Realism vs. Optimism

Okay, so I know my post title is a little strange, but some events today have led my thinking to a very strange place.
You ever have a friend that is perpetually in love? Or so they claim. I have this friend, who I LOVE dearly, who has a knack of falling in love the way I fall in lust over a hot pepperoni pizza everytime I see one. And the result of her love, and my lust, usually end in the same way. Lament and upset stomach. Mine however due to the gassyness from my lactose intolerance...but I digress.

"I used to give a fuck, but now I give a fuck less" (Jay-Z, American Gangster-SUCCESS.

I do care about old people, Children and animals. I want to try and not talk for a week unless I have to...ya know? Just sit back and listen to other people's bullshit. Cause..sometimes I get sick of hearing my own.
( Not really)

Things I hate

JEALOUSY
ENVY
SABOTAGE
LIARS

don't judge me..judge yourself..

I hold myself to the standard I hold others...A standard of LOVE baby!

Things I love
Oliver and my doggy Bruno( they love me A lot)
Good friendships
Music
Good food
Design (jewelry,interior,architecture, floral, fashion)
Art
the SPA
the bath tub Jacuzzi
History
my feet rubbed

This morning as I sit watching the thousands of people marching in Jena, Louisiana I can't help sensing the all to common feeling that the slowly deteriorating justice system in our country is failing and like many of the outdated practices of our government, it is in serious need of rehabilitation.

And while it would be easy to jump on the "Free the Jena 6" bandwagon, I realize that a crime, in fact, was committed. All the more frustrating is that many will use this rally as a way of expressing frustration over every personal injustice felt upon them by the "man", and completely lose sight of the issue at hand.

Well hello everyone! I just got back from my two-week trip to Europe with my roommate Brad and I thought that I would share some pics and stories with you. We started out visiting some of his family in Germany and later we traveled through Switzerland, Austria and Spain.

Let me tell you one thing, Germans love to eat! And coming from me, that is saying a LOT. I just weighed myself and no joke I gained 4 pounds. Seriously.

So without further ado, here is a (sort-of) narrated journey of my trip through pics. Enjoy!

FYI: Switzerland is expensive! Check out the prices of the value meals at the Zurich airport. Me and Brad hung out here in this massive mall/airport waiting for our flight to Barcelona. Granted, the above prices are in Swiss Francs but in US dollars it would only be about a dollar less.

And I hope you all appreciate the plethora of condiments we take for granted in the US. In most places in Europe, ketchup packets cost like 30 cents!!! But of course mustard is free. :(

Oh yeah, and they make you pay to use public bathrooms! HAHAHA

After another blissful evening watching the The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, me and my roommate got into discussing how hilarious Steven Colbert was at the White House Correspondents dinner. I mean, did most of those guys even realize that his show is a farce?

“That Steve Col-what’s his name is pretty good for that liberal scum network,” says conservative talking head #1.

“I agree, it’s about time they got to balancing out the REAL side of the news,” says conservative taking head #2.

“Yeah, especially after that commie Jack Steward or whatever-his-name-is, takes a crap on our good moral values for a half hour a day to those young pot heads,” says CTH #1.

Recently over coffee with a friend I was telling her a hilarious story involving one of my previous jobs. I remember her telling me I should write it down and right there it occurred to me that I have MANY hilarious job stories. Over the years I have worked, (mostly in the service industry) in several ridiculous places and have amassed a collection of great stories.

My grandmother once said that her life was so crazy that a person could easily write a book about it. And with that thought in mind, I've decided to test out some of my "job stories" here on my blog in hopes of getting some feedback to whether this might be a fun project for me to write and send out into the "REAL" publishing world.

Enjoy!

C

So tonight on the way home I was sitting in the back of a cab listening to the ranting voice of some crazy wackjob on public radio. After a few minutes, I got a bit annoyed. He was reading quotes from Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton while trying to make the point that they were evil. As somewhat of a journalist I realize that many things when taken out of context can have a negative slant. Now, I am not defending these men, and surely a lot of what they have said can be argued as borderline wacko themselves. But, hearing the shrill, tirading voice of a man who was probably only brave enough to express his opinions on the radio from the safety of his own basement irritated the crap out of me.

I find it amusing that some of the best advice I ever got came in a book called "Taxi Driver Wisdom". Recently I was reminded of a few:

"Travel is to spread your life all over the world"

"You see in other people what you want for yourself"

&

"There's no need to stand behind anyone when there's so much room to walk"

I realize it has been quite a while since I updated on a regular basis. I somehow don't have the type of discipline it takes to whine and muse about random thoughts the way I used to. Or maybe its the fact that all my best blogging came during the times when I was held prisoner in an office for 8 hours a day.

So here I am again, almost forgetting how to type (or write for that matter). Recapturing my old wit feels a lot like riding a dusty unicycle.

Is is really possible to have viewed every website in existence? I know its not, but recently at my not-so-interesting day job, I have acquired the bad habit of surfing during breaks...surfing ad-nauseum.

After pillaging through every bookmarked blog of interest, crappy gossip blog, cute animal site and every online newspaper, I find myself staring at the screen with great contention. Not only have I become accustomed (and addicted) to checking my email every 34 seconds, but I can actually feel the shape of my ass slowly slipping into that not-so-attractive pancake butt that I despise.