Seriously. For those of us who do not dine out for lunch at sit down spots and feign productivity, convenience stores are sometimes our lifeline on a busy day.

What do you have when you put together Tim Horton's and Charlie the Butcher in a convenience store?

I say - "HEAVEN!!!"

Main and Youngs, by my office. And the gas was 15 cents cheaper per gallon than Forest and Elmwood!

In the United States we have inflated egos as far as the quality and stature of our major metropolitan areas are concerned. Some people actually believe that NYC is the biggest city on earth! While it is generally true that our cities are amazing, they are far from the most densely populated urban centers on earth.

Wikipedia list of cities by population -

Wikipedia list of metropolitan areas by population -

This was one of those things that sprung up in my head after thinking about my friend Janine, who will be travelling to India for her job later in the year, and also thinking about the places that our company does its work. As you might imagine, for garment workers that are legally paid in a month less than you might spend on lunch on occasion, the conditions are substandard (from an American view) and the cities that they live in are hardly any different. The difference in population density is massive, as you'll see.

The two most claustrophobic cities in the United States are New York and San Francisco. How do they stack up in comparison with cities you've never heard of and will never visit?

Cities by population -

1) Mumbai, India - 13,073,926 - 29,042 per sq. km
8) Shanghai, China - 9,838,400 - 6,775 per sq. km (2001 data)
9) Lagos, Nigeria - 9,229,944 - N/A
10) Mexico City, Mexico - 8,658,576 - 5,626 per sq. km
13) NY, NY - 8,143,197 - 10,439 per sq. km
14) Cairo, Egypt - 7,933,236 - 35,420 per sq. km
21) Dhaka, Bangladesh - 6,969,458 - 30,403 per sq. km

SF isn't in the top 50. Shanghai and the distrito federal of Mexico are thought of as two of the most choking urban centers on earth yet they are about half a dense as NYC. Cairo, Mumbai and Dhaka, three cities Americans know virtually nothing about, are 3x more dense than NYC. Can you imagine a New Yorker feeling cramped? Cities comparable in size and density to NYC are Tehran, Moscow, Jakarta and Tokyo.

What about "metropolitan" areas?

Metro area by population -

1) Tokyo, Japan - 31,729,844 - 2,350 per sq. km
2) Seoul, S. Korea - 22,742,000 - 1,939 per sq. km
3) Mexico City, Mexico - 19,411,000 - 2,484 per sq. km
4) NY, NY - 18,818,536 - 1,081 per sq. km
5) Sao Paulo, Brazil - 18,333,000 - 2,277 per sq. km
6) Mumbai, India - 18,196,000 - 4,206 per sq. km
7) Cairo, Egypt - 15,750,000 - 11,053 per sq. km
13) LA, CA - 12,950,129 - 1,031 per sq. km
15) Dhaka, Bangladesh - 12,430,000 - 7,850 per sq. km
22) Lagos, Nigeria - 10,886,000 - 17,398 per sq. km

Again, SF isn't on the list but LA is... and keep in mind that the LA census data doesn't include hundreds of thousands if not millions of "undocumented migrants." NYC by comparison is actually one of the least congested metro areas on earth when you compare it to its peers. Lagos, Nigeria, Cairo, Egypt, most of the metro areas in China and most of the metro areas in India are more than 10x denser in population. Those same cities are 20x more dense than greater Chicago.

Many of us really don't have an idea of what urban congestion really means... even New Yorkers! Take into consideration that many of these places are awash with poverty so extreme that the American mind can't even fathom it, and you have some densely packed areas with characteristics that we are largely unaware of and cannot imagine in our own cities.

The cities that our company visits often are these insanely poor and densely packed areas in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Karachi holds 11,000,000 people and less than 1% of us could even point the country out on a map let alone the city. Most Americans aren't lucky enough to travel abroad for leisure, and even those that do mostly don't have the foggiest clue about parts of the world that aren't in Europe, China and Japan. To think that many Americans might actually be shocked and a little afraid upon landing in a place like Cairo, Egypt makes me suspect that the idea that we could afford to be a little bit more worldly has some validity to it.

It seems like I throw a quick post up whenever there is a nice day to enjoy... it really does cheer me up to see warm weather and sunshine.

Considering all of the thought I've put into making the next step and leaving Buffalo thereafter, a different thought crossed my mind - if I move to the place that I'd like to live, will I appreciate the good weather as much as I would here in Buffalo? It seems that you get a bigger kick out of things when its rare to be able to enjoy them.

