Tribute

Ever wonder how much ground could be covered in just four months? Well you can now see for yourselves a good snapshot of the places I’ve covered. Using a location-based service called Foursquare, I’ve “checked-in” to over 400 venues in just under 4 months.

I’ve seen and done a lot in New York and Brooklyn. I’ve hit every borough and have even tried beef tendon. I’ve biked the Hudson River Greenway and have walked the Brooklyn Bridge. I’ve stood at the base of the statue of liberty and have rummaged through the vintage stores of Williamsburg. I feel confident of my ability to get out and experience this new city of mine. I feel close to her smells, tastes, and people. However, I do feel sad about the fact that I have to leave, but at this point it is necessary. I’ve forged some great friendships that I looked forward to reconnecting with in the short future down the road!

I’m setting my compass west and in a lot of ways know what I am about to encounter but am aware that there are unknowns. If I return to New York, I’m going to be back with intention. I would like to come back with schooling or a profession in mind.

I’m packed and ready to head to Colorado and thank you all for reading along as my adventure unfolded and continues to unfold.

Feel free to browse the map of Foursquare check-ins below:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Ffeeds.foursquare.com%2Fhistory%2F6881d97d43d22855683dc2240bbd22be.kml%3Fcount%3D400&sll=-56.559482,-31.640625&sspn=163.775729,24.609375&ie=UTF8&ll=36.879621,-95.888672&spn=15.595561,17.473805&output=embed

View larger map in Google Maps

From The Wire, Personal, Travel

February 21, 2011

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Due West

From The Wire: Update #8

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On February 22nd I will be boarding a one way American Airlines flight out of LaGuardia Airport to Denver, Colorado. I’ll have a suitcase, a carry-on and a box packed with my bike. This decision to move to Colorado is tremendously bittersweet. I love every minute I spend out here, especially my time in Brooklyn! Each twist and turn has been a new chance to discover more about myself and my unique place in this world. I’ve met some really great people and have friendships that I know will last long after I leave.

When I left CO, I told my family that if any work opportunities opened up in CO, I wouldn’t hesitate to pursue them. One of the clients I’ve been working with since August is entering a period of transition and I have been given a really rare opportunity to be present for that and help to ease that transition. I have no hesitation in being more involved with an organization that has such a wonderful mission. I’m ready to do the hard work it takes and am elated at the chance to work with some really great folks and encourage people from around the world to be more kind.

I called my sister last week and was excited to break the news to my nephew that I’d be coming home. When I left, I told him I’d be going on a long vacation and as he looked at me with concern, I told him that I wasn’t sure how long it’d be. After seeing my sister in South Carolina in December and upon her returning home, my nephew asked her if I was done with my vacation. So this time, she suggested that I tell him myself. He’s chatty on the phone so after some conversation, I broke the news to him and there was mostly silence on the other end of the line. My sister grabbed the phone and told me that he had the biggest grin on his face. That makes this decision easy.

I don’t know where I’m going to live exactly but feel pretty confident in the couch space that has already been offered.

From The Wire, Personal

January 30, 2011

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Year In Review: Top Music, Experiences, Growth & More

From The Wire: Update #7

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Man, oh man, what a year 2010 has been. A lot has happened over the course of just twelve months. Compared to years passed, this may have been the most eventful, packed full of change and surprises. There has been loads of personal growth and emotional rebuilding. If I had to sum up 2010 in one word, I can’t think of a better one to use than change. If there was one thing that I saw in 2010, it was change.

For starters, I welcomed a new niece to my family through my sister and I celebrated my nephews turning 1 and 5, niece turning 2, and recently was thrilled to find out one more niece is on her way this spring! Old friends moved away and some of the most significant new friends made their way so gracefully into my life. I found a group of people that I’ve never felt so comfortable being around and fully supported by. These people have become a foundation for my personal pursuits, they know who they are and that I love them so much for that.

