And to the Republican for which I stand

So after a grueling gym workout, I came home, showered and flopped on the couch with a very nice hot cup of green tea in an effort to finally relax. Because I consider myself a young, conservative, ex-college republican who leans left on social issues, I decided I would most definitely check out the candidates at the You Tube Debate.

First of all, Anderson Cooper…what a catch! Anyway, here is my synopsis on what I saw and who I liked. Please understand, I am far from being a “political” person and this was the first debate I have watched this season and first real look at the Republican candidates.

Fred Thompson

I liked his height. He’s a tall man, distinguished yet a little too somber. He needs to lighten up a little more…smile a little more. Very Texan looking…I envision him with a big white cowboy hat, smoking a big cigar and sitting at a big desk with his big feet propped up on it. Fred is way too socially conservative for me. However, I think 24 should hire him to act as their next TV President. He’s a good actor.

Ron Paul

I’m sorry…I understand he has a lot of groupie fans out there…but he scares me…a little. Cranky, awkward, quirky, with a somewhat annoying voice…heck, I wouldn’t even want him as my OB doctor let alone President! Sure, in a perfect world we could all safely live in the US, mind our own business and leave everyone else to blow each other up…but the U.S. has never been that way and I don’t see that idealism ever happening here…not now. And stop being so cranky…gosh!

Mike Huckabee

He’s cute…kinda reminds me of Kevin Spacey. Nice dimples! Would love him for a father-in-law...but that’s it. I think he’s honest…but again, I think the President of the U.S. needs more than a Theology degree to handle the job. Ranks right up there with a degree in Apparel Merchandising (tee hee). I’m sure he’s very smart…maybe too kind. He’s very well spoken…I’d go to his church…but I think it’s time for someone who is slick, tough and a real crime fighting attorney to handle the wheel…a real pit bull…

Rudy Giuliani

Living in the New York area, you have to love him…Ok so he has problems with his relationships with the opposite sex…so do I!! I can’t fault him for that! So he loves A-Rod and I love David Wright…so what? He’s tough. He gets excited…He’s passionate! He leans left on social issues (which I prefer). I think he’d be a great boss. He’s inspiring. Let’s face it we haven’t had an enthusiastic U. S. President since…well…since Roosevelt! (Well, he seemed enthusiastic in the movie, Annie, didn’t he?). Giuliani is tough…maybe too tough…if he doesn’t like you…he won’t let you come play in his yard. I like that. I think he’s fair too. He smiles…I think he finds debating right up his alley!

John McCain

Was he wearing a plastic mask last night or was that his real face? He’s scary too! Whew! I like his pro-military admiration. Of all the candidates, he’s like the last person I’d want to be locked in a room with. Talk about Torture! He needs to relax! He’s way too intense. Unless, he’s got a big heart hidden somewhere…no one saw it last night.

Mitt Romney

He looked great in his suit! Very presidential looking. Handsome. He reminds me of actor, John Gavin. (Go ahead, google him!) I thought his answer on believing the Bible literally was staged and said to appease the conservative right. You could tell he was very uncomfortable since he has that big “C” for “Cults” engraved on his chest. I did love his response to Huckabee about giving scholarships to illegal immigrants. I felt Mitt was a little too polite compared to the others. He might need to get a little tougher…maybe mess up his hair a little.

Tom Tancredo

He didn’t say much but I actually liked his remarks against funding a space mission to Mars. I agreed with his wholehearted response to Ron Paul about wishing we could live in the world that Ron Paul believes exists.

Duncan Hunter

Duncan did not get a chance to say much. Quite frankly, I don’t know why he bothered to show up. Obviously, Ann Coulter does all the talking for him.

Mr. Big

Well, I saw Mr. Big yesterday getting on the train….Oh, I never wrote about Mr. Big? Well, Mr. Big is a very sexy Italian Stallion of a man who lives in Hoboken. Yep, if you saw him you would immediately do that impersonation of Rocky Balboa that you’ve been dying to try out. Trust me, the few times my mom has visited me and caught a glimpse of Mr. Big, she immediately puts on her best Rocky voice, “Cut me Mick” or her personal favorite, “Yo Adrian”.

