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Being on assignment here, in this crazy labyrinth called Singapore, where strange angels are haunting every doorway, reminding you of that delicate balance between the living and the dead, there’s always some questions.  Why would they choose me to write about this particular festival, and how do I find out the best Chinese restaurant in town without becoming larger than some of the statues of the Buddha?  The answer to both of these questions live somewhere in an ether that I’ve certainly never tried, and perhaps never will.  I understand that there are certain Nirvanas that are not accessible to just anyone, and my own record will stand as it is.

They wouldn’t let me in to most, I would imagine, although here, at the Hungry Ghost Festival, it’s looking like this might be a possibility.  This is the festival that happens every year, during the seventh lunar month, when all the ghosts that haven’t been remembered properly come to the surface of the earth.  It’s origins are Chinese, but just as important right here, where Chinese culture is a large part of the city-states’s identity.  The people have been here for a long time, and the ghosts, it seems, for much longer than that.  This is becoming my favorite holiday very quickly.

I understand why I’m drawn.  I’ve always liked the idea of feeding the dead, because it speaks to a metaphorical idea I have about history.  Here, however, there’s no metaphor at work.  The thing that you see happening is exactly what it is.  They place plates of food on the ground so that the ghosts can eat.  Good luck to you if you happen to walk on one of these plates accidentally, because although not everyone can see ghosts, they can certainly see us.  I would imagine that after a few more visits here, and a few more ghost festivals, I might even be able to start making out these forms in the air, because there are times that I certainly see something.

Albany isn’t the first place most people would want to visit, except maybe for being the state’s Capital, but other than that, there really isn’t much happening here from what I can tell, but maybe that’s because it’s in the middle of winter. On my way here, after finding a place to stay by booking a hotel room online, this guy in the Penn Station bar in Manhattan, who started talking to me, said he was so glad to escape Albany and really resents having to go back to visit with family.

My friend Windy, the reason I’m here, tells me otherwise, she really loves it in Albany and told me that it’s one of the fastest growing cities in the US. When she was telling this, she didn’t seem so convincing to me, but for me it’s never the place, but the people you are with, which makes any trip worthwhile. I spend two days with her and met her new friends at dinner. We caught up on years of being away from each other and boy did we eat and drink! I’d forgotten just how fun Windy can be, she’s a total blast. The last time we were together was our trip together to London and all I can remember is how many jokes she made at the English’s expense. Toothy if you get my drift.

My Ipod decided to quit working, so Windy took me to the local Apple store and viola’! Apple replaced it, but I did lose about 60 Gigabytes worth of music. I wasn’t really stressing that I’d be soundless for my trip back to Manhattan, but Windy’s new boyfriend came to my rescue and uploaded his collection, for which I am eternally grateful, except I never heard of the music, like Phish, String Cheese Incident and Assembly of Dust, but now, they are all my favorites! Thanks Albany, Windy and Windy’s new boyfriend!

Coming into Boston, I’m realizing that I’m not remembering things correctly.  It’s all just a little bit off today.  That’s probably part of a larger agenda, on my part, because memory sometimes works in my favor to make things look better in different kinds of light.  The last time I was here, however, it wasn’t the usual kind of east coast trip, where I land and check into a lovely hotel and begin an assortment of obligations and pleasures, leading to a business lunch with someone who will try to tell me no a few times before we discover that we do meet eye to eye.

This time, I am here to meet with a publisher, and I’m convinced that it should certainly go well, but it will not.  This is not a good time to be making deals, and at the same time, I did a divination on myself before I left and discovered that this is not supposed to go well, in order to make room for what happens next, which is unknowable.  I’m used to these signs by now, so I don’t mind having to put in time on the ground even though I will not get what I want.  It’s not supposed to happen that way, and I already know it, so I can relax and enjoy the time here.  I might go to one of the districts where there are a number of old bookstores, because last time I remember coming across one that was particularly well-stocked with Masonic texts, and it might be interesting to see who turns up there.

The last time I was here, it was to meet a new contact in what many considered to be a sure deal.  All we had to do was meet at one of those rock and roll museum restaurants, where I would tell him about our plans to do a series of books on dragons by region, and it would go over well enough we were all sure and agreed.  At that particular meeting, however, halfway through a Ruben, he started to play with his glass in a way that I recognized, and he asked me to try to understand things a little more carefully and with more heart, until he disappeared, and all I was left with was an empty table and his reflection in the ice cubes.

Avenue Q continues its run at the New World Stages Theater on West 50th Street in New York. The musical opened last October and received strong critical and audience responses. It was an unexpected it in that the show itself was unexpected in both style and theme though the fact that it became a hit is somewhat less of a surprise. One of the standard activities for many people who visit New York is to either see the latest of the Broadway and Off-Broadway hits or to be one of the fist to discover a great new show while it’s in previews and hasn’t established itself as a hit yet. Fortunately for all of these individuals many of the hotels in New York have fabulous theatre packages to take advantage of while they’re in the city.

