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Saturday, July 31st, 2010

There’s a recent trend within the youth culture in New York City which may have been growing, or might already be in full swing, but it’s bothersome either way. It’s when people who move to New York City from another city, or another town, simply refuse to say anything good about their hometown, or worse yet, find fault in hometown pride.

I was at Siren Fest a couple weeks ago, and I saw this amazing band called Screaming Females. They were an excellent band, they were from New Jersey, and they were proud of both. After the set, walking through the masses, I overheard someone complaining that “they kept mentioning they were from New Brunswick like it’s something to be proud of.” To that person, I say: so what?

There’s a lot that’s said about the wide range of people, nationalities, and cultures that can be found within New York City. Though that’s very much true, it doesn’t all come from people from other countries. A lot of the time, the uniqueness of people found in this city come from people with their hearts truly rooted in other parts of the States. New York City does not exist in a vacuum. It thrives on being a cultural sponge, soaking up what’s best from different parts of America, and feeding off of those who take pride in the land that they call home, and doing what that place does best, but in NYC.

I’ll admit, when it comes to hometown pride, I do sit in a comfortable seat. It might seem a lot easier to be proud of being from Brooklyn, NY than some place like, I don’t know, Dearborn, MI, but I’m not from there, so I wouldn’t actually know. But what I do know is that a sense of place is the most essential thing a person can have. It’s what feeds us emotionally, personally, and creatively. I mean, what would the world be like if Bruce Springsteen decided that he wasn’t proud of New Jersey? It’d be a lot worse off, I can tell you that.

Now, I’m not calling for pride of the overeager, chest-thumping nature. Nor am I telling anyone who isn’t from New York not to be happy and proud calling it their home. But there’s something about knowing where you’re from, and being proud of that, and bringing the best of it to New York City that makes it such a great place to live.

-Andrew Limbong

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Why Is It So Hot in the Subway?

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

image credit: blogout.justout.com

As I was listening to the news on TV while cooking my light dinner, I heard something like “there is about 105 degrees inside the subway stations in New York City.” 105 degrees the temperature there is, indeed.

An ex-camper, I love walking long distances, and I do walk whenever it is possible and not too far. Now that it is so hot in the city, walking is not as pleasant as always. And still, waiting for a train is even harder to tolerate.

Imagine: you are standing inside a station for about 10 minutes. You inhale hot air, far from being fresh, not mentioning the smell of garbage or something even worse that people, not too concerned about others, left there. Sweat is rolling down your back. Your hair is all wet and sticky. A little relieved, you see a guy selling bottled water, which seems a bit refreshing for a moment – until you ask him for the price. And you keep wondering: where the hell is the train? And also: why is it so hot in the subway?

Overheated and wet, you get on the train that finally arrives. Sitting inside, you indulge in fresh air and think, “God bless air conditioners.” However, your happiness doesn’t last long: you are slowly feeling colder and colder, as your wet clothes and hair, soaked in sweat, do not feel so good and refreshing anymore.

If you find yourself complaining about being cold now, then just get off on the next station and wait for another train in 105 degree heat. And think about other countries that do not have air conditioning either in their public transportation system or their homes, so maybe, you have really nothing to complain about.

Ekaterina Lalo

Check out my blog at www.nycvalues.blogspot.com

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Networking: the art of knowing a guy who knows a guy.

Monday, July 5th, 2010

I attended a pretty blah networking workshop the other day but managed to walk away from it with some  not-so-blah food for thought:
Networking–you can and should always be doing it. Although workshop instructors make it out to be a science, it’s really more of a life philosophy. It’s the the acknowledgment that anyone we meet at any point can take us to new and exciting places regardless of whether they help us out or we help them out.

Networking is about coming to terms with the fact that by yourself you are a pretty small entity, but with links to others, your reach is infinitely broader and your possibilities increase exponentially.

Sound good? Okay, so where do you start?

With the very next person you encounter.

It means genuinely taking an interest in the people around you without a specific end goal in mind. After all, you can’t pin point a goal until you have some information, so just go information digging. Make it your mission to keep searching until you discover something about the person that
surprises, intrigues, or excites you. Keep exploring till you hear yourself saying: “Oh! Really?” And focus on listening, asking open ended questions, and thinking of how you or someone in your network could help this person out. Introduce people to one another whenever the opportunity arises. Remember also to network with people you already now. The person who is now your physics homework buddy can also turn out to be an event planning guru or know someone who is.
So connect yourself, connect others, then reconnect–as long as it’s genuine and you are interested in the give as much as the take. Let’s make this world a more collaborative sandbox.

