I want you back

RIP MJ. You were a legend. And this is a tribute if ever I heard one.

Real eyes realize real lies

Try that one three times fast. Then watch this. And really listen. I don't think I'll ever get sick of this one.

The importance of entertainment

Truth be told, just a brief two weeks ago, prior to starting my internship at People, I recognized the importance of entertainment in people's lives, but never found the time to subscribe to the daily ins and outs of celebrities and their lives. I'm a movie and music junkie, though, and thus am always looking to find the next big film or the latest on-the-rise artist. But I think there should still be that distinction between an artist and his work, to some extent. Delving into the lives of famous persons is interesting at best, invasive at worst.

Now, however, knowing the most minute details about a given celebrity has become my job - what they're wearing, who they're talking to, what they're eating. And this has brought me to really try to see the big picture as to why the public is so fascinated with these relatively unattainable, unrealistic lives that the stars lead. I was on set for a Robert Pattinson film just this past Friday, and was taken aback by how much his devout 11- and 12-year-old fans knew about his personal life. Everything these girls knew was part of a packaged image that the media had sold to them in the form of movies, interviews, posters and books.

At that age, you don't question a whole lot of what the media feeds you.

And it's a frightening thought, that each of these famous people have become such ... commodities. Franchises of their own name. They pretty much own their looks and mannerisms (if even that much) and sell off their talent and oftentimes, voices (both figuratively and literally, in the case of musical artists) in exchange for fame and consequential money. It's mind-boggling that people can give so much of their own humanity, whether or not by choice, so that they might gain some sort of fame in the long run.

It reminds me of the great quote from "The Talented Mr. Ripley":

I'd rather be a fake somebody than a real nobody.

I understand that people want to leave their mark on the world, and ultimately, to be recognized for what they've done. The same way that some people are passionate about saving lives or writing books, these individuals just happen to be passionate about entertaining others and adding a little bit of fun and drama to others' lives. It's just unfortunate that the people who are in entertainment for the craft are overshadowed by the drama queens and kings who find debauchery off-camera just as profitable as drama onscreen.

It's an interesting balance to strike, and what I appreciate about people in the business of talking about the business of people (aka, the magazine People, har har) is that they understand that talking about celebrities' lives is about as important as talking about the distant cousin who eloped for the fifth time last weekend: it makes for interesting discussion, but she's still human. To exploit information or try to itemize the person beyond what work the publicist has already done to do so would be wrong.

Because when people care more about things like whether or not Lindsay Lohan stole jewelry from a photo shoot than what's going on with nuclear arms in North Korea, I think it shows not just a break in reality, but also a NEED for this break from reality.

All this to say that celebrity culture and the people who love it will always be interesting. Whether or not it's relevant to our lives that Lindsay Lohan might have stolen jewelry from a photo shoot is debatable, but it's not wrong to know about it. I'm still trying to find a way to wrap my head around the idea of "celebrity news," but I guess a little extra information and a few extra blogs in the morning couldn't hurt, right?

Because really, as easy as it would be to dismiss entertainment as fluff, I can see how just knowing what's going on in the celebrity realm is instrumental to some people's days, to their lives. And so long as people care, I will learn to know the ins and outs of that ephemeral, glittery world, har har.

Foodies rejoice

Officially set up my food blog, and will now proceed to document food adventures here:

http://manhattaneater.wordpress.com/

Yes, friends. You heard (read?) right. MAN(hattan) Eater. Thanks, anonymous friend, for the name. Any tips on where to grub, things to order, places to rummage through, please drop a line!

Seen and heard.

Seen on the subway on my 2 hour journey to Rockaway Beach yesterday:

“To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.”

Also seen yesterday on my way back:

I love love love.

Today was such a good day that I just don't know how the rest of the week will top it.

I know these blog posts seem to be nothing but positives, but honestly, things just keep better each day. It's a little bit ridiculous.

Life, I am humbled. Just when I thought you had peaked, you surprise me yet again.

Heard on the train

A couple steps onto the train moments before the doors close shut behind them. The woman is pregnant, and the man is carrying about five large shopping bags. It's crowded, rush hour. Someone quickly gets up from his seat and shuffles to the side to let the pregnant woman sit down.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said, smiling. "He might need to sit down more than me."

She nods toward her husband's bags.

"We went shoe shopping today, I've been sitting plenty."

Love at first living

Call it a culmination of good timing, fantastic people, healthy eating, sleep, exercise, being on-point and focused, or some reason completely independent of all of this, but I feel so ALIVE in this city. I sincerely love it, and sometimes (okay, most times) I can't believe I'm actually waking up every day in a bed somewhere in the middle of it all.

It's such a blessed life I'm living, and I absolutely feel at home here. I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and reflect after a busy week, and there's a groove and rhythm to this city that I've fallen easily into.

You know that fantastic feeling that you get when you meet someone new and you both mutually, silently, agree to skip over tedious small talk? You introduce yourselves and five minutes later find yourself deeply immersed in conversation about purpose and passion and how blips of your childhood have helped to shape your views. You tell each other about your grandmothers, your fears, your proudest moments - things usually reserved for those who have built up your trust over the years.

The connection is uncanny, and you wonder how you've gone so long in life without meeting someone just like this, the yin to your yang and a true reflection of the kind of person you are and kind of person you want to be.

This is how I feel about New York.

I feel comfortable with the pace of life and the people around here like I really haven't ever before. Back in L.A., I always felt as though I was having to put myself out on the line to be judged, and a lot of the people I encountered in L.A. didn't feel quite solid, if that makes any sense. So many people were floating or just hoping to get by from one deadline to the next, one exam to the next project, just doing what they could to stay afloat. A lot of the time, I felt as though I was doing that too.

