Monday, May 6, 2013

42 days later...

Ugh. To say that April was brutal is an understatement. Sorry folks, but when a full time job, a 13 month old daughter and an urban political processes masters class are on the agenda, the blog sort of falls down the latter in importance. I also ran the Leatherman's Loop 10k; can't recommend it enough. Mainly because even at my age, I still get a kick out of splashing around in the mud from time to time.

Real quick before I collapse into bed.

Aside from a few tweaks to the conclusion, the thesis is ready to be pushed out into the great wide world. It's still not clear that I'll be able to submit it to the dean's office; I've been told I may have to wait until I finish my class credits. I have three left to go, which at one per semester will put at the finish line in December 2014. Either way, I'm not waiting around to shop it around to someone who might want to publish it.

Urban political processes meets one last time tomorrow, and then I have one week to finish a take home test. I've also written a research paper on two NYCHA projects for this class; will be sharing it shortly too. Got an A for it. Woo!

Finally, if you haven't read it already, I HIGHLY recommend Bushwick Gets a Fresh Coat: A Son of Bushwick Turns the Neighborhood Into a Gallery for Street Art, which appeared in yesterday's New York Times. Basically, this is the kind of story that, had it come out three years ago, would have been exhibit A for my thesis.

When I got to the end of the piece, I wanted to hug/shake hands with/fist bump/high five Joseph Ficalora, who is the focus of the story, just for this passage:

On a recent afternoon, he walked the neighborhood, greeting friends in fluent Spanish and checking on a new row of businesses under construction nearby. As he rounded the corner he spotted a newly renovated apartment building glistening under a fresh, even coat of cornflower blue.
 “What a mistake,” he said under his breath.
The building, he said, would be tagged with graffiti in no time. Standing next to the plain, pale blue, he just shook his head. “It’s such a waste of paint.” 

Be back soon. I promise.
Cheers!
PV

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