From talking to Brendan for just a little bit, I was able to tell how much of him is in his work. Brendan captures emotion with his lens in the same way a poet wrangles up feelings with words. He doesn’t take photos; he snaps haikus. And that’s only scratching the surface of Brendan McInerney.

What brought you to Rutgers? Originally I wanted to go to RIT in Rochester, NY because they have a great photography program. However, due to budgetary constraints, I decided to head to Rutgers instead. I had decided before I went off to college that photojournalism would be the best way to pursue an interesting career in photography while not starving to death. Since Rutgers didn’t have a photojournalism major, I decided to study plain journalism (unfortunately), though I never took their photojournalism class. Since the journalism ‘major’ only consists of 30 credits, I was done with it in a couple of semesters. I was also taking Spanish classes at the time. I had intended on it being my minor but I did the math and realized that I could double major. So, I did.

What sort of aspirations did you have growing up and which of these, if any, are you putting the most effort into making a reality? I’ve had a million aspirations growing up, I’ve wanted to be every type of scientist, a politician, a historian, I even considered majoring in African studies at one point. The closer I got to graduation, the poorer my idea about my future was. I have since graduated and I am now a ‘committed lost soul,’ as my dear friend Alejandra so deftly put it.

I started to look into photography at the end of high school although I had always enjoyed taking photographs. After I finished the journalism major, I realized that journalism was a big joke. To me, my professors made it seem that journalism amounted to nothing more than trying to keep people’s attention for as long as possible. Once you lost that attention, you move on to a different subject.

I heard few successful photographers speak and taking a class called ‘Engaged Anthropology’ with Prof. Daniel Goldstein, I realized that the work I want to do involves becoming a part of a community so that I can understand it and share that understanding with the rest of the world. Hence, I am going into the Peace Corps where I can, hopefully, engage and improve a community while creating a significant photographic work.

Did your professors say the same thing about investigative journalism? Not in so many words. Apparently, some students were taught about OPRA, but I was never taught about it. The classes I took consisted of the history of news media, how to strictly abide by AP style, how to put the most relevant information (and only information) at the top of the article and how journalism is a dying field so we’ll never get the same opportunities they did. The journalism department is waiting for some successful alum to give them money so that they can change the name of the school from SCI. But that will never happen as long as they are preparing their students so poorly for the field.

I feel that I am very self-centered when it comes to the things that I want to do with my life. The fact that I have left out music in this interview is a good example of my egocentrism. During high school, I was heavily involved in music. I went to Sparta High School and the people who taught me there are, hands down, the best teachers I have ever had. They really pushed me as a musician and helped me to achieve a great deal of success as a high school musician. During my senior year I applied to a number of schools as a music major but at the last minute I decided that I couldn’t do it. I regret that decision. It’s funny how even though the majority of my education from 5th grade to the end of high school focused on music, I often forget about it completely.

What was and what is your relationship with music like? At the moment, music is purely a hobby for me. I still pick up my clarinet occasionally (though I should do it more often) and I’m getting into blues harmonica. I like the harmonica because I can take it wherever I go and practice while I’m driving or waiting for someone.

What inspired you to not study music? Is the regret something that bothers you? I chose not to study music because I don’t think I have the right personality. All the successful music majors have an obsessive interest in music and nothing else, I just couldn’t dedicate myself to one field at such an early age. The regret doesn’t really bother me, I like to think that I would have done well in music but it can enrich my life as a hobby just as well as it would a career.

What sort of scientist would you have been? I wanted to be an astronomer, it was my ambition to gaze longingly into the night sky and to think up new and creative ways to measure the velocity of different sized rocks. It seems to me that most scientific fields consist of mind-blowing, universe altering discoveries in between months or years of mind-numbing, universe contingent math equations. I think I would be good at that; I may yet make a good astronomer. As Carl Sagan said, “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”

What happened to being a politician or historian? I wanted to be a politician, but I stopped acting like a 5-year-old when I turned 6. Politicians are people who work for their own interests under the guise of helping others. Except for Barack Obama, that man can do no wrong. I actually want to help others. There’s nothing wrong with being a historian. I often consider pursuing a life in academia, but if I do, I want it to be in a field that will help others in a direct way. I’m not saying historians don’t help others; they do, just not in as direct a manner as I would like. If photography doesn’t work out, I want to study linguistics and preserve the world’s dying languages.

How would you describe your relationship with photography? Photography is the easiest way of sharing with others the beauty that I find in the world. I’ve also tried poetry, but I generally I find the poems I write to be pretty corny. Alex Webb is one of the photographers that I’ve seen speaking about their work. He said, “if I was any good at writing, I wouldn’t have to trouble with photography.” I’m most proficient at sending a message visually, so I use this proficiency to help people in any way that I can.

How did you develop an interest in helping others? I have no idea why I have an interest in helping others, I’m also pretty good with children, though I couldn’t tell you why. I think its just part of being human, we are inherently social creatures and the drive to help one another is an evolutionary feature that has helped us survive.

What about people who seemingly hurt others? I don’t know really; there are always things like greed and mental illness that overcome the desire not to hurt others. But I think that those who hurt others lack an understanding of the world or an open mind about people. They don’t realize what it is like to be in someone else’s situation, or else they would know the damage they are doing. Really though, I’m not sure.

What was your first encounter with photography like? I’ve attached the first picture I ever took (which I’m quite proud of). I remember when I went to Ireland for a few months the summer after 6th grade to visit my relatives and explore the country. My mom had given me a bunch of disposable cameras to take pictures of my trip. When I got back she was pissed, “where are the people? How come you didn’t take any pictures of people?!” There isn’t one specific moment that I was hit by some divine inspiration to take photographs, it has been a gradual progression. I got into photography in high school and then I got into it more in college. Soon I hope to get into it in a way that will help me support myself.

Who are some photographers whose work you enjoy or appreciate? I don’t enjoy any other photographer’s work. I’m inspired by others, but its always tempered by jealousy.

I heard a great joke once:

Q:How many photographers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: Five. One to screw it in and four others to stand around and say ‘I could have done that.’

That being said, there are many many photographers that I admire. Of course, Henri Cartier-Bresson, the father of modern ‘photojournalism’ and James Nachtwey, the current grand master of photography, if you will. Emilio Morenatti is another, he has really striking and unique images, I’ll never forget seeing this image on the front of the New York Times. Julio Mitchell has captured the essence of an entire continent although he has lived in relative obscurity until recently. Peter van Agtmael is my real life inspiration whom I saw speak with Alex Webb recently (Alex Webb was caught by the border police a couple of times because he was following illegal immigrants over the border to shoot photographs of them). If you look at the list of photographers on the Magnum website, you can pick any one of them and I can tell you why they are incredible and I want to be like them. I could go on for days.

