Mushed Meanings

Today's thought came as I was listening to the radio this morning and heard, "Bloomberg will be lighting New York City's Hanukkah Menorah this afternoon which is the largest in the nation."

Why is the menorah lighting allowed to include that is figurative to Hanukkah, but the Rockefeller Center's Christmas Tree had to drop "Christmas" from the lighting ceremony? A few years ago, people complained that they enjoy the Christmas tree lighting, but that the event referred itself to Christianity and that offended them. So, without skipping a beat, officials (whoever that may be) commanded that Christmas be cut out to simply refer to it as the "tree lighting". 

Regardless of your religious background, the Christmas tree will ALWAYS be symbolic to Christianity. Just as the menorah is symbolic to Judaism and cows to Hindus. How can you think of it as anything else? If you are a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.; you will have a ceremony or figure that you hold dear and bring special meaning to your beliefs. Do not complain that you enjoy something that doesn't t agree with your beliefs and demand they are changed to accommodate you. I for one, would never think to walk into a mosque or temple and not enjoy its beauty because its not a Christian place. Its called respect and tolerance. I have friends of nearly every walk of life and I'm blessed for that. This is America, a country founded on democracy and Christianity. Its beautiful that we live in a country in which we live so diversely amongst each other, with religious tolerance and free speech; but it truly compromises what our country supposedly stands for by de-symbolizing and stripping the CHRISTmas tree of its Christian roots. 

Train Reaction

Riding the NYC subway everyday (sometimes several times daily) I encounter some of the most bizarre and interesting happenings. While waiting on the subway at popular stations, I hear tremendously talented singers and musicians. Really! I don't think I've ever been forced to listen to someone who put me though hell while waiting on the train. There are families singing in unison, reggae groups, a cappella jazz and opera singers, and truly great bands singing and playing their hearts out for tips. Its almost as if there is a booking agent down there that keeps out the rif raf fake talent. While on the subway, every now and then, I am entertained by a group of young friends that dance on their head, do back flips in an area of two feet between passengers, and play bongos. Do you realize how athletic one has to be to do that on a crowded, rowing subway? Very. It's illegal to panhandle on the trains which is should be for those just going through to beg, but these youngsters are skilled and making a few bucks in an honest way. I respect them.

Most New Yorkers have become oblivious to these fantastic flairs that grace them on their daily commute, but I remain thankful for it and it always brings a smile to my face. As many of you know, I LOVE to people watch. My mother would tell you that I stare, but I prefer call it people watch. I can't think of a better place to observe big, small, dirty, freaky, demented, studious, lost, and busy people that inhabit and visit this great city than on the New York City subway.

Sharing is caring...

I found this poem I wrote not too long after moving to the city, snagging a position that I thought would be fantastic only to learn it was an illegal chop shop in which the owner and some partners were arrested by the FBI (2 months after my employment). I had just moved into a new place and was scared out of my wits to lose a job so instantly in a less than stellar job market.

I thought I'd share because I wrote it randomly. It was exactly how I felt. I remember scribbling it down in minutes. It was nice to find yesterday though because it was a short and blatant reminder that was goes down, must come up.

I am sliding down an invisible trench

Frantically fighting my way up the slippery walls

My soul is drowning

My strength wont give up, wants to stay up

I can't see the light at the end of the imperceptible tunnel

But my heart is telling me it is there

I will fight

Knowing that my heart is always right in the end

Rounding another corner.

Today’s blog isn’t about my reason why because my mind isn’t there. Today, my thoughts are about what’s next for me. I’m going to be proactive regarding that and give it a little kick start.

Every now and then, I find myself with a deep longing for change. Of course a good change in which involves me being renewed and refreshed. I become a bit sluggish and hmmm…less motivated when I determine that a routine has set in that I'm not excited about. As you know from a few blogs back, there’s just not enough time in life to be anything less than your best.

Life always has ups and downs, but I’m pissed about the path I've been lead on the past couple months. So now, I’m taking control of the reins and saying, "Nope, that route sucks and I’m taking a new one."

I've picked up two projects I wanted to work on and never did because I wasn’t sure where to start. Well, you have to start somewhere. And last night, I finally signed up for the salsa dancing lessons I've talked, and talked about wanting to take for several months now. I've really been in a "doing" mood lately so I better take full advantage of it! Yesterday, while at Barnes and Noble, I bought two new vegetarian cookbooks. I'm going to be an awesome and inventive master of the kitchen. Being a pescatarian, I’ve noticed that I eat the same foods over and over. That’s boring and I’m not boring, so...no mas!

