Are You Achin' for Some Bacon?

If only every Saturday morning began with a breakfast of pancakes like these!

Check out the pictures on this guy's Pancake Blog.

Also, this made me laugh out loud, and I needed to share...

Movie Ratings

Movies I saw last week:

Prince of Persia
Story: Entertaining
Characters: Inconsistent, but funny
Humor: Cheesy
Jake Gyllenhaal: Attractive
Overall: B+



The Glass Bottom Boat
Clothing: Hilarious
Male Attitudes: No, Thank You
Futuristic Appliances: Scary
Animals: Cute
Overall: A-



The Postman Always Rings Twice
Moral: Murder is Bad
Cat: Dead as a Doornail
Acting: Dramatic
Story: Predictable
Overall: B-



The Thin Man
Marital Relationship: Enviable
Clothing: Fabulous(ly entertaining)
Humor: Witty
Characters: Strong
Overall: A

A Saturday in the Park

Here's what we saw in Central Park this weekend!

Dead

We saw this man, well we saw this group of police officers first, then we saw this man--face first on the ground. The officers surrounded him on all sides. He was wrapped up. All we could see were his feet, and that's how we knew he was face down--his toes pointed to the ground. He was missing one of his shoes. The were brown boat shoes. Well, shoe, I suppose.

He was arrested for something, and must have really fought back at the cops. That's why they wrapped him up in that thing. Or at least, that's what I thought.

But when we told Rob, he said the officers wouldn't wrap him up like that to arrest him.

He had to be dead.

We saw a dead man in the subway.

That's not supposed to really happen.

In the Heights

I went to my first Broadway play!!!!

AMAZING!

We had dinner at Stardust--a diner where the waiters stand on tables and sing while they serve you. We thought it would get us into the mood before our play.

The atmosphere was cool and all, but the food was WAY overpriced.

Yay! Look! The sign! With lights around it!

It was "against the law" to take pictures in the theater AT ALL. But everyone was doing it.

So I did too.

Uh, did I say AMAZING!

Corbin Bleu was the lead.

That's not what made it amazing, but it was pretty cool to see him too.

A-MAZING.

Award Winning

This week I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting with two highly achieved women in my industry.

We sat. We ate. And we talked.

Allison Argo is the founder of Argo Films--a six-time Emmy award-winning film company. As a documentarian, she has produced, written, edited, and narrated over a dozen highly-recognized films. She works hand-in-hand with PBS and National Geographic in creating her documentaries.

Kimber Holt Crandall finished her college education in broadcasting in less than two years. By the age of 19 she worked as an anchor in Idaho--this was after working for stations in New York, Washington D.C., and Park City. She is a two-time Emmy award winner for her work as a reporter, and she currently works for News 12, a cable news network in New York. By the way, she's not yet 25-years-old.

Both spoke of their histories, their careers, and their advice. And they showed me their work.

It's been a very interesting week for me as I have looked to what my future holds and the goals I hope to achieve.

Yet, in spite of my internal freaking out right now that I don't know what's going on with my life, I did figure out one thing: in spite of the accolades, I do not envy these women.

Allison has no family and Kimber has no life.

Several of my peers visited Kimber with me. The other girls left Kimber's apartment with a feeling of renewed hope and strength for their futures. They discussed how if Kimber can be home for only six hours a day and see her husband for only one, then they can do it too. They continued with a comparison of how little they saw their fathers while growing up, and how it didn't really make that much of a differences, and it can obviously be done.

I can't do that.

I want a future of happiness.

Am I in the wrong career?...

Across Country

Being in a new place, surrounded by new people, and having exciting new adventures has been amazing. But it's always nice to hear from home.

My mom has been so good at writing me emails, sending me pages and pages of letters, and shipping new contacts with solution and a nice bed cover across country. For as much as I love what I'm doing here, there's no place like home.

I've loved getting all sorts of other stuff in the mail as well.

Everything from books to this amazing box of truffles!

It's so nice to know you're loved--even if there are thousands of miles between us.

Thanks.

Apollo Theater

We went to amateur night. It was AWESOME! I heard MJ and his brothers started out at Apollo Theater once upon a time, and many other great artists as well.

The performances were amazing. AND we had a dance party in the isles during intermission!

(Although I think the black women on the other row were getting a kick out of our massive group of white dancers...)

Here's a bit of the gang hobnobbing with peoples and performers after the show.

SO. GOOD.

Unihemispheric Sleep

Define: Unihemispheric Sleep

Uni = numero uno

hemispheric = a half of a sphere (like that of the brain)

Okay, prepare yourself. Lately I've been learning about this really cool thing called Unihemispheric Sleep. I heard about it on a radio show. I know, just keep reading.

Dolphins are mammals, right? Therefore they need to breath above water. And not only do they need to breath, but they are conscious breathers, meaning they need to tell themselves to take a breath every time they jump out of the water. Crazy, right? That's not even the best part. In spite of their habitat being a great body of water and the fact that they need to remind themselves to gasp for air, they sleep. In fact, they sleep a full 8 hours every day. How? you might ask. I did. And the answer--unihemispheric sleep.