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Late Night Creations

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

written by Sabina Ashbaugh

We always substitute an egg with two tablespoons of vanilla soymilk—a slight variation that leaves the dough runny and easier to mix with the cracked wooden spoon. The timer is set for 12 minutes, not 14 as the cookbook suggests, with a reminder at the six-minute mark to switch the top and bottom trays in the oven. Despite these careful discrepancies, accumulated over countless nights, our creations are never completely predictable. We speculate whether it might be the heat of the dimly lit kitchen, and that volatile summer breeze that seeps in through the windows and seems to soften the contours of the room.
Despite our many trials, my sister and I never fully plan our baking efforts, or even carefully measure out the ingredients of our amended recipes. The soymilk substitution, now a permanent step in the cookie making process, came from a late realization that the egg carton was deceptively empty. As if to support this impulsiveness, the planned desserts baked for family dinners—the pumpkin or apple pies, the blueberry cobblers, the cinnamon buns, the madeleines—are never as good as the spontaneous endeavors to satisfy late night cravings. The immediate satisfaction of these creations quickly assuaged the worries and anxieties amassed during school or work. Tasks divided and ingredients laid out, my sister and I get to work setting right the wrongs of the day.
It has been a year now since I moved away from home. Some months have flown by while others have painstakingly inched to a close, with pangs of homesickness and late night baking cravings that seemed to arise out of nowhere. Family, a concept that had seemed so natural and tangible just a year ago, has slowly been abstracted to stand for that sense of place so radically reconfigured after leaving for school. In times of stress, I often caught myself about to call the house with a confused plea of “What should I do?”
With distance I have come to realize how often I unintentionally underappreciated this form of support. I cringe at the thought that the ease and spontaneity of those nights spent baking are a lost bridge between my sister and I—treasured memories to look back on fondly but ones impossible to recapture. And yet the removal of this crutch has also forced me to examine how I will right the wrongs of the day in my own way—not by baking, but through the careers and choices that lie ahead.
Moving away is an exciting step towards independence and deciding how and what one wants to change in the world. In the midst of so many choices, the advice offered by family is a means of grounding oneself in times of transformation. Finding a niche in college involves exploring how one will contribute to society and improve the lives of others, but it also requires the recognition of the debt owed to those at home.
Growing up compels us to accept these recipes, relationships, and plans for future change. Family rituals become memories as traditions are re-made. It is important to maintain ties with those that helped us get where we are, and continue to want to see us succeed. Helping others starts by looking out for and appreciating those at home, and paying tribute to those left behind.

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Cheap Eats Vegan

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

written by Christina Roylance

Think being a vegetarian means expensive specialty restaurants, and lots of drama when you go out to dinner with friends? Do you feel that you’ll have to be the most finicky customer of all time and waiters will hate you? This could not be further from the truth.  Living in NYC is getting easier and more enjoyable every day to be a vegetarian or vegan.  There’s tons of options, and you don’t need to drag everyone to your all-veg restaurants; there are simple ways to get cheap awesome vegetarian food by being knowledgeable about good places and keeping a few things in mind.
NYC is a mecca of different cultures and backgrounds. Ethnic foods abound in the city, and there’s often cheap, local places for whatever foreign flavor you want–Indian, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, whatever.  Many of these cuisines are sensitive to vegetarians, and can easily be requested vegan, as long as you know what to ask for.

Middle Eastern food is a great resource for vegetarians.  Falafels are cheap, vegetarian fast food sandwiches: deep fried tahini balls with hummus and veggies!  It’s a great, simple, yet filling option.  Aldiwan Lebanese restaurant is located on A if you want a sit-down Middle Eastern dinner.  It also has a great selection of vegetarian appetizers, as well as a tasty vegetarian Mousaka entrée that’s big enough for two.

