Category: Integrative Seminar 1

Desolate Community of Vinegar Hill

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Vinegar Hill is a quirky little town the lays between the East Riverbank and the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway. It’s comprised of mostly public housing projects, residential buildings, small businesses and Con Edison power plants, which easily allows the tiny town to be tucked away and hidden from most New Yorker’s knowledge. With a population of only 2,322 people (“Vinegar Hill Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York (NY), 11251, 11201 Detailed Profile.”), it’s hard to find anyone walking along these quiet streets. This hidden gem located in Brooklyn is a historic landmark, as the area has preserved century old features from the train tracks and cobble stone road to some of the buildings’ original wood architecture.

Hudson Avenue was the most intriguing street of the neighborhood. This was the only area not packed with new projects and commercial buildings. Instead it was lined with shops. There was a café with a royal blue exterior, an art gallery with a sweet old lady prodding visitors to check out her collection, and an architectural firm with the only large glass window display on the block. There were other companies as well, such as a Pilates studio up the stairs from behind a jade green door. However, the stores were seemingly closed with their windows plastered with flyers that blacked out any lights from within the buildings. But, if you place your ear close to the panes of glass, faint sounds of laughing, chattering, and music can be heard from within.

Although the area was desolate, the people that had crossed my path were pretty open to talking about their knowledge about the sleepy town. Most were passer byers, visiting friends, or workers in the area. Only two had actually resided in the community. One man was actually a former history professor also studying the area and began telling me how Vinegar Hill had gotten its name. He described an Irish battle that was named Vinegar Hill in 1798, where the Irish were fighting for independence and were ultimately defeated. The man who founded the shipyard, John Jackson, wanted workers, so he named the section of land he bough Vinegar Hill in order to attract the Irish to work for him. Even though the Irish lost the battle, the name remained a source of pride (Albetelli).

Vinegar Hill has changed a lot over the centuries. The first settlers of the area had originally been the Canarsee Indians. They were members of the Algonquin linguistic group and created the settlement’s original name, Rinnegokonck. Later on, in the 18th century John Jackson and Comfort and Joshua Sands purchased land in the area. Jackson had been a widely recognized ship builder who had opened a shipyard where Hudson Ave ends today. Jackson then sold 40 acres of his land to government to built what is now the Brooklyn Navy Yard towards the beginning of the 19th century, which then lead to it becoming widely a more residential and industrial neighborhood. During the 1830’s to 1840’s, Jackson’s heirs sold what remained of the estate’s lots, which were either developed individually or in groups. Vinegar Hill’s residential and commercial activity hit is peak during the 1980’s (Presa, “Vinegar Hill Historic District Designation Report”).

The 20th century brought another sudden shift for the area with a new social change. There were suddenly many new comers looking to flee poverty and prosecution. The 70’s also brought a new wave of residents. Many artists became attracted to the area because of Vinegar Hill’s proximity and the dock’s overlooking view of the East River and metropolis. At the time the neighborhood was relatively cheap for these accommodations (Presa, “Vinegar Hill Historic District Designation Report”).

While walking around the neighborhood, the group of people I was with tried our best to identify problems and issues that stood out within modern day Vinegar Hill. There were so many to tackle between lack of transportation, poor health care, and the poorly maintained sidewalks. However, the one that stood out the most is a lack of community. Two anonymous interviewees informed us that most of the residential buildings belonged to an older demographic. This caused the area to become so quiet.

One of the biggest necessities of Vinegar Hill is affordable housing, but at the moment the government sees no need to improve this need. Instead, those who have lived there for years will remain paying the same amount of rent they have always paid and new housing developments force prices to increase their values and force the younger demographic out of the area or spend about $3000 on a 600 ft2 studio apartment (“Vinegar Hill Apartments For Rent.”). Because of this, only an older generation can afford this style of living.

