"i know what it means but, I can't explain"

So today's song choice is "I Can't Explain" by The Who. Today's post wasn't really inspired by the song, but rather this press release from the DOT:

City Announces Next Round of Public Toilet Locations
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2008/pr08_014.shtml

Public toilets...strange? convenient? whoa? suh-weet? In my opinion, they're strange and out of place. Definitely take a look at the press release. If you're too lazy (or too busy, which I doubt since you're reading this blog) to read the release check out these excerpts from it:

'The APTs clean themselves after each use, and tamper-proof automatic doors that open from the inside will ensure security." - OK, not so strange yet. A bit "armored vehicle-ish" but not too weird.

"The APTs cost 25 cents to operate, with a time limit of 15 minutes and will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.... After 12 minutes of use, an acoustic alarm and red flashing lights go off for three minutes before the door opens." - OK, now it's getting to sound a bit "Apollo 13-ish".

"Once a user has exited, the APT doors will close and the 90-second automatic cleaning cycle will begin." - Thats wonderful, I bet by the time the first person goes and the console is cleaned half the people outside will have already pissed in their pants.

Like the title of today's post, these public bathrooms are something I just can't explain. They probably exist more as advertising surfaces than as "essential part[s] of a livable city". To those people excited about the emergence of public toilets, a suggestion. If you're looking forward to the new public toilet going up in Lippmann Plaza in Flushing don't bother. Just head on over a block west to the new Queens Crossing mall-ish thing/food court thing. They have a decent, sanitary bathroom that doesn't require you to buy anything (if you did you'd have to buy a five dollar slice of pizza just to use the bathroom). If that's too far go to McDonalds in Lippmann Plaza (I've actually never been in that bathroom, but I hear it exists). Macys across the street from Lippmann Plaza has bathrooms and no one should bug you there. Joe's Best Burger on Main Street requires a code, but just nicely ask any customer for the code or keep your eyes open for dropped reciepts. I think that new Red Mango (or w/e) place has bathrooms too. Hmmm...I just had a thought (apparently this is a stream-of-consciousness blog now). Perhaps the new public bathrooms are in place to appeal to tourists! Perhaps it's a sign that the city is trying to turn Flushing into a tourist-trap! I know they're gentrifying it, but tourist-trapping a place is the absolute worst thing a city can do. Looks like I can explain it now.

Final verdict: Public bathrooms are useless, they are for advertising, and they are signs that your community is an up and coming tourist-trap. On the plus side, they look pretty cool.

On a related note (not really) I'm really excited for next week. Not only am I graduating but I'm also going to be receiving Tracks of the New York City Subway in the mail. The book features:

"black & white track maps, showing every station, every track and all yard leads, all with their respective track numbers. The book is now 142 pages in length, spiral-bound in 8 1/2 x 11" format."

For more information check out http://nyctrackbook.com/index.html.

That's it for now. Until next time, Mustard Yellow - out.

"because the air outside will make our cells divide at an alarming rate"

It's hot. It's way to hot to do much of anything today. Then again, I'm way to tired to do anything anyway, so I'm here blogging. I've never really blogged before. Back in elementary school I would start blogs on Xanga. Everyone else was doing it and it was kind of fun editing Xanga layouts and whatnot. That was the start and the end of my blogs. This is a new thing for me, and I approach it with a bit of caution and a bit of "whatever-ness". They say blogs are dangerous; that once you get into the habit of posting your thoughts and ideas things can get out of control, and next thing you know you've lost your girlfirend, your job, your money, your home, and your cat. Then again, who's actually going to read this blog anyway. That's the logic that goes through everyone's mind, and next thing you know you're putting that logic into writing and the next thing you tell yourself is, "OK I've wrote this much already, I can't not press "PUBLISH POST". So here is it.

I'm planning on recording thoughts and ideas that pop into my head that I feel warrant transcription onto the internet. When/If the internet finally "collapses" or w/e they're saying it's going to do (some time before the sun goes out and our galaxy merges with Andromeda), I can say that my thoughts and ideas contributed to it! I'm going to title my posts like the producers of Grey's Anatomy title their episodes; using MUSIC! I'm no music connoisseur, but I'll try to title each of my posts using memorable lyrics from songs. Today's title is from "We Will Become Silhouettes" by the Postal Service, although the version that's going through my mind is the cover of the song by The Shins (trust me I'm no music connoisseur, The Shins are pretty much the only "indie" band I have on my iPod).

A little bit about myself. I like the color mustard yellow (obviously), I am interested in graphic design, architecture, the NYC subway system, cities, songs, tennis, and a bunch of other stuff. I am a student. Right now I go to a specialized public high school in NYC that sits next to Manhattan's holding reservoir and has a Wolverine as it's official mascot (you only see it if you wander to the back of the Weight Room). Soon I will start my undergraduate education at a small and quirky liberal arts college in a quaint river town (technically a city) in Minnesota with a penguin as it's unofficial mascot. I plan on studying socioanthroreligiobiology (I'm deciding between Sociology/Anthropology or "SoAn", Religion from a secular perspective, and Biology. That's about as specific as I can get as I wade through the waters of blog-dom, that's enough information for curious people (or stalkers) to figure out where I am without me explicitly telling them. Anyway that's that.

Welcome to Mustard Yellow Notebook.