New York in the spring

I cannot possibly begin to tell you how or why exactly I love New York so much. I think I would end up butchering it and you would find me to be odd. But I shall try because I love it, and it would be a real shame if you did not know the real New York. It is my first true love. I moved to the city that never sleeps at the ripe old age of eighteen. I cannot deny that the real reason for moving there, was because I was running away. But I found that New York ended up being one of the best things to ever happen to me.

When I first got there, I was scared. The thought that kept circling in my head was, why on earth had I picked myself up and moved across the country, to a city I don't even know, all by myself? I learned in the first week that what I had just done, was only the beginning. I realized that these changes I had been making is part of who I am. I will not be able to go through life without just throwing myself off the diving board and into the deep end. Sink or swim, this is who I am. Good thing too, because after a week of being in New York, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the people, who so diverse and numerous, all have their own interesting stories of how they got to this wonderful city and what it means to them. I met an Egyptian man there who said that he could no longer leave New York since he had fallen in love with it. It was like he was a fish and New York was his fish bowl. He said if he were to leave, it would be like he was a fish out of water, unable to breath. Simone and I loved this. In fact, we interviewed him in a documentary we made and I would bet that he was one of Simone's most favorite memories about New York. 

I fell in love with the smells of New York also. I took some friends to New York over the holidays and I showed them all over. Their thoughts of the smells of New York did not quite match mine, but I cannot deny the smell of the subways makes me feel happy because it means that I am back home. When I was living there, we used to go to the farmer's market in Union Square and we would get fresh fruit and vegetables and little apple pies and we would see all sorts of people, celebrities included. The atmosphere of New York is so different from any other place I have been to. The rush of the cabs as they drive by, the shaking ground as the subways rumble beneath the earth, and the honking horns one can always hear at any time of the day. Some people rushing everywhere in a hurry to get on with their lives, others sitting quietly in a park reading, enjoying the feel of New York. As you wander through the streets, music of all sorts meets your ears. African, Brazilian, Spanish, German, Russian, French, Arabian, Polish and Hungarian sounds fill your ears with a beauty unlike any other. And let's not forget the food in New York. Only in New York, can you wander through the most beautiful parks in the world, dissolved in the beautiful green trees and be able to get a wimpy little hot dog, gyro and a soda for mere change. And once you have your crappy little meal, will you realize that they taste better than any gourmet meal you could get in an overpriced restaurant in California. In fact, many will find that it was the best meal in their life. 

New York, so full of life, beauty, happiness, change and diversity. The love I have of New York surpasses many other feelings I have. More often than not, if you find me sitting and staring off into space unable to hear you call my name, I am most likely dreaming about my wonderful city and wondering when the time will come for me to return to it. 

school

Among all the traveling and fun I have been having, all of a sudden I find myself sitting in class listening to yet another lecture about something I care nothing about. Somehow, school has slid around me without my noticing and has forced me into a daily routine of which I cannot stand. How unfortunate for those of us stuck here. I have decided that really, school I'm sure is this big joke that the school boards play on us weak students. Here we are, paying so much money we get into debt for the rest of our lives so that we can have others force us to sit in long, boring lectures that we don't usually learn from. Hmmm... ok ok, no I don't really believe that, but sometimes it sure feels like that! My classes aren't all that bad, one is, but the others are much better! And I do like to expand my knowledge of the world, even if I would prefer traveling then sitting in a classroom. But it's not that bad, I am just bitter because it means less sleeping in for me. But school is pretty good, my art classes are fun and there are some pretty cool people in my math class, so at least it will keep my attention. But I must say, I cannot wait until spring break and summer! :D

cold

So I have decided, being sick sucks. I have a cold, and am not having any fun. When I was little, I used to think, hey, if I get sick, I can stay home, let my mom take care of me, sleep as much as I want and watch tv all day long. Now I know better. I would rather have to take care of myself, not be allowed to watch any tv, and freely be able to talk without having to cough or constantly blow my poor, battered, and scratched red nose, then sit at home watching movies all day. Although I have had time to catch a few movies I had yet to see, the 3 Bourne movies, and The Kingdom. Soon I will start on another. But I would much rather be at work, then feel like this. Unfortunately, also, with my bright white skin, when my nose is red, it is like Rudolph red. And it hurts. But I must say, I have gotten to know my couch, heated blanket and sweat pants very well, if that is any consolation ... which it is not. But let's pretend it is, so I feel a bit better. Hope you are all feeling chipper in this cold and flu season. If not, well, I feel you. 

Good night all, tomorrow will hopefully feel better.

Cheers

Brooklyn

So yesterday we got up early and went to Coney Island to eat some Nathan's hot dogs and see the beach. It was horribly cold and deserted. But we still had some good fun! Herbie put his hand in the water and it froze instantly! We found a dead fish on the beach that was as hard as a rock, totally frozen. Poor fishy, he didn't even have a chance. After that we bundled up and ran to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and locked ourselves away in the warm bio-domes where it was nice and warm, being that all the domes were climate controlled specifically for the certain areas. It was quite nice, we found ourselves in the desert and felt right at home. We also had a lovely little jaunt into the rain forest where we found many odd looking plants and one fish! Then, after many wrong ways and misguided directions, we found ourselves at the Gutter! A retro bar and bowling alley that was very rad! We had some good fun, and three of us went home completely smashed. It's a good thing we have sober Amber with us to get us all home safely. In fact, not only do I get people home safely, I also get them home in style! We took a sleek, black Lincoln town car all the way home to Harlem, and saw one of the most awesome views of New York there is! Then we got some food, put some people to bed and watched some movies and fell asleep. All in all, it was an amazingly awesome day! Hope you're all jealous of what you're missing out on!

our little jaunt around manhattan

So here we are, exploring Manhattan, The Natural History Museum, Central Park, and of course the subway system. We've had some pretty amazing times and some great stories! We spent New Year's Eve in Central Park, so I'll post more pictures later! Yay for New York!

