Living Proof

While having breakfast with Mad this morning, she said something very interesting commenting on a discussion we were having regarding a very combative friend of ours. “It’s not what they say - it’s what they don’t say.” I thought about it for a moment, since one of my friends typically says what’s on her mind, to where most of us would just remain quiet about it. It can lead into some heated debates and even some unnecessary arguments. I told Mad, “Well, I’m glad she says what she thinks and doesn’t hold it in, but at the same time, it can be surprising when she spews out her thoughts as well.” But then Mad went on to say even slower than before, “It’s not what they say - it’s. what. they. don’t. say.”   I finally “got it”. The basis of her words were set around motives; the reasoning behind the madness of someone being “too comfortable” telling you what’s on their mind at any given moment. I’d like to think that I’m pretty intuitive when it comes to people and their so called ...

Apparently I’m known to change my mind faster than a leprechaun drinking a pint of beer. I prefer to call them “second thoughts” or the “what if syndrome”. I think it’s pretty normal, but others find it peculiar, and downright annoying. I call it “just being me”. There is always a major decision in your life that you’re faced with, where you either have to say yey or nay - there’s no other choice and if you make no choice at all, you have made one indeed. Basically, whatever you do and whatever you don’t do - time will make the choice for you. My clock’s ticking. My life’s aspiration was never to be a soccer mom or even remotely close to being a parent. I have my own thing. Call it being selfish, call it what you’d like, but I am not a caretaker unless it’s my wife, and she’s pretty low maintenance. It all started roughly three months ago. We were talking about getting a dog. We’re both highly allergic to animals, and were looking at non-hypoallergenic small dogs, like a Shih T...

Last night I originally planned on taking Madelene out for sushi in the city. We were going to walk around, window shop and take in the vibrant energy of Manhattan. Since she had a customer that held her up, we were running very late, so I suggested a local place, perhaps even an entire different type of place. We went to this bar & grill called The Savory Grill , (more so an expensive upscale restaurant with a pub inside) and sat at the way end. It’s not your typical “pub” either. Mad had a sandwich, while I had a burger plus a few drinks to boot, and it costed us about $60 bucks- but this place is so worth it. We’ve known the owners and employees for years. This place is hopping on a Friday night with such an interesting array of people, ages ranging from late 20’s well into the late 90’s. That’s why I love this bar so much. It’s one of the few establishments that has been around this area for more than 20 yrs. Most places usually close down after five months or so becau...

Most knowledge comes from life experiences. The best thing a person can learn is what ‘not’ to do. They know better. It sometimes takes many trials and errors to figure out what does and doesn’t work, what should and shouldn’t be in your life and what you love, as well as what you dislike. And sadly, there are some that just don’t seem to learn no matter how hard life smacks them in the face. There are no wake up calls for that person, just the same day over and over with the same expectations and outcomes. They go around the same mountain a million times and expect to view a different scenery each and every trip. It has to get redundant. Believe me, I know... I’ve gone around that same mountain quite a few times. When I finally stopped and said, “no” - would you believe there were people traveling along with me begging me not to leave them? I hadn’t realized they were traveling with me this whole time. About a year ago, I became friendly with a person who I thought was brigh...

True friendships are rare and beautiful. Some are unconditional, while most are very conditional. There are friendships that are easy-going and ones that are very complicated. I used to develop friendships that were “too close”; close enough to the point of where they felt too comfortable blurting out the most outrageous comments or opinions without thoughts of repercussions on my end, and of course those people who have tried making the friendship more intimate than it already was, platonically. Through many trials and errors, I have learned to to keep a select few close and far many at arm’s length. Boundaries. It sounds like a rule book when you say it, but, regardless, each friendship needs boundaries of many levels. One of my biggest boundaries is mixing friendships with money or business. If they are already in the same line of work as me, then of course I’m going to be friends with them - but I never mix friends before business. A few years back I had lent some money to so...

Who cares? What does it matter if we make it to the top or we stay within our mediocre limitations in life? We. all. die. What does it matter if we’re too rich, too poor? We can’t take our money with us when we die. Who cares if you’re too thin, too fat, too short, too tall? In the end, our bodies turn to ashes anyway. It’s all meaningless... or is it?   Some of us have easy lives, some of us have harder lives, regardless, it’s what we can do with what we have right “now”. Some people feel they can’t give to charity because they’re not “rich”, yet they’ll go out and buy a Starbucks coffee for $5.00. It’s our right to make choices with our own money; our decisions are our own and nobody can say otherwise. Maybe somehow, persuasion can be a revelation for some, making others realize how fortunate they really are. "Again I observed all the oppression that takes place in our world. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great powe...

While walking out of the supermarket today, I had noticed a woman pushing her cart toward her car, which happened to be parked next to mine. She couldn’t be more than 35 or so, but what I noticed were tears streaming down her face as she placed each grocery bag into the trunk of her SUV. She didn’t appear to be sobbing - just tears that fell lightly down her cheek. I tried not to look so much, but my heart was breaking. Maybe this was the only time she could let out her emotions before she came home to a houseful of screaming kids or perhaps, a demanding husband. I was trying to imagine all sorts of scenarios in my head. Maybe someone in the supermarket insulted her? Maybe she just got a disturbing call on her cell phone? Regardless, it was none of my business. I felt the need to go up and console her, but she’d probably shift into her self-defense mode and insist that everything was okay. I hate to see other people hurting. Have you ever felt like there was absolutely no outle...