So far so good in Jersey. I've owned a car for almost one entire week and I've since avoided running over people/animals. That second part is lame? Running over animals? Well, you sir have never lived in New Jersey. Because if you did then you'd know how many animals get hit and are splattered on the highways. No, that isn't an oil spill.
I've also learned some of the pros and cons of living in Jersey. Pro, you can drive 75 mph and you're barely keeping with traffic. Con, I haven't seen bigger douches on the road since I was in a cab with my parents in China and he pulled an illegal U-turn to go the wrong way down a one way street just before he drove up on the sidewalk. Pro, its so easy to find good Italian food everywhere you go, and the people even talk like Italians! Con, everyone is cursing at each other ALL the time. So far that's all I got on my list about the good and bad of Jersey. I mean there's more, so much more, but I need to spare my top ten lists while I shake my writing rust off. So for now, lists of two.
I should also update everyone about my other writing. Book of short stories = universally rejected (at least by the agents I reached out to). Now, this isn't the worst thing in the world. Part of me felt like it still needed work but I wasn't sure. Now I know it certainly does! Having said that one agent did give me positive feedback, she was actually on the fence about whether or not to take me on. So, I know I have some work to do but I'll get there. New goal is to have a book published by the end of this year.
And now Spring is here and after the winter we've all had I couldn't be happier. There was that smell today as the drizzle started. That rain smell that just sparks so many memories from when you're a kid playing in the rain to more recent Summer's when you just hanging out taking it all in. Romantic, yes. Nostalgic, definitely. Yet for me, especially being from Minnesota where the Winter makes everything barren, Spring is an amazing time. Beyond the skirts that come out is that old sense of rebirth. Everyone changes, everyones mood lifts. No other seasonal change sparks the same feeling in us. We go from dreading the snow to hoping for a little rain. As everything and everyone around us blossoms we feel that renewed hope that maybe the tough times are over for the year. Maybe now we can celebrate and enjoy. Some people want to live in only warm climates so they never have to experience Winter again. I don't, I appreciate Winter for what it truly is. And the change to Spring in unparalleled in feeling and sights and sounds after a Winter that is true to it's name. So enjoy the Spring everyone! Let's see what grows this year.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Jersey Shore
It's been a while since I've been on to write something. I've followed a new path that has led me to new adventures. Currently I am living the life of a 9-5er. That's right, Dylan's gone corporate. The new job is a great mix of the things that keep me personally interested in a job: people, learning, yelling, solving problems, and not bar tending anymore. I know what you're thinking, how could he give up the life? Well, it was easy. I just realized I needed a little more mental challenge and a little less mental problems from my regulars (no offense, but you're all crazy). So now I've found myself in the suburb of New York, New Jersey. In a quaint town called Jersey City, because they thought it sounded as good as New York City. It doesn't.
Now I do have to say something about getting around Jersey. It does have mass transit, it costs you as much as owning a car, but they do have it. And their roads? It's like driving on the moon with all the craters that seem to be classified as simply "potholes". And don't get me started about navigating around New Jersey. If your state's roads confuses your GPS so badly that it tells you to stop and ask for directions then you've got problems. These are roads where you can start on the 1 & 9, which is two separate roads that link together and then eventually break off. Oh, did I mention that there's an express route too? And also a truck route? I mean, I'm no mathematician but that means there's 2 X 2 X 2 = 123349 different roads on this one road alone. Like I said, I'm no mathematician, but that's a lot of numbers I just made up.
Oh you want to take the New Jersey Turnpike? That's NJTP for those who don't know. It's also I-95, which is all they needed to call it but they're *$#@ing douches so there you go. And if you get stuck trying to drive on that one you'll be in traffic, have to pay a toll, realize you went the wrong way, have to pay a toll coming back, and then scream as you miss your exit again. Driving in Jersey is like Grand Theft Auto, except it's more vulgar and it creates a greater desire for violence. You ever seen the MTV series Jersey Shore? It's like that except more dysfunctional. And then I bought a car because that's the fun of living in Jersey.
I've got something else on my chest that I need to get off too, and I'm not talking about my pecs that have turned slightly man-boobish. I'm talking about faith, faith in every sense of the word. I tend to make a lot of big decisions, moving here or there, taking this job or that, and that brings a lot of opportunities for doubt. It's easy to second guess a decision. It's easy to question the simple things we do just as we question the larger events and choices. What we forget so often is that once the decision is made, it's made. You can't change what you did. You can learn from past mistakes or past choices that didn't work out. You have to remember that it's in the past. And you cannot predict the future. We need faith in our lives, even if it's not including the spiritual part. We need it because it is the foundation of our confidence. That swagger that has brought us so much success in the past. In the end, no matter your religious beliefs, you have faith, you carry it with you. It is the root of your happiness, because if you were to constantly doubt your past and current decisions, you could never be happy with who you are with now, what you are doing now, where you are living now, and your life now. That simple belief in yourself, that little bit of confidence, gives you everything even if you have nothing.
This week's Wandering Wizard is brought to you by Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. Paulaner drunk in authentic beer stein's, it's DE-licious.
Now I do have to say something about getting around Jersey. It does have mass transit, it costs you as much as owning a car, but they do have it. And their roads? It's like driving on the moon with all the craters that seem to be classified as simply "potholes". And don't get me started about navigating around New Jersey. If your state's roads confuses your GPS so badly that it tells you to stop and ask for directions then you've got problems. These are roads where you can start on the 1 & 9, which is two separate roads that link together and then eventually break off. Oh, did I mention that there's an express route too? And also a truck route? I mean, I'm no mathematician but that means there's 2 X 2 X 2 = 123349 different roads on this one road alone. Like I said, I'm no mathematician, but that's a lot of numbers I just made up.
Oh you want to take the New Jersey Turnpike? That's NJTP for those who don't know. It's also I-95, which is all they needed to call it but they're *$#@ing douches so there you go. And if you get stuck trying to drive on that one you'll be in traffic, have to pay a toll, realize you went the wrong way, have to pay a toll coming back, and then scream as you miss your exit again. Driving in Jersey is like Grand Theft Auto, except it's more vulgar and it creates a greater desire for violence. You ever seen the MTV series Jersey Shore? It's like that except more dysfunctional. And then I bought a car because that's the fun of living in Jersey.
I've got something else on my chest that I need to get off too, and I'm not talking about my pecs that have turned slightly man-boobish. I'm talking about faith, faith in every sense of the word. I tend to make a lot of big decisions, moving here or there, taking this job or that, and that brings a lot of opportunities for doubt. It's easy to second guess a decision. It's easy to question the simple things we do just as we question the larger events and choices. What we forget so often is that once the decision is made, it's made. You can't change what you did. You can learn from past mistakes or past choices that didn't work out. You have to remember that it's in the past. And you cannot predict the future. We need faith in our lives, even if it's not including the spiritual part. We need it because it is the foundation of our confidence. That swagger that has brought us so much success in the past. In the end, no matter your religious beliefs, you have faith, you carry it with you. It is the root of your happiness, because if you were to constantly doubt your past and current decisions, you could never be happy with who you are with now, what you are doing now, where you are living now, and your life now. That simple belief in yourself, that little bit of confidence, gives you everything even if you have nothing.
This week's Wandering Wizard is brought to you by Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. Paulaner drunk in authentic beer stein's, it's DE-licious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
