ASP

My days of dealing with Alternate Side Parking are over. (I will blog on my new car as soon as I can) I am not really sure how I felt about the experience but I think there are certain elements of it I will miss. Why you may ask would anyone miss alternate side parking? Well, I used to take advantage of the greatest parking scheme in NYC. To the best of my knowledge, there is only one street below 96th street that has alternate side parking for only 30 minutes. (there used to be two but the neighbors complained about one of them and got it changed to the ubiquitous and ridiculous 90 minute time span) This is one of New York's great secrets. So great is the secret that I am shocked it hasn't been picked up as a human interest story in the NYT or WSJ or on any of the big NY blogs. Parking on this block has its own rules and a subculture has developed with its own social norms and with a camaraderie that one rarely finds among strangers in NYC (this camaraderie is occasionally spoiled by newcomers and people who don't respect the rules or who just don't know how to drive). When properly excetuted, the "move" is nothing short of artistic beauty. The game begins at 8 on Mondays and Thursdays and at 8:30 on Tuesdays and Fridays. The process begins with a traffic officer walking down the block ticketing people who are not in their cars. Sometimes she doesn't come but if she does, she will be there at exactly the start time. She is a nice woman who doesn't take her job too seriously (Legally, you are not allowed to wait by the side of the street. You must leave your spot and leave the street open for cleaning) but if you aren't playing by the rules or threaten the efficient performance of the street sweeper's job she turns into one tough woman! Then the waiting begins... Some wait outside their car and chat but I usually stayed in my car and listened to the radio. Usually, the sweeper makes it in time but if he doesn't, the game ends. At excatly 9AM (or 830) the game is over and if the street sweeper gets there even one minute late he is out of luck. If however, the sweeper gets to the beginning of the street by 9AM then the entire street must move regardless of how long it takes for the sweeper to get to the end of the street. If the sweeper gets there in time, the fun begins. Much like "the wave" in a baseball game (which for some reason doesn't happen as often as it used to) the line of cars moves from one side of the street to the other. This leaves just enough room for the sweeper to pass. Then, the cars reverse back into their original position provided there are no other cars passing behind the sweeper. After the sweeper is all done, the adjustment begins. Because it is a community, the drivers feel the need to help out others on the street and park their cars as close as possible to the other cars to create as many spots as possible. I realize that for those who have never experienced ASP this post might seem boring and technical but for those who have experienced it, maybe you can help me figure out why I think I will miss it. Like yesterday, I would write more but class is ending. Ill clean up this post tomorrow.

"The Hills"

For the most part, I don't particularly like reality television. First, I don't really believe it is "reality." I think a lot of it is scripted or edited so that there is really little difference between scripted and reality. Even if that were not the case, people's personalities change when they know they are being watched and change dramatically when they know millions are watching. To that, add the fact that I can rarely relate to any characters and the slow pace of most of these shows and you are left with what I think is awful TV.
Worse than reality television is MTV reality television. In truth, MTV probably deserves "credit" for creating modern day reality television with "The Real World", but the problem with MTV's take on reality TV is that they don't even try to create a plot. Take, for instance, "The Real World." The show can be perfectly described as a bunch of people living together. That's it! They film these people for days on end and then rely on some barely interesting interactions between them to capture our attention. But, I don't really care who might be pregnant with whose child (I saw an episode of Real World Las Vegas) and there is no way I can believe that these people are really like that outside of the "fictional" environment MTV created. (How often do random twentysomethings get to live in the penthouse suite of the Palms Hotel?) Recently, MTV/VH1 released the most despicable of shows with the most despicable of characters. I refer to the show "The Flavor of Love" starring Flava Flav. (Will - if you are reading this, I am sorry) I wont elaborate on why the show is despicable but I will say that I am not an alarmist sounding the bell of societal decay at every corner, but that show may be a sign of the coming of the apocalypse.
With that inrotudciton, you can understand my surprise after watching the series premiere of "The Hills" and realizing that I couldn't wait for the next episode. I am still not sure why I like the show but what follows is a brief description of the show. (You may want to read the NYT review.)You may want to TiVo the first 2 episodes tonight at 2 and 2:30 AM and then watch the show on Wednesdays at 10PM. I want to get as many people as possible to watch the show so it wont be canceled.
The shows premise is completely unoriginal. The entire show follows the lives of Lauren and Heidi. Evidently, Lauren was a character on Laguna Beach so I think she brings to the show some "baggage" but luckily she wasn't the main character which would have certainly sunk the show. (Many successful spin-offs, like Frasier, are based on secondary characters) Lauren and Heidi are sharing an apartment and going to fashion school together. Lauren got a job with Teen Vogue and Heidi has ambitions of one day working in PR. In truth, Heidi is a party girl and for her PR is just a proxy for full time partying. There are some other characters on the show but they are incidental.
So, what is the best part of the show? Definitely Heidi! Heidi is one of the most believable characters on television. I get the feeling that she is exactly the same person off screen as she is on the show. She is completely straightforward with what she wants and what she thinks and the scene where her interviewer tells her that her desired job requires years of experience is one of the best scenes I have seen in a while. Also, while the characters may seem dumb, if you pay attention you will realize that neither Heidi not Lauren are dumb. I could go on (and I might elaborate more after this week's episode) but class is ending and I want to post this before tonight so I will end with a great quote from Heidi that also serves as my facebook quote:
"I hate it. You know when you get the feeling your not meant to do something? You just know you're not meant to do it. I just know im not meant to do school right now." Genius.

PS. you will enjoy the show more if you play the "who is better dressed in this scene?" game.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!
I am currently attending the BarBri bar review course in preparation for the bar exam at the end of July. Everyday from 9AM until somewhere around 1PM we sit in class and learn all the law we should have learned in three years of law school. (I suspect there are others in class that already learned this stuff but am too afraid to ask them lest I get even more nervous than I already am.) The class consists of a lecture (a video lecture) with two ten minute breaks. (more about those later) We are supposed to come to class with paper handouts that look like partial class outlines. In theory, we learn the material by listening to the lecture and filling in the blanks on the outline. There is a lot more we are supposed to be doing (5-9 hours after class!!) but since I am not doing it I wont bore you with those details. The problem is that in order to make sure everyone adequately fills in the blanks, the professor must say every word slowly and at least two times. So, basically, every morning I sit through a class for 4 hours that could be delivered in 45 minutes. This leaves me with a lot of time. (I am also one of the lucky few to have the handouts in Word format so I don't have to hand write anything which I think I forgot how to do) How do I manage to do this after not going to class for two years? Good question.
Having access to the internet definitely helps get through the day but I realized that alone is not enough (I still don't know what the 95% of people without internet do) and hence the birth of this blog. In truth, I wanted to start a blog years ago and registered this blog name with the intent of forcing a structure on my thoughts. But now, I think I'll use it to fill time and share with you some of the crazy thoughts that go through my brain during these long morning hours. At some point,I hope to write a formal post outlining my expectations from this project, my promises to you the reader, etc. but for now I think I'll just welcome you and your comments.