traveling man

since i had visited montreal in the fall, it was only natural that toronto would be my next mini-vacation to the land of wayne gretsky. this moderately uncomfortable bus took me there:

after 8 hours of driving overnight and not being able to sleep a wink, i conveniently fell asleep at the time designated as the time that i should text gazzoo to tell him when exactly i would be arriving at the bus terminal so he could pick me up. thanks to my circadian rhythm, he waited for me for an hour at the terminal. this is what i woke up to:

the first day proved to be pretty misty but in the evening, it cleared up enough for gazzoo to prove his balcony has the best view of the city - and most of all, it's free!

though the weather seemed like it would play fair, it slapped me on the face again on friday when i spent five hours walking 7.3 miles around the city in snowish, slushish weather. i was able to snap this photo of the principal art museum during a break precipitation:

however, since i am a complete cheapo, gazzoo and i opted to go to the donation only galleries instead where we were presented with the opportunity to watch varying kinds of porn and see how a city of projectors and instruments could be connected to make sounds and videos.

saturday allowed me the opportunity to venture out (pun intended) to the village. and while i had already known they filmed queer as folk there, i had figured they would have changed the names of the bars for the show. well, they hadn't. so my tourist attraction of the day instantly became woodys, which is much more expansive on the inside than the bar portrayed on the show.

sunday was my last day in toronto and i couldn't leave without visiting the distillery, for reasons no doubt related to the presence of beer. apparently this location is often used for movie productions such as chicago. again, no doubt related to the close proximity of beer.

all in all, it was a very productive trip of reconnecting with old friends and engaging in copious amounts of rest and relaxation. farewell, farewell sweet city of toronto.

clouds: toronto edition

the weather in canada's most populated city is quite temperamental, which makes for some good cloud photos. i took these while sitting on the beach enjoying a late afternoon picnic lunch with two awesome brown people:

the wait is over

live blogging on a bus with wireless on the way north to toronto for my "vacation," i should be happy.

over the past few weeks, i've realized that although i do want to go back to korea to finish what i started, i actually want to stay in new york more. this is a crazy city and i'm truly in love with living here even if it's not under the best circumstances. this reminded me of some artwork i discovered at the times square NW platform a few weeks back.

unfortunately, after hyping myself up about this teaching fellowship, i received this in my inbox today:

Thank you for your interest in the NYC Teaching Fellows program and the time you have invested in interviewing with us. We have completed a thorough review of your candidacy, and while we were impressed with your background and experience, we are unable to offer you a Fellowship for the upcoming year.

As you may know, the application process for the Teaching Fellows program is extremely competitive. Each year we receive far more applications from qualified individuals than we have positions available, and this year has been especially selective.

so there you have it. 

gratitude

returning to new york was and has been quite challenging, more than expected. fortunately, i have a good family from who i could not have asked for more. even though i may have held back from expressing my gratitude, i have secretly calculated every ounce of generosity and have tallied a list of those people who i honestly, can't thank enough. with a month left, here is an expression of my gratitude, in no particular order.

john strom has humored me several times with his early a.m. gay remix sessions to force me out of my slumber and he was the original wing-man to my regrettably, hard-partying days after i returned from korea. i definitely owe him for getting me a job too so that i didn't completely flounder but for also getting me out of all the shifts i didn't want to work. conversations with the strom proved to be most enjoyable though; we have one of those relationships where we absolutely vibe with each other and cause me to double over in hysterics. he is without a doubt, one of the most unique and interesting people i have ever met.

my other roommate paul isn't so bad either. he pretends like he's not really interested in me because i'm a crazy person but i can tell deep-down, he thrives off of my insanity. i do appreciate him keeping his cool when i've secretly snuck his snacks into my mouth or left the dishes in the sink until the end of the day so i could do them all at once. or for not getting mad at me when i used up all his aveda products (i swear he told me he gets them for free!). and as much as we may bicker like an old married couple, the fun i have having it out with him also leaves me with a huge smile on my face (that leaves many other new yorkers confused as to why i'm so happy!).

let me continue with the boys and thank mister edward, a most unlikely friend. turns out that after living in new york off and on for seven years, someone i had only met a handful of times two years ago would turn out to be quite an available and supportive bestie. i don't know what i did to deserve so much love but it has actually made me feel loved and not like a complete loser. and just when i have edward pegged as a nerd with an edge for fashion, i witness him getting down and dirrrty to the likes of beyonce and kelis and all my preconceived notions of him have gone out the window. in fact, more things may have gone out the window than preconceived notions. like say, restraint. flash-forward to us getting down and dirrrty on the dancefloor together and many great memories flood my mind.

and now for the girls. first up in my girl megan, mostly for rushing out to see me the day after i got in and even more so for putting up with all my bullshit. little did she know that when she put me on her family plan for a cell phone, i would always pay my bill late. i do have to thank her for gifting me her old cell phone too. girl really knows how to make me feel special.

miss d'ne brown ain't too bad either. i was unsure of how our relationship would pick up after two years of my absence but i have realized after the past few months that it's better now than it ever has been. most suprisingly, i am astonished with how unbelievably patient she has been with me, a virtue that doesn't come naturally to her. and we've bumped up the cuddling to kissing! at this rate we'll be heading to the chapel in no time. absolutely no one beats the spontaneity of this girl, a vertible whirlwind wherever we go. you will also be fed well. she is the queen of sharing and will not make any bones about inviting you into her world;  her world is a warm, wonderful world which i love living in. so here's to her too for loving me unconditionally.