How did you change over the course of your time at Rutgers? Over the course of my time at Rutgers, I recognized the value of a good education and the need for one to pursue wisdom and knowledge, not just have it given to him. I had this idea as soon as I got to college, but I didn’t really act on it until my second or third year. As I went through college and learned more about the world, I realized that the more you know, the less you know. Which is a pretty tacky phrase, but still one that holds some truth. I hope that I can continue to know less and less every day.

How has your education helped you seek knowledge and wisdom? If four years of education has taught me anything it is that I truly know very little about anything. This makes me want to know more, as futile an effort as that may be. Think about every single book you have ever checked out, every song you have ever listened to, every movie you have ever seen and every person you have ever listened to. I feel like a silverfish chomping away at the corner of a page of a book and my goal is to eat everything in the library. But it’s not just school, I think that listening to people has helped a lot too. Living in New Brunswick, there are few moments that someone is not trying to speak to you. It makes you realize that, although you may not agree with something someone is saying, it doesn’t mean they are wrong. People are much too quick to discredit one another these days.

So, how’d you find out about the JVP? I remember working with Mike Stuzynski at the Daily Targum and always having him talk about creating a publication in opposition to the Targum. I think he used to use the phrase doppelgänger, though I’m sure he’ll correct me if he reads this. I slinked in and out of the organization until Alex G took over, he really pushed me to produce content for the site.

What brought you to Rutgers?

What brought me to Rutgers? Well… to be honest, a random decision that I made during my sophomore year of high school is what brought me to Rutgers. Back in 2004 Myspace was all the rage. I got a Myspace account… you know, trying to fit in and all. After putting in a huge list of books I’d read in the “Books” section of my flashy new profile, I decided to see what would happen if I clicked on one. I clicked on the most recent book I’d read, which at the time was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I was taken to a page displaying seven Myspace profiles of people who had also read the book. I noticed there was only one person my age, a girl from Sayerville, New Jersey. Being the dork that I am, I sent her a message saying, “Hey, I read that too!”. She responded with: “I love random strangers who read!”. After that we had a correspondence that would last for a few years.

When it came time to apply for college, I only applied to one school: the University of Chicago (Early Decision). I waited and waited, until finally, on Christmas Eve I received my rejection letter with a little note at the bottom that said “Great essay”. That was nice, but I was devastated. I wrote to my New Jersey friend that day explaining my devastation: I had not only been rejected from the only school I wanted to go to, but it was also the only school I had applied to, so my seventeen-year-old self was convinced that I’d just screwed myself out of going to college. She wrote back to me a few hours later and suggested that I apply to Rutgers. She had told me how her boyfriend went there and that it was a good school. I considered her suggestion for a few moments, then stuck my head out of the computer room and shouted to my parents: “Hey, is Rutgers a good school?” My mother said: “Oh yea, that’s in New York. Great engineering school.” That didn’t seem like enough information so I went to the Rutgers website and did some research, which included discovering that Rutgers is the State University of New Jersey. Rutgers looks good on paper, let me tell you, so I decided to apply. I wrote the optional essay and submitted my application a day or two after Christmas. Not even two weeks later I got an email that exploded into confetti the moment I clicked on it: Rutgers wanted me.

However, I was still not convinced that Rutgers would be the best fit for me, even though I was elated that I had been accepted. My parents and I drove down to New Jersey for the Open House. The moment I stepped on campus I knew that Rutgers was where I was supposed to be, in spite of the fact that there were torrential downpours for the duration of our visit. If anything, the rain only made me fall in love with Rutgers and New Brunswick more. Walking around in the rain is one of my favorite outdoor activities. However, in the end, what brought me to Rutgers was a combination of my need to leave home and the desire to go to a school that wanted me for my brain.

How did you decide on your majors?

In choosing what to major in, I considered the practical route, which would have been studying in a field that would be useful in the future job market. I did not want to be practical. I have always considered college to be a time for personal enrichment; my choice of what to study most certainly fell under that category. I decided to study what I love: books. The English Major option was almost a given. In high school I took, almost exclusively, History, English, and French classes. I only fulfilled the bare minimum of requirements for Math and Science (for example, I didn’t even make it to Calculus, and I quit science before I got to Physics). Normally this sort of skipping around wouldn’t have been allowed at my high school, but being the dork that I am, I had more friends on staff than I did among the students. Of course, studying English, although mentally rigorous, was still within my comfort zone as a student, and would not contribute as much as say, a French major, to my goal of personal enrichment. I had been taking French since 7th grade. I decided to take a couple classes at the college level to see how I would do. It turns out I was a lot more prepared for college-level French classes than I expected. What’s more is I absolutely adored my classes, even though they were grammar courses. I got to know the French department better and started taking more in depth courses. By the time I was a sophomore I had chosen to do a double major and study French literature in addition to English literature. As a result, I am practically fluent in French, I’ve already lived in Paris, and I can read any French writers I want in their native language. That makes me happy.

What sort of aspirations did you have growing up and which of these, if any, are you putting the most effort into making a reality?

When I was growing up I wanted to be three things: an astronomer, a movie director, and a writer. Today I still aspire to be all of those things. I have made great efforts in my life so far to make all of them into reality. Out of the three, I have thus far only succeeded at becoming one of them: an astronomer, albeit a recreational astronomer. I have a telescope… a big one… which I lug outside on clear nights to study the sky, or just to gaze.

My aspirations to become a movie director and a writer have not wavered. I write all the time. I carry two moleskines, two legal pads, two pencils, one blue pen, one red pen, and at least one book everywhere I go. I’m serious about that. I carry those exact things with me everywhere I go, even when I know it’s highly unlikely I’ll need them. You never know when inspiration will strike. I like to be prepared.

