A 10$ digital camera produces this sort of an image

Bloomberg maybe the gentleman sitting beside you

on the train. As far as this newsweek's article is concerned. Seems like he uses one of the 42nd street stations (as far as the picture reveals): Times Square's or Bryant Park's. So what line is it gonna be? (hint: he uses it to go to work)

On differences between NY and, and

Amman. Issue of the homeless.

In Amman: a social taboo.
In NY: Dean MacCannell says it well:
"That the poor, the insane or the criminal could simply be turned onto the streets, that the 'legitimate' members of society could retreat into gated and guarded communities, that the poorest of the poor could simply be excluded from 'society' and asked to 'keep moving along', these exclusionary societal 'solutions' were (and continue to be - even as they emerge as historical reality) theoretically unthinkable. The victory of capitalism over other economic forms has been accompanied by a new attitude, a casual indifference toward the socially excluded. Now that capitalism no longer has an audience, the homeless do not necessarily constitute an embarrassment."

Why? Simple: because Amman is still a newcomer to capitalism when compared to the older receptors, and incubators of it.

Capitalism is old news. And according to academic circles, news of primitive ideological times.

Dia: Beacon

Look at this pic well, because this is all what your camera can get to capture at the Dia: Beacon museum. It is more of a shrine-of-a-museum dedicated to Minimalist art housing fantastic works of Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt.

And sadly, they watch visitors over there so hard you don't get a chance to snap any pics. However, and saying this with a tone, you can sneak some down at Richards Serra's Torqued Ellipse. So if your approach to pondering upon art is informed by the way you photograph it, this may not be your cup of coffee.

Jordanian women and Facebook

Or shall I say Ammani women?... since that has been the object of personal familiarization. Anyways, you can say that the condition is pretty much typical so a generalization could be excused. No excuse? Buzz off...why are you reading this blog anyhow?

So, on facebook, there's the profile picture that stands as the visual representation of ourselves. The thing with most of these [us] women on facebook is posting a picture from their weddings. Putting aside all the social constructs that are entailed to reaching to such a level of presentation, don't you think its doing these women's special wedding moments a form of degradation by using them as a virtual identifier of who they are to the public? A moment in your life doesn't represent who you are (basing on a premise here that the profile pic is a representation of who you are). Or, in the case of Jordanian women, it does.

Fashion crime

I admit to committing this weekend: Walking into Prada's SoHo store with a Jansport backpack and well-worn Nike sneakers on. And having the nerve to hop into that seated elevator. Wondering what that hunk at the front door was thinking…

Open House New York

NY unlocks some of its otherwise limited access places one weekend each year; the OHNY event. A design and architecture event, you get to mingle with some top-notch architects in their offices or at project locations, to access particular interiors such as the Chrysler lobby, or to access rough, not-ready-for-public places such as Ellis Island's abandoned building.