Goals

So things haven't been so great lately. But I could either let it consume me or I could keep busy and do my own thing. That's what everyone tells me. Stay busy. Keep your mind busy. So I'm going into super study mode and hitting the books. I'm planning on taking my SND exam at the end of March so I'll be cramming until then. I even took the last week of March off so I can completely focus and prepare for the exam. I'm taking a class for the second exam starting mid-April so I hope I get the first exam done with before then. I hope to take that second exam by June. And if things go well, my third exam this fall. My plan is to finish the 5 exams needed for my CCSP by next year when my CCNA expires.

Hail to the bus driver!

The bus driver for the number 85 bus at 4:30pm is a dead ringer for Joe Girardi. He even has the crew cut like Joe. Shouldn't he be getting the Yanks ready in Legends Field instead of driving me home? hehe Ok, that's all I have on the matter.

Adventures of S & A

So I went to Home Depot with S today because she wanted to get her boyfriend a toolbox and she needed my assistance in picking out such an item. She also got a plant from HD which kept tipping over in her car and spilling soil. I was in the passenger seat and the plant was on the floor behind me and I had to hold it up with one hand. At one point we thought we had sufficiently held the plant in place by moving my seat back so it pinned the pot to the backseat, but then she turned and there it went again! She exclaimed, "How come every time I'm hanging out with you, it turns into an adventure!?" hahaha It's true, there have been some really fun adventures. I'd like to point out two in particular that we recalled. 1) We were looking for a Papa John's on route 440 and ended up in Staten Island. A guy yelled at me at the toll booth because I was slowly changing lanes and he was speeding towards the booth and I got in his way. We ended up at Olive Garden that night and she made a waitress drop all her dishes because S wanted to get attention to ask for more bread. 2) S and I went to Edgewater one day and were in the drive through of a McDonald's because we wanted McFlurries and these kids cracked us up because one was pushing another in a shopping cart through the drive through. lol! Funny kids. That wasn't so much of an adventure as it was something funny but aahh, good times.

Death in Venice

Death in Venice is a book by Thomas Mann and it's one of my favorite books. I first read it in high school and even after all these years, the imagery has really stuck with me. Aschenbach was a renowned writer who decides to take a trip to Venice. During his vacation, he develops a distant love for a young boy named Tadzio. (No the gayness isn't why I like the book.. keep reading.) This love eventually turns to obsession. At the time that Aschenbach takes his trip, Venice is overrun by a secret disease. Although the city is a great tourist attraction and caters to them, there are warning signs posted by the Health Department and the smell of disinfectant is in the air. What I like about the book is that there are two sides to everything. Aschenbach is famous and has to present that image to the public but secretly he has another side to him. Venice is a beautiful tourist attraction but it is secretly being eaten away by disease. I think that the hidden side always ends up eating away at the facade that's presented to the public. Whether you present yourself as a free spender, but in reality you're a cheapskate, or whether you act like you care, but you really don't give a rat's ass, or whether you act pious, but you're just a sinner, or whether you put on a brave front for someone, but you're really torn up inside. It all eventually bubbles to the surface no matter how hard you try to suppress it.

I'm like Sylar

For those of you who don't watch Heroes and don't know who Sylar is, allow me to explain. He's a bad guy with a power to grasp how another person with a power clicks - how they use their power. He then goes on to chop off the top of their skulls and absorb that person's power. Whenever he starts to read a person, they play a ticking sound in the background. He was originally a watch repairman and first displayed his power by grasping the inner workings of a broken watch. Skylar sees a person and has the ability to see their inner workings; sees why they're "broken" - for lack of a better word. He can see what's wrong with them and what makes them the way they are.

I think I'm like Sylar because I am also pretty good at getting to know the inner workings of a person once I get to know them. I know what makes them tick; and what makes them tock for that matter. I know some aspects about them that they may not know themselves and I link these traits to one another in my head. I take conversations, actions and the like to form a tapestry of that person.

So even if you think I don't know you and I don't know what's wrong, I do. For those close to me who are broken, I do hear you ticking. And I'll do whatever it takes to fix you.