As far as making those aspirations into reality… well, I’d say I’m off to a pretty good start. I am currently working on a screenplay with a friend and fellow writer. I have a few other ideas for screenplays in the works, but I prioritize my projects, so those are less pressing. As far as my other writing is concerned, I am working on my first collection of poetry. I am writing a science fiction novel, which is, at present, the most complete storyline I have yet constructed. In addition to those two big projects I am also working on a short fiction piece, which will probably become a novella, as well as a collection of short stories, and one play. I also have a writer’s exchange going on with my poet friend Stacey Balkun. We mail our work to each other for the purpose of critique and betterment. In a sense, we are doing our own Pound-Eliot Exchange. I also do editing with my good friend Starky Morillo; we edit and critique each other’s works of fiction. Starky and I have been exchanging work for almost three years now. And finally, I am the Editor-In-Chief of the Johnsonville Press, a paper which I’ve been contributing to and editing for since its inception. This position above all others has allowed me to become more comfortable with expressing myself as a writer and as an editor. I had never considered being an editor before the JVP, at least not outside of the editing I do on my own work. However, the Johnsonville has shown me that in the event I fail as a writer, I might just have a career in editing, and that’s not so bad because at least I’d get to hang out with writers.

How did you change over the course of your time at Rutgers?

How did I change? Well, physically I didn’t change much. I probably got smarter after reading as much as I did. I am definitely a better writer. I’m pretty much fluent in French now, which is awesome and incredibly useful for slipping out of awkward or uncomfortable situations, and for traveling around Europe. I am less shy than I was when I was eighteen years old. I have mostly overcome my fear/inability to share my work in front of a group of people. (I’d like to thank Susan Miller’s creative writing classes for that). I am a far more confident person. Rutgers challenged me intellectually and socially, and though I’m a little bruised, I’m no worse for the wear. Over the course of my time at Rutgers I’d say that I went from a timid and smart girl to a confident and intelligent young woman.

How did you fall in love with reading and writing?

How do any of us fall in love? It’s hard to say why or how I fell smitten over these common activities. When I was growing up I was not allowed to watch TV except for Mr. Rogers or a parent approved movie. I was never allowed to possess or to play video games. My mother said to me: “If you want to have fun, then go outside and play, or read a book.” As a result, many of my fun seeking habits revolve around going outside (i.e. star gazing with my telescope, nature walks, walking in the rain) or books. Reading a lot as a child most certainly had a direct affect on my writing. In fact, I have no doubt that my reading probably instigated a lot of my early writing. For example, the first screenplay I wrote was an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is one of my favorite stories of all time. I suppose that when I got to a certain age where reading stories was no longer enough, I started writing my own.

No TV except for Mr. Rogers?! What was that like?

Oh it was fine! I found ways to entertain myself. My mother used to tell me that TV would fry my brain, so I shouldn’t watch a lot of it or else I’d become a couch potato, a vegetable, or a zombie. None of those things sounded appealing to me, so I just didn’t watch that much TV. My parents made sure that I watched films with them. It was almost like they had a schedule for my life about when to introduce me to certain things. For example, when I was seventeen, my Father told me that it was time for me to watch A Clockwork Orange, so we sat down and watched it together. I was appalled, so I went and read the book, and was about a thousand times more appalled afterwards, but still appreciative that I’d been told to wait until I was old enough to understand what I was watching.

Instead of TV, my parents wanted me to have a strong background in the arts. My Mother brought me to Shakespeare plays as a young girl, to the Boston Pops, and to nearly every museum in the Boston Area. And I loved it all. She taught me about the Impressionists, about Da Vinci, about baseball, about how to appreciate classical music, and all before the time I was in Junior High. My Father is a musician. He gave me my first piano lessons, taught me how to read music, how to maintain tempo, and how to play the blues. He turned my piano education over to his old piano teacher when I was in elementary school and from there I was jazz trained on the piano. My father was also the one who taught me how to play baseball, how to ice skate, and how to lace up my hockey skates (I couldn’t wear figure skates because I always tripped on the toe-pick.). I really can’t say enough about how well my parents raised me. They did a good job with my sister and I. I can only hope to be as competent a parent as mine are.

How is speaking French useful for slipping out of awkward or uncomfortable situations?

Have you ever been on an elevator or on a subway car when some people sitting near you are speaking in another language and you have no idea what they’re saying? Being able to slip in and out of French at my convenience gives me that sense of privacy those people on that train or that elevator might have. It’s also a safety net. And it’s also a fun tool for fucking with people.

Let me give you a few examples as to how and why my French is so useful, or rather, why speaking another language in general is so incredibly useful. Last summer after having lived in Paris for a few months, I got on a bus and traveled around Europe for a couple of weeks by myself. My first stop was Amsterdam, which is not exactly the easiest city to visit alone, especially for the first time. As a female traveling alone in an unknown foreign city, I knew I would have to take certain precautions and that I might have to adjust what time of day I went out. I decided to speak French for the duration of my stay in Amsterdam, knowing full well that not a soul would understand me, as the population speaks Dutch, English, and Flemish. In Amsterdam, speaking French acted as a safety barrier; I could pretend that I didn’t speak English, therefore avoiding unpleasant encounters or dealing with people I didn’t want to talk to in the first place… which proved more useful than you might think. Although I value modesty, for the sake of explaining my point, I will put modesty aside for a minute and tell you that as a pretty girl, I knew I’d be hassled a lot, especially because I was alone. Falling into French got me out of every sticky situation of that sort. My French made me feel a lot safer. It also gave me an opportunity to fuck with people. Whenever I would go into a store and ask a question I would start off in French, then break off into really bad English with a heavy French accent. It’s amazing to see what kind of reactions you get when the person you’re talking to thinks that you don’t understand them.

How is it that you got involved with the JVP and what have you learned from your experience thus far?

A few months before the JVP started up Alex and Mike showed up at my apartment with a clipboard. They were not soliciting random people. Alex and Mike are my friends and I had known them for a little while by the time the idea for the JVP came around. They explained that they were trying to start an independent paper for the New Brunswick and Rutgers communities and that they wanted to know if I was interested in writing for it. I said yes. A few months later the JVP launched and I was a resident poet. Before long the Creativity Section got going, and not long after that Mike moved to Colorado and Alex asked me to take over as Managing Editor. I was ME for a year and then when Alex left for law school, I inherited the paper. So in terms of my involvement with the JVP, I was there during the planning, the launch, and beyond.