All kidding aside, Mr. Big is a big time NYC broker. He comes into my spa for massages every once in awhile and I flirt with him like….well it’s quite ridiculous how much flirting goes on! Big is about 6’2”, dark curly hair (my weakness) and well, he’s just so put together! I call him Mr. Big….because he is my “Mr. Big”. Big is 30, lives alone (because he too can’t live with anyone) and used to play semi-pro football. He’s just very very sexy to me. I’ve said things to him while sitting behind that spa desk that I have never said to a man before! Like “You sure look good to me!” or “Don’t cut your hair…Curly hair is so sexy on a man!” (Actually maybe I have told a few men that before). Anyway, there have been a couple of conversations where Big will say, “So what are you doing tonight?” But for some reason I always have something going on. However, one night he was the last appointment (thank you Tara for booking that intentionally). After he was through with his massage, and I did my usual “fall all over him”, he left the spa but dwindled outside on his cell phone (ya know, making big deals) and then began walking very slowly down the street. I closed up the spa and began walking home…towards Big. He ended his phone call and turned to me and said, “Are you following me?” I just laughed and said, “No, this is the way I go home” (I wanted to say….to the ends of the earth!) Anyway, we talked and laughed for a few blocks. As we walked on Washington, he told me he was having dinner and then a smoke in the cigar bar. We said our goodbyes and he went towards the restaurant, opening the door he turned…stopped to look at me, smiled again, and then went in…That was it. Ok, so why didn’t he ask me to dinner? He was hungry…I was hungry…Maybe he wanted me to initiate something…maybe he was afraid of being rejected by a younger woman…I don’t know. Maybe Mr. Big doesn’t have the confidence with women that he does with his business dealings. Or maybe he is seeing someone and I am just his ego booster.

I haven’t seen Big for awhile...until yesterday…I saw him going through the turnstile and getting on the 1^st car of the Path. Like I said before, the man is so put together. For some reason, I avoided getting on that 1^st car too. Instead I got on the 2^nd car. Guess he’ll just always remain my reach…my Mr. Big!

Twas the Morning Before Starbucks

Today’s Path Train ride became one I would never forget. I boarded the already heavily packed morning train to find myself standing at the door with my back to the other riders. Already sleepy, I set my balance, gripped the pole, then slowly closed my eyes for a quick nap on the way to 33^rd Street. Suddenly, I was awoken by a yelp and scream. In what seemed like slow motion, I turned around and caught the site of a woman dropping to the floor with her eyes wide open and rolling back into her head. As she dropped, she hit her head on one of the poles and then the edge of a seat creating a loud thump. For a split second people witnessing the fall were in shock and just watched as this young woman whom had fallen straight down wasn’t moving. Everyone watching sort of panicked then moved quickly toward her to help the 20-something woman who had suddenly collapsed before our eyes. I (someone who had hardly taken a college science class, yet had bravely and courageously dissected a frog in high school) quickly joined another woman to see if either of us could find her pulse. I couldn’t find it (but then again I could hardly ever find my own). Meanwhile a man pulled the emergency stop and contacted the conductor. One man tried to help the unconscious woman sit up, but the woman immediately began curling up in a ball. Another man yelled, “Is anyone here a doctor?” Someone added, “Don’t let her fall asleep!” The conductor contacted someone on his walky-talky and requested emergency medical help be ready at 33^rd Street stop. I felt as if the train had then transformed into an Ambulance as we flew past all of the typical stops on route to 33^rd Street, sounding its horn along the way.

At 33^rd the train stopped. I saw the Emergency staff quickly coming down the steps. The passengers immediately exited the train in their usual swift fashion, yet everyone by the look on their faces was concerned and shook up over what they had just experienced on the train and how helpless we all felt for those few minutes between Christopher Street and 33rd.

