I beat the System...i took it to the man...

okay today at 11am, i hear this big annoying drill which can only mean one thing, it would be followed by this announcement on the loud speakers "This is your Fire Safety Director, Tom Tommingsworth (name has been embelished for obvi reasons), we are conducting a Fire Safety Drill.  Please proceed to the front of the floor for a Fire Safety Instructional blah blah blah blah blah.."okay let me start this off by saying that every single month we have these stupid fire drills.  No, i know they are not stupid, but they certainly are an inconvenience.  always at at moment when you are too busy or trying to meet a deadline, or.....more importantly, trying to blog.  seriously, this is not cool.  so today during the fire drill, and i know i will get slack, heat, boos for this, i said NO MORE!!!.  I am sticking it to the man, i am beating the system, and sitting at my desk!! in DEFIANCE...

Which is what i did.  I even walked around and bought my self something from the vending machine.  yes i now its important to know fire safety in case of a real emergency, but by now, after 21 of them i am familiar with where to go and all that..And i know they are just trying to save us, but today, I felt like being feisty, and saying NO.  ofcourse, as i type this, my annoying british co-worker, yes the one with the cat with 81 lives, who is also the fire safety floor marshall deputy, just gave me an admonishing look and wants to go over the Fire Marshalls speech with me. :|

City John goes back to work...

New York City...

Hello...today's blog comes in the form of a question..I'm always looking for new things to do and new places to explore in our lovely city of Manhattan...Manhattan should really be its own state as it stands out on its own as a great place to live and be entertained, in my book.  anyhow, if anyone should have any ideas, cool places to go to, restaurants, fun-game-filled lounges (i love these types of places), exciting unexplored regions of NYC, please feel free to drop them by...Every day I wake up thinking, well first (wow, i'm running late, gotta go walk holly) and two (damn i love living in the upper east side of manhattan).   Its thus far been an incredible living experience..my friends and gf all live within walking distance....just like restaurants, movies, and even Times Square..now how awesome is that!!!

Cool Gadgetry

okay i love electronic gadgets..i mean maybe it is the guy in me talking but really, who wouldn't love a cool blackberry or iphone or itouch...so today the breaking news is the new Apple Ipad is officially out; Apple Ipad.   So as i type this (yes i can multi-task), i am taking one shiny new dollar bill and adding it to what i am calling "City John's Apple iPad Fund"....and over time i will update you on the progress of said fund and maybe one day i will get to blog from this cool new gadget...or if you really want to be nice to me, you can just buy it for me, wink!! Below are pics of above mentioned iPad so you too, just like I, can drool...

 

 

 

 

As you can tell, i am a true lover of "Most" things Apple..okay i wouldn't say "All" things, as then again, they did come up with the disastrous Apple Cube and MacBook Air..but its okay, after years of coping, i have finally forgiven them :).

City John, goes back to work...

Short and Sweet...

Okay, just as this is a democracy we live in, i like to make sure i always adhere to any suggestions, comments, questions my many city-dwelling blog followers may have..this one goes out to my friend/blogger in the UES - and i"m keeping this post short and sweet..no not like me..i am tall, and okay i do have a sweet tooth...(tall and sweet?)...

on to the subject - today i have discovered the marvelous and yumminess that is "Parfaits"...om to the g...i never knew these were soo darn good....i mean really..normally on first look, they look kinda gross to me..okay i'm not a big fan of yogurt and its odd texture, and i really don't like the taste of raw strawberries..okay not the taste, but the look..they look like little spider eyes...so today i tried a strawberry Parfait and was thrown aback by the delicious  taaste..so this goes out to the inventor of this treat..thank you, for enlightening my life and adding yet another tastey quick snack to my repoirtoire of quick yummy yet healthy snacks to choose from:

City John...goes to lunch..

My Bros....

Okay so its time i introduced my brothers, all three of them to my blog-diggity.  I have three of them...My oldest brother's name is Joseph and he is in florida.  People say we tend to look alike...but i think he picked up on my dad's light colored hair (when he had hair) and his green eyes, while i came out looking more like my mother:

We sort of grew up apart, and sadly there was a time when we were really close...i really have decided to make 2010 the year he and i renew our bond and hopefully regain some of that which was lost over time...

