birds in EWR

those of you that know about my intense fear of birds will appreciate this....

i'm sitting in newark airport waiting for my flight to scotland. all of a sudden a bird flies out of no where and nearly lands on me. i jump up with a slight shriek. not a scream. the concourse is super crowded. people are staring.

but what in the world is a bird doing in the airport?? this isn't 30th street station where pigeons live. only in new york...

sushi extravaganza

The picture above is the best sushi meal I have ever eaten. Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water. The delectable meal was the chef's special; each fish was chosen by the chef from the best they had available. It was a sushi surprise.

Each piece of fish felt like it turned to cream in your mouth. No piece tasted too fishy. Each was uniquely different from the next. Even the ginger tasted amazing. And the sake was smooth, warm, and a delicious complement to the meal.

The best part of the dinner was that I was able to enjoy it with (and courtesy of) a good friend. So thanks to Allison (and Blue Ribbon Sushi) for an amazing sushi dinner.

Di Fara Pizza

I had the best pizza I've ever tasted in my life today. I've always known that New York has some of the best pizza in the country, but I now believe that I have found the Holy Grail of Pizza. It's located in a Russian Orthodox Jewish section of Midwood Brooklyn. The place is owned and run by a guy named Dom DeMarco. He is the only person who makes the pizzas. He hand makes each one with fresh tomato sauce, high-quality regular mozzarella, fresh buffalo mozzarella that he imports from Italy, and a dusting of sharp, slightly nutty-tasting grana padana. This is topped off with a drizzling of olive oil.

The small restaurant was packed with people clamoring for a pizza and a seat. After waiting for our pizza for nearly an hour, we ate the first slices of our pizza standing up. It didn't matter, though. That pizza was worth every minute we waited for it. It sounds strange to describe pizza as mouth-watering, but this pizza melted in your mouth. It was glorious.

"Christ"mas Spectacular?

I went to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular last night. It's full of Santa, holiday songs, lights, dancing, and even 3-d images (with 3-d glasses). The show itself is a fun production to watch, but is it really a Christmas Spectacular? It depends on what you consider Christmas to be. If Christmas is about Santa and presents and snow, then the Christmas Spectacular represents the holiday quite well. If Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, then the Christmas Spectacular only gets it half right.

After all of the Rockettes, Santa, and holiday cheer, the stage gets dark, the music becomes somber and the cast portrays a living nativity scene. Initially, I was surprised to hear words from Isaiah and from the Gospels describing the birth of Jesus. Maybe they haven't forgotten the real meaning of Christmas after all! During the living nativity, the narration read is as follows:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher. Whenever had a family or owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never wrote a book or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends deserted Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had-His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave. Nineteen centuries have come an gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of a man upon this earth as powerfully as this "One Solitary Life."

After listening to this narration, I couldn't help but think how depressing of a picture it paints. The man described in the paragraph became famous despite his humble upbringing. He influenced many even though he never traveled the world. He had fame and influence even though he had no possessions. And when he died, he was placed in a grave. But the paragraph aboves misses out on the reason this "man" had and continues to have such a powerful influence in human lives. If the story ends after Jesus died on the cross, there is no hope. Why would people continue to have such belief, why would we continue to celebrate his birth at Christmas and his death on Good Friday if there wasn't something more?

When the show was over, I turned to my roommate and said, "It does a pretty good job of telling the message of Christmas, but it didn't represent the message of Easter at all." The narration is missing the essential story that yes, Jesus died, but he also rose again. He conquered death because he is God. He was a sacrifice for all of our sins.

The PC-Living Nativity narration left out any mention of Jesus being God. In our society, Jesus can be a preacher, a teacher, and influential, but certainly not God. We can say Jesus' name in the presentation, but saying Jesus is God? Certainly that is crossing the line. The final song in the show is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. However, the last (and in my opinion, best) verse of the hymn is left out:

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

I love Christmas time. I like the carols and the music and the cookies and the shopping and the tree and the lights and even the Christmas Spectacular. It usually isn't too hard for me to "Remember the reason for the season". Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. I think what is harder for me to remember is why the birth of Jesus is important. Ultimately, that is the reason to celebrate. Celebrating Christmas is really a prelude to the celebration of Easter.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

a few learnings...

1. there are actual HD channels. if NBC is broadcasting a football game in HD, it isn't HD unless you turn it to the HD NBC channel. there are all sorts of HD channels in the 700s.

2. HD quality is unbelievably better than normal tv.

3. HD is even better when the Broncos are winning in HD.

4. panini sandwiches are no good if they're not hot.

5. heating cold paninis on the subway is not an ideal way to eat dinner.

6. typing in a cab is more difficult than it may sound.

7. little flashlights on your key chain can come in handy when you least expect it.

8. you can't get anywhere in NYC in 5 minutes, even if you think you can.

when the freaks come out to play...

