some say this woman has made too big a deal just out of coffee, but this case points to deeper employer/employee relations, and assistants or secretaries being historically women, a role in which is less socially acceptable for a man. while this woman desperately needed the job, how much of herself does she compromise in order to keep it? if she wasn’t comfortable getting the bosses coffee b/c she felt she’d be too soon pigeon-holeing herself into that position, then her grounds (as opposed to the District judge’s cheeky words – no pun intended) for a discrimination case appear to be justifiable. some people don’t mind it as a part of their job as long as they know they are valued for doing more important things, some try to break free from the business hierarchy by making coffee for those who may “rank” lower than them, and some bosses don’t even attempt to ask for coffee, perhaps in fear of a lawsuit, or with the changing, modern times, that it is “taboo”.
as i am now looking to enter into the employed world, i’ve realized that i am only somewhat qualified to apply for administrative positions. one of my fears is that i’ll become lost in the activity of copy machines, faxes, emails, Microsoft Excel, and potentially being the one to make coffee. i fear it’ll become too mundane, and i’ll become bitter. out of boredom, i found a small coffee machine during my internship at America Votes in Philadelphia, and gladly used it to make coffee for the staff each day. it was this one project that i created, and took on successfully by myself, so i had no problem implementing it. here, fetching coffee seems to be a case of whether you were asked, or if you took on such a task willingly – how much you consider it to define your job, and position at the organization, and yourself.
once they invent the technology to send videos on the super super cheap, i’m so on it.
* i think SONY got to all the official video posters on youtube, so none of them will allow me to post it on my blog, and the dailymotion vids aren’t posting either, so this is one of the better live versions i’ve seen. for the official video (an ultimate trippy, resplendent dance party): http://www.dailymotion.com/related/9939012/video/x5n1v8_mgmt-electric-feel_music
* ADDENDUM: I posted this a whole day before Kanye did. Safe to say he got it from me, he reads nopostagerequired and i now have something to hold over Mr. Late-to-Bonnaroo himself.
two kids who graduated from wesleyan: a bee gees, with the scissor sisters, indie hall & oates, psychedelic tigercity, crazy, gorgeous and total love. i’m going to see them at the 9:30 Club in DC on the 28th of July – beyond excited.
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Happy Birthday to sig gains in the city. hope you are having an amazing time, and that this birthday with your kids and your friends, and being in the city makes the day not suck, but actually completely wonderful.
Cafe Spice business card/35 S. 2nd St/ Philadelphia, PA 19106/ (215)627-6273
reasoning:
on my night in the city with my Smith girls, SL, elizadoessmith, and theonlylivinggirl, due to some traveling difficulties, finally managed to get dinner at 10PM. we were in Old City, i found this sweet Omni hotel, right by Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. too starved to travel, we ventured outside to find all the young beautiful people out, walking the street in nicely ironed collared button-downs, or 3-inch heels. we couldn’t decide where to eat – it was a combination of being desperate to just have food to scarf down/make it a good experience that we’d go back to again and also be outside in the city with all the beautiful people we, one day, aspire to be. the weather was amazing, probably 70 with a warm breeze, i’ve never known summer night weather to be so nice.
we decided upon this place with some outdoor seating under some wood scaffolding. looked a bit renovaty, a bit warehouse-y, i figured simple, good clean food with a modernist touch. it turned out to be Cafe Spice, a delicious Indian food restaurant where the plates are huge, and loaded with tons of tasty dishes on each, no matter what you get. the only problem was with drinks, water glasses, and the enormous plates, our table was too small to hold everything. but we juggled and moved items around, . anything would have tasted good at that time of night, but i’m certain this place is delicious at normal mealtimes as well. nice list of specialty cocktails and drinks, they came in gorgeous, large flute glasses, and followed the essential rule of a good cocktail: tasty delicious with just a hint of alcohol. mine had gin, guava, and mango juice. at 11PM, the whole place changed, the restaurant closed, and the bar became the primary business, it was a bit awkward to sit amongst barfolk while trying to sip your cocktail and eat saag paneer at the same time. they have locations in NY right by NYU, NJ and this Philadelphia one. this place made me want to move into the city even more. i’m excited about DC, but i almost want to get the DC experience out of my system, so I can live and grow old in Philly. my only real issue is figuring out where the ideal place to live is: Old City, Chinatown, or Northern Liberties.
Discover Card/ PO Box 15162/ Wilmington, DE 19885-9508
sent:
Michelle Obama’s appearance on The View, greeting all the co-hosts with the fist bump, or “terrorist fist jab“.
reasoning:
what the media has decided to cover has been all over the place: election coverage has been crazy – either totally serious, and contentious, or completely ridiculous. it’s hard to look at the game of politics sometimes b/c how the politicians react, what they say, what they do can ultimately affect the decision of who is going to be chosen president, who is going to lead this country and represent us to the rest of the world. but if one is reassured that even if the worst candidate is chosen, there are enough checks and balances in place that the country will go, then the absurdity of American politics is kind of fun.
that said, i love seeing Michelle Obama everywhere on the news, internet, and political blogs.