I also have two half brothers, although i just call them my brothers...there's no halves, just wholes..as i see it, even if it was because my dad had a way of getting around like the pollinating bee he still is...

This is Steven, my youngest of the two:

 This is Steve with my nephew (Brother Alan's son)...

This is Alan:

And some more pics of my fam:

And finally, my dad:

So there you have it, my bros and my dad....I guess i'm feeling a bit nostalgic today and really wished there were here..or that we all somehow lived near each other.  When i see my friends who are siblings and how they have one another, or when i've seen my girlfriend with her sisters...i get that...and see how much i'm missing that...i've been feeling for a long time now that something is missing from me, and when ever i get a chance to talk to them on the phone like i did today....i see its my brothers is what is missing from me...so hopefully someday we will get to see one another more often and spend time as a group again...

City John....out.

Coolio Blog Props and Tuesday Trivia!!!

Okay i'm starting off this blogg-a-roo post with a great diddy from a friend/blogger of mine....I don't always give out props, only when they are in grandest deserving..so this one is just so inspiring..i'm stating here that if this blogger/friend were to either a) Become a public speaker, b) write a book or c) make a book out of the inspiring words of her blog...not only would it be of great life changing success to many (i'm already an avid "Own-it" ownee) but also bring in lots of cash, dough to her..(so here is my bid to be the designer/developer of said friends/bloggers books, web sites, t-shirts, hats, buttons...hey i'm an entrepaneur as well..so hence...hence...here goes:  This Phrase I AM IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE.  So true.  We really are, as individuals in control of OUR lives..not just the day to day stuff, but also the consistency of how or when or why we do what we do, how we roll how we roll...I have had this one little gem in my head lately...Don't wait until you have motivation to act on something..but rather ACT to MOTIVATE...I'm telling you folks, life is short..make the most grandest thing out of it..if you never ran before, start running (just well don't all of a sudden start running like a mad woman):



okay you can if you choose too..at least you'll be running..but seriously, do something new and adventurous...And sometimes, if you just start doing something you know you are new to and really don't want to do it, but just jump into the process of this, you'll sometimes or most of the time realize that you were lacking motivation and end up being glad you did...Example, back in the days when i used to go to the boxing gym and loved getting my nose or some other useful body part smashed in by a bigger than me heavyweight named Victor "Maliciousness" Maldonado, there were days i just didn't' want to work out, or even be remotely near a gym..but then those were the days i worked out harder, and ended up enjoying my workouts even with more enthusiasm..what i am saying is this...okay nobody in their right minds must like to run..this is a hideous act which was probably thought of by the man..or the man who enjoys running in the dead of "freeze my ass off" winter while wearing little thin Nike shorts...anyhoo, i realize, if we wait all the time to be motivated to do something, well we will end up waiting for a long long time...so next time you have the oh so familiar "I'd rather be watching a friends episode while eating a bowl of cereal" feeling..STOP...and just start running, or do whatever it is you were setting out to do in the first place..

 A few days ago i was out with my sassy sazzafras GF Victoria:

and we stopped by a Ricky's NYC so she can pick up some girly, make up and hair stuffs..As i was there, I decided to make my time useful, other than carrying a bag or two for her (hey i'm the man in this relationship and more so, i'm a gentleman always)...and i purchased a few fridge magnets..i don't know why but i keep glancing at it:

"DO ONE THING EVERY DAY THAT SCARES YOU" - Eleanor Roosevelt....and i am trying to live by this...and also by Own it....The thought of performing on March 19, in front of people, while doing something i am so passionate about like playing guitar..really does scare the latin bedittle out of me...but hey, that is life..doing something which takes you out of your comfort zone, something new, amazing...adventurous or just mentally thrilling...so this blog post is about that...be daring...don't just sit and meditate about it..but really do it...who knows, you may end up liking it..or at the very least, be able to chuckle about it like so: "So there I was afterwards in the same jail cell with..." or "Well after the nurse came by and put in my IV tube...." jk..but seriously...don't let life go by and you end up kicking yourself in the avocados because you pondered too long on that and on the possibilities of world peace and the next Lost Episode.....really BE DARING..on that note, City John Leaves the Office...

oh oops...yes i almost forgot...its time for T.V. Theme Song TRIVIAAAA...

