Ramblings of Someone who Loves Life

So, as I get older and wiser, I come to more conclusions and realizations about life and its fine mysteries. You might wonder, hmm, I also have aged well, but I haven't discovered life's fine secrets. The truth is that no matter how busy we get, and no matter how complicated life seems, we always need to make time to reflect, reflection brings perspective, and perspective brings wisdom.

So here are the top things I learned over the past year.

1. Never get too angry and jump to conclusions (deserved or not) because you ruin yourself.
2. Sleeping in on days when you're supposed to be doing work only hastens your decline.
3. Friendship with genuine people is the closet thing to happiness you will find.
4. When you forgive, you also have to forget, but you don't have to put yourself in that situation again.
5. Travel opens up your eyes, with open eyes you can see more, seeing more makes you learn more.

As you can defer from my list, the best things in life have to do with learning and being happy. The more you find ways to reduce your stress and just enjoy life for the beauty it has to offer, the better you can bypass the negativity from others. Here's to a full year of getting all our goals and achievements done so we can obtain the things we truly desire out of life. 

My Trip to Romania Proved More Fun than I thought

So after taking alot of time off from blogging i've decided to return and let you all know what i've been upto and where i've been. I've been moving around the world in an effort to see as many sites as I possibly could. Now, what's new and different to me from my original stints in just visiting U.S. cities, is the fact that this time I actually decided to take the plunge and go to a European country, but not just any European country, I actually decided to go to Eastern Europe and visit the small country of Romania.

Now, you may be wondering, what does that have to do with anything, why would I actually stop blogging, stop living my life as an independent artist who is on the up-and-coming, to go peruse fun adventures and and ride the wave of life. The simple and truthful answer is bordem. After working so many long and painful hours in the office, I needed a change, I needed something new, I needed to travel, I need to visit the land of dracula to see if he really does exist or if it was just a myth.

So I purchased my plane ticket about 24hrs after I made the decision to go, I couldn't stop thinking about all the amazing sites, beautiful nature, mountains, rivers, and even gypsies, that I would see all over Romania. For those of you who don't know, Romania is a country of about 20 million people. It is most famous for having castles, ancient forests, many rivers, and of course the Carpathian mountains. When I started to do my research on Romania I first found this blog on Romania, it had alot of information that seemed to be backed by extensive research. I found out that the country is split into different regions that each have their own sections and interesting sites and attractions.

Of course being me, I wanted to visit each of the 10 regions, I couldn't pick which one I wanted to visit first because they all had more to offer than the one before it. It  was actually a blessing in disguise not to know how much to see and how much to do. So of course I did it all and I saw it all, I will never have enough finding out about the revolution that took place in the country, how peasants wear traditional clothing, or how Romanian women are some of the most beautiful in all of the world. 

Michael Jacobs

Michael Jacobs visits to discuss his feature documentary debut, Audience of One in which a San Francisco Pentecostal minister, having received a vision from God, leads his small flock to make a sci-fi biblical epic titled "Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph."
http://www.myspace.com/audienceofonedoc

Duck Hunting with Dick

Ken Smith cohosts with Dorian for our frequent political update.
Comment away!

Cruel and Unusual (silent film) Comedy Night

Steve Massa, film historian and writer and Ben Model, film historian and accompanist, two of the organizers of the Museum of Modern Art's Cruel and Unusual (film) Comedy: Social Commentary in the American Slapstick Film, visit the show. Bruce Bennett cohosts.

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/948
http://www.silentfilmmusicblog.com/
http://www.cruelandunusualcomedy.info/

Kirsten Hoving and Antonio Ciacca

Art and architecture historian Kirsten Hoving talks about the enigmatic artist Joseph Cornell and his fascination with astronomy, then jazz pianist Antonio Ciacca talks about his music.

Kirsten Hoving has a new book, Joseph Cornell and Astronomy: A Case for the Stars. Antonio Ciacca's newest CD is called Rush Life. He can also be heard live in NYC on Tuesday evenings from 7-10 PM at Creole restaurant (118th Street and 3rd Ave) and on Thursdays fro 7-10 PM at Roth's Westside Steakhouse, 93rd Street and Columbus Ave.

Benny Golson and Mulgrew Miller

Two jazz greats visit the Speakeasy tonight...

Fist, the legendary saxman/composer Benny Golson joins us as the celebrations for his 80th birthday are in full swing. In addition to two brand new CD's beinfg released (New Time, New 'Tet and The Best of Benny Golson), Benny wikll be performing at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in NYC from Tuesday, Feb. 3 - Sunday Feb. 8.

Then pianist Mulgrew Miller talks about his upcoming celebration of two of the greatest jazz albums ever, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and John Coltrane's Giant Steps. Mulgrew is artist director of upcoming concerts reimagining and celebrating these two seminal albums. The concerts will be Feb. 12-14 at 8PM at the Rose Theater at the Frederick P. Rose Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center (Broadway/60th St, NYC).