Overly Intuitive?

Here's a random thought...what if we are making technology too easy to use? I hear in my line of work that if some tool we design isn't intuitive, it won't get used. I just wonder if perhaps this leads us to follow well trodden paths that don't help us make anything truly great.

In other words, when some tool is complicated and takes effort to master, we might learn more about it and thus figure out new, unexpected ways to use it. But if it is simple and easy to understand, we may never appreciate the possibilities because our use of the tool is purely transactional.

Old computer programs were like pianos...you may not use all the keys for all songs, but you need to know them all to play whatever sing you want. Modern 'apps' are more like player pianos. So, are the benefits of convenience worth the loss of discipline and mastery?

The Bar at the End of the Cycle

In the picture to the left, you can see my bike, sitting tranquilly outside the large, friendly windows of Little Giant, a nice little cafe in the Lower East Side. Yet this post is not really about Little Giant, it's about what it took to get my bike there.

According to Google Maps, the shortest route from my house to this spot would have been about six and a half miles. To get there, you need to go through Park Slope and Downtown Brooklyn, cross the Manhattan Bridge, and then navigate through a bit of Chinatown. (Of course, the shortest possible route does not include riding under the Williamsburg Bridge, yet I managed to do that...)

Previously, I hadn't gone anywhere further than Park Slope, so my longest ride was likely three, maybe four miles. But I figured it was worth it to try and brave the wind and my out-of-shapeness to see if I could make it to Manhattan. And I did, and felt reasonably good about it. As a reward, I stopped at Little Giant for a glass of a very nice (and expensive!) French white, and some water, then unlocked my bike to ride back...and felt like my underwear had been replaced by 120 grit sandpaper.

I won't describe in excruciating detail the ride home. Suffice it to say that it was a very gratifying moment when I reached the high point of the bridge going home, and I was able to coast back onto Brooklyn soil. I did need to stop at Miracle Grill in Park Slope for a little more liquid fortitude, but I managed to make it home.

I'm not sure when I will next attempt a ride into Manhattan, but the views and the pride of achievement made me know I'll do it again at some point. Maybe after I invest in a cushier bike seat.

Photo Tour - 15 Minutes on Bond Street

One of the reasons why I have been so neglectful of my blogging has been the recent acquisition of a new Nikon D40 SLR. Last Friday was a dreary grey day, but I still set out to take some photos. Here is what I took from Bond Street, Soho on a 15 minute camera tour.

This is at the corner of Bond and Broadway (I think).

Just a taste of the graffiti there was to behold...just me and Teddy taking it in.

The windows had some of the coolest things...this was a mod 60's wall hanging in front of a mirror.

"...and everything looks good in black and white."

New York Happiness (Part 2)

With my bike getting snatched yesterday, a couple of disturbing car keying incidents, and some smaller stuff that has just made me feel out of place and less than happy in my own skin, a large part of my day has been spent dealing with problems and trying to avoid punching someone. So you'd think today's crappy, rainy weather would just make things worse. And yet, I had a really good day. 

A bit was work related, but a few other things happened that made things seem better. First, I had the growing realization that despite what I think is a less than ideal incoming President, the world has not and will not end, and that I should know better than to fret about the future of the country when EVERY election since I've been old enough to notice had been described as crucial to the future of the country. And Dubya has made an art of screwing things up without any major parts of the nation slipping into the

 sea or being ceded to Canada.

But most of my buoyant mood has to do with the city I now live in, and

 it's subtle, everyday charms. Like the way Grand Central looks in the drizzle, with the Chrysler Building looming in the background. Or the way umbrellas bob up and down to avoid the hats and faces of the pedestrians walking in the other direction. Or visiting the New York Public Library for the first time, and seeing architecture and art that would fit nicely in a European metropolis, but is just steps from where I exit the subway every morning.

