"The beauty outside: looks never mattered
People would hide from worlds that would shatter.
When the weight of the world was too much to bear
Found the hero in someone we thought that cared..."
"...Tell me, what happened to those people
who wrote songs of freedom, with dreams
that really made us think?"
-Matt White, Songs of Freedom
It's national modeling week here in NYC.
It's also National AmeriCorps' "Getting Green Done" week.
Peter Hunsiger, Publisher of GQ (Gentleman's Quarterly) Magazine co-sponsored a volunteer community service event in an East Harlem park this Saturday, along with my employer, the New York Restoration Project (NYRP). (GQ Magazine is the leading men's general-interest magazine with a monthly readership of 6.1 million readers. GQ established The Gentlemen's Fund in 2007 to encourage individuals to become agents of change by contributing to charities that champion certain causes. (www.gentlemensfund.com)) The Governor of New York and his first lady, along with musical artist Matt White and 1500 volunteers, joined us for this day of music, dancing, and park stewardship. The Governor addressed the volunteers, noting that prior to the MillionTreesNYC initiative that Bette Midler and mayor Bloomberg kicked off in 2008, an average of 10,000 trees were planted each year, and of that 10,000, only 4,000 survived. Since the MillionTreesNYC initatiave, over 100,000 trees are planted per year!
Eight of those trees were planted yesterday by none other than the staff of Polo clothing designer Ralph Lauren at another volunteer tree-planting day. In a spirit of service, the Ralph Lauren staff, donning customized "Polo Volunteers" t-shirts, joined NYRP in the revitalization of three secondary schools in East Harlem. We planted trees, rebuilt four 6 x 12ft planting boxes, and worked side by side with pre-K students (FOUR year-olds!!) as they got their hands dirty helping plant flowers and vegetables in their school yard and running around showing off worms they found in the soil. This school revitalization day was the FIRST of many...NYRP is planning to revitalize EACH and every one of the 1,000 elementary schools in NYC. While we were striking poses for the cameras in East Harlem, professional models from IMG were doing a modeling shoot of their own up at our Ft. Tryon headquarters in north Manhattan. A photo of the models wearing our royal blue NYRP t-shirts and posing with shovels showed up in the newspaper this morning! Lol! Here's to national modeling week and "Getting Green Done."
in other news... I love-hate this city. It's never one or the other, but always both.
In the midst of my bike crash last week, the answer to my "where do I find a cycling group to ride with" prayers were answered. This past Sunday I braved the NYC streets once again (bypassing the cratered pavement of my crash site via the sidewalk) and went on an absolutely brilliant 40-mile bike ride with a group from Tread bike shop where I had my bike doctored up post-crash last week. Five of us biked out of the city into New Jersey along tree-lined highways with WIIIIDE shoulders for cyclists...and the cyclists! They were so courteous! And abundant!! It is nothing like my experience in the Bronx: no muddy, flooded pathways or streets of craters and glass, nor apathetic individuals who stand in the middle of the path, looking right at me with an oblivious stare, as I swerve and slam on my brakes to avoid their idol selves. While it is unfortunate that the 2 mile radius around my apt is notoriously anti-cyclist, I am so thankful for the sweet taste of open road and new friends to explore it with. Mid-ride, a woman from Britain biked up beside me. We chatted the last 15 miles at a good pace and exchanged numbers in hopes of doing it again sometime. It's amazing what happens when you put yourself out there.
In the midst of my running-induced anxiety attack two weeks ago, I experienced a renewed vigor for my vegan nutrition plan. The anxiety attack hit shortly after I passed the front entrance of a store jam-packed from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with crates of live chickens, squwaking and flapping in their cramped cages as men literally threw the crates out of the delivery truck onto the sidewalk where I was passing by. The stench was horrendous and the noise made my ears bleed. That day I quit chicken, cold-turkey, so to speak. In the midst of working and training, I have been devoting more time to vegan meal preparation, making everything from scratch: my own salad dressings, cereals, burgers, pies, energy bars, crackers, salsa, and so on. I've even made my own ketchup and milk!!! Meals are hit and miss...some are genuinely delicious, while others I eat strictly for their nutritional content. :) I'm pretty sure my roomies and coworkers think I'm crazy.
Speaking of roomies, KINZ is LEAVING NYC TOMORROW MORNING!! Hard to believe it's already been a full school year for her. As she heads off to an exciting summer of adventures in Peru, Bolivia, South Africa AND Kenya...I am moving five blocks west into the bachelor pad of four guys in the heart of "Little Italy of the Bronx." Meet: James, Joe, Matt and Alex, my new roomies on the infamous Arthur Avenue..little Italian shops of fresh mozzarella, bread, homemade pasta and marinara sauces, as well as pizza and pastry shops line this quaint street in the paradox of the Bronx. All I can say for sure is that I will be carrying my bike up ZERO flights of stairs instead of FOUR!!!!!! Happiness IS.
At this point, I don't have an address. Working on a P.O. Box, but then again, that's part of the "I hate NYC" headache I've been experiencing the past few weeks. Even the most simplest of tasks take dizzying circles of time and energy and misinformation to accomplish. Time will tell.
In the meantime, living the paradox,
Hana T.
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