Now with special sauce.

Friday, December 26, 2008

"The Princess of Soho"?

There are many opportunities to meet random people on the streets of NYC. I definitely have met my fair share of them and am no stranger to undulging in fleeting encounters with strangers, especially since I have spent ample time passing out free samples and such out there. I have learned a lot from these interactions and mostly have fully enjoyed them, but every now and again they can encourage you not to be so friendly.

I've recently been temping at an office in Soho where I pass a newspaper man on the corner. We have always had strange interactions, basically since I am not stopped to speak with him, and he speaks in a really thick accent I can't really understand, and he often hands me something for free. The first time was just an ad insert to the paper, something that normally falls out on the floor of the subway that just irritates you. This baffled me. He has handed me an actual paper a couple times. He sometimes tries to speak with me but we never quite connect as I am in a rush, and it always leaves me feeling weird. I was starting to warm up to our weird relationship until the day he handed me a free pass to get into a night club that weekend. Now he seemed skeevy, trying to promote these side businesses and soliciting to people who aren't even stopping to support the business he is there for.

The day before Christmas Eve I was rushing past, just after 9am...clearly late for work, and he starts attempting to converse again as I stopped to wait for the light. Soon the late changed and I was stuck there as he handed me an envelope he dug out...and begun to say that he had a dress for me...and asked what size I was. Stunned and confused I attempted to answer him when he said "...eh...what size? You are large, right?". I am not sure what I said as I was just entirely confused all around and had no interest in getting this dress from him anyway when he promised he would bring it for me tomorrow.

So once again I walked away from this man amused and perplexed and only a tad offended that he just called me "large". As I entered my office, much later now, I opened my envelope to find a Xmas card. Did he have several of these prepared to hand out to the strangers he connects with that day? Had he originally intended to hand ME this specific card? No, I thought, he just had some pre-written ones to spread random cheer. Was there going to be a flyer for a club inside? A coupon for a sample sale? Surely there must be some other motive. All I found inside was a card with several of the possible holiday messages scrawled inside, and it was written "To The Princess of Soho". It took me by surprise and suddenly I felt horrible for thinking anything irritating about him. Suddenly I felt like a princess! Only I still wasn't 100% sure he hadn't just written out a few of those to hand to any of the ladies he sees. But it made me smile, and even more grateful that I tend to indulge these random encounters, even if it is only half-heartedly sometimes.





Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Apathy and Human rights...


There are some that feel that negativity in any form is harmful. I know people who don't wish to hear about the horrible things happening in the world. Not because they don't care or don't have compassion...but because they have too much. I know people who believe that you get what you focus on and, therefore, choose not to listen to or focus on atrocities that occur in the world around them. They would rather focus on and perpetuate good. I would as well. But there are some things that just don't even feel real...until you hear about them from someone whether you want to or not. And while I don't think they need to be focused on, I think they need to be acknowledged, because they are happening. Now. Not 1000 years ago. They are happening now, and we should acknowledge them as if they are happening to those we love, because they may as well be. I have no idea what my aim is in posting this on a blog. All I know is that in this day and age...with the ability for information to spread as quick as this (and it took me a month to read about it), it is unacceptable to ignore this part of our reality simply because it doesn't feel good to consider. Apathy in any form as it relates to concern for another human is, in my opinion, atrocious. So, as we consider our own human rights...I hope we will also consider hers, as they are one and the same. Absolutely no one on earth deserves this.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document&183;php?id=ENGPRE200810317930

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Surveillance Camera

There are times I really wish I had secretly installed a surveillance camera in my own room. Like the time I was startled awake by my terrified cat projecting himself off me via his back claws in my arm startled by my having accidentally kicked over of a table with a bunch of stuff on it next to my bed. Or like yesterday when I caught myself sleepily putting on two winter coats by mistake on my way out the door.





Saturday, November 15, 2008

Someday is NOW!!!


Someday people will look back at this time and be so ashamed of how many people in this country were so ignorant and cruel.