my final notable is not for one person, but for all my students. even though the job market may not have worked in my favor, i have been able to do what i love: teach. waking up and going to work everyday is something i'll hate no matter what, but when i get to the classroom and i see the shining smiles of my students, i cheer up. and when i make them laugh with incredibly cheesy jokes, i laugh, loudly and uncontrollably and the hours pass and another day has finished.

and i'm still alive.

thank you family. more than words can even say.

love,
yours truly
stephen

decisiveness

i have lots of opinions and it astonishes me that some things are debated about for years before any resolutions are reached. so i'm offering my help to fix the problems myself.

number one: i saw a political ad on t.v. today condemning governor paterson for suggesting a tax on beverages containing more than 70% sugar. gasp! you know what gov paterson should do? pass it. he may not be an angel but people in new york are FAT FAT FAT. they also sometimes have little concern over how they spend their money too; they willingly pay $12 dollars for a vodka tonic, $5 for coat check, and over $9 for one pack of cigarrettes. so there is no reason keeping them from buying sugary drinks at an elevated taxed price if they really want a coca-cola that bad. in the end, new york needs the money.

number two: president obama is not the only person in the history of the united states that has wanted to change the country for the better in sacrifice of our national budget. i'm not even going to reference any of the previous instances where presidents got us into something none of us could agree on the benefit of. but God forbid obama want poor people (me included) to have healthcare, then everyone raises their arms in protest. get over it people. there are people that never go see a doctor about their ailments because they can't afford it and guess what? THEY DIE. the greatest nations of the world have universal healthcare and some deem it our "God-given" right, so if we have a country supporting our health there's no telling how strong and prosperous our country could become in the future.

at the same rate though....
number three: we really need to definite definition of healthcare. because if i fall down the stairs and need hip replacement surgery, that counts. but if there's nothing instigating the decision besides desire, it's a choice and it should not be included under the umbrella of healthcare. i'm sure you can think of the choices i'm thinking of.

number four: my last beef of the day is with the nyc mta. for years and years they've been talking about cutting services and increasing fees because they're constantly in a deficit (due to their own mental dimness no doubt). lots of families have been up in arms that the nyc mta want to start charging k-12 students to ride the public bus. i say do it. just because they're kids and taking the bus is a necessity both for safety and education, it's ridiculous that they've been getting away with not paying even a dime every day to go to school. sorry parents, but considering the other things you spend your money on (going back to number one), you can certainly afford even a mere 50 cent fare for your child's bus ride. what does it matter anyway? if they don't make students start paying, the parent's will just have to pay more so it equals out anyway. think about it. and if the nyc mta can get student's to pay just 50 cents, it's certainly going to help the deficit in a substantial way.

finally, on a lighter note.....
number five: after reliving the horror that was september 11th for four hours on the discovery network's chronicle of the tragedy last night, i have 100 percent reaffirmed my belief that New York City is the Greatest City in the World. it may not be my city anymore, but watching that footage was even more chilling this time than it was when i was so far removed from it emotionally and physically ten years ago. I Love New York and its resilency. but if there's one thing that we still need to do, it's capture osama bin-laden.

perhaps this would have better been titled 'rants III.'

mr. ruiner of things

hi, my name is stephen and i ruin things.

material or immaterial, there are no limitations to what i will ruin. some things i have ruined in the past are laptops, hardware floors, vacations, and friendship. sometimes i know why, other times i have no clue to what happened.

i am quite good at what i do. make no bones about it, if you ever need anything ruined, just say my name.

where am i?

one of my favorite things about living in korea was rainy season. 장마 lasted from june to july and i spent many of its nights roaming around the streets taking in reflection of neon lights in the rain.

but i'm in new york now, so why has it rained for the past four days? i thought the worst of it was having the wind blowing from all directions, making it impossible to keep my umbrella from being blown inside out. i must of underestimated the severity of the storm though because apparently, in some places, they haven't had power for days and even trees fell on houses. well, i guess on of the good things about living in the city is we don't have many trees and the wind can't really blow down a skyscraper. knock on wood.

rewind

those who know me often hear me lament about present day new york. it just doesn't feel real living the history now. i'd much prefer to go back to the past. give me any decade in the twentieth century and i'd be happy. world war era nyc would be interesting; i'd love to be standing in times square when they announced the end of the war, living that moment. or as terrible as it seems, i think it would be totally rad to get mixed up in the pop culture of the sixties, the drugs and clubs of the seventies, and without a doubt the drugs and prostitutes of the eighties. sweating it out on the street on a blisteringly hot summer day. taking a carriage ride to the theatre. living out all of the truly authentic moments of ny history, whether they be good or bad. alas, commercialism and the new-age of having every convenience at our fingertips prevail. 

say what?

look what made me jump back in astonishment at hallmark:

i've never seen one before, the lone same-sex couple card amidst a sea of different-sex couple cards.

early spring checklist

two-week all expense paid sping fellowship in korea: disqualified

inevitably missing spring term at sogang and a spring wedding: ☑

teaching job in tbd location in seoul waiting for me in may: ☑

finding out my english student is a go-go dancer at splash yet married (to a woman):  ☑

new york city teaching fellows four hour interview:  ☑

circumventing central park once by running: ☑