June 2012
11 posts
8 tags
Viva Italia!
As Euro 2012 proceeds this week, I wanted to get in on the fun. Up to this point, I’d largely been a passive observer to a few matches. I’ve enjoyed the quality of play and I’ve especially enjoyed the hyper-nationalism.
You know the patriotic fervor I speak of…the sanguine flag-waving that tinges every country that has been occupied by, conquered by, oppressed by, or...
4 tags
The (cue threatening music) Cone of Uncertainty
(It’s hurricane season and Tropical Storm Debby is bearing down. I figured it might be good to repost a 2008 blog I wrote with a few timely updates.)
Did you know that it was hurricane season? I remember that, at least around my house as a child, hurricane season was a pretty interesting time. We were all sure that my older brother was going to be a meteorologist, as he not only was glued...
4 tags
10 tags
Ubiquitous Absurdity: We Are Happy To Serve You
The ubiquitous is the artful. The artful is consumable. The consumable is marketed. The marketed is consumed. The consumed is thrown away. The thrown away is trash. The trash is ubiquitous…and, therefore, artful?
The ubiquitous is cast in ceramic and sold as a souvenir in a museum gift shop for $14. The souvenir is on my desk. Which means I have trash on my desk. Or something.
7 tags
(ex)Urban: The Death of My WalkScore
One of the most traumatic pieces of our move to the suburbs is the pending death of our WalkScore.
Yes, WalkScores aren’t exactly the end-all, be-all of our civilized life, but they do accurately portray a neighborhood’s walkability and, as a result, urbanity.
Our current inner-city house has a WalkScore (on a scale of 100) of 55, termed “Somewhat Walkable”, which is...
(ex)Urban: Luminaria and Culture Loss →
ex-urban:
Someone, quick…take a poll.
Of the total number of people that attended this year’s Luminaria (only 315,000 this year), I want to know how many were residents that came from more than 10 miles from downtown.
I want to know because I didn’t want to go. Life has been exhausting recently and…
(ex)Urban: Suburban Culture Shock →
ex-urban:
“We are not from here…”
We spent much of Friday morning in the suburban house of our choosing. We have an accepted offer and our inspector was out making sure that the house was not money pit and that it was, as it appeared, just as sturdy and wonderful as all of the other house on the…
(ex)Urban: Losing My (Urban) Religion →
ex-urban:
Walking home from breakfast one recent Saturday, I ran into a neighbor. He was up on a ladder pruning some trees. An ex-Mayor of San Antonio, he began much of the downtown revitalization years ago that the mayors have henceforth continued.
We exchanged our normal small talk before he asked…
