Month: January 2011

I wonder if this is taught in Liturgy 101

It seems that during Christmas service at a church in Long Island, someone involved in the communion service had hepatitis A. The gift jokes are endless. It was discovered that the person has hep A until after the Christmas service so the church is offered free vaccines yesterday and today. All the papers showed up and possible that hundreds took up the offer for the free vaccines. To be honest, I never thought about how to handle the situation when someone involved in the communion has a medical issue and how to react to it. The church seems to be doing a good job handling the situation. I remember when Swine Flu hit and all the hoopla surrounding the common cup. Now hep A might freak out a few folks even though its intinction, not sipping, that is the most unsanitary! One way around that might just be to have terrible tasting wine – it will keep dipping and sipping to the bare minimum.

Metrocard Math

During my trip, I missed two important New York things. Actually, I probably missed way more than two but, right now, I’ll narrow down NYC into only two things – these are the only TWO THINGS that were of any importance during the last three weeks. First, I missed snowmageddon. Second, I missed the metrocard fare hike.

So, today, I walked to the subway station to refill my card. Since I’m no longer in NYC full time, I only buy single rides – no unlimited rides for me (except for the occasional one-day unlimited pass when I know I’ll be making 4 or more rides in 1 day). There were four Metrocards in my wallet so I had to check each one to see if any money was left on them, and then went through the motion to refill my card. I got to the machine, noticed that there was no general $40.00 option on the screen anymore, and – after buying $40.00 worth of rides, I noticed that my bonus was $2.80 cents. A one way ride is $2.25. What the hell am I suppose to do with that extra 55 cents?

It turns out that one of the magic numbers for new metrocards is, currently, $39.95. Because of the 7% bonus, and the fact that everything has to be in 5 cent increments, spending $39.95 will give you exactly 19 rides. This doesn’t take into account the future “fee” where every new metrocard will cost you $1.00. Doesn’t $39.95 sound like a price from an infomercial? Honestly, I should be getting a free sham-wow every time I buy a metrocard now.

New Year’s Resolutions

A friend of mine with a newborn just made a deal with his kidling that for every resolution he fails to complete, he will give his son $100. My wife thinks that is a wonderful idea and thinks I should do the same thing except that she will get the $100 instead. And as one of my goals is to try and blog everyday (I like making resolutions that are impossible to keep), my wife now believes that everyday I fail to blog, I should give her $100. I don’t think I’ll take her up on that offer.

I tend not to make too many resolutions mostly because I don’t like using the New Year as a yard marker. Instead, I think Birthdays, the start of a new school year, and Christmas are better yard markers for some reason. I like thinking of my year as beginning when I was born and since the start of a school year is (to me) the official end of summer and the beginning of fall, I find myself to be very reflective at that time. Plus, I prefer not to make resolutions during the middle of a cold period where my desire to hibernate in my sweltering cave tends to push all resolutions that require me to actually go outside, to the curb. If I’m going to make changes to my life, I prefer to give myself a fighting chance to actually WIN.

But blogging more is something I would like to do. And I’m hoping to bust out my camera more and take pictures. One thing that I noticed during my trip to Florida (I’m back in the lovely it’s-forty-degrees-colder-than-Tampa NYC) was how, on New Year’s Eve, even though I felt happy, my eyes in all pictures looked tired and it just felt difficult to smile. I was exhausted, low on energy, and I had yet to have an opportunity to be by myself and recharge and it was obvious on my face. But I still kept pushing myself to do things and I enjoyed myself and I had a lovely time. I wasn’t unhappy, miserable, or doing anything I didn’t want to do. But my face and eyes were showing me just how worn out I was. And I’m sure other people could see it. And that is something I would like to figure out this year.

I’m not a completely introvert but I have come to realize that I am able to recharge myself better when I am alone. In a weird way, I can also feed off the energy of others and push through life but that’s not the best way for me to be at my best. And with my travels between Philly and NYC, my time at LTSP, and my field experience, I really never have time to sit and recharge. And this has been noticed by my peers and supervisors and it has impacted my work to some degree. So I’m hoping to figure out ways for me to recharge. This might require me to learn how to speed read so I can free up time during my studies. I might need to learn how to maximize the limited time I have on public transportation and just put my books away. And if none of this works, then I might just need to learn how to fake it and to keep my eyes looking as energized as possible. Face scrubs, eye creams, or ditching my contacts, might at least trick my face to appear more energized than it has in the past. If I am energized enough to still engage with people, to participate in the world, to actively plan, make goals, and do things, my eyes and face should reflect that. And as a pastor, my body language is going to need to make this change. I’ll draw the line, however, at drawing eyeballs on my eyelids to pretend to be awake while I’m snoozing. I’m not that good of an artist.

Little Jockey

As my time in Florida nears its end, I realize I have yet to share what could be one of my “highlights” from the trip. This story could also highlight one of the reasons why I can never leave New York.

K, my father-in-law, and I went to dinner at a Thai restaurant. As we entered the small restaurant, I noticed a woman staring at me. She was eating dinner with a man and I noticed that she had been drinking. She leaned across her table slightly, believing that I would not be able to hear that comment she was going to make to her companion. The problem with her plan was that I was sat only three tables away from her. So, as I took my seat, removed my leather bomber jacket, and adjusted my cap, I heard her say “awwww. He looks like a little jockey!” She then proceeded to stare at me for the rest of her time in the restaurant.

The incident didn’t bother me too much (I have been called many different things in my life and there’s nothing wrong with being called a jockey) but it’s just a reminder of the vast gulf between the culture of NYC and Florida. In NYC, I’m one of many fashionable guys. In Florida, they’re about five years behind the times. If I ever do leave NYC, I’m going to need to plan yearly trips back to the Big Apple just to stock up on culture, fashion, and just life in general.