I Heart Philly

There are a variety if reasons to hate Philly. If you have ever been here, you probably know what I mean. Too much crime and poverty. Cemeteries on every corner and old, decrepit monuments and ruins left over from before Pennsylvania's official statehood (big shocker that The Sixth Sense took place in this truly creepy city). And don't get me started on the weather. All of this, and more, I realized on my first visit to the city.

And so, being in the general holiday, overly cheery mood, I decided that this time I would find the good in a city full of a whole lot of bad bad people (I am including me in this gross generalization...). Other than my grandparents, who are very good reasons to love any place, I have found another very specific reason to love this city.

H&M. It is that simple. If you have not been to this store, go now. Please, for the love of cheap, fashionable clothes. GO!!!!!!!

My little black Jetta

About a month ago I purchased a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. And I have to say that I am in love with my little car. It is black, small, and fast, and I am still amazed that I had the guts to buy it (it is a manual transmission...SCARY!!!) So far, to the amazment of all (especially Mary) I have survived the month without any accidents and with only a few minor mistakes (all involving stalling the car at inopportune moments). Knock on wood.

I have at this moment realized that I neglected to take any pictures of my sweet sweet ride. As such, the pictures you will find dispersed all over this post were found online, and are what my car looked like, I am sure, when it was made 7 years ago. Pictures of my actual car will follow, if I and you are lucky!

And this is how is looks today...

Musings on my month without health Insurance

November 27, 2008 was an important date for me. It was the day of my 22nd birthday, it was thanksgiving, and it was, ironically, the day my health insurance coverage expired. (Thank you, oh blessed day of thanks, for taking away my right to get treatment...)

Now, I have never been one to think too far ahead, and insurance, at least for me, was always a vague concept I never quite understood or thought mattered in the general scheme of life. I have always had health insurance and that is why I think I never understood what it would be like to live without any kind of safety net against impending health disasters. Granted, I am not generally a sick person. My trips to the hospital have including my forced committal during my birth and two brief sessions to receive pain meds and saline when I had mono.

But the fact is, not having health insurance makes me nervous. Those who do not have it, like me, I am sure understand what I am talking about. The "what if" questions that are usually easy to avoid begin to come into the forefront of ones everyday thoughts. What if I get in a car accident? What if I get run over? What if I get a killer flu from my coworker and begin to vomit out my intestines? (Ok..To much?)

The point is, those things are all horrible, but they are made so much worse when your coworker gives you the killer flu and then you can't go to the hospital because you cannot pay to have them treat you. Or even worse, you try to go but they do not even treat the uninsured. Now, that is pathetic...

I shouldn't be complaining. I will only be part of the 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance for exactly 35 days. But 35 days is enough to scare me. And so I wonder...how scared are those 45 million people whose uninsured designation lasts longer than 35 days?

Is universal health care the right solution? I don't know. But I do know that health care is a necessity for everyone, even those without insurance. And if something is a necessity of life, shouldn't we be fighting harder for those, like me, who cannot afford to get sick?

100 Things I have done, or haven't...

OK so I was reading my friend Whitney's blog today and came across this list. Feel free to copy this idea off of me as well. It is quite fun.
Rules: Bold anything in this list you have ever done. Thats it!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

My Thanksgiving did not have Pakistani terrorists featured in it...

In honor of Thanksgiving

I'd just like to say

how blessed my life is

the beauty of today

And oh jeez is this poem gay...

Ok so enough of the bad poetry already. I wanted to write a post to commemorate thanksgiving in some way and couldn't help the above abomination. Sorry folks!

Moving on to the serious portion of this post. Thanksgiving reminded me of a lot, and not just the typical what I am grateful for fill in the blanks. What I thought of more than anything else was how ridiculously lucky I am. I thought of things I am thankful are not happening to me. Like I was glad I wasn't in Mumbai for the holidays. Or that I wasn't that Walmart guy who got trampled to death by crazy shoppers. I was pretty happy I'm not in Nigeria either, or for that matter, in most places in Africa.

The point is we have a lot to be thankful of in the positive sense of the word, but we also have a lot going for us that is NOT happening and that we hope will NEVER happen.

So smile and be thankful, for tomorrow you may be blown up by Pakistani terrorists ,(ok that was not funny...), engulfed by tree-like growths all over your rooted, barked body (It can happen!), or loose you hearing due to an excessively passionate and wet makeout session (see story). So be glad the only thing you have to worry about is whether or not Aunt Margie cooked your turkey enough so you don't have to worry about Salmonella!