who doesn't need a little inspiration on a friday?

in

so in searching the annals of your blogs for photos of your gorgeous selves to put alongside your responses about perfect bodies (this has proved very difficult) i found this at morgan's let me help you help me. and i had to pass it on.


it is an excerpt of the commencement speech given to this year's graduating class at the university of portland. given by Paul Hawken (author, environmentalist, and entrepreneur). 

the following are the bits that morgan found most exciting and i have to agree with her. however, you can find the whole speech here. 

 

"When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world."

 

"Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every

thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would create new religions overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television.

 

This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every

moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss.

The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hope only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it."


holy moly.

and then of course there is this bit:


...can you feel your body? Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore it, and wonder instead when this  speech will end. You can feel it. It is called life. This is who you are.


yup. i think are bodies are pretty damn "perfect" indeed. as are paul's words.

keys.

in

when i was little and my mom came to pick me up from carpool, i would recognize the sound of her keys before she ever got to me.


and if i got lost in the store, i would close my eyes. and listen. listen, very carefully. and i would hear that faint and familiar jingle and relieved, i would bound towards it. 

she didn't get it. to recognize the clatter of keys? what kind of strange child had she born?

but i got it. a constellation of keys exists in this world of ours. each with its own unique musicality. some more familiar than others.

the other night, standing in line at the drug store, i heard a familiar key clink and looked up to find myself staring at the back of a stranger. 

and that's when i began to wonder. is that how i will find him? will i recognize the sound of keys before i've even met him? the sound of a gateway to a home we might one day share?

so i've started listening. i haven't closed my eyes, though. i'm keeping them wide open and living my life. but the sixth sense of this strange-child and would-be-wife is piqued. 


what to do in nyc: the subway (the 1 line)

in

when it comes to transportation, i advocate transport by foot at all times.

however, when it's too far to walk, take the subway. it is safe, easy, and a colorful slice of this city i love. 

if you're here for any amount of time over two days and plan on seeing things all over, buy yourself an mta week-long pass, even at $27 it's a steal--especially since the price of a single ride is going up to $2.25.

i can really only speak to the red line. the red line consists of the 1, 2, and 3 trains. the 1 train runs local, the 2 and 3 run express--meaning they only stop at a few of the stations. the 1 train is a west side staple.

the 1 line runs north to south from 242nd street to the south ferry. however, i began my rudimentary map at 116 for the purpose of focusing on the majority of the areas of interest. 

however, the best resource for travel directions via subway is HopStop.com
HopStop is like mapquest for those of us in the city.

and in creating my map, i referred to this mta website. 













notes:

  • things emphasized in red are my personal recommendations.
  • the double red lines under (96th, 72nd, 42nd, 34th, and 14th {i forgot them, but they should be there} denote the express 2/3 stops.
  • gray's papaya is the best hot dog joint in the city. don't eat hot dogs? walk by for the smell alone. on late nights during college we would head here to fortify the stomach.
  • i included fairway on 74th and whole foods at columbus circle for your picnic-outfitting needs.
  • magnolias (the oh-so-famous cupcake bakery) can be found in greenwich village (the original) or on the UWS (upper west side) at 68th and columbus. as well as a few other places around the city, but i can't speak to those locations.
  • the stores in red, Anthropologie (my scanner cut of the "a"), Zara's, H&M, Forever 21...are the places that I like to shop. i have yet to check out topshop--but when i do i'll be sure to add it to the list. 
  • arte around the corner, located between 72nd and 73rd on columbus is where i like to go to read, write, and sip on iced coffee. after a long day of pounding the pavement, get yourself a glass of wine, here. 
  • central park begins at columbus circle (59th street) and extends up to 110 (i tried to indicate that with the green scribble). i will do a post on the park itself, but my favorite places to check out include the bathesda fountain, the jackie onassis resevoir, and (my favorite) the conservatory gardens (enter on 5th avenue at 105th street). however, up near 103rd and central park west the park is home to a lovely little pond and some perfect picnicking spots.
  • to walk across the brooklyn Bridge for grimaldi's pizza get off the 1 line at chambers street. 
  • my favorite pizza in nyc can be found at big nick's on 71st and columbus (but this may just be just because i have fond college memories here). 
this is far from perfect, but it's a start.