So I just got back from a week long cruise to the Caribbean and was totally (well ...almost totally) out of contact electronically: no email, phone calls, FB, etc. There were 5 of us including a toddler on a very large ship, with no way to communicate if we got separated. It reminded me of the 'old days' when you made plans with people and kept them because there was no way to let people know that your plans had changed. Or maybe I'm remembering the old days too romantically. That could be the case but i seem to remember a time that people kept appointments without 7 reminders and/or 3 reschedulings. I kinda enjoyed not being able to reach people. It made us either stick together or rely on people to be where they said they would be.
Or maybe I'm just ole skool...
These are my thoughts...what are yours?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
If you see something...
If you see something.
So it dawned on me this afternoon that the MTA's "If you see something, say something" campaign is doomed to fail. Whereas it might work in DeMoines, Iowa, it doesn't stand a chance with jaded New Yorkers. What is strange to the rest of the country and sometimes, the world, is quite normal to us Big Apple folk. I realized this as I watched a man in full Rennaisance gear get on the 1 train and start playing a lute. No-one batted an eyelid. That's not strange enough for us. We can explain that away with at least a thousand possibilities that are perfectly plausible in NYC. The same goes for a man wearing a full space suit. People would think that he is an extra to a movie before they thought bio warfare! The wide range of odd stuff that happens in this city makes it even more dangerous. Which one of the myriad of strange and weird things that we see daily SHOULD we alert the authorities to!?!?
Well I actually have a list of things that NYers find strange but none of use will ever report:
It's strange is people get on a train and actually move to the center of the car so that others can get on.
It's strange if the people standing at the door actually get out of the way to let people IN in the train as opposed to standing there like they paid rent for that spot.
It's very strange if our fellow strap hangers take their massive knapsacks OFF their backs instead of taking up valuable standing space with inanimate objects that are in direct proportion to how rude the owner is.
Now THOSE are strange occurrences that I would love to report!
So it dawned on me this afternoon that the MTA's "If you see something, say something" campaign is doomed to fail. Whereas it might work in DeMoines, Iowa, it doesn't stand a chance with jaded New Yorkers. What is strange to the rest of the country and sometimes, the world, is quite normal to us Big Apple folk. I realized this as I watched a man in full Rennaisance gear get on the 1 train and start playing a lute. No-one batted an eyelid. That's not strange enough for us. We can explain that away with at least a thousand possibilities that are perfectly plausible in NYC. The same goes for a man wearing a full space suit. People would think that he is an extra to a movie before they thought bio warfare! The wide range of odd stuff that happens in this city makes it even more dangerous. Which one of the myriad of strange and weird things that we see daily SHOULD we alert the authorities to!?!?
Well I actually have a list of things that NYers find strange but none of use will ever report:
It's strange is people get on a train and actually move to the center of the car so that others can get on.
It's strange if the people standing at the door actually get out of the way to let people IN in the train as opposed to standing there like they paid rent for that spot.
It's very strange if our fellow strap hangers take their massive knapsacks OFF their backs instead of taking up valuable standing space with inanimate objects that are in direct proportion to how rude the owner is.
Now THOSE are strange occurrences that I would love to report!
Monday, December 13, 2010
It's the little things...
Ever notice how kids make you re-evaluate your life. I'm not talking about in the grandiose sense like considering your mortality or making better life choices for "their sake". I'm referring to how watching them enjoy the little things in life help you to reacquaint yourself with the simple pleasures in the world.
Today I had a spinning impromptu competition with my baby daughter. No pretense and no reward. Just spinning. Pure fun. When I come home, she and I have a dance party the minute I walk in the door. Just because. We laugh uncontrollable while playing peek-a-boo. A simple game, dancing, and getting dizzy. Basic stuff and so easy. We do so much and go through so much in order to have fun. Makes you wonder why when there are so many easy way to entertain ourselves.
Maybe we can just need to spin around and get dizzy. I certainly had fun doing it.
Today I had a spinning impromptu competition with my baby daughter. No pretense and no reward. Just spinning. Pure fun. When I come home, she and I have a dance party the minute I walk in the door. Just because. We laugh uncontrollable while playing peek-a-boo. A simple game, dancing, and getting dizzy. Basic stuff and so easy. We do so much and go through so much in order to have fun. Makes you wonder why when there are so many easy way to entertain ourselves.
Maybe we can just need to spin around and get dizzy. I certainly had fun doing it.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Baby girls
Baby girls are hilarious. I mean babies in general are cute but little girls are a special breed. I didn't realize that until I had my daughter. She is a handful but in a very different way from her male cousins.
