my good friend, Eric Sailer, a visual communications major out of the University of Delaware, has busted his butt all summer making contacts with newspaper and magazine editors, and just officially started his hopefully life-long and legendary career as a freelance illustrator. last sunday, his work was published in a major metropolitan paper, the 3rd oldest surviving newspaper in the country, the Philadelphia Inquirer. already, the class of 2008 is off doing great things. very happy for him, i know Eric’s gotten a lot of skeptical reactions when he’s said he is going to be an artist, specifically an illustrator. but he’s gone about it in a very realistic fashion, and he’s made incredible strides. he’s published at the age of 23. amazing. check out his comic strip: Lost Without Eve. i just started reading Susan Shapiro’s Only as Good as Your Word: Writing Lessons from my Favorite Literary Gurus – to be a freelance artist, whether with word, drawing, or craft sounds wonderfully romantic. more power and my total admiration to those who have the talent and work hard to follow their passion, despite the doubts and calls to “get a real job”.
the editorial is a brief, but detailed summary that reads like Urban Studies 101, the professors start off with LBJ’s various programs such as the Head Start and Medicare that were specifically targeted towards addressing the problems of major urban areas in America. but in recent years, cities have been neglected: suburbanization, exurbanization, rise of middle class, globalization, rise of the service-sector, decrease in federal aid, etc, etc. Here, Professor Glickman and Professor Wilson write to the next president of the United States and hope they will add the troubles of urban areas onto their agenda. they advice for 6 steps towards revitalizing urban areas (more…)
Meyer and Associates/ 18 Washington Ave/ Chatham, NJ 07928-9903
sent:
The new peanut butter oreo, and chocolate peanut butter oreo cupcake recipe
reasoning:
oh drool. this seems like a delicious combination. it might be a little too much – milk or some other form of liquid would be definitely need to be close by. i couldn’t find these at my local grocery stores, but hopefully they’ll be on shelves soon. i did come across banana split oreos in a old, vintage-looking box. i couldn’t tell if they were stale, or if that flavor combination is a good idea. however, this is something i can definitely support: peanut butter & oreo chocolate. i wonder how far the oreo peanut butter tastes from actual peanut butter, i’ve heard comparisons to nutter butter – i suppose that wouldn’t be too bad. and if anything, you could also break them up and make chocolate peanut butter oreo cupcakes.
Draft Publishing LLC/ PO Box 612/ Holmes, PA 19043-9949
sent:
reasoning:
this election season with two formidable candidates running for the Democratic nomination – all the talk revolved around who they were, or that they were the token “black” or “female” candidates. people couldn’t stop discussing race and gender, and the uglier sides of racism and sexism. in these days of political correctness, we aren’t supposed to talk about those things, sure it still exists, but most of us are above that sort of thing and treat everybody equally and respectfully. i think we are on the right path, making concerted efforts to see people on their merits and hold them accountable for their own words & actions. but we cannot deny that race, gender and sexuality exist, at times – it’s like the huge pink, polka dotted, wearing skinny jeans, with a beret and smoking a cigar elephant in the room – and that snap judgments are often made based upon these identifying factors.
the debate around affirmative action seems to be whether or not to acknowledge these differences. (more…)
the story of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly has shocked Philadelphia, and brought down one of its most important, but also troubled institutions, the Department of Human Services. Danieal was found dead in a ‘fetid, airless’ room severely malnourished and covered in bedsores so deep and old that they started to attract maggots. cerebral palsy limited her actions, and she was dependent upon several caretakers: her parents, and DHS.
however, it was a combination of ambivalence, embarassment, bureaucracy and apathy that killed her. (more…)
Boston Research Group/Bank of America Client Survey – Dept. 23/PO Box 75475-9980/ Dayton, OH 45475-9980
sent:
Adele – Hometown Glory Live on a BBC 2 show called “Sound”.
reasoning:
current music obsession. Adele, along with Duffy, are receiving big amounts of hype and seeming inextricable comparisons to Amy Winehouse. perhaps anything now that’s deep, throaty and a bit jazz-y, or soulful draws parallels to her. the blogs and the music critics say Adele and Duffy are like Amy, except less drunk and hopped up on drugs -> cleaner cut versions. whatever, i think they are each their own. according to wikipedia, Adele says she is a bit of a heavy drinker, but she’s never dabbled in drugs. one thing the media has picked up on, particularly the American media, is her weight. at size 14-16, she’s “larger” than most of the public tv/movie/music figures in the spotlight. but she’s been angrily slamming the reports, and adamant that she is not going to succumb to the pressure to lose weight, now that she’s a ’star’. she’d only consider doing it for health reasons. she’s beautiful, and her voice is amazing. it’s refreshing that she is not going to kill her body just so she can fit in better and become more successful. her voice, and her work should be enough to stand for itself, and they do.
another case for why people do not trust labor unions in America. while most work hard to properly represent workers from all sorts of trades, blue-collar, or service sector, even college professors and graduate students, getting them the proper benefits, contracts, and pay wages, it is the stories of stealing, deceit and trickery that get headlines. the union men and women that i’ve met in my very brief 1-2 year experience in the labor movement are the hardest working, family-oriented, salt-of-the-earth, good-natured American gritty, honest and kind people around.
it is unfortunate that the American labor movement has become entangled with politics, bureaucracy and corruption in recent years. given its long and, at times, questionable history (mob? communists?) in the country, perhaps it’s almost understandable or logical that people are generally skeptical of how much unions actually do accomplish to benefit the American worker.