Another problem arose back in May of 2015 when Brooklyn Navy Yard announced that a Wegmans (NY supermarket Chain store) would be built on Admiral Row. Many local activists and residents were relieved as there has been a ten-year long fight to keep the historical site running on Flushing Avenue. However, some people are still hesitant because once the Wegman’s, the neighborhood will change even more significantly because it will become very busy and industrious are.  New real estate projects are scattered throughout the Wallabout and Vinegar Hill and residents are already resisting this sort of change (Bortolot, “Why Vinegar Hill Is Brooklyn’s Edgiest Enclave.”).

Instead of creating a populated grocery store, Vinegar Hill can focus on creating services for more locally grown produce. One idea would be to create some sort of farmer’s market. This would help drive the community along the quiet streets. Another would be to use what’s left of the vacant lots to create some sort of community garden. However, if the residents are still resistant to this form of change, at least planning some sort of delivery service like a Fresh Direct to this area would be convenient as there are no local grocers at this time near Vinegar Hill. So, people are forced to transport their food from afar in order to get a good home cooked meal.

Another idea was to create some sort of phone app that allows people only within this community to share events that are happening around Vinegar. Since it is hard to get residences out of their homes, the important thing is to find a common ground that will draw them out. Since most are either middle aged or older, the events can be centered around bringing their children together, sharing food, or art displays happening around the neighborhood.

This community of elders are also resistant to a lot of change. They like their quiet town and are not looking to fill their small enclave with the commercial traffic that surrounds the rest of New York. However, with so many young kids also residing in the area, the community should be pushed to thrive at least with its own residents if they don’t want to attract outsiders. There are many other solutions than just creating more stores within Vinegar Hill to keep the charm of this historic district while also imposing some sort of change.

 

Works Cited

Albetelli, Dan. Personal Interview. 14 Dec 2015.

Bortolot, Lana. “Why Vinegar Hill Is Brooklyn’s Edgiest Enclave.” N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.

Leimbach, Dulcie. “If You’re Thinking of Living In/Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn; On Cobblestone Streets, History Lingers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2003. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

Presa, Donald G. “HISTORICAL DISTRICTS.” Real Property Probate and Trust Journal.Vol. 1, No. 3 (1966): 204-11. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

Vandam, Jeff. “The Little Town That Prices (Almost) Forgot.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Mar. 2010. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.

“Vinegar Hill Apartments For Rent.” Vinegar Hill Apartments for Rent. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

“Vinegar Hill Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York (NY), 11251, 11201 Detailed Profile.” Vinegar Hill Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York (NY), 11251, 11201 Subdivision Profile. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

 

RESEARCH

Location: Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn

 

  • Vinegar Hill Historic District is comprised of 3 separate small groups of brick, Gree-Revival row houses and Federal Style homes. By late 19th century, Irish residents given neighborhood the name “Irishtown”
  • Area is bordered by Plymouth Street to the north, Brooklyn Navy Yard to the East, Front street to the south, and Bridge Street to the West. Also slopes northerly toward the East River.
  • Number of ethnic groups live around area. (Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, Polish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews
  • Sites include mid-nineteenth century firehouse, portion of early-twentieth century industrial building, 4 vacant lots (retain the scale of the surrounding row house lots.
  • The houses that survived still hold the historical architecture
  • Canarsee Indians = first settlers of the Vinegar Hill area.
    • Members of Algonquin linguistic group
    • Autonomous band of the Delaware (Leni Lenape) Indians.
    • Lived communally in several settlements in western Brooklyn
    • Vinegar Hill Historic District used to be called Rinnegokonck
    • Indians traded fur with European Explorers
  • Developers John Jackson and Comfort and Joshua Sands purchased land in the area in the late 18th century
  • Jackson – notable ship builder
    • Opened shipyard at the foot of present day Hudson Ave and housing for nearby workers
  • During the beginning of 19th Century Jackson sold 40 acres of land to government for Brooklyn Navy Yard
  • The British Army defeat of popular uprising in Ireland resulted in immigration of many Irish refugees to New York
  • Area named Vinegar Hill by Jackson in honor of the last battle of an Irish-English conflict
  • 1830’s-1840’s, Jackson’s hers sold off estate’s remaining lots on Hudson Ave which were developed individually or in small groups
  • 19th century Vinegar hill became a dense residential and industrial neighborhood
  • Hudson Ae became a busy commercial strip
  • Vinegar Hill neighborhood was at the height of residential and commercial activity in the 1880’s
  • Brooklyn’s first elevated railroad, the Lexington Avenue Line was completed from the bridge to Broadway in 1885
  • Twentieth Century brought about social changes
  • They came from Eastern and Southern Europe
  • By 1930’s one-half of all adults were foreign born in Brooklyn
  • There were many new arrivals of population looking to flee poverty and prosecution
  • 1970’s, new residents began arriving
    • Many artists began moving into the neighborhood due to travel distance and views into the city. It was reasonably priced at the time and had architectural character
    • Residents revived the historic name of Vinegar Hill for the area.
    • Many home owners renovated their houses and converted storefronts for residential use.
    • Many houses have been rehabilitated and industrial buildings converted into artist’s lofts

