high five new york

so this guy, nathaniel kassel rides his bike through nyc and gives people high fives when they're hailing cabs. pretty funny, especially when you see the various reactions. most people seem alright, but some people really freak out. i'm not sure how i'd react, but i think it would be sort of heartwarming to just randomly get a high five.



sadly, this wouldn't work in fresno, as we can't hail cabs in the street.

"we grew up"

and by that you mean sold out. well, maybe that's a bit harsh. but, i do find it a bit hypocritical for those that embraced homelessness, drug use, and "freedom" decades ago to now be calling for harsher crackdown on loitering and homelessness in their neighborhood.

now, i don't think that just because you live in a neighborhood you have to put up with grime and crime, endless panhandling and such. but, i'm sure if you heard your dad making this quote, Arthur Evans, you would have called him a fascist or something to that effect. "I used to be a hippie. I wore beads and grew my hair long," he said. "But my generation had something these kids do not: a standard of civilized behavior."

so, when you wore beads, grew your hair long, tuned in, turned on and dropped out, you were civilized about your squatting and drug use? well, good for you. i highly doubt this was actually the case. but, in the case that you always paid rent in haight ashbury during the late 60's, and didn't do anything illegal (like smoke weed) then know that you may have been the only one.

reminds me of another story about the generation gap. always good to see the youth being embraced with open arms.

gender story version 2.0h

not too long ago, i posted a story discussing gender issues relating to a male cross dresser, who had not had any gender reassignment surgery but still used the women's restroom.

today, on boing boing, i saw this
"The New York Times ran a story this week about New York City's plan to permit people to change the gender on their birth certificates even if they haven’t had sex reassignment surgery. The move comes after much advocacy by transgender groups who believe that gender has to do with much more than anatomy. For many transgendered people, in fact, anatomy is itself a mixed bag. This new move allows individuals to decide for themselves whether they are male or female."

here's the link to the story

i really find this to be quite interesting. it's not genetics, it's not science, it's not surgery that define gender.

from the article, "Transgender advocates consider the New York proposal an overdue bulwark against discrimination that recognizes an emerging shift away from viewing gender as simply the sum of one’s physical parts. But some psychiatrists and doctors are skeptical of the move, saying sexual self-definition should stop at rewriting medical history."

so, really what is gender then? it's not roles decided by society, it's not the sum of your physical parts, it's not your genetics. is gender solely defined by the individual now?

but, i do disagree with this statement, "Joann Prinzivalli, 52, a lawyer for the New York Transgender Rights Organization, a man who has lived as a woman since 2000, without surgery, said the changes amount to progress, a move away from American culture’s misguided fixation on genitals as the basis for one’s gender identity."

it's not just here. as evidenced by my previous post about italy, there's some doubt about what defines gender there as well. and, i'd venture that most of latin america, and africa might be even more "misguided".