Hey Charming

I really didn't know what to write but today just couldn't do without a post. Why? some may wonder. Others may already know that our dear friend and faithful reader of this blog, Bu, turned 20 just today. Being as she is an old friend of mine, the one friend that I've known the longest indeed, I thereby feel like I should honour this hell of a friend I'm so lucky to know and have the priviledge to share time and good and not-so-good moments with, but basically good moments since she is the kind of person that knows how to turn lousy moments and draw a smile in other's faces with her particular and odd sense of humour and fine irony.

I'll stop with all the flattering for she's smart enough to know how amazing she is (and way smarter in fact) and I don't want to spoil the experience of getting to know her by oneself to those who don't know her yet. 

So without further ado: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BU!  I hope you enjoy the good life (you know what I mean, well she knows what I mean) and keep working hard in your fashion project and don't get strung up by beating traffic lights!

Walking down freedom land!

And finally I found my way to Zuccotti Park at the heart of the Financial District in lower Manhattan, N.Y. I couldn't have picked up a more perfect time to go than this past Sunday sixth of November. It was the day of the Marathon, a sunny one, blue skies, not hot at all but not too cold either.

I did go not only because it was a promise I publicly said I'd fulfill, but for the expectations, the whole curiosity that this new social phenomena had generated in the media and the general public with this thing of Occupying Wall Street.

Occupy has suddenly become one of the most famous words of the planet and for sure is one of the more used in the past couple of months. People now are occupying everything: my life, my heart, my home, my ... you name it, and the proposal has just been made.

I also wanted to go, because of Roberta, who is one of the members of the new book club I recently joined in. She's been in the Park three times already and she kept on telling us how being there was like entering another world... For someone who has lived enough and has presumably traveled a lot, those words had some very different meaning.

And she was right. The minute you arrive you notice change is in the air..

This doesn't seem like reality anymore. It's surrealism in the middle of all the concrete, the skyscrapers, the symbolism of capitalism where these people proclaim themselves they are part of the 99%, defying with bold statements the establishment and demanding at the same time things need to be changed...

                                                                   What a crowd!

For better or worse, idealism is not dead yet. These individuals are there to prove it... they have abandoned the comfort of their houses just to defend moral ideals of how things should be instead of how they are...

                                                                                                                 
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You can use the trip to the park anyway you want. It's up to you to decide. You can see it as a picnic where you can get free food, free coffee, free books, a lot of fun, entertaining, music, all forms of art and even free sex advise....

Who said that believing in ideals, fighting for a cause or trying to change the world had to be necessarily boring, insipid or distasteful? Obviously who might have thought that had not been in Zuccotti Park recently and much less had thought about such a strong movement like the one who has shaken New York, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Seattle, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and countless other cities and people around the world....

Occupy The Bridge

I was supposed to Occupy Wall Street this past weekend. Well, not exactly! I lack the enthusiasm these people seem to have for doing something like that! But I like what they do, and I had decided to write a post for The Bridge about what was really happening there, so close to the financial district in Manhattan, NY.

I even told a couple of friends that I wanted to express my view about what was going on in Zuccotti Park where the occupiers have established their headquarters. I wanted to bring my camera and take photos of everything including this servant, in the park, with the demonstrators. One of the reasons to tell them what my plans were, was to feel myself more committed and engaged with the (cause) task.

One of my friends got inspired and responded very graphically with words of encouragement.

And I let her down. I disappointed her and others, because I didn't go anywhere. I stayed at home instead, watching the weird and early snow, snow and rain, copiously and relentlessly falling from the sky. I also disappointed myself because I promised something that I didn't accomplished. Today, I feel ashamed and guilty because I preferred to stay in shorts at home, cozy and warm, watching movies, drinking tea and coffee while those guys were out there in tents, enduring the cold and rough weather the best they could.

A friend of mine told me the night before the police went with FDNY personnel (fire department) to remove all the generators the protesters were using to power their laptops and fight the cold... Meanwhile I was sleeping in my bed very well cushioned and detached from the discomforts those brave guys were facing, daring to sleep outdoors just to bring awareness of the inequalities that are plaguing our modern world.

But, I promise my friends that I'll try again not one but two, three or more times if necessary to get the job done. In the meantime there's one thing that I can do at the very least and that is: Occupy This Bridge (#OTB).