...is what I am from cheering on the New York City Marathon runners outside my apartment this morning.
It was a great way to start the day, standing on the sidelines, cheering on all of the athletes who have worked so hard to run this marathon.
My favorite parts:
-Shouting out encouragement to individual runners by name (many had written their names on their shirts for this purpose).
-Sticking out my left palm to receive high fives from runners as they passed.
Pretty awesome, feel good stuff.
Showing posts with label Brooklyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brooklyn. Show all posts
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Treadmill TV, Part 2
Okay.
My gym has decided to leave the televisions on MTV for some kind of extended time period, I guess (previous long-term gym television choices have included, inexplicably, TBS, C-Span, ESPN2, and various infomercial stations).
So this MTV marathon gave me the opportunity yesterday, while running along on the treadmill, to experience another MTV program previously unbeknownst to me...well, at least to experience it in part, and with closed captioning instead of sound. This latest program is called The City, and as far as I could tell, it is intended to be a Sex and the City for females in the 20-23 age bracket (oh, and probably in the aspirational high school age bracket as well...it's never too early to start dreaming about your big city move to NYC, girls).
Anyhoo...I was all set to share my rage at yet another drama that mischaracterizes the reality of life for 20-somethings in New York City...but then someone informed me that this show is in fact, at least in theory, a documentary of ACTUAL young women making their way in the city. Really??? Who the hell are these people? They work at entry level jobs at Diane von Furstenberg, yet they are able to afford beautiful, new, sunlit apartments in Tribeca and Gramercy. To use the lingo of the young kids: WTF??
Ugh. I think I might just watch the premiere of Real World: Brooklyn tonight so that I can further develop my MTV rage. Apparently the kiddos in this season are living in a loft in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Having recently lived in Red Hook myself for two years, I look forward to the ridiculous portrayal of these people in a very personal way.
Maybe this is bad for me. Maybe I need to de-program MTV on my television. I just find it so enraging and fascinating.
My gym has decided to leave the televisions on MTV for some kind of extended time period, I guess (previous long-term gym television choices have included, inexplicably, TBS, C-Span, ESPN2, and various infomercial stations).
So this MTV marathon gave me the opportunity yesterday, while running along on the treadmill, to experience another MTV program previously unbeknownst to me...well, at least to experience it in part, and with closed captioning instead of sound. This latest program is called The City, and as far as I could tell, it is intended to be a Sex and the City for females in the 20-23 age bracket (oh, and probably in the aspirational high school age bracket as well...it's never too early to start dreaming about your big city move to NYC, girls).
Anyhoo...I was all set to share my rage at yet another drama that mischaracterizes the reality of life for 20-somethings in New York City...but then someone informed me that this show is in fact, at least in theory, a documentary of ACTUAL young women making their way in the city. Really??? Who the hell are these people? They work at entry level jobs at Diane von Furstenberg, yet they are able to afford beautiful, new, sunlit apartments in Tribeca and Gramercy. To use the lingo of the young kids: WTF??
Ugh. I think I might just watch the premiere of Real World: Brooklyn tonight so that I can further develop my MTV rage. Apparently the kiddos in this season are living in a loft in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Having recently lived in Red Hook myself for two years, I look forward to the ridiculous portrayal of these people in a very personal way.
Maybe this is bad for me. Maybe I need to de-program MTV on my television. I just find it so enraging and fascinating.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Long overdue response: Brooklyn style
A couple of months ago, I sent out a challenge to my readers: I asked anyone to give me a topic, and I promised I would write a post about that topic.
I have already addressed the three topics provided by my verbose sister, but I have neglected (until now) to respond to the one topic proposed by Sarah B., an old friend of mine from back in the day (elementary school, that is).
Here is what Sarah B. wrote to me:
"Here's a topic - Brooklyn style. Is there one? Thoughts? Are beards ironic? "
ANSWER:
This is a tricky subject, Sarah B. It is difficult for me to feel justified in any attempt to define "Brooklyn style," as Brooklyn is such a massive NYC borough, with widely varying modes of dress and grooming. Also, I've only lived here for nine years. I suppose nine years is a decent amount of time to get a read on a place, but I am well aware that there are tons of folks who've lived here longer than myself.
And... having lived here through most of my 20s, I can't really say how fashion/style differs here from other locations. I have developed my own style, and my friends have developed their own styles, while living inside an NYC bubble, for the most part.
I am most familiar with the 20s-30s demographic, specifically college-educated kids who moved to Brooklyn after graduation and have now lived here for 5-15 years. I am describing most of my friends here:
-On the whole, we dress stylishly but with comfort in mind. Lots of jeans. Lots of second-hand clothes from hip second-hand stores, lots of mixing and matching carefully chosen items from less expensive stores like Uniqlo and H&M. Most of us are artists, so there's not a lot of disposable income for sartorial indulgences, but we can be creative with what we've got. I've seen my friends grow into their own styles over the years without even realizing it. Personally, I splurge on nice jeans (I live in jeans), but top off most of my outfits with $7 shirts from Old Navy.
