anna genoese

Today when I went to buy the chocolate for my baby sister's (triple layer, six sticks of butter, two pounds of chocolate, a quart of cream) birthday cake, I discovered that the rumored parking meters (which I wrote many letters about) are being installed.

My house was built before Emmons Avenue even existed. We don't have a driveway, we don't have any street parking right in front of our house (there's a driveway for the marina we live next to, a "no standing" zone, and a bus stop), so we're dependent on parking on Emmons Avenue. Now they are putting meters there! Two hour parking, from 9 AM until 10 PM. Even further down on the same street, the metered parking only goes until 7 PM -- but still! It doesn't matter, because metered parking is ridiculous. How are we supposed to park our cars? My mom supposed to go to work as a New York City public school teacher and come home at 4 PM and... what? Park six blocks away and walk after standing all day whilst teaching New York City's at-risk youth how to read?

Seriously?

I am positive that this is at the behest of local restaurants, some of which have campaigned in the past for metered parking so that their patrons can find parking more "easily" -- despite the fact that they all have parking lots.

I'm so furious, I am shaking. What are they trying to do -- run the residents out of town? Who is supposed to patronize the businesses if we have to move? This is not how one goes about stimulating the economy. And, in fact, it is already backfiring, as my entire family (and hopefully everyone we know) is going to quit patronizing the local restaurants that are behind this travesty. We've always been so intent on supporting local businesses -- well, not anymore, I guess! Screw them.

I have written a lot of calm, rational letters to dickhead politicians this morning (none of whom I voted for except Marty Markowitz, although I'm definitely rethinking that now). I don't expect anything to change, though. After all, who cares about a bunch of hard-working people who only have to live here?

Ugh.

I really don't feel like doing the tv meme today -- plus it's "best quote," which I think is ridiculous. I am supposed to think back on thirty years of television watching and pick my number one favorite quote of all time? How am I supposed to do that? Plus, I tend to quote movies more than television shows (were this a movie meme, I'd have to say, "DAMN THE MAN! SAVE THE EMPIRE!" -- predictable, but nevertheless wonderful).

Honestly, probably the quote I say most from television is from Mr. Katimsky of My So-Called Life, from the infamous "boiler room episode":

"No one should hate who they are."

I say that a lot.





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My goal for this weekend is to write 5,000 words of the Salt and Silver sequel, so, of course, when I sat down at my computer, I wrote about television instead! Ah, Saturdays...

Day 18 - Favorite title sequence

Um. I tend to hate the title sequence of any show, and feel strongly that it is taking away time better spent telling me a story!!

However, there are two that I think are pretty okay. One is for a show I don't even watch -- a British series about teenagers called Skins. The first two seasons are streaming at Netflix; I got them from a dodgier source a few years ago. Meh. The show itself is not my thing, but the title sequence is great. Watch it at YouTube.

(Relatedly, obsessive24 made a super great Skins fanvid, set to "You Make Me Wanna" by Usher. I totally recommend clicking through to watch it; there are a few download links, plus it's available streaming. Even if you never watch the show, the vid is great.)

The other one is a show that I watched obsessively: My So-Called Life

Ohhhh loved it. Watched it every week, taped it every week. Then I watched it when it reran on MTV, each episode hosted by the cast (and taped it then, too, for some reason). Even after I bought the DVDs (for $110!), I kept a few of the tapes. The title sequence is great -- good song choice, great clips, good pacing. You know exactly what kind of show you're getting when you watch this title sequence.

And don't you just love it when Jordan Catalano leans?






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