There are many ways to approach the question: “What have you learned from your experience thus far?” Three big things come to mind when I consider this question. The first is that I’ve learned how to better accept criticism and withstand negative feedback on my work, even when it’s rude or just plain mean, or even if it’s so constructive that it hurts. Second, my grammar skills are at an all time high and I find that my eye for errors, redundancies, diction, syntax, etc., is getting sharper by the minute. I’ve learned not only how to identify these issues in the work of writers, but I can offer multiple solutions to fixing those issues as well. As a result, I’ve developed a distinct style of editing (the third big thing) and a distinct voice as an editor. Above all, my experience with the JVP thus far has been very rewarding for me. Mostly, I hope that the work I do for the writers’ work helps them to improve their own styles and voices, and that they become better writers.

How did you meet Mike and Alex?

I’m not sure I can answer this question without incriminating the three of us in nefarious activities. However, I met Alex and Mike through my friends. We three belong to the same group of friends and only realized that fact after attending a few parties and spotting each other over and over again. Luckily we came to that realization early enough in our college careers to have become good friends now. Alex and I are particularly close because we have been working side by side on the JVP for a long time.

As a final note, unrelated to this last question, I’d just like to say that if you want to know me, then just talk to me. I’m a people person. I’m a conversationalist. I’m all about the face-to-face.

_____________________

Photo provided by Mr. Brendan McInerney. All rights reserved.

What brought you to Rutgers?

What brought me to Rutgers? Well I guess I was technically brought to Rutgers by my Mom’s minivan on a rainy August day back in 2006.

For real though: I went to Rutgers because it was the first school I applied to and the first school I got accepted to.  After that I said to myself, “Fuck it, I don’t want to be bothered filling out any more of these bullshit applications that ask me to sum up my aspirations and life”, I mean fuck I was eighteen years old, I don’t have a clue what I am doing with my life now, how the fuck did they expect me at eighteen to know that shit.  Not to mention the fact that I put in absolutely no effort (ok maybe a little effort) in high school. Well, I mean, I got by with straight B’s, but in high school, that’s no effort, regardless of whether it’s an AP class or not. So, Rutgers was pretty much my best option; and I sure as hell wasn’t going Ivy League (my parents told me my choices were a state school or Ivy League).

Also it should be noted that my mother attended Rutgers and dragged me to the college tour.  All I remember from it was that Cheese Whiz had been invented at Rutgers. That was enough for me; I was sold.

How’d you decide on your major(s)?

I knew I was going to major in journalism before I applied to Rutgers.  I always loved story telling, especially through visuals. It was a no brainer.  Funny story: I almost didn’t make it into the journalism school because I got a C in the very first journalism intro class that I took, which was also a prerequisite to applying to the school.  You needed a B in the class to apply. I had to take a Library Studies course instead.  I wrote some b/s paper about how the Segway was a complete failure (not sure now how that was related to the study of libraries).  However, I never got anything lower than a B+ after that class in the journalism major.

When and how did you develop and interest in photography/politics/journalism? How did you explore these interests growing up?

Photography is my passion.  I am lucky that I figured out what makes me happy at an early age.  Unfortunately what makes me happy isn’t exactly the most lucrative thing in the world.  As for politics, both my parents are lawyers and I was raised to, naturally, be political.  I minored in political science at Rutgers and actually only needed to take one more class to make it a double major, but refused to because it was some garbage intro class.  My parents think that was a bad decision; I think, who the fuck cares what you majored in? As of recently I have temporarily written all things political out of my life, including voting.

As for photography, I started a badass monthly “Zine” in high school called Dan’s Zine (yeah I was pretty vein).  To this day I am still trying to relive the glory of my high school days.  All I did every day after school was go out skateboarding with my friends, shoot photos, write obnoxious stories, and interview bands.  The zine lasted three years and we published 35 issues.  I had a sandwich named after me at my local town deli.  Like I said: the glory days.

What sort of aspirations did you have growing up and which of these, if any, are you putting the most effort into making a reality?

Growing up I wanted to be a rock and roll star.  I wanted all the girls to throw their panties at me when I walked down the street.  I wanted all the guys to be like, “I wish I was him”.  This is still my dream.  I want to be Bob Dylan.  He is a god to me. He is the most unexpected, shot in the dark, shit on your head dude ever.  I would love to shit on everyone’s head.

For real though, my dream is to own my own highly successful, highly controversial, super cool company, which I have complete creative control over.  I do well when I work for me.

What am I doing to accomplish this?  Gaining experience and knowledge and waiting.  I am like an assassin waiting on top of a building patiently until the moment is right to go in for the kill. That was fucking corny and untrue actually.  I am more like a dude trying to live his dream and make the right connections and gain the right knowledge first.

I just want to have complete control over my own destiny and be able to do positive things in my own way without anyone telling me what to do.

My real dream growing up was always to win a Pulitzer Prize for my photography.  If I could do anything with my time, I would photograph things that matter and change public opinion for the better through my images.  I feel I was born a slightly better than average photographer.  Photography was the first thing I realized I was good at (there were probably about 500 things I learned I wasn’t good at before discovering photography).  It would be a shame to not use my talents for positivity.  I truly believe in the power of humanity.

How did you change over the course of your time at Rutgers?

I changed a lot at Rutgers, although many of those changes are not ones I want to publish on the Internet, like the copious amounts of drugs I ingested—kidding!

My experience at Rutgers did exactly what a college education should do: It expanded my mind, taught me a lot about mysely– my strengths and weaknesses, the world around me, and the people around me.  I am very grateful for my education.

What have you been up to since leaving RU?

Since leaving RU I got into grad school, withdrew from grad school and took a job as the Associate Online Editor at Popular Photography Magazine.  I am currently working on nearly a dozen personal creative projects.  I have a live stop action short film in the works that I am real excited about.

How’d you become involved in the JVP?

Mike Stu got me in JVP way at the beginning when it was still a concept.  Despite my long-term affiliation, I have let JVP down far more times than the amount of times I did worthwhile things for it.  Although the photos that appeared with my Chris Dagget piece did win a New Jersey Press Association General News Photography Award (although they won for the identical images printed in the Targum).

In closing, follow your dreams. You can do anything you want, as long as you’re not a total bum.

