Bad Friday
Posted by Rey
Anyone who knows New York’s J-Train immediately understands a few key proverbs: One, the J-Train is best ridden during the day; Two, the J-Train through Brooklyn is not a very safe ride; Three, the J-Train is best avoided. In my old high school another proverb might be added to the list but it sounded more like an ancient curse: damned are those who go to school in the shadow of the J-Train.
Article Tags>> christ | good friday | richmond hill high school | salvation…At the Diner On The Corner
Posted by Rey
“You’ve been here two years and you haven’t eaten there yet?”How could I answer? I’m a stay-at-home art director who works off-site for ESPN. I can easily take an hour lunch at the restaurant up the block: I just haven’t felt motivated to.
While driving, one witnesses Minivan Caravans canvassing miles of rural-dential property wending their way to the small Family Diner. Roving carloads pull quickly into the seemingly small parking lot to deliver loads of smiling patrons before flipping back to the rear section. It’s almost as if some evil scientist figured out how to make a magnet built to attract kids, couples, Mennonites, and bikers alike.
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Writer of the Storm
Posted by Rey
Back in Queens, in the rear room of my old house, during a thunderstorm, I would lie on my bed and listen to the whooshing wind and the rain pelting against the porch’s aluminum awning. The somnambulistic sounds were perfect for snuggling with any book, many pillows and a well placed yawn. Even when hurricanes came through I thought it was just a grand time. I would hear the distant thunder cracks and count the seconds from flash to thunder roughly guessing at the distance. That was all true until I moved Here.Read the rest of this entry » Article Tags>> fear | rain | storms | tornado
The Kaijo
Posted by Rey
Normally I’m tired when waking up 4:30am, but not that Sunday. I was excited about the passage I was preaching on. Normally, I don’t enjoy road-trips when I’m alone but I had recently downloaded a bunch of NPR’s CarTalk episodes which I was eager to spend some commute time listening to. Normally I’m bleary eyed, but not that Sunday: I could see every aspect of the road that the headlights allowed. Article Tags>> car accident | coyote | pronunciationDrawing Conclusions
Posted by Rey
I didn’t get a cavity until I was off my parent’s insurance. Former-Cityites-Gone-Long-Island sagely (and sadly) say it’s because NYC water was fluoridated, but as I made my way into the dentists office I was afraid, so I brought my sketch pad.Read the rest of this entry »
The Leader of the Plaque
Posted by Rey
Three years ago my son was spoiled by his first dentist visit. The building looked like the receiving department of an order fulfillment company but once you stepped through the beat up door you were in a world of color, games and fun. Toys dominated the waiting area and were piled across the floor while counters of lego sported client creations. Attractive dental assistants introduced themselves over the din of arcade booths while the equally attractive dentists conversed with kids in the back.
Our new dental practice has no games in the waiting area (although it does sport a ton of wooden rocking chairs), the dental assistants vary in appeal and most of the actual dentists have beards! With this extreme change of atmosphere my five year was (understandably) afraid.
They asked; they bribed; they cajoled, then begged and (almost) threatened but he refused to keep his mouth open. At one point he reached up and pulled suction from his mouth—and this was just the cleaning. He clenched his teeth for the x-ray so they had to feel the softness of the teeth to ascertain cavity corruption and after three unsuccessful visits they threw their hands up and sent us to the Oral Surgeon for Kids.
This office was an upgrade. Each dental chair faced a thirty six inch LCD screen with either Nickelodeon or the Cartoon Network and there were Disney animation cells on the wall but it was still clinical; at least the doctor (soft spoken man) knew the lyrics and tune for Mahna Mahna.
Even so, we have another visit. Treatment to come: Laughing Gas.
Riding With The King
Posted by Rey
Spent the weekend with my boy driving all over the place. Friday we went to upstate New York and stayed the night at a camp where I would be preaching at the picnic the next day. We hit Pizzaria Uno’s and the 24 hour Midway Diner (that I love) up by the camp. Sunday morning we drove from upstate to NYC to my old church in Brooklyn and had a good time there then headed out through the city and fought part of our way through Puerto Rican Parade traffic. I would’ve given my NYC clan a call to gather but I had to get back Sunday evening and my boy was burnt out from it all. So, good night.Boston Is Lovely
Posted by Rey
Since we were on such good terms, I decided to let Boston do her thing. She made sure the weather was clear to allow a nice flight and she decided to allow some decent temperature to make the visit even more enjoyable. Encouraged, I went for a walk and she decided to show me her best side which is very hard to describe.Read the rest of this entry »
I Say Doctor! Let Me Get This Straight
Posted by Rey
At ten o’clock I was laying back, exhausted from lack of sleep, trying to get comfortable in a hospital chair that functioned as an equally uncomfortable bed. Cradled in my left arm was my re-hydrated daughter, I.V. still attached to her hand but exhausted from being up most of the night and finally meeting dawn with a flurry of nurses and needles.On my far left, in the second transforming chair, was my 6 month pregnant wife who likely had less sleep than I did since the slightest creak keeps her awake and hospitals never sleep. We were waiting to hear if my daughter would be released that afternoon or if she would stay another night.
In came the Doctor, crew-cut, glasses being tall—but honestly at that hazy part of the day not many of the details are extremely striking. For instance I can’t really remember his name. The nurse right behind him though was one of the experienced and kind-hearted souls we met last night (in direct contradiction to the E.R. circus).
“I’m Doctor John and am an assistant to Doctor Peter who you met with last night. I looked at the labs and it looks like your Daughter’s Blood Sugar is still a bit low—Can Anyone Speak ENGLISH here?”
“What?” I growled as my eyes slung curses and knives, “We both do!” The nurse over his shoulder lowered her eyes in embarrassment. My wife glared at the man and he merely stammered an unconvincing “oh” once and proceeded to give his unheard report.
Minutes later my wife and I pored over the exchange and realized some important facts: he had read the name Reynoso on the chart, saw a bedragled family of three with one on the way (since my son wasn’t around, he didn’t have that detail to add to his thinking) and came to this conclusion: we were non-English speaking immigrants.
Nothing like a splash of prejudice to wake you up in the morning, eh?
Links N’ Junk 17
Posted by Rey
- Videos. Darrell has an awesome video that makes the PS3 seem like an expensively bad choice. Jerry links to this fantastic Diary of a Paper Model
- Blogspotting. I wish I got a chance to go to this show that scoboco went to. MCF put an honest review of the Bible Archive a bit ago which is a step towards something I’m planning.
- Philosophy. Jeremy (I’ve linked to it here and on the Archive before) has a great series on Theories of Knowledge and Reality. He’s recently been blogging on the explanation for evil.
- Bible. Study the Bible with Lingamish. I’m adding the link to the Archive’s link section but I thought some of you may be interested on this end.
- Sci-fi. The hard and fast 33% rule and No Peter Jackson Hobbit. (HT: SFSignal)
- McPheever. Rickey has some photos and a leaked track from her Katharine McPhee’s new album.
- Computers. Best video cards 2006.
- iLife. Apple sees a future in iRadio? We shall see…
- TV. Studio 60—honestly, it’s funny but I can’t decide on something. It manages to bash Christians (and Christianity) in just about every episode but then has characters that are openly Christian portrayed in a positive light.
- Scandal. Michael Richards flips out on stage (or download it) then apologizes (albeit in a bad outlet). Jeremy makes some good responses and links to a thought provoking post. David links to some excellent thoughts on Ted Haggard (old news, I know) who addresses Christian responses. Andy Dick goes the way of the Kramer bird.
