Newspaper Headlines (this is real!)

So Erin and I went to trader Joes' last night and I thought of a really funny blog of our trip. It sparked when I asked Erin what those things on top of bags are called (handles in case you have forgotten). So Erin and I walk into Trader Joes. Picture it, something had attacked the city and we were all out for survival. I believe it was a giant ninja-but wasn't sure I slept in my bath tub last night and seeing the news this morning it has been captured. Anywho we decided to go to the local store to stock up on supplies cause who knew how long the Giant Ninja would be at large. We walked in and it was mass anarchy, filled with people and hardly anything on the shelves. Oh yeah, it (the giant ninja) also flooded the entire city, but dont worry the waters went away by morning as well. Erin was spotted by a newscrew and got her picture taken:She was claimed as raiding the grocery store. Looting like a crazy person. I on the other hand was also spotted:

But my title was "Man searches for food for survival". Ok back to watching men chop up the Giant Ninja to rid the city once and for all of him!

7 minutes of HELL!

This is what I feel like today: Look someone cut a hole in the ice and forced me into it! I'm serious, this is not an exaggeration to express how cold my walk to work was this morning.

Ok fine, you got me, I'm making this up, this isn't me in ice. I just want to express that usually my 7 minute walk to the subway is enjoyable. Today no such luck. I'm in the office, already why I'm a bit angry, cold, and pissed. All my friends and co-workers went somewhere cool/warm for break. They basically said 'fuck it' and left to go somewhere nice. I instead went to Kansas. I'm tired of going to Kansas as my vacation. It was no vacation. It was enjoyable to see everyone, but no vacation. It was cold, I cried, people around me cried, it was cold, I got yelled at, you can smoke in bars, I forgot my cool Diesel scarf there, AND you can't get thai devlivered! I want to go back to Summer. I love summer, the tan, the skin, the sun, the beach. Erin and I decided that our plan to move to Cali in a few years should be sped up until our groceries that we got at Trader Joes runs out. So perhaps in a few days I'll be moving to Cali. Ok I think I'm done complaining, but since I'm at work I found a few pictures of me from this summer on our server Look how happy I am:
That's also because that tray was filled with drinks and guess who drank them? Yup.......(well I was working so it wasn't me, but SEE I dont even need to drink in summer to be happy, I just am!) Summer come to me now.

My Confession...

With a title like that I'm aware that you're already on the edge of your seat. Well instead of being witty and have my 'dry' sense of humor and trick you into something obnoxious that I've done, I shall actually get to my real confession. So I'm going to do something that some of you wont like. I'm going to quote a book. I just finished 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man':

It's about this guy who went around the world in the 60s (up until recently) and indebted countries, thus benefitting the West. This is actually along the lines of what I wrote my final paper in College about. How the West has switched from enslaving people from 'developing' (using the term 'developing' creates problems which I wont get into but be aware I'm using them just to get to my broader point)countries to creating flat out colonialisms to what we see now a days is debt. We now have another way to keep countries under our belt-debt. So, I read this book and it was really inspiring because the guy is A) a great writer and B) exposed a lot of truth that many dont realize. So I'm going to retype a paragraph that I really enjoyed.

"We prefer to believe the myth that thousands of years of human social evolution has finally perfected the ideal economic system, rather than to face the fact we have merely bought into a false concept and accepted it as gospel. We have convinced ourselves that all economic growth benefits humankind, and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefit. Finally, we have persuaded one another that the corollary to this concept is valid and morally just: that people who excel at stoking the fires of economic growth should be exalted and rewarded, while those born at the fringes are available for exploitation. (Perkins, John 255).

