BMW Guggenheim Lab Presents Love Night

In my effort to produce more positivity and love into my world; on a gorgeous Friday evening; I took myself down to the BMW Guggenheim Lab located on 2nd Avenue and East Houston Street which was a couple of steps away from the subway station. Little did I realize that it is an open space and will be in NYC only until October 16th.

Tonight's event was "Love Night" which brought about new insights in brain science that suggest we are hard-wired for altruism and trust—even among strangers. The Lab invited neuroscientist Paul Zak, psychologist Emanuele Castano, and Kio Stark of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program to help design a party that will bring out the love in even the most hardened New Yorker. This was also in collaboration with: Project for Public Spaces: Photography for Love Night video, Anna Letitia Mumford: Video editing for Love Night video, Ryan V. Brennan: NYC Based Social Performance & Collage Artist, Dr. Sabine Seymour: Director, Fashionable Technology Lab at Parsons The New School for Design and Research assistant Scott Peterman, and the entire class of Fashionable Technology. There were various activities which I will go into detail that involved human emotion and love. I also figured this would be a great pre-cursor before I start the Radical Self Love boot camp.

The first exercise I participated in was "Secret Exercises". I was asked two questions -- if I was a Democrat or Republican (I answered Democrat) and what my favorite colour was (I answered purple). I was then handed a green card with these instructions: This secret assignment was meant to find it's way to you at this moment. Read all instructions carefully before performing secret assignment. Step 1 - Walk throughout the lab looking for someone standing in one spot holding an orange secret assignment card. Step 2 -- Approach this person and ask them what they are thinking about. Step 3 - Put this green assignment in your pocket and follow the instructions on the assignment the person you found gives you. Note -- Try not to get distracted on your search for someone standing with the orange piece of paper as they are in fact waiting for you.

Now since I am a teacher, taking directions was easy. I found someone with an orange card and had a interesting conversation about ice cream. The underlying point of this exercise was to obviously meet someone new and start a conversation. I have no problem in that department; especially if you read my Things I Love Thursday this week!

The next exercise I did was 8 Hugs a Day. Here is the description -- When we hug, hormones are released in the brain that relax us and make it easier to interact with others. Get a hug from neuroeconomist Professor Paul Zak a.k.a. Dr Love then pass it on. Hug ambassadors will be equipped with special garments. Your goal will be to give 8 hugs today. This exercise I overdosed on. I was hugging a lot of people! The garments were modifying t-shirts that were treated with thermochromic dye (hypercolor) that when you touch it the color changes due to the warmth of your skin. It felt really nice to get hugs! The point of this exercise was to break down your walls and to invite people in. I think a lot of New Yorkers might need this lesson....

Next exercise was the Emotional Maps area. Description --- The city is more than a collection of roads, parks, and buildings. It is also a psychological landscape. Together we will create an emotional map of New York City. The map that was used was a NYC Subway Map and had star stickers; a different color star for a different emotion. Because it was dark out I could not really see the colors of the stars all that well so I chose a blue star that apparently stood for Joy. I placed it on 14th Street/Union Square because that is where I get the most joy -- the park, The Strand, Forbidden Planet, Regal Cinemas...I could go on and on!

The next exercise I did; the one I enjoyed the most; was Urbanology. Here is the description -- The Urbanology game has been a hit feature of the lab and lets you work with others to run a city. Come play, meet new people, and build a better city. Urbanology is a game which examines the complex ways in which cities develop. It puts you in charge of your own city by presenting you with a variety of real-world urban dilemmas. Every decision you make impacts your city negatively or positively; often in ways you might not expect. These accumulated impacts build a matrix of priorities for your future city. This matrix can then in turn be compared to the equivalent matrices of real-world cites. At the end of gameplay, a custom algorithm takes eight major categories (innovation, transportation, health, affordability, wealth, lifestyle, sustainability, and livability) into account, and then calculates the closest real-world equivalent to the city you've created.The game experience for Urbanology was developed by Local Projects, and the physical design was created by ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles]. Basically it was a live version of Sim City. I controlled the Wealth icon. The way the game worked was there was 8 questions and the people around you all had to vote yes or no. Votes were tabulated and results were given. Based on the results of the voting you move your token. This exercise for myself was the highlight of the night for me -- it rekindled my love of debate. The end results of the game I played was the city I created with the help of others had the livability of Berlin, the sustainability of Johannesburg, the transportation of Shanghai, the lifestyle of Stockholm, and the wealth of Mexico City (at which point I screamed great we are fucking poor!) If you have a chance to play go down to the lab on Wednesday from 1pm to 5pm.

