04/22/06 11:05 - 54ºF - ID#29649

a question, of sorts

I was wondering... would anyone on here be interested in meeting up sometime for coffee or perhaps a drink? I've really enjoyed reading a lot of the entries of people on here and think it would be cool to meet some of you.

Permalink: a_question_of_sorts.html
Words: 43
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: thoughts

04/08/06 02:02 - 34ºF - ID#29646

juxtaposition

I grew up in a small town. Most of the people I grew up with are married and have children now. This probably sounds terrible to say, but anymore it seems that I feel awkward around most of my old friends. Because I can't relate to most of their experiences. I don't have children. I'm not married or engaged. The relationship that I had been in for a year and a half ended soon after I moved to Buffalo this past fall. I don't have a car. I live in a one room place. I'm this chick in grad school with a serious illness, trying to scrape by on a minimalistic income and medicaid. Maybe it doesn't make sense, but I just feel like a failure compared to them. That I've fallen behind somehow.

The truth is that most of the time, I feel like I am content with my life. I am involved with things that matter to me, and I continue to meet a lot of amazing people. I just wish I wouldn't compare my life to others this way. I want to be someone who can just be happy for them. I really do.

metalpeter writes at 11:42:19 04/09/06 - Comment #6282: First of all sorry about the Serious Illness, I hope it is something that with treatment can go away. I don't know what it is but I'm sure that dealing with that also affects how you do with people if not a lot at least a little bit.

I don't know what it is like to grow up in a small town. I have heard everyone knows each other. I'm sure all your friends being maried must at some point put pressure on you, don't let it unless you secertly want it to.

I think compairing your life to others can be both positive and verry negative. Yes it is good to see people who have lives that you don't want and to think I'm glad I don't have there life. You can also see peoples lives and think man I would like to be where they are at and so you can have something to aspire to and to drive you. But at the same time if you do this you make your self feal like an outcast and like you won't be normal and that happens more often then the positive stuff I mentioned. Just try to positive about your self and know you are happy where you are and once you have that figured out, then you can figure out if there are things you want to change or goals that you have that you want to achive.

scott writes at 05:12:27 04/08/06 - Comment #6260: Don't bother judging your life by anyone else's standards. Everyone's got their own thing. Trying to compare lives is about as possible as comparing the price of milk to a good poem. (It just can't be done. I've tried... milk prices vs poem... errrr broken brain...)

Anyways, sounds like you've got a lot of exciting stuff going on... some good, some bad... that seems to me to a quite a life to live.

Keep those old friends. You may have to adapt to accept you had different goals. Diverse fiends make for interesting people. Anyone who's friends are all the same tends to be boring...

ladycroft writes at 12:09:52 04/08/06 - Comment #6243: good, if you're content, stay that way! i don't believe we should be this, that or the other by particular stages in our lives. so, be who you are in the here and now, and be ok with that. because it's all good!

leetee writes at 10:12:16 04/08/06 - Comment #6234: I understand what you mean about not being able to relate to friends you once had. It's happened to me in so many different ways.

I find it a difficult trap not to fall into, comparing my life to others. We all veiw success in different ways and finding out what means success within ourselves can be a challenge. But if we focus on what we want from our life, i think we can find our niche.

Sorry to hear you are living with a serious illness. I hope there is recovery for you in the near future.

Permalink: juxtaposition.html
Words: 197
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buffalo

04/07/06 01:13 - 45ºF - ID#29645

elmwood hotel

Recently, one of my grad classes were discussing the plans to build a new hotel on Elmwood- near Forest Avenue. Its supposed to be located where several businesses are. I believe these businesses include Mondo Video, Home of the Hits, and some other stores. Everyone in my class that participated in our discussion seems to think that building a hotel there would be a great idea, but I have to say that I definitely have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, I agree that it would be nice to have a hotel in the Elmwood neighborhood. It definitely would be helpful to the many museums and galleries that are located in the area. If a blockbuster show came to the Knox as they do several times a year, people could stay at a hotel right near the museum. They would probably go to some of the restaurants in the neighborhood and such. It's always great to support the economy around Buffalo. And, as some mentioned, some of the buildings that are currently the site are suffering from disrepair and have structural problems.

From a different perspective, though, I have to say that I am sad at the prospect of the tearing down of those buildings. I love the way those house-style stores are mixed together inside the neighborhood. And I feel bad that those stores would be forced to move, potentially not on Elmwood anymore. I think a lot of people would miss not having them around here. I have not been a part of the meeting process and can't make an informed comment on how the tenants of those buildings have been treated... but I have read from many of the news sources that some of them feel that they weren't given much of a voice during this process to have their concerns addressed. Of course, I could admittedly be fallacious in my assumptions on this.

There's also the issue of the possibility that the hotel might fail. Sometimes its hard to predict whether a hotel will succeed in any given area. What will happen to the surrounding neighborhood if that hotel goes out of business and just becomes some abandoned space?

So I certainly am interested in following what the outcome of this will be, and how it will affect the neighborhood in which I live.

Permalink: elmwood_hotel.html
Words: 390
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: links

04/07/06 12:23 - 42ºF - ID#29644

my stupid amusements

It scares me sometimes just how much I like the 80's sitcom "Night Court". I truly find it amusing, and I have no idea why. I like the crazy bald baliff.

Oh, and the new "Real World" is at Lake Superior, Michigan. How come they haven't done a Real World Buffalo? C'mon, aren't we more exciting?

(The last time I actually watched MTV was when I still thought it was cool... you know, when Green Day first came out. I feel old now).

For my fellow procrastinators:
Bubble Wrap:

Permalink: my_stupid_amusements.html
Words: 97
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/06/06 11:55 - 42ºF - ID#29643

joining the fold

Yes, its true... I'm one of the many denizens of that place commonly referred to as "livejournal". Yet, I think this site is any interesting concept... it definitely has more of a collective community feel. I look forward to reading some of the posts here soon.

I moved to Buffalo this past September. I really like it so far. It has a very funky, warm feel to it as a city. It has its problems, but I definitely think it has more than its fair share of strengths, too. There's a surprising amount of culture and art to be found in it.

I shall have to post more soon...