sundries

[rm]

Last night Patty and I went out to a lovely dinner on a pier on the west side. This was marred only by how slammed they were, and so it took forever to get our order, which also would have been fine, had I not had to deal with other random pushy New Yorkers as I waited for it. Also, we should have brought jackets. When the sun went down it got cold fast. But I ate prosciutto wrapped asparagus and you didn't.

I've been trying to figure out where to stay in London. This is complicated by the completely intolerable hotel reviews people leave on sites. Last night I got fed up after I read "I will never book online again. In ethnic neighborhood! Not safe for women!" SO SO SO ANGRY, and yes, European hotels for solo travelers feature Very Small Rooms, get over it. Right now I'm thinking about the Easy Hotel in Victoria. Again, if I don't just go back to our place in Brick Lane. It arguable I felt so at home there because it was the first thing we saw in London, but I really, REALLY did, and really, REALLY didn't in a lot of the places I sort of felt like I "should."

Apparently building a mosque near the WTC site is controversial. The idea that this is somehow an issue is so offensive the mind boggles.

With the closure of St. Vincent's home birth is being rendered effectively illegal in NYC. nex0s has more.

Atlantis comes home for the last time.

The rent-controlled and rent stabilized apartments of NYC. FYI, while all such apartments are bargains, not all such apartments are bargains like that. Ours is stabilized and we pay $1450. My parent's place, which is huger and way more awesome than ours is also stabilized and I think they pay about $2200 now. This may be rude to discuss elsewhere, normal here.

Another subway hero.

Allies to US: Get Over It. Sometimes the hardest thing about dealing with life in the US is listening to all the fear, day in and day out, not just about gays, but about EVERYTHING. No wonder I have anxiety. No wonder we all do. It's the shark attack principle, and I hate it.

New York State again tries to pass a bill against anti-gay bullying and discrimination in schools. New York's dysfunctional senate will probably see its death. Again.

Hey, do you all know about Kickstarter? I should really, really consider this as an option for some of the projects I have lying around (everything from the chihuahua infestation mockumentary to where I want to take the mourning project next).

Last night on Buffy: Someone actually said "rape," Buffy & Spike are almost having a relationship, everything else is falling apart. The rape thing was both appropriate and necessary, and weirdly jarring, since Buffy spends a lot of time being about rape without talking about rape. So that was interesting. I also feel like I can't really comment on that aspect of this episode without having seen Dollhouse.

Comments

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

By the way, what kind of advice do you have for a solo traveler in London? I'm generally used to having someone help me navigate, and I won't have that on this trip. I'll probably end up being the dumb tourist standing in the way while she tries to figure out where she is.

[rm.livejournal.com]

The second you get to the airport but a "London A to Z". It is an absolutely IMPOSSIBLE city to navigate without. Also, be aware that those Tube maps are not to scale and lots of things are just a block or two away from each other but seem farther on the map, so it helps to look at the A to Z to figure out if you should be on the Tube or not.

Despite my frustration at not having anything resembling a grid system there, my gut feeling on which direction would be interesting was oddly nearly constantly reliable, FYI.

Also, at night while I did not feel unsafe, the level of public drunkenness was much higher than I am used to experiencing and I felt more on guard against male harassment because of it, although women seem to be no more a target than any other passing object.

Also, be sure to buy your ticket to Cardiff online way in advance, as the train fares go up very fast in the week before travel and can get prohibitively expensive.

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

The lack of a grid system was something a friend of mine commented on as being a challenge. In terms of major cities, I'm most used to New York and Chicago, which are very very grid-oriented. I have an iPad now, so I've been downloading London apps onto it.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It is the least grid-y place EVER. Sydney's pretty non grid, but that was absolutely EASY compared to London, which, if anything, felt like a non-grid version of DC -- like I had to walk the wrong way to get where I was going, a lot (a comment that may not make sense unless you're a DC person).

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Thinking more about this, I think my main issue when traveling, esp. traveling along, is sensory overload. It's a big issue for me anyway, and it's worse in situations where I don't quite know what I'm doing or where I'm going. And that's why I do tend to rely on gridded street systems a lot. I love places like New York with numbered streets.

[m-nivalis.livejournal.com]

If you have difficulty navigating, I suggest using the bus and not only the tube*. That way you can visualise where you're going, and not have the Moment of Lost (TM) when you exit a tube station by a different exit than last time and end up not knowing in what direction you ought to be going. You can download bus route maps (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/busdiagrams.asp) (the central London area map ought to be enough for most touristy stuff) on Transport for London's web page. The area map also shows the tube lines, which may come in handy.

Also, I second rm in checking where exactly the tube stations are IRL, as sometimes it's easier to walk to another station than trying to change lines.

*: Obviously the tube is quicker, particularly if you go longer distances or in rush hour.