Happy Birthday Anne Frank!

I know it has been a while, I've been busy and have been trying to find some things to blog about. And today it was there in front of me as I checked my mail this morning...It is Anne Frank's 80th Birthday, actually she would have been 80 years old today...but she died at the young age of 15.

For those who don't know who Anne Frank is, here's a brief summary (with the help of http://www.annefrank.com/) :

"Anne Frank was a German-Jewish teenager who was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust. She and her family, along with four others, spent 25 months during World War II in an annex of rooms above her father’s office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.After being betrayed to the Nazis, Anne, her family, and the others living with them were arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps.

In March of 1945, nine months after she was arrested, Anne Frank died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen. She was fifteen years old.

Her diary, saved during the war by one of the family’s helpers, Miep Gies, was first published in 1947. Today, her diary has been translated into 67 languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world."

I grew up reading her diary and reading about her life all through junior high and high school. She helped me understand why the Holocaust was such a tradegy in history and what made it become a part of history. And at the same time I could relate, because she was just 15, so young, so innocent, so pure.

Tragedies happen in the world everyday...murders, rapings, torture, kidnappings, robberies, bomb explosions, these are all human-willed...and then we have the "natural disasters" hurricanes, volcanoe explosions, avalanches, tropical storms, thunderstorms, tsunamis and so many more...but yet we all go on drinking our coffee, reading the paper, getting upset that the train is late, or someone cut you off on the highway, yet we take the precious seconds in our life to be upset, to make life more unbearable while on the other side of the world, there are people clinging to life because there arent cures for the illnesses they have, or they havent eaten in 4 days, and their feet are bleeding because they can't get a pair of shoes to wear...

We have life so good here...and we dont know anything less than that, because we have been so fortunate...but those people on the other side of the world, they dont know what its like to live our life...but somehow its something that they would give anything to live and experience.

Anne Frank knew exactly what was going on outside her window...she knew why she was in hiding, she knew what she had to sacrafice to live, and she knew what would happen if they were discovered. Yet she kep such high spirits, such strength and maturity that are rare in 15-year-olds that I found amazing. What happened to her was so tragic, it brings tears to my eyes by just imagining how it all felt, what she could have possibly experienced.

The Holocaust was a terrible, tragic event that happened, and many people died because if it. But Anne Frank's famous diary helps her to live on.

Happy Birthday Anne.

My Pet Peeves!