This city bestows life and opportunity in ways other places simply cannot. Even if my time here is relatively short, how I think and see the world will be permanently enriched by it. I am so, so glad to be in New York.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in Park Slope

Sadly, I'm Kimless for most of this week. Which means, among other things, that I have to feed myself. So I've been eating a lot of hamburgers and hot dogs, until I said to myself, "Geez, I need to get out of the house." So, feeling frisky, I went out to one of my new favorite places here in Brooklyn, the Dram Shop, and had...a hamburger. But it was a damn good burger.

The Dram Shop is officially the Good part of this post. The food is spectacular (that was a good bleeping burger), the atmosphere is congenial, it has a pool table, and the beer selection is quite good. (Love that Sierra Nevada on tap.) 

I'd probably have more to say, but then the bad happened: I walked out after a few beers and my burger to find my bike, which I've only had for a few months, was mysteriously unattached from the bike rack I had chained it to. After walking confusedly up and down the block a few times, I managed to convince myself that it was indeed stolen.  Fortunately, among its many other virtues, the Dram shop is only a few blocks from a subway in both directions, so it wasn't much of a problem to get home. 

As for the ugly? Well, the ugly would be the Obama-loving dude sitting next to me at the bar. As beautiful as the mullet-moustache combination is, I gotta say that I was very surprised he had female companionship. But I appreciate the guy...anyone who makes me look that good by comparison is always welcome at the bars I frequent.

New York Happiness

I can whine with the best of them, and there are many things that are worthy of complaint in New York City. (My car keeps getting keyed, the F train is evil, there aren't enough basketball courts, etc.) But when you walk around here, you feel more locked in to the moment than you do anywhere else I've been.


Take Bryant Park. I just walked by it today to see that The Pond, a free skating rink, is now operating. (I took a picture that didn't come through, so you're stuck with the stock shot to the left.) People were cruising around the ice at 7:00 looking content and relaxed. Young couples tried to stay together while the more skilled skaters cut through and around them at breakneck speed. It was kind of glorious.

Later Kim and I went to Rhythm and Booze, and watched as a Phillies fan screamed so loud that the whole bar was ready to punch him, and laughed when they all cheered at once when Tampa Bay tied the game.

Silly things, but a reminder of how the city will provide sights and moments you can't experience anywhere else if you're just open to them.

Crushing on Brooklyn Heights

You'll find, if you look through the photos I've taken since I moved here, that there are a decent number of pictures of the downtown Manhattan skyline taken from Brooklyn. I took a half dozen more today when I ventured for the first time to Brooklyn Heights. As you can see, the fascination is justified.

Brooklyn Heights, as I understand it, is the first neighborhood really settled as a suburb of Manhattan. And today, the evidence of the well-heeled stock brokers and financial gurus who live there is hard to miss. The streets are lined with Porsches and BMWs, the houses are immaculate and many are being worked on by teams of laborers, and the only adults in evidence were nannies, the afore-mentioned construction crews, and cleaning ladies. All in all, I wouldn't trade it for where I am now, but man...that view.

The promenade that hangs over the BQE is simply an amazing public space. To be able to walk along an elevated path and glimpse the skyline, the Staten Island ferry coming and going, the Statue of Liberty (can you believe I had not ever seen it before I moved here?), and the Brooklyn Bridge is enough for almost anyone to be happy.

In fact, the neighborhood is so ritzy and exclusive that it is the appropriate setting for filming a drama about spoiled rich kids. Or at least, that's what I gather Gossip Girl is about from the people I have heard talking about. Anyway, if anyone would like to see the cast, they will apparently be in Brooklyn Heights on Friday. Tell 'em Dan sent you.

If you're interested in more modest pursuits, Henry Street seems like the place to go for a drink or a bite. If you want the most convenient stop, try the Clark Street station, which is a few blocks from the promenade and right near some good-looking bars and restaurants on Henry Street. As you stroll, you might be able to convince yourself that you, too, are one of the captains of commerce who can actually afford to live there.