(e:jason) and I bought an Xbox 360 - for the premium system, another controller and two games the grand total was something like $550. Goodbye PS2! I gave (e:jason) the option of replacing his digital camera or putting the money towards a 360 - I should have known that the gears in his head would have started turning as soon as I said it.

Assuming nobody jams me on this bid, I'm about to get brand new copies of On The Road and Mexico City Blues off of eBay for less than I would have if I ordered on Amazon, including the discounts and free shipping. If you read my journal on previous occasions you'd know that I'm horribly anal about finding a particular copy of On The Road, but right now my desire to reread the book outweighs my desire to sit out and wait for a specific edition.

I've also taken to finally hanging up proper prints and artwork in my bedroom, gifts and purchases alike. A previous... well... theres no polite way to say it... but anyway a previous intimate acquaintance painted a painting for me and made strings of origami cranes, and another friend of mine (not so intimate, a nice but crazy girl) gave me some sort of ink printing in blue. I am not exactly sure how to hang it, but I think probably the thing to do is to get one of those matte finished folding things (sorry, I'm not an artist so I have no idea what its called). In all honesty it makes me wish that I had some more art to put in my room that had been made by a friend - maybe I'll paint my own hideous yet inspired creation. I thought about maybe picking my favorite three pictures from my travels, having my friend print them on photo quality paper and framing them nicely to hang behind my bed.

I hope that if you're working today you are making obscene profits. Otherwise, for those of us who have the day off, took the day off, or are unemployed or underemployed - enjoy the day!

I live a relatively quiet, uncomplicated life and I'm a relatively normal person, but everybody (no exclusions) has a strange and weird part of their personality that rears its ugly head on occasion. For me, one of my most profound cultural influences has been Jack Kerouac. Between On the Road and Hesse's Siddartha you have the two books that have had the most profound impact on my outlook on life and so I don't feel particularly ashamed that Kerouac is a bit of an obsession for me.

Well, not Kerouac the man, per se... but more specifically the artwork on his books. I know I'm crazy on this one, but I just think that the cover art that was displayed on his books early on are some amazing examples of Beat-era artistic flair.

Some examples. Here is an example of a first edition PB copy of The Subterraneans... a book I haven't read yet. I'm not inclined to pay the $70 it would cost to get this on eBay, but I like it anyway.



This is the cover art from the first edition of Mexico City Blues - not a favorite but still interesting to me.



Here is the original art from the first hardcover edition of On The Road - this art in paperback I've seen available online exactly TWICE, the last time of which I was outbid on eBay by an eBay bidding driveby sniper.... I was fucking pissed. If you ever see this in paperback, Penguin Compass edition from the early '70s... I want it. :(



First edition of The Dharma Bums - this was released after On The Road and so its not surprising that considering the popularity of OTR, they would somewhat copy the art from OTR for The Dharma Bums. This exact book is selling for $950 on eBay - ouch.



This I really wish I had... I already own a copy of The Dharma Bums but I'd trade my copy for this one asap. Its the most recent Penguin Deluxe edition of The Dharma Bums - notice the hitchhiking figure with the sign that reads "nirvana."



Imelda Marcos had shoes, Kim Jong Il has movies and cognac... I have specific editions of Kerouac books. Sigh.

A big ol' two-handed "HONK HONK!" to the (e:strip) ladies! How you doin'?

I met (e:ingrid) last week (or was it the week before?) at Cozumel while I was there with some friends for a birthday. A very nice girl. Sorry for having to dash, but we were moving to another bar. Soy un bobo, especially when I've been drinking. I think she asked if I was a pothead. If I said that I can't remember, would that be considered evidence of guilt? Not if you don't feel guilty, which I don't.

I've been enjoying the hell out of my porch now that the weather is better. I feel slightly bad that our new upstairs neighbor had to sit on furniture that hasn't been cleaned yet (street dirt is relentless when your porch is 6 ft. from the curb) but then again, its all supposed to be mutually maintained and she hasn't lifted a fucking finger in six months.

The good news is that our apartment is in significantly better shape for entertaining, so I'm really looking forward to getting people fed/drunk/etc. as summer rolls in. I think I have a summer drink idea - its carbonated but I promise that it will be tasty, in a vodka-y, peary, peachy, grapefruity kind of way. The "750" is past its shelf life and will be retired as our house beverage.

Otherwise its been status quo for a while - I've had a hard time shaking things up so I'm glad that the better weather is giving us an opportunity to enjoy more of what the area has to offer. I've had cabin fever for so long that I almost forgot what it was like to have options!