Someday people will sit with their grandchildren or their great grandchildren and have to explain to them why they thought that two people loving each other was so disgusting.

Someday money won't matter and fear won't be instilled in us by religion or anything else.

Someday we won't accept fear as a substitute for love and unity.

Someday Faith won't refer to "MY God" or "YOUR God", but to faith in our spirit, and each others'.

Someday laws will be there to protect people's rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Someday no law will define what someone else's happiness 'should' be.

Someday there will truly be a separation of Church and State.

Someday the energy it takes to create and pass new laws will move us forward rather than back.

Someday no one will be able to deny that what is done to others is also done to you and that holding anyone back holds everyone back.

Someday I will be able to tell my great grandchildren that I have always believed in and supported love.

Please stand for love today....

Be FOR something rather than against something. Be for love. In time it will work.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Extra Extra!

These brilliant newspapers were passed out this morning in Manhattan.

Pay close attention to everything...including the ads.

http://www.nytimes-se.com/


I don't care that the NY Times did not issue these. These are BRILLIANT!!!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

What do I Value?

This is Bliss!!!

I don't know if I have ever been as happy as I was last night...and today! I spent yesterday canvasing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to help crucial voters get their votes out! Unlike the canvasing trip I took 4 years ago for the last election, this one was incredibly well organized and we had a terrific day. More importantly we weren't just supporting the "Not Bush" Vote, we were there to support an incredible candidate who is what this country NEEDS right now as well as not being Bush! Luckily there were only a few nasties on our journey. Mainly everyone was AWESOME! It felt SO incredible to connect, face-to-face with people who believe in unity, progress, and possibility. People who push aside their fears in order to embrace change. After canvasing as many homes as we could we got out our cellphones and made calls to those who weren't able to be reached earlier in the day. The campaign workers for that neighborhood were excellent and so accommodating! We finished our time in PA in Obama's Headquarters in Bethlehem. It was so exciting to be in a real campaign office on election night! Everyone crowded around the television, though it would be a few hours before we would learn anything on it. Then it was back on the buses back to NYC. Updates were shared via blackberry and internet on phones and cheers filled the bus. Then we all congregated at The Irish Rogue in midtown to watch the results. I doubt there was any bar in NYC last night that was not electric. In my lifetime I have never been inspired at all nor moved to tears by any political speech, but even McCain's speech was incredible! I really respect him for uniting people with his words. I can only hope they were as inspiring to his own supporters who were not so ecstatic in that moment. But the best moments of last night were in the middle of Times Square...as we joined the rest of the joyful crowds in screams of glory, relief, and general exultation. I could NOT leave this area!! I hugged anyone who would let me...I gave high fives to anyone sticking hands out of their cars as they beeped through the crowded intersection. I took in every smile on every face...I danced with people in the middle of the street. I knew I should head home, but could not tear myself away! I must have been there for 45 minutes or an hour...just eating up this historic moment in every way imaginable. It was bliss! And so worth losing a bit of my voice over. Hallelujah!!!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

This is bliss!






I don't know if I have ever been as happy as I was last night...and today! I spent yesterday canvasing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to help crucial voters get their votes out! Unlike the canvasing trip I took 4 years ago for the last election, this one was incredibly well organized and we had a terrific day. More importantly we weren't just supporting the "Not Bush" Vote, we were there to support an incredible candidate who is what this country NEEDS right now as well as not being Bush! Luckily there were only a few nasties on our journey. Mainly everyone was AWESOME! It felt SO incredible to connect, face-to-face with people who believe in unity, progress, and possibility. People who push aside their fears in order to embrace change. After canvasing as many homes as we could we got out our cellphones and made calls to those who weren't able to be reached earlier in the day. The campaign workers for that neighborhood were excellent and so accommodating! We finished our time in PA in Obama's Headquarters in Bethlehem. It was so exciting to be in a real campaign office on election night! Everyone crowded around the television, though it would be a few hours before we would learn anything on it. Then it was back on the buses back to NYC. Updates were shared via blackberry and internet on phones and cheers filled the bus. Then we all congregated at The Irish Rogue in midtown to watch the results. I doubt there was any bar in NYC last night that was not electric. In my lifetime I have never been inspired at all nor moved to tears by any political speech, but even McCain's speech was incredible! I really respect him for uniting people with his words. I can only hope they were as inspiring to his own supporters who were not so ecstatic in that moment. But the best moments of last night were in the middle of Times Square...as we joined the rest of the joyful crowds in screams of glory, relief, and general exultation. I could NOT leave this area!! I hugged anyone who would let me...I gave high fives to anyone sticking hands out of their cars as they beeped through the crowded intersection. I took in every smile on every face...I danced with people in the middle of the street. I knew I should head home, but could not tear myself away! I must have been there for 45 minutes or an hour...just eating up this historic moment in every way imaginable. It was bliss! And so worth losing a bit of my voice over. Hallelujah!!!