Avenue Q is one of those rare musicals that continues to surprise and entertain audiences with its originality and style. The basic story is not particularly rare or unknown and it deals with an innocent and eager recent college graduate who arrives in New York full of fantastic dreams and ambitions. He’s practically broke when he arrives in the big city and can only afford rudimental accommodations on the run down Avenue Q. However, and fortunately for him, his new neighbors are a particularly interesting and resourceful group.

Many people wonder if the show is for children or adults and this is a really good question. It has been described as a Sesame Street for grown ups though the puppets are an automatic attraction for children. This is an important question because Avenue Q is definitely not a children’s musical. It contains extremely strong language and adult situations that are not appropriate for very small children. Meanwhile older teenagers may appreciate the content of this musical as it deals with issues of self discovery and becoming and adult. Parents are strongly advised to consider the maturity level of their children in deciding whether or not to bring them to this show. However, for audiences who are not concerned with maturity levels this is a great show to see.

They say it’s a city that tests your mettle, whatever that is.  I don’t think the last couple of generations were born with any mettle, but some of us slip through these tests anyway.  It’s difficult to speak about coming to New York in order to wake up the capacity for compassion and empathy, when so much of the city tells you to shut these things off as a matter of survival.  The important lessons that one might learn in the desert can be taught here, but never comprehended, not in the same way.  With these cautions in mind, I checked into a room, and began to prepare for the time ahead.

I would be working with one of Castaneda’s disciples, is how it was explained to me.  It wasn’t something I could sign up for, it was a chance encounter where I was simply staring at the sidewalk cracks in St. Paul in just the right way, I suppose, and a friend of hers recognized some look in my eye.  That time, I recall, was one of the more disturbing phases of my young but still exhausted life, and I can’t imagine the look was promising.  But here I would find myself, two years later, getting ready to learn how to dream.

If this was going to be one of those shaman’s apprentice workshops where you get to meditate with aging singles and listen to electronic drums, I could have been happy.  Those are easy, and even at the worst, the only thing that happens is you might see a ghost, or perhaps a reptile cousin living in the head of one of your new friends.  This, however, I knew nothing about, only because it was not for anyone else in the world.  This is how it was explained.  I felt lucky and cursed at the same time.  Living through it, however, makes me feel much the same.  But I dream differently now, and there’s something about hunger that is never filled that keeps me in a state of perpetual unease.

On your way from the Salt Lake City airport to Park City, Utah, consider taking a detour to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.  A whole host of upcoming exhibitions make this one of the best destinations in the city.  Over the next few months, you’ll see work by Pablo O’Higgens, Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera, and Adriana Lara.

The late artist O’Higgens show is titled, Pablo O’Higgens: Works on Paper, and begins February 18th, running through September 19th. These are lithographs which depict the working class in a time of revolution in Mexico.  While celebrated in Mexico, O’Higgens, is barely known in Utah, which happens to be his home state.  It reminds me of the saying that almost no one becomes famous in his home town.  It seems you have to travel to be appreciated.

Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera are just two of the artists exhibited in the upcoming Las Artes de Mexico: From the Collection of the Gilcrease Museum.  This program, running in May through September, depicts Mexican art and culture, examining the work of Aztecs and Mayans from ancient times to the twentieth century.  You’ll find everything here from objects from the Mesoamerica (which was the pre-Conquest period of Mexico), as well as modern artists mentioned above.

Continuing the Mexican theme, also in May through September, the museum begins a series of semi-annual exhibits titled, Salt.  The intention is to present work by new international, modern artists.  The program beings with Adriana Lara, who is a resident of Mexico City.  She works with a broad range of media and forms, such as videos and sculptures.

If you like the museum enough, you may want to stay a few days in Salt Lake, check into one of the hotels, and see what else the city offers.  If you prefer skis to museums, though, there’s always Park City.

I have been a major sports fan for as long as I can remember anything. This has always been somewhat surprising to many of the men I meet as I guess it’s somewhat a-typical for a female to be such as sports fan. I’m not trying to indicate that I think it’s cool to be a-typical or suggest I think outside the box or advocate the why be normal lifestyle. In fact, if anything it’s been rather burdensome as few of my female friends ever want to get together on a Sunday afternoon to watch a Dolphins game or hang out at a sports bar to watch a Heat game, or even go to a game for that matter. Occasionally, as a unique afternoon adventure they will go to Marlin’s game with me, but all they want to do is eat, drink and talk gossip or about what they want to do that evening. They’re never interested in the game itself.

And so, while I’m not trying to make myself sound cool I’m also not trying to stereotype typical females, maybe this attitude and perspective is specific to my friends. But I also find issues regarding the subject when it comes to men. And here’s where I bet many men are going to disagree with me. Men don’t actually like me to be a sports fan. Okay, and I know that might be a little extreme, and more accurately it’s that they don’t like my degree of interest, knowledge and even passion for sports. At first they do. In fact at first they think it’s cool and some even think I fake it to make guys happy. That always cracks me up. If I’m going to fake something it sure isn’t going to be my love for sports, particularly Miami sports. In fact, if I ever have to move from Miami I’ll return when I can get a great deal for a hotel and a major game.

