a couple hours in Over-the-Rhine or in what I call The Northern Liberties would be very theraputic. Since I have never done a pickup down there before, I wonder if the neighbors will perceive me as being helpful or looking down on them for letting their neighborhood become so littered.

Emilie is leaving for Rochester tomorrow, but she will be back on the 29th. As much as I hate to say it, I tend to get more work done when she is not around. Even though she has been in Cincinnati for the past month, I attribute my corresponding work ethic to the newness of our experience. Nonetheless, I intend to capitalize on the time between her departure tomorrow and her return at the end of the month.

I will have more to say after my trudge through...and maybe even a bike ride anyway!

Live Green Cincinnati is throwing in the towel

2009-07-14T10:40:00.007-04:00

Local Cincinnati green advocates-and-more Live Green Cincinnati are deciding to exit stage right from the virtual world, deciding to move on to other aspirations. It is not clear what those aspirations will be, but LGC was certainly one of our greatest virtual neighbors. Though postings dropped off significantly over the past six months, Live Green Cincinnati acted as a messenger for everyone from local waste and recycling public entities to grassroots efforts. The site also offered a great collection of green resources and events throughout the region. They will be missed.

Live Green Cincinnati will close its doors on July 31st.

A little over two years ago, LiveGreenCincinnati.com was started to fill a real need in the area: to connect everyday Cincinnatians with the things, news, events, ideas, and other people needed to live an environmentally conscious lifestyle.

Within that time, local green awareness has grown leaps and bounds. The City has a Green Plan, the local news outlets are keyed in to what people need to know, organizations and groups are evolving to protect and improve our lives, and area businesses are participating and offering ingenious products and services.

The tag line we’ve used, “It can happen here” is no longer applicable. We should now be saying “It is happening here”.

Thanks for the opportunity to learn and grow with you. We will be moving on to other pursuits and will say our goodbyes today. LiveGreenCincinnati.com is leaving the web on July 31st. We part with you here, and look forward to a ‘greater, greener Cincinnati’ in the future.

As a last order of business, I’ll take the opportunity to pass on the torch to anyone who wants to help Cincinnati move into a greener future. As this site is taken offline, we have a number of green Cincinnati URLs for sale. If interested in purchasing any of these web addresses, please contact us at info@livegreencincinnati.com before July 31st.

Many thanks for the chance to share your interests and passions.
~ The Live Green Cincinnati Team - Brianne & Suzanne

The Struggle.

2009-07-13T19:47:00.002-04:00

My emotions and energy levels have been wishy-washy lately, as they relate to personal responsibility and environmental sustainability. Several days in advance, I cajoled several friends into going to the Esquire Theatre for an opening night screening of Food Inc. I knew what to expect from the film. but I could not have predicted my emotional response to several parts of the feature. Several times my eyes welled with tears. I immediately knew why.

Back to that point in a bit. First--I have high standards for others (and even higher standards for myself), which makes it difficult for some people to stomach my advice or criticism. My judgment is not based upon hatred or disdain but simply wanting people to challenge their limits, ideals, and ability to do more as global citizens. When I first became an environmental activist, I would have never admitted to it. I began to see the value of recycling and personal responsibility, as I became more uncomfortable witnessing a lack of both through off-campus living arrangements.

Upstairs neighbors in a house on Bishop Street had parties regularly. They would throw the countless bottles from their drinking games into the recycling bin, from the front porch, over the railing. Caps, labels, and whatever else would remain littered to the side of the house, between the porch and the driveway until I (or the landlord's parents) decided to pick them up. Even though I was brought up on having a recycling bin, at all but the last house in which I lived with my mother, I did not think so much about the volume of resource consumption or waste until my first independent domicile. Then, it was more an issue of personal responsibility and pride for one's abode.

While the aforementioned still holds true, since last summer, I have grown very sensitive about the conservation of post-consumer material resources. Since I moved into this apartment last September, I have diverged an unspeakable volume of recyclable materials from the garbage can. At the same time, more than ever, I notice the great deficiencies in our urban landscape of the simplest form of green street infrastructure: recycling containers.

Now, the reason for my emotional reaction to Food Inc. Despite all my activism--avoiding certain types of packaging, recycling, individual silent neighborhood and campus academic hall divergence campaigns, my current (yet fruitless, so far) research on urban agriculture at the UC Urban Farm--I feel like a hypocrite and I feel weak. I'm currently drinking a Mountain Dew Voltage, first allured by the beautiful color of the beverage, and next by the delicious taste. Before that was a Red Bull Simply Cola. When I think about my perceived hypocrisy, celebrity and political backlashes come to mind. Those people are vulnerable to the most petty insults, coming from those who are hardly perfect themselves. Now, me? It is what I battle inside my own head everyday--the self-criticism. (Not that I talk to myself but:) "Christian, seriously? A single-serving beverage? Wouldn't filling your Sigg bottle be more economical and sustainable?" Ohh, but sometimes that caffienated, sugary (sugar-like) sweet drink just grabs you by the neck and pulls you in. "Christian, did you really need to buy that 20 oz soda...that fountain Pepsi during break from class?" "Christian, why did you need that magazine? Oh, because it has a feature on urban farming?" Gotcha, self...that time.

One of the reasons why I refocused this blog was that I could be more transparent, struggling "greenie". Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from plastic, I'd like to say. Our habits are so ingrained yet despite my occassional break from my own ideals, I get frustrated with my roommates, when I cannot even count on them to check the plastic they are either throwing away, or placing into the recycling container for the right number. Twenty-four hours per day, I am conflicted about doing the right things--doing the things in which I believe. Consumerism is stilll alive and well though, and it is very hard to transform myself overnight into someone who packs his lunch everyday, phases out disposable towels, refuses every straw at a restaurant.

I nearly cried that night in the theatre for two reasons: I am a hypocrite and I have given in to the inherent customs of modern consumption and service. My tears also symbolized the endless struggle I have continued to assume, encouraging people I appreciate to buy into what I see as selfless desires. As those who know well my history of anxiety and academic struggles, I am a glutton for punishment. I do not desire to reach perfection, but I never see my efforts as being enough. I...we can always do more, but we rarely do. Despite the complaints about life's tribulations, most of us live a life of leisure by our own rules. We are inexplicably linked to the lives of others though, and we have a responsibility. It leads me to end with to self-manufactured adage to posted above the sink, about two months ago.

"Please wash your own dishes. YOUR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AFFECTS US ALL."

My mind and nerves are in a constant state of motion and activity.

Headliners to wrap up the month of June

2009-06-29T18:41:00.016-04:00

This weekend was an absolute blast:

Black Moth Super Rainbow at Southgate House in Newport, KY
Enon (and The Damn Thing--not pictured) on Cincinnati's Fountain Square as a part of Midpoint Music Festival's Indie Summer series
The Octopus Project performing their "Visual Music" at the third annual Last Call Film Festival at The Rudyard Kipling in Louisville, KY
Julie Doiron at the Art Damage Lodge in the heart of the neighborhood of Northside in Cincinnati, OH.

