Posts (page 2)

Imagine you are standing on a small stage in the middle of an arena filled with over 20,000 teachers, staff and administrators, and you are the keynote speaker for the back-to-school convocation of the Dallas Independent School District. How do you feel? Oh, and there's one more thing, you are ten years old!

Escape Key - Get it???

Well, it finally happened. I escaped Greensboro, NC and I now reside in Phoenix, AZ. To give some background, I was working in Business Travel at American Express (not the best two years of my life) and took a downgrade back in April 2008 to go back to the Card division as a Customer Care Professional.

I finished my five weeks of classroom training, four weeks of on-the-job training and had moved to the transition team. I was working overtime one night and sent a note to a friend of mine at the Phoenix center to catch up. She responded by telling me about two positions in her department and thought I might be interested in applying. Well, I did. I was interviewed that Friday (08/17), talked relocation Saturday and I was in Phoenix by Saturday Aug 30th. I guess when things are right, they just fall in place.

Welcome to Phoenix

THE BASICS

I am now at American Express as a Sr. Business Analyst in Merchant Services. My main responsibility is Capacity Planning for our Premium Service and Banking Units. It felt like home when I walked through the doors of the building and was introduced to the folks on the team (pictured below). I decided on convenience so I rented an apartment up the street from the center at Deer Creek Village. I am on North 31st Ave near the 101 Loop.

At first, I did not really care for the apartment (2000 square foot townhouse to 900 square feet) but it has grown on me. I am also in walking distance from Target, Petsmart, Costco, a hospital and several food places. Not to mention, I can walk to work if I want. I have to admit...I was homesick for Greensboro (for about five minutes) but once I started exploring Phoenix, I knew I made the right decision. It's beautiful here.

YES, I am one of the cheerleaders.

2 comments

THE GAY COMMUNITY AND SITES OF PHOENIX

I won't write too much here other than the gay community in Phoenix has been very supportive. I don't know what I would do without the internet. Before I came to Phoenix, I made some new friends on Bear411 and I was picked up at the airport, picked up groceries, shown around town and invited out to a couple parties.

Phoenix Gets the Thumbs Up

Here are some of the places I have been:

Gay Bars
Charlies
The Bunkhouse
Friends

Sites: 
Chase Field Ballpark
South Mountain
MESA Marketplace
Camelback Mountain
Squaw Peak / Piestewa Mountain

LOVE PHOENIX-STYLE

I think the only thing I can say here is that I am really looking forward to exploring my surroundings and building new friendships in the community. Moving to Phoenix gives me a chance to start over with a clean slate and to be true to myself. I plan to be open and accessible . I have tried playing the "aloof" and "hard-to-get" role. It's a waste of time.

I expect a potential partner to be his true self, hard-working, financially stable, goals in life and wants a true relationship, yet he should be compassionate, humorous, and willing to enjoy life to the fullest. I only deal with reality and you don't get a second chance at a first impression. I am certainly not the perfect man but I am a loyal one to the right man or friend(s).

Yes, there have been a couple of guys that have been able to turn my head...actually, one in particular, but of course he doesn't live in Phoenix.

Tim Russert

Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after suffering a heart attack at the bureau. He was 58. I really enjoyed watching him on "Meet the Press" and the many interviews he conducted with celebrities to politicians.  He made politics interesting for me. I was especially touched by his book "Big Russ and Me"

Good-bye

The best exercise for the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.
-Tim Russert from the book "Big Russ and Me"   

HB

Events in 1965

• Australia Joins Vietnam War
  
  
• Hindi becomes the official language of India.
  
  
• Racing driver Jim Clark wins the Indianapolis 500, and later wins the Formula One world driving championship in the same year.
  
  
• The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak: An estimated fifty-one tornadoes (forty-seven confirmed) hit in six Midwestern states killing anywhere from 256 to 271 people and injuring some 1,500 more.
  
  
• The Maple leaf becomes Canada’s new national flag symbol
  
  
• Rhodesia Declares Unilateral Independence From Great Britain and becomes Zimbabwe
  
  
• India and Pakistan Fighting continues to escalate
  
  
• Malcolm X shot in New York
  
  
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads civil rights march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery
  
  
• Britain brings in a new Race Relations Act hoping to stop some of the unrest in inner cities
  
  
• Cigarette advertising banned on Television in Britain
  


• In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed ( The St Louis Arch )
  
  
• Several U.S. states (VT, NH, MA, CT, RI, NY and portions of NJ) and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 1/2 hours. 30 million people 
  
  

Cost of Living in 1965

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.59%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 5.0%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 969
Average Cost of new house $13,600.00
Average Income per year $6,450.00
Gas per Gallon 31 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00
Loaf of bread 21 cents
Average Rent per month $118,00

How did you create your username for VOX? What influenced your decision?
Submitted by Strive2Be.

Wingtipzz...Well, to tell the truth. I have always loved men in dress shoes. The old saying "you can tell a lot about a person by what shoes they wear" seems to ring true. These aren't wingtips in the picture below...but you get the ides.

Allen Edmonds - Captoes

Now my blog is called 1000 Roads....The name was inspired by my favorite music artist David Crosby from his CD "Thousand Roads". He inspires me because of how he overcame his addictions (very close to my experience).

David Crosby - Thousand Roads

When Nietzsche Wept (2007)

I watched a great film last night entitled "When Nietzsche Wept". It is a fictional story of Frederick Nietzsche (well, who did you think??? Susan Nietzsche...Jeff Nietzsche...what???). the film is based on the book by Irvin D. Yalom.

Below is part of a synopsis from Amazon.com written by Grady Harp of Los Angeles, CA.

1872 is the time and two men are haunted by demons, and the 'demons' happen to be failed love affairs with famous women. Dr. Josef Breuer (Ben Cross) is a famous physician but is obsessed with an hysterical young woman Bertha (Michal Yannai). Another beautiful lady enters Breuer's world in the form of Lou Salome (Katheryn Winnick) who has had a brief affair with the philosopher Nietzsche (Arman Assante) and feels he needs Breuer's help with his 'Talk Therapy'. The two men meet, share fears, and agree to a mutually beneficial relationship: Breuer will help Nietzsche with his migraines (due to his obsession with Lou Salome) and Nietzsche will share his philosophical approach to the world to help Breuer with is recurring nightmares. The resulting experience is an introduction to psychoanalysis as a treatment, a treatment that fascinates the young Freud (Jamie Elman).

The interesting realization Nietzsche came to about himself was that his depression stemmed from the need (or desire) to be loved, whether it's source was a true friendship or sexual in nature. The one time that he did open himself up and "trusted" he was burned and so he began to isolate himself from everyone.

This story reminded me of a picture I posted awhile back from National Geographic that spoke to the irony of all this technology that is supposed to be bringing us together. Enough said. The picture below really says it all.

Connection