1. "Family Ties" began a seven year run in 1982. The theme to the show, "Without Us", was composed by Jeff Barry and Tom Scott. Which duo sang the theme?

a) Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
b) Kenny Rogers and Dottie West
c) Paul Anka and Odia Coates
d) Billy Preston and Syreeta

2. "Full House" premiered in the fall of 1987. One of the stars, John Stamos, co-wrote the theme with the singer, Jesse Frederick. What was the name of the theme song?

a) Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now
b) Together
c) As Long as We Got Each Other
d) Everywhere You Look

3. Which show did NOT have the theme song sung by a principal character?

a) Green Acres
b) Walker, Texas Ranger
c) All in the Family
d) All in the Family

4. "Hawaii 5-0" ran from 1968 to 1980. Name which instrumental band recorded the theme song?



5. Which show currently holds the title of longest running sitcom?

  

Midnight...

Okay its midnight and i admit, i've been a bit lazy at this blogging venture of mine.  sorry folks, between guitar, work, hating my job, hating my boss, cursing my boss a million bee stings on his furry ears (yes, he has furry ears), watching my favorite dog: Holly "Hollister" "H-Dog" "H-Town" "Febreeze" Streifberg, being a good bf to my gf (this is a full time job  you know), taking my daughter out during the weekend and hoping her phase of "buy me this buy me that - man i'm like her personal bank account" doesn't last forever.............so i've been pretty occupied..that and well, it seems i am the only handy male in my building..i honestly thought there were more of me..but well, its mainly women in this building and um hey i'm not being sexist here but on several occassions it seems when the super isn't around usually i hear a knock on my door to help out with this or that..now i'm happy to help out and that is  who i am, so long as it doesn't get out of hand...today my upstairs neighbor's key was stuck again in her lock..and well the super is nowhere to be found...so what i'm saying is this - to you Mr. Super, where ever you are...hey, i'm in the process of looking for a new job, so unless you start doing your job, i'm going to come gunning for yours...ahem..okay there, i said it...whewww!

sorry for that rant..my other rant today is well, i'm playing guitar and also learning new songs..occassionally as in life, i come across something difficult...nearly impossible..today its the dang f chord...its this stupid chord in which you have to position and bend your wrist and fingers in a very impossibly painful way...i swear i'm sooo irritated at this stupid chord, more so at the inventor of this stupid chord, i think my inner voice (my writer's voice) sounds british...and i'm pure american born latino here....(so this brings me to another conclusion - as everyone has an inner voice, i've decided mine is british...so, sometime soon, i'd like to eat a crumpet and have some tea..).  so if anyone of you know where i can eat or buy a crumpet, or better  yet, want to buy me a crumpet...please do, would be very kind of you to do so..(also, maybe its cause my cubicle neighbor is british and i happen to hear her yapping on and on in her native english tongue about a cat who well by all medical standards should have died by now..

That's not my hand, but just to illustrate the stupidity of this F'n F Chord...

i'll post some more stuff to this post..some funny pics, videos, songs..and well hopefully by then i'll have mastered the dang f chord on guitar...seriously, how the heck am i supposed to perform on march 19th in front of well possibly maybe 50 - 100 or so people if i can't hit the f chord..oh yes, i'm performing, a guitar solo, you heard it right..hey, one thing about turning 37, is i need to experience things i normally would have been too scared to try....so this goes out to anyone out there who keeps putting something amazing or new off, don't.  seriously, give it a shot..what's the worst that can happen...well other than death, hospitalization or poverty...really..just give it a go and see where the chips fall for you...life is too short to not try and then wonder at the end of it...

city john goes to sleep for now....