Babies are all trying figure out where they stand in their worlds. They pretty much have figured out the role of mom and dad but they are still trying to figure out how much they can get away with and what actions garner which results. They try to see what happens when they cry, when they laugh, and when they're being cute. And that's where girls are different from boys: they learn to manipulate 'cute' far sooner than their male counterparts. I have seen my daughter bat her eyes, giggle, and act silly just to get attention and to get what she wants. It amazes me how soon they perfect the use of their womanly attributes...and the kid is only 18 months old!!!! I am going to go ahead say right now that I am NOT going to be ready when that happens when she is 13 years old.
I think I should start collecting a fund for bail money now....
Babies are all trying figure out where they stand in their worlds. They pretty much have figured out the role of mom and dad but they are still trying to figure out how much they can get away with and what actions garner which results. They try to see what happens when they cry, when they laugh, and when they're being cute. And that's where girls are different from boys: they learn to manipulate 'cute' far sooner than their male counterparts. I have seen my daughter bat her eyes, giggle, and act silly just to get attention and to get what she wants. It amazes me how soon they perfect the use of their womanly attributes...and the kid is only 18 months old!!!! I am going to go ahead say right now that I am NOT going to be ready when that happens when she is 13 years old.
I think I should start collecting a fund for bail money now....
Thursday, December 2, 2010
All I ever needed to know I learned from the MTA - part V
We all have stuff but we carry it differently.
No-one gets on the train in the morning empty handed. We all have some manner or carrying device: knapsack, purse, shoulder bag, brown bag, something. We need these things because we spend so much time outside of our homes that we need to take a bunch of stuff with us. We need our wallets, our books, our electronics, our medicines, et cetera. We ALL have these things and as a matter of fact, someone who doesn't have any bag of some sort, especially a woman, seems weird and our of place. The interesting things is that the bags are all different and as varied as the owners themselves. Everyone carries their stuff in a different way and that WAY is whatever is comfortable for them. Some people like to have it all on their bag, some like to sling it over their shoulders, and others still like to roll it around behind them. It's their stuff and how the carry it is as idiosyncratic as their personalities.
In life, we all have baggage. Past relationships and life events have moulded us into the people that we are but with that comes some issues that we carry around with us. There is a song line that says "I'm not looking for someone with no baggage. I just want someone with a set that matches mine!". The truth is that anyone who is mildly interesting has baggage. In fact, some of the people surrounding you have more baggage that you may expect. From time to time, we feel that our own baggage is more than what other people are carrying. It may lead us to wonder if other people are carrying any at all because they seem so happy and at ease. Most of the time, they're just carrying their stuff differently than you are. Some of us always have a smile in the face of great despair and other still always seem angry even when things go right. We deal with beings in our own particular way and that's what makes us individuals.
So, just like on the train when you see a bag that you like, you consider carrying YOUR stuff in a similar bag, maybe we should think about carrying our personal baggage like some people who we KNOW are carrying the world on their shoulders yet seem to have a positive disposition. Who knows: maybe that may make all the difference in your life.
No-one gets on the train in the morning empty handed. We all have some manner or carrying device: knapsack, purse, shoulder bag, brown bag, something. We need these things because we spend so much time outside of our homes that we need to take a bunch of stuff with us. We need our wallets, our books, our electronics, our medicines, et cetera. We ALL have these things and as a matter of fact, someone who doesn't have any bag of some sort, especially a woman, seems weird and our of place. The interesting things is that the bags are all different and as varied as the owners themselves. Everyone carries their stuff in a different way and that WAY is whatever is comfortable for them. Some people like to have it all on their bag, some like to sling it over their shoulders, and others still like to roll it around behind them. It's their stuff and how the carry it is as idiosyncratic as their personalities.
In life, we all have baggage. Past relationships and life events have moulded us into the people that we are but with that comes some issues that we carry around with us. There is a song line that says "I'm not looking for someone with no baggage. I just want someone with a set that matches mine!". The truth is that anyone who is mildly interesting has baggage. In fact, some of the people surrounding you have more baggage that you may expect. From time to time, we feel that our own baggage is more than what other people are carrying. It may lead us to wonder if other people are carrying any at all because they seem so happy and at ease. Most of the time, they're just carrying their stuff differently than you are. Some of us always have a smile in the face of great despair and other still always seem angry even when things go right. We deal with beings in our own particular way and that's what makes us individuals.
So, just like on the train when you see a bag that you like, you consider carrying YOUR stuff in a similar bag, maybe we should think about carrying our personal baggage like some people who we KNOW are carrying the world on their shoulders yet seem to have a positive disposition. Who knows: maybe that may make all the difference in your life.
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