After the game, I got myself a hot cocoa and made my way home. Overall this event was a lot of fun. I plan on checking out more of the Lab's events before it departs on October 16th.

Things I Love Thursday -- September 29th Edition

Another busy week...had a cold but with some NyQuil and sleep I was able to beat it into submission! I am still kind of stuffy in the nose but that does not mean I do not notice what has been fueling my love this week!

Here is what I have been in love with this week:

~~Meeting a letterer for DC Comics on the PATH train home. It was just so random...he was wearing a Detective Comics t-shirt and I go to ask him about the New 52 and which ones he has read/liked and then he just dropped the bomb of where he works. Yay for making new friends and to myself for being a queen of small talk!

~~The grilled cheese, tomato soup, and mixed greens I had for brunch on Saturday 9/24 at this open air restaurant called Belcourt on East 4th Street and 2nd Avenue.

~~Reading a comic book in my favorite Starbucks and almost getting a number!

~~Being a kid at heart.

~~Getting extra sleep.

~~This next one will sound bad of me but considering my opinion on Michael Vick I loved this: The Giants winning against the Eagles and the Giants breaking Vick's hand.

~~The great effort of the New York Jets when they faced the Oakland Raiders.

What are you in love with this week?

Review: Milk and Honey Pedicure at Blush

I am a member on this discount site called Gilt City New York. Every couple of days I get numerous discount offers on trendy restaurants, trendy beauty regimens, trendy beauty places, even concerts and screenings of movies before they are released. Well at the beginning of September I received a 50 percent discount voucher for a Milk and Honey Pedicure at Blush, a trendy nail salon in the East Village.

Here is the description of the service: A special milk, honey, and chrysanthemum bath will be followed by a homemade sugar foot scrub, callus eliminator treatment, honey leg rub, ten-minute massage, and paraffin treatment.

My appointment today was at 2pm but I got there early, just in case. When I walked in, I will admit I did feel the hipster/fashionista vibe going on but that does not stop me. I was told to hang out for a little bit as the person who was taking care of me was busy. I have no problem hanging...that is what magazines and books are for!

After picking out my nail polish, which is a metallic sparkly red I was instructed to go to the station...which is a big comfy chair just for me and a white basin filled with warm milk and flowers -- just like the description. Here is a picture to prove its worthiness:
There are only three of these stations by the way so if you do go here, make sure you have an appointment. Anyway let me continue..

The person taking care of me today -- her name was Sandy. She carried my bag, which I usually do not let a lot of people do because it can be heavy sometimes, over to the station which had a hook for it. Another score! Most places do not have that; or the places I have been to. I took off my shoes, climbed up the two steps and put my feet into this luxurious warm milk bath. It felt so good. Sandy did the basics -- cut my nails, filed, and then put this callus treatment all over my feet. Her hands, which were gloved (yay sanitary!) were nice and firm because I have the ticklish feet ever. I told her that up front and she said "Don't worry. I know what to do." Most people who have given me pedicures have such a light touch with scrubbing my feet with the pumice stone that either causes me to jerk my leg or laugh uncontrollably. Not here. Sandy scrubbed my feet into the softness oblivion I have ever received. Another plus!

After the scrubbing and a generous amount of sugar scrub -- which is much welcomed -- she massaged my legs and feet with warm honey. Yes honey, the stuff you put in your tea or on your Grape Nuts cereal. I thought it was pretty weird too but after about 3 minutes my legs and feet felt so good. Her massage technique did NOT include the pounding of the fists on the feet and legs which I hate. It was pure kneading goodness. After this came the regular lotion, pushing of cuticles back, base coat, nail polish, top coat routine. She was so precise with the application of the nail polish as well and if any dripped on my skin, she was quick with a orange stick dipped in nail polish remover to remove the snags.

Now this next part for me is very crucial -- standing and getting down from a pedicure station with wet nail polish takes some maneuvering. Not here. I swung my legs around the basin, stood up, and walk down the two steps to the bottom and went right to the nail drying area with a big smile on my face.

Blush -- I think you have a new customer. While I enjoy Galleria Nail Salon in Alphabet City this place will get my business with pedicures. Blush is located at 218 East 5th Street between Cooper Square and 2nd Avenue. Give it a shot! Here is their website for more info -- Blush Nails Lounge

Things I Love Thursday -- September 22nd Edition

It has been an interesting week...yes I did not post a TiLT last week and that was due to being busy all week so here is a two week TiLT!