Today’s Submission by: Mr. Brendan M. McInerney

1. Recommendation of the Day:
Today I would like to recommend to you, the reader; the New York Times photo blog. It is the best photo blog on the internet at this moment and my number one source for photojournalism as well as any form of visual media that relates to current events. The site features news photography from the past and present as well as work that would fall into the genre of fine arts. A recommended post would be that which they submitted on the 26th of March, it features the photography of Emilio Morenatti, a photographer that lost his foot relatively recently in a roadside bomb while working in Pakistan. The post contains the photographs that won him the title of Photojournalist of the Year from the National Press Photographers Association.
Picture 1

Picture 2
(Emilio Morenatti/AP Press)

2. Quote of the Day
“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences; what others say in a whole book.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche

3. Random Fact of the Day
Did you know that in one year, a single large container ship can produce carcinogens and asthma-causing pollutants equivalent to that of 50 million cars?
Source: The Guardian (UK)

4. Top Internet Pick of the Day (Link and blurb)
Reddit

If you have ever been to digg.com, you are familiar with the world of social news aggregation. The concept is as follows: users submit stories to the website and the community-at-large votes for or against submitted stories. Those stories with the most positive votes appear on the front page. My choice of reddit.com over digg.com comes from the user base, those who leave comments on Reddit.com stories are much more insightful and engaging, where as people on digg.com are usually just asses (hilarious asses nonetheless).

5. Discussion Topic:
It seems that with every passing day, thanks to the internet, our world becomes more and more globalized. What are the most immediate consequences of such a process?

Photographs by Brendan McInerney

We live in a post-modern world where many of us have recognized that the perception of a situation might be just as—if not more—meaningful than the actual situation itself (Baudrillard). We might have an idea, for example, of what the “swing-space school” (mentioned in my first article “School or Warehouse”) is like that’s different from what the school is actually like. But, as W.I. Thomas pointed out, “Something doesn’t have to be real to be real in its consequences.” The idea of kids going to a “warehouse school” might make some people livid. But, in the end, the “school” is a school.

I’d woken up around eight-thirty for the tour of the school. JVP Editor-in-Chief Alex Giannattasio and photographer Brendan McInerney would be going too— Brendan to take photos and Alex because neither of us had a car. We were supposed to wear ties for the sake of professionalism. Plenty of people have done unprofessional things while wearing ties, but I figured, hey, if I’m asked to wear a tie I’ll wear one. But if someone’s going to ask me to wear a tie, someone else is going to have to set the tie up for me. This time around, it was Alex. After two run-throughs of showing me how a tie works, I finally figured it out: it’s like a noose!

So, like three men walking up to the gallows, Alex, Brendan, and I hopped in Alex’s Buick and drove off. New Brunswick City Spokesman Bill Bray gave me a call. He asked if we’d arrived at the school yet. I said we’d just passed the Wallgreens on Jersey Ave and he said he was two cars behind us. “It’s right after Van Dyke,” Bray reminded me, certainly a necessary reminder because the school is easy to miss if one’s not paying attention to the road. It made me think of my own experience pulling up to school on a bus. “Damn, the school didn’t explode during the night.”

As we drove, I tried to keep an eye out on our surroundings. I have to do this consciously because sometimes I get so caught up in my own head that I don’t notice what’s going on around me.  I had to make a concentrated effort to mentally record the urban, residential, and then industrial landscapes we passed. If New Brunswick is a pair of pants, than before getting to Red Shaw and the Middle School you have to drive through a scuffed knee that’s been boarded up by the housing authority. It’s just as we passed that particular segment of the Hub City that I remembered my interview with Yolanda Baker—committee person, parent, and resident of New Brunswick for over thirty years. Yolanda is also the founder of PLACE, a parent advocacy program.

PLACE came about after Yolanda became frustrated with the PTO and PTAs in New Brunswick. She had been comparing the curricula of New Brunswick with those of other towns and when she saw that the Hub City fell short of her expectations she felt compelled to find out what she could personally do to improve the situation. To her dismay, the PTO and PTA focus mostly on activities and fundraising, which, while important, is not what Yolanda wanted. So, she founded PLACE, where parents can get together in a safe environment to share their gripes about the schools. If you want to know why New Brunswick needs PLACE, Yolanda told me, check out the Parents’ Resources page of the Board of Ed’s website. There’s nothing there. Just as there’s nothing on the students’ intake section.

When I said to Yolanda that I’d be visiting the “swing space”, she told me not to call it that. She believes that “swing space” was politically constructed spin designed to distract the public from the fact that the kids went to school in a warehouse. And as I drove down Jersey Ave, I imagined what it’d be like on a bus, passing by warehouses and a few boarded up buildings before getting to my school, which looked just like some of the warehouses right next to it. Of course, if I was inside the school without having seen its outside, I’d have no way of knowing that it bears the façade of a warehouse.

Bill Bray re-iterated the history of the “swing space”, namely that it was built for the purpose of providing education to students of schools that were being renovated or built anew altogether. Unfortunately, after the Red Shaw School was knocked down, state budgetary issues kept a replacement from being built. Students swung in, but they didn’t swing out. The New Brunswick High School, however, was built under schedule and under budget because it was done through private contractors. As a result, what was once the New Brunswick High School is currently being renovated into the new middle school. Those kids will be swinging out permanently come September.

The middle school is what Alex, Brendan, and I were given a tour of since it looked just like the elementary school but had more in it, given that older students have access to more advanced learning equipment. Like lasers! The technology program is what we got the best look at. Makes sense given that it’s what’s easiest to point to: fancy computers; hardware designed to explain and demonstrate the science behind lasers, alternative energy, and robotics; and a class where students get to design and print their own t-shirts.

Kids entering into the middle school are used to being in smaller buildings, so the middle school tries to create the atmosphere of a small learning community by breaking the student body into several more manageable categories. While hard to follow on first listen, the end result is that it’s supposed to make it easier for teachers to collaborate and create what James Dworkin described as “strategies” to assist students in need. Dworkin, who arranged the tour, is in charge of special projects for the board of ed. He’s also a former superintendent. One of his past special projects was, for example, the career tracks to the New Brunswick High School that prepare students for various vocations.

The other rooms looked like rooms out of my own middle school. In terms of aesthetics, the school was perfectly acceptable. As far as curriculum and teachers go, however, I was unable to judge. It takes considerably more paperwork to speak with children than adults, so in every one of my encounter with the schools thus far that sort of communication has been discouraged. For this same reason we were bared from photographing any students as well. And with only an hour for the tour, there wasn’t much time to talk to any of the teachers except for a technology professor. I did learn, however, of the Pathways program, which cultivates relationships between students and a teacher so that, if necessary, students have someone to talk to. The program also cultivates teamwork and collaboration amongst students.

The same teacher and same group of students work together during their three year stay at the school. Of course, you can have a student in a program designed to cultivate individual care, like Pathways, and the student won’t talk about their problems because what they see as normal is actually problematic. If a child knows nothing but insecurity or domestic violence, for example, then insecurity and domestic violence become the norm. This is why I think it’s important to discuss mental health issues and social justice in schools.

