Jon Rafman

LH: Does the internet subvert the idea of a ‘master narrative’?

JR: No, I think the master narrative was subverted way before the internet became popular. I think it had more to do with the failure of major ideologies.

But I also think that we live in one world and we are not so different from one another, and that a universal discourse exists. If I experience fragmentation due to being overwhelmed with data, it may well represent contemporary reality and consciousness. Perhaps our subjectivity changes over time, but it is ultimately part of our shared human history. We are narrative creatures. No matter what, we will create stories that have patterns and arcs and consist of a series of events that can be recounted.

http://bombsite.powweb.com/?p=12240

thank you

______________________

i have some amazing, amazing, amazing people in my life.

i
am
so
lucky

i
am
so
grateful

thank you.

______________________

btw, for those of you who don't know. i'm back in toronto.

my toronto number is the same. i have a plan now that includes unlimited txt msging and evenings and wknds starting at 7pm.

Back to December - Taylor Swift

Click to download

I'm so glad you made time to see me
How's life? Tell me, how's your family?
I haven't seen them in a while

You've been good, busier than ever
We small talk, work and the weather
Your guard is up, and I know why

Because the last time you saw me
Is still burned in the back of your mind
You gave me roses, and I left them there to die

So this is me swallowing my pride
Standing in front of you, saying I'm sorry for that night
And I go back to December all the time

It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine
I go back to December, turn around and make it alright
I go back to December all the time

These days, I haven't been sleeping
Staying up, playing back myself leaving
When your birthday passed, and I didn't call

Then I think about summer, all the beautiful times
I watched you laughing from the passenger side
And realized I loved you in the fall

And then the cold came, the dark days
When fear crept into my mind
You gave me all your love, and all I gave you was goodbye

So this is me swallowing my pride
Standing in front of you, saying I'm sorry for that night
And I go back to December all the time

It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine
I go back to December, turn around and change my own mind
I go back to December all the time

I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile
So good to me, so right
And how you held me in your arms that September night
The first time you ever saw me cry

Maybe this is wishful thinking
Probably mindless dreaming
But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right

I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't
So if the chain is on your door, I understand

This is me swallowing my pride
Standing in front of you, saying I'm sorry for that night
And I go back to December

It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you
Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine
I go back to December, turn around and make it alright
I go back to December, turn around and change my own mind
I go back to December all the time, all the time

Roads in Boston: Part II

Now that you've seen part i, i assume part ii will be less shocking.

This is a fork in the road.

So is this.

So are these.

WTF. So are ALL of these.

Imagine driving down a road, and GPS says "in the next 5km, stay right" (you know, cuz it's a fork), and in 5km, you see the fork, and your GPS says "stay right." You stay right pass the fork, and breathe a sign of relief....nope scratch the last part, because you immediately encounter another fork, before the GPS has time to react to tell you if you're supposed to stay right or left. Last time "two roads diverged in a yellow wood," we "took the one less traveled" and got stuck in an underwater tunnel that was five minutes long all the way to the airport, and had to pay tolls to come back.



Here are a billion "Washington Streets" in and around Boston, Massachusetts. Did i mention that every little district have the exact same street names as another?


Did you catch that there are TWO Washington streets in Boston alone? I highlighted all the other districts to show you how close each area is. These streets are literally five minute drives from each other. Make sure you know your damn zip codes when you are looking up addresses because last time we tried going to School Street in Boston, we ended up on School street on the other side of the town.

Today, i was in Woburn, 15 minute away from Medford; I drove on a street called Washington street, and every street it passed, it was called "Washington Place", "Washington Drive", "Washington Walk"...WTF

If you are feeling brave, try searching on Google Maps for a few other names like Broadway, Main, Cambridge, Tremont...and see how many suggestions googlemaps will give you in massachusetts alone.



This seems simple enough. How to go from Legal Seafoods in Back Bay to an apartment building in South Boston.

This is what happens when you click on the reverse button to switch the directions on Google. Not much more that needs to be said for this one.

Btw, you think my explanation sounds bad enough? Actually driving on these roads with no signs, no arial view, with trees and houses covering the streets...it's about 100 times worth.

oh, and wait for part III

Roads in Boston: Part I

This is an intersection in the Boston area. We live pretty close to this intersection.

Now, one might wonder, how does a road like this work? What if you want to get from Kappy's Liquor to the Coldstone Creamery? What would you do?

The red is the route you would take.The green? Well it's a quiz to let you guess how many lights are in that intersection
.
.
.
.
Answer: A hundred million.

You can imagine driving through this intersection, the amount of honking, emergency stopping, last minute lane-changes that exists.



Here is another intersection close to where we live.

Let's say you are on the west side of the this parkway and you need to get to Best Buy...how does it work?

Oh what? You think we turned too early? You mean we can continue down that parkway and make a left at the next intersection? GPS certainly thinks so...but you are all WRONG. There's no left turn at the rotary...not even illegally cuz it's blocked. If you want to enter the rotary, you should have have entered it from the first intersection....

What happens if you didn't know and you missed the first turn? Good luck...no way for you to leave that parkway for quite a bit....


You tell me what that is.


Oh, and no, these are not one-off intersections and we happen to live in an area that has them. You can find these 8 way intersections and rotaries everywhere in Boston. Just check googlemap.