An Open Letter to Syracuse

Dear Syracuse,

    You are my home.  I have gone to school here.  I have bought a home here.  I have built my family here.  I have lived here for nearly seven years.  But, Syracuse, I am conflicted.  I keep thinking about moving away.  My husband has opportunities in other cities.  Cities much bigger than you.  And while I love you dearly, Syracuse, we don't always get along.  Very few things are in walking distance, my friend, and that bothers me.  Your public transportation is infrequent and does not meet any of my needs.  To be frank, I think your public transportation is pretty horrible, Syracuse.  Combined with that is the fact that everything around here is based on the car.  Walking around is very difficult.  There are all these interstate underpasses, and unkept sidewalks.  Especially in the winter, Syracuse: your sidewalks are a mess.

    But with all my complaints, I have a hard time wanting to leave.  I have invested so much of myself in you.  I want you to be beautiful.  No, that's not it... you are already beautiful.  More than anything, I want YOU, Syracuse, to just see yourself as beautiful.  I want you to see the beautiful city I know you are, underneath all the BS. ...and even more, I want you to see what you could become.  I want you to see how much MORE  beautiful you could become if you gave yourself the chance.

     And that's all it is, Syracuse.  You need to take a chance on yourself.  Leap the cliff.  I know you'll land on your feet.  You already have so much going for you.  You are not the failed DestiNY project.  You are not Syracuse University.  You are a winner, regardless of what the basketball team does.  You have many quality neighborhoods.  You have amazing parks.  And you are affordable.  You don't demand a lot from me as a resident.  Sure, taxes many be high, but land value is so cheap that it all balances out.  Living here, I was able to buy a house at the age of 26.  Most of my peers at that time had small apartments, or were living with their parents (or living in an apartment payed for by their parents!).  Syracuse, you gave me the ability to own my own land and be responsible for it.  You have allowed me to have a backyard to experiment in, and transform.

      You also attract quality people here, Syracuse.  I may not have the largest circle of friends here locally, but the friendship I make here, I know I will have for live.  When I was living in other cities, I knew the friends I made wouldn't stay around forever.  They were in that city for a job, or there as a stepping stone to other places.  But with you Syracuse, I know the friends I make here are friends I could have with me for live.  The people I meet here are committed.  They are of a different caliber.  They aren't living here because it's easy for them.  They aren't here because of peer pressure to living in a "cool" city.  And they aren't here because that's where their job just happens to be.  No, these people are willing to take a chance on you.  They aren't scared of your abandoned spaces.  They see opportunity in your boarded up windows.  They see the beautiful you that I also see.

     So take a chance on yourself Syracuse.  Because there are a lot of people here willing to take a chance on you.  And if I must leave in a few years to be with my family, please make sure that I can always come back to you.

Love,
A City Resident.

Salad for Dinner

So I just had a salad for dinner.  I am traveling, at an airport terminal with all sorts of yummy fast food temptations.  And I make a salad from the salad bar.  I am becoming one of those weird healthy people, and I like it.  The salad was amazing.  I had a scoop of tortellini with pesto sauce.  I had a few cubes of mozzarella.  There were craisins, sunflower seeds, kalmata olives, a hard boiled egg and a few slices of beets that I diced.  Every bite was like a different dish entirely.  Some bites were salty and nutty - lots of seeds and egg pieces.  Some were very sweet - I must have gotten some beets and craisins.  I felt like I was eating at least five different meals instead of just one continuous flavor (like say, a ham and swiss sandwich).  And yeah, maybe I'm being healthy, but I'm also have an awesomely tasty meal.  The only thing I'm missing is that heavy feeling in my stomach.

And I must give kudos to my latest fast.  You all know I love fasting, dear readers.  This year's fast was a fast from all breads, the entire taxonomy, inspired by this post on Slow Food USA.  I cheated a few times toward the end: once for Seder, and once for the closing of Doc's Little Gem Diner.  But overall, this fast taught me to get a little more creative with my every day meals.  No longer could I go to a sandwich or a wrap for a default, easy meal.  No more pizzas either.  (Nor anymore cookies, muffins, etc, etc).  I was forced to think.  I was broken out of my ruts.  And I think that particular fast gave me the courage, and habit, of not just going to the staples.  So today, when I'm in a hurry at an airport, surrounding by temptation... I circled the salad bar.

Yum!

Man versus Machine

We live in an age where energy is cheap and abundant, but I strongly believe that all geologic indicators (as well as geopolitical indicators) suggest this will not be true.  Most of you should not be surprise that I believe this.  And many of you have frequently heard me rant and peak oil, water scarcity, and that ilk.  I'm not going to delve deeply into those topics right now.  Others have said it better.