http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/VINEGAR_HILL_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.pdf

  • Brooklyn Navy Yard announced in May 2015 that a Wegmans (NY supermarket Chain store) would be built on Admiral Row side, local activists and residents were relieved
  • There have been a decade long fight to keep the historical site running (Flushing Avenue)
  • However, some people are still hesitant because once the Wegman’s , the neighborhood will change even more significantly because it will become very busy and industrious area and bring even more housing. Most of the community is comprised of an older generation who don’t want the same noise the city brings.
  • New real estate projects are scattered throughout the Wallabout and Vinegar Hill
    • Navy Green, mixed income complex on Flushing Ave with condos and townhouses will be built

http://nypost.com/2015/07/08/why-vinegar-hill-is-brooklyns-edgiest-enclave/

 

  • At the northern part of the “dystopian sprawl of a colossal Con Edison substation that separates residents from the tantalizingly close East River”
  • Brooklyn Navy Yard is a 200-yard fenced industrial park
  • The portions of the neighborhood not being used by Con Edison is only about 9-10 blocks. The 3 sections of its historic district is between Plymouth Rock and Front Streets.
  • Condos and rental buildings have been popping up outside the historic district. 10 condo units of 102 Gold sold for $700 – $850 per square foot.
  • Most people are relatively settled in Vinegar and not many trade houses around the area which is why the market is tricky to gauge.
  • Sole elementary school is Public School 307 on York Street.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/realestate/brooklyns-sleepy-enclave-vinegar-hill-awakens.html

Crime in Vinegar Hill

http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Vinegar_Hill-Brooklyn/5264/crime/

About residing in Vinegar Hill

Con Ed Plant

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/31/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-vinegar-hill-brooklyn-cobblestone-streets-history.html?pagewanted=all

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/realestate/07Living.html

  • There was rapid growth in neighboring areas such as Fulton Ferry Landing and DUMBO, but Vinegar Hill had been untouched during the first half of the eighteenth century
  • Remained untouched until around 1780’s
  • Joshua Sands made a rope making business in Vinegar Hill at which he manufactured rigging for his merchant vessels.
  • During 1880’s there was a diversity of services such as grocery, fish stores, bakeries, liquor establishments, shoe stores, barber shops, restaurants and cigar shops
  • People around the area had access to Navy Yard jobs
  • Many worked odd jobs like riveter, iron model, stonecutter, glass blowers, and rope maker.
  • During the twentieth century with the construction of the Manhattan Bridge and large parts of area had been demolished
  • Shut down of Navy Yard in 1966, this was the result of New York’s shift from an industrial economy to more service-oriented.
  • There was a decline and lost relationship to the waterfront
  • Many citizens moved out to the suburbs or other areas due to employment. Those who came in as replacement were African American from the southern US and Puerto Ricans

http://thesixthborough.weebly.com/vinegar-hill-the-history-of-irishtown.html

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/schwartz/vhill/vhill.history.html

Con Ed Plant

http://dumbonyc.com/blog/2011/08/15/could-vinegar-hill-coned-plant-be-repurposed-as-part-of-brooklyn-bridge-park/

 

