Happy Birthday Mr. Rockwell

Wow, what a day wasted or a day overworked - depending on how you judge - if I have not used google until 11pm at night only to find that my idol Norman Rockwell was born on this day.

What can I say - the man was an amazing painter and I hope someday to come close to matching his talent. Until that day comes though I will sit and stare in awe at his unbelievable talent and expertise.

So what's my favorite Rockwell painting? Without a doubt Golden Rule. seen below:

With The Problem We All Live With - a close 2nd.

And I didn't even know about this one until today but Negro in the Suburbs is somewhat humorous and might work it's way up my list in the future:

Mr. Rockwell - I thank you so much for your work and your influence. You are still missed.

Monday Motivation #11

“In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it.”
-Jane Smiley

found on thinkexist.com

Monday Motivation #10

"I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.”

- Stanley Kubrick

found on thinkexist.com

Monday Motivation #9 (MLK edition)

“When you are … living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’ — then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

found on
http://trueslant.com/saralibby/2010/01/18/5-martin-luther-king-quotes-for-the-obama-era/

Monday Motivation #8

“Every noble work is bound to face problems and obstacles. It is important to check your goal and motivation thoroughly. One should be very truthful, honest, and reasonable. One's actions should be good for others, and for oneself as well. Once a positive goal is chosen, you should decide to pursue it all the way to the end. Even if it is not realized, at least there will be no regret.”

-Dalai Lama

found on thinkexist.com

Monday Motivation #7

"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way."
- Les Brown

found on thinkexist.com

Happy New Year's - NYC it's nice to visit - depressing to stay

So me and my wife ventured to New York this past long weekend to a) get out of boring Columbus, b) take in the sites and c) see the ball drop. I guess two out of three ain't bad.


We were actually prevented from getting near enough to Times Square in order to see the ball drop. We got off at 42nd street at approximately 7pm - we should have been there about 7 hours earlier in order to get in the crowd. The NYPD kept pushing us farther and farther north. First it was


"Go to 50th Street"


Then when we got to 49th it was


"Go to 54th Street"


And so on, all the while the police continued to block off streets just as we arrived. Our Hotel was on 57th and when they told us to go up to 60th we began to run, made it to cross back over and head down Broadway but the officers stopped us at 59th & Broadway and suddenly penned us off so we couldn't even simply stand where we were. All this is and weather in the mid 30's...

Needless to say we watched the ball drop elsewhere, on a TV screen.


I did get a chance to go to the world renowned and expansive Metropolitan Museum of Art.

pic from atomicana.com

We also got to stroll through Central Park

found on F that S

We also did the whole Times Square thing yesterday. We even saw a Broadway show, I'm reluctant to say which one.

One word to the wise though, if you can put your hands on the Village Voice while you're there - do it. I was a little weak-willed after our concierge's refreshing politeness (compared to every other New Yorker's rudeness and/or disinterest) coupled with my wife saying "please" about 50 times, cost me a pretty penny. I read in the Voice earlier that tickets were on sale at the box office for considerably less than what the concierge was offering them for. I asked her about this and she informed me that they do put a 'surcharge' on their tickets. The 50th "please" from my wife convinced me to buy them at the overcharged rate anyway.

Overall it was a great trip with the exception of the concierge scam (the surcharge for both tickets would've easily paid for 3 decent meals for the two of us in NYC) and a crazy Italian lady who was sitting next to me, texting friends during the Broadway show and kept yelling "can we share?" (referring to the armrest) as she poked her elbow into me while I struggled to keep my personal space in the tiny theatre seats.

On the 2nd day I was all excited to move there but, by this morning I was kinda of done with perpetually angry, rude & impatient New Yorkers. Ah slightly boring Cow-town, C.O., C-bus how I like you ... like a brother.