Today I'm thinking about the conflict of Man versus Machine.  It's one of these standard literary tropes.  And I wonder how much we believe that machines are *better* than us.  They are more powerful.  They are more efficient.  They can work longer.  Machines have taken over in the Matrix.  John Henry, our mythically strong folk hero, was defeated by the steam drill.  Yes, we overcome machines sometimes, but only through great difficulty, luck, or by subverting them and making them benign (while still acknowledging our reliance on their strength).

But a lot of this machine myth is based upon the assumption that energy will be cheap and abundant. ...that complex supply chains will be stable. ... that distance and location is not a factor.  And in a time of energy decline, none of these assumptions will be true.

I remember a conversation with a good friend of mine.  This friend is super, super intelligent. But when talking about an economy of peak oil, this friend was certain that the internet would remain.  I was truly surprised by the level of important this person placed on something like the internet.  Yes, the knowledge gained by the web is immense, but when someone has to choose between hiking into the mountains to repair a fiber-optical cable between two towns, and spending a week harvesting food, or constructing a building... I just can't see a rational person choosing to support the vast, elaborate machine that is the internet.

And upon reflect, I just find it amazing how deeply set a lot of our assumptions are regarding machines, regarding what they can do, and regarding their strengths.

This post was inspired by John Michael Greer's latest, and much more thorough, post on his website.

Gym Schedule

So in my last post, I "came out" as a someone who goes to the gym.  I've been going since September (hm, about the time my blog postings took a dive) and it's been great.  I haven't been keeping track of my weight or anything, because my two goals cancel one another out: (1) lose fat = less weight, and (2) gain muscle = more weight.  Instead, I'm going by my clothes.  The results?  My pants are more loose, and my jackets and shirts are tighter around the chest.  Exciting!

So I started off only going 3 times a week, but this didn't work so well.  Life would get in the way: I'd have a night meeting, a friend was in town, I was traveling, etc.  There were weeks when I was only at the gym once a week.  This was ridiculous - what was the point if I was only going to go once a week? Then my buddy who's been inspiring me put a suggestion in my head: go EVERY day.  At first I was dubious.  I am super busy individual and wasn't sure I could commit that much time to the gym.  But I had goals and I wasn't going to get there by only going once a week.

Let me tell you: going daily turned the equation upside down.  Instead of the gym being something that intruded on my schedule... gym became the default in my schedule.  It was assumed that I would be at the gym every day, and people expected it.  Suddenly, I was at the gym 5 to 6 times a week.  Yes, I still had night meetings and other random things, so it wasn't actually EVERY day.  But I found it was easier to go every day, then alternating days.

Sweat

Let me start with a confession: I love working out.  Love it.  I love how my muscles get all bulging from the blood rush.  I like wearing the meshy gym clothes.  I really enjoy that worn out / wet noodle feeling I get after a long work out.  But in a weird way, I'm most fascinated by my sweat.

Before you get all grossed out, let me tell you: I don't normally sweat.  Like ever.  During 90 degree weather and high humidity, I'll get a light sheen on my forearms and maybe under my eyes.  People sometimes mistake this weird eye sweat for crying, but I only do that for the Titanic film.... curse you James Cameron!!  Anyway, I digress.  This is about gym sweat.


This gym sweat is a novelty.  I am not used to it dripping down my body.  Who knew that sweat in your eyes stung?  And it's crazy when you're so sweaty that you can't wipe away sweat 'cause you're so sweaty.  I am fascinated by this.

This is also one of the clearest indicators that I am working my body out.  I have long term goals of fat reduction and muscle growth.  But I'm not really going to see those results for many months (if not years).  But sweat?  That is a direct indicator that I am using my body and pushing my limits.  It feels good.

So next time any of you are sweating, take a moment to appreciate the awesome things your body is capable of.

Small Steps Versus Canyons

A common theme I've been noticing in my thoughts has to do with small steps versus canyons. To explain the metaphor: I am told by many that you need to take small steps to see growth, improvement and change. I'm told this with the health care bill. I'm told this at work. I'm told this by almost every rational person I know.

But I'm not rational, I'm a Romantic.

Contrasting this is a phrase I learned about a year ago: "You can't take small steps across a canyon." I heard this phrase at a "Designing for Bicycles" workshop. Sometimes, the best thing to do when re-designing, and re-thinking something is to break with the past and start completely fresh.

This appeals to my sense of the Romantic, but I fear jumping across a canyon and landing someplace where I don't want to be. So when is "canyon hopping" appropriate? When should I accept small changes that don't do enough?