My new phone has a camera. I commited to using it more. These are some of my PHONE CAM ART shots of the city. Enjoy....
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Phone Cam Art
Got a new phone recently. Dropped my first one in a toilet. It dried out but the camera was fried. I lived with it for a while until our dog, Luna, bit into the keyboard. The phone was perpetually calling the first contact on my contact list. And whenever I hung up the phone after saying sorry.........again, it would type the letter "p". Can't really work around that. So I got a new one from the insurance company. WELL worth the five bucks a month.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The exciting misadventures of Skeptical Man!
Welcome ladies and Gentleman to our latest installment of Skeptical Man. When we last saw Skeptical Man he was trying to compose a letter to the various US credit bureaus in hopes of clearing his besmirched credit history. After two drafts Skeptical Man still can't quite phrase things the way he'd like. Perhaps you can help him. After lengthy discussions and a written contract stating this information will not be used against him now and/or in perpetuity, we've arranged to show you - our viewing audience Skeptical Man's latest draft to the US credit bureaus. He is "somewhat willing" to accept your feedback on how to improve this letter. Please help Skeptical Man. It reads as follows:
Dear Credit Bureaus,
You guys screwed up on my credit report. I paid off that tax lien when I was supposed to, sorta. By the way, I know you guys are in cahoots the state to keep me down. Actually, I can't wait for the day when I can finally tell you guys where to get off. I can't do that now, so please take off those bogus charges on my report. I put some other papers in this envelope I'm sending you to prove to you that I'm not the deadbeat that you think I am. If you gotta call or write to me, my information is on this letter. Don't call my cell phone 'cause I'm outta minutes. That reminds me, I gotta write the cell phone people a letter too - give 'em a piece of my mind. Anyway, that's about it. Oh, don't sell my information to anybody unless you gimme my cut. Thanks for your time, I guess.
Skeptical Man.
Stay tuned for our next installment of Skeptical man when he battles the forces of the New York City Transit Authority.
Dear Credit Bureaus,
You guys screwed up on my credit report. I paid off that tax lien when I was supposed to, sorta. By the way, I know you guys are in cahoots the state to keep me down. Actually, I can't wait for the day when I can finally tell you guys where to get off. I can't do that now, so please take off those bogus charges on my report. I put some other papers in this envelope I'm sending you to prove to you that I'm not the deadbeat that you think I am. If you gotta call or write to me, my information is on this letter. Don't call my cell phone 'cause I'm outta minutes. That reminds me, I gotta write the cell phone people a letter too - give 'em a piece of my mind. Anyway, that's about it. Oh, don't sell my information to anybody unless you gimme my cut. Thanks for your time, I guess.
Skeptical Man.
Stay tuned for our next installment of Skeptical man when he battles the forces of the New York City Transit Authority.
September 11th
It's been a few months since my last blog post. Things are busy. Life is good. Anna and I just watched the NY1 coverage of the WTC memorial........What to say. All appropriate emotions were present. Today, six years ago, Anna and I sat at a table in the Equinox fitness club on 19th street (where I was working) watching the events of the day unfold. She had made her way uptown from Bank Street in the West Village with thousands of other New Yorkers heading north. After the queasy feeling of not knowing where she was for the first few hours of that morning, we stayed at the gym for a while, watching it transform from a high end "club" to a temporary stopping point for people to sit, check in with the TV, shower off the dust, or try to contact family. Our life pivoted that morning, as did all of ours. I remembered that my brother-in-law was scheduled to come in to New York from Boston either by train or plane.
"What time?" I asked the night before.
"Early." he said.
"On my sister's Birthday?" I asked
"She said it was alright." he answered.
Yeah.....my sisters birthday.
The news that the first plane to hit the towers took off from Logan airport in Boston was already out. The cell phone towers were maxed out. It took a while to get through to him. He was scheduled to come to NY by train. But luckily not that early. The train never left Boston.
Anna tried to get through to her parents in Calgary. It took a couple of hours. When she did. I heard her say to her father "I love you too." So there I was....... sitting with my girlfriend, experiencing the reality of this event and I realized "There has to be more to life than what I've done so far." My vision shifted dramatically. I was the closest I've ever been to my own mortality. "What will I leave behind when I have to go?"