Long Weekend

So, my fellow bloggers and blogettes - so this has been a long but restful weekend..a few notes: Friday I finalllly got surgery on my left eye - (I will fill you in on the deets of my eye, but long story shorter - I had a detached retina - yes they can become detached - ehh who knew!).  So surgery was a success...a success! I say...sooo now i'll finally be able to get behind a wheel again, ride a bike, a scooter, roller blades...yes i am going to venture into the world of "wheeled travelocity".  okay its not a word, but an expression i just created.  sooo...other than that, had the GF come over and i have to publically apologize to driving her possibly crazy as um, i was a bit of a 2 year old/infantile in my post-optedness.  hee hee...also, i am dog-watching the world's greatest dog, Holly:

 

All in all, she is such a treat to watch.  first of all: She can sit, roll-over, give you the paw andddddd even stand up with you on her hind legs!! I KNOWW!!  how cool is that.  a dog that knows commands..if i can only teach her to make me some breakfast and bring me a soda or bottle of water..i guess i should probably buy water for her to be able to do so...or heck, give her my wallet and she can go purchase some from the obvi very confused and shocked korean corner store owner across the street..NO i'm not generalizing here...he really is Korean.  I speak to him on a daily basis...we argue about his prices on cereal..and milk..to high in my book..anyhow...he once mentioned to me his family is from korea.  we don't ALWAYS argue..just when i do get the urge to buy milk and cereal.

So...having holly the dog is really a great treat for me.  she brings out a side in me i never really knew i had.  and aside from the fact that i like doing good things for no other reason than just being nice to my friends..i enjoy having the doggy around.  there is something therapeutic about just a pet who loves you unconditionally.   they ask for nothing more then to just be loved and cared for and the occassional scratch on the belly.  so i'm on my search to find a dog.  so far, i have narrowed it down to a portuguese water dog.  

this post actually makes me think how lucky i am.  i know i'm about to get all misty here..okay not misty but fuzzy.  but when i met me gf, i didn't just meet her great family and friends in denver.  whom i say are just the greatest bunch of peeps i ever met.  but also, her great, terrific, super amazing friends in UES NY.  whom through time have become close to me as siblings, cousins, okay siblings...they really are a bunch of great people and well opened my eyes to new insights, philosophies, and made me look at myself in ways that helped me grow as a person.  so this post is dedicated to my UES Besties.  Thank you for existing in my GF's life...and thank you for allowing me into yours.

Note: on my next post, I am starting a new section: "Where is Mike Woods?"  If anyone bumps into Fox 5 Weather Guy Mike Woods (you get 5 stars for a mike woods pic) or any other celebrities, and takes a picture, You will have the honor of having your pic posted up for the month as Celebrity City Blogger of the Month...so if you have any interesting celebrity pics (um G rated please...) or stories..send them in...

ok. buenas noches.  and YESSS The JETS BEAT San Diego!!!!! City John Needs His Sleep.

Twitter's World

Quick little minnie blog break..as i like to call them, while at work..just read online, about a couple or person who was swimming off the coast of africa.  and as they were swimming, they witnessed a man being eaten alive by a huge great white shark..and so they did what came naturally..they twittered about it...http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/14/twitter-user-posts-shark-eats-tourist/
And a few months ago i heard about a man who twittered as his plan crash landed on a runaway....i just find it interesting as people automatically twitter during these very shocking and traumatic events.."twitter: omg, i just got stabbed in the shoulder", twitter: oh lord, i'm on fire, someone call the NYPD".  Anyhow, its kind of funny yet almost disturbing...at the same time.

oh here is a funny pic my co-worker just sent me (yes those are flies on her buttocks):

 I shall return with some more posts..and a new section i will reveal today.   i think i understand how that chick in julie and julia felt when writing her post at the beginning of the movie..its like you are having a conversation with yourself and hope someone listens...well i hope someone is reading..until then...City John is leaving the office...

Blogging...

