Quote: Facebook Twits

get a life

 how many Twitters, Facebook status serial updaters etc have another form of Attention Deficit Disorder: they need attention to the point of a disorder

Is Staten Island too Close to New Jersey?

great, cheap view

•  it is of course literally close to Jersey
• aren't a majority  of those Jersey shore geniuses really from Staten Island?
• wasn't the Real World with maybe  the most champs  (saying a lot) the one that took place in Staten island? (have to say: thanks for the  brain tobacco MTV  producers!)
• NJ-like  inferiority complex: S.I was disproportionately big on hte subway maps that were used  for around 10 years (the whole island has i think one subway line. Manhattan has the most of course and it was relatively small). the recent new maps have put S.I smaller, appropriately (on a subway map, and it's by far the smallest borough in population)

and now some old time NY stereotypes in the mix: 

• recent immigrant beatings
• a mosque has been rejected in one of their neighborhoods after outspoken and public  bigotry against it. also the Catholic diocese that owned the land/building reneged on their deal (how many molestation accusations have been brought against imams  lately?)

yeah it seems rough. however as a tour guide i used to try to express the good places  of all the boroughs, for instance S.I: Museum of Tibetan art, zoo, botanical garden, Ferry of course. but i would love the bigotry, ignorance,  idiocy to stop. come on folks, the largest garbage dump in the world closes and this is what takes its place? 

Equinox Full Moon (no it's not the new Twilight book)

rare today, that we have the Equinox and a full Moon. near even amounts of day and night with top lunar brightness.

a lot of folks think a lot of bs about the Equinox: first day of Autumn (wrong: hottest days end around Labor day). me and many others used to say that it was the one day you can balance an egg on end (also wrong: can be done any day).

it's actually not that complicated: Equinox sounds like Equator. hence it's the exact time that the Equator lines up directly with the Sun. "Summer" in Tropics ( kind of), begin. darker days here, Sunnier days in SOuthern hemisphere. near equal light and dark most everywhere. that's about it. but again most technical: Equinox and Equator.

Are YOu a Whore?

the very definition of a whore is some one who's with some one else because he has money. he may be  a dick, not good looking, boring, old, but he has money and you stay. you're a whore.  if you're with someone because of his money (including, assets, cars, house, etc), you're a whore.

and you're not with anyone else who doesn't have money.  if you're not with some one else because they have no money, but let's say has everything else, humor, intellect, looks etc, you're again a whore.

by the way, that includes, very much so, first dates. and someone who can't afford to pay for you. and some one who can't afford to pay your bills. your house, your kids, your 100 shoes, your rings blings.

you want equal pay, equal rights? then you gotta grow the fuck up. we're always told to '"be a man'";   until you really act like an adult,  you don't deserve equal treatment.  you can't have it both ways.

but then, you'll find some john eventually to pay your way and be "happy'" with right?

My Really Odd jobs

"Iraqi Army": pretty close 

now we've all heard the phrase odd jobs, folks hat have switched careers, actors with weird jobs etc. don't know if anyone can compare to me though

• mentioned before: Men's room attendant, strip joints. mentioned before. as said, no jerking off in the stalls that i ever knew of, but  lots of coke (probably strippers, definitely  patrons)
• phone psychic. don't know if i worked for Miss Cleo or whatever. didn't last long, i really felt bad about just reading out of  a book fortunes. 
• Mr Wizard, actually called  his "assistant', 1 man show to schools. did his show around the nation, mainly Cal, and the northeast.  awful job: everything solo (set up, sound, performance, trans, paperwork, more), company didn't care if you literally had to drive all night to a school, directions were very tough (pre gps, how were we to know how to get to a school? and we weren't allowed to rely on directions from the school!)
• as mentioned before:  NYC  tour guide. again awful: horrible buses, drivers that you literally can't communicate with, a bus full of tourists that don't speak much English driving in pouring rain through Manhattan. nightmare. 
• role player with the Marines.  . the Marines needed to train in the desert for Iraq. 29 Palms Marine base is biggest in world i think, middle of Mojave desert. they needed to train for community interaction, so they built a fake town, with fake townspersons, including me. learned some Arabic, how to shoot an AK 47, played "Iraqi army', insurgent, etc. good job, horrible conditions. 

none of this is bullshit or exaggeration. this is just a partial listing i can probably come up with more, at least unique temp (couple day, 1 day) jobs. 