I grew my business into a self-sufficient revenue stream that afforded me enough financial freedom to relocate to New York City for a while. Through this I’ve discovered that travel and exploration must be integrally involved with my life and pursuits. However, I’ve been learning a lot about where I find home and how home is not a physical location but an emotional and mental state.

Much of my feelings of what I thought to be home were wrapped up within one person and one relationship. The ending of this relationship, and seeming cut-off from everything I thought was my home forced me to look for comfort and home outside of people. I know for sure that I’ll always find a small bit of home in people and significant others but my dependance was unhealthy. I needed to gain more confidence in resting comfortable with myself and my place in this world both physically and spiritually.

I grew a lot this year, and for lack of a better segway, that brings me to my music recommendation section. Music is how I experience a higher power. To me music is the direct voice of God and one of the purest forms of expression. So my top artist of 2010 is Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson or Jónsi, he is best known as frontman of Icelandic post rock band, Sigur Rós. His vocals are uniquely ethereal and before 2010 seemed infinitely reflective and sad. That all changed when he took his act solo and released his album, Go. This sound evolution started on Sigur Rós’s album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust but really was cemented with a live visual performance to match the themes of growth and growing that are present on Go. I was fortunate to see his performance in Denver at the Paramount Theater at the beginning of this tour and at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan recently at the very end of his tour. He’s a brilliant entertainer and creates spiritual music that has guided much of my reflection during this year.

I’ll be a little less wordy for my next few lists, but these are some of my other top music recommendations:

Top 4 Albums of 2010:

• Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son Of Chico Dusty
• Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
• Nathaniel Rateliff – In Memory of Loss
• Beach House – Teen Dream

Top 7 Songs of 2010:

• Kanye West – All of the Lights
• Sufjan Stevens – I Walked
• Beach House – Silver Soul
• The Tallest Man On Earth – The Wheel
• Nathaniel Rateliff – Whimper and Wail
• Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
• The Centennial – Freeman

Top 3 Concerts of 2010:

• Muse and Passion Pit, October 2nd – Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Nathaniel Rateliff and The Tallest Man on Earth, May 19th – Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
• Jónsi, April 21st – Paramount Theater, Denver, CO

I can only look now to 2011. What mystery does the year hold? At this time next year I want to look back and say that the year was one of growth and rebuilding.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

I’ll leave you with some photos from recent memories in NYC and South Carolina:

Me on the Brooklyn side of NYC with Manhattan in the background.	I sang Karaoke with some friends for one of their birthday parties! Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen!
Luke, dad and I at Aimee and Timmy's wedding in South Carolina!	Edisto Beach, SC
Photo of NYC from the airplane coming back from South Carolina.

From The Wire

December 23, 2010

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Community

Whoa, I fell off the wagon there for a few days with my prompts. Nevertheless, I’m back! Today’s prompt is from the ever so talented and lovely Cali (@caligater). She asks “Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?”.

For me, community in 2010 was a funny thing. In a lot of ways I felt like my whole community fell apart, broken by failed marriages and strained relationships. I was unable to reach out to new people, unable to make new friends. With the relationship I was in for the first part of the year, she made me feel stuck. That ended and my community changed.

The second half of my 2010 was wrapped in some of the most quality and supportive community I’ve ever known. I found it at work of all places! This group of people not only carried me through a tough time with the ending of a significant relationship, they also were able to encourage me to take a risk and move to New York.

It’s funny having left such a great community and now to be in New York. I’m here and like starting out fresh in any new place, I’ve a low sense of community. I definitely have a high sense of community online and via talk, text, and skype. That’s ok though for right now. I’m not depressed or sad about it. I know this is a challenge laid out before me. One where I discover priorities and stretch my ability to rely on others. I’ve been relying on the fact that these decisions are not my own and something else is in control. I can only hope that 2011 brings a sense of movement and clarity.

This blog post is part of #REVERB10, an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we’ll do both.

