Jacksonville and more

After going to Jacksonville at the end of July, I realized how huge the city actually is. It's the 13th largest city in the U.S. based on population. I got to explore Riverside, the neighborhood on the other side of the St. John's River from downtown. This was taken near Memorial Park I believe.

On the way home from Jacksonville, there was a last minute addition to the agenda: Manatee Springs in Chiefland, near Gainesville. The water was so clear; the divers were out and about exploring the caves.

River Sink

One of my favorite places in Tallahassee. Since the beginning of July I think I have visited this place about 6 times. I have gone in both small and large groups and have found the swimming hole both empty and occupied.

Some of the people I have met there include, college students (alone and with parents), high schoolers, stoners on parole, old breakdancers, locals, and lovers. We have even spotted tiny alligators, but swam anyways. The current is a little strong so it's such a workout to keep afloat for me.

We use this old rope swing to jump in. I was afraid to use it at first, but like many other fears, I got over it!

Every time I go I find something different about it to admire. I took these photos with my dad's auto SLR. I think I will buy a new camera soon.

If I was studying a teenage drug ring...

I would be a little more interested in what makes these people tick and what they think about the outside world. What does the outside world think of them? The what ifs are endless really. This is the ethnography I'm reading right now, The Cocaine Kids. It's short and sweet. It takes place in the late 80s in Washington Heights. The researcher basically just hangs out with these teenagers that are pretty big time in the cocaine biz. They are all Dominicans so this is a very nice view of one tiny slice of that time.

EDIT: I finished it this afternoon and I think what I liked best was the way the kids described their families with such pride. One chick's dad was santero. How she described the saints, orishas, beads, etc. was very familiar to me. At the end there was a sort of epilogue that explained that happens to each person. One person got shot - it wasn't even the way he died; he drowned accidently at the beach. What are the odds?

Currently Reading and Digging...

People of Paper

Recommended to me by Patrick C. Today a colleaque recommended Funny in Farsi. I'll probably get that next.

Book Club Reading: The Red Tent

I'm currently reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant for the Tallahassee book club I joined this summer. The book expands on the life of Dinah, Joseph's sister, who is only briefly mentioned in the Old Testament.

I like this idea of making up the beginning & end of stories. I always want to do this when I see movies and in life really. I want to know how did people end up the way the are and what will happen next. Will the couple stay together until old age or divorce in 3 month?

I need to know, so I'm glad to be reading this novel.

Why I don't sleep in Gainesville

Every bathroom looks like this:

Instead, after Cyrus's Birthday party I drove home at 2:30am.

St. George Island & the Big Bend Area

Ochlockonee River State Park: It's only $3 to get in and they have canoeing, swimming, camping, and hiking trails.

Apparently, Carrabelle Beach (off St. James Island) was one of the sites used to train for D-Day in World War II.

The Crooked River Light was built in 1895.

St. George Island is really just a fancy sandbar, but it is very quiet and not crowded at all.

I came in on Island Dr. (FL300), which is the 4-mile bridge over the Apalachicola Bay, into the middle of the island.

To the east there is the state park, which I am too cheap to go to and to the west there is a private, gated plantation. Wikipedia says that some celebrities live there. Who knows.

Crawfordville's old wooden courthouse is just that.

Next trip is to St. Joseph Peninsula SP. $90 a night

Cirque du Soleil - Saltimbanco

This was my second Cirque experience - first was La Nouba in Orlando. The two male performers in the picture were incredible. At one point the one on the bottom held the one on top by just touching shoulders while inverted. Insane. The music, played by a live band, was a mix of funk and 80's pop. The music was definitely my favorite part. Hung out with new friends who introduced me to this theater in Railroad Square Mickee Faust which features pieces satirically makes fun of crips, gays, blacks, etc.

Today I explored downtown. I will post an entry just about the 

historical houses in walking distance from my apartment soon. The downtown marketplace was just getting going when I was there. There was a guitarist singing about Tallahassee. Beside him was a variety of instruments, like maracas, tambourines, and shakes with a sign that said, "join the band!" How fun! The Tallahassee Animal Shelter was there. These kittens were so cute, I had to donate a $1. Haha.

After that I met up with some friends and headed to the Killearn Market Square for the Farmer's Market. Bought some locally grown fruit and this hilarious vintage FSU purse from an antique shop. 

Weekdays in Tallahassee

There I am on the left with my new "caramel" hair color. I have done a lot this week: left the house a million times, almost ran out of gas, and sweated profusely. 

