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!