This was a moment I actually had to double take. I looked around the World Trade Center terminal searching for a trash can and I was only able to find some construction worker’s trash bin which should absolutely not need to be used to throw out newspaper. So I walked out of the terminal in search of a trash can on my normal commute on the Lexington avenue line. It was not until the corner of Broadway and Vesey had I actually found a trash can! That is roughly a quarter mile away from the terminal entrance! As you can clearly see below the distance from the World Trade Center, which is not even accurately depicted due to the ongoing construction, is quite surprising. You would think that someone, anyone, might have decided to stick a trash can on one of the busiest commuter walked areas in the city.

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I understand the need to enforce physiologically the fact that you do not want trash inside of the terminals. But should you absolutely remove trash cans completely, even outside of the turn stiles before you even get inside of the terminal? Some people are standing around drinking (or eating) the remnants of their breakfast/lunch/dinner before they decide to step through the gates. Although, I have to say, it seems to be working – the PATH commute is by far the less smelly of any of the lines that I have to take. Just some food for thought.

Now, I may have missed the memo, but what blogging really needs is a centralized hub where I can easily search, comment and publicize the authors that I think are making strides in the vast online writing community that is the blogosphere. Up until this point I have had to keep a list of bookmarks for the blogs that I want to frequent, but why is that? Just as I am able to log on to Digg.com and given stories that I would like to read, I should be handled blog articles that are automatically aggregated utilizing the XML-RPC ping protocol that WordPress has seemingly kept infamous. I believe that the WordPress.com community is a step in the right direction when it comes to a blog community, but I do not want to be limited to having to open a blog on their host in order to be listed there. Part of the reason I love WordPress (the software) is that I like the freedom I am given when I am able to run my own host.

Well, those are just some thoughts of mine. I am sure that someone, somewhere, has been thinking the same thing that I have and is probably already hard at work on the next big thing when it comes to blogging communities. I just have not found anything that comes close to my vision of what the ideal would be. Someone surprise me.

The Guys At Zinkk

What can I say? The past year has been full of amazing achievements for a group of guys that came together with a dream. We each are working through our lives to try and make this business float. Up until the past couple of weeks the outlook was gloomy, and then we pulled together to have an truly amazing time at the teacher’s conference. The late nights spent coding, planning, and sipping coffee with you guys are among what I cherish the most this past year. I hope, no matter what happens with our business, that our lives will allow us to continue to work together in some form or another. There is absolutely no way I would be happier if Type Aloud launched and immediately was taken down by a storm of rabid Twitter fan boys. We can only hope for such a mob!

My Friends, Close and Far

Many of you may not even know the affect that you have towards my ability to still be a sane person. Some of my happiest times are sitting at the universities’ pub drinking back beers and talking about life. Or spending a night drinking booze watching people make fools of themselves playing Asshole or arguing about the logistics of Michael Jackson being both a superstar and a pedaphile. I do have a myriad of misfit friends, but you all each play a specific role to my plan for future world domination, and I will make sure to treat you all like royalty in the new republic.

The Fam

They may or may not be reading this. Nevertheless, it need not be said, but I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.

Well that’s about it for me. I am going to exit on that note (and Smashmouth – Walking On The Sun). I hope all of you have a great holiday, an even better year, and I can’t wait to see what the next twelve months will bring.

Over the course of the month I have seem my health be affected by the disturbed sleeping pattern, the uncomfortable arrangements I have had to make, and my studies have hit an all time rock bottom. This was the first time in my life that I have been physically without a place to call home; luckily I have been able to shack up at the office on an air mattress (occasionally sleeping on the couch to give someone else the mattress to sleep on) which has definitely eased the pain a little. But I can honestly say that this has been one of the worst months of my life.

All throughout this month I have learned how much I am actually able to take without breaking. I really feel like shit right now, burnt out and beat up, but my mind is keeping my sicken body going. I need to get this work done. No matter how much trudging it takes I am going to begrudgingly finish everything as best as I can. I am going to keep my mouth shut, no matter how much I think a teaching method is wrong. Maybe one day I will be able to incorporate what I have learned at college into something meaningful.

I am writing this blog post now sitting on the air mattress that I purchased a couple of weeks ago. My room has yet to be fully finished, I am waiting on a contractor to finish shampooing the carpet, and I have piles of work that needs to be taken care of. The past two weeks I have been nursing a cold that had seemingly gone, came back, only to be gone again leaving a persistent dry cough. I survived the first round of midterm exams, have one more next week, and will be officially halfway finished in about two weeks. This semester has truly been the worst and I am absolutely looking forward to the real world. A world without examinations meant to trick you into the wrong answer, mislead you, and generally make you feel shitty about yourself. A world where the end result matters and not the theoretical process that you used to get that result.

I can smell the roses. Let’s just hope that life does not through another curve ball my way. My apologies for something that is less humorous – I have been unable to write a funny piece this whole month. I’ll make an attempt to get back into the groove of things soon. I promise.