ADMIRAL HOUSE ON HILL

OUTLINE

  1. Introduction
    1. History of Vinegar Hill
    2. Transition to what is has become today
  2. Present day Vinegar Hill
    1. Mostly residential, very desolate streets
  3. Problems with the area
    1. Gentrification within the area has made housing sky rocket
      1. Look through interviews for information on this)
    2. Healthcare is poor (pets have better healthcare than the children living in the neighborhood)
    3. Lower and middle class living side by side to each other
    4. Transportation
    5. Lack of community as most of the area is residential and older generation
    6. Many of the generation also not looking for change
  4. Ideas for Change
  5. Conclusion
    1. Look on past what it was like to live in Vinegar Hill, what it’s like now, what it could become.

FOCUS ON COMMUNITY

 

Tompkins Square Park

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For a sizably large park, Tompkins Square Park lacked the crowd you would typically see in locations such as Union Square and Washington Square. To most, the name and location may seem hardly as recognizable compared to the rest of New York’s attractions even though its historical résumé qualifies the park to be just as important. The foundational reason for building Tompkins Square was the same as most other parks in the city, to increase land value and stimulate construction. However, the park’s vibe gives its own unique touch to the city that shouldn’t be forgotten (Van Hom, “A History of Tompkins Square Park”). It now serves as a retreat for those in the area looking to escape the noise from the hustle of the New York.

From first glance of the park, the place is a lot quieter than most other green spaces established in New York, as it lies hidden by the surrounding residential buildings and neighborhood cafes. With only two people resting under the Hare Krishna tree, this makes it an easy place to think in the heart of the park. There was no sound of construction or tourists to disturb the peace, just a path of grey stone under a ring of benches and the iconic piece of greenery. The sounds of Prabhupada and his followers chanting the Hare Krsna mantra still looms in the background. The only thing left behind to remember him is a bland plaque, covered up by the benches that park frequenters used to rest and turn their backs to the park’s history (“Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna Tree”).

Heading towards the north side of the park and incoming from the right side of the tree is was the place to stumble across the dog park. Owners watch over their companions as they taste their sweet hour of freedom after being cooped up in one-bedroom apartment complexes all day or tin townhouses.

Pushing past the crowd that was no where to be found, I made it to a gathering spot where both children and nannies invaded the space. Instead of using the new modern playground or the ball court, the class created havoc in the courtyard behind the neglected Slocum Disaster Memorial. Even though it is the only structure built to keep the memories of the tragic and disastrous event that happened a hundred years ago, it remains a forgotten fountain that is decaying due to a century of city air and acid rain (“Slocum Disaster Memorial Fountain”).

Most other recreational areas aside from this courtyard were seemingly vacant. Not many gathered by the chess tables by the Samuel Cox statue aside from two old men having lunch and playing the game. Even the massive stone ping pong structures seemed very desolate until a woman came along and began stretching on top of the table.

Tompkins Square isn’t what it once was. There’s now a green market that frequents the park every Sunday (“Tompkins Square Greenmarket”) rather than the Tompkins Square Milkhouse that was built in the same location in the 1910’s (Bowery Boys, “The Ragged, Rebellious History of Tompkins Square Park”). All this covers up the comparably dismal past.

It’s not like the past always suffered through dark times. In fact, the original intentions of the park had pretty high expectations as area was originally foreseen to be as elegant as the districts toward the west until a widespread economic disaster spread throughout the city and country in 1837 (Van Horn, “A History of Tompkins Square Park”).

There are still elements to this park that bring back old memories of the Butcher’s era back in the 80’s, when Daniel Rakowitz went around serving the homeless soup made from his roommate and lover (Lee, “Butcher of Tompkins Sq. hopes to gain his release”). The homeless still gather in the center to lay about. But, the amount that bum around is underwhelming compared to the numbers of the Tompkins Square tent city. Since Mayor Ed Koch passed a 1am curfew and the 1988 riot, it’s as if those big old tents the homeless called shelter barely existed (Fleming, “Fight the Power: The 1988 Tompkins Square Park Police Riot”).

