Race Eve

I'm running a four-mile race tomorrow. I've been training hard and sleeping well. I'm going to ROCK IT! I CANT WAIT!

Coney Island

Coney Island.

I love your energy.

Thank you for having me today.

I will be back almost every weekend this summer for some more fried Oreos and a quick dip in the ocean.

See you soon.

Manchester City Vs Chelsea in NYC

Spanish Guy and I were so excited to learn that the Spanish National Team was coming to NYC, Yankee Stadium to play, so we went on line to buy tickets! Part of the package included the Manchester City vs Chelsea for May 25th. We were okay with that! It was an abnormally cold and rainy day in NYC, so we packed a fleece blanket, an umbrella and we were ready to go! With some great seats and fun company around us, we felt the energy of this friendly game.

It was better than we expected! We thought that because we didn't have an emotional connection to any of the teams that the experience wouldn't be as enjoyable, but it was quite the opposite. We had an even better time, we walked around the stadium, visited the shops, chit-chatted and screamed with excitement when both teams scored a goal! We appreciated the art in the sport, instead of the competition. 

We cant wait to see Spain vs Ireland on June 11th, thats going to be SO classic!

Whoever would have thought that Spanish Guy and I would be watching European Soccer in the Bronx! Go figure!

Life is good!

Honoring our Troops

As I sit here on this Memorial Day, I contemplate the blessings my family and I have received to have my brother back home safe and sound, two times over. Being a serviceman/woman during a time of war is a scary thing. I honor all the troops who keep us safe and allow for us to go about our daily lives without worry of attack on our own land. 

Its a privilege. 

The parties have begun!

Its the season of parties. 

Everyone is out from hibernation! 

I'm loving it!

Reinventing Myself

Its always so refreshing to make a physical change, so thats how I started my year-long reinvention, with a drastic haircut, and I'M LOVING IT! 

Next comes, getting back into MARATHON SHAPE (I'm running the NYC Marathon this year) and getting a new job, or a pay raise!

Spiritually, I'm going to find more excitement in my life in the form of:

• trying new restaurants
• traveling to new countries/ places
• meeting new people/joining new groups
• Writing more scholarly articles and creative pieces
• experimenting with new makeup and nail polishes (hehe)

So happy that the spring is here, I have SO much to look forward to and am enjoying every moment in the meantime! 

LOVE!

The Tribeca Film Festival Party

I felt like a million bucks! 

Fabulous night, great DJ, great food, everything, including drinks, were complimentary. 

Just perfect.

Strength, Power, Perseverance

Strength is... 

• embarking on a difficult path
• letting someone/something go
• continuing on with your life when your are emotionally drained
• taking a moment to breath when everything around you is speeding ahead
• making a huge/difficult decision
• making yourself vulnerable
• exchanging hostility for kindness

These are all things that I've had to deal with in the past week. That is life. Its part of my life. I acknowledge it, accept it and become stronger from it.

We are all capable of achieving whatever we want and sculpting our lives into what we want it to be, but its close to impossible to do it alone, and some people have more of an advantage than others (societal/power structures influence this). We need community, support and understanding. We are social creatures...

philosophical talk. very general, i know. just thinking "out-loud" here. 

Rats and NYC Living

When I lived on the Lower East Side, LES, of NYC, I used to see rats all the time. The LES is infested. Then when I read the book, Rats by Robert Sullivan many years ago, I understood why. They came to the USA on the ships with the Irish and English from England and Ireland to the ports of NYC and Boston. The rats made their home in NYC and multiplied quickly. Now, they say for every one New Yorker there are as many as 15 rats.

I tell this story to try to make sense of WHY THE HECK THERE WAS A RAT IN MY 17TH FLOOR APARTMENT ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE OF MANHATTAN!

Last night was one huge, SCARY and HILARIOUS ordeal!

We had a rat the same size as a big banana in our apartment. Its tail was thick and ratched and its body as black as the ace of spades!

As we all grabbed a "weapon" to get it out, it started JUMPING and squealing! Who knew that rats could jump!?

It jumped as high as my waist and the only natural reaction that four adults had was to scream at the top of our lungs and run for our lives! And so we did for the next four hours until 2am when we finally got it by throwing a hand weight at it (sorry animal rights activists), crippling it. It ran into the hallway and into the locked janitors closet! (I have to mention, that we got it out into the hallway a few times and it kept on running back inside!)

But that was the end. We had won. TRIUMPH!

Boy-oh-boy was it a crazy night and one that will go down in my life's history book!

Emotional Strength

Today, to celebrate the birth of my late aunt who passed away from breast cancer, my mother, recovering from her third fight against cancer and the shock of losing her hair, went out in public (and to work) for the first time without her wig on today. She has been very worried of what people would think of her with a bald head since losing her hair, so it was big for her.

I just wanted to share that story of EMOTIONAL STRENGTH in a very personal and brave way!