Here are a few of my observations from last night. I went to the Halloween Parade in the Village.

1. Increasingly more each year, Halloween has become an excuse for women to dress in slutty outfits.

2. You see a whole new side of people when you see what they dress as for Halloween.

3. There are some crazy (and downright frightening) people that live in this city.

4. Sometimes it is hard to tell if people are dressed up, or if that's just what they normally wear.

5. New York City is not a good place to live if you're xenophobic. I'm not xenophobic, but I do feel chlostrophobic during these parades when there are people touching you on all sides and you can't move left or right in a crowd of people.

6. When in one of the aforementioned crowds, it's disturbing to see men in scary costumes growling at you.

7. I saw some people on the subway that had contacts that made their eyes look completely red. Now that's what I call scary.

Below is a group of my coworkers at our annual Halloween party last Thursday.

New York Botanical Gardens

I trekked up to the Bronx to see the New York Botanical Gardens today. They're just lovely--I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (The sculptures are glass and crystal by Chihuly.)

Altar Boyz

I saw this off-broadway show tonight. It was soooooo funny. It's about a Christian boy band. Here are some quotes from it:

"Jesus called me on my cell phone...your roaming charges will incur."

"We are the Altar Boyz and we think you'll find we're gonna alter your mind."

"It doesn't matter if you have a gigantic nose, if you're born with 11 toes, everybody fits in God's great family. It doesn't matter if you're pregnant and you're unwed because the truth can set you free. Welcome to the family."

Listen to the music and check out the website in the link. It's sooooo funny.

4th Ave?

Have you ever wondered why there is no Fourth Avenue in Manhattan? I have. Here is the answer.

"Park Avenue (formerly Fourth Avenue) is a wide boulevard that carries traffic north and south in Manhattan. The road that becomes Park Avenue originates as the Bowery. From 8th Street to 14th Street, it is known as Fourth Avenue. Above 14th Street, it becomes a north-south thoroughfare. From 14th Street to 17th Street, it forms the eastern boundary of Union Square and is known as Union Square East, its southbound lanes merge with Broadway for this distance. From 17th Street to 32nd Street, it is known as Park Avenue South, and for the remainder of its distance, it is known as Park Avenue.

Park Avenue was originally known as Fourth Avenue and carried the tracks of the New York and Harlem Railroad starting in the 1830s. The railroad originally built an open cut through Murray Hill, which was covered with grates and grass between 34th and 40th Streets in the early 1850s. A section of this "park" was renamed Park Avenue in 1860. In 1867, the name applied all the way to 42nd Street. When Grand Central Depot was opened in the 1870s, the railroad tracks between 56th and 96th Streets were sunk out of sight, and in 1888, Park Avenue was extended to the Harlem River. In 1959, the City Council changed the name of Fourth Avenue between 17th and 32nd Streets to Park Avenue South.

a local?

I was in a Manhattan tourist shop this afternoon buying a t-shirt with the above "I heart NY" graphic. I needed to buy the shirt to decorate "the Jo Doll" (wooden doll that my friends from high school decorate and send around." The shirt was cheap--only $4. When I got to the checkout, the owner of the store said to me, "You're not a tourist. You live here in New York, right?" I told him that I did live in New York. He said, "I can tell. I've lived here all my life and I know who lives here and who doesn't. You live in Brooklyn, right?" I was really surprised and told him that I do indeed live in Brooklyn. Weird.

Cab drivers and their cell phones

I was in a cab a few days ago on my way home from work when it struck me--why are cab drivers ALWAYS talking on their phones? Who do they talk to all the time? I take cabs quite often (twice a week when I was commuting from Houston and the past few days I've taken one home from the office every day) and the cab driver is always talking on the phone (in some foreign language) for the entire cab ride back to Brooklyn. It doesn't matter what time it is--11 am, 2 am, 4 pm, they're always on the phone. Do they talk to other cab drivers? Do they talk to their friends and family? Do they have enough friends and family to constantly be on the phone with? I'm perplexed.

Weird New York

Two weird things...

1. I walked into a Starbucks on the Upper East Side on Sunday morning around 9:45 AM. Normal things to see in a Starbucks at that time: people drinking coffee, reading the NY Times, lounging around, etc.

What I saw in the Starbucks: a woman sitting at a table with a watermelon cut in half. (I'm talking about a whole half of a watermelon.) And she's sitting there with a spoon and is just having at it, digging away and eating the watermelon. I mean, why would you do that? How did she get it cut? Did she bring a knife? I have so many questions about that. Oh yeah, she also had a Starbucks latte. Weird.

2. I realize that this picture is odd with some random woman and her baby. The key to this picture is to look at the size of the umbrella. It was raining this morning. New York City is a nightmare when it rains because everyone has umbrella wars. Dodging umbrellas can be tricky. But, I saw a woman this morning with an umbrella the same size as that in the picture above. Seriously? The umbrella was the size of Manhattan! What was she thinking?

