Motivation-less

Yesterday and today have marked two consecutive slow days at work, leading to my complete and total lack of motivation. This makes me wonder: what is the opposite of being motivated?

Lazy doesn't quite fit the bill since it's not that I'm doing NOTHING with my day. Nor do the words boredom, proscrastination, sluggish, slothful, idle, inert, or inactive work. The thesaurus only has four antonyms: depress, disconcert, discourage, dissuade. Again, none really touch on the lack of being motivated to work on non-work. My study to find the perfect description continues - and that, I am motivated about!

Wall Street Run

Wednesday night was the Annual Wall Street Run, sponsored by the American Heart Association. It was a beautiful, but extremely HOT night. I was just happy it didn't rain! At 91 degrees and over 10,000 runners, it was a little unbearable at times, but we pushed through!



The most beautiful moment of the night was at the very beginning, standing among hordes of strangers, and one lovely voice sang the National Anthem to a completely audience. Behind us stood the cranes hovering over Ground Zero. It truly was a sight to see.

Pictures from the Past Year

I'm getting ready to trade in my Palm Pre cell phone for a Blackberry. Part of that process involved downloading all of my images / video from my Palm onto my computer. I never realized how many photos I have on that silly little phone! Going through the past year's worth of shots, I pulled some of my favorites:

Metis, QC


Gagnon Art Gallery


What?! Gotta love store advertising


My favorite place setting ever (plates are from the 19th Century)


And, my newest NYJL committee, Pegs Closet


This morning, P and I went for a really good run along Riverside Park. The morning proved to be sunny but not too hot - great running weather all around. While I was running, I kept having this nagging reminder that I should do a five-Monday fast. I've wanted to do to this fast for quite some time, but the timing finally seemed right. All day, even though I wasn't deprived of food (I had fruit for breakfast and lunch, and a home-cooked dinner), I kept being reminded of the fast - what you can eat, when you can eat, what you can't eat... It was actually a really great feeling and a reminder that you don't need to consume anything and everything that crosses your mind. On top of that, I felt much more connected to God and a sense of spirituality. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of this enlightenment.

Fun in Chelsea

After a long day of work, I was excited to get the juices flowing with some golf at Chelsea Piers. Little did I realize how bright the driving range would be in the early summer evening. Facing West towards NJ, the sun was still high in the sky. Next time I will make sure to go at sunset to get some great pictures.

The boats at the pier - great view!:


The view from the second floor of the driving range:


Afterwards, P and I went for a walk through Chelsea Market. We really enjoyed going through all the specialty stores - The Lobster Place, Elenis, Sarabeths Bakery, Chelsea Market Baskets...the list goes on and on. The art installation throughout the market is "Fascinating Specimens" and they had a fake mustache picture frame to honor the exhibit. Great photo op!

Running in Riverside Park

I went for a lovely run this morning in Riverside Park. I put the Nike+ Ipod on a 5K routine, and let it guide my distance and time. Today I chose to run along the Hudson River. It was already hot at 9am so I am glad I am not out there now! (I'm not necessarily "glad" I'm sitting at work instead, but that's beside the point.) I didn't have a camera with me, but here's a pretty good look at my view during run. This picture is missing one thing that is very cool: boats galore. There are dozens of sail boats that dot the water in between Manhattan and Jersey, making for a jaw dropping view.



While I was running, I was thinking about relationships between people. Can we really hold someone to a standard they have never acheived within the relationship? I understand that people have standards, and we hold the people with whom with have relationships to those standards. But when you expect someone to behave in a certain way or acheive a specific expectation, is it fair to ask them of it when they've never done it before? For instance, your partner never takes out the trash... well, did they EVER take out the trash? Can you reasonably expect them to begin doing this task when you never asked for it to be done before? Now, that does seem like a "light" example. Perhaps the tougher questions would revolve around income, emotional expression, the ability to give, etc. But tying it all together - when is not ok to ask someone to acheive your new standard for them when they never had it before...

Lincoln Center, Dinner, Nic's Show, and Dog Sitting

It's been a fun, roller-coaster style week. On Monday night, I had dinner with NSB at Landmarc in Time Warner Center - love that place. Not only was the food great, but the restaurant is pretty entertaining. While we were enjoying our meal, we couldn't help but look over at the neighboring table where three elderly people were finishing their meal with dessert. They had an enormous batch of cotton candy, and two ice cream cones. We laughed at how ludicrous it looked (and how much more expensive it likely is to order those items in the restaurant rather than at a carnival). Our waitress convinced us to try dessert, and we opted for tiramisu. She generously brought us our own serving of cotton candy, though, and it was GOOD!

Afterwards, Nat and I went for a walk to Lincoln Center where they have a very neat light installation on their staircase:



Last night, Nic performed in a "straight play" (which means it is not a musical). She did a great job. The show ran for one night, but hopefully it gets extended.



The largest benefit of Nicole's show is that I got to watch the cutest little dog in the whole world, and I'm in love with her! Eloise is a Prince Charles Cavalier (to those who don't know what that is - including me - she's "Tramp" from "Lady and the Tramp"). Too cute. Too bad I didn't take any pictures of her!

Weekend Wind Up

Working all day (usually) on Sundays often leads me to wonder what day of the week I should consider a good day to "wind down"? I wonder if I got this it's-ok-to-work-7-days/week attitude from my dad. He doesn't miss a phone call to his cell and he doesn't miss an opportunity to do a deal. I can't help but wonder where it comes from. Maybe his grandfather since he was the ultimate businessman - property owner, politician, and business operator.

Mondays would be a great "lazy day" for me after a weekend of working-except everyone else is rejuvenated with go get 'em mentalities after a two day break.

Today I started off on the Upper East Side, them Upper West, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, and now Harlem. I slept for 12 hours last night but I'm EXHAUSTED. I think I need to go for a run before bed to make sure I sleep well after a mentally and physically exhausting day.