Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
8.04.2015
Slow Roll Detroit.
My first ride with the Slow Roll world of Detroit through one of my favorite parts of the D. I'm not normally a fan of large groups of people on bikes but figured since I'm here, and I have my bike, it would be fun so I gathered up some family and friends and away we went. It was a seriously SLOW roll, at times stopping for almost 20 minutes to wait for roads to clear. Comprised of the most diverse group of people - age, ethnicity, religion, etc. with even more interestingness along the sidelines. Jim with his panties, the car full of people that looked like they drove in from Grosse Pointe to see people in Detroit, the kids so happy to cheer us on... all and all, a really fun ride! Detroit has a pretty bad reputation and the police have a tough job here, so it was wonderful to not only see them smiling as they escorted all 4,000 of us through the city, but to see everyone on the ride thanking them at every pass. Their smiles were as contagious as ours. Thanks Jay & Mike!
My first ride with the Slow Roll world of Detroit through one of my favorite parts of the D. I'm not normally a fan of large groups of people on bikes but figured since I'm here, and I have my bike, it would be fun so I gathered up some family and friends and away we went. It was a seriously SLOW roll, at times stopping for almost 20 minutes to wait for roads to clear. Comprised of the most diverse group of people - age, ethnicity, religion, etc. with even more interestingness along the sidelines. Jim with his panties, the car full of people that looked like they drove in from Grosse Pointe to see people in Detroit, the kids so happy to cheer us on... all and all, a really fun ride! Detroit has a pretty bad reputation and the police have a tough job here, so it was wonderful to not only see them smiling as they escorted all 4,000 of us through the city, but to see everyone on the ride thanking them at every pass. Their smiles were as contagious as ours. Thanks Jay & Mike!
4.02.2015
11.23.2014
Don't Shoot.
It was a beautiful day, possibly one of the last for a long time, so I jumped on my bike for a ride. My destination unplanned but while riding I couldn't stop thinking about the recent shooting death of Akai Gurley in the Louis H. Pink Houses, so I rode there. There didn't seem to be much going on but there were a lot of cops... mostly in unmarked cars, two on every corner. I rode around a bit looking for a memorial but I missed it if there was one. I had to look at the articles in the paper to make sure I was in the right place. A group of men were standing nearby so I asked them, "Yes, but that's the other side. The protests were yesterday, pretty quiet today." Yes it was.
Instead of photographing I listened. I got the sense they didn't want a Ferguson style uprising, that hopefully this really was an accident... and that something is done so it won't happen again. We talked about the differences between my life and theirs. Their fear of not making it home daily. How the police & city have changed their community, not in good ways. One of the men, I'll call him "S", has lived in the Pink Houses all his life. I asked when it all changed... He figures in the 70s but serious change came in the 80s. My instinct was crack but it's more than that, it's when the police left the beat and arrived in cars. Interactions changed. No longer were the police a part of the community but looking in, through glass. Talk also turned to management of their home, the "projects": some of the first things to go were the sign-in books in the lobby, removal of the radiators in the hallways, then the tenant patrols... controlled - but out of control. It's changed little by little and it keeps getting worse.
Now the shooting of Akai out of fear. Stereotypes breed fear. Who has instilled this and why isn't it getting better? It's important for us all to talk, to break down barriers and live together... To live and not have to fear dying daily just to get home. While were were standing there, doors that haven't locked in years were being fixed, like the lightbulb in the dark stairwell that miraculously was repaired the day after the shooting, none of this would be happening if all eyes weren't on them right now.
On my ride home Channel 2 was setup in front of a different set of projects filming near a police station. Did something else happen or did they have the wrong place? Then on Bergen, closer to home, a drive by shooting, police everywhere. Still no word on Ferguson but in Cleveland yesterday a cop shot and killed a 12-year old boy who was playing with a fake gun. Who taught this child to react like Tony Montana? I wish the whole world could take a day off... Start over. Breathe. Live.
Big thanks to my new friends in the Pink today for talking, listening and sharing knowledge. See you again! - G
It was a beautiful day, possibly one of the last for a long time, so I jumped on my bike for a ride. My destination unplanned but while riding I couldn't stop thinking about the recent shooting death of Akai Gurley in the Louis H. Pink Houses, so I rode there. There didn't seem to be much going on but there were a lot of cops... mostly in unmarked cars, two on every corner. I rode around a bit looking for a memorial but I missed it if there was one. I had to look at the articles in the paper to make sure I was in the right place. A group of men were standing nearby so I asked them, "Yes, but that's the other side. The protests were yesterday, pretty quiet today." Yes it was.
Instead of photographing I listened. I got the sense they didn't want a Ferguson style uprising, that hopefully this really was an accident... and that something is done so it won't happen again. We talked about the differences between my life and theirs. Their fear of not making it home daily. How the police & city have changed their community, not in good ways. One of the men, I'll call him "S", has lived in the Pink Houses all his life. I asked when it all changed... He figures in the 70s but serious change came in the 80s. My instinct was crack but it's more than that, it's when the police left the beat and arrived in cars. Interactions changed. No longer were the police a part of the community but looking in, through glass. Talk also turned to management of their home, the "projects": some of the first things to go were the sign-in books in the lobby, removal of the radiators in the hallways, then the tenant patrols... controlled - but out of control. It's changed little by little and it keeps getting worse.