At lunchtime, there’s always Indian food all-you-can-eat buffets for cheap.  Indian Taj on Bleeker has a $10 deal that’s even cheaper with a Campus Clipper Coupon.  Indian food is hearty and flavorful, and you can just ask the servers which dishes do not have any meat or cheese.  These buffets are usually huge, so there’s bound to be a selection of vegetarian things to eat.

Thai food is a personal favorite of mine.  Entrées tend to be large so you can cut the cost by splitting dishes.  There are always a great deal of vegetarian options, but just ask if there are any eggs in the dish and it’s easy enough for you to be accommodated.  Boyd Thai on Thompson has great vegetarian options, and vegan treats and desserts available as well!

Mexican cuisine is great because if that’s what you’re craving, you can either get fast and cheap take-out style places or sit down to dinner.  Vegetarian and vegan burritos are easy since you often custom order them.  With rice, beans, veggies, and guacamole, (and cheese and sour cream if you’re not a vegan) a vegetarian burrito is filling and quick.  Try grabbing one from Burritoville, and use your Campus Clipper Coupon to save $1.

Surprisingly, lots of sushi restaurants can accommodate vegetarians as well, with veggie filled sushi rolls. It is important to make sure the restaurant doesn’t use fish sauces or oils in the preparation though if you’re a strict vegetarian.  Sushi Yawa on 8th street has tons of vegetable rolls (cucumber, avocado, sweet potato, spinach, and more!), and a bunch of vegetarian appetizers as well.  Plus, everyone I know loves sushi, so non-veg friends will be happy to accompany you.

Italian food is everyone’s favorite–who doesn’t love pasta?  It just takes a few easy questions when ordering your pasta dish to know if it’s vegetarian or vegan.  Just ask if there’s meat in the sauce, request no parmesan, and ask for your food cooked with olive oil instead of butter.  Most dishes are prepared that way already, but if you just check it should be easy to make any changes.  Grotta Azzurra in Little Italy has an affordable $10 prix fixe for lunch, as well as a Thursday night ladies night, with free appetizers and half-off on drinks!

So just because you’re vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean eating out has to be boring or expensive!  You can still eat your favorite things; just be a little conscientious and ask the right questions.  You don’t have to miss out on any great deals or fun nights out just because you have different dietary needs.  So remember to use Campus Clipper coupons to get the best deals, and be sure to experiment and have fun.

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Posted in Cheap Eats, onFood, onHealth, onValues, Student Maximu$ Summer/Fall 2010 | No Comments »

Volumes: Siren Music Festival 2010

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Thank God for the Village Voice. Not only do the provide me with ample subway reading fodder, but they’ve got excellent taste in music. Which is good because every summer, the hold a free music festival know as the Siren Music Festival at Coney Island, and this year is going to be big. Usually, they don’t ask bands who have already played to come back. They’re forward thinkers over at the Village Voice. But this is going to be their tenth anniversary, so they’re calling in the big guns.

The big headliners are Matt and Kim and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. I saw Matt and Kim at a free show last summer, and it was a blast. they’re a synth/drums duo who are out on a quest to have an endless amount of fun. And they’re succeeding. Don’t see them without your dancing shoes, or you’ll regret it. When it comes to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, I’ve been quoted as to calling Ted Leo my generation’s punk-rock super-hero. Their shows are always energetic and full of blisteringly good musicianship.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

All that being said, I got a lot more excited than I really should have when they announced Ponytail was playing. I had never listened to them before until I saw them last summer at the Williamsburg Waterfront. Never before had I been so surprisingly filled with joy ad glee. The lead singer, Molly Siegel, hopped and bopped all around onstage, yelping her lungs out while the guys were weaving a musical tapestry of textures behind her. I remember at one point specifically, the instruments were building up and up and up into a climax until Siegel screams into her microphone “KAAMEEEHAAAME … HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” sending the band behind her into a frenetic whirlwind. I was in love (If you don’t get it, a “kamehameha” is a reference to a cartoon called Dragonball).

The festival is on Saturday, July 17, starting at noon. But get there early. It gets really crowded. It also gets really hot, so dress appropriately and bring LOTS OF WATER.

-Andrew Limbong

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Volumes: Rock the Bells 2010

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

If you’re reading this, and you are even remotely interested in hip-hop, listen up. This year, the seventh annual Rock the Bells festival is taking place Saturday, August 28 at Governor’s Island, and it’s going to be immense. I don’t mean to say that it will just be a fun time, and I don’t mean to say it will just be entertaining. Immense is the word I used, and I wholeheartedly mean it.

