Life

On my walk to the subway, I always pass by the store front for a psychic. The little room is attached to an apartment where I can only assume that the psychic and her family lives. Sometimes, I see the woman, sitting by her glowing plastic crystal ball, along side a deck of Tarot cards and a bust of Queen Nefertiti, alone. In the eighteen months that I have walked by her store, I have only once seen anyone get their future told by this woman. Clearly, business is booming.

The first problem I have with the store are the hours they are open. “8am – 12pm”. I am going to surmise that she meant 12am. Call it a hunch… but when I see her sitting at her desk, late at night, I wonder if she knows that the sign on the outside of the store says that she closed at noon.

Right under the sign for the hours, reads another sign in big, bold letters: CLAIRVOYANT. Now maybe I am assuming too much, but if she is able to see the future, why is there a sign next to the doorbell that says “ring doorbell for psychic”? Shouldn’t she be able to sense that someone wants their palm read? If I were to go to a psychic, I fully expect the person to look at me while I enter their store and say “Welcome… I was expecting you.” Is that too much to ask?

The recent debate over the use of torture while gathering intelligence during CIA interrogations to me is a farce. While one may argue that the ends justify the means, I ask you to view the situation from the other side. How would you feel if American soldiers, who were captured in the middle of a war, were subjected to similar interrogation techniques? We would be appalled… It is a double standard.

As Americans we pride ourselves as a country that promotes freedom. Part of the Bush Doctrine promotes the spreading of freedom and democracy in countries who do not currently share those beliefs. How can we be taken seriously when our actions contradict our words? Shepherd Smith of Fox News recently said it best, “We are America! We do not fucking torture!” We cannot have it both ways.

This country has an image problem abroad. We need to realize that as one of the most influential countries in the world, our actions are scrutinized and used as propaganda against us. We need to live by the example, otherwise we are no different than those who we deem the enemy.

This is a notice for all those who live or work in the borough of Manhattan. When using an umbrella, please adhere to these following rules:

1. Do not use an umbrella that is larger than yourself.
2. When two people approach each other from opposite directions, it is the responsibility of the taller person to move their umbrella up and out of the way.
3. If it is lightly snowing (as in flurries), there is no need for your umbrella… put it away.
4. If you are using a clear dome umbrella… don’t… you look like a tool.
5. When your umbrella is broken… splurge… buy a new umbrella from a street vendor for five dollars.
6. Do not shake the umbrella to dry it off with people around you… there is a reason we all use umbrellas and it’s so we don’t get wet.

If you have any further rules, please feel free to share.

A month ago, with my iPod playing classical music, I hiked through the Negev desert. I followed my tour guy as we meandered through the rolling sand dunes. No one within the group uttered a word. After twenty minutes, the group separated and we each went on our own way. I turned off my music and scaled up the side of a sand dune. Once I reached the summit of the dune, I looked around and saw a friend on their own dune, a hundred feet away. I laid down amongst the sand and rocks and stared into the sky. I let my mind wander wherever it decided it wanted to go. Afterwards, our tour guide asked us to describe our experience of being alone in the desert, yet the only word that came to mind was that of being insignificant. It was hardly the religious experience that the tour guide was undoubtedly aiming for.

The desert is made up of millions of grains of sand and here I was, feeling like I was just another speck. (more…)

A few years back, I decided to collect my thoughts, random as they may be, on my MySpace Blog. While much of the time, the entries I posted were brief summaries of what I did each day, I discovered that there came great strength in expressing oneself. However, as my MySpace usage declined, so did my propensity to blog, until I stopped altogether.

Yet in the last couple of weeks, I once again felt the urge to share my thoughts, with whoever stumbled upon them. Rather than inundating Facebook with random notes, I figured I would use my knowledge of the Interweb and create my own little world in which I could rant and rave about.

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