Meanwhile I think it actually intimidates men when they watch games with me, especially basketball games. I’m a huge basketball fan. I mean, I’m a huge fan of them all, but especially basketball. It’s my favorite sport and the Miami Heat is my favorite team. And I usually know more about the players’ stats, the overall team record, actually the whole NBA record and season status. I’m obsessed with it and believe me, at first guys think it’s cute when you correct them or always seem to know more. But after that happens, oh twice in a bar with a bunch of sports fan they really don’t like it anymore. Of course there are those that you only know from the bar or through work or whatever and they’re not at all intimidated by my passion for the game or my knowledge. In fact, I have the best conversation with them, people I hardly know and only see in bars. That’s pretty sad and I never thought of it like that. Ooops, gotta go, Heat’s game is about to start.

Traveling these days can be quite an expense ordeal, and traveling with children even more so.  Although popular family destinations such as Disneyland or Sea World, are offering special deals, nothing beats the special deals, that are actually free of cost. In New York, there are loads of free activities for children to partake in, and most of them if not all of them, are fun for the adults as well.  For a variety of free options head to The Audubon Center located in the heart of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. 

They offer regularly occurring, weekly activities that are fun as well as learning experiences, involving the outdoors, wildlife, interactive learning tools, and art.  Each Saturday from noon until 1:30, it is a session of birdwatching.  The tour involves the guided explanation and the search for glimpses of the more than two hundred and fifty different species indigenous to the region.  Similar to the birdwatching tour, is the Discover Tours.  This takes you through the natural habitat of the Meadow and the Ravine, and gives the little ones hands on experience with working with a set of binoculars.  A guided tour as well, the many sites on the park are explained the history of those sites revealed.  This tour takes place on both Saturday and Sunday, from 3pm to 4pm. 

The Science Power Hour is each weekend day from 1:30pm to 2:30pm.  A naturalist from the Audubon Center guides the kids through various fun science activities and projects.  And finally, again on both Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 3pm it is the Nature Crafts program.  Here the kids will work on various art projects using natural elements and materials.  This class takes place in the boathouse, and as with the other activities, it is all free of charge.  So when you consider it all, you will have the financial freedom to go ahead a book your stay in a wonderful five star hotel.  New York City has so much to offer, and much of it offered for the children, is offered for free.

It was my first time to see Ground Zero while visiting here in New York. Ground Zero is the place where the World Trade Center Twin Towers stood. I was hoping I’d see something that perhaps could move me or even shock me; I hoped Ground Zero would be that place in New York City, where I might possibly discover something deep within myself, maybe even something spiritual, or a message. Ground Zero is the scare that formed after the terrorist attacked the Twin Towers back in 2001, where almost 3000 people perished.
 
When I got there, nothing stirred in me, I was looking at 16 acres of space that doesn’t remind me of that terrible time in history. There was massive construction on the way to build the new Towers, which with all the walls put up around the construction site, made it almost impossible to see the deep hole in the ground. I don’t know if there will be a building next to the towers to memorialize that day, but I would hope so.
 
The next day, after having a restless nights sleep at one of the hotels in NY, I went back to Ground Zero, and still had had no stirrings of any kind. I took a walk to the nearby Trinity Church and to Wall Street. This area is where I found some small gravestones, they don’t concern 9/11 victims, but the gravestones are a sharp contrast to the skyscrapers surrounding them. Actually, I seemed to get the irony of these gravestones here on Wall Street…dying economy and all.
 
I caught the Metro to Staropolski’s meat market a Polish area, which is right next door to a Starbucks coffee shop. This place felt like time stopped; there was a store where half the shelves were empty and the music they sold even my folks don’t listen to anymore. But, this area still made me feel a little less homesick.

Now that you have decided to stay in a Grand Prairie hotel, click here, and you have seen some of the interesting sights around town, you may want to take a bit of a drive. Not far along the Interstate 30 , to the west lies the big city of Dallas. There are a number of things to do in Dallas and if you are interested in politics and fame than you may want to visit the sixth floor of the Dealey Plaza Book Depository Building. This is where they have a museum that remembers the life and untimely death of President John F Kennedy. This is, of course, the building where Lee Harvey Oswald took the life of the well love President as he drove by, with is his wife Jacqueline in a motorcade.

Lee Harvey Oswald was quickly caught and accused but as they were hauling him off to jail, he was shot and killed by someone in the crowd. The assassination has had years of questioning that came with many conspiracy theories and alternate stories. There are still many people today who think that Mr. Oswald may have had a partner or two. Or that he was just the pawn and someone else actually killed President Kennedy. No one really knows if the facts given are the truth or if there is another story. If there is anther story will it ever be told to the public. The National Academy of Sciences has conducted some research on the matter and they do question the accuracy of the evidence as it relates to their finding four shots fired.

More than six million people have visited the museum since it opened on Presidents Day 1989. Visitors can stand were Oswald stood. They can walk the street with a listening guide to hear all the about the facts collected and from the outside park. There is a shop with books and souvenirs. It all is a bit eerie, sad and a must see.