I went for an after-supper walk at Myers Park in the historic district of Tallahassee. I found this out by acting a fool and asking this black woman "ma'am, do you know why the street signs are brown here?" What a dim wit. 

The next night I attended my neighborhood crime watch meeting. There is a just a host of characters living here - in a good way. I met two psychologists, a middle school art teacher, some retired folks, a lawyer, a real estate agent, etc. Some of the highlights: There is one man how is a raging environmentalist. While the community cop was giving tips including leaving a light on this man raved about "light pollution." I love looking at stars, but we live downtown with a lot of shady characters. Speaking of shady, one of the houses on our street is inhabited my this man who is doing some repairs in exchange for rent. The owner hadn't lived there in about 7 years since her husband died and just can't deal with it (i.e. take the time to rent or sell it??). 

Instead, she is letting this guy live there which is cool, but he lets all the homeless people in the area live and party there. There is clearly drug dealing going on and maybe prostitution because people keep coming in all the time. Since he isn't legally doing anything wrong, not even his lawyer next-door neighbor can do anything about it. At first I thought these people were merely being classist, but they're just concerned about their safety since a few convicted criminals have listed their address as that house and the guy that robbed the bank down the street in December also lived there. What do we do? 

To think that the house could be sold to a loving person or that it could be donated to a charity willing to facilitate transitional housing.  

On a lighter note, I have found my Denny's equivalent, the Village Inn. This place is family owned and has a wonderful staff. I've befriended Taylor, a young artist and cosmetology student. 

Below is the most delicious thing ever: Caramel Pecan Silk Supreme. From the bottom up it has a pecan layer of that normal filling, then silk mouse, then whipped creme, then pecans on top with caramel, and a yummy graham cracker crust. 

Old Article - Our Town: The SoHo of the South

Tallahassee Democrat, Aug. 11, 2006

By Adam Weinstein

I had a revelation at lunch the other day.

I was sitting in a little bagel joint near Lake Ella, mentally mapping out the responsibilities of a new job here at the Democrat, when I noticed three older working men enjoying their morning coffee at the next table. These guys wore jeans, faded T-shirts, ripped ballcaps and an impressive volume of free-range facial hair. If not for their age, I would have guessed that they'd just come from a construction site or a gun show.

But what really interested me was their table conversation. One man discussed his loving restoration of a century-old house in town, and all three piped up when the talk turned to furniture and art. It turned out that they'd all gone to First Friday, the monthly event that opens most of the city's art galleries to the public free of charge. A few of these burly bagel-munchers were artists themselves, and they began to rave about our town's rich cultural offerings as they pulled at their whiskers.

Discussing his friend's recent opening at a nearby studio, one group member exclaimed, "Tallahassee's just fun!"

This was profound to me. I'm new to Tallahassee, having spent most of my life in South Florida and my college years in Manhattan. When I first considered advanced study in international affairs, two schools accepted me: Boston University and Florida State University.

I chose FSU, and now, every time I tell friends or relatives that I moved to the Florida Panhandle for grad school, my reward is a baffled look and a silently-mouthed syllable: "Why?"

I understood the concerns at first. What's to learn in a sleepy capital where cattle, crackers and keggers outnumber newspaper subscribers?

If folks want a real high-brow experience, mocha lattes, literary discussions and art openings, they have to attend high-powered universities and reside in the hippest neighborhoods of New York, Boston or L.A.

Don't they?

Generations of stodgy intellectuals have passed down this received wisdom.

But sometimes even intellectuals can be dead wrong.

Tallahassee proves this. Like Madison, Wis., and Burlington, Vt., our big little city hosts an army of young, vibrant professionals and an inclusive cultural atmosphere that can't be beat. As one of the newest Tallahasseeans, I'd think we should bolster these trends and put our town on the map as a progressive mecca, a national model.

Ours is an amazingly diverse and tolerant town. Before moving here, I feared Tallahassee might confirm all those nasty rumors that city life instilled in me about the South and the Bible Belt. But I found a city where I could attend Episcopalian services, meditate with Buddhists and take Taste of Judaism classes - sometimes all in one day. Tallahassee is a place where my gay and lesbian friends, as well as my friends of color, are safe and welcome community members.

Entrepreneurship thrives among Tallahassee progressives, too. Stroll down to Lake Ella, Gaines Street or Railroad Square and you'll stumble upon Internet cafes, mom-and-pop eateries, second-hand bookshops, independent music stores and vintage clothing and furniture outlets run by capitalists with consciences. Sure, you'll find big corporate chains and box stores here, but in Tallahassee they compete with little guys that you won't see in larger cities like Miami or Tampa.