Media Phish: "Blue carts beat blue bags"

2009-06-13T18:50:00.008-04:00

The following feature will be a sporadic look a various archived news articles that I have kept around for one reason or another. I tend to keep a newspaper from every trip I take in another city, whether it is a formal paper or an entertainment publication. When I revisit these papers, I gain some interesting, additional perspective on things, which I may care much more about than I had when I bought or picked them up originally. They also give me an opportunity to look back on the times in which I was living--experiences, current events, etc.

I picked this paper up when I ventured up to Chicago to see the incredible Office, along with their good Detroit friends, Freer. It was a free show at Schuba's, run through myopenbar.com. This was during my only summer quarter off, as I am in a five-year co-op schedule, which requires me to be in class every other quarter and working for a relevant firm during the other quarters. So, of course, I spent all my money trying to get out of town. Oh, and pissing off my douchbag of an employer at the video store. There have been many employer-upsetting trips to Chicago over the years. Ahh, memories.

------

I most certainly did not have a green perspective at the time, although I did recycle at my old place in Corryville. Usually my neighbors on the upstairs floor would flood the recycling bins with their empties of cheap beer and broken glass, leaving little room for me to recycle what I had anyway. I was beginning to theorize about ways that recycling could be enhanced in Cincinnati. Considering the small size of our green recycling bins through Rumpke, I thought that a good nudge would be to mandate recycling bins be purchased through the city, as many others have done in the past. Recycling carts would also be mandated, but their size would double the size of the provided garbage bins.

Many cities have their own methods to encourage or require recycling. In San Francisco, they require three containers at your residence--recycling (green), compostables (blue), and waste (black)--or you will be fined. It seems to be working though. The city is approaching its goal for 75% of waste diverted by January. Many other cities in the West have similiar programs that would seem to infuriate typical midwesterners. However, when the discussion of green jobs comes up, the construction of additional recycling facilities should be a priority. It is the crux keeping many cities in the region from taking recycling and waste reduction seriously. There are just not enough outlets for our post-consumer materials.

The following article explores the trial-and-error and processes of Chicago's recycling program. Sharing it with you is meant to spark some thoughts (in your own mind) or discussion (outside your own mind) about ways that we can encourage greater recycling rates in our own community.

Blue carts beat blue bags

From The Chicago Tribune; Thursday August 9, 2007, Section 1, page 1 & 18:
(http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/aug/09/news/chi-bluecartaug09)

Photo taken from flickr user Mark 2400.

New beginning.

2009-06-13T17:53:00.003-04:00

Now is the time to relaunch my blog, in the manner which I have discussed with my peers many many times. As the tweet-lengthed description shown above states, focuses will include urban life, my foray into green extremism, and ramblings/rumblings from hell.

First, most of the urban matter will concern the city of Cincinnati, but will also include my experiences in and thoughts of ones I have explored. Second, my life transformed in many ways about a year ago, one of which was a more environmentally conscious mission of living. Many rants will include my own struggles with the change in lifestyle and knocks against those who act as definitive green resources--green monsters, I will call them. Last, there will be elements of a personal blog here, but I ask you to treat it as an inevitable spew of concerns or thoughts to keep my sanity. The latter will graciously include a few features that expound obsessions of mine.

I hope to entertain enough for you to take something in mind to bed with you. There is an endless field of knowledge waiting to be explored, and I seek to keep it sane and (somewhat) mature.

Push push

2009-05-11T08:59:00.002-04:00

Once again, it's been a long while since I last posted. The cause, this time? I tend to feel guilty when I have plenty of work to do, yet I consider blogging instead. Perhaps this does not make much sense, considering he times I go out to shows or bars, screw around on the internet, spend time wandering the city, etc. It will just require me to cut out some of time I spend staring at my screen, refreshing my last.fm page, satiating my need to see good design, statistics, and my music all in a beautiful real-time format.

Saying, my next few academic weeks will be hell. I have plans to launch a blog, sooner or later, that deals with urban and sustainable living at once. But first, I must complete several papers, reading a couple books, and keep my orb in check--all in the next week or so. My girlfriend is coming in to town this weekend because she landed an interview at a graphic design company in the suburbs. So, I can't imagine getting much work done then. The following weekend is when my mother and I go up to her graduation ceremony in Pennsylvania.

Melatonin, vitamins, allergy medicine, healthy eating, and sufficient sleep. I need all those components to remain constant.

Andy Rooney: Perusing the Christmas Catalogs

2008-12-22T14:59:00.003-05:00

A quick blip. I got a kick out of this past Sunday's Andy Rooney segment on Xmas holiday sale offers. $20 gift card with the purchase of $100 or more. Hidden pictures calendars with Highlights for Children subscriptions. Free fudge. Hah.

The latter is what stuck in my mind: a memorable quote I'll remember until I become as old as Mr. Rooney (Andy, not Mickey).

Free is the worst kind of fudge.

Potent to me, for some reason. Feel free to substitute fudge for the alternative, whenever you fudge something up, for instance. Gasp.

Read the whole thing here.

---

And on the site, the several movements at the end of Abbey Road are really connecting with me today. "Her majesty's a pretty nice girl. Someday I'm gonna make 'er mine." (and) "OH YEAHHHH, OH RIIIIIGHT. OH, you're gonna be in my dreams--tonigh-eet."

Sigh. :-)

"Don't let it be anymore"

2008-12-22T14:28:00.005-05:00

As many as my friends are well aware, my efforts toward greater sustainability, community-oriented responsibility, and recycling has intensified greatly over the past year. After taking the first course installment, this past summer--called "People and the Environment I"--I began to ask myself many questions about why we do the things we do, and what comes next. Individual responsibility should and does come first when creating a social movement. My mission toward reuse, recycling, and "recollecting" refuse is a fire inside my core anymore. Look forward to reading about the internal conflicts I put myself through. I never denied that I wasn't a little crazy.

Anyway, I started reading about a small neighborhood called City Airport, outside Detroit, which has really bitten the dust since the 1960s and 1970s. It is where many auto workers once lived. But when plants began to close, whites moved out, blacks later moved out--now it's a hodgepodge of drug dealers and the dreadfully poor. Everyone is afraid to leave their hiding places; the neighborhood park and former school are abandoned and decrepit.

The following article is from a man who began writing for the Detroit News about the misfortunes and small victories in this struggling neighborhood, where only four to five homes remain on each street. There was an man who found an abandoned tire after returning from a barbecue in the park. He decided to take individual responsibility and roll it to the nearest dumpster.

http://community.detnews.com/blogs/index.php/neighborhood/2008/09/13/p449#more449

Somebody hit a ball over the backstop and across French Road during a batting-practice session at Fletcher Field last Sunday.