When I finally got to the office, I broke down and cried. I suddenly realized how alone I am in New York, how if anything ever happened to me, and I was totally unable to help myself, I would have to rely on strangers for help. It was good to see everyone react. Everyone pitched in to their best capacity. Everyone cared. I hope this young woman is ok.

Darting to the Train

Yesterday was a beautiful brisk Fall day in Hoboken. On days like this I especially love my morning walk to the train. Each day, between the hours of 7 & 9 a.m., hundreds of young men and women briskly walk to the same hole in the ground, the NJ Path train, like busy worker ants. No one chit-chatting, no one laughing….Ipod in ears…coffee in hand…focused…truly focused on one thing…getting to Manhattan.

Once on the train, it’s usually about the same…everyone quiet, reading their papers, sipping their Starbucks, or sitting or standing with their eyes closed…catching a few extra minutes of sleep. Until suddenly the entire train here’s a conversation. All ears react…except the Ipod endowed. Two nice looking men recognize each other and cheerfully greet one another. One is slightly showing the signs of gray, the other younger and without a wedding ring (I always look). Anyway the older gentlemen said “Hey, how are you? "Have you seen Michael lately?” The younger man smiled and said, “Yeah, I saw him last night...Tuesday is darts night.”

I thought…”darts night”…..”darts night” “Tuesday night is darts night?”. He appeared to be mid-thirties, obviously single, well-dressed, and Tuesday night is darts night?” So, this is what men do on Tuesday nights in Hoboken…They have darts night. Didn’t darts go out with hula hoops?

I opened my bag and put on my Ipod. Reality can be deafening.

In with the Old, Out with the Young?

Why is it that I find myself getting hit on by older gentlemen in Hoboken and not the younger fellows? Where are the bright young men of Hobo? You know between the ages of 24 and say…30? The Older men (between 33 and 40) for some reason approach me. They are friendly, confident…even bold. I’m amused, but then I think, is this my destiny?…To date and fall in love with a man maybe 10 years old than me? A man who when he lifts our first child together, complains about his bad back? A man with a prescription for Viagra that comes with unlimited refills. A man with bad knees and a bad case of the G.E.R.D!

Maybe an older man is part of my destiny. Maybe I should accept the fact that older men know how to treat a lady…know how to order a good bottle of wine…know how to dance to a big band…and know how to open a car door. Ok so the kids and I will push him around Disney World in a wheel chair…so we’ll move up to the front of the wheelchair and handicap gate and avoid waiting in long lines…that’s cool.

A girlfriend and I recently went to a bar in Hoboken on a Saturday night.

We were there to have a drink and watch her alma mater, the University of Virginia football game…hey, a great way to meet guys…young guys! WRONG! No one even approached us… The guys that were there didn’t even budge to come up and say hello. On the way out, I walked passed a young guy who hardly turned his head but did get the slight nerve and sober energy to say “bye ladies”. Ugh! And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a brief portrait of the wildly gifted charm imparted America’s Best – our Young and Upcoming World Financial Business Leaders of Tomorrow.

Go ahead laugh! Actually this probably makes some of you quite angry…My brother says, “Guys don’t always approach girls, because they too fear rejection.” Well then how will they ever be successful on Wall Street with a fear for taking risks? How could they call themselves stock traders or sales executives if they fear being turned away? Younger men here are extremely career driven…Women are thought of as an extra stress, a hassle, a restriction on their very few minutes of downtime…a time to be with their boys…Then I found this ad in the local website: www.hobokeni.com

“Attention guys in the New York/New Jersey Area! A new club is forming for young guys wanting to make some new friends under the sun! Please pass this on!

Nude Jersey Boyz is a group that includes all shapes and sizes. Come as you are: gay/bi/straight. We will have weekly get togethers at the Nude Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook (Atlantic Highlands). We will have carpools to get down there, as well as drinks and theme days. You do NOT have to go nude!”

Ok so THIS is where all the spirited, outgoing guys are going? Great!