Then, of course, there is the art, the music and the plethora of parks.

Manhattan can eat its heart out.

Tallahassee's cultural richness is a well-kept secret, and that suits many townspeople just fine. We don't need a gentrified carbon copy of New York's pretentious Williamsburg or Philadelphia's pricey Manayunk neighborhoods. Besides, it's criminal to plow over any more of Tallahassee's beautiful open spaces and storied past for token improvements.

But until we beef up our progressive culture and wrap Tallahassee's image around it, out-of-towners will continue to scoff at the notion of our Panhandle paradise as an intellectual and artistic haven.

The hardest sell may be to Tallahassee residents who aren't aware of the benefits that young, intelligent progressives bring to town. Skeptics should check out the Cultural Resources Commission's online events calendar, so they can acquaint themselves with Tallahassee's best and brightest.

Its address, appropriately, is www.morethanyouthought.com

The Bada Bean

I am reporting live from the Bada Bean on Apalachee Parkway. This place has free wifi and I have a feeling that not a lot of people know about it. Besides me there is just an elderly couple eating breakfast. Must be college kids working here. It's a bit on the chilly side inside, but what a deal! The Bada Bean breakfast is only $4.99 and comes with 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon, and 2 links of sausage! They have a flat screen tv in here, but it's on very low and not distracting. I am sitting at a table top half-booth near a plug. I might be here working for a while!

Readings & Neighbors

Reading The Book Thief for a book club meeting June 2nd. I've never been in a book club before, but I am looking forward to doing something unscholastic. My butt officially hurts from riding my bike, but I can't afford a butt pad or a new seat right now. 

I met my neighbor from across the street who is the block leader for the crime watch group and he invited me to the block party Wednesday night. Yay for free wine and cheese! I'm so excited to meet people even if they are ex-yuppies. 

Pictures of Tallahassee in the spring to come. 

Heck-tic First Day

I've been up since 6:45 am since that's when the sun rises right now. First I biked to Bill's Bookstore on Copeland, but they didn't have my book. I realized I didn't have a bike chain also. I then went to Bill's II on Tennessee and Stadium to get the book. After that I was dying and headed to CVS for a diet Pepsi, but no bike lock. With 15 minutes left to stare I called the Dollar General across Tennessee, but they didn't have any either. I gave up and brought my bike inside the classroom. After biking home I laid under the fan nude for a while before going to get a bike lock at Walmart. I took the bike with me in the Honda to pump to the tires at a shop, but Higher Ground was closed on Mondays!! I then went to Great Bicycle Shop on Thomasville Rd. and it was great! 

The were super nice and pumped up my tires and told me to keep it around 90 psi. Now I know. I got a little lost on the way home, but at least I got to explore the city a little more. It may be raining on my way home. So much for straightening my new blond hair; I was sweating like a little piglet trying to bike up hill. 

Last Days in East Orlando

I'm disappointed that I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do while I lived here, including writing a blog about all the things that makes Orlando not suck that bad. Well, I created the blog on livejournal, just never got around to using it. Instead I started writing random reviews on yelp. 

I always wanted to go camping in the woods of East Orlando and meet some of those homeless folks that Dr. Wright talks about. There are supposedly 10,000 people living in there, here, my backyard. 

I'm laying in bed instead of packing to enjoy the warm breeze and the sound of the little mixed kids across the street vandalizing the abandoned house across the street. They're so cute, much cuter than the neighbors' new dog. I'm pretty sure that at the beginning of last year when the cult moved out it was only 3 UCF female students living there. Now two of their boyfriends moved in which means that there is now a dog constantly barking and a mechanic's shop next door. 

I always thought "next door" was actually said "next store." That's what happens when you teach your kids how to read and instead make up a story to go with the pictures. 

I tried to pack the books. I tried, but 3 suitcases later there are still thousands. Okay maybe not that many, but it still feels impossible. I never did find a good used book store in Orlando. We just kept going back to Barnes and Noble over and over. 

We watched Factory Girl last night. Interesting perspective of Andy Warhole and Edie Sedgwick was stunning at times. 

Closing Time

This week is crunch time. Packing, moving, and saying goodbye all in one week. 

Now if I only had some money. 

This is my new apartment with Jeff standing in front of it. I don't know why he is standing like a girl.