Quisquilia: Lib. nov.

(i) How many bags does a man need? Depending on whom you ask, two cloth grocery ones or a hundred plastic shopping bags custom-printed for Westside Market NYC Est. 1965. On the street and at the cash register, this betrays me as a German more than anything else.

(ii) Which reminds me of the Austro-German recycling conundrum. There, to recycle a PET bottle is to dispose of it at a plastic bottle bank, or outright discard it. For us, the keyword is the recycling deposit, or bottle bill.

(iii.a) On my way to Webster Hall, I read „destined2bgreat“ tattooed unto the neck of a young, black woman: What a perfect metaphor for the radiance and compassionate confidence of youth.

(iii.b) And for her specifically, what a maxim to go by in one’s personal branding and conduct of life. Unknowingly and unchallenced by history – or as a transformative act of reappropriation? I can’t tell.

(iv) What a difference a letter makes! A mile, or a 15 minutes walk minimum, as I outsmarted myself with taking the 2 Express, ending up at W 14th St / 7 Ave instead of E 14th St / Union Square. (See here.)

(v) We regret these disruptions in service. (MTA, Brooklyn-bound L line)

(vi) At concerts these days, there is always a not too tiny faction diligently texting and receiving msgs on their shiny new cells, instead of listening. Inundated by the then and there, they miss the here and now.

(vii) The same goes for us hiding behind (captured by?) the lens of a pocket-size camera.

(viii) This city has been overtaken by the iPads. Tablets are everywhere, on the subway as e-books, at concert venues as photographic devices and digital frames for fleeting stills, on the street as somewhat oversized flyswatters, or just as a personal display of vanity, plus a badge of honour for the tech-savvy.

(ix) Old-fashioned me is still handling physical maps and plans, and books for the sake of it. Each day, though, takes small nibbles at the material and its toll at my patience, hence casting doubt unto the reasonable practicability of the former practice.

(x) What a tasty blend, the pluot!