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I go to a gym in my neighborhood that offers Zumba classes. Zumba combines Latin and International music to make an exercise routine that I think is great. So far, I’ve gone to about seven 45-minute Zumba classes at my local gym and I think they’re awesome! It’s fun and not very hard. Anyone can do Zumba classes. In the classes, you see people of all ages, from 15-years-old to people in their 50s (no lie!). You also see people of all different shapes and sizes.

In a family like mine, making parents happy can be a very tough thing to do. My mother always nags me to straighten my back, because I am not tall enough. Or she insists I eat less, because I am not skinny enough. Or she pushes me to study 24/7, because a 95 average is not good enough. The same goes for my father, a man who will be deeply ashamed if I am not accepted into at least one Ivy League school. Of course, I am not angry at them. They do have a right to nag me. After all, they both have sacrificed so much in order for me to succeed in life, which means getting into an Ivy League school and getting a job that would pay me a fortune. However, what if my idea of success differs from theirs?

I find it very interesting that during the school year, especially during the last months of school, everyone is dying for the school year to end. All the students are talking about how this summer is going to be amazing, and how they just can’t wait until they’re finally out of school. But then summer comes, and everyone is still complaining. People feel that they’re bored, that they have nothing to do, and that school needs to start already.

Time passes us in an instant. It speeds across the world and is a part of life. Time effects everyone and people deal with it in different ways. For me, it’s hard to fully embrace the concept of time going by. I suppose I’m scared to admit that it is summer, for the fear that it will quickly end. 

I never realized how quaint of a neighborhood Jamaica is. Located in the heart of Queens, Jamaica truly exhibits the idea of New York as a “melting pot”. Here, South Asians, African Americans, East Asians, West Indians, Hispanics and European Americans can all be seen mingling in one central area: Hillside Avenue.

Is this working?

In today’s society, it seems as though the entire Hip-Hop genre has been misconstrued and given a new meaning. With new artists recording mediocre and expletive-filled music, not only are the songs hard to listen to, but the songs also insinuate that this is not a genre that people should continue to take seriously when in fact, it is. Fortunately, a bit of life was implemented in Hip-Hop this evening when Jay-Z and Kanye West leaked: Otis Redding, a song off of their upcoming album “Watch the Throne.”   

While listening to the song, I was immediately drawn to the soulful and simplistic vibe it exuded. It’s not everyday that you come across a Hip-Hop song that doesn’t have an obnoxious beat which, in most cases, is the decisive factor that determines if a song will be popular or not. After being drawn in, I was captured when both artists took turns rapping without uttering an overwhelming amount of expletives or degrading lyrics. Both Jay-Z and Kanye West have proven themselves to be artists who are capable of producing music of quality and versatility. In my opinion, Otis Redding is the paragon that supports this statement. Essentially, I can honestly say that I am disappointed with the turn Hip-Hop has taken. However, with artists such Kanye West and Jay-Z, I am confident that despite the immense amount of ignorant music, there will be more music of substance to look forward to.

This week on Tosh.0, Tosh showed several hilarious videos (as usual). The most memorable video was the one he opened with, which was of two girls arm wrestling and one of the girls breaks her arm during the game. This was painful to watch, I didn’t know that an arm could break from arm wrestling, its supposed to be a safe and friendly competition. Another video he made fun of was a man and his girlfriend smoking salvia in their bedroom. They trip so hard that the man falls out the window. This is the kind of video he shows to prevent people from doing stupid things, I think its effective and funny at the same time. This weeks web redemption (a segment of the show where he gives redemption to someone who posted embarrassing videos) was about a marathon, where the girls running kept falling and ended up crawling across the finish line. The web redemption was a treadmill marathon. There were rows of people running on treadmills. Tosh was standing in front of the running in place crowd motivating them with funny entertainment. In the “race” he had a man in a panda suit, a girl running in slow motion, a winner of an actual NYC marathon, and soldiers in full uniform. This episode gets a 10/10 for me.

Some rules and regulations in New York City amaze me. For example, in order to play tennis on a public court, every player needs their own permit. Meaning, more than one permit needs to be presented, before being allowed to play on the courts. I find this to be a highly ridiculous rule. You would think one permit would be enough to reserve one court. How does the Department of Parks and Recreation expect most players to play by themselves or with someone they are not familiar with? Furthermore, single player games can only be an hour long. Not much progress can be gained by players, especially beginners, with this daily time frame. 

Another ridiculous detail is the pricing of the permits. Teenagers, who are under 18-years-old, have to pay $10 for a full season permit, whereas adults pay $200. I have no idea why the price range for the permit is so large. Unfortunately, I became aware of these details after I bought my own tennis permit earlier this week. I figured if I had a permit, I would be able to play tennis on a daily basis with my 20-year old cousin, who also purchased his own tennis racket with the hope that I would be able to teach him how to play the sport. Now, not only does my cousin not want to purchase his own permit, but he also cannot return his tennis racket, because he took off the price tag and threw away the receipt. This is a scenario where I have no choice but to say, “NYC, sometimes you disappoint me.”

Today on July 20, 2011 I and group friends from Baruch College Now class were eating lunch together at one of the restaurants we are allowed to eat at. While we were sitting down eating lunch together a feMALE and her boy… friend was sitting at the table next to be being as obnoxious as can be.

I tried not to pay attention to their conversation, but it is very difficult when the she-male was yelling about how Jennifer Lopez should take her Emmy and run and the man taking pictures of the she-male while leaning into me! They really got my attention through when they were talking about how all teenagers are stuck up and should drop out of school.

They even had the nerve to talk to me. They asked how old I was and why I was over here. They acted like I stepped into their territory and I needed to prove myself. So in order for me to prove myself, they wanted to know what I planned on being when I am older. I didn’t answer at first because I thought if I ignore them, they will do them same. But they kept at it. So I finally answered them by saying sports writer.

She was yelling at me saying if I don’t play sports, I should not be a sports writer. Out of nowhere she yelled saying that Kobe Bryant has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She even said repeatedly REDICULOUS! REDICULOUS! By that time I was laughing so hard that she was getting so heated at my goal I snapped my fingers and said ridiculous to show that I am not taking her seriously.

By that time, I pissed her off so much by laughing she decided to leave the restaurant because she did not want to be around me. All I said was I wanted to be a sports writer, and she got affined by that? Craziest lunch period ever!