Again I became annnoyed of the things that people in New York City do. Because sometimes, all of us are not all that smart. So I thought I'd give some pointers out to those who fit these: 1. Hey you! The seat hogger! Please do me a favor and fit yourself in ONE seat. Not 2 or 3 seats, just one. I hate people like you who spread your legs so far apart that people would think your about to give birth. I'm sure you don't want to pay per-seat do you? Thanks, I appreciate it. 2. If you're gonna stand on a crowded bus or train, please take off the huge, space-consuming mount on your back, otherwise known as your backpack. Let's picture it: If you did take the 1 minute to take off you backpack, just maybe one more person can fit in that space you were taking up, or you could actually stop nudging the person behind you. I'm sure wouldn't like that being done to you. Oh wait, you can actually put that in between your legs if you want to take up two seats, haha. 3. I understand that maybe your breath stinks, or maybe your hungry and to help ignore the hunger pain you decide to chew gum, but please don't let everyone hear it. What's with the smacking? oh maybe you want everyone to know that you chew like a cow. That goes for food too! Keep your mouth closed! 4. People, I understand that you may be short on cash to travel the subway or bus, but please, pretty please, don't ask me to pay for it. I work hard and long days and I'm not going to pay your way just because you spent your last on booze or drugs. I have enough bills. (this doenst apply to all panhandlers, I'm referring to teenagers or young adults who are wearing nice clothes and shoes but don't have a metrocard---tsk, tsk, tsk!) 5. I have a huge problem with this one: When I go to a public bathroom, and I urgently have to go and there is someone else's urine on the toilet seat! Why do i have to clean up after your mess?!?!?! That is unsanitary, disgusting, and disrespectful! Be considerate to others who have to go in afeter you. I'm sure you wouldn't like to clean up after someone else. Oh and flush! believe it or not, some women don't. I really don't look forward to having a present when I come in. 6. I hate that I'm in a conversation, either on instant messaging or text, and all the responses are limited to either, "ok, yea, cool, or no" and my favorite, when they disappear. they dont say bye, or I have to go, or anything informing me that they don't intend to answer and just *poof* disappear. If that's the case, don't message me in the first place! I could be having a much more interesting conversation with someone else where I can give my entire attention to! 7. Sometimes when I'm on the train, I ike to read a newspaper or something like that and in that time, I like to be in my own zone. But then its gets ruined because I can see someone from the corner of my eye who wants to read along. The newspaper is only 25 cents, get your OWN! 8. I could be in a conversation and I get interrupted and/or talked over. I start a sentence and I can't finish it becaus eI can't hear mysef. Please have some courtesy to at least finish what I was saying, you self indulged pain. 9. Ahhh a common annoyance, especially with the warm weather approcahing. Teenages with their boost mobile phone (probably prepaid) and sidekicks who play their ghetto music on speaker. They can supossedly afford a phone but not headphones? The people surrounded by you don't want to hear the crap your listening to. and it sounds like a bunch of static. And this brings me to the next pet peeve: 10. If you are in public ad MUST carrry on a conversation on your cell phone, please lower your tone. I can't understand why people must yell, laugh so loud, curse so loud and act like no one is around. I'm playing my ipod and I can STILL hear them talk. That's a sign that it is inppropiate. 11. I HATE when I'm walking in the middle of a busy street and the people in front of me decide to STOP right there. Nope, not to the side where there's less traffic but right there in the middle of it all. Be considerate of the people who are trying to make it to work or wherever else they have to go. 12. Most annoying of all, people who smoke: Please smoke away from those who do not. It's nice that you want to have lung cancer or emphysema but I shouldn't suffer later in my life because you can't move your feet to somewhere where others cannot be affected. Which reminds me how messed up the world is, that people who have taken in second-hand smoke will die of something before poeple who smoke do. 13. People who take up the entire staircase. Staircases have invisible lines going down the middle. Walk up the stairs to your RIGHT. Don't take up the entire staircase, unless you wanna put your name on it. To Be Continued . . . . . .

R.I.P. To Those Who Have Left This World...

I was on my way to work today when I saw a bunch of young children playing. They were laughing, smiling and so carefree. Remember when it was just like that when you were young? Then time changes. People have to actually take responsibility of their lives and plan their future out. Then it came to me that there are people in this world who are taken from this earth before their time. Before they can accomplish what they set their minds to. I have known a good few people who have left this life and some I did not know as well as others, some I just knew about and for some reason, the affect it left on my heart was just as terrible as if I were a part of the surviving family. And to help cope with these thoughts, I thought I'd share it with you (if you would like to take a peek into my life) and please keep in mind that what is written here is all I know...there may be more details that I am unaware about.

When my sister had graduated high school, she parted from two friends. They kept in touch here and there, they never forgot each other. A few years later, one day out of clear blue, she is informed that both girls, just 18 years old, died from heroin and cocain drug overdoses. They were found unconcious (with four others) in a apartment that belonged to two ex-cons who were 33 and 41. They were later pronounced dead at the hospital. I particulary remember one of them, she always made my sister laugh. She was funny, cooky and wacky and always smiles. Both of these girls were so young, beautiful and smart. One was enrolled at NYU and the other at Hunter College. And just like that, their life ends. It hurts to find out that that person who made you smile, you will never see again.

Next person is someone I went to high school with. I knew of her, and we hardly ever spoke a word to each other. But I knew and saw her personality. She was smart,extremley talented, funny, kind, and generous. No one ever said a bad thing about her because she was so likable to everyone. A few years after graduation, my graduating class finds out that she passed away due to an aneurysm. She was engaged to be married, she had things to look forward to in life, and it just stopped. This affected me in every way because she was a fantastic, kind person to be around. Even though we rarely spoke, I felt like I did know her.

