Warming up to Fall

This past summer break from school was not necessarily intended to be a break from the blog, but, so it goes. A new season (nearly), a new semester, finally a senior. So it goes.

Bushwick cools in autumn light while the days begin to shorten, making the apartment much more enticing at night than during the summer. While there is light, we fight the indoors, take to the streets and pretend this concrete means nature.Grass sprouts through sidewalk cracks and we transplants remember our hometowns. New York's the city of passers-by, of missed or random meetings, impermanence, and a hustle that just might be superhuman. But we keep climbing the stairs, keep riding the subways and walking these streets. 

Last night, a bunch of friends and I went to a friend's show of folksy, hymn-like music. While he played, I sat beside his girlfriend and watched her listen to the music she must know so well. Hardly looking at him, she sat and smiled, so happy and proud of him. There's something to watching someone while their significant other is engaged in their passion. I haven't quite put my finger on it yet.

I have also found myself lately becoming more engaged in local politics than ever before. The mayoral race is in full swing, complete with frantic lashings out, extreme promises, and a chaos that reminds me of Lewis Carroll's political race parody where the animals race around, with no start and no end, until nobody wins, much to Alice's confusion. Recently, a debate ensued where all candidates lashed out against a sole candidate, primarily for his secure place as the democratic nominee. For the people who are supposed to run things, you'd hope for better performance. We all, I'm assuming, hope for better performance from these politicians, but all we find are lies and immature squabble. As I enter into politics, I'm constantly reminded of why I've avoided the topic for so long. Ah well. The biggest question is, though, do we lower our standards to accept these politicians (as we've been doing for so long), or do we finally put our feet down?

A Thought: I'll probably say more about this later, but anywho, as everyone becomes engrossed in the Syria debate, there's the handful who support US involvement and possible declaration of war, while another handful scream against US involvement, while yet another handful outright oppose war on principle. So often in these scenarios, when involvement is decided upon, countries jump right to war, as if war is the only answer and tool one country has against another. The biggest guns and highest body count proclaim "right." But just as no man is an island, neither is any country (in our political sphere anyways) isolated. I would imagine that blockades, loss of support, freezing of imports/exports, etc… would send just as clear of a message without having to jump to military involvement. Can't we get a little more creative than guns?

A Find: Recently I've been getting really into the theories, basics, and elements of graphic design and have found a number of books by Ellen Lupton that are really amazing. Two in particular are extremely helpful for the contemporary beginner: Graphic Design, The New Basics and Thinking with Type. Both are really good finds and have been very positively reviewed in the design sphere.