42point195
By marathonerArchive for June, 2007
Atlanta Pride
It was a moving event, the Atlanta Pride Festival that took place last weekend. The festival was held in Piedmont Park in some form of a fair, where vendors gathered and artistes performed. One of the festival highlights was the Pride Parade held on Sunday, where participants would march from downtown Atlanta to the park, about two miles up north.
Something struck me as I watched the parade participants marched into the cheers of the spectators that lined both sides of the road. Many were waving to us, there were those who threw candies, beads, water, etc., etc. at us and some were just trying to make noise, as if an answer to our cheers. They looked happy to be there, they looked proud to be there.
I felt happy for the people who were here. I was happy for the people whom the so-called “mainstream” considered “alternate”, that they could tell others that they are, well, just who they are. I was happy for the reciprocating crowd, that they were not just watchers from the other side of the barricade, but everybody was part of the whole festival. I was happy for the families and friends, and for their families and friends, that they were in fact family and friends! At the end of the day, the Pride Festival is not just an LGBT thing.
This year’s Pride was my first. I liked the sense of openness, or should I rather call it nonchalance, that people went about attending the event. We had a conversation at home the other day on the blue-chip corporate sponsors supporting the event. Citing a few from the list, there were Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Washington Mutual, AT&T, InterContinental Hotels Group, Verizon Wireless, HP, and so on. We saw it as a sign of how ready the society is in acknowledging an LGBT community.
Of course, as with all things there will be people sitting (or rather, protesting) on the other side of the fence. This is a picture that I took as I followed the crowd towards the park after the parade.
It reminds me of the lyrics of a song from Taiwanese singer-and-song-writer Huang Shujun (黄舒骏):
左边我看到有人沉醉在爱的拥抱
右边我看到有人游行呼口号
I shall not translate that, for I can’t mirror the essence of these two lines in English. I will sign off this post with one more shot from the day. You can find more of them in my Flickr photo stream.
Celebrating the not-so-new toy
I want to make this post today. One day after thousands of people in America get their hands on their coveted new toy. Some started queuing up in front of the stores since the beginning of the week. All in anticipation of being one of the first owners of this new and hip gadget (note: NOT the one shown in the picture above).
Now, let me introduce my not-so-new toy (not-so-new because I recently acquired a newer toy). And the not-so-new toy is — my O2 Atom Pure! I love it! And here’s why:
- In normal day-to-day life, it is my cellphone. I make calls with it, I send text messages with it.
- When I am on the road, I use it to read my mails, and occasionally use it to get some quick information from the internet.
- Again, when I am on the road, it is my calendar and I use it to keep track of my appointments.
- On some days, it is my alarm clock.
- I use it to take pictures, whether I am on the go or not, to do a show-and-tell, like what my posts have here.
- When I travel, and I don’t mean for work, it is my journal (or e-journal, if you would, so that it sounds ‘hipper’). I write on it (yes, write. I can choose to tap too, if I want).
- Gone were the days where my travel journals ended up gathering dust on the shelves. With my writings already in digital form, my life is now easier when I want to put them online, be it from the toy or from my laptop.
- When I have nothing else better to do, I play endless games of Bubble Breaker on it.
And there are a whole bunch of stuff that I thought I would do with my toy, but have not try out yet. I thought I could tune in to its FM radio when I get bored. Similarly, I thought I would load it with MP3s to keep myself entertained on long bus rides. I have yet to set up the speaker stand that came with it so that I can play music in the house. I am not really a video person, but knowing that I can record clips with my toy, I thought why not try it out some day?
Really, in a time where a phone, music player (sure, some may argue that an iPod is a different thing from a music player or MP3 player), internet device and camera all rolled into one gadget is no longer a novelty, I do not understand the attention the iPhiles are giving to the new iPhone. Maybe it is the brand image that Apple has built around its iWhatever over the years.
I may get an iSomething someday. But now, I am very contented with a proud and contented owner of my Atom Pure. And I love it!
Day on the road
Trying to write a post now* in the Snob Lounge of Chicago O’Hare airport. The Snob Lounge is the code name used in my household for airline passenger lounges such as the United Mileage Plus Lounge (the one that I’m in now) or any other lounges that Star Alliance Gold members have privileged access to.