Those who come from the outskirts, those who have never stepped in this part part of the east side before may cringe at the thought of coming to this park. Afraid they might be stalked, tackled, and bludgeoned. However, those who remember the park when it hit rock bottom will just laugh in the stranger’s face. They’ll claim they know nothing of danger. They’ll twist Mayor Koch’s word’s “If you cannot afford to live here, move” (Fleming, “Fight the Power: The 1988 Tompkins Square Park Police Riot”) into their own version to warn visitors that if they can’t handle it they should just leave.

They’re angry at the ignorance of idiotic statements from the unaware tourist who passes by while throwing comments about how they would never bring their children to such an unsafe neighborhood even though Tompkins Square has already been cleaned up. Old timers will remember back in the days when it was normal for bike tires to flatten from the unsterile needles scattered across the ground from the many junkies that frequented the park.

Now that the park has finally been renovated, it was so peaceful being able to wander around. Everyone is kept to themselves in this spacious park. The homeless don’t seem to irritate the visitors of the park. Instead some actually interact with the guests and are just another friendly face.

One man, casually walking his dog didn’t seem to mind the stranger who sits next to him just to chat. Although the nannies do mind if you snap pictures near their children. They cut their sentences short, letting their conversation go from “maybe the bean bags, we should move them.” cut to “please step away from this area,” in order to keep the minors relatively safe.

The site was empty and tucked away behind many residential areas. This made the area both more eerie and calming.  Historically, the park is major symbol for many of the problems that arise in New York. The social struggles the park faced between riots to homicide can be witnessed in just the air that surrounded the park (Fleming, “Fight the Power: The 1988 Tompkins Square Park Police Riot”). When walking around, all of this seems like nothing more than a faded memory with nothing more than a few of the homeless and the stale air to remind us that the events still existed there.

Works Cited

“Calendar of Events.” Tompkins Square Greenmarket. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.

Fleming, Joe. “Fight the Power: The 1988 Tompkins Square Park Police Riot.” Complex. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.

Horn, Laurel Van. “Lower East Side Preservation Initiative.” A History of Tompkins Square Park. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.

Lee, Tien-Shun. “Butcher of Tompkins Sq. Hopes to Gain His Release.” Butcher of Tompkins Sq. Hopes to Gain His Release. N.p., 28 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.

“Slocum Disaster Memorial Fountain, New York, New York.” RoadsideAmerica.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.

“The Hare Krsnas – HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada – Hare Krishna Tree, Tompkins Square Park.” The Hare Krsnas – HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada – Hare Krishna Tree, Tompkins Square Park. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

“The Ragged, Rebellious History of Tompkins Square Park – The Bowery Boys: New York City History.” The Bowery Boys New York City History. N.p., 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

 

Who is Mitali Mehta? – Draft

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Sitting with Mitali on the red encased steps on the 9th floor Public Engagement building, we discuss life in New Delhi versus her new one in New York. Mitali was born and raised in New Delhi. Having lived there her entire life, she got a good handle on busy city life before coming to New York. In her opinion, New Delhi holds a bigger crowd than the one we see here in New York. She states, “The population is so dense, there are just people everywhere. People say that New York is really hard to live in because there are so many people, but Delhi is way more populated.”

Mitali grew up in a joint family, she had a good childhood. Her family always spent time together and would go on holidays together. She was also always very active as she was interested in playing a lot of different sports at a very young age such as track, javelin, high jump, basketball, and badminton. However, she stayed away from listening to a lot of music, but still sat down sometimes to watch a good movie. From listening to her talk, you could tell she really appreciates her background and where she comes from and the support she gets from her family.

Her father was a chartered accountant and her mother was a housewife/homemaker. She originally looked to follow in her father’s footsteps, but last year she came to the decision to take up art. “I put together my portfolio within a few months and applied to colleges last-minute”. Her father had been a big inspiration in her life as he had worked long hours to help support the family. He is very proud of his daughter as she is the first person in the family who has come to study abroad in the United States.

Her life back at home in New Delhi seemed pretty busy. She also gained a lot of support from her friends. She was very close to them and they would hang out at the mall and meet for frequent lunches and dinners to relax after a long week at school. Her time was often consumed with a lot of studying, and there was always a bit of pressure. However, as she began to compare herself to her sister she mentioned that her sister would be a lot more tense about schooling than she was.