A little pooped from the previous day’s festivities – our second annual barbecue at the park – I was just watching from the bleachers along first base. So I got up, crossed the road, found the ball in the high grass along the City Airport fence line and then tossed it back into the park.

On my way back to the bleachers, I spotted a discarded tire near the Fletcher Field fence line and decided I didn’t want to leave it there. I put the tire back on its treads and started to roll it toward a dumpster on the Gilbo side of the park, which was put there the day before for cleaning up after the barbecue.

[More:]

It took me about 5 minutes to get to the dumpster, with the tire wobbling most of the way and falling altogether occasionally. I then picked up the tire and heaved it upward to get it over the dumpster’s 8-foot wall. Before I did this, I should have checked the interior of the tire.

It was full of dirty water, which splashed all over me – hair, face, shirt, pants. I was a mess.

As I headed back toward the baseball diamond, somebody along the route took one look at me and asked me what happened. I told him of my stupidity, that I should have known the tire was full of water.

He then offered this: “Why didn’t you just leave it (the tire) where it was?”

For some reason, what he said struck a sour note with me, really fired me up.

“That’s the problem,” I shot back. “Everybody leaves it.”
We just can’t leave it anymore.

Michael Happy is his name. He bares no resemblance to the animated character Mr. Happy, but I like this guy.

[Extended reading: http://www.utne.com/2008-11-01/Media/Bloggers-vs-Blight.aspx, UTNE Reader, "Bloggers vs. Blight: An online community beats back urban decay in Detroit"]

Now I would have rather that tire made it to a recycling facility, but in a place like City Airport, you do what you can. Anywhere else though, where resources are more plentiful, there's this:

http://www.rubbersidewalks.com/

Many cities in the United States have already started using rubber sidewalks in select areas, improving visual aesthetic in neighborhoods, prevented the razing of curbside trees in sidewalk buffers, improved walkability of the sidewalks--in terms of pedestrian health and route viability--and greatest augmented tree root health and drainage. Regional city Hamilton, OH seemed to be working towards implementing rubber sidewalks in its historic Rossville neighborhood, but I'm not sure what happened with the effort. The next time I'm in Chicago (12/31!), I'll be looking for their own rubber sidewalks, located near the Chicago Center.

The Fix _ 12/20/2008

2008-12-20T15:21:00.005-05:00

I have been having such great luck with used music lately, so I decided to log it in some way. Shake-It Records, here in Cincinnati, has an expansive $1.88 section that seems to have some quality buys. Conveniently the price is $2 per selection after tax, so one can easily make a killing on disowned music.

Today I picked up the following:

764-HERO _ weekends of sound [Up Records - 2000] ($1.88)

Feels like much of the forgot late 90's band I enjoy who have a minor chord, chugging/creeping progression. It would be perfect music to delve deeper into depression as an angsty new adolescent. As a happy person with adult responsibilities, it's a wonderful opportunity to get lost in the swirling aura of empty study room aura and a longing voice of reason. Contains many stints of instrumental frustration with eventual splooge of powerful guitar force. Thanks, I've got your number.

Frank Black _ Frank Black [4AD/Elektra - 1993] ($1.88)

Anthrax _ Return of the Killer A's [Beyond Music - 1999] ($1.88)

AFrames _ 2 [S-S Records - 2003] ($1.88)

Atreyu _ A Death Grip on Yesterday [Victory - 2006] ($1.88)

I'll update this list with my takes and shakes when I get around to all of them. I also was blessed with several dozen free downloads from Rhapsody, so I have been taking advantage of out-of-print, hard-to-find, and other somethingdashsomethingdashsomethings. The first night I tried to redeem them, several of the codes didn't work, but others completely screwed up, granting me $10 credits instead of the normal 99 cent credits. Should I feel bad? Eh. It's not like when someone dropped a dollar in the lunch line back in grade school, feeling so guilty about keeping it that I handed it over to the lunchlady serving the "pizza". No, this is a ticket to obscurity. Like sexual fulfillment, sometimes you take what you can get, but you never know what you're going to get. All music ever created should be kept in print at least digitally.

The birthday was a wonderful one. Recaps forthcoming.

Meathook Manicure

2008-11-11T20:11:00.004-05:00

I did, in fact, go on a 2 1/4-mile run, Friday night. Of course the first mile or so was rough, since I hadn't done it in so long. But at the midpoint, it hit me: "I've been waiting for this for so long." My run could have lasted longer, but I did not want any possibility of a tendinitis flareup to occur.

Well, I guess I'm a chump. It's currently 42 degrees outside--cold and rainy. Rather than gain inspiration from the runners I still see out there, I'm just sitting here...feeling lumpy. I decided not to run the 5K on Saturday, mainly so that I don't complicate the time spent while Emilie is in town.

Oh, and she told me today that she'll be going out for a run tomorrow...in upstate New York. You and I know what that means: I need to get out there and try for three miles.

And as I promised, and as no one cares... :-)

Perhaps it will end up being the "before" photo of a "before"/"after" diptych.

I don't wanna look like that, oh you make me breakout

2008-11-05T21:29:00.005-05:00

Many things have been encircling my mind lately, and most have to do with self-improvement, my own expectations of life, others and myself, and the ability to seize the day more effectively. I have been accused of over-thinking things before--I wouldn't deny that it happens more than with which I am comfortable. Tonight I realized that not only am I a difficult person to please, but it's equally difficult to please myself. Several times per day, something will stimulate and excite me, but I need a worthy follow-up to keep my contentment satiated. I create missions for myself that wouldn't make sense to anyone else, and it only "makes things right" for my mind to handle later. (Even all that was much to digest, for myself included.)

I have been in this arm cast for a little over a couple weeks now. (For those who are not aware, I broke a bone in my wrist in a bicycle accident. A wood piece flipped up into my spokes during an evening work commute, causing me to fly over my handlebars. I broke my entire fall with my left hand...I think--I don't remember the impact at all.) Prior to this burden, I was riding 20 to 32 miles per day for a work commute. I felt healthy, I apparently looked healthy, and the peaceful zen I experienced during each ride was unlike anything I had felt. Now I sleep later, I feel less rested, and my body feels like a scrunched object that constantly needs to be stretched. I can't applaud, daily tasks are more difficult, and I obviously cannot bike or even deliver my repaired bike to my apartment. Realistically, it's not very feasible to even run. Think sweaty cast: ick.

Well, I'm fed up. I so badly want to start running again, craving that personal time to myself and nothing else. My decision today tomorrow in spite of the circumstances was an easy one. That also involved finally attacking something that has bothered me for years: finding a healthy yet filling breakfast option. Thanks to the internet, I found some interesting guides for my mission. Smaller portions, more portions, more sleep, more accountability. Tomorrow's breakfast will be toast with peanut butter and banana slices. I feel that this is exciting journey through trial, in order to avoid spending $5.95 on a Sausage and Egg McMuffin Value Meal. (I can thank the Monopoly promotion for that.)