Another aspect of traveling in the New World that I need to get used to is the frequent delays and cancellations. At least, it has happened to me often enough for me to say that they occur rather frequently. Just take this one day alone, there were changes to three out of the three flights I had to take:
1. Atlanta – Chicago -> flight delayed
The flight was delayed for 2 hours. This would have caused me to be just in time, if not late, for my meeting. Luckily, they were able to put me on another airline that was flying to Chicago just an hour after my original departure time.
2. Milwaukee – Chicago -> flight cancelled
Milwaukee and Chicago are over an hour’s drive apart. The airline was thoughtful enough to arrange for a limo to ferry the affected passengers, who still wanted to get to Chicago, to Chicago. Flight delays and cancellations and happy customers are the least likely to be mentioned in the same breath. On seeing the limo arrive after waiting anxiously for it for 30 minutes, we, the passengers, ended up being jolly about it.
I tried taking some pictures of the interior or the limo too, but they did not turn out very well.
3. Chicago – Atlanta -> flight delayed
This was where I ended up seeking shelter in the snob lounge. Come to think of it, it’s really a privilege to be able to have a place where you can chill out, away from the mass in the terminal. The worst part was after I got onto the plane. So, hey, I have finally made it onto the plane. Why did it seem that it was never going to push back from the gate?
Many flights were delayed or canceled this day, due to bad weather. The weather in Chicago looked fine, actually, but I heard that there was stormy weather forming in the mid-west. The picture shows a long queue of passengers with flights delayed or canceled, waiting to get help from the airline’s service counter. This was 9 something in the evening.
It has been a tiring day. Flying around… Driving around… The mind evaluating alternative travel options… On the plane back to Atlanta, I just wanted myself to be home as soon as possible. I reached home at almost 2 in the morning.
*As it turned out, I did not have time to finish the post in the Snob Lounge, but carried on with it the following day at home.
Quick post
Just wanted to write a quick post to update that I have uploaded some pictures to the Postcard from Myanmar post. I am rather busy with work these few days and even though I attended an event on Sunday and I want to write about it, I can’t do that until later in the week.
I will on the road tomorrow. Catch a flight to Chicago at 7 something in the morning, drive for about 2 hours to a little city to the northwest of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, and do the same return trip back to Chicago to catch a flight back to Atlanta later in the evening. I will arrive in Atlanta at 11 something, or 10 something if I’m lucky. All these, only for a 3-hour meeting in the afternoon.
Welcome to the New World! I have not been doing a lot of meetings like this yet. The last one had me drive 2.5 hours east-wards to Augusta. I’ll probably won’t make such a big deal out of it when I get used to it. I have no bragging rights when I look at my co-worker who always drives for some 4 hours down from his home-base in Charlotte, North Carolina, to meet customers in Atlanta.
New perspective. When we had to go to Changi Airport for a meeting from my old Science Park office in Singapore, the thought was something like “Oooh… very far”. To have a common basis for comparison, that was about a 30-minute drive in smooth traffic condition.
Hey, wait… I said this was supposed to be a quick post. Why am I taking so much time?
Longest day of the year
21st June. This is supposed to be the day in the year where we, in the northern hemisphere, experience the longest daylight. The summer solstice. The first day of summer. It is also on this day that France started to hold “La fête de la musique“, which has since became a worldwide event, called the World Music Day.
On this day, amateur musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets and free concerts are organized for the public. I remember the Alliance Française in Singapore used to hold events and music performances on this day. New York is holding their first ever event this year. In Atlanta, it seems like there is nothing much happening here.
What long days mean to me is that I get to do my evening runs outdoors till 8 something at “night” while the sky is still bright. Long days can be very deceiving too, for I can sit in front of my desk, trying to answer as many questions in the stupid RFI (Request for Information) as I can, thinking that it is still early and the work day is not yet over.
Days will be getting shorter and shorter from this day onwards. I will have to profit from the daylight as much as possible before the cold and dark evenings start keeping me indoors again. 10k on a treadmill? Nah… Not if I have a choice.
