The plague hits - will a cure ever be found?

I have been receiving numerous reports of an acute disease that seems to be affecting humankind all around the globe. An epidemic is taking the world by surprise, and we are totally unprepared for it.

Stupidity.

No, that is not one of the symptoms. That is the disease. To be exact, the known world is being threatened by the Acute Stupidity Syndrome. (I'm sure you can guess what the acronym is.)

Wow. I really sound like a bitter human being. If you would take my word on it, I'm not. It's just the truth. I'm sure I'm not the only one that have noticed its exponential increase in the past few decades or so. It seems like stupid is the new trend. It is affecting all aspects of human life - from traffic to relationships, from business to life.

Ah. Let's start with the smaller, easier to handle stupidity. The disease manifests itself when certain individuals humor themselves by attempting to operate a vehicle to travel from Point A to Point B. Surely, for a spectator, the sight is quite entertaining. However, it stops being entertaining when stupid becomes a lifestyle.

For those of you that actually interact with me on a semi-regular basis, you would know that I do not drive in the United States. I don't even own a car of my own. Which is totally completely fine with me. I have a feeling that if I actually drive a vehicle, I will somehow lose my sanctification. And whatever little filter I have.

This Acute Stupidity Syndrome (I will attempt to refrain from using the acronym) does not only affect people operating motor vehicles. It also affect people in their interaction with others. Relationships.

Picture this scenario (true story, I kid you not):
Boy meets girl first day of college orientation (note: they are both freshmen)
Boy thinks girl's cute, girl thinks boy is cute.
They started dating.
Then, out of nowhere, during Thanksgiving weekend, boy and girl went and got married.
Are you kidding me?

Another scenario:
Girl meets boy online. Started "dating." I used the appropriate quotation marks due to the fact that these two lived so far apart.
Boy comes to visit girl and proposed.
She said yes (really?).
Got married within a month.
Boy stayed for a month and then left girl, pregnant, never to be seen again.
Seriously?

The most painstakingly heartbreaking scenario of all is when boys (or girls) use "the God card" to either get into a relationship or get out of a relationship. This actually happened to my friend. Boy likes girl, asked her out.
She said yes.
But they decided to take things slowly before officially dating.
After a few months, they were officially in a relationship (Facebook and all).
One month into their relationship, boy comes up to girl and used "the God card" to break up with her: "God told me to break up with you. I don't want to. But I have to."

Really?

To say the least, she was very offended. I was too.

If God told you to break up with her, I think he would have the decency to tell her too. Does that mean she is less "spiritual" than you? If you want to break up with her, man up and do it.

The last stupidity scene that I will share with you today is very offensive to me. The bitter reality of it is that this disease is spreading into our church leaders. I lost a good friend due to this.

My friend, a new pastor, had decided that protecting the image of being a pastor is more important than actually caring for people. This friend used to be a person whose friends can rely to for help, support, encouragement, and even emergency assistance. To my dismay, this friend's approach to people have changed due to the pastoral image that needed to be protected. I understand the fact that pastors need to set up boundaries in order to protect themselves in this world that is full of manipulative people, judgmental people, gossip, and lawsuits. Our friendship dissolved because at times when I really needed help and asked this person for help (physical help, not emotional at all), this person responded with:

"I'm sorry, I don't think that's a good idea."

Hey there, pastor. What would Jesus do?

Due to these circumstances and the fact that there is no longer any interactions, communication, or even hang out times, our friendship no longer exists. I mourn for it. I really do. But any relationship is a two way interaction. Furthermore, I think we have irreconcilable philosophical and theological differences: my view of what it means to be a Christian does not align with my friend's view of what it means to be a pastor.

Sad. But stupid nonetheless.

To end my report, I have to admit that I have, in fact, done some stupid mistakes in my lifetime. Everyone does. I think it's how people come up with the term human error. However, there are some big decisions that you don't want to be stupid about. Like who you marry. Or the people you hurt. Or the people you love.