Okay, my very first week of officially blogging and i am almost over the hump.  I've so far managed to write a few posts (though i am not sure if anyone read them) (wait, my girlfriend told me she kindly read it - so i do have one reader - though sans commentary).  I have managed to leave a comment on a friend's blog (thank you uptown girl).  Don't know why i was so psyched to do that - i guess i didn't officially feel like a blogger until i at least left a commentary on someone else's blog.  Now on to the next big phase, randomly following other blogger's blogs (is that worded correct?).  Or is the etiquette that one should only wait until being invited to join their blog and become a follower.  i guess this sort of feels like when a vampire needs to be invited to enter your home before taking a step in first.  sorry, too much twilight.  anyhow, what are the rules on that?  is there a site that tells you all the do's and don'ts about blogging for bloggers...if so, please do so send me the manual or rule book.  Anyhow, i am pledging, until i am told otherwise to just complement other blogger's blogs and join them.  hey, i'm giving them props for having a good post or two, they can at least allow me to become an avid follower.  I may even leave a comment here and there.  so there you have it.  i'd like to have other's follow my blog. but i'll start small.  i'm on this owning it phase, so i am owning this blog.

its 1:00 a.m. yes i am an insomniac.  but i had this on my mind, so i had to write.  i'm also planning on updating the look and feel of this blog with a better design.  this was just the first phase.

i recently, yes i'll admit it, as a straight male, saw the movie julie and julia.  okay normally i'd cut my left foot off before admitting to that.  but hey, i was  hanging out with my girlfriend and she was  watching it.  and heck, i did enjoy it too.  mainly cause amy adams is hot.  and well it was funny.  a movie about a woman who blogs (okay i am officially starting a new section, category, thingamadoo called City John at the Movies) her way through Julia Child's famous Cookbook.  Great Movie, good acting, again, Amy Adams is hot.  I happen to like brunettes and she is one of them.  And i thought in this age of movies that all start to look alike, it was a new refreshing story.  the only negative, afterwards i looked up the story, on google, the real story as it was based on a true story, and well hate to disappoint anyone, but the actual person whom the movie was based on, well she cheated on her husband.  Soooo. well they are working it out, last i read..but still.  i do understand why they left that part out of the movie..although i did feel cheated and lied to also.  but then again, amy adams is hot.  The real woman, can't remember her name, in an effort to work through this new pain of having cheated on her husband and her marriage possibly crumbling, oddly got into studying the "art" of becoming a butcher.  okay i don't get that one. She cheats on her husband and decides to take up slicing up beef as a study course in argentina.  so was the movie ruined for me after knowing all of this? hmm not really.  no not because amy adams is hot - although that would be a perfectly and justifiable reason.  but because i am choosing to stay with the original story and keep that part in mind.

I guess what i am saying, is that there is a reason why movies and hollywood are considered a fantasy world.  because if they had allowed the real truth into the movie, we would have lost the real meaning...stick with things....don't give up, and commit...stay driven even when things look their bleakest.  in the end, if you keep the wheels spinning, eventually something will happen.  and i sort of related to it to in that i am one of those people who when i put my mind to something i really go all out with.  i am an all or nothing person in that i just keep going even if things are not going my way at first.  i guess i am both stubbornly resiliant and persistantly determined - hee hee i'll have to ask my better half girlfriend if that is a good quality to have 15 years from now.   so okay i get it.  and i respect that.  and yes, you are correct in that Amy Adams is hot...enough said.  City John needs his sleep.  :)

A Good Friend...

Today I heard a good friend of mine passed away.  She was a humanitarian worker in Haiti, working with the Navy and she along with one of her colleagues, were in a building when it collapsed on them during an earthquake which struck yesterday.  I'm saddened by this news...as she was not only the mother of a 14 year old but also a wife and an all around good person.  She died though, doing what she loves to do...to help people in need.  She gave her life giving others new opportunities, helping others out of misery and awful life situations. She died knowing she was helping others in areas where there is lot known violence.  I think she was a very noble and self-less person.  While i am saddened by the hearing of this news today.  I am proud to have known someone like her who was so giving and just chose to do something which truly helped others.  I feel that way about firemen, police officers, doctors, nurses, our soldiers; anyone who works in a field where they help others. I think this is one of the most self-less and noble and kind acts a person can do.  And they have my respect.  My friend lived a good life and saddly it ended rather suddenly, but i feel that somewhere, somehow, she knew she was giving her life to a greater cause then she...