Oh, and the run. Well, I had plans to run my first 5K next weekend, but it looks like that won't be happening, due to the cast. However, I would like to run *a* race before the weather turns very cold, and this hindrance will not stop me...even though I'm basically running from scratch again. Ursuline Academy's Run for the Lions 5K is on Sunday, November 16, which is about a week-and-a-half away. It falls during the same weekend when Emilie visits, so I'm not sure how thrilled she'd be about it: she's only here for about 2 days.

I plan on following a careful, safe running schedule to achieve whatever race I end up running this fall. I am convinced, based on feedback from virtual associates, that I will be able to run longer and faster in a race than I expect. The 99th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race is a 10K in downtown Cincinnati. My ultimate goal *was* that race. Following the aforementioned theory, I am going to follow a consistent schedule, and by the eve of race day, I will decide if I want to take the plunge.

Finally, on the running topic, I don't feel like I currently know anyone from whom I can find inspiration or common goals. This is why I suppose I have drawn inspiration from running blogs of some truly inspirational people. I *do* feel a bit lonely in my quest, but I know that I'll find satisfaction in my semi-daily runs, no matter how grueling. I absolutely need this, to expel all the bad energy that dwells in me after too much inactivity.

I will say that there is no shortage of inspiration these days. Thank Barack Obama for exhibiting such a heartwarming model for perseverance.

Tomorrow I will post a very triumphant photo of myself in running gear and an awkward arm cast. I *will* run tomorrow!

No diggity, I got to bag it up.

2008-09-23T03:28:00.008-04:00

I bought this very pricey bag from Freitag tonight, which completely eliminates any possible claims from me that I'm biking to save money. So much for that. Really though, I needed a completely waterproof backpack for my bike commutes. My work clothes and important work-related materials need to be kept dry, so this was the wisest purchase I could make. Unfortunately, this eliminates the likelihood that I will be able to afford a decent front bike light for several weeks.

Both were expensive items, but I figured that a sensible bag outweighed the need for a front light. The purchase has me both gritting my teeth from the price and flapping my wings in giddy anticipation.

Facts:
- Made from recycled truck tarpulins. While trailers in North America are solid-walled, European trailers are made from heavy-duty plastic tarps. Although this is no good for the environment, it is especially advantageous to keep them from landfills, and to make use of these materials.
- The materials were meant to be durable, so they continue hold up well in the form of a backpack.
- Since each bag is made of a cut from a truck tarp, each design is unique. Yes, this is a luxury, not a necessity, but a perk.
- The bag is also made from recycled car safety belts, airbags, and bicycle inner-tubes. I wear what I ride and rode, eh?

Blame the exorbant price on all of the above. It'll surely last a lifetime though (or more).

I don't care if it has your name on it Emilie--it's mine!

Don't make me over...

2008-09-23T02:44:00.006-04:00

So long.

Oh, but I did. I felt that I needed to pump new blood into a dying blog, repainting the interior walls with a fresh coat and renaming the joint. This all comes when I am faced with new challenges and I embrace new inspiration by which to thrive.

My unexpected undertaking, of a full-on bus/bike commute to my co-op job, changed many aspects of my life. First, it reminded me that I really need to get prepared for a 20-mile round-trip per day, so that means getting into shape. Fortunately that also means getting off my feet, putting less strain on my tendinitis problem. Second, it means being more disciplined in how I conduct my daily routines. My work ethic during the summer sessions was great training for this, even though I did not find out that my carpool option for fall co-op would no longer be an option until afterward. If I care more about the condition of my own living space, if I realize just how many hours in a day there are to get things accomplished...it all adds up. With a fresh start in a new place, I have most certainly taken a breath of fresh air to a fire inside.

Now, I won't be awake at 3am like this after tonight. It's going to be boring Christian for several weeks: sunrise at 5:30, bus ride at 6:30, homebound at 5:30 with arrival at around 7-7:30. Mom has been worried about my safety, and so has Emilie. I will be riding along US 127 en route to Hamilton, after riding the bus to its route terminus. After a 32-mile bike ride (below) on Sunday, I believe that I am finally prepared for the daily commute. What a fulfilling personal goal met. I just hope that I can clean up well, perform work tasks up to standard, and continue to meet my own expectations.

So that's 80 per week for the commute. (I plan to borrow my mom's car one day per week so that I can carry things to work that I can't manage on a bike.) I am even planning to run a 5K in mid-November. Staying off my feet for all that commute time, and little time for much else, should help me manage a steady training schedule. I've heard that runners are generally crazy. I've also heard that hardcore cyclists are crazy. We're all a little crazy when we push ourselves to limits we never thought existed. I don't believe there is any denying that I've hit that crazy...and I'm grateful for such an opportunity.

I still plan to ride for leisure as well, whenever possible. When that will be--you've got me.

Vanity rant over. Expect more soon.

Discrepancy between performance and expectation

2008-07-11T13:46:00.004-04:00

When I was in grade school, from fourth grade to sixth grade, I discovered that I no longer wanted the self-deprecation that came with under-performing. That ethos carried over into my seventh grade year in high school. I managed to get straight A's throughout the year, despite the transition between primary and secondary learning. However, due to more variables than I can began (or choose) to disclose, my performance, self-confidence, and outlook on life deteriorating just a few weeks into my eighth grade year. Retrospectively, I can say that I have been selling myself short since developing a better understanding of my environment and the various functional roles that comprise life as a puzzle.

During this academic quarter, I have assumed a more focused study and work ethic. I am not employed at the moment. I am devoting more time to my studies and keeping up on reading assignments than I ever have before. Due to the nature of summer quarter, I knew from the start that if I didn't follow a specific plan, I was doomed to fail. Each step of the quarter relies so much on the prior steps: there is just no alternative.

I believe I have amazed myself for the first time, and I'm not sure how to take it. The shock I am experiencing is...it's a beautiful thing. There is clearly a discrepancy between how I feel I perform--in relation to my own expectations, high personal standards--and how I actually do perform. These thoughts have been reaffirmed today, especially.

This past Tuesday, I had to two exams on the same day. I cannot even remember the last time I had been in such a situation. Poor performance on one exam (there are three total in each class per three-and-a-half week session) could be very detrimental to my own dreams of success. So I went into both with several hours of studying the night before. I had fallen lax from the more astringent study habits of the first week, which is what can happen went you perform better than you expected: you make cuts to your strategy.

My impression was that I overcompensated for my economics exam (believing that I really did need to better understand concepts), and I underestimated my People and the Environment exam. I was very insistent through dialogue with my friends that my greatest expectation was a grade of barely passing on the latter.

93? Really? That "9" could have very easily read "4", making it a 43. Not the case. I'm somehow still en route to maintaining a top average for this quarter session. I'm not sure what to make of it. I do feel that I am assuming a new stance. It seems that the work has paid off so far somehow.