I was also told about how the school received funding from VH1’s Save the Music Foundation, providing it with a cornucopia of instruments from woodwinds to brass. There are also after school programs and tutors. And for those students who need extra help, there are teachers on-site to provide the help needed. Despite these descriptions, however, I remain uninformed as to what it’s like for students to go to school in New Brunswick.

One of Yolanda’s concerns was the absence of a Gifted and Talented program for students in the K through second grade. (The middle school’s G & T program is housed at the nearby McKinley School) A Gifted and Talented program might seem like a good idea in that it provides special attention to the smarter kids. Wait, am I not supposed to say it like that? Gifted and Talented programs can be tailored to provide the sort of stimulation that will facilitate growth in a particular student demographic. Of course, not all smart kids end up in Gifted and Talented programs, and there isn’t one definition of what it means to be a smart kid. Nonetheless, G & T can be a great opportunity for students to establish relationships with their teachers.

How much one person can make a difference in one’s life is astounding. This is why over-crowding and lack of individual attention in schools is so problematic. The classrooms I saw at the Middle School didn’t seem over-crowded. When I asked about what the minimums were for classes, I was told that it was contingent upon multiple factors such as grade level, enrolment size, and discipline. In the case of the middle school, they try to keep the ratio at twenty-four students per teacher, although there are times when they go over.

When I’d asked if there was explicit discussion of race or gender in class, I was told that the Prentice Hall Reader took care of that. What texts that reader contained was not made clear to me, although I was told that for Black and Women’s History Months there were programs held. In my experience, though, discussion of events like the Holocaust and slavery in America seemed like blips on the time line of history. Of course, when one primarily studies only American history, such things do seem like blips even though they’re nothing new to the history of civilization. Another component, pointed out to me by my girlfriend, was the absence of emotional residence with the material. A depiction of a slave ship can evoke tremendous feeling, but for me it was just another page to flip through in the history book.

Given the proximity of Rutgers to New Brunswick’s schools, I thought that perhaps the aforementioned issues and more might be discussed in professional development meetings with Rutgers’s department of education. Professional development, however, does not often occur. In theory, turning to the education department would be a great way to improve New Brunswick’s schools. When I’d asked Yolanda what she’d like to see New Brunswick do to improve the schools, she said, “Make them better;” when pressed to elaborate on how, she had no answer. She did, however, mention the contamination of the land the schools were built on. When I asked Bill Bray about it, he did not hesitate to answer that, yes, the land was contaminated, but that the contamination was capped and, as a result, of no danger to the students. And if there were even a suspicion of danger, the schools wouldn’t have been built there at all.

Hearing the words “contamination” or “warehouse”, it’s easy to start imagining the worst. Yolanda had never been inside the “warehouse schools” she decried, however. She had parents who participated in PLACE from both the schools housed in the “swing space”, but what their complaints were was unclear. If I wanted to know the real problems facing New Brunswick Education, Yolanda suggested I go to a Board of Ed meeting and hear them voiced by the parents themselves. One thing I’d complain about is the outdoor field that separates the middle school from the elementary school. It’s supposedly where kids sometimes play, but it’s just a giant, mostly grassless dirt bed. Of course, the kids I saw in the gymnasium seemed to be having plenty of fun. I guess they play indoors instead of outside.

The juxtaposition of the muddy field and the kids having fun perfectly captures the feeling of the “swing space warehouse schools”: you’re sorta surprised at first, but then you see that your expectations are way off. The schools may be warehouses on the outside, but inside they’re 100% school. And as Brendan, Alex, and I drove back to Rutgers, we were satisfied to have seen exactly what we’d expected to see all along: a school. We didn’t know what it was like for those kids to go to school, but we knew for certain that school was where they went.

Today’s Submission by: Brendan McInerney

1. Recommendation of the Day: Benny Goodman Plays Mozart
Today I would like to recommend to you an album; an LP if you are so fortunate. The album of which I speak is titled Benny Goodman plays Mozart. It features the Patriarch of the Clarinet performing the two compositions that Mr. Mozart created for said instrument (a concerto and a quintet) along with the Boston Symphony Swing Quartet. If you are still on this page it probably means that you are a member of the slim majority of people out there that are not board to death by words like ‘quintet’ and ‘Mozart.’ However, I understand it is probably more likely that your head failed to hit the proper part of the keyboard as you passed out in boredom. Regardless, I think this is an album that everyone should listen to. Although he composed music well over 200 years ago, there is a reason for its enduring popularity; the music is antiquated, but beautiful nonetheless. Having an artist who traditionally plays jazz perform the piece only improves its aesthetic pleasure. While I cannot claim that a piece of music composed 1791 years ago being played by a man in 1938 could be called a modern, there is a certain uniqueness to these recordings that will appeal to a broader audience.

2. Random Riddle of the Day:
There exists a word in the English language that will become a different word every time you remove a letter and will continue to be a word every step of the way until you are left with a single letter. List the letter you remove each time and the words that result at each step.

3. Random Quote of the Day:
“Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health, no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.”
-Thomas Jefferson

4. Top Picks from the Internet: NPR Music

My number one source for new music as well as news relating to the music industry, and you can too. The site has pages for a number of different genres and tastes and their music snob writers provide all the benefits of reading someone that is obsessed with music without being too critical or pretentious.

This Painting was made on the Internet in 1888
Fusilamento de Torrijos en la playa de San Andrés by Antonio Gisbert Pérez (1888 – Museo del Prado)

Random Discussion Topic:

If you were Carmen Sandiego, where would you hide?

I’d hide in some caves in Afghanistan, try and find me there little kids.  Those tunnels are endless!

As we stood in line with, what seemed to be, every Italian person visiting Madrid, I was mesmerized by the elevators encased in glass racing up and down the façade of the 18^th century hospital. After the coat check we were pleasantly surprised to find that entrance was free for students. The entrance leads to a hallway which opens to the left and right of you and ahead, through stone and glass across a courtyard, you can practically feel Guernica drawing you in.

Being displayed at the Reina Sofia was an exhibition of the work of Aleksander Rodchenko and other constructivists who emerged after the Russian Revolution.  I have always admired Rodchenko as a photographer, I find his innovative use of extreme angles to be inspiring, but I had never examined his painting or design. The exhibit was thorough and covered a wide breadth of work from each period of his artistic development.