-Brooklyn is definitely more casual than Manhattan. There seems to be less of a need to impress here. Folks wanna look good, but they do it mostly, I think, for themselves. Trends and brand names are less important than personal taste.
I think style has a lot to do with how you present yourself with body language, etc. You have to have some level of confidence to stick it out in NYC for any length of time, and I think that translates into personal style. You can get away with a lot, clothing-choices-wise, if you believe you look good and present yourself that way.
As far as beards go...I will say that an inordinate number of the males in my life were found sporting beards this past winter - a couple of them even retained the facial hair into the spring and summer.
I don't think the beard choice was an ironic one for most of them. And if it were, I'd be likely to make fun of them for it. I do think, however, that the sudden beard-sprouting was possibly influenced by the likes of music groups such as Band of Horses (I'm not kidding - I really believe this).
If you start venturing into certain Brookyn neighborhoods where the ratio of hipsters to everone else is high (think: Williamsburg), then it's quite likely that you'll run into some irony (or plain stupidity) in grooming choices. I tend to avoid those neighborhoods.
Final thought:
I think the beard is a totally justified winter option in Brooklyn. We don't live out in the country or anything here, but we do spend a helluva lotta time walking around outside - more so, I am sure, than in many other parts of the country - and a little face protection couldn't hurt in that daily cold walk from the apartment to the subway to the job to the subway to the drinks with friends to the subway to the apartment, etc.
Was this a more straight-ahead approach to your question than you were expecting, Sarah B.? I suppose I am in a very non-ironic frame of mind these days, and that's a good thing. Eh, I've never been a big fan of irony.
-
I have already addressed the three topics provided by my verbose sister, but I have neglected (until now) to respond to the one topic proposed by Sarah B., an old friend of mine from back in the day (elementary school, that is).
Here is what Sarah B. wrote to me:
"Here's a topic - Brooklyn style. Is there one? Thoughts? Are beards ironic? "
ANSWER:
This is a tricky subject, Sarah B. It is difficult for me to feel justified in any attempt to define "Brooklyn style," as Brooklyn is such a massive NYC borough, with widely varying modes of dress and grooming. Also, I've only lived here for nine years. I suppose nine years is a decent amount of time to get a read on a place, but I am well aware that there are tons of folks who've lived here longer than myself.
And... having lived here through most of my 20s, I can't really say how fashion/style differs here from other locations. I have developed my own style, and my friends have developed their own styles, while living inside an NYC bubble, for the most part.
I am most familiar with the 20s-30s demographic, specifically college-educated kids who moved to Brooklyn after graduation and have now lived here for 5-15 years. I am describing most of my friends here:
-On the whole, we dress stylishly but with comfort in mind. Lots of jeans. Lots of second-hand clothes from hip second-hand stores, lots of mixing and matching carefully chosen items from less expensive stores like Uniqlo and H&M. Most of us are artists, so there's not a lot of disposable income for sartorial indulgences, but we can be creative with what we've got. I've seen my friends grow into their own styles over the years without even realizing it. Personally, I splurge on nice jeans (I live in jeans), but top off most of my outfits with $7 shirts from Old Navy.
-Brooklyn is definitely more casual than Manhattan. There seems to be less of a need to impress here. Folks wanna look good, but they do it mostly, I think, for themselves. Trends and brand names are less important than personal taste.
I think style has a lot to do with how you present yourself with body language, etc. You have to have some level of confidence to stick it out in NYC for any length of time, and I think that translates into personal style. You can get away with a lot, clothing-choices-wise, if you believe you look good and present yourself that way.
As far as beards go...I will say that an inordinate number of the males in my life were found sporting beards this past winter - a couple of them even retained the facial hair into the spring and summer.
I don't think the beard choice was an ironic one for most of them. And if it were, I'd be likely to make fun of them for it. I do think, however, that the sudden beard-sprouting was possibly influenced by the likes of music groups such as Band of Horses (I'm not kidding - I really believe this).
If you start venturing into certain Brookyn neighborhoods where the ratio of hipsters to everone else is high (think: Williamsburg), then it's quite likely that you'll run into some irony (or plain stupidity) in grooming choices. I tend to avoid those neighborhoods.
Final thought:
I think the beard is a totally justified winter option in Brooklyn. We don't live out in the country or anything here, but we do spend a helluva lotta time walking around outside - more so, I am sure, than in many other parts of the country - and a little face protection couldn't hurt in that daily cold walk from the apartment to the subway to the job to the subway to the drinks with friends to the subway to the apartment, etc.
Was this a more straight-ahead approach to your question than you were expecting, Sarah B.? I suppose I am in a very non-ironic frame of mind these days, and that's a good thing. Eh, I've never been a big fan of irony.
-
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