Personal, Reverb 10

December 7, 2010

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Moments

Just a little over a month and a half ago, my family gathered to celebrate my nephew’s 5th birthday party. It honestly seems like a lifetime has passed since I was in the plaza below La Giralda in Seville, Spain and received the call from my mom that Ben had been born. The first of now what seems like a small army of nieces and nephews… and there’s another soon on his or her way! So for my aunts and uncles I can’t imagine what it feels like to see me and my siblings grow up.

This year’s memory has to do with my nephew’s party, it’s one that sticks out to me this morning. One moment of recent memory sticks out.

My brother and I have not always been close. In fact, you could probably say we were something of enemies at one point. My memory is one that no doubt cast me back to a time before my brother and I were enemies. It was at was something as simple as being with my brother and family on this afternoon and sharing a childish moment. We grabbed a couple golf clubs and began swinging practice balls around my sister and brother-in-law’s yard. That’s it. It is that simple, the air was cold but the sun was out. Children were running every which way but my brother and I picked destinations to hit towards and played a round of golf. We talked and laughed. The skin on my fingers cracked from the arid Colorado climate and cold air.

This blog post is part of #REVERB10, an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we’ll do both.

Personal, Reverb 10

December 3, 2010

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Eliminating Bad Fuel

Since moving to NY, there have been an infinite amount of delicious (and unhealthy) places to eat out. It’s incredible once you realize what effect food has on the way your body and mind operates. It drives every little movement you make everyday. It’s your fuel. It’s what provides mental clarity for things like writing.

Can I eliminate delicious and potentially unhealthy foods from my diet… yes of course! Do I want to… definitely not! So I’ll practice moderation and a more regimented system for eating. No more of this if I eat two good and healthy meal then I can definitely splurge and eat my third REALLY unhealthy!

This blog post is part of #REVERB10, an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we’ll do both.

Reverb 10

December 2, 2010

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Musical Memorabilia

From The Wire: Update #6

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Keep these questions in the back of your mind: What is some of your musical memorabilia, which of your life’s memories have been impacted most by music, what’s your favorite album and why?

The band (minus Eric) before or after one of our shows in high school.

Music has been a mainstay here in The Big City and subsequently, my life. It travels with me on the subway, it adds a soundtrack to the streets, it quietly sings me to sleep. I don’t honestly know what I would do without music… I might be nuts! It’s incredibly spiritual for me as well.

One of my fondest and most meaningful musical experiences was listening to Paul Simon’s Graceland during any of our many family road trips. Simon’s brilliance arranged a slice of traditional South Africa with modern rock all the while sounding 80s enough to know when the album was made but not 80s enough to REALLY know when the album was made. Up to this day, listening to it makes me nostalgic and happy.

I remember being at the Target in Wheaton sometime in the mid 90s and deciding that I didn’t want to listen to my brother’s music anymore. I wanted to own music of my own. I was in the checkout line with one of my parents and ran back to the music section and grabbed the first piece of music of my adult life, Jars of Clay’s self-titled album. Quite quickly thereafter I bought Third Eye Blind’s self-titled album. Little did I know, nearly 14 years later, this album is still one of my favorites.

I remember the first time that I realized my musical influences were the direct result of my parent’s taste… it was terrifying . I knew I fell somewhere on the spectrum from Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills & Nash (my mom) to Led Zeppelin and Elton John (my dad). I’m fortunate to have parents with a great taste in music!

Just two weeks ago, Icelandic musician, Jónsi, and his partner Alex Somers performed here in NYC with The Hilliard Ensemble, the Latvian National Choir and the Wordless Music Orchestra at the White Light Festival. I found out about this extraordinary event on the night of the actual performance and had to listen to it stream live online. A very good friend of mine in Denver named Koan was listening as well. We were able to share in this truly magical music experience and chat about it over the internet.

I like how my musical tastes have evolved over the years based on life and the people around me. I like how music is able to influence your emotions and reveal beauty in an uncanny way.

I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below answering one or all of the following questions:

• What is some of your musical memorabilia?
• Which of your life’s memories have been impacted most by music?
• What’s your favorite album and why?

From The Wire

December 2, 2010

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