Olympic Pictograms

I’m honestly not a huge fan of the Olympics. I think that they are an important part of global culture, but I just personally do not enjoy watching them, particularly the winter olympics. I just don’t really find the sports that appealing. I mean, who plays curling anyway?

I did fine this video by the New York Times to be really interesting though. It documents the history of the famous Olympic pictograms rating the different images over the years. I had never really paid that much attention to the pictograms before but the history and design of them really is fascinating.

The Current Political Climate

About a month ago, I interviewed NYU Politics professor Jonathan Nagler about the current political climate in the United States. It was originally going to air at the end of January but due to some technical difficulties on my part (my audio recorder broke) it didn’t. I’m posting it up here because I thought it was an interesting interview, even more interesting listening to it a month later. The interview took place just less than a week after Obama’s State of the Union address and two weeks after Scott Brown was elected to the Senate in Massachusetts. Check it out:

Download: ar3sr8rltf

Whatever you do, DON’T SIT DOWN!

Sitting is your enemy! That is according to this blog post on the New York Times website by Olivia Judson. She says sitting for long periods of time, even if you exercise daily, is bad for you and can lead to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Even short breaks are better than nothing. I personally would like to install a stand up desk with a treadmill like she suggests but I’m not sure how doable that actually is…

Check out new stuff on NYU publications

NYU Troubadour, NYU’s online music magazine (for which I am web developer), just got updated with all new stories! You should definitely check out what’s going on in the NYU music world.

Or if you are more interested in checking out some travel journalism, read some of the pieces from NYU Baedeker‘s Fall 2009 issue (for which I was Buenos Aires editor). Our spring submission deadline is fast approaching but until the new stuff comes out read up on what was going on abroad last semester!

A bit shameless for me to plug the student publications I am a part of but oh well. There is a lot of great work on both of these publications and you should definitely see for yourself.

photo by Claire Schmidt for NYU Baedeker

Farming is a dirty job…

…and as someone who was raised on a small farm in rural Nebraska and later moved to New York City, it is nice to read something that acknowledges that. I am always so taken aback by people in urban and suburban areas who’s perception of farming is completely off base.

I am particularly bothered by the people who think that organic farming is soooo much better and different than traditional farming. Not so. In order to make money farming, whether traditional or organic, a farm has to be run like a business, not like a fairy tale place with a garden and happy animals grazing in the backyard.

Thank you Kelley Snowden for pointing out how not “cute” farming really is.

OTTY Profiles

Our Town newspaper, the community weekly for the Upper East Side of New York City, recently held it’s annual OTTY awards. The OTTY awards, which stands for Our Town Thanks You, recognize community leaders, educators, business owners, and more that make an impact on the Upper East Side community. The paper held an awards ceremony last Monday night for all of those recognized and had a special section in the paper with profiles of each of the recepients.

As an intern for Our Town and West Side Spirit, the Upper West Side community weekly, I wrote two of the profiles. Both of the community builders I profiled, Loretta Ponticello and Sarah Gallagher, were amazing people with great stories.

Check out what I wrote: Loretta Ponticello and Sarah Gallagher.

E.E. Cummings Erotic Poetry and Drawings Revealed – The Daily Beast

Something just for Valentine’s Day from The Daily Beast!: E.E. Cummings Erotic Poetry and Drawings Revealed

Valentine’s Day for Singles

I just love this diagram about how single women and single men will be spending the day tomorrow.

Payphones still exist…

In interesting article about a payphone in Queens in the New York Times today. Kind of interesting to consider who uses them with all of the iPhones and Blackberries these days.

The Perpetual Guinea Pig

It has been far to long since I posted something and I will just chalk that up to the start of my last semester at NYU and all of the craziness that goes with it. Luckily, I think that a large bit of the craziness has died down so hopefully I will be posting much more frequently from now on. Until I have a new post of my own though, check out this great story by my friend and classmate, Elizabeth Johnstone!

A.J. Jacobs as George Washington