So I'll let you digest that for a second.......done? ok. John later goes into about how he did all these horrible things in all these countries, convincing world leaders to sign up for things they had no idea would be so consequental (sp?). He then realized what can he do? What can anyone do? Words-I'll credit him (words create change) ;) He decided to publish this book about EHM (Economic Hit Men) to expose the truth. We (America and countries alike) are exploiting billions of people around the world. You already know this. This comes to where I say REVOLUTION! You're right I wont start it, you probably wont either. But steps are small and I'm aware always that the decisions I make on a dialy basis are possible because I (not purposely, but that's the way our world order is structured as of now) put people a step back allowing me to step forward. Everything that is involved in my life is revolved around so many other inviduals in this world. My green tea wasn't made in my backyard nor was the tshirt I'm wearing. So anti-globalization? No, I enjoy my indie films (you're right I dont watch those, but it came to mind) my Corona, and my italian shoes (vespa's rock and I plan to own one some day as well). John Perkins just talked about how much wealth there is in the world but as we've seen in all of history how greedy they become. Can you imagine if McDonald's made it a goal to have universal health care in all the countries it had establishments? (Fun Fact from a government class I took in college, no 2 countreis who have had a McDonald's in it-say USA and Russian- have never gone to war together) Could global corporations really be the answer? Who knows, my point was not to prove that I'm a genius and know what to do, I'm just saying I liked the book. I could go on about how else I damage the earth, but as a good friend in high school once said "I put a lot of bad out into the world (not like kicking children, but indirectly supporting sweat shops) I'm just trying to put as much good back into it, if not a little bit more."-Something I try to fashion in my life as well.

So I decided

I went through all my pictures to find 'hangover' pictures and I realized that I go out often (perhaps that could be a resolution? anyway) But I decided to put pictures that arent' flattering of myself just to bring entertainment to you.....Look at me sacrificing myself for you(r entertainment), I'm like jesus.

January 1, Resolutions, Rediculous Hang Overs, and Channel Surfing

So here I sit on the new year. Jill and I are both on our macs looking terribly trendy. We now have 3 people in this tiny apt. and 3 apple books, anway I have a point-I'll get to it. This is the day where everyone gets reflective. I say nay-I'm always reflective get over it people. And NO I will not be making a resolution for 2008. I eat pretty healthy (unless I've had something to drink) I work out 4 days (ish) a week (unless I've had something to drink) and I make pretty smart decisions (unless I've had something to drink). So, moving on.....I dont' really believe in resolutions. This is coming from the guy who had a personality test given to him by his uncle and when Bill started listing a few off Matt said 'wait, some of these are negative!' haha. I'm wearing my hang over booty shorts recapping the night. We went to brooklyn with 3 minutes to spare. Hung out with hipsters in a warehouse with champagne out of a plastic cup. It was a good new year. I needed to keep it somewhat low key because I had a very eventful night the night before. We wont go into detail. I already deleted it from my memory, wait, what was I talking about? exactly. My roommates are trying to bring two new words into our daily lives 'legend' (to replace fierce) and 'warm' instead of 'cool'. I just talk about how lame they are and 'what are we having for dinner?' So you thought this post was going to be about how I was going to make better decisions in the new year didn't you? Nope, I'm in my early 20s, that's what we're suppose to be doing. Just hope I make it out alive, no-seriously. Something else I noticed to the other day that was funny is pace. When you're going fast you hate all the people taking forever walking on the sidewalk, then when you have nowhere to be and enjoying your walk you think about how everyone could use to slow down a bit....just a random thought I wanted to share. Jill and I are going nuts sitting on the couch so I must get back to it, call it lazy cabin fever. Need to get out but just can't bring ourselves to do it. BA BING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3fD6CYCFV8

Ok fine, Kansas isn't THAT bad.

So I am back in New York City and couldn't be happier about it. I returned and my roommates and I all missed each other so my chill night in turned into checking out this new party and meeting another friend out who had a table at this really cute club. So on the plane ride I got to thinking about why I like Kansas. I always do this on plane rides, get reflective. I thought about how when asked I will ALWAYS say where I am from. I am proud of my background. My childhood was amazing, filled with playing in clubhouses we built in trees, running around the plains that are Kansas. I never noticed it until my good friend Nick in college said (referring to Kansas) there's so much sky here. We do, indeed, have a lot of sky. Here's an example from my fathers house:

isn't it great? We also have an adorable dog with a wrap around porch:!

this is in comparison to my current view out my window:

Look 2 TREES! Anyway the moral is that although I might bitch about there being nothing to do(which there isn't, but its good to slow down sometimes) I get to visit with family and visit some friends, which last I checked was a good thing. Off to the huslte and bussle that is this madning city! xoxo

