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[pmcd9]

calling hipster residents "urban pioneers"

That analogy is perfect. The crackheads, etc... are the Indians of the neighborhood that need to be fended off and driven away in order to establish a new settlement for the white man.

[theinevitable]

That analogy is perfect. The crackheads, etc... are the Indians of the neighborhood that need to be fended off and driven away in order to establish a new settlement for the white man.

And just like the original pioneers, it is incredibly racist.

(it is not racist to move into a poor neighborhood, but it is racist to do it and call yourself a "pioneer.")

(Although I guess if you are using the term "pioneer" to mean someone who is entering a tough place and making it their own while maybe displacing others who were there first, I guess that is... fine)

[pmcd9]

(it is not racist to move into a poor neighborhood, but it is racist to do it and call yourself a "pioneer.")

I assumed the term was being used in a derogatory manner. People are actually self identifying as urban pioneers?

[theinevitable]

Yes. And being called that by the newspaper approvingly.

[theinevitable]

On re-reading it seemed like all CW Nevius these days. A google search for "CW Nevius Hate" led to a lot of people talking about what a shit he is. Still, no excuse for giving that kind of stuff a platform.

San Francisco is high on my list of "ugh why does everyone want to live there, I wish fewer people wanted to live there so I could live there."

[theinevitable]

Another prof told me to get a PhD. Ugh.

[wombat]

Another prof told me to get a PhD. Ugh.

You have to know how to interpret this. It's a compliment, it means they think you are smart and good at this. (Rather than meaning, say, "you'll never make it in the real world.") But their experience of life is so limited that when they want to say something nice about your abilities and how far they think you could go, they can't think of anything else.

So don't take it seriously as actual, like, instructions.

[theinevitable]

This time it kind of was literal. Because the conversation was about how I am not really having a satisfying time at school, except for when I have open-ended research projects where I spend months reading interesting books and then write large papers about the ideas in them. Which is not what urban planners do.

But, again, I realized this summer that I do enjoy actual urban planning. I just don't enjoy some of my classes about it very much, for some reason.

It didn't help that she kept pointing out really cool sounding theory classes I could take in other departments to "see what it would be like."

It was a good meeting overall, though, because I have kind of wondered since I started working for her (this woman is my boss) whether she is disappointed in my work. I guess she is not.

[wombat]

Well they always mean it literally. It's just usually bad advice so you should not take it as advice.

To jump from "I like doing research and writing large papers" to "Oh, do a PhD, that's exactly what that is" is basically career counseling malpractice. Did you discuss what kinds of jobs it would open up to you and what it might make you seem overqualified for? Did you discuss the income differential between people with masters degrees and doctorates? Do PhDs in your field get support or would you have to pay tuition? Can you afford to forgo several more years of income?

If you didn't discuss any of this, it's not advice, it's a nice compliment. It's nice that she thinks you are smart and doing good work.

[wombat]

And in this particular case, surely it would be better if the people who were making up PhD level theories in urban planning had some experience in planning some actual urbs first.

[Carlos del Vaca]

The girls were having a don't-laugh contest last night. It was the oldest's turn to not laugh, and she was doing pretty well. "Ooh, let me try," I said.

I looked her square in the eye and said "FARTS."

Round over.

(Of course, this led to them saying "Farts!" to each other repeatedly on subsequent turns.)

[theinevitable]

Yeah, definitely not getting a PhD unless I meet lots of people with PhDs doing cool things that are related but not in academia sometime soon.

[pmcd9]

Such is my legacy, apparently.

You could do worse.

[theinevitable]

Worked til 11, then got drunk on rum and cream soda with the non-crazy roommate and watched Sunset Boulevard and ordered a new coffee grinder. Grad school life.

[KeithHernandez]

Read my favorite article of the week...

http://kitchenette.jezebel.com/more-of-the-worlds-worst-restaurant-customers-part-2-1738471431