Friday, October 24, 2008

"Create Your Own Reality" Videogames?

So it's no secret that the brain is a magnificent masterpiece. What is even more magnificent is the way we are learning to understand and control it. Tim Jarvis wrote a delicious article in November's issue of O Magazine which examines how our understanding of the brain is already affecting the way we shop and is likely to help us determine the best potential romantic partners in the future. It delves into the potential to possibly determine whether a 7-year old will one day become a criminal and the ethics of how this might affect our justice system. For me, the most intriguing part of this article was a small additional section called "The Neurocaster" where other predictions were made about how brain science may change the way we live.

Here is my absolute favorite:

Neuroentertainment

"Current technologies (such as video games) will merge with future ones (such as those involving neural feedback), so gamers might wear EEG-type caps that read their brainwaves and pick up their emotions. Conceivably, story lines would move forward in real time, the plot changing based on each person's responses, says Zack Lynch, managing director of NeuroInsights, a market research and investment advisory firm."


Sound anything like the Law of Attraction to you? It is no secret that our thoughts create reality, and more and more people are beginning to understand this. I got chills when I read this. It was like I read myself inside out or something. Isn't this what I am learning to do right now?? Isn't this really how our "reality" actually already is? The technological wizards are creating software and computers to function as reality already does, only most people are rarely aware of it! People already play Second Life on the internet where they live as total other beings with different names, genders, and lifestyles. They interact with other such "beings" inside this new world involved in relationships and careers. One day this may be integrated with the technology to interact with what you focus on. That day isn't so far away as this article written by Mike Steer (CNN in London, England) expains,

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/08/Futureofgaming/index.html

This technology already picks up over 30 different expressions, emotions, and actions! Jarvis says,

"If we can interpret basic control thoughts now, it isn't far off where we'll be able to interpret more complex thoughts, even potentially things you're not consciously thinking of. If we can now do it in a non-invasive fashion, it probably won't be long before we can read these things from across the room."

Is this the next step in our souls' evolution?

It is no secret that mindful awareness enhances the results of exercise, healing, and learning. And we know that people can literally change the composition of their physical brain through meditation. Our minds are entirely more powerful than we ever want to give them credit for. I am all for popping on a headset and playing with this type of technology, but this is all the more reason to hone my skills as a Visionary Fairy RIGHT NOW in this "reality" and let the games begin!

Monday, October 13, 2008

The Falling Leaves...


Well I have just returned from a beautiful weekend in Boston where I saw two beautiful souls get married. It was truly one of the most amazing ceremonies I have ever had the privelige of experiencing. My roommates and I took the chinatown bus from NYC to Boston since we travel in style. It actually wasn't all that bad since we all had our own seats and when I opened my eyes every now and again I had gorgeous leaves to look at out the window! It's a perfect time to get out there and see them! There's still plenty of green surrounding the delcious reds, golds and purples. It is incredible how beautiful leaves get at the end of their lives. I find it only slightly unfortunate that we humans get all wrinkly and start to deteriorate physically as we age. Perhaps this is all the more justification for how much more important it is to continue to nurture our souls as their beauty is what truly has the potential to get more splendid with every passing year.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Paper of Value

I am loving that this artist is passing out $0 Dollar Bills! Where can I get one? They may as well mean what our regular bills mean, since it's all just paper anyway...

http://www.designrelated.com/inspiration/view/Karen/entry/2668

Short Story Long...

