How was your day, Dan?

WORK

Last night I was drivng home, eating Cappucino cupcakes from a place called Misha's, and listening to Adele's new album. 

All the stoplights lit up green for me, just as I finished the last bite, and Adele hit that high note and wailed...I whooshed along, the windows open.  I think that's the definition of "bliss."  Delicious, everything was delicious, the wind and the cappucino icing and Adele's heartbreak, delicious.

Times are hard, dear readers, we all know this.  Perhaps there are a few of you who are permanently wealthy, and for that I am jealous in a loving way.  Alas, I am not among that group.

I come from hearty Midwestern stock, and manual labor is in my blood.  Like a need to breathe, a need to love, I need to work.  Sitting idle makes me die inside.  When I am at parties, I instinctively help pick up glasses and I arrange things.  When I go to The Gap, I re-fold the sweaters on the table.  When I was a supervisor at the Hard Rock Hotel a few years ago, on my breaks I would sneak into the room service kitchen and help fold napkins.  It made me relax. And it was a good excuse to steal ice cream.

A few weeks ago, I was watching Suze Orman, and she stared out of my TV and asked me why I don't believe I deserve to be rich.  Why am I not saving more money?  Why don't I deserve to own a house?  I don't want to be in an investment, I want to be in a home.  There's a difference, says Suze.

So I got a second job.  I have a day job as a teacher, in the world of adult education, and I love it; but those rumors about teachers not making much money are sometimes true.  I need money, rapidly, lots of it.  I also have no fear of getting my hands dirty. 

I've gone back, back, back to my roots and have taken a job as a waiter--not a server, I think that word is boring, I'm a waiter please--where I get to run around and chat with people and get something done.  There's something satisfying in doing manual labor, and seeing the results of your work.  I have already burned my hands twice.  I'm so tough.

It's a lot of work, balancing two jobs; simply going home and taking off my shoes is an actual act of recreation, something I look forward to doing, as if it an event all in itself.  "What are you going to do tonight?" "I'm going to go home, take off my shoes, and sit."  "Wow!  Have a good time."  And I do.

Yesterday I drove home, listening to the radio, eating and smiling and feeling good.  Of course, those cupcakes helped.

MOVING ON, MOVIN' ON UP

Buying a house by yourself makes you feel:

a) terrified
b) excited
c) a little lonely
d) all of the above

On a related note: Did you know the theme song from "The Jeffersons" was written/sung by Willona from "Good Times"?  I didn't know that.

SMILE

I hate to break the bad news to all the Valentine's Day grumps out there, but I'm having a really good day.

Good news on the work front?  Lots of it.

Happy, encouraging email from my banker, about that home loan I might get?  In my inbox.

Awesome Spicy Thai Chicken Salad from Evos, my new favorite place across the street?  Had it for lunch, delicious.

So what if I ate lunch alone?  I just talked to the soccer moms at the table next to me. We discussed their kids' footwear.

The only thing bringing me down is listening to comments from other people, wallowing in puddles of melted Valentine's Day chocolate dripping from their souls, as they moan about how much they hate today.  You're not happy?  Shush.  I was doing just fine until I had to listen to you.

This is one of the best parts about living in Miami.  Half the population doesn't speak much English, so when they complain in Spanish/Portuguese/Italian/whatever about how miserable they are, I don't understand what they're saying and therefore I don't have to listen to it.

The only thing that could've made today better is if I had arrived to work in a giant Lady Gaga egg.  I'm looking into buying myself one.  And then, maybe one of the guys carrying it can be my Valentine.  Perfect.

 

PUBLIC ART

Hello there. 

It's Friday morning, a lovely morning here in the southern reaches of Florida, and I am enjoying the light of rising sun while listening to the sounds of Adele.  I'm feeling inspired by the artistry of it all.  Look around, there is beauty everywhere, open your eyes and let yourself see.  

"Rolling in the Deep" must be listened to from the beginning, in its entirety.  If you get interrupted mid-song, you must start it over, listen to it from the beginning and let it build.

In honor of my poetic mood, I present to you my favorite works of public art.  Let's start with one here in Miami Beach, shall we? 

1) New World Center Soundscape, Miami Beach, Fla.

New World Symphony is an "orchestral training academy," where the best graduates of the best music conservatories spend a few years post-graduation, sharpening their skills before entering the professional world.  Having operated for 20+ years from an old Art Deco theater in South Beach--which is lovely place, but not properly equipped for a school--the executives at NWS asked their friend Frank Gehry to build them a new building to call home. 

Gehry produced a smaller, restrained version of his typical work, featuring his trademark wonky curves and angles throughout the structure of the building.  It's nice.  But the best part is Soundscape, the outdoor park next to the building.  Performances inside the concert hall are beamed against the flat side wall; two sets of tubes filled with speakers surround one section of the park.  Audiences can sit beneath these speakers, watch the performances on the wall, and listen to the music that comes blasted from above.  And it sounds lovely.  The New York Times critic lauded the outdoor speaker system as "the best I have ever heard."

The logic: not only are they training musicians who play classical music, by offering the free concerts they are also training audiences to appreciate classical music as well.  But even without the music, the park is a lovely place, the kind of place that makes people want to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, where little kids feel the urge to run around and twirl just because. 

TRAVEL TIPS FOR CARIBBEAN CRUISES

Are you going on a Caribbean cruise in February? (..or ever?...) I wrote an insider's guide to Cozumel, St. Thomas, Roatan...a few other places.  It will be particularly handy for those going on the Atlantis or RSVP cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale.  Anyway--if you're so inclined, read it here: Caribbean cruise

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If someone could please tell me what I'm missing tonight, I would appreciate it. I know I'm missing SOMETHING.

EGYPT 101

This is the best explanation of the significance of the Egypt riots: http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/39/Change-In-Egypt-will-change-the-region.html

Despite their occasional "America is an imperialist devil!" rhetoric, Aljazeera can be a rather awesome source for news. 

Social studies teachers everywhere should be handing this column to their students.  And then those students should bring it home to their parents.