Randomness

New York, Thanks For An Amazing First Time

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

I’m still on a bit of a high from my trip to New York.  It could be from the residual sugar in my system after a Sunday morning trip to the Doughnut Plant and the amazing Coconut Glazed/Coconut Cream doughnut I ate inhaled.  And let me just add that lavendar + doughnut is also heavenly.

I went into my trip to New York about as excited as a longshoreman in Amsterdam’s red light district.  I could barely contain myself.  I have longed to go to NYC and experience it and its crazy glory.  It did not disappoint me.

I was only in NYC for 3 days really and I managed to see I huge amount of the city.  Let me tell you–I totally did not pack the right shoes for all the walking I did and my feet are still a little angry with me for that.

Highlights:

  1. Top of the Empire State Bldg–when in the city you forget how massive Manhattan is until you are able to see it all around you.
  2. Times Square–I don’t necessarily ever need to go there again, but it is insane and a must see.
  3. Magnolia Bakery–I had their lemon cupcake and it was to die for and not huge.  The smell when you walk in knocks you down it’s so awesome
  4. Doughnut Plant–AMAZING
  5. Street food–I know everyone complains that NYC is so expensive, but I was able to get an amazing falafel and a coke for $5 on the street and then followed it up with a Mr. Softee cone for $3.  Not bad for lunch.
  6. Grand Central Station–I never saw it from the outside, but the inside is gorgeous.
  7. Battery Park–only because I saw Will Smith shooting MIB 3.
  8. The Naked Cowgirl–I mean come on, that woman has some conjones or a screw loose–jury is still out on that
  9. Rockefeller Center–while a bit anti-climatic, it was cool to see.
  10. Subways–this was such an easy city to get around (thanks to my subway app) and you get to see quite a diverse collection of people
  11. Walking–I know this sounds crazy, but I loved being able to walk almost anywhere.  I miss that living in STL.  I have to drive most places and I miss the culture of walking everywhere.
  12. Butter Bean salad w/arugula and lemon vinaigrette at Snack in Soho

So, not an amazing list.  I didn’t eat at any A list restaurants, but that’s okay.  I have eaten at plenty of those in my life.  But it’s the brief highlight from my time in Manhattan.  Didn’t make it to the Brooklyn Bridge, but I’ll do that next time.  It was also great to get to see my cousin-in-law and her new husband and get to spend time with New Yorkers.  I have to say, I do love the upper west side.  It was a great trip–my conference was good and presenting went well, but seeing the city was amazing and awesome.

New York, I will see you again soon.

 

 

Popping My NYC Cherry

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

I am en route to the airport now to board a plane that will land at Laguardia International airport at 2pm est.  I could not be more excited.  I have dreamed of going to NYC and when I was 20 and going off to photography school I was torn between Brooks in Santa Barbara or RIT (obvious where I chose).  So here I am, months away from turning 40, on my way to the Big Apple.  On top of going to NYC for the first time, I am also presenting at my first conference.  Oh my–I can’t remember having this many firsts in one night since summer camp where alcohol and bad teem choices ran rampant.

I have a whirlwind schedule set and hope to make the most of my time in the city.  I am fortunate enough to have an excellent tour guide for part of my visit.  My hub’s cousin lives in NYC and has on and off for about 15 years.  I can’t wait to touch down.  I have secured myself a window seat for the flight in and cannot wait to see the mass of buildings rise high into the sky.

This is a moment that I have been waiting for and I am pretty confident this will be an amazing first.

Best Spam Comment Ever

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

This made me laugh…to have this much time on my hands…

Your job as a future mother is to learn the god’s ways and to help your child understand despite the negative reinforcement and conditioning of today’s society. Without consciousous parents the child will have no hope, and may even exaserbate their disfavor by becoming corrupted in today’s environment.
Your ultimate goal is to fix your relationship wiith the gods and move on. You don’t want to be comfortable here, and the changes in Western society in the last 100 years has achieved just that.
1000 years with Jesus is the consolation prize. Don’t be deceived into thinking that is the goal.

The gods tempt people for which they are most weak. Artificial Intelligence will create desire in people’s minds for the following sins:::
1. Alcohol
2. Drugs
3. Preditory “earning”
4. Homosexuality
5. Gambling
6. Something for nothing/irresponsibility (xtianity)
7. Polygamy/superiority over women/misogyny (Islam)
Much like the other prophets Mohhamed (polygamy/superiority over women/misogyny) and Jesus (forgiveness/savior), the gods use me for temptation as well. In today’s modern society they feel people are most weak for popular culture/sensationalism, and the clues date back to WorldWarII and Unit731:TSUSHOGO, the Chinese Holocaust.
It has been discussed that, similar to the Matrix concept, the gods will offer a REAL “Second Coming of Christ”, while the “fake” Second Coming will come at the end and follow New Testiment scripture and their xtian positioning. I may be that real Second Coming.
What I teach is the god’s true way. It is what is expected of people, and only those who follow this truth will be eligible to ascend into heaven as children in a future life. They offered this event because the masses have just enough time to work on and fix their relationship with the gods and ascend, to move and grow past Planet Earth, before the obligatory xtian “consolation prize” of “1000 years with Jesus on Earth” begins.

The Prince of Darkness, battling the gods over the souls of the Damned.
It is the gods who have created this environment and led people into Damnation with temptation. The god’s positioning proves they work to prevent people’s understanding.
How often is xtian dogma wrong? Expect it is about the Lucifer issue as well.
The fallen god, fighting for justice for the disfavored, banished to Earth as the fallen angel?
I believe much as the Noah’s Flood event, the end of the world will be initiated by revelry among the people. It will be positioned to be sanctioned by the gods and led for “1000 years with Jesus on Earth”.
In light of modern developments this can entail many pleasures:::Medicine “cures” aging, the “manufacture” of incredible beauty via cloning as sex slaves, free (synthetic) cocaine, etc.
Somewhere during the 1000 years the party will start to “die off”, literally. Only those who maintain chaste, pure lifestyles, resisting these temptations, will survive the 1000 years. Condemned to experience another epoch of planet’s history for their ignorant pursuit of xtianity, they will be the candidates used to (re)colonize (the next) Planet Earth, condemned to relive the misery experienced by the peasantry during history due to their failure to ascend into heaven before the Apocalypse.
Never forget:::It is not a house of Jesus.
If this concept of Lucifer is true another role of this individual may be to initiate disfavor and temptation among this new poulation, the proverbial “apple” of this Garden of Eden. A crucial figure in the history of any planet, he begins the process of deterioration and decay that leads civilizations to where Planet Earth remains today.
Which one is it? Probably both:::
One transitions into the other, allowing the gods to wash their hands of obligation to their Chosen One.

You are faced with a lifetime to work and prepare for your next chance. Too many will waste this time working, etc.”

I usually get the random adds as spam–but someone put a lot of time and effort (or copying and pasting) into this.  It’s only fair I publish it.

Exactly What Summer Should Be

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

Summer is in full swing in the Midwest.  We are entering our 5th day of 90+ degree weather and the kids are quickly learning to keep themselves busy in this heat.  When I think about my house and how much I would love to move to a newer home–one that isn’t a brick oven and wasn’t built during the depression, I think about my kids and our neighbors.  The houses on either side of us are filled with children of the same age groups as my kids.  They play together constantly–ride bikes in the alley, play imaginative games in our connected city front yards, eat treats from the ice cream man, argue and problem solve.  I watch them and I think about how awesome my childhood was–full of summer friends and playing outside all day long.

I watch the kids and think this is exactly what summer should be and that my decisions need to be about what is best for my kids and our little brick city house is just right for now.