Well hello and welcome to "A Lil' Somethin' Somethin'". This is a blog inspired by my friend Rachel's "A Little Each Day" who inspired Dennis' "A Little Crazy Everyday" as well as many more. I wrangled with a title for this blog and aside from everything I wanted already having been selected, I was a little unsure as to whether or not I would be able to actually stick with "a little" each day, as I tend to be rather long-winded. Nor did I want to be brutally honest about my need to expound by calling it what it might often end up being since no one would want to read it. Plus, who the hell knows what this'll be? I'm just going to wait and see...right along with you, and at the very least I'll give you.....a lil' somethin' somethin'. (pronounced somewhat like "sumpin' sumpin'").

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Bohemian Steel Gardens

So I live at the Astoria Blvd stop on the N/W in Queens. This means that you give a lot of directions...to the bus to LaGuardia, and to the Beer Garden. Non-residents of Astoria only venture to this stop in Queens to get the hell out of here or to get down with some beer. It's something I have gotten used to, and much like that warm-fuzzy feeling of being recognized as a "New Yorker" by a tourist asking for directions,it makes me feel good to help whenever I can. The other night as I made a late-night treck to the corner store for something sweet, I found a girl, a little hooched up, frantically arguing with someone on her cell phone. "

Drunk Hooched-out Girl: "Umm...excuse me, do you know where the Bohemian Steel Gardens are? (extremely confused look on her face)

Me: "Oh...yes...you mean the Bohemian BEER Garden." (holding back hysterical laughing)

Drunk Hooched-out Girl: "Umm...yeah, the Bohemian Steel Garden...is that around here?"

Me: "Yes, I can show you where it is, follow me...but it's called The BEER Garden. It's just down this side of the street past the intersection, be careful these 8 lanes of traffic are kind of dangerous to cross, once you get past them and get on the next corner or so, ask someone "Where is the BEER Garden" and someone will point you right at it. Now just careful at this intersec--

Drunk Hooched-out Girl: ----I can't believe it, you know, I asked TWO cab drivers where the Bohemian Steel Gardens were and neither of them had any idea what I was talking about!"

Me: "Well, that's probably because it's called the BEER Garden, not the STEEL Garden."

Drunk Hooched-out Girl: "It's called the BEER Garden?"

Me: "yes, yes it is."

Drunk Hooched-out Girl: slightly giggling and looking back at me while walking out into 8 lanes of traffic as their light turns green "Oh...thanks!"

I sort of hope she made it there.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Human BEings

I love words. I love weird words, normal words, words that no one uses anymore. My friends know this about me and have been amused at how much fun I have reading a thesaurus. One good friend even gave me a book of bizarre words for one of my birthdays. I love the idea that all words are simply a series of sounds someone made up and applied meaning to put together to define something else that we are essentially applying meaning to. I love that we have so many words for the same objects or ideas, but some really define a situation much better than others. Some people feel that words limit our interpretation of everything around us, yet without them it would take a lot longer to understand it all.

One phrase that has been blowing me away recently is the word that defines what type of creatures we are. We are human beings. I am a human being. We don't say this is my "cat being". We don't refer to bears as "bear beings". They are simply cats and bears. At what point did someone or some everything define us as not only human, but human beings. There can be no doubt whatsoever as to what that means either. We are constantly being. No
matter how much we dwell in the past or worry about the future, we are always in a state of being. It is the absolute best possible way to describe us! This only hit me a few months ago, and it hit me so hard. How long have I been a human being, and known myself as such, and never thought about what that meant? I have been learning so much
about living in the moment and aligning my energy and thoughts with everything that makes me most happy for a few years now, and still...the simplicity of that term and what it referred to never revealed itself. How many other people never think about what it means to be a human...being? All too often I am just a human-thinking-WAY-too-much! I sort of believe that it is limiting not to refer to other creatures as "creature-beings" as well, since they too, are being. I suppose that comes from the superior mindset of man that animals aren't aware of the fact that they are also being, while we are. I don't know that I believe that. All I do know is that this phrase completely reveals a connection between the incredible power of this universe and us as beings in it. Who knows who made the phrase up or if they meant it to be taken so literally, but I'd like to think they did. This is a phrase that I find so precious! If people really think about it, they may remember what's most important.