The constructivist movement was started in response to the Bolshevik Revolution and rejected art for art’s sake. The idea behind the movement was to create art that was created entirely for a social purpose. You can see in the paintings and drawings that there is very little creative thought put into these pieces, it is as if anyone could have created these pieces and Rodchenko was merely the worker designated to do it. That is not to say anyone could have done it in the sense that some self-important individual would say ‘I could have painted that,’ but rather that these pieces were a true result of the communist feeling; that these pieces were done for the good of the people.

After that exhibit we browsed the surrealist section (which even featured a few movies by Luis Buñuel) and eventually made our way up to Guernica, by Pablo Picasso. The painting is 11ft tall by 25.6 ft wide, the term epic often comes to mind when I try to describe it, but I wish I had something better for you. The painting features many symbols: a horse, a bull and numerous human figures in varying states of distress and discomfort. It is a work that is rife with symbolism and has become a classic example of anti-war art, but the best explanation of what the painting stands for was given by the artist himself found in PBSs Treasures of the World series:

…this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse… If you give a meaning to certain t

hings in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the objects for what they are.

I feel, with this statement, Picasso has truly captured what it is to be an artist, a sentiment that is quite in contrast to that of Rodchenko’s.

Afterwards, we headed home. We met the other people staying in our room at the hostel, one of whom we were very unfortunate to have stayed with. He was not a bad person, quite the contrary; he was very friendly, hailing from Brazil on a tour of Spanish speaking nations. However, once this man fell asleep, he became my worst enemy. The auditory prowess of this man’s nasal cavity is beyond compare; never in my life have I heard a snore such as this. Not only could I not sleep, I could neither think nor comprehend what was going on around me. After a few minutes of dazed incomprehension my bunkmates and I managed to organize and stealthily wake up this unfortunately remarkable man long enough for us to race into sleep ourselves.

I visited el Museo del Prado two days later, but I feel the theme warrants a break in the chronology. One thing that struck me as notably different about Madrid was the type of musicians that performed on the streets. In my entire time there, I witnessed numerous accordion players, two harp players, a man playing the didgeridoo, two different Mariachi bands and the same large ensemble on two separate occasions. This varied greatly from the usual number of saxophones and guitars that I was used to, which brought me to a realization. The majority of art found across the city is not only art, but art that was created inside the country.

Once inside el Prado we began exploring. It is certainly the largest museum in the city and once again, quite to my surprise, the majority of the paintings there were of Spanish origin. This may seem obvious to people who have traveled to many European countries, I imagine that due to their age, there has been more opportunities to create great artist and acquire their work. But living in America, the idea of culture being created from many other cultures has come to be the norm. This idea was seen in every aspect of Spanish culture, rather than walking down the street wondering where all these people had come from, I could say with almost certain accuracy that the majority of them were from within the country, within the city even.

I could go on about all of the wonderful pieces that we were able to experience but one exhibit in particular struck me as the most exciting. This was the series of paintings that Goya did on the walls of his country estate, la Quinta del Sordo, in his later years. Coming from a man who did mostly portraits of royalty in his time, these paintings are exceptionally bizarre. They are a series of paintings that comment on social considerations of the time with subjects ranging from a man masturbating to the head of a dog in a setting no one can quite determine. All of the paintings are mysterious, captivating and dark, as the title of the series would suggest. You can view the paintings here (http://eeweems.com/goya/black_paintings.html), which I highly recommend that you do.

Upon our departure from the museum it was snowing, which I took as a wonderful omen indeed.

On the plane ride over, I would experience moments of anxiety. I had heard horror stories about the people of Spain and how I needed to watch myself; that I should say things like ‘castellano’ instead of ‘español,’ and that I should try to avoid the issue of their pride, if at all possible. To me it seemed that there was nothing I could do that would save me from being given a fiery Castilian lecture on the subtleties of being a United States citizen abroad.

Although I have traveled abroad in the past, as I have mentioned before, this would be my first time in a Spanish speaking country, or any country that spoke a language other than English, for that matter. The only reminder of this on our entire flight over was brought to us by a Castilian computer that noted the exits on the plane and informed us (very thoroughly) that smoking was not permitted anywhere on the aircraft. We made a smooth landing into a gloomy Madrid Barajas airport and thanks to a metro system that I would deem second only to that of New York City, we made it to our hostel in no time at all.

Checking in at the front desk proved to be my first test in communicating outside of the mother tongue, a test that I ultimately failed. The trouble came with numbers, a reoccurring theme over the course of the trip. This apparent mix up stifled my attempts to use Spanish with our hostel’s concierge for the duration of the trip. This did not bother me too much though, Madrid is a large city with many people to talk to and the fact that no yelling was involved in the exchange put me at ease.

Being the young adventurers we are, my brother and I struck out into the city in order to nourish ourselves. The establishment we decided upon was called Restaurante Iberico and is located in la Glorieta de San Ruiz in Argüelles. Eating is a different experience in Madrid than in the U.S., each patron is provided with a small loaf of bread when they are seated. There are usually two courses, the first consisting of a soup or salad, while the second constitutes the main course, for which there are four or five options, each depending on where you go. Afterwards one has the option of coffee and postre (aka dessert, usually flan). It is the most delicious food I have ever eaten.

Looking at the menu outside, I was intrigued by the options of cuttlefish. If the reader has never heard of this animal I suggest they do some research as they are fascinating members of the kingdom of fauna. A member of the class of cephalopods under the mollusk phylum, as with octopi they have a propensity for visual camouflage that is unbeatable. A complex system of chromatophores on the upper level of skin and iridophores on the lower level allow them to change the color and texture of their skin to blend in with their surroundings (read more here: PBS Kings of Camouflage). A quick search on YouTube will reveal the splendor of the animal and I must say: they taste better than they look.

Although they would never have been an animal that I would go out of my way to eat, the fact that is was so readily available made me feel an exception could be made. And I would like the reader to know that I have nothing but respect for this creature and wish it nothing but good, but perhaps now I am just rationalizing.

As in most small countries, the food in Spain is more delicious simply because of the country’s size. The fact that most food can be transported to any part of the country within a day means it is fresher when it arrives on the table. Also, unlike the United States, a large amount of food is grown within the country for the sustenance of the populace. Anyone who travels abroad will most likely gain a healthy understanding of what it means to buy local and how this can make life tastier.

