Success with Failures

What I am about to say is going to sound extremely snotty and self-important, but for the sake of context I'm going to blurt it out anyway.

I don't fail. I mean sure... every now and then I had a less than passable grade in school and I make mistakes all the time but somehow I always manage to end in good form. I credit my successes to hard work, sheer determination, and an unreasonable amount of good luck (and possibly good karma). Generally when I find something I want to do, I complete the necessary steps to make it happen and the rest just falls into place.

But enough about how amazing I am... back to the point of this post: I don't handle failure well and, despite my best efforts to be perfect, I've actually been failing a lot recently. Don't worry, I'm not failing at life in the sort of way that puts you on the streets, out of a job and with no place to live. It's more every day small failures that I've been experiencing, most of which are due to over-analyzation and futile attempts to read minds and see into the future.

Someone who is smarter than they perhaps realize told me while I was puzzling over my shortcomings that all my successes have been in my professional life (true) and that personal lives are full of failures. I've thought about this remark a lot and I've determined two things: 1) I need to accept that like it or not, failure is inevitable; and 2) often times the recognition or admission of failure can lead to success.

The second revelation about failing is the purpose for this cryptic entry. In the past, I'd nver recognized that small life failures are just detours along the road to success; if you think you know exactly where you're going and don't listen when people tell you you're off course, you'll end up God knows where. So long as you realize you've taken a wrong turn (or listen to your trusted navigators when they tell you you have), you can get back on track.

In short, I'm taking the scenic route to success these days... but I'll get there. ;-)

Not Settling, Bike Pictures

Remember how I did not have my camera with me to take a picture of that large bike I saw? Well, when I went back, it was still there! And this time, I had my camera...

Large Mountain Bike:

Brittany Mounting Bike:

(Keep in mind, Brittany is 5'12" tall.)

Super Tall Bike, Settled for a Lunchbox

Today when I was walking home I thought I would try and take a photo of some oddity along the way. I found one such oddity and while it wasn't quite perfect, it was still entertaining (to me, at least). Once I got home, I gathered the blockbuster videos that needed returning and walked past a bicycle that was super cool - it had normal size wheels and everything, but the seat came up to my chin. Unfortunately, I left my phone at home and could not take a photo. Instead, you'll just have to settle for this silly picture of a middle aged man carrying a Budweiser lunch bag:

I am now going to attempt to make chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips that have a reeses peanut butter cup hidden in the middle. I don't really see how this could possibly go wrong - no matter what, I think I am going to like the outcome!

My Taxing Life

I've been quite busy lately and it's literally been because of taxes. Well, that and the fact that I had an amazing weekend which involved fondue, an awesome bar, Korean karaoke, picnics, one awesome stranger, and mint chip ice cream.

Tangent aside, I've learned a lot over the past few weeks about taxes (and life in general). To list a few:

1. Taxes are not easy. They are annoying, but not difficult.
2. Taxes become increasingly difficult with every change of address.
3. Dealing with foreign income is never a pleasant endeavor.
4. Using the calculator on your computer is not as easy as using a real calculator.
5. When picking up your tax forms, grab two of everything you know you need and one of everything you think you don't need.
6. Trying to fill out electronic pdf versions of tax forms in anything other than Adobe Acrobat is futile.
7. "Taxable": Bad. "Credit": Good.
8. The IT-2 form is stupid and exists primarily to aid those who get confused while operating a stapler.
9. If you end up counting the actual number of days you worked in a year on your wall calendar, something has gone terribly awry.
10. Rebates make the hair-pulling worthwhile.

Today I mailed my completed taxes in, and I am actually looking forward to the next go round. Next year it will be a lot easier since I will have only resided in one spot and earned income from one company. Like many things, I think the fear of the unknown makes the first tax season the scariest/most stressful/most unpleasant. I'm guessing it only gets better, but I'll let you know for sure next year.

Slacker

Today I was supposed to volunteer in the park. It's a huge volunteer day with events taking place all over the city, and the park alone was supposed to have 75 volunteers working. Well, 74 now...

It was supposed to rain today (reason number one to bail). It was a crazy long 7 hour project (reason number 2) that started at 8 am (reason number 3). I hate worms (reason number 4).

Today it did not rain at all, so now that I have but three semi-decent reasons for not going, I'm feeling like a bit of a slacker.

Sports, Siblings, Soup, Scrubbing and Stalkers on Sunday

Sports: On Friday morning I got a text from Brittany asking me if I wanted to go to a Yankees game. I was outside in the freezing cold, enduring a lovely downpour and struggling with my umbrella. Did I want to go to see the Yankees play in a tempest? NO! Well...


We went anyhow! Luckily the weather took a fabulous turn for the better - there was not a drop of rain all night, and it was comfortably cool. The Tampa Bay players did an amazing job, killing the Yankees (the final score was 13-4... ouch). Brittany and I got free Yankees hats, which was an added bonus. I am really glad I went (though I feel a bit bad about canceling some other tentative plans) - I think I'm going to try to go again. I'd forgotten how much fun baseball games are!

Siblings: My sister also came to visit me! Her school was taking a trip to the Met, and after she had seen what she needed to we met up and had a blast going all over NYC. Better still, she ended up buying a train ticket to go home on Sunday, so we get to spend a lot of time together, which was awesome.

Soup: Brittany and I have recently been obsessed with Matzo Ball soup. I told Brittany it was really easy to make (thank you Sasha for teaching me how!) and so Brittany went out and bought some mix and we made it today. It was awesome! Best of all, it tasted just like the restaurant's did, except instead of costing $7 a bowl it was something like 77¢ a bowl, which we appreciated.

Scrubbing: My dad taught me to clean. He is obsessive about cleaning (rather I wouldn't say obsessive, but he's of the mind that if you're going to do it you might as well do an excellent job) and (when I bother to clean) I sort of am, too. So today when I cleaned the bathroom, I scrubbed the grout in the shower stall with a toothbrush and stuck my head all the way in the toilet to see under the lip where the water comes out. Now, our bathroom looks brand new (no need for applause).

Stalkers on Sunday: Brittany and I decided we were not making enough friends in New York, and so we decided to have a picnic to meet some new strangers. Where have we found these strangers to attend our picnic? Craigslist, of course! Fingers crossed they will be friendly and not super sketchy. Our picnic is next Sunday.

I Really Don't Have Better Things To Do

You might be asking yourself what this is a picture of. I am telling you it is a picture I took through our peep hole of the new neighbors we have! Or, at least it would have been a picture of them if they hadn't locked their door and run away so darned fast. Zut, alors!

Anyhow, after 7 months of having the floor to ourselves, we now share it with two other people. Since I love judging people I know nothing about, I'm going to go ahead and say that they are quite lovely!

World's Biggest Pillow Fight

The other day when my family was visiting we happened upon a huge pillow fight in Union Square. I might be exaggerating when I say it was the world's biggest, but it certainly was large and feather-iffic. Look carefully, you might see my roommate in there!

Lost in Translation

I know next to no Spanish, but my French skills are such that every so often I can understand Spanish somewhat depending on the phrase.

The other day when I was out and about, I saw a Spanish phrase on the awning for a building that said: "Jesus Christo es el Señor."

I had to wonder if something was lost in the translation between Spanish and English, or if the sign really was just that awesome.

(*This is not the actual building I saw - I'll go back and take a photo later. In the mean time, enjoy this lovely substitute!)