Transitioning away from her New Delhi life, Mitali came a long way to New York looking to study communications.  Although, at this point she feels a little undecided as she also is interested in fashion even though she’s never tried it out. Now she’s just worried that she “won’t be good at it or won’t enjoy it.”

When questioning about what made her decide to come from so far away from home she claimed “my parents thought I wanted to come to New York to get away from them, but it was really because I had heard a lot about Parsons. The college is what made me choose New York, it wasn’t necessarily the city.” This is definitely a different outlook than most students dreaming up of the city. Because this was the first time she’s ever been here, she couldn’t really say if anything drew her to the city, but she does enjoy how fast paced the life is.

She surprisingly had been interested in fine arts at a young age, but then in 12th grade she felt may want to place her efforts else where and picked up applied art. Now she enjoys to world of graphic design as she works from on top of her dorm room bed. She had also always been good with technology, which also helped drive her to pursue her major.

Mitali doesn’t have many well-known figures who influence her work, but she does gather inspiration from the nature that surrounds her. When she used to work in fine art she would draw flowers and sceneries that she would stumble upon. She would also photograph what she found intriguing and would observe those images for her drawings. As Mitali started to develop her pieces for the Parsons portfolio, she came to realize that most of her pieces were in black and white, but she doesn’t necessarily know why. However, she just tends to really like working in the monochrome tones and colors. Mitali also became more comfortable in working with pen, ink, and oil paints.

For the future, Mitali hopes to maybe get into advertising because she had previously interned at an advertising firm two years ago. It was another interest of hers that pushed her towards picking communications and art. However, if she did end up switching to fashion, then she hopes that maybe she “could work with a fashion or start my own”. Mitali also mentions she loves to travel and experience new things which is hopefully something she could implement along her career. She also mentioned that after college is over, she probably won’t stay in New York as she has to come back home to her family. Her parents hope that she can take what she learned here in the United States and use it to get a job back in New Delhi. She doesn’t know if she would want to stay here anyways as “only time will tell”.

 

The Dying Story Final

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I’ve only ever met my great-grandfather twice before he died, but from the stories my father told, he seems like a smart and honorable man. Towards the end of his life he held a lot of regrets, but no matter what he truly valued his family.

I was born in America, but since I was born, I have been raised in a traditional Chinese home. For Chinese, everyone learns at a very young age that the most important word to always remember is Jiārén  (家人), which translates to family. Relationships are very fragile, which is why it is so important to keep the family close and learn the common principles and values to hold it together. I learned the importance of respecting your elders, face any problems, be considerate, but most importantly, never separate your family.

I was just like any typical teenager during high school, trying to rebel and often getting in trouble. Now my dad is a huge talker, so he could go on for hours and hours about different subjects of life, often referring to experiences he faced in his past. However, when it is over a something he felt is serious, you could pretty much forget anything you planned on doing for that day.

Two days before going to college, I made the mistake of procrastinating on my packing as one might when you are about as lazy as me. My dad asked me that morning what I wanted to do that day and all I told him was pack. Of course, my worried dad flipped out because I wasn’t planning on spending time with the family instead. After ignoring me for hours, he finally called my brother and I to the basement. We watched in awe as he poured through old files until he found a battered brown brief case.

We’d seen it before. Supposedly it holds important documents such as our family tree, wills, and passports. He then pulled out one of those orange legal folders with the red string and everything.

Right before my great-grandfather, Tai-Gong, died my dad flew his mother, brother, father, and grandmother from their homes in New Jersey and New York to see him one last time in San Francisco. Tai-Gong had become estranged to his family years ago, but for one last time they were able to reconcile once again. Right before he passed, he confessed everything he regretted to my dad hoping he would pass his story on. My dad then recorded the story and stored it away in this briefcase he treasured since the first day he ever started working.