Keep going, Christian. This feels good. Don't give this feeling up for anything. You've maintained your social relationships (despite the many concessions you've been forced to make), your relationship with your mother remains strong, everything is going very well with Emilie, your health has improved--don't stop. You have always wanted your expectations to lead to equitable output. This is for you.

We've got plans for you.

2008-06-07T19:29:00.003-04:00

Well, as a few of my friends are aware, my summer quarter will be almost entirely focused on my studies. I will endure three economics courses, two installments of People and the Environment (I am excited about that), and a sociology course named Urban Society. So, although only one of my classes will be in the planning school, I've made quite an effort to create a consistent and sensible schedule basis on my current efforts.

For my own reference as well as the very curious (and nosy):

Summer First Session [June 23rd - July 16th]:
Economics 101 - 9:30am to 11:20am (M-F)
People and the Enivironment I - 11:30am to 1:20pm (M-F)

Summer Second Session [July 17th - August 8th]:
Economics 102 - 11:30am to 1:20pm (M-F)

Summer Second Half Term [July 29th - August 30th]:
Planning Applications of Economic Concepts - 2:00pm to 4:50pm (Tu & Th)

Summer Third Session [August 11th - August 30th]:
Urban Society - 9:30am to 11:20am (M-F)
People and the Environment III - 11:30am to 1:20pm (M-F)

Oh, but there's more in store for me. Since I'll be stranded in academia for a while, there's no way I'm going to wait for it to hit me in the face. Rochester, New York will be my destination immediately after I'm finished with my co-op term on June 19th. Megabus to Indy, Green Line Shuttle to the airport, flight to Detroit and then to Buffalo. Then a ride back to Rochester. The same thing will apply for the return trip. I will return on the 22nd, just in time for classes the next morning. Yeah, could you really expect anything less ambitious from me?

Oh, and a friend who moved to Brooklyn from Cincinnati, about eighteen months ago, is visiting for five days. Unfortunately I'll be gone for most of that, but I'm sure there will be plenty of reacquainting and debauchery before I leave. Hopefully.

We need a resolution!

2008-04-30T20:49:00.006-04:00

Once again, it's been quite a long time since I had done this thing. It really isn't new news though. My life encountered yet another saga over the past couple weeks. I have mentioned it to almost everyone I know, so I am quite tired of talking about it. In short though:

I was thrown out of the Minus The Bear show in town before the concert even began. I had markers in my possession, which had been banned from the venue since the last time I was there. The bar became cash only, I was very low on funds, I hadn't eaten in several hours, and I needed to exit in order to take out my last twenty dollars. Upon my return, I forgot to stash my markers in my shoes as I had the first time. The men at the door demanded that I either take them back to my car (I walked) or to throw them away.

The culmination of frustrating events led me to fury. For one second of my life, I lost it. I swung my bag against the wall, giving no prior thought to its contents. I stormed back to the stage to my friend "Lucy", aggravated beyond reason. Second later I was apprehended by a member of security. Supposedly I had put a HOLE in their wall, and I was "outta here". I was forcefully ejected from the venue. The hole was actually a slight, white blemish in the brightly-painted blue wall.

My life seemed to have gotten quite good up until that point. I was happy (and I am still happy) with my co-op job, the weather was improving, and stress was virtually devoid. I felt like I hit a low when I discovered that I busted my digital camera open, rendering it useless. My iPod also exhibited a gash in the top of its casing, and the screen had a large crack. Both were gifts from my mother too, so I felt horrible. Long story short though is that all is now okay. Thank you warranties.

In order for me to completely detoxify my psyche from the whole experience, I felt the need to drive to Bloomington, Indiana to see the same bands on the same tour, two days later. Not only did I do that, but I had an amazing time. Blue Moons were overpriced, so I only had one. While I was driving back to Cincinnati, my oil light on the dash kept flickering as I went down hills or when I braked. Not a single gas station was in service, so I sped such that I could gain refuge quickly. Well, my speedometer been non-functional for months, so I had no idea that I was going 80 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. The cop pulled me over in the middle of nowhere, proceeded to give me a breathilizer. He wanted to ensure that I wouldn't be driving impaired. "Hey, give it a shot--you won't find anything," I replied. Not only was I not phased by the incident but I was tickled. No qualms.

The next morning, I was a half-mile away from work in Hamilton when the car battery light illuminated. "Why is my battery light on--" The next thing you know, my Toyota was stalled in the high-speed lane of the highway. Luckily I was able to start it up to get to work. When it was time to leave for the day, my stomach felt hollow as I walked to my car. What else, I asked myself. I got about a half-mile down the road when my steering wheel began to lock up, and I veered into a collision service parking lot. Irony.

Despite the horrible sounds that my engine was making, I managed to start the car again. What was I going to do in a tiny gravel lot in the middle of a city without public transportation? I was prepared to drive off the road at any minute. A few hundred feet later, I turned my car into an auto service parking lot. A couple days later, I got $175 for transferring the title to the shop for parts, for the car that finally met its day.

So I'm without an automobile, and I don't intend to purchase another. My eyes are on a 7-speed, German-made Biria bicycle. The job is still treating me well. I would consider myself to be happy. Things to work on include: trying to get over my stress fracture situation that limited my running satiation; planning a trip to Columbus to test ride my future bicycle; finding a short-term job for summer quarter; registering for classes; figuring out when I can go to Norway to see my grandmother.

That was *not* in a nutshell. There's always more. And there is.

May I have a bottomless cup, please?

2008-03-04T13:56:00.004-05:00

I'm currently sitting at a coffeehouse to which I have been very loyal since their opening days in January. It's like my second living room, trumping the poor excuse of the one at my residence. I have my chili to the right of me, an empty bottomless mug I need to fill soon(!), and my iPod is playing Jawbreaker's "Sluttering (May 4th) to my right.

The girl working the counter, "Jane" has been a crush of mine for several years now, but nothing so serious that I made it a priority. Plus, she's a few years younger than I am.

When I was working at a drug store on the east side of town, I'd see her every few days after she got off from work. I had just entered my twenties when she was finishing up her senior year in high school. I never found any reason to pursue her, believing that we did not have enough commonality between us, and our lives were very different. Many years later, I've seen her around campus several times, crossing paths at a few parties off campus, and conveniently working as a barista here at the living room.

Without very strong expectations, I'd like to see if anything is possible with her. The way she carries herself really appeals to me. She's finishing up an undergrad program in women's studies and throwing around the idea of a master's degree in urban planning. Of course I know a bit about that, but I don't see that as a foothold of opportunity through my pursuit. Her bangs kill me, she enjoys great music, and I find that we hold more common things dear to us than we ever had before. I hope for a rendezvous soon enough, when neither of us are busy with our studies.

Three luminous things to melt this slushy snowy mess

2008-03-04T13:30:00.004-05:00

Three great things happened to me last week.

