It's Halloween, y'all...

It's the first Halloween in a long, long time that absolutely nothing Halloween-y has appeared on the radar. My friends and I all seem to be in the same boat: no parties, no costumes...no real acknowledgement of the holiday at all, really.

Is it because Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year? Is it because we're all getting older, and we just don't care as much as we used to? Perhaps.

I went about my business as usual today, and as day wore on into evening, I saw increasing signs of city Halloween life (it's hard to ignore Halloween completely in New York, after all). Kids and grown-ups in costumes (though, with the grown-ups, it's sometimes difficult to tell whether the clothing is a costume or just the everyday attire of an eccentric personality), candy being given away to Trick-or-Treaters at neighborhood stores, more interesting outfits than usual on the folks waiting on subway platforms...
(I did have a favorite costume - someone had stuck a fake oversized hot dog bun on his dog, adding a strip of fake ketchup on top for good measure).

I didn't really care about celebrating the holiday myself this year, but there was something comforting about seeing those yearly signs of Halloween life. More than most holidays, Halloween just blends so seamlessly into the fabric of my beloved New York City. Something would just be wrong if Halloween disappeared completely - so thank you to everyone who made an effort this year. Maybe next year I'll be back in the game...

I just got health insurance, and now I need PHONE insurance, too?

I've always been very aware of how many people seem glued to their cell phones as they're walking down the street, but today that awareness took on an extra clear sharpness. You see, for the first time ever, today I lost my cell phone.

I work at a small store in Manhattan, and I had my Motorola RAZR sitting next to the register as I rang up our customers. At one point, with a sinking feeling, I noticed that my phone was no longer next to the register. I am pretty sure my RAZR left the premises with a customer, who inadvertently grabbed it thinking it was her own, OR with a NON-customer, which would be just...evil.

Ever lose a cell phone before? There are so many annoying things about the whole experience, not the least of which are the following two:
1) the ridiculous expense of buying a new phone while not in my "free upgrade" time window (this one's especially fun, having just moved AND having just replaced my recently-crashed laptop. Yay!)
2) the process of attempting to retrieve all the phone numbers I lost (does anyone keep a hard copy rolodex these days, besides my mother? Perhaps now's a good time to start...)

I don't consider myself the most "connected" lady in the world, but I do enjoy my share of text messaging, and it's painful right now to have that activity missing from my life. Thank goodness for my new neighbors' open wireless networks...at least I still have email until I scrape together the funds for a new phone.

I hope the new owner of my RAZR is enjoying the phone photos of my cat.

New Home

Once again, it's moving time for Catherine...

I have lived in seven different apartments (including this newest one) since moving to Brooklyn just over eight years ago. I am not counting the various places (read: friends' couches) where I have crashed for various lengths of time in between homes...I am just counting those places where the post office has deemed it official enough to deliver mail to me.

This newest apartment is in a neighborhood of Brooklyn that is completely unfamiliar to me, a whole new zip code and cable service provider. I've hardly had a chance to explore the 'hood (moving takes its sweet time), but I am already finding things to appreciate: 24 hour fruit/vegetable groceries on nearly every block, West Indian/roti eateries seemingly every 50 feet, a laundromat across the street, a public library behind my building...
There is more of a longstanding "Brooklyn" feeling here than in the other considerably more gentrified neighborhoods where I have lived, and I like that...but there are also just enough chain establishments to create a feeling of comforting familiarity. Every major bank, a Blockbuster videostore, and a Duane Reade drugstore are all within easy walking distance. And, while it is totally gross if consumed on a regular basis, I can't argue with having a Popeye's down the street that is open until 2:30am (3:00am on weekends).

Up until now, I've hardly had more than an hour or two at a time (usually at night) to check out my new surroundings. I am interested to discover how my perceptions of my new locale and my place within it will change and develop in the coming months (and, I hope, years...moving is exhausting, and I'd prefer to cut down the frequency of its occurence in my life).

Breakin' this hiatus

My blog is getting off to a shaky start, as I haven't posted to it now in weeks, and there are only three posts before this one to begin with.
Such lapses in productivity cause me to consider my lifelong companion: Procrastination.

Most people I have met are familiar with procrastination, and some succumb to it more than others. In my experience, people procrastinate for one of two reasons: 1) They don't really want to do the thing that they are putting off, or 2) They REALLY REALLY want to do the thing that they are putting off, and they are just not giving themselves the time and permission to get to it already. Or, maybe people are just lazy.

I find that procrastination is most deadly when beefed up by Excuse-Making.
It's easy to say that life can get in the way, people get busy, blah, blah, blah... I can verifiably say that I have had plenty going on in my life in the last few weeks, plenty to keep me busy outside of this blog. But, I also like to follow things through as long as I still have interest in them, and I am most certainly still interested in this blog.

So, in an attempt to keep my posts more free-flowing, I am going to be less prohibitive with my choice of posting topics. Maybe I'll even supplement the social criticism with some straight-up creative writing. Life is hard enough without placing further restrictions on oneself, I say...and I just want to write more.

Advertisements

I love taking notice of what commercials are paired up with particular television programs. I think it's possible to learn a lot about a program's point of view and assumed audience based on the advertisers that buy time during broadcast.

Recently, I happened to be home at 6:30pm on a weekday, and out of curiosity I flipped on a show that I never watch: CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. (I generally avoid this show because I find Katie Couric mildly grating, for reasons I can't quite pinpoint).
Anyway, as a disclaimer I must admit that I have ideas about who regularly watches the CBS Evening News - I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it's mostly folks who have just gotten home from work and are looking to catch up on a quick bit of news before eating dinner with the family. Oh, and in my mind these people live in suburbia. These are the assumptions I am starting with, and they could be totally wrong, but I have a feeling that my description is accurate for a good chunk of the CBS Evening News demographic.