New York Trip Note #4

My last fifteen hours in New York City started out with panic. Yes, sheer panic. About five hours after I finally fell asleep, I was woken up by a phone call from the Front Desk, telling me that I needed to give them a new credit card because the one I gave them didn’t work. It turns out that I had to go and pay for my hotel room with cash since, for some unexplainable reason, my card didn’t go through. (After much questions, it dawned on me that my bank had put a hold on my account for big purchases. Of course.)

After that panic settled down and I checked out of the hotel, I walked over to Central Park, stopping by Starbucks on the way there. Oh and I got to visit some of the neighborhoods in Upper West Side. They’re amazingly beautiful. Honestly, I would love to live there. I had this conversation with my friends while I was here. I can definitely see myself living here. New York’s atmosphere is very much similar to how I live my life.

Anyways... Central Park is huge! Gorgeous, and very green, but huge nonetheless. It was so fun to people watch there. I got to see some musicians play there, and they were good. There were lots of people running at the park. I can’t help noticing that some ladies were in need of extra support... and then there were also men in need of extra support. Eh... One of the most bizarre thing I witnessed while I was walking there was this man with his dog. His dog, I think it was a Doberman, sat still at the man’s feet while he attempts to do some Tai Chi moves. Yes, I said the word attempt. It seems like he was only there to show off. Show off what, I have no idea. Very weird. But hey. To each their own, right?

My last stop before leaving on another jet plane was Lincoln Center. My last tourist-y endeavor in such a short time: the Lincoln Center campus tour. Oh my word. It was amazing. I know some of you read this and said, huh? Yes. I’m a big fan of the arts, and so visiting the venues and learning about the history of the NYC Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera, Juilliard School, New York Philharmonic, etc. was a dream come true. I would love to go back, though, to see Elina Garanca in The Met’s Carmen.

So after all this, what have changed? I don’t know why I was scared out of my wits. I laugh thinking about it. This was a great experience. And traveling alone was great!

Oh, by the way, I didn’t have time to post this earlier, so I posted this as I got settled back home in Kirkland.

If you want to see the 266 pictures from this trip, go to:

gallery.me.com/tirza.magdiel

Ciao!

New York Trip Note #3

My one and only full day in New York. So amazingly worth it.

My phone alarm woke the living daylights out of me. It was not even funny. I had a very good night sleep. Maybe it was because I was dead tired the night before. Figures.

Of course, I had to go to Starbucks two blocks away from my hotel. I needed my Grande Extra Caramel, Caramel Machiato.

My first stop was The Rockefeller Center. I went and did the NBC Studio Tour. I was kind of iffy at first about the studio tour, but I actually really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of history behind that broadcasting company, more than just TV shows and programs. Of course, I got to see and learn about the stuff that makes SNL. (So I think I crammed about 100 years of New York history in two days. Whoa.) I got crazy at the NBC store. You should ask me about what I got! Anyways, then I did the whole Top of the Rock observatory experience. It was really cool. It wasn’t as crowded as the Empire State Building, and it wasn’t as high as the Empire State Building. It’s really cool though. They have this one room that has lights all over it. When you come in and you move, the room sensors assign you to a color and then when you move, your color lights up. Am I confusing you? Anyways, it’s really cool. I spent more time in that room than the others that visited the room.

What came after the Rockefeller Center? I walked to Grand Central Station. I really love the building. It’s really cool. However, I got really tired. I’ve been wearing flats everywhere I go and it’s killing me. So, I went and got this Jamaican snack thing and some pop and just people-watched. It was good and relaxing. I sat in front of this flower vendor, and it was very interesting to watch the different people who bought flowers from the vendor. I started creating stories in my head about who they are and what the flowers are for. Maybe not really creating stories, but more trying to guess.

