For a long time, I have not been thinking. I must begin thinking immediately.

Corollaries: I must think before acting. Hence, I must also think before speaking.

new poll

Ok, I’ve narrowed down the list quite a bit. I’ve decided that the
place to go has to be warm.. specifically, warm in the middle of
November. Please revote even if you’ve already  voted. I’ve kept the
‘other’ choice again, so please comment with a suggested place if you
choose to vote for the ‘other’ choice.

Comments trying to sway me over to a specific place are also welcome, haha. Thanks again

To the person who voted ‘other’ but didn’t comment, please do so, it would be sincerely appreciated

Still deciding on the song… keep your suggestions coming

I
know I said I would postpone my travel plans due to Hurricane Katrina,
but after a long week, I’ve started thinking about it again.

Edit: I just backed into my next-door neighbor’s car. What is wrong with me?!? I need to get out of here…

Below
are the top 19 cities, population-wise, that I’ve never been to. I’d
like to visit one or two of these cities sometime during the months of
October and November. So, I need your help .. I’ve set up an iloren-style poll where you can make your suggestion. If you have some other suggestion, select Other, and please comment. Thanks

Note:
I’ve already been to San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle (2x), New
Orleans, Detroit area, Las Vegas (2x), Philadelphia (several times),
Boston (2x), Charlotte, Baltimore, and Montreal over the last 10 years.
Unless you can give me a good reason to go again, don’t suggest those,
haha.

Folks, I need a new song to play above. Any suggestions?

So much for going to bed earlier than usual. 2:00am, here I come…

after-hours haiku

Untitled

still pondering you,
that loud bittersweet Silence:
lucid cloud remains

   -me

The mention of New Orleans reminded me… please pray for those affected by the hurricane..

ok.. so it’s not just a walk in the park…

ComfortableFit
asked why the thoughts expressed in my last entry were in my head. To
be honest, I’ve been thinking of moving away for some time now, but it
really never seems to be the right time.

Time and time again,
people have been telling me, “Do it while you’re young.” At the same
time, I’ve told people the same thing. But for some reason, I’m torn
because I’m so comfortable with this area. My family and friends are
here; also, I feel very fortunate to have a job right now that may not
pay a huge amount of money, but for me, it’s enough.

At the
same time, I’m not really sure of what I would do if I were to move
away. Do I really want to do software development for the rest of my
life? The answer to that question is most likely not.

it’s just a walk in the park

Earlier in the evening, I didn’t feel like staying in the house after
getting home from work late once again, so I decided to climb into my
car and simply follow wherever my conscience would lead me.

My housemate, troy305, suggested
that I try going to the Newport area in Jersey City. That idea was
abandoned once I circled around the area three times in a vain attempt
at finding parking.

Hoboken, I thought, thinking of what the next
closest town was. Hoboken seemed like a safe enough place, having lived
there for about six and a half years before moving to Jersey City.

Upon arriving at Hoboken, I pulled into a parking spot right by the
train station and walked out in search of food.

As I left the recently opened
Quizno’s to pick up a quick sandwich, I realized that I needed to find a
place to eat.

The waterfront, I mused as I weighed it in my head as a
possibility. It was the same waterfront that was formerly a bunch of
dirt
piles and abandoned government buildings. A few years ago, the city of
Hoboken transformed the area into a park with an unobstructed view of
the New
York City skyline.

In spite of it being nine o’clock in the evening, I couldn’t help but notice that several people had the
same idea as myself. There were people walking, jogging, and, of
course, at least two or three yuppie couples performing questionable activities
of a physical nature. (Ahem.)

Anyway, I sat in the middle of a small staircase and began to eat the sandwich I had just picked up.

Immediately in front of me was the famed Manhattan skyline.
It was that realization that caused my mind to wander. The lights emanating from the
skyscrapers and the sashaying of the Hudson River waves had a sort of
calming effect, almost as if the music of a soft harp was playing
in the background.

For a moment, I stared in disbelief. How could something so calm as what’s in front of me be the source of much of the stress in my life?

I marvelled to myself at the irony of my own rhetorical question.

My mind began thinking of recent events. Last night, I was looking into
employment opportunities with the United Nations and its many
organizations. One of the positions was for a software developer with
six years experience in Vienna, Austria. I thought again of what it
might be like. Money wouldn’t be a problem; the pay listed was
excellent and more than I would ever make here as a
software developer, and the benefits were absolutely incomparable to
the private sector. Realistically, it would be difficult; I knew
absolutely no German, so it would be very difficult to assimilate
easily into that country.

But what if it were France, Belgium, or Switzerland? Would I leave?
Language likely wouldn’t be a problem in any of those places.

The image of the stationary skyline stood in front of me, as if it were
telling me something I could not discern.Would I miss the skyline? No,
it wasn’t the skyline. I have family and friends here, and most
certainly, they would be missed.

But yet, the river’s waves were giving me a message of a different nature.

Movement, I thought to myself, confident, continuous movement. What would that be like, moving to another state or country?

I couldn’t answer that question at the time, and even as I drove back home, I still didn’t have an answer.

~~~

Now that I think about it, perhaps I should have listened to the river for a bit longer.

imsomnia

For the past five days or so, I haven’t been sleeping well at all. It all seemed to start one night (I believe it was Thursday night) when I had yet another particularly interesting dream.

This time, I dreamed of myself, in my Jersey City bedroom, dreaming of another dream. I don’t recall much about the other dream, but the “sub-dream,” for lack of a better word, included some of my friends. I only recognized rcheng5391 and pinkimoon, but I knew several people I knew besides those two were in the sub-dream. I think they were all having a conversation; however, I had no idea what they were talking about.

I then woke up for about the third time that night.

This particular dream was odd for two reasons:

• I’ve never had a “sub-dream” before.
• I usually never dream of my Jersey City bedroom. If I were to dream of myself present in a room, it would, in most cases, be a room in the Central Jersey house that I grew up in.

I hope that the next dream that I remember will be one of me sleeping peacefully, signalling the end of my imsomnia

—-

my birthdate, august 2

Your birth on the 2nd day of the month adds a degree of emotion, sensitivity, and intuition to your life. The 2 is a very social number allowing you to make friends easily and quickly. Yet you are apt to have a rather nervous air in the company of a large group. You have a warmhearted nature and emotional understanding that constantly seeks affection.

You are more prone than most to become depressed and moody, as emotions can turn inward and cause anxiety and mental turmoil. It can be hard for you to bounce back to reality when depression sets in.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Thanks to iloren for the link.