(Be sure to click the play button to the right to hear the theme song to my blog and/or to watch the video.) Hey peeps, I am back. I won't apologize for the long hiatus because I needed it. Work has kept me busy, but I will keep this blog as current as possible. As you can see, it has a new look. My new attitude...well...it's rather simple...DO NOT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF! In other words, either you know me or you don't. Either you agree with me or you don't. Either you love me or you don't. Either way, the world will continue to rotate on its axis and I will continue to take life one day at a time without batting an eyelash. It's that simple folks. Why the new attitude? The new state of mind? I have gotten my inspiration from the City of New York. Referring to New York City, H. G. Wells once stated: "To Europe, she was America. To America, she was the gateway of the earth. But to tell the story of New York would be to write a social history of the world." And now for a little history...New York was briefly the U.S. capital. It consists of five major boroughs--Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island.
Ah yes, Manhattan. What is there NOT to like? Believe it or not, Peter Minuit supposedly bought the island from the Native Americans (Manhattan is a Native American name) for about $24 worth of trinkets. I suppose you could say future real estate market value was never discussed during the transaction.
By reading the history of Central Park, you get a social history of the city. New York's Central Park is the first urban landscaped park in the United States. Originally conceived by wealthy New Yorkers in the early 1850's, the park project spanned more than a decade and cost the city ten million dollars. The purpose was "to refute the European view that Americans lacked a sense of civic duty and appreciation for cultural refinement and instead possessed an unhealthy and individualistic materialism that precluded interest in the common good. The bruised egos of New York high society envisioned a sweeping pastoral landscape, among which the wealthy could parade in their carriages, socialize, and "be seen," and in which the poor could benefit from clean air and uplifting recreation without lifting the bottle." In the process of constructing the park, many people who had been living in the area (some as legitimate renters and others as squatters) were evicted.
In the first decade of the park's completion, it became clear for whom it was built. Located too far uptown to be within walking distance for the city's working class population, the park was a distant oasis to them. Trainfare represented a greater expenditure than most of the workers could afford, and in the 1860s the park remained the playground of the wealthy. As the city and the park moved into the twentieth century, the lower reservoir was drained and turned into the Great Lawn. The first playground, complete with jungle gyms and slides, was installed in the park in 1926, despite opposition by conservationists, who argued that the park was intended as a countryside escape for urban dwellers. The playground, used mostly by the children of middle and working class parents, was a great success. As the park became less and less an elite oasis and escape, and was shaped more and more by the needs of the growing population of New York City, its uses evolved and expanded. 
Today, as the major site of most New Yorkers' recreation, the park hosts millions of visitors yearly engaging in such activities as rollerblading, fine dining at the Tavern on the Green, watching free performances of Shakespeare in the Park, and relaxing and sunbathing in Sheep's Meadow.
So there...you have a few pieces of trivia to share with your friends.
I grew up in a small town, which explains my love affair with the big city...any city. The skyscrapers...the city lights...I get chills just thinking about it. But New York City has always been a future destination for me. I'm just saddened by the fact that I never had the privilege of seeing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Hats off to NYC for being you!
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| "One hand in the air for the big city, street lights, big dreams, all looking pretty, no place in the world that can compare, put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.... |
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| In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made, oh, there's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York, |
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| New York, |
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| New York, |
New York."--Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z (featuring Alicia Keyes)
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