By this point, my totally Wicked experience was a mere three hours away, and I head down to the Broadway Joe Steak House on 46^th Street for my reservation. I feel like the servers were kind of taken aback by me - a girl, traveling alone, dining alone. I mean, I could have just gone to a fast food restaurant. I assume that was what they were thinking. Why do fine dining alone? My answer? Why not? Broadway Joe is a very quaint little steak house on theatre row. I sat facing the streets and had a theatre show of my own. What I mean by that is people watching. It is interesting seeing how people interact with each other and how different people carry themselves. The food was great. I got a very good deal from Broadway.com. To start, I had caesar salad and bread. It was really good. I don’t think it came out of some package you buy from the store. For the main course, I had sirloin steak with baked potatoes. Seriously. Best steak I’ve had in a very long time. It was just the right amount of juiciness. Ah. Even writing about it makes my mouth water. To drink, I had a Hemingway Daiquiri. To think about it, I forgot to ask why the drink is named after Hemingway. Did it used to be Hemingway’s favorite beverage? It was good though, although much more than I wanted to spend. (Broadway.com didn’t cover drinks other than soda, water, coffee, or tea.) For dessert, I had a slice of New York Cheesecake, accompanied by some coffee. See, I still haven’t told my mother about this meal, she would go bezerk. She loves cheesecake. Well, I guess I can tell her that I ordered it for her. So, I think the server was frustrated at me. He seems to have trouble understanding me and communicating to me. This, in turn, becomes frustrating for me because he talked to me like I was in third grade. After a while, though, I just had to laugh about it. When I was enjoying my dessert, I looked up at the television and saw a soccer match. Manchester United playing against some league wearing blue and white that I can’t seem to remember at this point in time. I think it might be a Scottish league? Anyways, I was watching this game and realized that Manchester United isn’t the same team I watched growing up. They did some very idiotic blunders. Really. After a while I just had to get up and leave.

Which proves to be a problem when you’re really, really full. Dragging my feet to the Gershwin Theatre on 51^st was long and arduous. I thought I was about to burst. Anyways, I found Gershwin Theatre without much of a problem. I went in and found myself very giddy. Much like a schoolboy. (Okay. Although I know how and when to use this American phrase--or maybe it’s a British phrase? Wherever it may have originated from--I don’t quite understand the origins of it. Oh well.) I found my seat quite easily, K 155. At first I thought that I didn’t get a good seat, since it’s way up in the balcony. I was wrong. It was a really good seat. I was at the end of the row, so to my right was the stairs and to my left was a big blue pillar. It was like I was in my own world, watching my favorite musical. Yes, this performance of Wicked solidified the fact that Wicked is, indeed, my favorite musical.

The girl who played Elphaba in this, was really good. Definitely a legit mezzo soprano-belter. (It’s okay if you’re not following my little rant here. It’s something my voice teacher, Bernie, and I have been discussing lately.) The girl who played Glinda (the “Ga” is silent), was not Kristin Chenowith, but she acted and sang like she was playing Chenowith playing Glinda. She’s still good, though. The number, “Popular,” was eerily blond-ish. (Please. Nobody take offense.) The show was amazing. Hilarious. Lots of side comments. The three hours passed very quickly, much to my dismay.

If you’re at all familiar with who I am, one thing that characterizes me is that I always have a song stuck in my head. Maybe even more than one. Of course, “Defying Gravity” was looping through my head after the show. “it’s time to try defying gravity... you can’t bring me down... da da da da” (That’s how I describe the musical interlude.)

The original plan after Wicked was to go see Diane Schuur, one of my favorite Jazz vocalist of all time. However, they were out of good table seats by Monday, so I decided not to. Also, my friend Annette (whom I have known for 22 years) asked me if I would be able to hang out after Wicked. Her apartment building is just a couple of blocks away from the Gershwin Theatre. Isn’t that convenient? I walked over to her apartment and we hung out. We chat a lot and we caught up on each other’s lives. We realized that we haven’t really hung out in two years. That’s a long time for people that have been friends since baby-hood. (Did you know that on our grade school report card, there was a note that said something like: Annette and Tirza aren’t allowed to be in the same class. I think we had a really big fight when we were in first grade. The next time we were in the same class together was ninth grade. Wow.