Do you remember that day last weekend that I went to Pinkberry? Well, over said frozen yogurt I told my lovely friends all about this new discovery; however, I dare say, I don't believe they were much impressed. So, unlike them, you have the freedom to pass up this post...but if I've managed to pique your interest, please stay tuned.

Ducks often sleep in rows of four with the outer two birds keeping one eye open for watch. If you wait around long enough, you'll see those two end birds get up and make a 180 degree turn before hunkering down in their guard-like positions again.

This is because the side of their brain connected to that one eye is alert and on watch; however, the other side is sleeping! They rotate to give the other side of their brain a chance to sleep as well.

You can see from these wave patterns that dolphins' brains do the same thing! When they sleep, dolphins go into a state animal experts call "logging." It's where they float along the surface like a log. Because this takes some attention on the part of the animal, not to mention the attention required for breathing, the dolphins must stay awake even in this relaxed state--but not all of them needs to stay awake. They rest half their brain at a time.

Some believe we humans used to be capable of this as well, but one day discovered houses with locks that kept us safe--so we didn't need to worry about protecting ourselves with one eye open.

At this point, "experts" have observed Unihemispheric sleep in birds and aquatic mammals (like those discussed above)...and possibly some reptiles, they're not exactly sure.

But half a brain a whole a brain,

everyone needs sleep.

Here's what happens when we don't get enough:

But surprisingly, in spite of the fact that we ALL sleep, doctors don't understand the necessity or process of sleep very well. Yes, we know the stages, but beyond that--little to none. Dreams? Why are brain is more active while we're asleep then awake? Why rats die after only a few weeks without it? How come our entire body is dependent on it?

No answers.

Well, I hope that didn't put you to sleep.

Like I said, I think it's fascinating!

I just wish we had more answers.

But in the meantime, I think up more questions.

Sweet dreams!

Transvestite Recommended

We decided to take the epic trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands this weekend.

Walking into Battery Park was like a breath of fresh air from the grimy city (fresh off the dirty Hudson, mind you).

We waited in the hour line to get tickets.

And then...we saw this.........

Do you see the density of that line right there? Picture that--wrapping all the way around Battery Park. Because that's what we saw too. There was about a five hour wait for those with tickets before they could get on the ferry.

So we did this instead! Free Staten Island ferry, here we come!

On the way to the island.

We travelled across seas on "The Spirit of America"!

You should have seen his hair when we got off...

When we got on the island we really didn't even know what was available, so we decided to ask some missionaries we saw! They told us to go to the Staten Island Museum.

So we did--for only a $1!

A hundred year old pickled frog! They had all sorts of animals and fish stuffed and in bottles. SO wouldn't be ethical today, but super creepy to see hundred year old mice floating in jars.

Caption reads: "Tusk from wild boar which I shot in Louisiana swamps, but not until he had killed my dog."

The captions on all of the artwork were hilarious!

Ben.

Jade.

Ben said: "This room rocks!"

After the museum we decided to find some lunch. I stuck my head in a little grocery store and made the comment, "I wonder if prices are cheaper here." The kind transvestite sitting on the ground smoking a cigar next to us decided to help us out.

"There ain't nothing in there. What are you looking for?"

"Oh, we're just trying to find some lunch."

"You guys better be careful--this neighborhood is real sketch after 9pm when you're alone."

(Ironically we had just been talking about how nice and safe this area felt compared to the city.)

"Oh? Thanks for the advice."

"Yeah. I got raped once. And that corner over there is where I almost got murdered."

"We'll try to be careful."

"Do you see the bars on these windows, they really lock up at night. But if you're looking for a place to eat, you should eat over in that deli there. It's probably the best place around. But be careful--that's where the mafia eat."

So, we had lunch where the mafia eat, because it came transvestite recommended.

And it was very good.

The whole city.

9/11 memorial for Staten Islanders that died.

A kiss mark left on the memorial of this fireman.

Very sad.

"I can see it!"

Lady Lib.

Background

So... if you haven't noticed, my background disappeared. I was "trying something" and poof! gone!

Quiz of the day:

A. Try to find my old background again.

B. Try to find a new background.

C. Leave it white like this.

You have 1.29 minutes.

Go!

That Thang You Do

Thank goodness today was Friday! For some reason this week has gone by so incredibly slowly, and today at work I was just dying! The sun was shining outside, and I was stuck in the office falling asleep at my computer. Finally I convinced my coworker to give me "permission" to leave early (mind you, I said my coworker, not my boss). He did. So, I did.