Tai-Gong had met my great-grand mother, Tai-Po, at very young age when she would walk by him everyday before going to school. They became childhood friends, grew up with one another, and loved each other until the end. As they grew older, Tai-Gong had to leave Tai-Po in China as he had to go to Taiwan to support the two of them. As they physically separated, so did their relationship.

That is when Tai-Gong met Tai-Po’s cousin. Since no one seems to actually know her name, she will just have to be named Two because she later on became his second wife. Two would show up at Tai-Gong’s house just to seduce him. When Tai-Gong was finally able to bring Tai-Po over to Taiwan from China, Two became jealous and often caused conflicts for Tai-Gong.

The three of them lived their lives and eventually immigrated and moved around multiple times until they finally came to the US. However, Tai-Po had moved around with her children to New York as Tai-Gong and Two settled in San Francisco. Tai-Gong would still go over seas to do business sometimes.

One year while he was away, Two gave one of their son money to buy a bar with a girl he had fallen in love. When he came back, Tai-Gong was furious and the son eventually got a divorce. The son then met another girl in Hong Kong who then gave birth to twins he did not to raise because Two looked down on her family background. So, he came to the US and married another girl and had additional children, even though Tai-Gong wanted him to look take responsibility for his children in Hong Kong.

Due to this irresponsibility, Tai-Gong had enough and wanted a divorce. In the end he gave up all his assets including a three-story house, a jewelry store, and anything else he had owned. He was left with only 60K in cash. The root causes being the resistance he met from the second wife when he moved Tai-Po from China and the son buying the bar which ended up ruining him.

Before Tai-Gong died, he had confessed to Tai-Po that he only ever truly loved her. He would try to visit her until he got to sick and old to travel back and forth between the two states.

When I finished reading the story I sat there shocked from the complication of my great grandfather’s life, but still quite puzzled as to how the story could possible relate towards me. As I continued to stare dumbfounded, my dad explained to my brother and I about how easy it is for family’s to fall apart. The simplest act of selfishness could easily rip us all apart from each other. For me, at the time it may not have seemed like such a big deal to spend time with my family that day. However, I was moving away and would spend less and less time with them. I didn’t take account of my family’s feelings of me leaving and decided to go off and do my own thing that could have been done earlier. If I was to gather anything from this story, it is that the most important thing to keeping a family together is to give everyone the appreciation they deserve and understand the consequences to my actions. It is important to cherish everything you have to its full capacity because you could lose it all in an instant if you are not careful enough.

 

“Into the Woods” Talking Notes

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“The Alaska Interior” Talking Notes

            The beginning of this book starts off with Alex in transit on a journey to find himself and get away. When people struggle or have tough times it is just instinct or something similar that make us jump upon the idea to drop all our obligations and get away. Alex is a hitchhiker who is about to leave the South and travel up north to live in the wild; away from time, people, and anything that comes from society. Gallien, who seems to have lived up North all his life tries to dissuade him. In the end leaves Alex to fulfill his desires of getting away and has faith he will find his way on his own even though Gallien feels “’People from the outside’…’well it isn’t what the magazines make it out to be’”(Krakauer 6). It is interesting how sometimes when we think something or we are some sort of expert on a subject we can judge another person’s ways of going about things.

Another interesting point to the story was the way it was written by Krakauer. The beginning was written as a post card as Alex is leaving for his journey, and for a final farewell to a friend it seems somewhat short, to the point, and to some extent impersonal. Alex’s character seems to be fairly detached as he wants to break away from the world and will give Gallien short responses as to who he is and his personal life. The story also seems to be broken away in parts where Gallien is being interviewed.

 

Question: Why did Alex accept the books when he seemed so inclined to get rid of his stuff and he was so sure he could make it without help?

“The Stampede Trail” Talking Notes

            This story seemed seemed to take a different tone as it recounts a hostile situation. A few different parties stumble upon this bus with a body rotting away. It is ironic that the body is not found until he is long gone. This presents the idea that if he were found sooner, he may have remained alive. He was also looking for peace and a get away or escape from the world, yet all he met was struggle and death. This connects to what happened in “The Alaska Interior” where Gallien discusses how man travelers just see a pretty picture and presume that’s what they want when in reality when they get there they want nothing more than to get away from it.