Bottom line - Anna and I grew closer on that day and in the days to follow. Now we're married and we're working on our impact on the world.
We honor the victims and the first responders who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The soldiers who fight bravely - right now - for a foggy cause and most importantly............
We celebrate life. On my sisters birthday. The giving of life. The continuium of life. Our human condition and all appropriate emotions that are present.
"What time?" I asked the night before.
"Early." he said.
"On my sister's Birthday?" I asked
"She said it was alright." he answered.
Yeah.....my sisters birthday.
The news that the first plane to hit the towers took off from Logan airport in Boston was already out. The cell phone towers were maxed out. It took a while to get through to him. He was scheduled to come to NY by train. But luckily not that early. The train never left Boston.
Anna tried to get through to her parents in Calgary. It took a couple of hours. When she did. I heard her say to her father "I love you too." So there I was....... sitting with my girlfriend, experiencing the reality of this event and I realized "There has to be more to life than what I've done so far." My vision shifted dramatically. I was the closest I've ever been to my own mortality. "What will I leave behind when I have to go?"
Bottom line - Anna and I grew closer on that day and in the days to follow. Now we're married and we're working on our impact on the world.
We honor the victims and the first responders who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The soldiers who fight bravely - right now - for a foggy cause and most importantly............
We celebrate life. On my sisters birthday. The giving of life. The continuium of life. Our human condition and all appropriate emotions that are present.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
B area only
When I was between the ages of 12 & 16 , I took day trips to Hunter Mountain to ski. It's where I learned to ski. Each Sunday for that four year period my mom would wake me up around 4am and take me down to 57th Street & Sutton Place South to meet the bus. It was run by a company called Adventure Trails - A fine group, Jerry, Joel & "Brooksie". I would board the bus half dazed from the abrupt awakening to find a seat next to one of my fellow day trippers. A bus load of pre-pubescent kids on our way up to the mountain to get as many runs in as possible before the weekend drew to a close. The actual drives I can't remember; probably because I was asleep most of the time. But the skiing; those memories are vivid. One memory in particular is of the "test" Hunter Mountain introduced in my second year to determine what areas of the mountain we could ski.
"A test?" "Are you kidding me?" "We're like, a hundred miles away from school and it's Sunday for Pete's sake".
I couldn't believe it. Inside I froze like the fake snow that Hunter is famous for. Outside though I went with the flow of the group. Now, I didn't test well back then. I still don't. I remember cherishing every one of those free two hundred points you get for spelling your name right on the SAT's. I can remember feeling scared, nervous, "found out" and that the jig was up. I mean skiing is supposed to be fun, right? Not pressure oriented.
So as directed, the group went up the designated chairlift to the section of the mountain where the ski patrol set up this "test " area - Right under the main chairlift and just above the main lodge. Now I don't know what Hunter Mountain is like now, but back then on a Sunday it was kind of like Herald square on Christmas Eve. And that particular section was like the Macy's window - In full view of everybody. Hey, no pressure..........
So off I went, I had to execute three or four turns through the gates and at the bottom of the "test" site I would get issued a sticker for my lift ticket. I turned through each gate. I was pleased with myself. I did it. Or so I thought. I was directed to the right to get a bright fluorescent orange sticker that said "B area only".
"What?" "But I turned." "And I stopped" (snowplowed).
No explanation, no sympathies, just "B area only". All my friends got fluorescent green "All Area" stickers. The divide was made. I wasn't worthy of the "All Area" sticker and they all knew it. Oh, some of them took a few intermediate runs with me to start the day, but they didn't stick around. And that's how it went. At the end of the day we would all meet back at the bus and I would hear all about runs with names like "The K27" and "Hell Gate". I would tell them about my runs on "Rip Van Winkle" and "West Side Glide". I didn't stand a chance with the girls.
In spite of it all, I remained determined. I would get that All Area sticker next week. The next week came; B area only. The next week came; B area only. The next week; B area only. And so on and so on. I began to accept my fate and I found other B area onlys' to ski with. It was fun. But I always looked up at "Hell Gate" from the Rip Van Winkle chair and whispered to myself in that Sideshow Bob kind of way "Some day........"