Here's the scoop for the day:

1. Most of my time at work today went to logging (transcribing/describing) footage for an episode of Border Wars on this group of illegal immigrants that tried to cross from Mexico to America but got caught in this river and drowned. It was horrible! You know those parts of television shows that are blurred out or even cut out completely because they're not appropriate for the general pubic? Well, someone's got to do the cutting...
Such horrible scenes probably contributed to my wanting to leave work early.
But I also got to transcribe the discussions in an anger management meeting with some of the inmates inside the Denver County Jail. ...very interesting.

2. I went salsa dancing! Let's just say, some young men like dancing very close...and some old men do too! Also interesting.

3. Went to a Gray's Papaya (famous for their hotdogs) and got a hotdog!

4. Went to Shake Shack (famous for their shakes) and got a custard sunday!



After a very long day, here was one of my favorite parts:

I had a very difficult time deciding what to get at the Shake Shack. I'm a very habitual person by nature, you see, and I always get oreos and chocolate sauce. But they didn't have oreos. So, I decided to ask the kind-looking man at the cash register. We'll call him Shawn. He leaned over the register and had a very in-depth discussion helping me decide what I wanted. In the end, Shawn smiled and said that we was going to make my sunday himself.
In spite of the crazy lines in this famous shack, he did in fact run over and make it himself! He gave me a larger size than I had ordered, added a few extra topping, and handed it over with another very gracious smile.

The Winter's Tale is by Shakespeare

Do you ever wonder why people are so different? I mean, more than just outward appearances--the way we taste food, what makes us happy, what affects us emotionally. We all experience life as individuals, separate individual beings.

I saw this woman on the train today reading a really trashy novel. And my thought was: "What a really trashy novel...Well, at least she's reading."

Although I will always believe reading has great value, I did catch myself after such a critical thought. I started to wonder if all of my likes, dislikes, judgements and priorities were ever "right" or just "different." Of course, truth is truth, and I wouldn't "believe" in somethings, like religion, if I didn't in this.

However, spaghetti doesn't really taste all that bad--even though I swore this was a truth all my life, so obviously opinions change and we grow up.

But does this change the very things that make us who we are? Why do we have a central core that creates uniqueness?

I have so many journal entries from my 15 year old self asking where I "fit in," where my niche exists in this big world. But I don't know if that's what I should be doing, if those are the questions I should ask.

I think we're just supposed to find what makes us happy, endure what makes us sad, and learn from everything else.

Here are some things that define me and make me happy:

**start 1:00 into the video**

In the Kitchen

Here is the kitchen at work that has chandeliers, bagels and coffee.

Here is the man I saw in the kitchen.

Here is the same man I saw again outside our building.

Next time I might just say "hi" to Mr. Reeves.

Senior Dance Showcase

We went to the Juilliard Senior Dance Showcase!!!!

I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. dance.

We had to wait in a SUPER long stand-by line for about 2 hours.

But by the time they let us in, the line reached all the way down the block!

Good thing we showed up so early!!!

ps. see that man reading the newspaper? well, this other guy tried to cut in line by us and he really did a number with that one.

I swear, for a good 30 minutes before we got in Newspaper Man repeated, "Sir, the back of the line is that way."

To which Russian Man responding, "I am not looking for back of line, I am looking for front of line."

"Sir, the back of the line is that way."

"I did not ask to talk to you. You don't talk to me."

"Sir..."

(Russian swear words.)

....30 minutes later...

"Sir..."

You can't really see the stage, but I promise it was there! We weren't allowed to take flash pictures...actually, we weren't allowed to take pictures at all. That's why I wasn't able to capture a shot of the male dancer who removed his clothes on stage!

Jam-packed!

After filtering through over a hundred pictures to show you all of my adventures for even one day, I'm getting behind! Here's what I did on Saturday:

See posts:

The Flea Market

The Chelsea Market

The Highline

City Sights

Juilliard

The Flea Market

Started the day off fairly early to hit up the Chelsea Flea Market.

Two floors of junk and the people who own it!

One of my favorite things were the boxes of old photographs.

I can't help be imagine the stories of their lives.

Seriously?! Did they steal these from someone's old photo album???

"If you ladies are really interested in buying that, I could bring down the price."

OH. MY. GOODNESS. $850?!

No thank you, lady.

Blast from the past!

5" plastic platform shoes and a hat full of strange black flakes.

(Sorry for asking you to model it, Kylee!)

I LOVE old things.

Looking through this newspaper from the 70s had the same effect as looking through the old pictures. The ads, articles, and op-eds tell so much about the people writing and reading the paper, and yet not enough to satisfy my curiosity.

An old Polaroid camera.

After playing with it, I couldn't get the front to close up again...oops.

Funny thing is, you can't even tell if you've broken something at a flea market!

This is the beginnings of 3D.

Little did they know what we would come up with.

In the end, I didn't buy anything, but a woman did let me have the coolest postcard ever for free! We met so many cool people like the man from West Africa selling tribal masks, the woman with the claw coming out of her shirt, and the men bartering their cheap jewelry back and forth between booths (probably been passing that necklace back and forth at different prices for years.