I finally landed a planning co-op job, within a forty-five minute drive of home, with a city planning department north of here. This will give me more time to save money for subsequent academic quarters, give more time for my kitty to live in one place for more than three months (it will get to that point, unfortunately for her), and I won't be "forced" out by my soon-to-be former roommate. That's another story entirely. I am very excited about the departments approach, future goals, and green standards already written into their comprehensive plan. I am eager to learn (and get paid!).

On a minor note in the grand composition, I nearly aced my literature midterm exam, despite never having taken a lit course, and never having to take one again. It requires hours of reading that I never undertook before, but I've learned so much. Topics in Literature: Women in Travel--this quarter has impressed me by the subtle crossover relevance between my classes. Contemporary Social Issues gives everyone the opportunity to really engage themselves through discussing issues that affect us all. Of course I always chime in with my natural planning perspective. Of course I'm straying... (I refuse to use the phrase "...but I digress"; it's disgusting and overused.)

Thirdly, my roommate is moving out! I know that might confused some who don't know the situation. Simply, she has different ideals than I do, and they clash. She has experienced all the common socialization of an upper middle class, white, suburban upbringing. She "knows what she wants," she stated in an argument we had last week, and she'll "stop at nothing to get it". That's fine and good, but she manufactures a different brand of judgment than I produce. I find her brand overpriced and with flashy packaging. No thanks. Perhaps we'll get along more easily when we are not living together. Meanwhile, her ex-friend (my acquaintance) "Brad" is moving in, and I think we're going to have a blast. No, really.

So, despite the great seventy degree weather we had yesterday, I didn't get a chance to run. Now we're heading into the thirties before another upswing on Monday. Priorities, as great as they are when you adhere to them, tend to get in the way of other life perks...naturally. I walked the streets during the afternoon on the way to the bank, but it was mostly me looking out from the inside. Income taxes are done. I voted today. Now I'm blogging instead of reading for my 3:30 lit class. So it goes.

Gasp!

2008-02-24T22:53:00.002-05:00

I just had the urge to go running, during the nine o'clock hour, while snow and ice cover the ground where is there is not pavement. So what does that mean for me?

I'm going running! For the first time since December! Hopefully my stress fractures I suffered do not recur. My new running pants will finally get their store tags snipped off. Imagine that. My new Asics had only gotten one two-mile run before the pain caught up with me. It's time to get back to a routine.

Gasp, indeed! A run is probably the best thing for how I've been feeling lately.

---

One word: painful. It wasn't pain due to an injury but pain from the cold air. I don't regret my run, but I do hope that more snow melts tomorrow (a high of 50 degrees). I had to slow to a walk a couple times when snow covered the pavement. Overall, it felt really great, except for the lazy college diet that has consumed me lately...along with the abundance of coffee, pizza, and other speed bumps . Long hours and a few all-nighters doing work doesn't give much time for eating healthily. Not having any groceries in my apartment doesn't help the cause either!

I hope to get a mile or two out of my system tomorrow. First, I must remember to take it easy on my legs for a week or two. It's been nearly three months since I incurred my injury, and I would rather not reignite it.

Pictograms! and the love for cities

2008-02-15T02:09:00.012-05:00

Most of my day today was spent not doing work but giving into a growing obsession of pictograms. They simply soothe the minimalist aesthetic love deep inside me. As young as I can remember, I have always loved interstate signs, road signs, wordless traffic and pedestrian indicators. I loved the clean fonts used in transit stations and on subway maps. My obsession for transit, big cities, and even the American highway system ensure that I will always live where the buildings scrap the skies (the latter: up until about a couple years ago--I encourage more eco-conscious infrastructure these days). Like urban planning--never knowing it was even an option as a career choice until about three years ago--the silent presence of pictograms has finally spoken loudly.

My friend "Ion" shares some of the same love for cities as I do. We have gone out on photographic expeditions downtown and out of town many times. Even my ex-girlfriend Kate and I went on nearly frostbiting shutter-clicking sprees in the Chicago Loop. I have photos of us at the Lake Street Red Line station at three in the morning, documenting urban still-life. I'd rather walk the steep grades in San Francisco than a grassy hill in rural isolation. My dream is to live in the old city in Montreal, enduring cold winters with shoddy windows--all to be one cell in the lifeblood of a metropolis.

Earthquake weather

2008-02-06T01:44:00.000-05:00

I have had an insatiable urge to blog lately. There has been so much on my mind, and only so much of it can be expelled through social interaction. My school obligations are continually prodding me. If only I had time to exercise or conduct some sort of physical activity. Instead, I have been frequenting coffee shops nearly every day, trying to remain driven. The blood in my vessels are contending with a new kind of cell--the coffee cell. The good old red, white, and coffee. Wave that flag...

Even though the speed at which my life is traveling now requires a coffee bean remedy and medical assistance, I seem to be at equilibrium socially. I might not be able to shoot a couple rounds of pool with one friend. I might not be able to wander an outdoor mall with another friend. My encounters primarily consist of mutual agreements bound by contract of "fuck off please while I..." I couldn't thank my friends enough of cooperating with the demands that tax me, joining me frequently at Taza or Highlands during my inundation.

It's currently storming heavily. My friend "Lucille" has been sitting to my right for a couple hours, nerding out on our Macs, occasionally pausing to talk about how we're going to die from a giant dog in the sky...or something rather. Somehow I'm growing closer to my friends than ever before, even in times of ridiculous educational demands. It blows my mind, but I'm not complaining.

Meanwhile, I have also been in pursuit of an fascinating woman. "Eloise" happens to be my same age, in fact. We've been through similar trials. She recently started college, even though it had been nearly five years since graduating high school. Her aspirations simply astound me--eventually studying the Ebola virus. It seems that she will stop at nothing to pursue her dreams, after a few bad relationships, several bad life choices, and the like. I told her tonight that I "think she's amazing", but I made sure to expound that the basis of my expression is only of the little I know about her. Assumptions and expectations are not part of the formula anymore. I am simply looking forward to another hour or two over coffee or beer. I would like that.

As Guero breaks between songs, the only sounds I hear are the raindrops on the rooftop and the tip-tap of our keys...

Excursions into oh, a-oh

2007-12-27T02:22:00.000-05:00

It's been several months since I updated this thing. Many changes have hit me lately, but I could not possibly conjure all of them in a retrospective entry. In time, in time. I will be updating more regularly though. How do I know this? Well, I have decided that I will (try to) discover one new album per day, take at least one photo per day, and watch one movie for each day of 2008. Think I can do it? I'm not quite so sure myself, but it's a mission.

I am currently listening to Stereolab's Refried Ectoplasm. Like last winter, I have been entranced by Stereolab's catalogue. I own not even half their music, but my conscience seems to transform when I hear it. The song titles are absurd, some of the lyricism is indecipherable, but the music tunes into a parts of myself I never knew. They blur the boundaries between proper album releases and the rest. The groop astounds me.