Here is what I have been in love with for the past two weeks:

~~Seeing The Big 4 with my brother in Yankee Stadium. Rocked my face off.
~~A good seat on the train.
~~Losing weight without even trying.
~~My organizational skills.
~~The history of Atlanta.
~~Having people in my life who have the same views.
~~Anticipating fall color!
~~Hugs from my students. There is one student who does not leave until he hugs me goodbye. It is so cute.
~~People watching in parks.
~~Watching the Jets vs. Cowboys game through texts.
~~David cuddling my arm on the subway and the way his head leans on my shoulder when he is tired.
~~Having ideas float in mind for a book. Yes I am thinking about writing a book.
~~Starbucks Chai after a busy day.
~~My students! So cute and love to learn!
~~That two of my students would rather read their beginning books than color their take me home books.
~~Sitting by the window in Starbucks.
~~Being a Math geek.
~~The excellent Sunset Bites for Two dinner at Brick NYC on Warren Street.
~~Catching up with a good friend with good food.

What are you in love with this week?

Thought Tuesday #29

“Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future” — Charles F. Kettering

What words or thoughts are fueling you today?

Ten Years Later

Living in Jersey City, New Jersey you grow up with this attitude that people are different and you accept it. No thoughts of bombings or gun warfare simply because your ideals or beliefs are different from the norm. I do not want to sound like I lived in a bubble but in a way I kind of did. My love for New York City was always there but around 2001 it really started to flourish. I started working at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum where my internship with the US Department of Labor was terminated. Then as we are all aware...September 11th happened. Here is my account of what was going on in my life as well as pictures I took from across the river.

7am: My mother wakes me up to let me know that she was on her way to work. My mom back in 2001 was a cook for Public School #28 in Jersey City, NJ. I told my mom and my brother the night before that I was off from work and that I would sleep until maybe 10am and get up, take care of the dogs (Hudson was three at the time, Sweetums was one year old) and that I would wait for my mom to come home before I went out to see a movie in New York.

9am: Receive a phone call from my mother telling me that a plane went into one of the World Trade Center towers. I remember asking her what she is putting into her cooking as she was clearly hallucinating at work. She then asked me to turn on the television and there it was -- one of the towers on fire. Then at 9:03 I see another plane go into the second tower. I screamed and dropped the phone and told my mom I would call her back. My dogs begin to bark and I could not control them.

10am: Receive a slew of phone calls and emails from friends and family asking if everyone is okay. Have not heard from my brother at this time. I continue to watch the news.

12pm: My mom comes home from work. My dogs finally calm down and are eating now. If you walk up the block where I live you get a clear view of the NYC skyline. This is what I saw:

I could not believe it. The towers GONE. A big plume of smoke was there in its wake.

2pm: My dad who works for the Hudson County Road Department took today off as he had a ticket to pay in Union City, NJ. He did not come home until 8pm. Again at this time still have not heard from my brother. He was on the road headed home though as he called from his office.

Pretty much from this point on until both my dad and brother arrived back at home I was fielding phone calls and emails and keeping my eye on the news. I did have work the next day but was given the option to leave early if I could not handle being in New York City. I did the best that I could but in the back of my brain all I wanted to do was be home with my family.

I can not believe it is ten years later. It doesn't feel like it. My principal announced over the loudspeaker on Friday that the students that are in the 8th grade now were in Pre-K when this happened. There are plenty of unanswered questions of why this happened but this is definitely a tragedy that hopefully people will not forget like other tragedies that have happened in US History.

Joisey Adventures Presents: Dragon*Con 2011 -- Day Two

Let's continue with our story from Dragon*Con 2011..

It is 7am on Saturday morning. Now you figure getting up that early I must be going to work but no...I was off to a writing workshop called "21 Days to a Novel" The workshop was led by Michael Stackpole and here is the official description:

Seminar 6: (21 Days to a Novel) New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole presents his three week program for preparing yourself to write a novel. This set of 21 exercises is broken down to give you everything from character creation to world building, practical plotting devices, dialogue development and character voice creation tools. This program is a practical, kick-in-the-pants place to start your career.

Now you would think it could not be done but with these exercises it is genuinely possible. I might use the tools he gave out at this workshop for National Novel Writing Month and I might just do that. I already have ideas flowing in my head; I just need the time to write it down.