In my other high school (because I had transferred) Their was a boy that was a football star. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. I remember his smile as I walked down the hallways of school and he was so friendly. He was shot after a confrontation with a crowd of teenage boys over a cell phone. He also, had his life stop short when he had so much going for him,. He was being recruited by Harvard and Hofstra on full-paying tuition scholarships and now his friends and family still have to deal with the heartache and absence of him. That high school year was never the same.

The last person is someone from the same high school as the football star, she was in my homeroom. After high school she became a New York police officer, to serve our city.

But during a off-duty occasion, she was killed in a car crash. She was sitting in the passenger side and her off-duty partner and friend was driving under the influence. The driver lost control and crashed into a guard rail off the highway, and because of that, she died. She did something that she herself was getting paid to prevent others from doing. Now she has to live with that for the rest of her life.

You see this picture of the mother kissing the flag? It just breaks my heart to see a mother have to go through that. That flag is to honor the fallen and she gets to keep it with her forever. Its also like a final farewell. But its not the same as having her daughter back.

I did not know her well, but like I said before she was someone who was likable by everyone, she didn't have enemies. Her family and friends meant everything to her. She too, had her entire life before and she did not deserve this. I hate to point the finger, to the people who have caused some of these deaths, but I do believe in karma.

My heart goes out to all the family and friends who have to live on remembering what happened to their loved ones who are no longer with us. But they are still in your heart.

R.I.P. to all those mentioned here.

What You Pay For Isn't Always What You Get

Ahhh, New York City...everyone who has not lived here at any point in their lives say it's the greatest city in the world. The hussle and bussle from 9-5, with every other cab passing through with bagel carts on every corner, the sites and sounds of the city, tall buildings, interesting people....it really is a site to be seen. But for those who have lived in New York City can indeed vouch for those great reasons to be a part of this great city. But behind the city glamour, lies a harsh, aggressive and rude city waiting to eat you up and spit you out. My favorite (sarcasticly speaking) of this fantastic city? The good-ol' subway. Imagine running through rush hour (which apparantly seems like it lasts all day) and you are being run into, stepped on, having your elbow space invaded, delays and skipped stops. Realistically, we spend most of our days traveling, whether it be in a car, train, bike or walking. But for the subway, traveling seems like an eternity. All of this we deserve for $2.00 and it just went up. What do we get with the generous increase? We still get delays, broken air conditioned cars, over crowding, filthy platforms and malfuctioning metrocards. Oh and we can't forget the 2 trains they want to stop service on. So that's the same ludicrous and disappointing service and train service decrease. Wow sounds like a bargain! What you pay for isnt always what you get.

American Idol Disappointment!

Let's see...the best sounding girl, Allison (at 17 years old!) got booted off the American Idol island...huge mistake! I hope that it wasnt because of what Simon Cowell said, "you have to just beg." What in the world does that mean? Her pipes are amazing! I couldn't sing like that after 10 years of vocal lessons and she just wakes up and sounds like that!

My other topic of pondering is where were the Allison fans? I know they were out there somewhere across the United States? I don't understand it. That's why I sometimes think that we shouldn't let the fans vote. We son't do it based on talent. Some vote based on looks and their history and what they went throught to get to the main stage. So in the end, we don't see the talent or the voice, we see the looks and/or the background. Is that fair? Don't get me wrong, the final four contestants are talented, but I don't think that Allison should have been booted. It's a HUGE disappointed. And I thought that this season was gonna be different.

Google has Popped My Blog Cherry!

First let me say that I am extremley excited and nervous at the same time as I write this. I have always had a thing for writing, as it was brought to my attention from family, friends, teachers, professors and even through looking at my own work. So i decided that this year was going to be the year where I would voice my words to the world. I do anticipate learning some fantastic things during this experience, as well as meeting new people who share my ideas, thoughts, worries and inpirations like I do. From my blogs you can anticipate my rants, my fears, my problems, my joys and everything in between. I try not to live in the fantasy world, because reality is only what we have. So I will write about what normal individuals like you and I go through in everyday life and incorporate that with the topic of the moment. Words are my everything, without them I would not have been able to get through most of my hardships through life. If you have any thoughts, please do not hesistate to share! I am always open to comments or suggestions. I will hopefully blog again tonight. Thanks and Take Care! Christina Filarican Voice