I left Annette’s apartment at like twenty til midnight, when she looked like she was about to pass out. I thought that taking the subway back to my hotel would be dangerous. But I actually managed very well. In one piece.

The excitement of the night combined with fatigue made it difficult for me to wind down to go to bed. I ended up going to bed at midnight. Seattle time.

NYC Trip Note #2

Wow. Today has been a really long day. It’s actually quite hilarious.

It actually started right after I finished writing my last journal. Huh? You wonder. That happened last night. Well... Yes. My last night and this morning has blurred into one giant entity - sleep depravity. I boarded a very full Continental flight 234. I have planned to sleep during the four hour on the plane. It wouldn’t be enough sleep, but at least it’s something. Apparently, there are just some things you could not plan. In the row right next to me, there were two babies who screamed bloody murder every couple of hours. Therefore, no rest for my poor mind. I got to the airport and had to wait for an hour and a half for a shuttle driver who fell asleep and didn’t respond to the notification that I had arrived and needed a ride. A nicer driver came and gave me a ride to my hotel, but by that time, I was so tired. It took me all the energy in my veins to be able to keep a good attitude about it. Or to not convulse into sobs. As soon as I got into my hotel room, though, everything turned for the better.

I checked in, changed, washed my face, make myself presentable, and then went on to find a Starbucks. I’m not a huge fan of Starbucks, but it is a familiar taste of home. And of course, that made the day a whole lot better.

Oh. I also got over my anxiety issues about going on an adventure in a foreign land.

I went to Pier 78 and took a 90-minute skyline tour of New York. It was good, exactly how I like to enjoy the sights. I like to hear about the history and the background behind events and landmarks. It was kind of heartbreaking to hear about 9/11 though, even though it has been nine years. It is still an unbelievably grievous thing.

After that, I went to the Empire State Building. Whoa! The view... It’s like being on top of the world. Side note: I broke a nail.

On the way to Empire State Building, I passed Bryant Park and saw all these signs for their Fall Festival. Apparently today, it was scheduled for the New York City Ballet to perform at Bryant Park. So, of course, I decided to go. After being there and getting settled for half an hour, reading my grad school material, the crowd was interrupted by a rumbling that originated from the sky. We disregarded that and continued doing all the things we were doing. The rumbling happened again. No precipitation, although worry clouded the faces that have crowded the park. A man came and announced that the show was cancelled. As the crowd groaned and the man apologized, the rumbling cloud shed heavy drops that began to pour like nothing else. Yep. My welcoming gift from the Big Apple is a big thunderstorm. I think I ruined a pair of shoes.

The good part of the night came when I finally saw my friend, Stephanie. Stephanie and I have been friends since kindergarten. We’ve been in so many classes together and played in the orchestra together. However, we haven’t really hung out these past four years. You know, college. We had lots of fun catching up and eating one of the most delicious pizzas I have ever tasted at Serafina on 55^th and Broadway. Oh my word.

Today has been a great day. I’m tired, but I’m still up watching a Meg Ryan movie and writing this entry. See ya soon!

NYC Trip Note #1

So I am at Sea-Tac airport at the gate where my plane is supposed to leave in about an hour. I am so excited to go to New York, see friends and see the things I've always wanted to see. However, at the same time, I am scared out of my wits. I feel like I seem somewhat of an adventurous person. To a certain extent, I think I am, but that does not dismiss any kind of fear I might have about going on a trip by myself. Ugh. I guess I should get used to it. I'm at a season in my life where I'm living alone. So I should get used to it. For now.

Hmmm... Well next time I write, I'll probably on the other side of the country already.