Dr. Watson, half of the team that helped to uncover the DNA helix model, has been regarded as the father of modern genetics, so his recent remarks there’s such a thing as Jewish intelligence, or that a reason why there is a disproportionate amount of black basketball players may be gene related. this interview with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a Harvard professor who studies race discourse in the West, is interesting because it doesn’t just dismiss Dr. Watson as an old-fashioned, codgy elite White racist. as he’s the “father of genetics”, he’s been called upon to make comments about our most complex, and puzzling social issues: homosexuality, obesity, race, and race in relation to sexuality.
what was most interesting to me was Louis Gates, Jr does not consider Dr. Watson a “racist”, but more of a “racialist”. he does believe there is some key to genetics’ ties of race and human characteristics like intelligence, athletic ability, or demeanor. the distinction may come from a “racist” simply buying into long-time stereotypes from media and history of racial inferiority and superiority. certainly the argument can be made that there may be a truth, or a genetic basis for why those stereotypes exist, so how is Dr. Watson not just an academically, and scientifically intelligent racist?
postcard of Art for the Cash Poor, a 2-day event held at the Crane Arts Building on North American Street where everyday people get “a chance to meet local artists and purchase artwork at bargain prices. View a vast array of media, including photographs, paintings, prints, jewelry, clothing, and hand-made books, with nothing priced above $199. There will be food from top local restaurants and libations available, and live music for your enjoyment while you peruse the artwork.”
elizadoessmith, SL, and i met up with theonlylivinggirl this weekend in philly for a mini-Smith reunion and to say goodbye to BM as she ships off to the grand country of Georgia for 2 years of Peace Corps. EW found this cool art sale where you get the view the work of local artists, famous and going-to-be famous, and have the opportunity to actually purchase some pieces and own legitimate, unique art that isn’t from posters.com, ikea, or urban outfitters. they also had delicious food, and delicious live music to keep the stomach and the ears happy. we spent our time in center city philadelphia, so InLiquid was a bit too north for us. but it’s an annual party, and they’re always looking for volunteers to help out. whenever i move out to Philadelphia, I am so there. and bringing EW, wherever she is, with me b/c she discovered it first and wasn’t able to go this year. quote from Philadelphia Weekly, Joan Smith of InLiquid: “You’ll end up with original art by a real artist and the warm feeling that you’ve done your bit to keep the creative wheels of our city running.”
New York State Archives/Cultural Education Center/Room 9B52/Albany, NY 12230
sent:
Petal In Memoriam. at 52 years old, she was the oldest elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo and the United States, remarkable she lived so long, as the average lifespan for African elephants is about 40-45. Initial tests have not been able to determine cause of death, doctors and experts say it was not heat related, and Petal did not have any serious health issues. The Philadelphia Zoo’s been having financial difficulty in keeping up their elephant habitat, Petal was supposed to be transferred at the end of the summer to the Pittsburgh’s Zoo because they have more space and resources to take care of the large creatures. Petal’s described as a dignified elephant who never had any children of her own, but “She was confident of her position within the group, and now in her older years was very even-tempered and calm,” Andrew Baker, vice president of animal programs, said.
reasoning:
Petal was a long-time resident of the zoo, arriving in 1957. when news of her death broke, apparently her 2 keepers were too upset to publicly talk about it. so sad. elephants are those creatures that are so huge, but yet look so incredibly gentle, kind, and sweet. they’re expressive, and fluid, like a humpback whale, as long as you don’t piss it off. sometimes you wonder how the earth could hold and support such a large creature, or how they can move so gracefully. AT and I once made this ridiculous attempt to get to the Zoo via bus system, where we subsequently got lost, and walked all of the sketchy parts of Girard St, and only got to the zoo, itself, after it had closed, but if we had made it that day, I bet Petal would have been one of my favorites.
i’ve been on a huge Philadelphia and urban city travel guide kick lately, i picked up these at the library: eat.shop.philadelphia and not for tourists: philadelphia. both are awesome in that they have blunt, and honest reviews of restaurants, shops, hotels, where to find an ATM, and museum information. NFT has in-depth maps, and eat.shop is full of gorgeous “omg, i want to go there right now” color pictures. they seem less g-rated, family-friendly, and touristy than say Frommer’s or Fodor’s. I’ve been scouring libraries and bookstores to get my hands on these guide books as well: Blackbook, Wallpaper City Guides, or IDEO Eyes Open.
SL & i learned of Sailor Jerry’s through the eat.shop guide, that was an awesome store, of which once i have some sort of income will be spending lots of it there. we had sushi at 1225 Raw which had a tasty white tiger roll, a watermelon sake sangria and an awesome bathroom, with a tilted slab of marble for a sink, and thousands of tiny mirrors that we had all-too-much fun being obnoxious little teenagers taking pictures with all the cool angles for our myspace page. (we don’t have myspaces, but i’m sure that’s what those kids over there do).
around the corner, we went for gelato, only to discover it was a place in my eat.shop book! the place looked like something puccacharm would open up once she became a big-time gourmet: blue tile, clean, unique lighting, chalkboard menus… capogiro was so tasty, i had pompelmo rosso con campari (grapefruit campari) and steph had malt scotch (which had a little scotch aftertaste). they’re big on using seasonal fruits and ingredients, and flavors change daily. i want to go back and try: turkish coffee, thai coconut milk, champagne mango, lychee, lemon thyme, carambola con limone verde (star fruit with lime), banana foster, and bacio (chocolate and hazelnut). i need a job so i can move into the city already…