It's so easy to get caught up in memories of the past or plans for the future but it helps to remember that all we really ever have is this instant and we need to just let it BE. Let ourselves BE. Just BE!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

My "Waking Life"

Why do I keep having recurring nightmarish type dreams where I am still in school and I suddenly remember that I have not attended a certain class all semester and I am terrified it will keep me from graduating? It is generally a science class. I had a break from those dreams until recently, I think. Do you ever dream something that you have previously knowledge of within the dream? It isn't that you are aware that you are dreaming, it's as if it is an actual life which you have actual memories from, but when you wake up you can't tell if you actually did live those moments in prior dreams or if everything, including the remembering of past experiences was encapsulated in that one dream you just woke from. Well I can't be sure if that was a continuation of prior dream experiences or not, but in this dream I realized once again that it was Thursday...and I think I have a science class sometime today, but I can't be sure because I haven't remembered to attend it all semester. What time is that class? Do I even know where it is? And oh, shit...didn't I figure out the last time I did this, that our final was coming up and I was completely unprepared. Even if my professor would overlook the fact that I never came to class all semester, how was I going to pass this exam? I had never even brought my book home! I thought I certainly shouldn't go to class today, because the final was taking place and I had no chance of passing. So I should skip another class, and then find my professor and BEG him to let me take it late. I knew I was going to have to get the book from my locker (yes, I was using a locker in college for some reason) and go home and CRAM everything in my brain temporarily. It would be horrible to not get my degree based on one stupid science academic credit. This was a very common worry when I actually was in school because our school wasn't particularly known for exceptional academic course outside of specific majors. Mine was musical theatre so most of my classmates just had to get our asses to these classes enough to pass them. I often have had these dreams of anxiety that I was not going to get my degree because I had forgotten to attend some class all semester and suddenly I was terrified I would have to stay there longer in order to finish it. I mean, ultimately that is the worst thing that could happen I suppose..I would just have to take that course in the summer or something. I don't know why it brings me so much anxiety. I suppose it is mainly the fear that I would have to tell my mom that I can't graduate yet because I never went to one of my classes. I have always hated the thought of letting her down. Not that she is particularly hard on me, actually she really isn't...but I still hate to let her down...or myself down. That is my worst fear I suppose, that I might let myself and those who care about me down. But ultimately these dreams are so ridiculous because I wake up still feeling nervous about it all and have to keep reminding myself that I have nothing to worry about...I have already graduated! I have a degree (all-be-it a pretty useless one). I had a little break from these dreams until recently. I guess I feel I have been letting myself down somehow? Well writing about this dream just gave me better insight to it than I had before, so that's good. Sometimes just being aware of where it is coming from might help unearth ways to remedy that anxiety. Usually I just feel so ridiculous for these dreams once I remember that I already have achieved what the dream made me so nervous about and there is no good use for this negative energy. If I am holding these anxieties that I am letting myself down, I imagine they are pretty unwarranted and ridiculous as well. If they too serve no purpose why do I hold onto them? I have a great deal to feel good about yet I am entirely too hard on myself. I wouldn't allow someone else to be this hard on me, so why do I put up with it? Well it's about time to stop. If these dreams that feel so genuinely real are completely false scenarios I am fabricating in my mind then the "dream" I am living while awake may present just as many untruths that are as ridiculous to believe as those in my sleeping life. This is what I have been a little obsessed with lately, revealing certain "truths" I have held about myself that no longer serve me and adopting new ones that do. Anyone care to join me?