Yes, I get jaded with the same ole' same ole' (ask anyone who knows me well, this is very characteristic of me), but I think this season's change entails more depth than those before. My soul has been aching for something else. It wants to be better fulfilled and I’m prepared to take the steps necessary to reinvent myself with subtle, positive changes to do just that.

Demographically...dating

As many of you know, Ive lived in many different dating "markets", if you will, in my freakishly eventful 25 years (STL, Orlando, Miami, Long Island, Manhattan). Having this experience, Ive come to the conclusion that the measure of fulfillment you have for your love life heavily depends on where you live and here's why.

Obviously, different cities (or towns) offer their own good or bad aspects. Smaller cities such as St. Louis or Orlando more often offer gentlemen with an old fashion way of "taking care of their lady" with those small signs of appreciation we all adore. The guys are also more inclined to commit to you (even if you are not) and they definitely feel obligated to settle down with " a nice girl" at a much earlier point in life than a guy you'd find in say, Miami or Manhattan. This is definitely just a cultural difference as to be single and never married or had children by the age of 35-40 in smaller markets is almost associated with a sort of stigma whereas its the norm here in the NYC.

During my time spent in Miami, I was young and wild. I didnt put much thought into my dating life because frankly, I wanted no part of being in a committed relationship and wasn't exactly dating material at the time either. However, it was blatantly obvious that the Miami dating market is heavily driven by superficial BS. The men knew that in order to date a beautiful, young girl anywhere near South Beach, you needed to have an oceanfront stunner, a luxury car, and lots of flash. There were just too many other douches (well most of them) that could lull the girls in with this, that frequently (and sadly) it was a "no money, no honey" situation.

In Long Island and STL, I witnessed that when friends (I was in a long-termer in LI) would meet someone they had a decent amount of things in common with, they saw more of each other and more often and it lasted longer than Ive witnessed here in Manhattan. Why? Because in these smaller dating markets, people have limited things they like to do (go to eat at a well known local restaurant), drive to each others house and hang out and drive home when they are ready (somehow this seems more convenient than hailing a cab or taking the subway in the wee hours of the morning to change before work) and honestly, they just have less options and are more content with whats currently if front of them.

In Manhattan, on the other hand, life moves at you quickly. You must swiftly analyze what each guy you date is looking for- a fling to entertain him until something better rolls along, a relationship, a wife, sexual fulfiller? A rapid judgement is imperative. If you decide to play the "aloof" game to someone who wants something more serious, he'll judge you for not being "into it" enough. If you let him know you're into it and he's not looking for anything more than a time filler, well, thats done. If you both are looking for the same thing- perfect. But no two people would or should have that conversation within the first weeks of knowing each other. And the best and worst part? Manhattan offers so much, its too much; in regards to its human stock. Most cant handle it. There will always be some sort of distraction- someone wealthier, better looking, smarter, more beautiful, thinner, taller etc. Im happy Im presented with such a broad collection, but the thought of eternal dating is horrifying.

Ponderville

Sometimes I slip into one of those "I wonder" deep thought modes and cant escape it because my mind is bombarded with the ever-so-popular question of "WHY?"

As I scroll down my wall on Facebook checking out everyone's new status updates, I notice that there are several that make reference to them wishing it was the weekend. Hell, I wish it was too. But that bothers me and here's why.

As far as we know, this is our only time on Earth- our time to shine. So why do such a large percentage of we Earthly beings choose not to follow a path of doing something we like and are passionate about as a way to lead our lives? Is it because by the time we realize our passions, we are set into another path? Maybe. But it seems as if we wish an enormous amount of our lives away. The time most of us call Monday through Thursday. Perhaps its a little deep for a Wednesday to continue to pry into this phenomenon, but this is a thought that constantly creeps into my mind and settles. This is most likely caused by the fact that nearly everyday as I have my ass planted in my cubicle, I daydream of a career outside; where I'm given the opportunity to work with animals, help the less fortunate in developing countries, utilizing my creative parts, or patenting the new ideas that come to me. There are many who do follow their passions in life and make a living from doing so. Come on though, the better portion of us don't. No, we cant wait until the next day off and often fantasize of doing something completely opposite of that in which our whole lives are consumed of. Sad it is that we wish away our time here when it could've all been so much different if we had only had the matured mind to know what we were doing when we planned our path in adulthood.