You're So Vain...

I'm large...and for the most part, I like it. It's a bit of a disadvantage in large crowds and in European clothing stores, but I'm still pretty comfortable being the Hulk in the group. I work to maintain the size/shape I have. My priority, at least what I tell myself, is that my priority is maintaining my health, with the muscles and mass as a desirable bi-product.

Today is like a many other days where I'm leaving work an hour later than I hoped and know that if I go to the gym, I won't be able to make it home in time to do certain things: clean (eh, not so bad), cook, catch up on personal emails, etc. And in trying to find a compromise, I run into my conscience giving me an ice grill for THINKING about skipping the gym. There's another mean mug though, it's my conscience, with a look that sings "you're so vain".

It's vanity because even though my general health is supposedly the reason for going to the gym, I also know that my GENERAL health will suffer from a few nights of truancy. And what's more, the health of my lifestyle might benefit from it. Word up! Since I got home, I've taken a writing break and did the following:

-Washed the dishes
-paid some bills
-sent approximately 10 emails
-finalized a bachelor party
-sent a wedding schedule
-perused NY Mag
- FB-friended all of my favorite teachers and professors
-made a salad
-updated my Netflix queue
-called Ralphie

...So, it comes down to having thick biceps, or taking care of business. Imagine what else I can accomplish if I didn't go the the gym again tonight...or ever?! I can't change the fact that my work schedule cuts into most of my life (economic crisis, duh!)

It seems like a clear choice that any of in today's modern, work-loaded world might have to make. With a good diet, I'm pretty sure you can maintain your basic health with 30-40 mins of good cardio 2 or 3 days a week. But, especially in NY, that's not enough for us, hence NYSC, hence Equinox and if you're gay, hence David Barton. It's not reeeeaallly a "healthy" lifestyle we're all concerned about, it's a healthy self-esteem, with a physical payoff. If it was reaaaaally a health thing, we might not work out, to look good in the clothes, to wear it at the club, to drink it all away. Just saying (JS).

I could use my commute home as my weekly cardio and walk home. That would take almost an hour and would still leave enough time to do my thang. That would be pretty healthy.

Unfortunately, I'm more comfortable with my vanity than most people and will probably continue to have my post-work life be a workout and my post-workout life consist of dinners at 10:30. But it ain't all bad. Vanity's gotten a bad wrap due to it's younger brother, conceit. I'm not saying we should all have Muhammed Ali braggadocio, but what's wrong with wanting to look/feel/be as good as you decide. Whether that means having the slimmest waist and fattest ass, or having the most coveted concert tee and craziest hair, your conception of "best" is up to you- and it's OK to try to own that. The alternative is that obligatory insecurity we're supposed to have in order to be cordial. Eff that, if you're smart BE smart. If you're witty, BE witty. Try not to put anyone off, but don't deny yourself either. And on that note, I'll be going to the abs clinic tonight and maybe reading Jane Jacobs after and having protein powder for din (gotta choose- read or eat).

But then again, this could just be my vanity speaking.

Baby, I'm Sorry- Chris Brown Apologizes

Can we believe Chris Brown? My theory is that many people will view this apology as a political gesture to get back up on the pop pedestal. And I'm sure some of that has to be true. But what makes it so hard to excuse him of his mistake, albeit a horrible one.

Is it because this mistake had physically harming repercussions? Maybe. But more than a few rap lyrics have boasted this kind of man-beats-woman behavior. Not to meantion we've all seen at least one video of random celebrity taking famous foot to papparazzi ass. If we can't forgive Chris Brown's stupid actions, how is it that the press can be excused for the physical damage they've directly contributed to:



Celebrities have historically been afforded more legal leniency than the general public, but only when the alleged crime was against a member, or members of the public. Perhaps the fact that another star, of equal footing as Brown, was on the receiving end of the offense is what prevents anyone form fully admonishing Mr.Pretty Boy.

Or maybe it's because Chris was the Justin to Rihanna's Britney. Watching this dude go down in flames is losing another image that America has attached it's identity to. The public essentializes this level of fame as something common, and therefore something they connect to. And that connection went south.

I'm not saying that I fully "forgive" Chris Brown for manhandling Ri-Ri, but I do recognize my unwillingness to do so. I've forgiven family members for undeserved whippings when I was younger (hey, my family's Jamaican- what can I say). Is there some sort of super-human quality we bestow on our stars that makes their falling into human mistakes harder to deal with? Who knows. This question is probably one that can be argued over much longer than it will take Chris to come out with another hit single, though.

Party Philosophy

"I'm too sexy to have spit in my face! Security needs to have a little..."

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Dj Cassidy drops an audio middle finger to the establishment with the A.Franklin disco classic. This party, a summer-long promotion of SoBe Life Water, seems like many philosophies at once- partly Michael Eric Dyson call for a post-racist, but not post-racial, America- as blanquitas and Negroes, Asians and Latinos bumped together. We all seem to know our differences, but also realize the social location of those divisions. This party is also Elizabeth Currid's (and Richard Florida's) theory of social flocking- as the composition of this party barely hold two degrees of separation between any two heads in the house. And it feels like a good ass party.

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T"


I've ben out of hte partying "scene" for a while now. I've chalked it up to growing older, and growing out of it, but this taste has got my fiend jaw twitching. My first thought is a memory of wasted, superficial nights that posed as bizzarro versions of some "essential" New York- it's what the law and finance industries use to attract recruits to their midtown cubicles and what Candace Bushnell used to sell a story about four women with love issues.

Aretha sings "find out what it means to me"



On the other hand, my first twenty minutes in teh Donna Karan space were mentally and professionally productive: I photo-documented event elements to report back to the office, made a contact that I've worked with before, and rose a few sociological quandaries along the way.



If I were an artist, I could apply Warholian ethics to validate my thirst for the party. From the photographer, and his muse, to the music and the walking canvases, this population reeks of art and commerce, art and New York.



As a budding pop-sociologist, I'm applying Floridian (as in Richard) ideas, assert that this party, this community, and all its negative and positive details, give meaning, builds connections, encourages creativity, challenges ideas of class, mixes neighborhoods. This bass-filled, Life Water get down, is a social dynamic. And that, you gotta

"Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-RESPECT!"

When's the next party?