What's also wonderful about Stereolab is now I instantly associate each album or song with a time and place in my life.

My checklist:
*Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements (1993): purchased new at Shake-It Records in the $9.99 bin in early 2007.
I believe I was in the record store along when I bought this one. It connected me to the wonderful "Pack Yr Romantic Mind", which they performed as a rare occurrence at the Vic in Chicago on 02/14/06. I love the creepy bass line in the closer, "Lock-Groove Lullaby". The perfect lullaby, indeed.

*Mars Audiac Quintet (1994): purchased used at Chicago's Hi-Fi Records in February 2006.
My ex-girlfriend Kate purchased a couple used Stereolab albums there too. We were blown away by the band's set the previous night. It was a wonderful day of city slicking and urban spelunking. [I just learned that Hi-Fi Records is no longer. The store has closed it doors forever. Perhaps I can still e-mail them and score a t-shirt. Sigh.]

*Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On, Volume 2] (1995): purchased new at the Barnes & Noble in Kenwood tonight with a Christmas gift card.
Tonight was the first time playing it, and my sentiments above say it succinctly, I believe. It was my first time hearing "French Disko", which is wonderful. I had only heard Editors' cover of the song, which I'd highly recommend.

*Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996): also purchased used at Hi-Fi Records on Clark Street in Chicago on 02/15/07.
"Metronomic Underground"/"Cybele's Reverie" is one of the most amazing album opener, 1-2 punches I can name. The former was teased at the end of the Vic Theatre set, even though the song had not been performed live since Mary Hansen's tragic and fatal accident. Definitely a shocker to hear those notes in that theatre.

*Dots and Loops (1997): purchased new at the Tower Records on North Clark Street in Chicago in March 2006, which also no longer exists.
"The Flower Called Nowhere" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. "Miss Modular", I'd recommend as the most aurally friendly dose of Stereolab to the untrained ear. Overall, Dots and Loops might not be their most accessible release. Many have complained about its length. I will say that it makes a great study album.

This was the five-state trip with Kate, during which we stayed in the Write Inn in Oak Park. I played this album repeatedly on my way home to Cincinnati. I knew something did not feel right. I was entranced by the subsonic volume of the album playing. A few days later I was told that we would be taking a break. Sometimes you just know that something is about to happen.

*Aluminum Tunes [Switched On, Volume 3] (1998): received used from Shake-It Records as a gift from my friend Ian in December 2007.
I recently turned him on to Stereolab's work, beginning with Fab Four Suture. I couldn't be more pleased that albums I deem grossly underrated are being appreciated by individuals I respect. I thank him for Aluminum Tunes, the third Switched On rarities compilation. The quality of non-album Stereolab material reinforces my earlier comment about blurring the boundaries between proper albums and otherwise. 2 discs, 25 songs, nothing but bliss. "The Brush Descends The Length", "Iron Man", and "One Note Samba/Surfboard" have my brain tingling.

(The following was added on January 21st, 2008...)

*Sound-dust (2001): purchased used from Shake-It Records in late 2006.
I listened to this album regularly and obsessively during the cold winter months of my freshman year at UC. It would put me in an amazingly fertile mindset for studying or paper-writing. This is still the album I would recommend over any of Stereolab's other releases. I would consider it their darkest release, but with songs like "Space Moth", how could anyone not appreciate the sudden u-turns in mid-song.

*Instant O in the Universe (2003): purchased new at Sounds on St. Marks Place in New York, NY.
This is the release that started it all for me. I had heard "Good Is Me" on WOXY several months earlier, and I was in the mood to buy several CDs during my trip. I don't quite remember if Margerine Eclipse had been released yet. This turned out to be one of the most solid EPs I ever bought. My favorite song title, "Jaunty Monty and the Bubbles of Silence," is also on this disc. It's an amazing piece of work that always puts me in a great mood.

*Margerine Eclipse (2004): purchased used at Shake-It Records in early 2007.
There isn't much to say about this record. I am aware that it impressed many people I know, but it still has not mystified me. "...Sudden Stars," which was on Instant O, is also on Margerine Eclipse. The fantastic closer on Instant O, "Mass Riff," is also on this album in an abridged form (perhaps on "Margerine Melodie"?). It just doesn't do it for me like all the other albums have. The album following it blew my mind though...

*Fab Four Suture (2006): purchased new at Tower Records on Clark Street in Chicago on 03/13/06.
I saw Stereolab with my ex-girlfriend Kate the night before. We had promised each other that we would see them live if we ever got the chance. One month earlier, we had fulfilled a vow to see Supergrass if the chance ever graced us. (It happened to fall on February 14th of that year.) We saw Stereolab at the beautiful Vic Theatre, the same venue where we saw Supergrass. It was a magical time on our lives. Everything felt like a dream. Perhaps that's not the smartest way to live life but I wouldn't have traded those days for anything.

Fortunately, my friend Ian has fallen in love with this album. Songs like "Interlock" and "Excursions Into Oh, A-Oh" infect the mind. The instrumentation is at its best on Fab Four Suture. Anyone who's at least curious about Stereolab should start with this, no questions asked.

In related news, I just heard "One Note Samba / Surfboard" from Aluminum Tunes in Sitwell's Coffeehouse a couple days ago (January 19th). I was floating in my chair with glee.

Parlaient-elles le français en dehors de ma fenêtre?

2007-10-07T00:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight I will be turning in early so that I can wake up even earlier than usual. Why? Well, Sundays are the special day when I get to work both my part-time jobs. This creates an impossible situation that prevents me from working on any school work. I'm not happy about but, after going through three consecutive weeks of it, it is now a way of life.

Upon getting out of the shower, a few minutes ago, I heard some chatter outside my window. I did not know what made me so curious, but could not pull my ears away from the window screen. I stood there in the darkness for nearly five minutes when I realized that they were speaking French next door! My heartbeat accelerated and I wanted to find someway--any way--to get in on that. Alas, I did not want to intrude. They were speaking it so beautifully too. My heart sank as I swooned.

My fluency, on the other hand, is shabby at the very best. What is a guy to do? I'm hungry for more.

Le premier fois, le dernier fois (The first time, the last time)

2007-09-20T14:30:00.000-04:00

I never planned to go on such a hiatus, but I have been bitten by the blogging bug once again.

My first day of my sophomore year was yesterday, which happened to be quite underwhelming. Based on my experience last year, I have learned that this is simply the calm before the storm. Part of the reason for my anxiety was a false sense of security. I feel that I am much more prepared to resist such temptation. Sure, I might be taking twenty-one credit hours but, success is imperative.

As this year progresses, my blog will likely include more bilingual elements. Yesterday my French classmates and I discovered that our course will be taught entirely in French. No longer would we be allowed to speak in English either. As our instructor stated--it will be very painful, and I anticipate that. But I will not fail at my quest to become fluent.