After the workshop was over, I booked it back to the Walk of Fame to conquer the one and only WILLIAM SHATNER. His manager or handler told me he was signing at 1100am but had a photo opportunity but would be back by 1130am. That was a lie. So the next time was 130pm, right in the middle of the Smallville: Three Bad Guys and a Supergirl panel that David wanted me to go to. I left the Walk of Fame and went right back to the Hyatt. I told David that I had to leave early from the panel because of William Shatner and he was cool with it.

So 1pm rolls around and we are led inside of the ballroom and immediately Michael Rosenbaum starts with his crazy antics. If you have not seen any of his work, YOU NEED TO. Right now. Stop what you are doing and go to YouTube and look up something of Michael Rosenbaum. Or you can just watch my videos below.





145pm comes and I bolt out of the ballroom and make my way back to the Walk of Fame. Now on Saturday at Dragon*Con this is a feat in of itself because now all of the costume paraders are back and mingling inside the hotels. Luckily when I got to the Walk of Fame William Shatner still had a line. Apparently he has this weird policy that if he does not have a line waiting for him, he leaves. Where he goes...no one knows.

I approaching his "room" which is one of the bell desks and he is seated. His handler/manager takes my Shit my Dad Says book and asks me where I would like William to sign the book. I said wherever and to make it out to Nick & Danielle. I was told no personalization. Fine. I moved over to stand in front of William and asked him about his Tennessee Walkers. Those are the breed of horses he owns. Asked him nothing about Star Trek or Boston Legal or TJ Hooker. He said to me that his horses are doing fantastic and that he is thinking of getting another one. He also said that no one has ever asked him about his horses and he thanked me for that. I said well I like to be remembered. He said that he would remember me if I ever went to a convention where he was again. His manager started to get annoyed so I grabbed my book, said thank you, and went on my merry way.

At this point I got all of the autographs and pictures that I wanted....until I heard Misha Collins was finally there. Now I am a fan of Supernatural but I forgot my Supernatural Book of Demons book so I decided to surprise my friend Fran who is a big time Misha Collins fan. Last year at Dragon*Con I had Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) leave her a voicemail so this year I figured I would do the same. I called her and her husband answered the phone. I told him to put her on once she was finished with whatever she was doing. We had maybe a four minute BS conversation and then I asked her to hold on. I talked to Misha for a second and asked him if he would not mind talking to a big fan of his on the phone. He said no and took my phone and the conversation went something like this: "Hi..who is this? No who is this? I am not telling you. Because I don't want to. No still not telling you. Nope. Sorry. Oh by the way this is Misha and I am sorry I missed you at Dragon*Con." When he handed me back the phone I was in tears laughing. Fran asked me who that was and when I told her she nearly died. Now I just have to get her to the Kevin Sorbo signing in October.

Now I am officially done with autographs and pictures. I got in no order whatsoever: Beau Bridges (picture with/autograph), Robert Englund (autograph),Carrie Fisher (autograph in book), Christopher Lloyd (picture with/autograph),William Shatner,(autograph in Shit my Dad Says book), Wil Wheaton (picture with/autograph in Just a Geek book),Eliza Dushku (picture with/autograph). and Jim Beaver (autograph in book).

So off to do some SHOPPING. There are three dealer rooms in the Marriott Marquis so three ways for me to spend way too much money. Luckily enough since I had a good idea of what I wanted to get, temptation was not there. No one had Deadman Volume 1 though as well as The Walking Dead Volume 8. But this is what I did get:

Comic Books/Trade Paperbacks
Terminal Alice by Jeffrey Kaufman (Zenescope Comics)
Hack/Slash Death by Sequel by Tim Seeley
The Walking Dead Volume 7 and Volume 9 by Robert Kirkman
The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told edited by DC Comics
X-Men Origins by edited by Mark D. Beazley

Regular Books
Seize the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Sword of Darkness by Sherrilyn Kenyon written as Kinley MacGregor
Vamped by Lucienne Diver
The Ascension by Samantha Sommersby
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Yes I have a lot of reading to do...plus all of the other books I have! By 7pm I was done. Went back to the hotel and took a mighty nap...after having this awesome burrito from Cafe Momo's as well as other things but I will keep this blog PG-Rated.

All in all, even though it was only two days of convention I had an awesome time. Can not wait for next year! Only 357 days left!