love it or leave it

wow, i write a lot of bull crap. that last blog is kind of ridiculous. i should really think about a day delay on posting these things.

so anyway. i'm sitting in the Library Hotel in New York. It's freaking freezing outside. Freaking ridiculous. New York is ridiculous. It's one big freaking garbage truck. You walk around hills of trash bags on every street. You stay at any hotel in New York on a low enough floor, and you hear garbage trucks all evening, night, and morning long. It's not a real knock against New York. New York is great. it brings out humanity's true characteristics. for instance, wasteful. rotten.

it's ridiculous! i honestly love and hate new york. i walked to the gym tonight and loved it. i walked back from the gym tonight and hated it. (this hotel is a 'concept' hotel. the concept apparently lacks a gym. though i do like the hotel.)

i've traveled a lot this year. i can't complain.. it's been fun.

detroit for new year's
.... expanse of time when i didn't go anywhere because of busy season...
Savannah, Knoxville, JC (doesn't really count as travels, but i'll keep it in), Nashville, and again JC in May
Folly Beach in June
Gauley River (WVa), Chicago, Houston in July
Rochester, NYC, Boston in August
San Jose, JC, Knoxville in Sept
Valle Crucis, Atlanta, Raleigh in Oct
Simms (eastern NC - hard to find) at beginning of Nov, Dallas last week, and here i am again in beautiful, frigid New York.

Will round out Nov in the homestead again.
Dec will be Atlanta, JC, and bookending with Detroit.

traveling truly is addictive. something overseas needs to be had next year.

it's funny the stuff you learn when traveling. like: the plane does always take off even though all the overhead compartments are full and there is a 200+ lb. man sitting on either side of you. they DID in fact make runways long enough. hourly parking in Charlotte is cheaper than daily parking in most major cities.

i have also learned some about a little-known mystery - USA Today journalism. it's a little like New York - love and hate it both. 4 easy-to-navigate sections. good. big weather map on back. good. color! pictures! good. Decent pro/con editorials. good. crossword. good.

stupid front-page headlines. bad. for instance, one of today's was:

Economy sets travel back a bit for holiday
'Grandma matters,' but fewer trips likely

A full article followed. Really? You took up a fifth of the front page of one of the most widely distributed newspapers in America to expound on that? What the hell?

meanwhile, on the next page, this got one little line in the Nationline section:
"The State of the Black World conference opens in New Orleans."

That's it. Not a word more... Am i the only one who wants to know more about this? First of all, what is this "Black World" and where is it? And you can define the state of this world? And people (... black people?!) are convening to discuss it? ..?

Well, i googled it, and it is true. it's happening. And on the site (that won 1st place on google search), there was an ad begging me to "Join thousands of members looking for their interracial partner!" The picture is really funny. I would feel a little weird putting it in my blog, to be honest. Just envision white bare-chested male staring at cropped-out tits of Beyonce look-a-like.

anyway. i'm off on a tangent again. cutting it off before it gets silly.