A - R - K

As I was bolting down the steps of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, heading towards the A - C - E Subway line during the middle of the pm Rush Hour in hopes to make it to Penn Station in less than 7 minutes, something made me stop.

Until that point, I had one problem with New Yorkers...we (yes, including myself) never really care about what's going on around us - especially when we're "too busy" getting from one place to the next - like a colony of ants, wildly running in and out of the holes, boroughs, and tunnels we've excavated, mindlessly bumping into one another without taking a moment to check our surroundings.

I am even guilty of doing this many times during my day. Texting/Sending Emails, and changing the song on my iPod, all while walking in and out the masses of people without even looking up for one second. Until that specific moment where I stopped and picked my head up, I never realized everything I was ignoring.

"Don't worry, you can have everything...it's all yours"

I looked up, and there was a lady, probably in her mid 40s, dressed like she worked in a high-rise corporate office building, walking in the opposite direction from me. To my left, was a homeless man, tattered clothes, long shaggy beard, with an old-school Blue and Orange NY Knicks cap on. He was looking down at his hands, in awe and in shock of what was there.

A large, party-sized plate with about 8-10 sandwiches, all for himself.

I look again to my opposite side, the older lady was long gone, headed towards the bus terminals. She didn't stop to hear a thank you, or for anyone else to acknowledge her for what she just did. With that plate of food, she could have fed a family of Four for dinner, and even left-overs for the next day so her kids can enjoy a nice lunch at school.

But she's not like the rest of the New Yorkers...she actually notices her surroundings and cares about what's going on around her.

The World needs more people like her...I need to be more like her

It Gives You Wings!

2 Presentations
4 Exams
17 Pages-worth of Papers
7 Days

Who needs to sleep when you got Red Bull

Summer Jam

I miss the days of waking up for an early workout, watching 3 straight episodes of SportsCenter, sinking my toes in the hot sand while soaking up the sun, eating at Sushi Park for dinner, playin ball 'till the flood lights shut off and then capping the night off at Little Vincent's Pizzeria.

Those were the perfect summer days/nights. I wish every summer would be like my high school summers.

Now, I gotta worry about a damn job...

1.BusinessWeek
2.Y&R
3.Major League Soccer
4.National CineMedia

Let's hope one of these four decide to help me out.

Gotta have a backup plan...I'd say a spending summer in Philadelphia, going to Art School, and screwing around at the ARC while earning $8/hour is a pretty sweet deal!

To salvage any part of the summer that I will not be working, I've come up with a bucket list, so to speak:

- Rockin Out [Coldplay - Taking Back Sunday/Anberlin - Incubus]
- Enjoying America's Pastime [Yankee Stadium - Citi Field - Citizens Bank Park]
- Futbol Shenanigans [Chelsea vs AC Milan] - Baltimore, MD
- Swinging Away [Driving Ranges and Batting Cages]
- Soaking Up Some Sun [Long Island - Jersey Shore]

Here's to a hopeful summer...we'll see how far down the list I get

Real Talk

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual
interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy"

The New York Faithful

After witnessing a craptastic loss to the lowly t-wolves, i've come to a few conclusions:

1. 7th Ave should immediately be renamed "King James' Way"

2. If D.Lee and Nate Robinson were put on the presidential ballots, NYstate would most definitely go orange n blue

3. Coach 'Antoni' doesn't deserve a "D" in his name

4. Step aside Spike...Turtle (yes, from Entourage) is the ultimate Knicks fan

5. "hey, where you going? there's still twelve minutes left!!" is no longer a valid question/statement while attending knicks games

6. Knicks City Dancers :-)

7. I'm Oh for Six!!!

Top of the Moooorning to ya, laddy!

...yes, i know that's not what British people say - but their reactions to my ignorance were priceless. i dunno what it is, but mocking the whole english culture and way of life was too easy, and very entertaining. i think it was the fact that they played along with our jokes almost every time that really made it easy and fun. almost every conversation between us and a local started off with a fake/really bad attempt at a british accent and ended in one of three ways:

1. blatantly ignoring us
2. "oi, piss off!"
3. a big smile, some laughter and questions about where the hell we were really from

we even tried to hustle unsuspecting pedestrians an umbrella for one pound...we almost got em, until they realized that the umbrellas were being given out for free. not to mention, we also out-hustled a hustler himself...and then he realized we were smarter than his tricks, so he laughed nervously and commended us on our skills...he ran away

speaking of pedestrians, those tiny london streets cannot handle the crazyyy amounts of people. every direction you walk, turn, or cross the street, you're bumping into someone - i earned the name "baby hitter" because i accidentally ran into a stroller...luckily the mom was cool about it and apologized before i could realize i almost knocked over her child. at that point, i figured it would be reallllly entertaining to see a pedestrian round-about! since the country already doesn't make any sense, why not have pedestrians use round-abouts as well? i'm sure it would help control the massive crowds - i think i'll bring that to their parliament's attention one day

after 3 days of wedding stuff (btw, congrats to iqbal n sabira), and a day of shopping in london, i find myself in Amsterdam....normally, that would be a fun time, but i'm stuck at the airport for a good 12 hours. it wouldnt be so bad, but europe is so FRICKIN expensive! i went to the currency exchange, handed the lady a $20bill...after exchange rates and "processing fees", i was handed 10euros and 87cents. That bought me a mcdonalds meal, candy from some store and some coins to take home as a souvenior. 20 damn dollars, GONE! not to mention, i had to cough up 16euros ($23) to get internet access for the night. they're a buncha scammers!

as a way to channel my frustration, i learned how to curse in arabic...it worked for a while, until a buncha somali's understood what we said and lashed back - yea, we ran!

all in all, a good trip...it was nice to experience something different

england - fun place to visit...to live, not so much my kinda style

Laying the Foundation

"You never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression"

...if I could define this past semester in one phrase, it'd most certainly be that quote. If anything, it will probably be my motivation through out the rest of my career and life goals. Who knew, all it took was missing one particular class during the first week of school, way back in August to set the tone for the coming months.

I was constantly barraged with that saying every wednesday by a man who I thought was just trying to make an example out of me and embarrass me in front of my peers. Not only did I hear this from him, but from everyone else in that class as well. It really sucked being the "bad" example for everyone. Every time he deliberately looked at me while saying that damn quote, he was basically saying "hey everyone, make sure you don't do what Reza did."

Long story short, I basically stuck it to the man, kicked ass on the most difficult presentation in my college career, and made him say "i was very impressed"

...but that's not where I'm trying to go with this

Back to making a solid first impression...I realized that all this tormenting from that class really lead me on to something greater. How could I really make a kick ass impression among my school's administration, professors, peers, family, and friends...not to mention every single grad school I apply to as well as corporate america as a whole?

Sounds like a tall task...but I think 3 little letters will accomplish that

C-E-O...yea, big things happening

keep on the lookout