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Showing posts from October 6, 2010

Magical Moment 250, "A Backwards Writer"

I recently applied for a writing internship at a prestigious New York City magazine who caters to “affluent” clients. To prepare for the interview, I fixed up my resume, printed out writing samples, and spent a half hour deciding what to wear. After trying on a dozen outfits, I noticed the time. I had about 4 minutes to get to the corner bus stop in order to catch my ride and arrive on time. So in a blind frenzy, I threw on my faithful, easy to wear dress that always looks good no matter what, grabbed my purse, and made a dash for the bus stop. After the typical New York City adventure of subways, street signs, and traffic, I finally arrived at the upscale, streamlined office. I was asked to take a seat in the waiting area and breathed a sigh of relief at conquering the chaotic morning. As I waited to be called in, I felt something itch my collar bone. Absent mindedly, I rubbed it when I realized what it was. The tag. Yep, the dress was on backwards. Again, my old friends, panic and

Magical Moment 249, "When You Wish upon a Star"

In honor of yesterday's post , I thought I would keep the theme going with this video shot at Prospect Park in Brooklyn near the carousel. I thought it was an appropriate song to play with the children near by because I just love the message in it. I've noticed something in the little girls from ballet class who put their heart and soul into dancing because it's their dream . I love this lyric from the song: "If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme. When you wish upon a star as dreamers do." To see photos from the Play Me, I'm Yours project, click here . To see more videos, click here .

Magical Moment 248, "I Wish I May, I Wish I Might"

Days like this only come around once every 400 years. It’s 10/10/10 in case you haven’t noticed. I realized it this morning at about 9:43 when I said to Eddie, “Tell me when it’s 10:10 am exactly so I can make a wish.” Well, he told me at 10:13. My heart sank at the thought of losing my once in a lifetime shot, until it struck me. I get another chance tonight! This time I set my alarm. I’m not superstitious, but I’ve thrown my share of pennies into fountains. I bought Eddie a cute little glucken schwein (good luck pig), which he carries in his wallet. And ever since I was little, I’ve had a hang up with stepping only one foot inside each sidewalk square at a time – but I think that’s a little more OCD than superstition (I used to pretend each square was a button that lit up when I stepped on it). Well, that was a little more crazy than I intended on revealing. But anyway. I’ve spent the day pondering what to make my one wish in 400 hundred years, wanting to get it just right. I soo

Magical Moment 247, "Waffles and Cousins"

Me and Stacy It's not often that I have the chance to take my own advice almost immediately after I give it. Yesterday, I wrote about working at relationships though they may be weakened for whatever reason - distance, disagreement, anger, or just lost touch. And today, I was able to meet up with a cousin after more than probably a decade. There was only a small window of time she was available, and we both had to give a little to make it happen. I'm so glad it worked out. Driving out of the city after our impromptu breakfast at a mid-town diner, I felt like we had reinforced a dwindling piece of thread with a thick rope. The great significance of a small effort can last for years. I hope I take my advice more often.

Magical Moment 246, "The First Scuff is the Deepest"

I remember that new car feeling. It was the summer of 2005 and I had just purchased my dream car, a Hyundai Santé Fe. The color, mocha frost. I bought it brand new with my own money and conducted all the research, bargaining, and haggling by myself. I still remember the pride I felt driving it, in its immaculate condition and new car smell. But that exhilarating feeling was crushed on that fateful day of the very first door ding. I was reminded of that feeling the other day, vacuuming around my 11-month-old May Berlin piano. I regularly polish, tune , and baby it with great care. But I’ve discovered…scuffmarks. Just a few very light ones where my music binder brushes the ledge as I open and close it in a hurry. It’s hard to accept, but I knew that day would come eventually. So what do I do now that the “newness” has worn off? I can either let it fall further into disrepair, or just work that much harder to keep it safe. I suppose it’s like any relationship. Everything evolves and c

Magical Moment 245, "New Spin on Classic Rock"

I know, I know! I should be practicing ballet music for Saturday's classes. Lately I've been forcing myself to practice classical music for uncharacteristically long hours in preparation for my new job at a ballet school and company. Mainly I need to learn more music for  dégagés , and some good jumping music (so if there's any suggestions out there...). Precision and repetition are the keys for me when I'm learning a piece of music like Pizzicati from the Ballet "Sylvia." It's killin me, actually. I haven't practiced this hard since college. So I took a break and fooled around with a waltz. On my first day playing for the class, the instructor asked me to play some "stretching" music, which is usually a relaxing, languid, 3/4 piece that makes your muscles want to melt into supple flexibility. I looked at him, puzzled for a moment, because I had already used most of my prepared waltzes. So instead, I thought of a nice chord progression fr

Magical Moment 244, "Pushed Around"

I’ve always been a pretty easy-going person. I don’t like to make waves. I’ve always chosen to absorb the brunt of a conflict, rather than push back and make things worse. But something happened recently that made me realize somewhere along the way in my life, that attitude of peace, flexibility, and politeness, has turned into something much less desirable. Lack of self-respect. It was something as silly as getting pizza for dinner. I ordered a large pepperoni and a side of garlic bread for delivery, but the garlic bread never made it. When I called the place back and explained that the delivery man forgot the garlic bread, he responded that I never ordered any. My first impulse was, silly me, maybe I left that out. But I knew I didn’t. “No, I ordered the garlic bread. We either need a refund, or for it to be re-delivered.” I couldn’t believe it when he continued to argue with me. And that’s when every past experience of being pushed around and taken advantage of flashed before my