but it’s stories like this that set the whole movement back a couple of steps and add to the negativity that unions are corrupt and ineffective. to steal more than $93,000 from the members and the fund that you were trusted to protect and take care of, for your own personal finances is wrong, despicable and immoral. i don’t like to mix morals with politics and public life, but there are definitely things that almost everyone, living in this society, can agree to be wrong. the fact that union cops took money out of the account used for charitable causes, including a fund for their fellow, slain officers just adds injury to insult. stuff like this is why people generally do not trust the po-pos, the two caught and charged with stealing, they are hurting the cause of what they are supposed to stand for – they should be reputable and trustworthy as union leaders and police officers.
i hope i never become too old to understand ZITS. sometimes i think about whether or not going to Smith has hindered parts of my conception of the male gender b/c i was surrounded by such strong-willed women for a very formative part of my personal growth. in that, perhaps sometimes i have these unfair perceptions of boys, guys, or men in general. it’s an elitist and sexist view, and i know generalizations are wrong and rarely ever true. perhaps it’s just that i’ve spent so much time with women, so much time analyzing and critically thinking about words being said that i do pay too much attention to some things that are said. sometimes, you just have to take what people say for what it is. i know these encounters are going to happen more, and i shouldn’t say they are ‘encounters’, but just everyday interactions. i don’t blame Smith entirely, b/c while it did have a bit of a coddled, ‘living in a bubble’ environment, it was something i really needed. there are times when i don’t think i’m ready for ‘the real world’, just want to go back to college, back to academia with its books, lengthy articles, and informative lectures.
1 oz. Apple Liqueur/1 oz. Cointreau/1 tsp unsweetened apple sauce/6 leaves of fresh mint/4 oz. fresh sweetened lemonade
Combine ingredients, and shake together. pour over ice in cocktail glass (rimmed with sugar and cinnamon). Garnish with mint and lemon.
reasoning:
looks yummy. like an apple-lemonade. apple liqueur is too sweet for my taste, but i imagine the sugar & cinnamon rim would balance and spice the drink up. i like that he didn’t choose to add vanilla vodka or liqueur along with star anise, as i’ve seen many ‘appletini’ recipes have – that sweet, foamy flavor kind of makes me kind of nauseous. this, however, looks completely tasty. the name is also great, if drinking this could make me feel like i’m in marrakesh, i am totally down and will be downing these by the gallon. god, i need to be in the city bartending already. if anyone has apple liqueur lying around and gets to try this out, please let me know how it is.
Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi wedding portrait
reasoning:
Congratulations to Ellen and Portia on getting married over the weekend. last night, i opened my email to receive 2 emails from Ellen (yeah, i’m subscribed to her show mailing list) with the subject title: JustMarried. in the email, she talks about how she now only write in fancy schmancy fonts b/c she gotmarried and now says “I do” to everything: a pilates work-out, an offer of Mountain Dew, or why she got pulled over.
the official wedding portrait is beautiful, and the couple is on the cover of People magazine looking so incredibly happy and gorgeous in white. the thousands of comments are usually ones of total support and best wishes, but reading the forums, there is still great hostility and opposition to a lesbian marriage. some were downright hateful and misogynistic about threesomes where a guy would be serviced by both of them, that ellen could never possibly be enough for portia, that this isn’t real, etc etc. and then there were some that were prefaced by “while i don’t support gay marriage… they look beautiful, i wish them luck”. some people aren’t fully on board yet, and some people are “love is love”. it’s one of our last major social battles or frontiers, but almost no one who commented could deny how perfect and well these two seem to fit together, regardless of gender and sexuality. i’m always in wonder when people take those steps to really commit themselves to each other, for all that that involves. it’s hard not to become swept up in the happiness and romance of Ellen and Portia, they look stunning. brava and love to the beautiful couple.
i don’t think the concept that america is becoming more racially diverse and ‘multicultural’ is a surprise to anyone living here. i think the big news here is how fast it’s happening, much quicker than originally predicted. and we’re already starting to see the effects. the focus on ‘illegal’ immigration, along with the bad economy and outsourcing has given rise to tremendous racial hostility, there’s going to be more xenophobia and strife before this gets better. in a way, i don’t blame a lot of the working class americans who live in small towns that are having difficulty adjusting. it’s become more difficult to just work hard and make an honest living, and the most obvious reason may actually be the undocumented workers in the town willing to receive much less for just as much labor. there needs to be more proper and respectful efforts of integration, it’s frustrating when legislators and politicians are scapegoating latinos and instituting expensive band-aid solutions like building a giant wall. i like this cartoon’s point of showing how mccain’s campaign of showing how ‘american’ he is, actually demonstrates how far detached he and his image are from what is really going on in the country.
skeptical reactions when he’s said he is going to be an artist, specifically an illustrator. but he’s gone about it in a very realistic fashion, and he’s made incredible strides. he’s published at the age of 23. amazing. check out his comic strip: Lost Without Eve. i just started reading Susan Shapiro’s Only as Good as Your Word: Writing Lessons from my Favorite Literary Gurus – to be a freelance artist, whether with word, drawing, or craft sounds wonderfully romantic. more power and my total admiration to those who have the talent and work hard to follow their passion, despite the doubts and calls to “get a real job”.
the-earth, good-natured American gritty, honest and kind people around.