Take me out to the ball game...

I went to the Yankees game last night with Liz. We had great seats, courtesy of Mercer's season tickets. There's nothing more American than going to a baseball game, eating a footlong hotdog, cheese fries, and a coke, singing the National Anthem, God Bless America, and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. It was fun...too bad the Yankees lost.

enjoying "the beach"

You know it's time to leave work when...

1. You wait with fingers crossed for the CNN website to refresh hoping that there will be a new story you can read.

2. You saunter to the break room every 15 minutes to refill your water bottle.

3. You drink all the water in your water bottle every 15 minutes so you have excuses to get up and go to the break room to refill it.

4. You spend 30 minutes trying to figure out the best way to construct a basketball hoop out of paperclips, tape, and an empty folder.

5. You play with your newly constructed basketball hoop for 30 minutes.

6. You wander the office all day trying to find three other people for a game of foosball.

7. You spend time writing a blog entry about all of the ways that you can waste time at work.

It's HOT

Today is the fourth day in a row of extremely hot weather in New York City. I'm talking 100 degrees and 105 with the heat index. The heat is unbearable when you must take the subway (aka. The microwave) to work in the morning and have to walk around everywhere. Let's just say I'm perpetually sweating. So with that...here are Letterman's Top Ten Answers to the Question, "How Hot Is It in New York"

10. It's so hot the Statue of Liberty is holding a slurpee

9. It so hot mob informants look forward to getting dumped in the river

8. It's so hot, Regis is hosting a new show called "America's Got Heat Stroke."

7. It's so hot disoriented cab drivers are obeying traffic laws

6. It's so hot the cops are randomly searching bags for Gatorade

5. It's so hot Osama Bin Lade was spotted in front of the air conditioners at PC Richard

4. It's so hot Trump's new catchphrase is, "You're sweating!"

3. It's so hot kids are using asphalt instead of play-doh

2. It's so hot delivery guys are riding camels

1. It's so hot a disoriented Bill Clinton has been hitting on Hillary

Management Consultant

No one understands my job. No one can comprehend what I do. Every time someone asks me "What do you do?" and I tell them what my job is, the most common response is a bewildered, "Huh? So what do you do?" Instead of trying to explain what I really do (which never works...people are more confused after my explanation), I have decided to come up with a new answer to the question. My "new" possible careers are as follows:

• Blacksmith
• Shepherd
• Leech farmer
• Ostrich babysitter
• Furniture tester
• Chimney sweeper

Please let me know which option you like the best.

nuts 4 nuts

you know those nut vendors on the sidewalks of new york city? the stands that always smell so good as you're walking by? well, i love them. i'm nuts 4 nuts as the packaging of the nuts says. everytime i walk by one, i have to buy some. and they're everywhere. on every corner. these nuts are probably terrible for me. i'm pretty sure they're coated in pure sugar. but they're so good. i especially like the almonds. at $2 a packet, it's most likely a rip off. but i don't really care. i'm nuts 4 nuts.

eye twitch

i've been having problems with my left eye twitching lately, so i decided to look up what causes such a condition on the internet. this is what i came across:

"blepharospasm is the medical term for when your eyelid muscles repeatedly and rhythmically contract. the most common things that make the muscle in your eyelid twitch are fatigue, stress, and caffeine. once spasms begin, they may continue off and on for a day to more than a week. Then, they disappear."

fatigue? check. stress? check. caffeine? check, check, check [as i gulp my grande starbucks...]

more to come

i have a lot of things to post (it has been a while), but it's 1 AM and i'm still at work...soooo...yes, it'll have to wait for now. why am i taking the time to post right now you ask? well, i'm waiting for an email to come so i can continue working. oh joy.

it's...

**I wrote this 2-3 weeks ago, but then my computer had an error and closed the window. I thought I lost it, but I didn't!**

it's the feeling you have when the sun comes out after two days of rain...
it's going for a run in the park on a sunday evening, enjoying the remainder of the weekend...
it's seeing lots of other people there doing the same...
it's the smell of spring...
it's the sight of a block lined with newly green trees...
it's seeing kids laughing and playing in the park...
it's finding a dollar in the pocket of a coat you haven't worn for a while...
it's walking down the stairs at the same time the subway is arriving...
it's having just enough quarters to do your laundry...
it's the taste of water after a run...
it's the bright yellow tulips in bloom...
it's laughing hard with good friends...
it's a breath of fresh air in the city...
it's a cook breeze on your face...
it's the little things...
it's enjoying the creation that surrounds me each day...
it's realizing that the creation i enjoy now will some day be renewed...
it's knowing that i'll be able to enjoy it forever...
"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Romans 8: 19-21