New York New York

As lectures are now a mere 48 hours away, It's time to reflect on the holiday's that are coming to an end. Probably my most memorable holiday within a holiday I've had in a while. Five days of it were spent in New York City with the fabulous Domonique Jenkins!
This being a product of a particularly boring hour before a seminar and a conversation that went something like: "Dom, do you want to come to New York with me?" "Yes!!". About 24 hours later it was booked and we had approximately a month to start saving. Some may call us silly, but planning and thinking just takes the fun out of things.
And needless to say the months panic beforehand was completely worth it.
It was my third time in the city but Domonique's first, so we did the Empire State Building (twice), the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ice Skating in Central Park,some serious designer shopping went down on Fifth avenue, we visitied the Rockefeller and other tourist spots. We did more unusual things such as make reception order us Chinese food at 1am,(A minimum order of $30! So we got buffalo wings and fries from Benash instead) eat a box of Taffy then shout out our 16th story window to the people below, make friends with the people in RadioShack, get a gross vegetarian burger (which we hadn't actually planned on), and decide to eat cheesecake for breakfast (worst decision ever). We also followed some recommendations from friends such as heading to Dylans Candy Store. I feel that in five days we managed to accomplish a lot, to much to put down into one blog. And I'm probably forgetting about a million things.We tried to put on our Journalist hats when on our last day we had a bomb scare. Upon firstly getting annoyed that we had to walk around the block to get to our hotel, we attempted to ask the cop what had happened but he wouldn't spill. So we ran upstairs to our hotel room and put on FOX news before going back down and asking the firemen instead. Well, that and to get photos with the men in uniform. Not going to lie.
But apparently New York takes unattended bags very seriously and the tape came down by the afternoon.
We spent the last few hours sitting in Central Park trying not to count down the minutes. It is extremely hard to put down how New York makes you feel into words. I'm racking my brains trying to describe exactly how it feels when you leave and I'm pretty sure Dom knows what I'm trying to say here! It is the most amazing place in the world. It's the only place where it is constantly light, where you don't need a sun or a sky. It's in it's own universe. The whole city just buzzes, and you can feel it the moment you arrive and you most definitely miss it when you're home. It's the only place where you don't mind sleeping through sirens and car horns because it's almost like a lullaby. You wake up excited to be where you are in the world and it's impulsive to go to the window just to soak it in. It's the best kind of wake up call. It was my third time there and I still feel the same as I did the first time I stepped out onto it's concrete.

After our time was up in the incredible New York, we managed to snag a limo ride back to JFK (thanks Armando!) and we watched the Empire skyline fade into the distance as we rode through Queens. And to quote Dom as we set off; "It feels like we're leaving home!", and I couldn't agree more. But we will be back New York. I read a quote on a billboard whilst in Battery Park that sums it up as best as can be: "What is it in the New York air that makes sleep useless? Perhaps it is that the heart beats faster here than anywhere else".

Survival Of The Fittest

Reading "A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman", I have to admit I wasn't expecting to agree with half of what was being said. I have never admired the thoughts of feminists, but I did find myself unusually understanding a majority of the points Wollstonecraft made.
Feminism aside, the authors tirade against the royal family (undoubtedly because it was a king instead of a queen) did however raise some good questions.
Our royal history is splattered with bloody murders, plots, lies and sabotage. All undesirable traits in anyone we consider to be a human being, yet we gladly enjoy them being the face of our country. Not to say the royal family does not come under fire for events (for example the most recent death of Princess Diana), yet still our Queen sits pretty.
I suppose in a sense, it helps that the royal family is essentially locked up. They're not wandering our neighborhoods at night and their activities are constantly monitored, yet to all intents and purposes, they do get away with murder. No pun intended.
So why do we continue to be proud of them? Treat them with reverence and make their history a part of ours? Because the human race is not perfect. As much as Rousseau and Wollstonecraft would like it and wish it to be. Suspected murders aside, the more common mistakes people like the Royal family make, bring them down to a more equal level. Wollstonecraft argues for equality, well hearing that one of our admired Princes showed up to a costume party in a wrong choice of outfit is not entirely unrelatable. It reminds us that they are just human beings despite winning the hereditary lottery.

For Wollstonecraft to argue that a more powerful individual rising above another is unnatural, just goes to show how little she understands of nature. The stronger lion becomes an alpha male, the eldest elephant with the most generations becomes a matriarch. It's the way of the world and if Rousseau's state of nature were to exist in reality, I'm sure it would demonstrate perfectly what I'm trying to say; or what is more commonly called; survival of the fittest.

Lindsay Lohan On Child Trafficking?

I'm not going to beat around the bush; I am a fan of Lindsay Lohan; have her movies, feel sorry for her that she has become such a train wreck. But this documentary takes the biscuit just a little. The girl looks like she has somehow woken up in India with no idea how she got there. The 0:56 mark is a look of fear, and Lindsay's advice on the subject of child trafficking?
It's not the parents who are in the wrong, it's not the children who are in the wrong, it's the traffickers who are in the wrong.
Genius.
Though it's nice to see Lindsay with worthwhile work again, and hopefully she will shed some light on the awful situation in India; maybe they could have clued her in just a little?

Let It Snow

As temperatures reach -18c in parts of England this weekend, it can only be expected that certain groups of people begin the usual outcry of Global Warming. Papers have started documenting the chill with language such as "locked in" and "grim warning". As if this is it. Armageddon has come in the form of a soft blanket of snow.
People cleverly seem to forget that a hundred or so years ago, the Thames River itself used to freeze over during winter months; so much so that Londoners would then hold their daily markets on it. Children would ice skate and no doubt inspire those cheesy little Christmas cards we see today.
If this kind of extreme weather condition were to happen today there would be panic. Of course it would be our fault it had happened. We would be to blame for the sparkling scenery and the smiling snowmen on every corner. Our pollution has caused rain itself to freeze in the clouds! Damn, if only we had turned off our televisions instead of putting them on standby.

Hungry Tiger.

Stress is supposedly one of the worst ways we as human beings can deal with a situation. To get angry, tense, start cursing things that to all intents and purposes can't hear you; (Like the heavy snow when you're wanting to be flying out of the country!!!). We've heard the warnings time and time again, that stress can cause premature wrinkles, grey hair and even premature death.
But can we really control an emotion that has been with us since we first invented the wheel?
Fright flight or fight. A tongue twister that incorporates what those little neurons in our brain buzz to us when we are faced with an unpleasant situation.
We either stick our heads in the sand so to speak and ignore what's happened; for a caveman this would be the equivalent of curling up in a ball if suddenly faced with a tiger. Secondly we have the choice of flight. A reaction which entails turning your back on a situation and leaving it as best you can; running as far away as you can from that tiger and pray it doesn't catch up. Lastly, there is fight. The response we all like to imagine we'd do. Face the predator down with our spear and fight to the death-a risky move nonetheless but a bold one with at least a small chance of success.

The fright flight or fight situation is caused by a rush of adrenaline. This adrenaline either gives you the ability to run slightly faster than usual, freeze on the spot, or fight a little harder than you normally could. In todays terms, this adrenaline is coursing through our veins a lot more than it should due to most peoples tendency to stress out at any available opportunity. Since the adrenaline is not being put to effective good use, it remains seething below the surface. If you think in terms of a students build up to exams, this adrenaline would remain pumping through the body for months at a time. What was once designed to be a help to us, is now a hindrance.
So should we relax and let things take it's course? Stop stressing over situations that are not hungry tigers? I don't think so. If my possibly cancelled flight is my ravenous tiger, than so be it. I just hope I don't run out of adrenaline if the tiger situation were ever to arise.