Towards the end of ski season the weather warms up during the day and then drops at night so the runs freeze. In the morning there would be patchy ice - even on the "test" site. One thing about eastern skiing is the ice. It's everywhere. Rip Van Winkle had ice. I skied Rip Van Winkle all year. I knew every inch of that run. I knew how to ski the ice. On my second turn through the gate of the "test" site, I lifted my downhill ski to avoid a patch of ice. I hockey stopped in front of the ski patrol guy and he pointed me to the left.................
"Are you sure?" I said to him in my head. But I didn't hesitate. I went left to get the coveted green fluorescent "All Area" sticker. From that day forward I would ski on every run on that mountain.
And that's the way it goes for me to this day. When ever I set out on a new endeavor, I need to stumble through it upside down and ass backwards before I get some kind of clue about how it works for me. I'd say that about 10% of the time, I get lucky and get it "right" the first time, but then I'll need to go back and learn to build the foundation that I skipped over because of that luck. That's true for anything: Skiing, running, raising a puppy, coaching, acting, relationships (of all sorts), even understanding myself.
When I reach a point of satisfaction, accomplishment or joy in my adult life I reflect back on that moment on Hunter Mountain when I was granted "All Area". Sometimes when I'm caught in a struggle in my day to day, I mutter to myself "B area only, B area only". I know if i keep at it, I'll get that fluorescent green "All Area" sticker. I have it in a lot of my life. If I were to put florescent stickers on every compartment of my life I would have only a few orange "B area only" ones. But I'm still skiing. The lifts haven't closed yet. I'll get my chance on the "test" site so I can have "All Area" in all areas. How about you?
"A test?" "Are you kidding me?" "We're like, a hundred miles away from school and it's Sunday for Pete's sake".
I couldn't believe it. Inside I froze like the fake snow that Hunter is famous for. Outside though I went with the flow of the group. Now, I didn't test well back then. I still don't. I remember cherishing every one of those free two hundred points you get for spelling your name right on the SAT's. I can remember feeling scared, nervous, "found out" and that the jig was up. I mean skiing is supposed to be fun, right? Not pressure oriented.
So as directed, the group went up the designated chairlift to the section of the mountain where the ski patrol set up this "test " area - Right under the main chairlift and just above the main lodge. Now I don't know what Hunter Mountain is like now, but back then on a Sunday it was kind of like Herald square on Christmas Eve. And that particular section was like the Macy's window - In full view of everybody. Hey, no pressure..........
So off I went, I had to execute three or four turns through the gates and at the bottom of the "test" site I would get issued a sticker for my lift ticket. I turned through each gate. I was pleased with myself. I did it. Or so I thought. I was directed to the right to get a bright fluorescent orange sticker that said "B area only".
"What?" "But I turned." "And I stopped" (snowplowed).
No explanation, no sympathies, just "B area only". All my friends got fluorescent green "All Area" stickers. The divide was made. I wasn't worthy of the "All Area" sticker and they all knew it. Oh, some of them took a few intermediate runs with me to start the day, but they didn't stick around. And that's how it went. At the end of the day we would all meet back at the bus and I would hear all about runs with names like "The K27" and "Hell Gate". I would tell them about my runs on "Rip Van Winkle" and "West Side Glide". I didn't stand a chance with the girls.
In spite of it all, I remained determined. I would get that All Area sticker next week. The next week came; B area only. The next week came; B area only. The next week; B area only. And so on and so on. I began to accept my fate and I found other B area onlys' to ski with. It was fun. But I always looked up at "Hell Gate" from the Rip Van Winkle chair and whispered to myself in that Sideshow Bob kind of way "Some day........"
Towards the end of ski season the weather warms up during the day and then drops at night so the runs freeze. In the morning there would be patchy ice - even on the "test" site. One thing about eastern skiing is the ice. It's everywhere. Rip Van Winkle had ice. I skied Rip Van Winkle all year. I knew every inch of that run. I knew how to ski the ice. On my second turn through the gate of the "test" site, I lifted my downhill ski to avoid a patch of ice. I hockey stopped in front of the ski patrol guy and he pointed me to the left.................