The Holidays (filled with Pirates)

I'm sitting here confused as hell with the third Pirates movie. It's too complicated filled with way too many story lines and betrayals. I'm over it, so I decided to blog instead. I've decided to write about the insanity that has been the last few days. I told someone how many family members I have and they didn't believe me. I responded in the text with "I'm from the midwest and was raised Catholic" They said "ah, gotcha-sorry." I know. There are loads of us running around which is funny because I'm still 1. Everyone else multiplied. Couples were there, great grandchildren were there, etc. It's been nuts. I was rather hesistant to come home. Whenever I come home I'm forced to make plans with EVERYONE i've met in the last 23 years of my life. When you're only home for 5 days its really rough (I know I'm complaining about having so many friends and family, I realize-moving on). Well let me describe my Xmas eve. I gather at one of our uncle's house where all the Conleys meet. There's about 60 of us now. Now imagine that my cousins (all around in their early 20s or perhaps even 19 or so) with their children and spouses. Now wait it gets better. We play games! We have the gift exchange where I'm sure most of you are aware of, put all the gifts in a circle and its a cat and mouse game to open up a new package or steal someone else's gift! I always prefer to steal, its a safer bet, and more fun. God only knows I dont want to get stuck with the tools or the lotion set, always be thankful for gift cards! This year however so many of my cousins are getting older so we've upgraded to the adult exchange. Now this is where we all loook like we're alcoholics. Instead of the numerous flashlight sets, towel sets, and lotion products, that we normally have every year, this year was the year of the booze. I actually contributed and brought a bottle of Absolut (brand loyalty) and ended up with a bottle of Crown Royal (Which I guess is really nice and high class, but I'm not a fan.) Then we head home drink some more then head to bed 'cause santa has to come' (yes my parents still utter these words to us) We say just put out the gifts in the morning. haha. Upon awaking on this White Christmas Morning we all gather at the top of the stairs then head down (as kids we use to run, but now we're more upset at the fact that we're up so early, and look half asleep still) where our father is with the video camera. We go into the office where the tree is and see what Santa has brought us in the night. This year was great. We usually get good practical gifts (good, but boooooring) but we got nerf guns instead! They were great, started shooting one another and our childhood tendencies came right back. The rest of the morning is filled with us playing a game we got our watching a movie. This year was 'planet earth' series. Totally sweet. Then Becky's (my step mom) family comes over and we feast and open more gifts. All the siblings watched a movie then I went over to my other grandparents' house for more gifts from my mom (who is on a cruise) and more food. I must say I eat a lot when I come home. This is because everyone still thinks I'm too skinny and dont have any meat on my bones (which is true, but I'm going to pay to pick up heavy things? I dont think so, but I will go for a good 4 mile run-part as to why I'm so skinny.) Wait, hold on, I'm intrigued there's an octopus fighting on the movie.......ok he's referring to things I have no clue about, moving on. So anywho it was a fun day filled with constant movement and loads of family. I have another Christmas party today with even more family. I grew up with totally different sides of families. One (the Conley's) are very vocal, a little crude, boisterous, drinkers, and sexually active and vocal about it. The other (The Rogenmosers) are more queit, non-drinkers, dont talk about certain 'issues' that might make someone uncomfortable, academic focused, functionally disfunctional, Brady Bunch vs Roseann Bar type of family, perhaps a little repressed, intellectuals who dont discuss anything worth mentioning, and on an overall avoidance of debateable issues. I love that I'm adaptable and can roll with either side. I'm the mutual gang affiliate (bloods vs. crypts) who is allowed to merge onto either territory. I realize that most dont enjoy reading about other peoples families (a type of family photo slideshow situation) so I will wrap this up. However seeing everyone has been enjoyable yet exhausting. I also love how big our house is, I can spread out so much here, not to mention outside my windows aren't more buildings, actual wildlife walks by in our land! I'm so country to city people but to Kansans know, it's not THAT country at my house. Well there's lots to do mentally and physically to prepare for todays 52 questions about my life plus there's loads of explosions on the movie now so I shall catch yah later. xoxo