Going to New York!

So here we are, sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to depart! Bettina, Herb and I are all packed, Amelia, who does not like goodbyes, reluctantly brought me to the airport, said goodbye and hurriedly left after wishing us well.  We have a little bit of a wait, so we decided to play online and take pictures, yay! We are very excited and can't wait to get there! Freezing cold, here we come!

The Little Street

THE WORLD AS IT IS.

Show it all, calmly and indifferently, like an outsider who does not share humanity's feelings or prejudices and can see it all "from the side." Show all the filth, stupidity, and horror of the world, along with that which is supposed to atone for it. Show how insignificant, petty, and miserable the "good" in the world is, compared to the real horror it masks. Do not paint one side of the world, the polite side, and be silent about the rest; paint a real picture of the whole, good and bad at once, the "good" looking more horrid than the bad when seen together with the things it tolerates. Men see only one part of life at a time, the part they have before their eyes at the moment. SHOW THEM THE WHOLE.

SHOW THEM THAT HUMANITY IS PETTY. That it's small. That it's dumb, with the heavy, hopeless stupidity of a man born feeble-minded, who does not understand, because he cannot understand, because he hasn't the capacity to understand; like a man born blind, who cannot see, because he has no organ for seeing.

Show that the world is monstrously hypocritical. That HUMANITY HAS NO CONVICTIONS OF ANY KIND. That it does not know how to believe anything. That it has never believed consistently and does not know how to be true to any idea or ideal. That ALL THE "HIGH" WORDS OF THE WORLD ARE A MONSTROUS LIE. That nobody believes in anything:high: and nobody wants to believe. That one cannot believe one thing and do another, for such a belief isn't worth a nickel. And that's what humanity is doing. 

Show THAT HUMANITY IS UTTERLY ILLOGICAL, like an animal that cannot connect together the things it observes. Man realizes and connects much more than an animal, but who can declare that his ability to connect things is perfect? The future, higher type of man will have to perfect just this ability (to achieve) the clear vision. A clear mind sees things AND the connections between them. Humanity is stumbling helplessly in a chaos of inconsistent ideas, actions, and feelings that can't be put together, without even realizing the contradictions between them or their ultimate logical results 

A perfect, clear understanding also means FEELING. It isn't enough to realize a thing is true. The realization must be so clear that one FEELS this truth. For men act on feelings, not on thoughts. Every thought should be part of yourself, your body, your nature and every part of your nature should be a thought. Every feeling - a thought - a feeling.

Show the silent terror that is life at present, the silent terror that hangs over us, chokes us, that everybody feels and nobody can define, the nameless thing that is the atmosphere of humanity. 

Show that the mob determines life at present and SHOW EXACTLY WHO AND WHAT THE MOB IS. Show the things it breaks, the precious enemies that it ruins. Show that all humanity and each little citizen is an octopus that consciously and unconsciously sucks the blood of the best on earth and strangles life with its cold, sticky tentacles.

Show that THE WORLD IS NOTHING BUT A LITTLE STREET. That this little street is its kind and master, its essence and spirit. Show the little street and how it works.

RELIGION: show what it means when thought out consistently; what it does to man; who needs it; who defends it with all the ferocious despotism of a small, ambitious nature. The great poison of mankind.

MORALS (as connected with religion); the real reason for all hypocrisy. The wrecking of man by teaching him ideals that are contrary to his nature; ideals he has to accept as his highest ambition, even though they are organically hateful and repulsive to him. And when he can't doubt them, he doubts himself. He becomes low, sinful, imperfect in his own eyes; he does not aspire to anything high, when he knows that the high is inaccessible and alien to him. Humanity's morals and ideals, its ideology, are the greatest of its crimes.

COMMUNISM, DEMOCRACY, SOCIALISM are the logical results of present day humanity. The nameless horror (of these systems), both in their logical end and in the unconscious way that they are already rule mankind.

FAMILY-LIFE: the glorification of mediocrity. Elevating the "everyday" little man's existence into the highest ideal for mankind. 

Show that humanity has and wants to have: existence instead of life, satisfaction instead of joy, contentment instead of happiness, security instead of power, vanity instead of pride, attachment instead of love, wish instead of will, yearning instead of passion, a glow-worm instead of a fire.

All the "realistic" books have shown the bad side of life, and as good, have shown the good of today. They have denounced that which is accepted as bad and set up as a relief or example that which is accepted as good. I want to show that there is no good at present, that the "good" as it is now understood is worse than the bad, that it is only the result, the skin over a rotten inside that rules and determines it. I want to show that all the conceptions of the "good" all the high ideals, have to be changed, for now they are nothing but puppets, slaves and accomplices to the horrible (stifling) of life. There are too many things that people just tolerate and don't talk about.

Show them that IT CAN'T BE TOLERATED, FOR ALL THEIR LIFE IS A ROTTEN SWAMP, A SEWER, A DUMPING PLACE FOR MORE FILTH THAN THEY CAN EVER REALIZE. 

Show that the real God behind all their high words and sentiments, the real omnipotent power behind their culture and civilization, is THE LITTLE STREET, just a small, filthy, shabby, common LITTLE street, such as exists around the center of eery town in the world. 

Show them the real, one and only horror - THE HORROR OF MEDIOCRITY.

-AYN RAND