Oh, and I am currently working two part-time jobs in Northside: one at a video store on weekend nights; a second job at a fine dining restaurant, bussing tables two night per week and one night as a dishwasher. My Wednesdays will be hell, but I'll resist redundancy in stating my mission...

Le Grand Rex

2007-05-22T19:53:00.000-04:00

I really don't have much time to blog these days, as I have a 15-page paper to do tonight. I will not be sleeping, I won't be going to see !!! tonight, and I won't fret one bit. Why, you ask? The Smashing Pumpkins played their first gig back at Le Grand Rex in Paris, France.

If you know anything at all, you realize that the setlist below is pure "oozement". Consider it a word.

Happiness. (Bonheur.)

Ceci n'est ni spectaculaire ni cela n'est une pipe.

2007-05-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

My brief break was resultant of my subpar academic work ethic. It's not quite there yet either, but after finishing off a pot of fettuccine with tomato basil, I happened to be in the mood to spill some beans here.

First of all, the weather is amazing today, and it has been for several consecutive days. It is a little difficult to be comfortable though, since it is presently sunny 84°F (29°C). When I say "comfortable", I'm talking about not having the willpower to do schoolwork as well as the humidity that is taking over. I will say that it sure beats temperatures below freezing. I would take my work outside but, knowing myself, I'd end up people watching and enjoying more of the day than I should. Decisions, decisions.

Today I found a brilliant music blog that happens to have the most impressive downloads I have ever seen in one place. I just enjoyed newer songs from Elk City, Travis, Cloud Cult, Klaxons, Moonbabies, The Rakes, Client, Johnny Boy, and Blood Red Shoes. All of them were quite good. If you know me, you realize how difficult it is for any music perspective to bat 1.000 with me. What can I say--certain music hits me just right. Perhaps I will be able to host downloads of my own, but for now...a link for 5 Acts can be found below.

Le jour quand la musique est décédé (The day the music died)

2007-05-04T15:27:00.000-04:00

Since the beginning of the year, I have assumed responsibilities for booking worthwhile acts for an area cafe. All the while they have built a reputation for hosting mostly singer-songwriter/folk outfits. My "associate" was bent on having me change that. Now, first of all, I am not getting paid a single penny for what is, simply, me, doing whatever I can to give our city another place to see quality live music. It's not for personal gain but for providing an additional avenue for traveling bands to reach an audience here.

Simply, I have been very much discouraged by the overall lack of support in my music booking endeavors. Ridiculous promotion on a shoestring budget (which is provided for me, but not always actually making it into my hands) has not payed off in the least. Tonight is the second show I will have put on, following two consecutive cancellations. No money was provided for fliers and posters this time around, as a result of poor communication across the boards. A variety of factors will possibility culminate into a disappointing turnout.

Really, all I want is for the people involved in making this work...to help make it work. Heck, this is the 4 straight time that my shows had not made it on to any calendars affiliated with the venue until just three or four days before the show. It is unbelievably frustrating to do something selflessly for the benefit of improving the music climate locally, yet a perceived indifference makes me question my willingness to continue.

I tend to become frustrated very easily and very quickly, yet I think my patience has been held up fairly well throughout this challenge. There have been many club promoters in the past that have had to endure years of painstaking efforts before they finally paid off. I need to keep reminding myself of that. Ultimately, I want the bands to have the best possible experience. I guess I am wondering whether I have the resources to make that happen.

The following is the virtual destination for my music promoting efforts. I hope I can keep the dream alive.

http://www.myspace.com/underteethproductions

la commentaire de la mode (an editorial on style)

2007-04-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

Very unlike such that activists have fought for freedom, the oppression I have been experiencing will dissipate this weekend. I need to write several papers in the next two days, one of which is for my French honors class (imagine that). The topic is style in clothing, which can include an explanation of clothing I have worn over the years. What made me curious is the possibility of sharing my obvious (to some) view regarding clothing faux-pas. (I would have used "fashion" in place of "clothing", but I thought that would cause one to mistake me for a fashion design student...) Heck, I am one who must try his hardest to *not* match my clothing.

As picky as I am about my own wear, certain friends of mine also realize how particular I am about other people's clothing. Shoes, pants, tops, accessories, and hairstyle--it is impossible not to judge upon first impression. For instance, a few minutes ago, as I am sitting in cafe on campus, I saw a girl wearing galoshes with jeans and a t-shirt. What's the problem with that? Well--really, only the galoshes. It was not the first time I had seen this galoshes wear today. Three times, in fact. It's not raining, they are usually frighteningly ugly, and those who seem to wear them have a look of conviction, as if they think it is superiorly fashionable. Then again, I suppose that is how flip-flops, sweatpants, pajama pants, and wifebeaters became acceptable for casual wear outside the home.

Personally, choice in one's attire says much about the self. It can signify a person's sleep habits, level of dedication, social status, and attitude towards others. I try not to get too caught up in all the variables, but it can be very daunting. It is said that you should not judge a book by its cover, but I sure do. In fact, I judge it by whether its a hardcover over a paperback, its binding, and whether it has been dropped or leafed through before I have gotten to it. In the same way I judge books before opening them, I judge others (myself included) based on their packaging and physical features. It doesn't mean I won't take a chance on a book that makes a not-so-strong impression upon first glance. That's not so bad, right?

I would not be intimidated if I were you (whoever you are). Everyone judges as much, yet they are not so eager to be so vocal. I know what I like but I am certainly open to satisfactory anomalies. First impressions are everything--do you read me?

jamais deux sans trois (when it rains, it pours)

2007-04-24T03:23:00.000-04:00

It took me over eight months to decide upon the creation of such a blog. For such a long time, I was paranoid that sharing my thoughts on a more permanent medium than my own mind would induce dissatisfaction overall. As with most things, this feeling passed and I pushed myself to establish this blog, much from the encouragement of two good friends. Some friends peer others to smoke drugs or eat concoctions in the school lunchroom. Mine mean well for the most part, fortunately.

Today, I thought I would take advantage of my recent dedication to only using my car when I must. Like yesterday, I walked to the small park near Ludlow to read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. On the way there from my house, I took very photos of what used to be old hotels in the Clifton area, which are now simply apartment buildings. There are also a few black & white shots of the old brick homes we have in the area. I feel likely to have so many inanimate subjects to shoot.

I figured I'd pick up groceries when I began to feel small raindrops. The event that followed is one reason why I settled upon the name for the username for my blog. As with every name I choose though, it ended up having several possible interpreted meanings, just the way I like it. You guessed it--it poured. Not only that, I chose paper over plastic while at the checkout register. I became as close as a couple hundred feet from home when the first handle broke. Two minutes later, the second handle broke and down fell one of my bags. I carried my two paper grocery bags like I would bring home a thirty-pound turkey or a restless child.

Somehow my rejection of convenience felt worthwhile, even though I dripped on to the hallway mat as I entired my front door. Yes, I dripped. I was one giant raindrop.