like a koi in a frozen pond, like a goldfish in a bowl

Life in New York.

Really interesting article (more like a report of a survey) by David Brooks over at NYTimes, "I Dream of Denver."  I guess I'm a typical all-American American ("sweet little beautiful wonderful perfect all-American girl!").  I have to say that Urban Studies is possibly the academic field that makes me the most depressed, far more so than the academic fields I don't understand, like physics.  Four years of living in New York and I still think of American cities as Metropolis-style human factories.  It's not that life is hard, because life is hard in Jakarta.  That city may be a nightmare but at least it's alive.  It's that life in New York is soulless.  I mean, fuck repenting and becoming like Amsterdam - like Europe, once again, why must we always look back to Europe? - Western cities are awful.  I'd rather reap the consequences of environmental inefficiency later. 

The article panders a bit to very, very old Americana:

In short, Americans may indeed be gloomy and hunkered down. But they’re still Americans. They are still drawn to virgin ground, still restless against limits.

But I think there's something to be said for it, still (even if Americans are not primordially drawn to the frontier, it clearly still plays a role in our culture as a symbol of "the original, sacred promise of freedom" to quote my professor).  Brooks describes the American Dream in 2009, based off several "laidback" Western cities that did well in the survey:

These are places with loose social structures and relative social equality, without the Ivy League status system of the Northeast or the star structure of L.A. These places are car-dependent and spread out, but they also have strong cultural identities and pedestrian meeting places. They offer at least the promise of friendlier neighborhoods, slower lifestyles and service-sector employment. They are neither traditional urban centers nor atomized suburban sprawl. They are not, except for Seattle, especially ideological, blue or red.

But do they have college football?  And only one college football team?  Seriously, for all the animosity between Nebraska and Missouri (and boy, there is a lot of bad blood there - goes back all the way to the Missouri Compromise, I suspect), we do have one thing in common: only one Division-1A college football team.  We're the only two in the Big 12 with this set-up.  On the other hand, Missouri has the St. Louis Rams.  Nebraska has nothing else. 

New York has way too many sports teams.  Maybe that's my problem here. 

"I used to think if I died in an evil place, then my soul wouldn't be able to make it to Heaven.  But now?  Fuck!  I mean, I don't care where it goes, as long as it ain't here.  So whaddya wanna do?  I'll kill the fuck."
- Jay "Chef" Hicks, Apocalypse Now

hysterical indonesian nationalism ensues.

Oh my God, guys, Clinton is in Indonesia for two days. How frakking amazing is that? Japan, Indonesia, South Korea. Between Japan (de facto protectorate, traditional trade partner and ally in Asia) and South Korea (protectorate-cum-ally). A month into Obama's presidency. That's such good news for the relationship, I can't even articulate it. Indonesia has never been considered alliance material. Not that I think Indonesia should make alliance an end-goal, but if the U.S. recognizes Indonesia as holding similar levels of import as JP and SK - and if it shows Indonesia the level of respect accorded to those countries, which is crucial - that is HUGE.

"Indonesia has experienced a great transformation in the past 10 years, building strong and growing institutions, welcoming and developing a vibrant civil society, and at the same time respecting human rights and a successful fight against terrorism and extremism, ending sectarian and separatist conflict, and working to make the world a safer place for global trade and for human rights," she said.

That's right, bitches. Indonesia rocks your socks. Only took 60 years, baby! 60 years! Where was America 60 years after independence? Doing the fucking Trail of Tears? Pfft.  Indonesia owns your ass, America.

(yes, I know the world in general changed between 1776 and 1965 - but if we're going to start taking everything into account, we also have to consider that Indonesia has only been a democracy since 1998, and the United States has been a democracy since 1776/1789)