Something about urban sprawl makes it so easy to lose focus of what's important - why you do the things you do - in favor of smaller, less relevant details.

But in NYC, I feel like more people live for a common purpose - to live. There's so much energy, positive energy, flowing through here that it's hard to really feel like an outsider, or to stand still for very long.

With so many people around, everyone has to be a people-person. I think that's what's such a draw for so many people to come to NYC. Here, the human condition is ever-present, the kind of personalities that collide on the streets so diverse. Regardless of what people initially came to the city for, everyone is looking to learn and grow just by being among and with so many stories and persons.

New York is the kind of place where everyone is willing to help each other out because it's understood that people are working hard just to earn their keep here, and I kind of love it.

People have been nothing but pleasant so far here. At work, there are no egos and everyone works in tandem toward deadline - it's the kind of work environment most people only dream of.

I'm never bored and there's always something to be done, but at the same time, there's no stress. I'm finding that living day-to-day is so beneficial to both health and state of mind. I've never been in a single place and met so many like-minded people all at once. Open-minded, curious, ambitious.

I miss home just a bit, but for now I'm won over by life here on the east coast. It makes me swoon, haha.

The city's like the counterpart I never thought I'd find. (:

I like family, family is good.

In an email from the mother:

Dear Brian and Joyce,

How is your day in New York? I went to dad's residents' graduation today. Guess what? Dad won the Golden Blade Award again.(This is the award voted by the residents every year, the highest honor a staff physician can win in the department) Last time he won the award was 2006. He is the staff who won the most. I'm so proud for him. He doesn't socialize a lot with people but he has PASSION for teaching his residents and works very hard, also very responsible. I believe he sets a great example for you. Don't forget to congratulate him. Ha! Ha!

Love,
mom

Where the road meets the sun

This is beautiful.

Big spending

So many things come down to two factors: how much you spend, and how you spend, period. Time, money, energy, life. How you utilize your time is just as important as how much you dedicate to a given task. The quality of the things and experiences you pay for are just as significant as how much you dish out for tickets or a meal. I never wanted to see life as a transaction like this, but at a very basic level, I think I'm finding that it's true.

I tell people that I've never really liked math, but I actually (spoiler alert!) do. Given that I've found a passion in the written word, in uncertainty and crafting out the "right" answer (as well as accepting that most of the time, there IS no "right" answer), math seems to be the furthest thing from that mentality. It's regimented, exact, defined. There are rules and theories and very meticulous steps to be taken. You can't solve integrals and create your own answers, really.

But I think so much of math and economics can be used in journalism and in figuring out the ins and outs of daily life. With something as purportedly "unstructured" as writing, it's necessary to create frameworks and lists and deadlines, else I would be completely lost in a deluge of ideas, projects and distractions.

Time.

In these past few days, I've had more free time than I've had in quite a while, and it's strange on so many levels. I can see now how simple it would be to just rest easy and watch one day slip into the next, dusk turning into dawn, curled up in bed just thinking about getting things done without actually doing anything. That was my first day of down-time, simply planning out what I had to do in the coming week, and then calling it a day. But then, the unsettled antsy-ness set in.

And then, what little analytical mind I have set in (I don't have much common sense, but if I scrounge I can feign some). If I want to justify the fact that I'm paying this much money to be in the city, that my parents are putting this much faith behind my endeavors, and that I've pretty much been working toward this goal for a better part of my academic career, then I would need to get myself in gear.

Input, output.

Money.

At present, I can see two months ahead of me, and how I spend those two months will greatly impact how the rest of the year/rest of my time in NYC plays out. I started thinking about all of this because I've opted to create a running excel sheet of expenses - you know, something old, "grown-up" people do. Just to see, honestly, how much I can afford to keep trying new restaurants around town.

And that's when I realized why sites like Yelp and Timeout reel in so many users, and why reviews will always garner readership. People want to ascertain that the money that they're spending is going toward good product, even if that means that they're spending more. The majority of the things I find I spend my money on (thank you, excel sheets), are experiences, not tangible things. Concert tickets, dining out, marathon fundraising (and here I plug for anyone willing to donate to a good cause).

Energy.

And maybe this is because with experiences, you can ensure that however much money you put into them, you'll always win out because you can choose to enjoy the moment. The same way internships are only as good as the effort and energy you put into them, most life experiences are only worth as much as you make them. Hence, the things in life that are most valuable are the ones that you have to work toward. The more energy put in, the more energy is given back.

Math speaks leaps and bounds more than numbers on a page - definite answers are reassuring sometimes because they prove that there is some semblance of equilibrium to be found in our daily efforts. Spend quality time, money and energy on a project, and it's bound to give back an equal return.

Or at least, that's the hope.

That's Life.

I sincerely love this man.

Things to do.

To be held publicly accountable (in no particular order):

1. Set up food blog
2. Create running list of restaurants to try
3. Launch actual blog (not to knock on blogger, of course, but to compile clips)
4. Set GRE study schedule
5. Revamp resume
6. Create list of publications to freelance pitch to
7. Write freelance pitches
8. Running list of apartment options
9. Design business card
10. ERUDITE
11. Blog for inCOLOR
12. Game plan for AVJ
13. Book list
14. NYC half-marathon fundraising
15. Master calendar of important deadlines (aka SNL taping lottery deadline, obviously)
16. Excel sheet finances
17. Save money (pending, obviously)
18. Brush up on current events
19. Brush up on current celebrity events (necessary for the job, necessary for the job)
20. Cut my nails

All very important things, hoping to cross a few off in the next few days. (: