Okay kids, the fact of the matter is that I am indeed lonely here. But, things might not actually be as bad as I made them seem in previous posts. For example, not everyone is doing drugs; only some of them are. So, yes things are bad, but God's grace is sufficient.
Aside from that little update, enjoy yet another artistic masterpiece, found above.

When it's three, you can see it's a magic number.

I seriously have no friends here, and I'm sick and tired of spending yet another weekend in the quiet lounge.

"Once upon a sunny morning, a man, sitting in his breakfast nook, looked up from his scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn, with a gold horn, quitetly cropping the roses in his garden..."
...Yeah. So much for that...

Last night, I had the most strange and terrible dream. As I slept, I dreampt that my church was falling apart, literally splitting into a thousand pieces. When I woke up, and shook off the sleep of the night before, I was no longer disheartened, because we all no that no such thing could ever happen in real life.

Here is a excerpt from an email I sent back home after I found out about the state of things in my church:

Perhaps we should turn off Focus on the Family, put away the Chuck Cholson tapes, put Charisma into the recycling, and open up our Bibles. While all of the above things are of good intention, we can get so easily bogged down by them, and perhaps, put more focus on what James Dobson has to say, than what God has to say straight through scripture, or directly to our hearts.

Three things I hate about Fordham:

3) Theatre majors:
-The ones that don't do musicals think that they are the bohemians, yet the elites of the college, believing that it exists purely for the betterment of their careers. They think that they are all some kind of tortured, Poe, Wilde, Fitzgerald types, and utterly hate the kids that do musicals.
-The one's that do musicals are delusional, thinking that they are going to be some Broadway star just because they got the lead in their high school musicals. They run around singing annoying showtunes and songs from Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. They all get angry and end up transferring.

2) Honors students:
-All 20 of them think that they are better and more intelligent than the rest of the school, simply because they get to sit in a classroom boasting crown molding and walls with oak paneling. They think that everyone else is so stupid, that we need their assistance to do such tedious tasks as tying our shoes or flipping on a light switch.

1) Dance majors
-They're just crazy. They make fun, purposefully within earshot, of those that are not as skinny as they, perhaps somehow trying to justify their bulimic tendencies. They girls are bad, the guys are worse. When they're not doing coke, smoking pot, or having sex with one another, they're busy having swimsuit parties, taking thousands of photos of their wonderful selves, talking about how everyone at Fordham is so fat, and stuffing their faces with all manner of the edible, only to vomit it back into the toilet, (making sure to weigh themselves before and after), only minutes later.

(As a note, the freshman theatre majors are pretty cool, and Chris Geary really is a reflection of a tortured Poe.)

I don't think I've ever been this tired. Sigh...

When the cast had taken thier final bow, when the final chair was stowed away, and when the final pin was taken out of the black curtains, I heaved a sigh of imense relief, and went to write my English paper.

The girl at the cash register: That'll be $2.21.
Me: How much was it? $1.21?
The girl at the cash register: No, I said $2.21.
Me: Mmmmm, I'm pretty sure the sign said that the Red Bull is $.99.
The girl at the cash register: No, Red Bull is $1.99.
Me: But the sign was marked $.99.
The girl at the cash register: Snicker. Red Bull for $.99? Where on the can does it say that?
Me: The sign on the shelf said Red Bull for $.99.
The girl at the cash register: Sigh. (Calls for manager)
(To manager): How much is this?
Manager: That's $1.99.
Me: That's okay. I think I'll pass. Oh, and you may want to change your sign, so other people aren't confused.
Manager: What? You don't want nothing?
Me (on my way out): No thanks!

Bait and switch? Over my dead body. They may be New Yorkers, but my grandmother's Inez. M. Petty.

Laundry room confession #1:
I love how girls will put one bra into each dryer. Way to be economical, ladies. Way to be economical.

Everyone at Fordham is:

1) An alcoholic

2) Addicted to cigarettes

3) A Pot-head (smoking when availiable)

4) Using or has used cocain and/or crack regularly

5) Selling pot

6) Selling coke

7) Experimenting with more extreme drugs such as acid, LSD, herion and the like

Sigh...

I thought I could make friends with some of the dancers because they supposedly didn't drink. I was horribly, horribly wrong. All of the dancers, yes all of them, are coke addicted, pot addicted, cigarette addicted, sex addicted, alcoholics. So much for that. The other kids aren't even that bad. So yeah, I'm looking elsewhere for friends.

I am about sick and tired of party-based politics, where someoneone will vote for a candidate merely based on political affiliation. Ugh. I'm so sick of people saying that they'd never vote for a candidate just because he or she is a Republican. In reality, there are qualified, morally standing Republicans and the same in Democrats. I just can't stand it. Here, i've been told I'm not really a moderate simply because I'm not a registered Democrat. I wish Independants could vote in primaries.