Once and Present Thoughts: Sept 11

Arab neighborhood

after the 2nd 110 floor  tower went down the early suggestion were to go out and give blood because many  thought that there would be many injured. i went out and walked towards i think Elmhurst hospital. i was living in Astoria Queens near the Tri borough bridge. at our side  is one of the busiest intersections in the city: 31 st, Grand central parkway, the  bridge, interstate, maybe more. it was at a stand still at this time though:  no one getting  over the bridge because of security probably,  cars everywhere.

 i went  to the hospital but they had so many donors that we were turned away (and folks complain about rude NYers). one guy on line  had a big turban, bearded, medium toned skin.. i talked with a nice guy and a girl. . we went walking to another hospital. Queens is very diverse and  we  thru what i think was an Arab neighborhood. much of it quiet that day  like many neighborhoods in the city.

 but me and the guy remarked, that it would maybe be  the beginning of a blast of hatred  against Arabs. it was assumed quickly  that bin Laden and the other terrorists were responsible, and ignoramuses would render Arabs guilty by McCarthyist association.

what we didn't think was that the bias  would still be alive 9 years later.seemingly more hateful than times closer to the tragedy.  Fox news, right wing bigots (redundant?), book burners,  hateful protesters that want to "bombard" the Islamic center in lower Manhattan. ii thought there would be an earlier expiration date but no.

i also want to remind those  politicians that don't believe in big government but are using this tragedy  as a political jack pot, and those out of towners that are against the Islamic center: if im not mistaken, the majority of folks that died hat day were NYers.   and it is in OUR  city that the center is being built. as far as the loved ones of the deceased, they were more likely to be here.  it was us going all over town and standing in huge lines to be turned away to give blood. it was us that had to smell the stink of burning as far north as the 60s  (up town, miles away). it was us that had to walk miles home that day.

  i know it was an attack on America and a lot of non NYers died.  and the center is going up (i hope) in our city, and it is our business literally. you ever hear of "think global act local?" we live in this city, with Muslims, Arabs etc, we mostly  live together, in peace, prosperity etc. we don't need opportunistic politicians or bigots from out of town telling us what to do with a  property in our city that peaceful, lawful people want to use.

A Good Wall (St) Makes Good Muslim Neighbors?

im a licensed NY City tour guide and know way too much about our history.  the Dutch were the first European settlers in lower Manhattan and they came here to make money, and it's been that way ever since. however they were advanced enough to "buy out" the Natives and not massacre them.

Wall st is so named because the Dutch  erected a wall there to keep out the British, or Natives, depending on your source. and so began the segregation way back then.


keep in mind the Europeans started settling at lower Manhattan and built their way up contuiing north, generally. so after the Dutch came the British and they fought.  the new Americans fought with the Brits (and now  im talking guns, prisoners, disease, not bigots with signs and/or politicians). everyone put down the blacks for a long time of course. later, the natives (now we're talking euro descendants) and at times the government  fought against the Irish, Jews, Italians, Asians. . the infamous 5 Points was pretty close to the future World trade center, and the Lower East Side close to that. "different" folks, "immigration problems", "security". sounds familiar im sure.





interesting though, that the Muslims have been there for a while now: the people, a mosque right down there before  the WTC.  Muslims were killed on Sept 11 itself.

and the Financial district went from people advanced enough to trade and not kill, to having  "greed is good" as their absolute,  to sociopaths severely damaging the economy of the entire world. not much movement to get them out of there either, besides Michael Moore  in a poorly reviewed film.

you see New York should maybe be called the city of the phoenix even more so than the western city. especially with an area like lower Manhattan. an area of horrible bigotry, violence, war, disease, poverty, that has risen up repeatedly through its history to give us a world leader in commerce, great architecture, at times great leadership, and of course great history.

and i hope that our city rises again in defiance of terrorists, bigots, extremists, ignorance, avarice, sociopathology. irregardless of who perpetuates such crimes against humanity: American, Muslim, rich, poor, extremist, politician, "average joe".