The Art of Zen

It started off as a really good idea. Central Park. Yoga with the masses. Quality time getting Zen with a good friend. Free Stuff. What more could you really ask for?

Let me tell you what you could ask for.

Getting to the park early enough so that you're not standing in line behind at least 5,000 others(if not more) with at least another 5,000 behind us.

Exhibit A:

When you finally get to the front of the line and what you assume is salvation, not having the sky open up and start to downpour. Resulting in cancelling of said event and thousands of annoyed NY'ers still in line wanting their free stuff or some redemption for waiting in line for close to 2 hours in the heat and never getting Zen.

Exhibit B:

Finally, after mad rush and near death experience to obtain free stuff (yoga mat, chocolatey treats and reusable bag) in pouring rain, realization that you are in the middle of Central Park, soaking wet and yet to have actually accomplished anything remotely Zen like.

Once reality sets in, two good friends who were looking to have nice relaxing evening join the masses and start the journey home.

Exhibit C:

Clearly smiles on faces are result of insanity and loss of any common sense. Fortunately, said friends are still friends and consider the evening a SMASHING success. (at least we think.)

Lesson learned - next time someone offers to do Yoga in public place with 10,000 other people do as follows:

1) Arrive when event suggests you actually arrive. DO NOT assume you know better and arrive when you want - trust me, it will not work to your advantage.

2) Faced with choice to secure free goods or make it out alive - skip the free goods and run for the hills. While I can't say I'm sad I got stuff, I certainly could have left without.***
(***side bar here - ignore rule 2. When you've been waiting in line as long as we did - never leave without free stuff no matter what the risk to your safety!)

3) I learned nothing else from this event except that it really was fun and would absolutely do it all over again. This clearly leads back to the earlier comment that I have no sense of reality and am somewhat insane.

NAMASTE!!!

Human Error...

Everyday when I commute to NYC, I see some of the most amazing things. No - not skyscrapers or famous people but regular people (like you and me, sort of) that have chosen to ignore some really basic, standard rules. 

In an attempt to better understand why this happens(or just have a good laugh), I've recently (my commute home today) decided to document this phenomenon. So, armed with my trusty camera phone I have been scouring NYC(on subways, railroads and basically anywhere I have access to people) looking for those doing wrong and snapping photos of them (inconspicuously or so I hope) - to share with all of you. (yes, you're welcome.) So, let's get started. 

Example #1 - Man with Insane Ear Hair

Whether it's the man on the train who has decided that ear hair is back in fashion with a vengeance or one of the many men in your life - ear hair this long is NEVER OK.  Seriously, this is not a joke.

I saw this man sitting in front of me one day on the railroad and I almost peed my pants (OK, not really, but come on- who has ear hair like this.) WHY does he not see how long the hair is? Does the woman who was sitting with him (I assume he's married to her as they had wedding bands and left together) never say, "Honey, it's time to trim your ear hair." Really, come on people, get it together already. SO NOT COOL.  Go out, buy a razor and trim the damn hair. Whew - felt good to get that out of my system. 

Example #2 - Big Girl in a Small Dress

This woman (the one in the white dress, black sweater and leggings) was on the subway platform with me one morning and I just had to snap her photo. 

Granted this isn't as bad as ear hair man, but it certainly begs the question - WHY?! Why put on clothes that don't fit? Everyone wants to look pretty, but really come on. When there are that many rolls and things sticking out, clearly this isn't a good choice. Now, this isn't the first time anyone has seen this, but yet it never ceases to amaze me. Buy clothes that fit - pretty simple huh?

One more and I'll call it quits for now (promise..)

Example #3 - The Comb-Over

Come on. In this day and age, aren't men past being worried about thinning hair and baldness. OK- I'm sure it's hard to accept and I'm thankful I have enough hair for 50 people, but really it's 2010 - Bald is Beautiful. (so I've heard). 

Whether it's male friends, loved ones or very hot celebrities - more men are opting to ditch the toupees, comb-overs and hair plugs for good ol' fashioned baldness. Unfortunately, some people still haven't gotten the memo - case in point. 

Come on buddy - just shave it off already. It'll set you free! 

OK- I'm done for now. If anyone found this posting offensive, I apologize (not really, just trying to be politically correct).  Anywhoo- I promise to continue to post more photos and share more ridiculous finds when I can. In the meantime, feel free to share your photos and comments - just remember that we all have had these moments so the next time you're faced with one, whip out that camera phone, snap a photo and share it with me.

Till the next one....adios!

Take Two.....

So it's been a few weeks since I started this blog (19 days to be exact, but who's counting?!) and I'm sure you've all (well, all three or four of you anyway) been pining away wondering when I'd bless you with another post. Good News - here it is. Bad News - don't really have much to say. Ha!!

Alright, that's not exactly true. If I didn't have much to say why I would go and start a blog - that would be silly wouldn't it?! (don't answer - that was rhetorical) OK - the truth of the matter is there's a lot of pressure (clearly self-inflicted) to top yourself when writing the second post. I've thought of a million stories to share over the last 19 days (yes, I felt that needed to be repeated) and each one was going to dazzle and inspire everyone. BUT (and this is a big BUT) as you can tell, none of them actually came to fruition and sadly, this blog is all down hill from here.

Well, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. (we all know I can be at times) Perhaps what I'm getting at (I'm almost done Jeff - hang in there) is that it's not always about the content but more about the effort and consistency. It's easy (sometimes) to start something but following through and actually finishing it is a whole other ball of wax.  So, while I may not always have something witty or ingenious to say, I do want to be heard and will keep at this until I literally have nothing else to say or everyone stops reading. (hard to tell which will happen first-any guesses there?!)

Anyway, thanks for your patience. I promise the next one will be much more rewarding....