A long way from home I had the chance to take a look at myself in the mirror. I did no like what stared back at me. To say it was death is an over-exaggeration that wastes melodrama better suited for something else. It was not health however, and that is no less troubling then the hooded specter.

I am weary of mind and body at too young an age. I need to make some changes, of habits and thoughts, from ill to good.

I am just unsure of the correct path, and whether o not the will is there to make the arduous first step.

Was digging through some old files on the laptop and found some tidbits that I wanted to blog about from two years ago that I never got a chance to put on the website. So I figured I’d post them now, so that you can see my stuff from two years ago and I can finally delete the files from my hard drive.

From April of 2008:

04/09/2008 – On the train ride home

Hipsters Abound!
Stayed later at work to take part in the monthly ‘meet and greet’ that the company has, I ended up taking a later L train from the office. Apparently, after 7pm all the hipsters get on the move. I wish I had a camera. There was the old hipster, who was more like an effeminate hippy with and assortment of silver jeweled rings and in skinny jeans; the Asian guy with big hair, and a scruffy 5 o’clock shadow in skinny jeans; the White Stripes look alike with bowler hat…and skinny jeans; and the rocker with the oversized “I’m a DJ and totally awesome” headphones in the sports blazer and skinny jeans.

I can’t get enough of hipsters.

They even have their own Olympics!

The Slob
On the train ride home, a guy sat down next to me and began to open some sushi he brought to eat, and begun such with his fingers. Stuffing giant pieces into his mouth and chewing like a cow. He had a bottle of water that he scrunched (making that annoying noise plastic water bottles make when scrunched) every time he took a drink. Once he finished, Hands greasy (i was almost expecting him to wipe them on my leg) he picked up the paper and began to flip through it. Wonderful companion on the train. I cannot wait until I move into the city. However, I’m not sure I’ll be allowed unless I get a pair of skinny jeans. 😉

From June of 2008

New York City in the Summer
Thoughts from the First Heat Wave of the Summer 6/8 – 6/10

New York has the ‘Smell of Humanity’ about it. Going into the subways, you are hit instantly hit by a hot musty smell reminiscent of feet, although much older and with more character. It is the smell of years and years of many people inhabiting a small area. The smell of detritus, garbage, sweat, and death. It makes you wonder how many people notice it, and how long it takes before it becomes just another smell in the background. Speaking of which, there was an overwhelming smell of ozone at 8th avenue and 14th street on the first day. The smell was heavy outside…I cannot imagine that is a good sign for such a short heat wave.

This heat wave made me appreciate the following:
– Central air and the prevalence of central air in Dallas in general.
– Made me put some REAL thought into buying a quality window unit.
– NYC cooks in this kind of weather, and another year of life gets burned into its surface.
– That I need to lose weight.

And there you go. Thoughts from when the city was new to me.

New York is moments, a point in time unlike the one before or next. One moment you are quietly riding the subway with all the other morning commuters and next there is a tejano band serenading the entire car. At the next stop, they move on and there is complete silence again. Moments.

Flying at thirty five thousand feet always helps to clear the mind of the chaos that life is.

Staring out the window and seeing how large and small the world is makes my problems seem insignificant.

If you look hard enough, you can see the abyss staring back.

This picture shows my cracked and broken soul…..

You see what I did there? 😉

In recent years, and the Wife can attest to this, it has become difficult for me to keep a pair of dress shoes for more than 6-8 months. I am not exactly sure why this only seems to affect dress shoes, but my sneakers (or tennis shoes as the Wife calls them) seem to last forever. It might be the way I sit at work, or the fact that I tend to fidget by moving my legs throughout the day. All I know is that I can put a pair of dress shoes through the ringer! Within two months of purchase they end up needing a good polish, sometimes some coloring as well. By six to eight months the soles are gone. If they make it to a year, I cannot wear them on rainy days, or my feet will be soaked.

I just don’t know. The only pair that ever seemed to hold up well was a pair of Clark’s that the Wife bought me years ago. They made it from about 2004 to 2006. Granted they needed and received much maintenance, and it was only after I was sliding all over the place in them that I finally got rid of them, but they seemed to make it the longest. Haven’t been able to find a suitable pair since.

So the saga will continue, as I, The Destroyer of Shoes, continue to try and find the pair that can handle my sheer awesomeness. Or I could just stop fidgeting….whatever comes first.

One last note, for some reason, the Wife doesn’t think that this pair of shoes that i own are suitable for the office. I tend to disagree. 😉