Madeline Peyroux

I ran into this cd in Barnes and Noble over the weekend. What a sweet sound. Somtimes its hard to tell if I'm listening to Madeline Peyroux or if a Billie Holiday song slipped into my playlist.

Madeline's voice is the smoothest of any jazz singer for decades. Much like Norah Jones but more jazz, less blues. With some covers of Bob Dylan and old jazz standards, Careless Love is already an award winner in my book. A must own for anyone who enjoys jazz singers or just some sweet music.

good times, McSorley's

God's Politics

This is a wonderful idea for a book which really applies to today's political dilemma. While the number of 'Evangelicals' grows in the U.S., the Democratic party is losing hold on its identification with moral values. Wallis argues that being a Christian doesn't mean your default political party is Republican. Many biblical ideals are represented by Democrats rather than Republicans, i.e. poverty, war, capital punishment.

Unfortunately, Wallis is slow to the point and never offers a solution to the problem he has discovered. I felt that instead of asking for a balanced representation, he is instead begging Christians to be Democrats, like himself.

If you're into the topic, you might pick this up and check out a few choice chapters but don't expect to breeze through this mucky read. You should be able to find it used already because I'm not the only reader that finished prematurely.

Steve Fossett, International Hero?

CNN) -- Flying from horizon to horizon, Steve Fossett completed the first nonstop, flight round-the-world without refueling on Thursday afternoon, landing gracefully in Kansas at 2:49 pm ET.

A cheering crowd gathered to usher the GlobalFlyer and its 60-year-old pilot into the record books, something that has become almost routine for Fossett in recent years. The aviator now holds three record-breaking circumnavigations of the globe, the two others by balloon and sailboat.

***

Steve Fossett today achieved something no man in history has ever done, a non-stop solo flight around the world! Why doesn't anyone care? Where will Fossett's name be in the record books?

In 1521, Magellan was the first human to circumnavigate the globe. Since then, second graders have known who Magellan is. In 1927, Charles Lindberg flew the first flight across the Atlantic. Today, across continents, Lindberg is an aviation hero.

Ameilia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, the list goes on. But where will Steve Fossett be in the record books? Not next to Magellan. Try the line under Evel Kinevel.

Womble Week

So, Saturday night I was out the door expecting a mellow Friday night agenda, when my best friend growing up, Jordan Womble, calls me and says he's in town for the night with his family. I've only been around him for a total of 5 days in the last 8 years I bet, so I was excited to see them. Jordan is currently in the Navy and his brother Jacob is at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.

I met them in mid-town at a great Italian restaurant, Arno. I was greated with open arms and they had already poured me a glass of wine. I had the best veal parmigiana of my life. After dinner we walked out and got in our limo. Mark had tickets to the Blue Man Group which was spectacular. The show was very creative and entertaining. They change the acts periodically so I recommend it to anyone in town. After the show, Jordan, Jacob and I decided to continue the evening so I showed them my favorite part of the city, McSorley's Old Ale house. When we got there, Tommy the bartender recognized me and gave me some great seats in the back. He brought the first round over and gave me a fist bump. The guys loved the place and I was able to explain some of the history and old patrons such as Abe Lincoln, Boss Tweed, Arlo Guthrie and the beloved Teddy Roosevelt. They had last call but Tommy gave us the 'VIP treatment' and brought us more beer.

I ended up staying at the hotel with them in Times Square. When we woke up, Mark ordered room service for us. We had a great time talking about old memories and crazy things we did as kids. I don't think we have changed at all and in many ways we were the same rowdy kids running through the streets of New York with beer in our veins. Friendships make this life worth living and I don't want to ever lose a good friend to time or distance.

Pop-Christianity, Blah!

This is a great article on a guy from GQ that goes to a Christian music festival and experiences first-hand, the disgusting culture of pop Christianity, Petra and all. Its long but a really good story. Print it out and read it sometime.

a new look

My round of applause goes out to julesdwit today. Even in her hectic schedule she is able to sacrifice time to pimp my site. Bravo! Will somebody please employ this talent!?!

Metropolitan Mastication

Today I realized that I am being chewed up by this wonderful city. This happens to the best of us when we move to the city. Its part of the 'make it in New York' process. People come here to experience the excitement and achieve their dreams, but Gotham will have none of it and tries to spit us out.

Recently, I have revived my search for a career starter, welcoming almost any position that will pay my rent. Today I sat down in an interview and the first thing the man tells me is that, "this is a pretty shitty job." Okay, so maybe I'll be a little selective on where I begin my career.

I think my biggest problem is that I still don't know what I want to do for a living. How can I look for a job when I don't know which type of job I desire. I almost ruled out the financial sector today with this interview alone. I find the whole mentality of grunt work for a few years until you can achieve the American Dream of a six-figure salary repulsive. Right now, I just want to pay my bills and enjoy life in the city. I'm going to continue enjoying myself here while it lasts. Maybe I'm just here for another month or I may be trapped for life, which would be nice. Either way, I'm going to make the most of it while it lasts. A job will come when the time is right so it does me no good to worry about it.

So, New York, you can keep chewing but until you spit me out I'm going to enjoy every bite from the Big Apple.

Author at Large

It is well known, at least in my circle of friends, that the best career in the world is a writer. You work for yourself and on your own schedule. There are no bosses or stupid co-workers. No meetings, deadlines or conferences. You just wake up, make some coffee and write.

That being said, tonight at dinner Andrew and I formed a pact. We've promised each other that by Feb. 8, 2006 we will both have finished our first book. Its a big goal but we can do it. I'm just lacking insiration for my book so I'm going to begin the brain storming phase this weekend and hopefully some fantastic idea will hit me over the head. Either that, or my book is gonna be full of blank pages.

Just think, we could be the next Fitzgerald-Hemingway duo.

A Delightfully Lazy Weekend

Amazingly, it has almost been five months since I made my big move up here to NYC. Time has passed so quickly, I've had close to no downtime at all. That's why this weekend was so welcomed. It seems like every weekend someone is in town to visit which obligates me to show them around and spend extra money on a nice dinner and walk the streets until our feet turn blue. Finally, this weekend was just about me.

After work on Friday I got to hang out with Kari for a few hours enjoying my favorite leisure activity, sitting in Starbucks and drinking coffee. We both slouched down in our seats and talked about all of the weirdo NYU students hanging out with their professors on the weekend. A crime I never committed. Saturday, I slept until I could sleep no more. Then, for the first time since mid-December, Collin and I went to the grocery store. Notably, we've both lost a combined 13 pounds since our last trip when we bought egg-nog for the holidays. But don't worry, that was gained back at the Super Bowl. After the grocery store, I went to a 'birthday party' on the Upper West Side. The details are strage but I'll just say that we were the youngest people there by about twenty years. Sunday, more sleep. Around four o'clock I began cooking for our party we had. Around fifteen people showed up for the free food and beverages, but mostly to see our enormous TV Collin 'rented' for the weekend. He bought a 42 inch plasma to watch the game on and plans to take it back this week for a full refund.

Next weekend I plan to do even less. I receive such satisfaction from wearing my pajamas until the sun goes down. I almost wish I could spend one entire day of each weekend in my apartment, but that qualifies as a misdemeanor when you live in New York.