Now the shooting of Akai out of fear. Stereotypes breed fear. Who has instilled this and why isn't it getting better? It's important for us all to talk, to break down barriers and live together... To live and not have to fear dying daily just to get home. While were were standing there, doors that haven't locked in years were being fixed, like the lightbulb in the dark stairwell that miraculously was repaired the day after the shooting, none of this would be happening if all eyes weren't on them right now.
On my ride home Channel 2 was setup in front of a different set of projects filming near a police station. Did something else happen or did they have the wrong place? Then on Bergen, closer to home, a drive by shooting, police everywhere. Still no word on Ferguson but in Cleveland yesterday a cop shot and killed a 12-year old boy who was playing with a fake gun. Who taught this child to react like Tony Montana? I wish the whole world could take a day off... Start over. Breathe. Live.
Big thanks to my new friends in the Pink today for talking, listening and sharing knowledge. See you again! - G
6.03.2013
Thinking about Sandy.
It was a pleasant surprise to find 200+ volunteers from Tourism Cares at Fort Tilden clearing sand and collecting garbage.
It's been 8 months since Hurricane, Frankenstorm/Superstorm whatever you want to call her, Sandy bulldozed her way through the East Coast. It took me almost a week to really understand the reality of what happened then and 8 months more to return to the shore. The closest beach I know, the relief from the heat, the escape from the city. Changed.
The coastline itself doesn't look too bad but the closed beaches, missing boardwalks and sand covered parking lots remind you otherwise. For those that lost all and others just returning to their homes that were covered in the sea it's going to be a long summer. Although the concessions are nearly open, the random boats floating or flipped onto the shore where they shouldn't be and crooked docks leading to collapsed homes all along Broad Channel are vivid reminders that so much still needs to be done.
It was a pleasant surprise to find 200+ volunteers from Tourism Cares at Fort Tilden clearing sand and collecting garbage.
It's been 8 months since Hurricane, Frankenstorm/Superstorm whatever you want to call her, Sandy bulldozed her way through the East Coast. It took me almost a week to really understand the reality of what happened then and 8 months more to return to the shore. The closest beach I know, the relief from the heat, the escape from the city. Changed.
The coastline itself doesn't look too bad but the closed beaches, missing boardwalks and sand covered parking lots remind you otherwise. For those that lost all and others just returning to their homes that were covered in the sea it's going to be a long summer. Although the concessions are nearly open, the random boats floating or flipped onto the shore where they shouldn't be and crooked docks leading to collapsed homes all along Broad Channel are vivid reminders that so much still needs to be done.
9.15.2012
Collection.
Riding home last night I passed this trio sorting and bagging returnables. A pedestrian in the bike lane had stopped to take a picture so I stopped as well. He figured they had a $1000 there, I figured more like $200. He said no way. I rode away only to return and talk to them. This score took over 3 days, 3 carts, and many many miles of glove covered hands reaching into garbage bin after garbage bin. It looks like so much but they figured it was close to $300, only $100 each. Remember when Guiliani wanted to tax bottle collectors for making too much money? Too much money based on our laziness!
It takes a lot of work for 5¢ to add up to anything substantial.
Riding home last night I passed this trio sorting and bagging returnables. A pedestrian in the bike lane had stopped to take a picture so I stopped as well. He figured they had a $1000 there, I figured more like $200. He said no way. I rode away only to return and talk to them. This score took over 3 days, 3 carts, and many many miles of glove covered hands reaching into garbage bin after garbage bin. It looks like so much but they figured it was close to $300, only $100 each. Remember when Guiliani wanted to tax bottle collectors for making too much money? Too much money based on our laziness!
It takes a lot of work for 5¢ to add up to anything substantial.
6.30.2012
5.20.2012
10.09.2011
attraction.
Found - 1 pile of jars among a shoreline of glass. I gathered and added many more until the tide came in and returned them to the sea. A few asked questions but most attracted to Bottle Beach left me alone to gather and place as the afternoon passed. One guy did ask if I was cleaning the beach, wouldn't that be nice, but I think that job is far from a one woman job.
Meditation of placement under a gorgeous fall sun.
By the water, waiting for the water.
Moving pieces. Moving thoughts...
what is your attraction to trash?
Found - 1 pile of jars among a shoreline of glass. I gathered and added many more until the tide came in and returned them to the sea. A few asked questions but most attracted to Bottle Beach left me alone to gather and place as the afternoon passed. One guy did ask if I was cleaning the beach, wouldn't that be nice, but I think that job is far from a one woman job.
Meditation of placement under a gorgeous fall sun.
By the water, waiting for the water.
Moving pieces. Moving thoughts...
what is your attraction to trash?
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