What makes this year so special? For one thing, the line up is crazy good. Snoop Dogg is headlining, but if that doesn’t quite set you over the top (which I completely understand), he’s also joined by some hip-hop old guards like Wu-Tang Clan (all original members, mind you), KRS-One, Rakim, and the act I’m personally most excited for, A Tribe Called Quest. Add onto that some other acts that have been making huge waves in the underground hip-hop scene for a while, and you’ve got a recipe for a great time.

But I said immense, right? What makes this year’s Rock the Bells immense is that it is “in commemoration of the greatest albums in hip-hop history.” And as such, each of the bigger acts are going to be performing  album sets. That is, they will each perform one of their more critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. This means you can see Snoop’s Doggystyle performed in its entirety. You can see KRS-One performing Criminal Minded. You can see A Tribe Called Quest perform Midnight Marauders. Or, you can take part in what will surely become history, and watch the original members of the Wu-Tang Clan, with ODB’s first born son Boy Jones, perform Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in it’s entirety. I think I’m tearing up a bit at the mere idea of it.

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), a.k.a. 36% of NYC Culture.

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), a.k.a. 36% of NYC culture.

And then there’s Ms. Lauryn Hill being featured as a “special guest,” performing some stuff off of her solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. If you’re unfamiliar, that’s the album with that song that went “thaat thing, thaaaat thing, thaaaaat thiiIIIiiIIiing.”

Tickets are a little pricey ($99 for General Admission), but if you factor in how significant these sets are, it’s a fair deal. You can buy tickets here. Buy them sooner rather than later, because the prices will probably go up the closer the festival gets.

-Andrew Limbong

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The Importance of Being Counseled

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Let’s face it, college can be an emotional rollercoaster. While you’re studying for tests and working on papers, you also have to deal with issues like friends, family, and your own happiness. I think people forget that college students are more likely to feel depressed than any other age group and that college is, for many, the first time of so many things. Some experience new academic pressures, and some feel the anxiety of paying for school. Some must finally confront the concept of “independence,” and some first begin the journey of who they are. During my first few months in college I got really down and spoke to my parents a lot. They would come visit me often since I went to school about thirty minutes away and they were sad that I wasn’t feeling my best. I got through that time by myself, but I started feeling down again during my sophomore year. I ended up going to the counseling center at my school just to check it out and see what my options were. I walked into that building feeling like every eye was looking, studying, and judging me and that I had some major problem that I needed to seek help for. After speaking with a intake counselor so they could get a sense of who I was (which, by the way, felt extremely impersonal and uncomfortable), I discovered that every student at my school was entitled to twelve free sessions a year with a graduate student studying in the masters of psychology program and I set up my first session. I began these sessions with hesitation, as I wasn’t sure how therapy was supposed to go. Was I supposed to just start speaking about my life with a total stranger? What if someone found out that I was in therapy? What if I hated the session and realized I just wasted an hour of my life? The truth was that these were and are valid concerns before starting therapy, but since this experience I have become an ardent supporter of therapy, if just for the sake of talking to someone else about what’s going on in your life. You don’t need to have something “wrong” to go to therapy. Therapy is a fantastic way to flesh out ideas, feelings, and opinions with an objective listener and if you also happen to have some issues that you’re dealing with what better setting is there than with a person whose job it is to listen and try to help? In an ideal world everyone would be in therapy and the stigma of being in therapy would disappear. We go to the gym to take care of our physical health, so shouldn’t taking care of our mental health be equally as important? Most schools have counseling centers and it doesn’t hurt to see what kind of options your school has to help with mental health. You have enough exams and research papers to deal with so check out some ways to make sure you’re feeling at your best.
Counseling is a different experience for everyone and it may take time to find a good person that you feel is actively listening to you. Let me know if you’ve ever seen a counselor and how the experience was.

-Roni Tessler

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What Recession?

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual unemployment rate across the country has more than doubled since 2006. While the national unemployment rate for the month of April was 9.9, the unemployment rate for New York wasn’t too far behind at 8.4.  This is troubling, not only for the entire workforce, but for recent graduates as well. It seems that the end of the recession is never going to come and that all is lost. I beg to differ.