The hiker did not have much on him, so people could no really recognize who he was. He had not ID so it is intriguing that his last items would be “McCandless’s signature had been at the bottom, and the photos, when developed, included many self portraits (Krakauer 12).

 

Question: Can we ever find our own peace without having to fully encompass ourselves with solitude?

 

 

 

 

The Dying Story – Draft

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Two days before I left home to go to college I got in a fight with my dad. Over the summer I didn’t prioritize my time properly and procrastinated on packing until the last few days. My dad questioned why I didn’t think enough about the family and try to make the most those last few days. We went back and forth for hours debating whether or not I had really spent enough time with my family until my dad finally stopped the fight and told me to come with him downstairs.

We dug through several files when he finally pulled out the first brief base he had ever bought when he started working. I already knew that in it encased our family’s most important documents from passports to the family tree. In that briefcase also contained a yellow folder with three pages printed from a Word document.

I’d seen the briefcase before, but never the document. On it told the story my father had heard the night before his grandfather and my great grandfather had passed away. It was so loosely written as my father had quickly jotted down bullets of details from the sorrowful account told that night.

My great grandfather was a very smart man, but he had lived a life full of regret.

The story started off after my great grandfather had met my great grand mother. However, at the time they were living in two seperte countries. Due to the separation, this is when he met his second wife. The second wife turned out to be my great grandmother’s cousin who used too come over to her house just to seduce my great grand father.

Even during this, my great grandfather tried and did accomplish immigrating my great grand mother to the US. This caused the second wife to begin fighting my with great grandfather. As he traveled around the world to do business this cause the second wife to further cause more drama.

Many years later the second wife had given money to her son when he met a girl so that he may take over her family’s bar. This had infuriated my great grandfather as he knew that it would start trouble. The son ended up marrying the girl, only to divorce her later. The son then met another girl and gave birth to twins he did not to raise because his mother looked down on her family background. So, he came to the US and married another girl and had additional children.

My great grandfather was devasted and wanted the son to take responsibility for his children, but the son refused. He wanted a divorce from his second wife, the root causes were due to the resistance he met from the second wife when he moved my great grandmother from China and the son buying the bar which ended up ruining him.

My father told me that although my great grandfather made a lot of errors in his life, he kept his soul and integrity. He didn’t know how to fix his mistakes or talk about how badly he had felt, but he did try to reach out and claify what had happened. My father believes he is a very intelligent and intuitive man filled with a tremendous amount of compassion. He passed away on Thanks giving to remind everyone that it is essential we always appreciate what we have.

Fame and fortune, you can have it all and easily lose it if you don’t understand the essential and most important details to life. Also, it is important to always keep your family close because they are what matters most in life. Friends come and go, but your blood will stick by you forever. It is important to cherish everything you have to its full capacity or it could be gone in an instant.

“Why I Write” Talking Notes

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When dissecting the essay, the opening idea can be easily debatable. Writing is not typically associated with being a “hostile” act. Writing is a means of stating  person’s own opinions. Yes, if one forces their opinions onto another through their writing it may become hostile, but the reader is not always going to be subjected to following a writers opinions. Readers are just meant to listen and understand. Even at this moment as I read and write my own opinion, I do not completely follow hers and still hold my own position.

However, as the story progressed, it was clear what Didion’s intentions are as a writer. She painted colorful imagery about the things that stand out to her. She may not have had solid idea or set of in depth thoughts. But certain things stand out around her, she recognizes them, and makes her own impression of them. It doesn’t necessarily matter if she is a “’good’ writer or a ‘bad’ writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on a piece of paper.” (Didion 6).

Didion takes note what really matters in writing. Such as grammar, which is so basic, but one wrong word or punctuation placement and the sentence can mean something competley different from what the author intended. Writing is all about perception.

Didion played with different stories that meant something to her. At first these stories seemed somewhat outlandish and deviated from the point of the question “Why I Write”. In the end as she questions what happened in these situations she makes a strong point that if she had even known the answer she would have never had a point to write in the first place (Didion 17).