Sidewalk and Sales People

Okay so here is my official second post.  the first one i do admit, was a bit long but that's how i roll.  to whom ever reads this...every so often i will have a whole lot to say...that's usually cause maybe i haven't written in a while..or at all.  right now, this post is going to be about one thing..those annoying sales people that stand in the middle of the sidewalk and kind of try to bump into you or stand directly in front of you just to pitch something to you and often times..they will continue walking and talking with you...even if you have made it very clear, in how you ignore them, usually with a look of annoyance or frustration....that you are not interested...well this is a ranting post...i find this kind of almost invasive, and everytime..i get annoyed..how i stick it to them is by zig zagging all of a sudden behind them and they end up for the most part, dumbfounded...not sure of what just happened..i know they have a job to do..but seriously, its sooo annoying...more so then random dog poop on the sidewalk..or okay, maybe exactly AS annoying...and yes, i did have an encounter with one today..acually make that 2.

Beginnings

As everything in life has to have a beginning, so does my blog. So I thought I'd start with a few pics to show you the important things in my life. To start with, my daughter Miranda, who is 10 years old and growing oh so damn rapidly. Everyone says she looks like me..I'd like to consider that a good thing, :).

Random photos of Miranda and I through the years...

Gotta love her expressions and smile...yes i'm a doting dad....

Okay this is something i'm very proud of...my daughter painted this from scratch..started one day on a Friday, by hand-drawing it on a napkin, then i saw her get up, and draw it lightly on a big canvas (i bought her a painting kit with real brushes)...from there, she started painting this and continued on until sunday night...i don't think i've ever seen my daughter be so focused and driven more than when she is painting something...

Summer in Central Park...

This is not my dog, though i am honored and lucky to be able to watch her.  Dog's name is Holly Streiffberg...I think she should have her own blog.

K, this is my lovely, yet sassy and awesome girlfriend, Victoria.  for some reason, we like taking pictures only while in a moving taxi.  I think its because we like be driven in cars by strangers....

 

I love to play guitar....its the one time i can focus everything around me off for a while...

Last, some pictures of City John throughout the years...yes i was a cute baby, I was also a spitting up, and biting baby....luckily that phase of me has been over for the last few years..um oh and some of me in my teens and early 20s....yes that one of me wearing a straw hat looks like i should be selling you oranges at the airport.

K so there you have it, me in pictures....as i continue to write this post...my thoughts drift to a phrase I am about to plajorize (real author is http://own-it-own-it.blogspot.com/) - Owning It.   I do think 2010 should be called "2010: The Year of Owning It" for many reasons.  and NO, 2010 is not the "Year We Make Contact" like the movie....its because many times we are stuck in this point where we dont' want to take a step either forwards or backwards for fear of failure, ridicule, or unsurity of the outcome.  But turning 37, something in me changed...i became aware that i have been one of these people, who would not totally committ to anything because that way it was easier to get out when things became rough; i wouldn't take a complete step in any direction because that way i still kept some "sense of control" if things went wrong...but this path led me the oposite way of happiness...and so something needed to change..and then i heard those words...not literally at first.."Own It"...just in my own sub-concious...i new i needed to take control and finally really take a leap with my eyes closed...but i started owning my own life, my own failures, my own successes; i started...Owning It.  I found a really good job, met and awesome lady, got an apartment in the city, started up with music again with guitar...I just made 37 the best years moving forward...

I am owning my own destiny, my own fate....whether or not i succeed all the time, or fall flat on my face..the fact that i am out there doing what i set out to do...is all the difference because that way its totally and completely on me..and nothing else...so those two words..Own It..simple.  Own it..but so damn powerful.  I do think men should begin owning it as well.  owning it in their relationships with their wives, girlfriends, significant others...Often times, we allow the other to take charge and dont' take responsibility for the decisions, for the good things we do in a relationship, instead we dwell or often times let the other dwell on the negatives, on what is missing..Not that that is not important, nor valid...it is...and should never be passed over..but i do think, taking a little bit of credit for who we are and the good we do is vital.  as men, we need to start and continue wearing the pants..and take charge..not be afraid to lead...but also...not be afraid or too proud to look at someone else's point of view, decisions and follow that as well.

So here is to Owning It.  I'm stuck on this phrase..maybe because, in my current job, things are very unsteady now...i am not sure of what will happen to me, whether or not i will have a job still from one day to the next...but alas, I am owning this too, and not letting my current sucky situation at work Own Me!