For the past two years of my life, while many have been running around in a frenzy, spreading the word that “there are no jobs because we are in a recession,” I have been denying what everyone seems to be saying. I’ve never really been too keen on statistics, as I learned how they could be altered, while completing my studies in undergrad. I often saw students change both words and numbers around, molding their PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets to fit certain ideas, even if the real numbers or real data didn’t match up to these concepts; sort of the way some journalists do with their “objective” stories. I’d rather base my opinions on what I see. And based on what I’ve been seeing, we are in no way, shape or form, experiencing a recession. I can prove it.

Exhibit A: I want you to pick a Saturday when you have nothing but free time or even a few hours, preferably mid-afternoon to three o’ clock PM. Take the train to 34th Street in Manhattan and walk along this street, from Fifth Avenue to Eighth Avenue in either direction. Take notes, look around, and take pictures if you want.  What do you notice? Is it desolate? If not, approximately how many people are walking the streets? Do they have bags in their hands? Are they going into stores? Do the stores seem crowded? If your answer to the last three questions are yes, then you have successfully proven my point thus far. Recession’s, don’t usually include the joys of shopping.

Exhibit B: Let us move on to entertainment. I have been to the movies about three or four times this year. Now that may not be a lot to some, but each time I went, I always felt that I was on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange. By the way, I’d visited three different theaters and the environment was always the same, from Chelsea to Midtown to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, the crowds were always there; even on weekdays! I went out with a variety of friends for three weeks in a row to several restaurants around events around the city, and they were packed as well. Hmph, some recession!

Exhibit C: Now according to some, there are no jobs. Really?!? Then how come when I visit web sites such as craigslist.org or monster.com or the career web sites for the colleges I’ve attended, I see thousands upon thousands of jobs, internships, and careers? These are added on a regular basis and come from all industries as well as all career levels. But how can that be if we’re in a recession?

By now I hoped you’ve figured out the answer; just reread the title if you haven’t. So, keep looking for jobs, continue to shop, eat, and live. That’s what I’m doing because I live life by looking at what’s directly in front of me. Plus I’ve never really liked the news. It’s so depressing!

What will you do? Will you believe what the statistics say or will you believe what’s directly in front of your face?

Shana H

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An Apology

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

Stepping off the Q train the other day, a sharp pain of guilt hit me in my stomach. In getting up, walking towards the door, and exiting the train, I realized that I might not be as good of a person that I thought I was. That’s because in getting up, walking, and exiting, I noticed this old lady standing near where I was sitting. I don’t remember her getting on the stop before, or even the one before that. She must have gotten on well before my stop, standing there, while I was sitting. The sharp sudden pain of guilt came to me because I didn’t do anything about it.

There may have been other seats available on the train, it wasn’t that crowded. She might not have even wanted to sit. Maybe she really did just get on the stop before. But these are all just rationalizations. In reality, what had happened was I was so immersed in whatever music I was listening to, in whatever book I was reading, that the thought never even came for me to exercise some common courtesy and offer her my seat.

In writing, it seems like an insignificant occurrence. It happens everyday. People don’t get seats. It’s a tough city, New York. She’s probably used to it. But in its insignificance, I’m reminded by how tough of a city it can be. So why shouldn’t we help each other out?

Being a student in the city, being a student everywhere, being a person, even, it’s easy to get wrapped up in your own mind. There are deadlines, and books, and jobs, and music, and relationships, and movies, and friends, and emails, and everything else the day-to-day offers us, making it easy to not notice the people that surround us. It’s easy to ignore the guy looking for food in the trash. It’s easy to ignore the lady collecting cans off the street. It’s easy to ignore the old lady standing on the subway.

But that doesn’t mean we should. Now, I’m not saying we should all drop what we’re doing and start committing our lives to charity. What I am saying is that, we should lay our hurried minds to rest every once and a while, and notice the seemingly minuscule things around us. Plug out and zone into the world surrounding us, and see that apathy isn’t necessarily a sin of commission. More often than not, it’s a sin of omission, a sin of people trying too hard to live their own lives without thinking about making it just a little easier for other people to live theirs.

To the old lady on the Q, I’m sorry.

-Andrew Limbong

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