Our waiter had reservations about our non-Iberian appearance. The fact that instead of asking for a menu, we took turns to go outside to look at the menu gave him pause as well, I am sure. His gaze was intermittent, yet intense as he sat on the sidelines of Restaurante Iberico, I thought for sure the gig was up, we had finally demonstrated the ultimate in estadounidensidad. However, upon executing a flawless order in his language, our camarero was happier about serving us.

Another interesting aspect of Madrid realized in this restaurant is the fact that they have not yet caught on to the anti-smoking sentiments of the United States and other European countries. Positively everyone smokes, everywhere at all times, our restaurant choice included. This custom was neither good nor bad but it highlighted a distinct difference between the culture of the United States and that of Spain.

Madrid was a significant point of engagement in a war that heavily divided the nation. The extent of this divide can be seen in denominations of the two sides: bando nacional y bando republicano; fascista y rojo; la derecha política y la izquierda política; las clases altas  y el movimiento obrero, and finally la iglesia católica y el anticlericalismo.

The city was the scene of a fierce battle in the winter of 1936 during with the Nationalist forces attempted to defend the city from conquest by Franco’s Republicans. That battle was the beginning of the Siege of Madrid and during this battle orders were given for an aerial bombardment of most of the civilians in the city (the wealthy upper class were spared from this first instance of bombing civilians as Franco believed that many Nationalist supporters were hiding among them). Franco went so far as to say “Destruiré Madrid antes que dejárselo a los marxistas.” (I will destroy Madrid before I leave it to the Marxists)

This act of violence was normal compared to some transgressions that occurred during the war, and even tame compared to others. Because of this I sensed that there was a certain animosity between the public and the government in the city. It seems that if the government were to impose a no-smoking law, it would hardly be acknowledged. This was but one example of the people’s feelings towards government, many incidences of the police being ignored were observed while in the city. Heavily armed men were hardly noticed as they stood outside the Ministerio de Educación; the ferocious sirens of police cars were only heeded when drivers found a break in traffic that allowed them to proceed and as those same government vehicles raced through pedestrian streets, the glances that they received were hardly more concerned than those that would be given to any Madrid motorist.

We made a decision in the restaurant to visit one of Madrid’s fabled art museums. They are the reason that I decided to come to Madrid and not the more pleasantly coastal Barcelona. Once again, the city’s metro proved to be remarkably manageable; yet our poor planning skills, lack of map and inability to translate ‘Atocha’ (No translation: it is the name of a train station) led us through the rain for a good while before we found ourselves in the American Embassy: Starbucks.

Everyone in every Starbucks across the globe speaks English, even the customers and the crazy homeless people. It was as if I had never left home. This, coupled with 12oz of caffeine I had just ingested, gave me the power to overcome my poor spirits and continue on through the rain. It made me think for a second that perhaps globalization was not a completely terrible thing.

Johnsonville Press Readers’ Challenge:

*Hidden in one of these answers is one lie placed with the greatest stealth that the author possesses. Attempt to identify it and type your answer into the comment box at the bottom. The winner’s comments will be published and praised verily.



Would you live there? Would you recommend others to live there?

I would live there in a second. Provided I could find adequate housing and employment opportunities in Madrid, I think it would be a perfect place to live. One of the biggest complaints I have about other cities are their inadequacies in comparison to New York City. But I feel that what Madrid lacks in size compared to NYC, it makes up for in proximity to so many other European cities. Another fact is the amount of beautiful women in the city. Literally every woman under the age of 35 was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. And I exaggerate this fact no more than any other statement in this Q&A session. As compared to most countries, Spanish families have traditionally favored female children. This, coupled with the number of males that were killed during the Spanish Civil War, Spain has long been a country with a majority of woman. This has become the fact for so long that the women have become more attractive by virtue of evolution.



What kind of transit exists in the areas you visited? Are there many bicycles? A metro system? Do people walk, drive cars, takes trains, buses…?

Madrid’s metro is one of the most comprehensive and easily understood; I was very appreciative of its existence for the duration of my stay. One thing I noticed about Madrid was that there are very few bicyclists. I noticed 4 people with bikes in the city the entire time I was there. I attribute this to the aggressiveness of the taxi drivers. There were multiple instances when taxi drivers would drive at speeds in excess of 30mph within inches of my person. This, coupled with the relatively narrower streets, would serve as a heavily oppressive habitat for bicyclists.



What type of music is popular in the area? Did you go to any live shows? What were you listening to while you traveled?

I noticed a remarkable amount of songs from the United States playing on the radio in Spain. Moreover, many people knew all of the lyrics. Compared to the United States, Spain listens to a large portion of music that is in a language other than its own.  I feel like this is a disadvantage to the US, as there are many benefits to learning another language. I was also fortunate enough to attend a concert in Spain. I feel like this experience, more than any other, taught me about the culture of the city of Madrid. I recommend that anyone visiting another city, attempt to attend a concert at a local venue.



What were the prices of various items in comparison to our area?

I found the price of cigarettes to be remarkably cheap, only €3.15. And although this translates to about $6.50, cigarettes are still one of the cheapest items you can buy in any store in Europe. This, coupled with the fact that smoking is allowed inside most buildings, makes for a remarkably smoke friendly environment. I would think that a government that funds the healthcare of its citizens would put more effort into preventing, and therefore deferring the costs of having to treat illnesses brought on by smoking.



Did you go to any restaurants? What’s the local food like? Did you try anything you have never eaten before? Favorite dishes?

I did go to a number of different restaurants while in Spain and feel there are two worth noting. The first is Restaurante Iberico near la Plaza de San Bernardo . This was the most traditional “restaurante madrileña” that I went to while in Spain. We ate two courses for €10. The soup was a hearty seafood stew that featured muscles and prawn, served to you from a large metal bowl. It was some of the freshest seafood I had ever encountered. For the second course, I chose the cuttlefish. I made this choice because of my fascination with the creature. It was some of the most savory seafood I have ever tasted and although the texture was a bit more cartilage-y than calamari, the taste more than made up for this fact. The second restaurant of note is La Austriaca on C. San Onofre. The food there was also some of the best that I’d ever had. The meat from the oven-baked ribs that I ordered was literally “falling off the bone” as it were. Another highlight to the restaurant was the highly amiable service which only added to the enjoyment of the restaurant. I believe that in Spain, as in other European countries, a majority of the food is brought to your table from a shorter distance and therefore is much fresher that it would be in the United States, where much of our food travels at least the length our country.