ramble through the bronx

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

More Fun With Etiquette

Here you go, from Snopes.com (the greatest source for checking out urban legends and such like)-- what to do about having forgotten someone's name, and being afraid they'll think ill of you if you admit the fact, or that you'll be embarrassed if you try to fake it:

"Etiquette maven Judith Martin has this bit of advice for those looking to avoid becoming the object of such a come-back:

"'It was on the crumbling page of hundred-year-old etiquette book that Miss Manners came across the solution to that enduring problem of what to say when confronted with a person whose name you know you are expected to know but don't. The answer comes to us from an anonymous Victorian, apparently a Hero of Etiquette but described merely as "a good-natured eccentric." Beaming a jovial smile at a vaguely familiar face, he would inquire in a pleasant, oh-by-the-by tone, "You don't happen to remember your name, do you?" '"

jane 9:55 PM [+]

etiquette

Link for y'all -- Etiquette Hell. Fun!

jane 3:37 PM [+]

some gunshots

Last night, shortly after Richard & I got home from Lynchburg VA, we heard what were most likely about 10 gunshots (though the kids 'round my place have been setting off a bunch of firecrackers lately, so various guesses can be hazarded).

Anyway, poking around on the internet today, I found this site, documenting various crimes around the 48th precinct (which includes the Belmont neighbourhood where most of us Fordhamits live) -- note especially that "E 182nd" and "Belmont" are in bold, which means extra crime-tastic. Fun! (Remember I live at E 182 & Belmont)

Although this 2003 one is neat, for being 2 blocks away from my place, whilst I was living there:

"SATURDAY, FEB. 22nd, 10:27 p.m. - A member of the rap group, Wu Tang Clan, was apprehended and placed under arrest. Apparently the perpetrator was found to have been unlawfully impersonating a police officer. Items confiscated included a police shield, a pair of handcuffs, a fake gun and a dagger."

Huzzah.

one brief election note

...Olivia Chow should have won. Grr! Stupid Greens! (Not to berate anyone for voting their conscience, but come on... just look (scroll down for Olivia's bio) at how much she's done & how qualified she is!

jane 1:21 PM [+]

oh yeah! NoRNC!

The Republican National Convention is, of course, happening in New York City at the end of the summer (comps week, actually -- woo hoo!). The brilliant activists around here have come up with a bunch of beautiful posters, that you should look at!

Go here for the posters, and here for general information about what folks are up to with regard to the RNC.

I'm crossing my fingers that this isn't going to be bad. But people are very angry, with good reason.

Anyway, beautiful posters. And also look at Kerry is my Hamster for a deep take as to why anyone should support Kerry.

OK, back to the Confessions...

jane 8:42 PM [+]

Is that a good book?

So I'm sitting at one of the various fast-food Chinese restaurants in my neighbourhood, eating sweet & sour chicken (Yes, I told Richard I would get veggie fried rice, or mixed veggies, but dammit, I broke down) and reading Augustine's Confessions. First Reuben stopped by & we chatted. Then he headed off in search of softserve ice-cream.

A woman and her daughter (prob. about 3 years old) came in to use the bathroom. When they came out, the daughter asked for a can of soda. Her mom said, "No, you can't have that, I don't have the money" and walked out of the store. The daughter opened the fridge & grabbed a soda, calling "Mommy! Mommy!"... then gave up, put the soda back into the fridge, and quietly ran out of the store.

A bunch of teenagers (15-16 years old) came in then -- black Bronx kids, full-on Bronx accents, full-on urban gear. I put down my Confessions and packed up my garbage to throw it out, wiping up the sweet & sour sauce that had dripped onto my table. One of the kids came by me to grab a soda. "Saint... Saint... who is that?" he asked. "Augustine," I replied.
- That looks like an interesting book,
- It is... it's...
- Do you write books? he asked tentatively.
- No... but I read a lot of them... I smiled.
- I want to write books, I want to be a writer.
I didn't really know what to say to that. I think I said something lame, like "You should go for it!" or "Why not!" or something like that. I threw out my garbage, and smiled at him again, told him to take care, and left the store.

I hope he gets to write books. I hope he gets a good education, somehow, here in New York. I hope, that if he writes a book, he's able to find a publisher.

I hope he can always afford a soda.

Man, am I ever lucky to be a graduate student, with a stipend, a tuition waver, and the kind of respectability that makes it easy for me to get additional work here at the library, and the kind of accent-free middle-class accent that means I can phone service agencies and get help when I need it.

I was walking down Fordham Rd the other day & a tall black guy pushed past me, deliberately bumping me, and muttered, "You look like you go to Fordham." I still don't know what to do with that. Or rather, I can construe a number of things.

Anyway. Just some thoughts.

jane 8:05 PM [+]

Sorry I haven't been writing lately

...also known as, Walsh Library, Reference Desk, how may I help you?

I'm writing this from the library, of course, during the last 20 minutes of my shift. Yes! All of you can shake your heads and go, "yes, yes, we saw it all along, jane's working at the library... we knew it... that high school yearbook photo from graduation, where she looks like a librarian, yes, yes, we knew it all along." Yes! Look at me, behind the desk in the Reference Room! I just walked around and turned off monitors and reshelved three books! (From PN 1993-PN 1995, all books about film, huzzah). And I told one woman that the library would be open for another half hour. Yes, that is me. Authority! Ha ha! Just wait 'til I get to tell someone to "shhh!" (Unlikely.... my shift is Wednesday and Thursday nights from 8pm - 11pm -- not too much rowdiness at all... oh, and every other Friday from 9-5pm.. hopefully that will be riveting!)

This is a lovely part-time job to have as I study for comprehensive exams. I got through all of the epistemological sections in Books V and VI of the Republic (the sun, the divided line, opinion vs. belief, that sort of thing), makin' lots of notes in multiple colours with my pretty new pens. I also cruised around the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, lookin' at some of the stuff about middle vs. late dialogues on the Forms. Yes, yes, all very exciting stuff! Woo hoo! This is me, studying for the whole summer!

So, that's about it for now... I could post a bunch of links to philosophy pages I found, but I'm not sure anyone other than the other comps studyin' folks here would find that so interesting, & I'll just talk to them in person. So there.

I'll probably write more, now that I have this little chunk of work to do.

(Oh yes, I'm also working about 5 hours a week for Dr. Tress, still, on the Journal of Neoplatonic Studies... and also stuff for the 2004 Ancient & Medieval Philosophy Conference (the webpage linked to is actually from the 2003 conference, but presumably will be updated at some point). So I'm keeping busy).

Yay! Fun!

OK, done now. Love you all...

jane 10:33 PM [+]