"Are you sure?" I said to him in my head. But I didn't hesitate. I went left to get the coveted green fluorescent "All Area" sticker. From that day forward I would ski on every run on that mountain.
And that's the way it goes for me to this day. When ever I set out on a new endeavor, I need to stumble through it upside down and ass backwards before I get some kind of clue about how it works for me. I'd say that about 10% of the time, I get lucky and get it "right" the first time, but then I'll need to go back and learn to build the foundation that I skipped over because of that luck. That's true for anything: Skiing, running, raising a puppy, coaching, acting, relationships (of all sorts), even understanding myself.
When I reach a point of satisfaction, accomplishment or joy in my adult life I reflect back on that moment on Hunter Mountain when I was granted "All Area". Sometimes when I'm caught in a struggle in my day to day, I mutter to myself "B area only, B area only". I know if i keep at it, I'll get that fluorescent green "All Area" sticker. I have it in a lot of my life. If I were to put florescent stickers on every compartment of my life I would have only a few orange "B area only" ones. But I'm still skiing. The lifts haven't closed yet. I'll get my chance on the "test" site so I can have "All Area" in all areas. How about you?
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
What Does It All Mean?
So I'm coming home from the subway this afternoon. Beautiful day; I have my sunglasses on. This bug flys right onto my left lens and he's just sitting there. maybe he was wondering the same thing I was at that moment....."What the hell was that"?........So I take off my glasses to get the little bugger off. As he clung on to my finger, I saw it was one of those dwarf-like mini moth things.
I'm generally respectful of animal life (except roaches, mice, rats and the occasional bluefish or stripped bass) so I walk over to one of those tasteful Upper East Side Planters to give the little guy some indigenous surroundings. He kept crawling around my hand avoiding the inevitable departure. I wasn't in to playing host anymore. I kept presenting leaves and branches for him but he wouldn't leave. And I started to get all self conscious, what with being watched by the throngs of subway goers and Upper East Side personalities as they passed by me seemingly caressing a shrub.
Then I thought "Wait a minute". "Maybe this was meant to happen". "Maybe god in his infinite wisdom has orchestrated this tiny happenstance for me to see that in spite of all the complexities in my life there still exists simplicity". "Amid humanities greatest creations and achievements, still this earth provides life for a simple.....bug"
And then as I walked down the street with the little miracle cupped in my hand I thought ,"Here is this tiny life form living in the mayhem that is New York City. I mean this guy has no chance once he leaves Central Park". So in the scope of the universe I....we.....humanity... is equally insignificant. The power that each one of us has (which by the way is huge) is dwarfed by the power of a supernova or a black hole or even a tropical storm".
Maybe that was Gods intention. To illustrate to me by way of this tiny visitor that everything will even off at the end. Just forget about the eccentricities of other people. Don't worry about the details. Be in the moment. Be alive. Be happy darn it!!
I smiled. I gazed into my hand at the mini moth thing and wondered where I could deposit him. "Where would be the safest place?" "An honorable place to prolong the little buggers existance as much as possible".
Just then, with every ounce of spring-like energy that mother nature blessed him with, he shot up out of my hand, ricocheted off my front tooth and kamikaze-ed right down my throat. I was dumbfounded. What now? As I hobbled down my block, hacking from just swallowing a messenger from God. I thought "Maybe Freud was right. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".
By the time I got in to my apartment I was a little put off that my ipod was running low on batteries.
I'm generally respectful of animal life (except roaches, mice, rats and the occasional bluefish or stripped bass) so I walk over to one of those tasteful Upper East Side Planters to give the little guy some indigenous surroundings. He kept crawling around my hand avoiding the inevitable departure. I wasn't in to playing host anymore. I kept presenting leaves and branches for him but he wouldn't leave. And I started to get all self conscious, what with being watched by the throngs of subway goers and Upper East Side personalities as they passed by me seemingly caressing a shrub.
