Archive for September, 2007
September 29, 2007 at 12:49 pm · Filed under Reflection
Thursday evening I was on my way to the student union building and I saw what looked like the remnants of a demonstration around the old bus loop.
I think it is a campaign by the Students for a Democratic Society group at UBC.
From their site:
This campaign seeks to safeguard public spaces on campus, and to liberate corporate/privatized space so that it may be accessible to all. A huge component of this campaign is to oppose the University Blvd Development Plan in its entirety and essence (since its purpose is to make the centre of campus a corporate/private space to which students only have access as customers or condo owners/renters), and to replace this plan with one that maximizes public space and green space (keeps the grassy knoll), emphasizes student controlled space, makes the centre of campus car-free, and actually increases bus-ridership across the campus community.
I like the concept of free space and I agree that the feeling of student as customer is becoming stronger and stronger.
But from a non-political / activist perspective – I wondered why there were no people using the free space. Yes, it was a bit rainy outside and I imagine that couch being too wet to sit on but still…only information about the campaign was posted on the free speech board.
I took pictures and I felt a little awkward, like people were maybe watching or noticing me and I did not want to be noticed. It made me think about the personal barriers one would need to overcome to enjoy the free space.
Then I walked into the SUB and thought about the comfort people find in being a consumer. Spending money and receiving consumables and the right to be somewhere gives one purpose. To use free spaces, you need to make your own purpose. It will not be sold to you.
Members of groups like the one who organized this have their purpose – how can that purpose be distributed to everyone? Who will accept it if it means giving up comforts.
I imagine these groups face this problem all the time. I guess I am doing some inner reflection – why have I never gotten involved? Because it means giving up my comfort…
September 28, 2007 at 1:43 pm · Filed under 日本語
Yes! “Just a few words a day”…so I’ve been busy and will continue to be busy until (…?…) but, 出来るだけ! As much as possible!
ガリガリ, garigari
According to my ds, it is onomatopoeia for grinding or gnawing but, according to rikaichan it means selfish person or selfishness. Are they related? 心をガリガリかじる.
虫,むしば, mushiba
“cavity”, “decayed tooth”, the first kanji, 虫 (mushi), means “insect” and the second, 歯 (ha –> ba) means “tooth”. I wonder if the origin is from 虫 being used in compound words expressing things rotten or having gone bad or, was it once believed that a cavity or bad tooth was caused by a bug living inside?
September 28, 2007 at 12:43 pm · Filed under Things Found Online
I am learning that if you search Flickr for pictures tagged “couch”, it is very difficult to find a vacant couch. They are all occupied with pets, children or naked women.
September 27, 2007 at 5:54 am · Filed under Thinking
I have too much crap!
Today I emptied my storage container. After a year and a half I was reunited with my Vancouver possessions. Below is what was my container, a picture taken when about 65% of my things had already been packed into a minivan.
Everything completely filled the back (seats taken out). Thank you Hendrik, thank you so much! He had the genius to angle a folding table into an “L”-shape so that it could fit together. I was tetris-impressed.
Now I have boxes and boxes of things and not much place to put them. Some of it I am very happy to see again. Like my blanket, my housecoat, towels, my table…all the really functional things. Things that keep me warm or let me put stuff on/in them.
Then there is all the random crap I’ve picked up along the way. I see it and I just feel buuuuuuurdened. “I was fine without you. I am independent now.”
I will probably warm up to somethings. Other things…well, a garage sale is in order. Also, from now on…well…in Japan I did a pretty good job at keeping purchases low, not buying room decorations and things like, no matter how kawaii. I think I will be able to continue that here. Right now I feel value in owning as little as possible.
Except for clothes…
September 26, 2007 at 3:46 am · Filed under Social Technology, Things Found Online
The other night at supper A reminded me of craigslist missed connections. I had forgotten about them! Not so interesting when in another country and there is 0% chance of surprise…1% chance and I am sucked in!
I wrote about them before and this time, I’m thinking about the different types of posts. Some of the characteristics or variables are:
- frequency of encounters with the sought person: one to multiple times (possibly in daily routine)
- deepness of relationship: total stranger to someone very close
- location scope: specified (I saw you), guessing (I think you might live in…now), where??
- types of locations: transportation, grocery stores, restaurants, bars, shows, in the street, class etc.
- identifiers: physical descriptions, description of event or place, names
- interactions: nothing, phone/email exchange, dancing, smile, conversation, being serviced (e.g. waiter), etc.
- seeker’s expectation: just throwing this out there to I must find you
- time: recent encounter to distant past
- (…)
The one thing I am not liking is this one dude pouring his heart out over an ex (I assume) that he misses deeply. Now I know, missed connections can be a good emotional outlet for broken-hearted people and there is that word “miss”(ed) in there. However, when somebody posts they are doing so for their own benefit – the small possibility that the person they seek will read the post and they can reconnect or connect again. At the same time, they are benefiting the community of missed connection readers by adding to perceived chance, arousing curiosity and satisfying some voyeurism. I feel like the sob letter posts do not provide the same benefit and enjoyment to the community and they add noise to the information I am interested in. Not that this is a service for my enjoyment, its purpose is missed connections, and maybe some people do enjoy reading about the heartbreak of others but…I wonder if a separate craigslist category would be more suitable? One between missed connections and rants and raves.
I was also wondering, if I was an Asian woman and I saw “Asian girl on the skytrain” how would I identify with that? Like…especially living in Vancouver. Maybe I wouldn’t even think about it. It is a physical description. I am “Tall girl on the 25″. But I wonder if the difference is that “Tall girl on the 25″ could be posted by any man but, I am going to guess that the guy who posted “Asian girl on the skytrain” is not Asian. Tell me if I am wrong but, if this is the case then it is interesting how, while specifying filter information, the man implicitly includes information about himself.
Finally, I have never written a missed connection myself and I wonder, if the occasion comes about in the future, will I be reflecting on the saucy man I saw in the soup aisle at the supermarket (sorry about that) and think – I should missed connect! Or, will I be composing the classified the moment I see him walk away with a can of Campbell’s tomato?
(Actually when I think about it, the soup aisle might have the lowest flow of male customers but I have no evidence to back that up. Though I am sure someone has researched male versus female flow through the grocery store and if I can’t fall asleep in the next 15 minutes I might just have to look that up.)
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