In other news, I'm beginning to really not like office holding Republicans. But don't worry, I utterly loath Democrats. Maybe I'll move to Iceland.

Here's an old post from myspace.com. I've been thinking about this sort of thing of late.
Last night at work, I saw a perfect example of what father/son relationships should be. A man and his about 14 year old son came in last night, supposedly they were regulars, just to have coffee together and talk. They stayed beyond their coffee and chocolate, for hours more, just enjoying each other's company, talking with the other employees and even playing a game of chess. Through their laughter, and the fact that the son was not embarrassed to be seen with his dad, one could tell that they truly loved each other.
I know this is very simple, but I was stuck by the strength I saw in their relationship. I believe that the presence of a loving father is integral to every young man's development. And simply spending time together is a key part of that. The number of fathers absent from their son's lives, whether physically or emotionally is staggering in America today. Simple abandonment, lack of any semblance of responsibility, and even abuse are all also to blame. This absence is directly proportional to the amount of violence, crime and reckless behavior so often found in young men. And these young men, without an example of what a father should be, keep this cycle going, treating their sons just as their fathers had treated them, ad infinitum.
But this problem can be rectified. The cycle of abandonment, poor relationships, and violence can be cut. However, to do so will require effort of the fathers. Fathers must be actively, and lovingly involved in the lives of their sons. Even if it is something as simple as playing chess over a cup of coffee, that can make an enormous difference, not only in the life of that young man, but eventually in society as well.

Today I grew old with my best friend, and we died together.
Okay, it was an acting exercise, but one can be romantic can't one?

Tomorrow, I think I will buy a scarf.

Going behind the scenes of the Metropolitan Opera was absolutely amazing. Seeing all of the sets, and things coming together for tonight's production... oh my.

I watched the sun rise today. One used to the golden rays of a Lancaster early morning, the clouds casting their crimson and purple hues across the sky, may not think a New York sunrise, seen from the fifth story could ever be so beautiful. Today I stand corrected. I looked up from my email this morning only to see beams of light- no, actually beams of gold- shining though the towering buildings into the plaza below. I was struck by this beauty in the most unlikely of places. As I studied this scene more closely, I noticed, in that golden light, that the plaza trees no longer bore green leaves. Instead their leafy crests were tinged a yellow-orange, as is the golden shafts of sunlight kissed thier tree tops, causing them to blush.

JssWhi (9:11:24 PM): you're wearing fig leaves though
JssWhi (9:11:30 PM): over your... parts
deltax06 (9:11:42 PM): of course
deltax06 (9:11:57 PM): we're not that extreme
JssWhi (9:12:51 PM): right... even though you don't go to church anymore

I'm beginning to fall in love with youtube. Here are a few more gems.


Check It Out (Library Song)


Teamwork!

Today, I had a rockin' time at Oksoberfest. No not Oktoberfest (barf!) but OkSOBERfest. Funny, huh? Anyway here's a picture of my pumpkin, Jack. He was getting a little too sneaky though. Those pumpkins; you can never quite trust 'em.

Yoo, hoo! Iceman!

come on rockin' girl... let's hit it...!

I've found an amazing site called minoritees.com, which sells ethnic pride t-shirts. I love them. Here are some of my favorites.

One liners...
Here are the first lines from the short stories and books I've read thus far:

"I went down to the Piraeus yesterday with Glaucon, the son of Ariston."
Plato's "Republic"

"Before the law stands a door keeper."
Kafka's "Before the Law"

"TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad?"
-Nararrator
Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"

"We the old men
whilre Persia's young strength has gone
ont Greek soil, stay at home
appointed their Faithful,
the lavish and goldwinning throne's
loyal regents
whose age and experience, he
Lord Xerxes, King, son of Darius
chose himself to safegaurd his country."
-Chorus
Aeschylus' "Persians"

"Hello, Terpsion. Been in town long, or have you just arrived?"
-Euclid
Plato's "Theaetetus"

"You gods, release me. Crouched like a a dog, I watch always, all year long, on the tower of the sons of Atreus."
-Sentry
Aeschylus' "Agamemnon"

"I think that I'm quite an expert on what you're talking about."
-Apollodorus
Plato's Symposium

Live from New York...it's Gabe Blankenship! You were expecting Grouco Marx? So, basically, this blog's purpose is to update all of you back in Lancaster and its environs about life here in the Big Apple. Don't worry, there'll be other stuff as well: writings, serious musings, humorous musings, and all manner of random facts. So, ladies and gentlemen, step right up, grab a seat, and have a darn good time!
Until my next post,
Gabe