Then I thought "Wait a minute". "Maybe this was meant to happen". "Maybe god in his infinite wisdom has orchestrated this tiny happenstance for me to see that in spite of all the complexities in my life there still exists simplicity". "Amid humanities greatest creations and achievements, still this earth provides life for a simple.....bug"
And then as I walked down the street with the little miracle cupped in my hand I thought ,"Here is this tiny life form living in the mayhem that is New York City. I mean this guy has no chance once he leaves Central Park". So in the scope of the universe I....we.....humanity... is equally insignificant. The power that each one of us has (which by the way is huge) is dwarfed by the power of a supernova or a black hole or even a tropical storm".
Maybe that was Gods intention. To illustrate to me by way of this tiny visitor that everything will even off at the end. Just forget about the eccentricities of other people. Don't worry about the details. Be in the moment. Be alive. Be happy darn it!!
I smiled. I gazed into my hand at the mini moth thing and wondered where I could deposit him. "Where would be the safest place?" "An honorable place to prolong the little buggers existance as much as possible".
Just then, with every ounce of spring-like energy that mother nature blessed him with, he shot up out of my hand, ricocheted off my front tooth and kamikaze-ed right down my throat. I was dumbfounded. What now? As I hobbled down my block, hacking from just swallowing a messenger from God. I thought "Maybe Freud was right. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".
By the time I got in to my apartment I was a little put off that my ipod was running low on batteries.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Why me??
Hello out there in blogland. Today's installment of robsblog asks the geocentric question, "Why me?" In some circles the answer is fired back - "Why not you"........Okay.
I guess in the end it really doesn't matter. Life is abundant no matter how I slice it.
....What's that? What am I talking about? Oh, well I sent out this newsletter yesterday at 6:00am informing my peeps of my appearance on Life Coach TV on June 4th. At 10:00 am I got a call from the casting department at One Life To Live. They want to book me for what day?......Wait for it.......not yet........okay, June 4th.
The answer was clear from the get-go, but as I hung up the phone, the question peculated in my head. Why me? It definitely a luxury problem, no doubt. I swung by the studio this morning to pick up the script. A moment to relish, by the way.
So the intention was set a few weeks ago for the newsletter.
"I want people to know what Momentum Coaching is doing" I said to myself
And myself answered back "How about putting together a newsletter"
"Great idea" I said to myself.
Anna says I got the cal from "One Life" because I let go of my desperate need to book a job as an actor when I set the intention to do the newsletter for Momentum Coaching.
I love my wife.
She said that as we were walking to the store to pick up our new kitchen table.
"Its the one I've been dreaming about" She said.
Who am I to stand in the way of my wife's dreams? Especially after such a quality insight into my life.
Bottom line:
I'm rescheduling my Life Coach TV appearance. Date, TBD
I'm reprising my role as the strong & sensitive EMT "Pell" on One Life To Live
We have a beautiful kitchen table
And The Yankees won last night
So why not me?
I guess in the end it really doesn't matter. Life is abundant no matter how I slice it.
....What's that? What am I talking about? Oh, well I sent out this newsletter yesterday at 6:00am informing my peeps of my appearance on Life Coach TV on June 4th. At 10:00 am I got a call from the casting department at One Life To Live. They want to book me for what day?......Wait for it.......not yet........okay, June 4th.
The answer was clear from the get-go, but as I hung up the phone, the question peculated in my head. Why me? It definitely a luxury problem, no doubt. I swung by the studio this morning to pick up the script. A moment to relish, by the way.
So the intention was set a few weeks ago for the newsletter.
"I want people to know what Momentum Coaching is doing" I said to myself
And myself answered back "How about putting together a newsletter"
"Great idea" I said to myself.
Anna says I got the cal from "One Life" because I let go of my desperate need to book a job as an actor when I set the intention to do the newsletter for Momentum Coaching.
I love my wife.
She said that as we were walking to the store to pick up our new kitchen table.
"Its the one I've been dreaming about" She said.
Who am I to stand in the way of my wife's dreams? Especially after such a quality insight into my life.
Bottom line:
I'm rescheduling my Life Coach TV appearance. Date, TBD
I'm reprising my role as the strong & sensitive EMT "Pell" on One Life To Live
We have a beautiful kitchen table
And The Yankees won last night
So why not me?
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Cherry breaking blog
I'm here!.................Hello?..............Is there anybody out there? This is my debut entry in my new blog. Glad to be here. Brrrrr, kinda cold in blogland. OK, bye!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