So this is what I ended up thinking after observing the commercials: suburban Middle America is uncomfortable in a variety of ways, and pharmaceutical companies are ready to encourage folks to medicate themselves excessively to alleviate these discomforts.
During one commercial break, three ads were shown, all by pharmaceutical companies. The three ads were selling drugs to alleviate the following: irritable bowel syndrome, nasal allergies, and something called "restless leg syndrome."

Granted, some medications are necessary and help people to live better lives, and I'm not denying the existence of allergies. But my primary reaction to seeing these ads one after the other was: why are Americans suffering from so many ailments, and why are we so ready to load up on medicine?
Personally, I am of the opinion that lifestyle changes would lead to greater health in America than would mass dependence on drugs. How about exercise, healthy eating, and a more reasonable balance of work and leisure (can't deny the connection between mind and body)? While we're at it, let's throw in friendlier workplace conditions and more reasonable wages for all Americans, so that people don't have to spend so many hours worrying about how to take care of their families and pay their bills.

But this is just where I stand, and it's certainly not going to lead to any profits for the pharmaceutical companies, on whose advertising dollars the CBS Evening News depends.

Why write?

It's been over a week now since my last posting here, and I think I know why...Ever since I started this blog with a single post, I have found myself slightly overwhelmed by the number of topics I might find myself discussing through text. What would be the direction of my blog? Would there even be a "direction," or would this be something that emerged only as time passed and posts accumulated?

In an attempt to dive into my questions about writing even more deeply, I began reading Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing, by Margaret Atwood, last night. This, of course, only got me thinking more, and prompted ever more questions in my head: Why write? What is the urge to write? What is my urge to write?

I suppose that writing can serve many purposes: communication, persuasion, documentation, explanation, entertainment, etc...But talking can also serve many of these purposes, in the form of conversation, debate, storytelling, etc. So how do I choose what to talk about and what to write about?

What is the difference between talking and writing? I suppose, if one has written something, and someone else is reading it, then there is no opportunity for that someone else to interrupt the writer, as is possible in live communication. Of course, the reader could also very well choose to close the book, or journal, or article or whatever, to stop reading...and isn't that the ultimate interruption? There's no chance to win your reader back if they refuse to listen.

Win your reader back?
Is this a contest?
A fight?
A debate?
These thoughts on writing are occupying my mind.

I don't mean to imply with these questions that I desire to win people over to my point of view (though, this is surely bound to be the case sometimes). Rather, I ask these questions because I am curious as to why people take the time to read particular authors, or listen to particular speakers.

Two years after Katrina...

I've been considering many topics over the last week or so with which I could initiate this new online component of my life. I've mulled over the changing roles of religion in Western society, the genre of memoir, and various influences in the development of contemporary music. I am sure I will make my way to all these topics and more in due time, but I've decided that right now a discussion of the state of affairs two years after Hurricane Katrina is most pressing.

Two years ago today, in the early morning hours of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the southern edge of our country, devastating many lives in Louisiana and Mississippi in particular, though the damage spread into other states as well. Over 1,800 people were killed. The city of New Orleans was especially hard hit - to date, only 10% of the population of the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans has been able to return home.

None of the above is news to most anyone with a pulse over the age of five. I am not writing now to describe the effect that Katrina had two years ago. I am writing now because I believe it is a disgrace that Katrina has fallen out of the public consciousness as much as it has. I guess most attacks against our current federal government are focusing on the invasion of Iraq and the various instances of questionable ethics in the Bush administration (and the ensuing mass exodus of the rats from the sinking ship that is the G.W.Bush legacy)...these are, in my opinion, warranted and timely topics...but let's not forget about the role (or should I say, lack of a role) our elected officials have played in the recovery of a great American city.

I was heartened today to come across some two-year anniversary coverage of Katrina, though I worry that much of the country will forget all about it again until the third year anniversary next year (soon before a highly anticipated Presidential election). Both Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate discussed it today on WNYC. As Brian Lehrer said, "it's really a damn shame" that there hasn't been more political fallout due to the exposed ineffectiveness of government in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Oprah Winfrey had a special new show today, a week and a half before the start of her Fall season, called "Katrina Two Years Later: An Oprah Special Report," which included CNN's Anderson Cooper among other guests. Oprah applauded Anderson Cooper for keeping the Katrina story alive on CNN, and I applaud Oprah for bringing the story to network television (especially since I do not have cable myself). Anderson was blunt in his assessment of the government on local, state, and federal levels; as he said, "it takes leadership (to improve the situation of those hit by Katrina), and that is what has been lacking." Anderson also said that "it was left up to individuals to figure out a system on their own."

My sincere appreciation goes out to anyone who has volunteered time and/or resources towards rebuilding New Orleans and surrounding areas. I believe many aspects of recovery would not be possible without individual citizens taking the initiative to pitch in. My anger today is a result of the obvious lack of government planning in cases of national disaster, and the lack of responsibility and initiative demonstrated by our elected leaders.

Facts:
-4500 doctors were displaced in the storm, and only 50% have returned
-25% of New Orleans residents currently get their basic medical care in emergency rooms (six New Orleans hospitals remain closed, including Charity Hospital, designed to serve the uninsured)
-the death rate in New Orleans is nearly 50% higher than before the storm
-people are still living in what were supposed to be temporary FEMA trailers, some of which contain over 20 times higher than acceptable levels of formaldehyde in the building material
-some studies suggest that 2/3 of New Orleans children are struggling with depression and/or chronic fear
-there were 196 psychiatrists in New Orleans before the storm, and now there are 22...not a good statistic in a city where suicidal thoughts have increased in a fair proportion of the population
-violent crime is on the rise: as of today, 27 people have been murdered in New Orleans in this month, August 2007, alone