Gym: Pet Peeves

I work out almost every day so the gym could be considered my second home. Naturally I make many observations amidst my work outs and I've decided to discuss a few of my pet peeves. My work outs are not intended to be easy so I let my aggressive side come out for fuel through my work outs. These annoyances are blatantly with an aggressive perspective so don't think too much into this post (or do, I don't really give a shit [yes I'm at the gym as I type this]).

First on the list is over crowded times at the gym. Naturally during "rush hour" the gym is saturated with those 9-5ers and I strive not to work out with them but sometimes its the only time I can get my work out in so it's dealt with. Gyms generally tend to get very sloppy at this time; weights are misplaced, equipment becomes unavailable, and the locker room attendants are overwhelmed with the increase in towels and lack of cleanliness their required to tend to. This is something that cannot be changed as with rush hour traffic on the roads. If roads/gyms could simply be doubled this would assist in combating the immense rush of people encountered during pre/post work times but they more than likely will remain the same so I'll just say "it is what it is".

The second nuisance whilst improving my fitness is douche bags who think the gym and all its equipment is theirs to be available at any moments desire. This is most noticeable during "rush hour" times and really works as a benefit to my aggression fueled work outs because anytime I encounter these tools I wish to use the same force I'm using to push weights to smash in their faces but choose the responsible reaction and keep the force exclusive to my work out. Countless times while I'm in the middle of pushing through a set dudes have come up to me and started talking (as if I could hear them). I always work out with music through my headphones and can't hear any communication via gym goers so I have to stop my exercise, take my head phones off, and listen to the same question; "how many sets do you have left?". Go Fuck Yourself Asshole, just watch me if you're really that in need of the fucking machine don't disturb my work out and shit, since you're waiting- you wanna go grab me a protein bar or something(?).

Lastly, and this isn't a real big deal because everyone has their own reasoning for their actions that I'll never know but the guys in the locker room who are over paranoid that guys will see their naked bodies just bothers me ( yeah I'm the biggest homo out there, whatever). I was walking through the locker room and saw this dude with his pants around his knees and towel still around his waist. Obviously he didn't want anyone seeing his skin or deformed penis but I don't know, it just annoys me people are still at that level. When I was a fatty (as a kid) I remember at summer camp and during gym class the locker room caused such intense anxiety because I was self conscious of my fat ass body so I'm not going to be close minded about it I just acknowledge that in time you realize it doesn't matter and seeing grown men still at the point that I was at as a boy I guess deep down just makes me feel bad. As stated in the beginning of this rant though the gym is aggression filled so rather than showing empathy (deep down I do, I swear!) I just shake my head and when I'm out of sight I yell "nice cock pinocchio!". This is a double edged pet peeve though because on the other end of the spectrum I cannot stand the obese hairy older men who nonchalantly pace through the locker room fully nude. No worry or concern for others as if their fat rolls jiggling with each step taken (think, jurassic park) and their disgusting hairy asses freely bouncing doesn't make everyone in the room want to pour rubbing alcohol in their eyes and then sit in a hot tub full of pirañas enjoying them slowly eating life away just so we wont have to contemplate the foul site burned into the short term memory. What can you do?

I just feel that since I work out so much I'm entitled to a little bitch session....and maybe a cookie.

Take what you want.

When an 18 year old male model asks me to buy him a few beers for the ride to a catering event that we were both to work I couldn't help but smile proudly at his carelessness. The last beer was consumed as we were pulling into the parking lot of our event and the evening went on as any slow catering night ought to; a few glasses were smashed (guess who), managers were pissy and dramatic, and I got my share of lean meat from the leftover food once things slowed down. The more catering events I work for lately the more I'm encountering people new to the city whom are younger than me. Some still with the awe of "New York City" and some scolded by an unprecedented realness they were unaware of coming from their small midwest towns. Since I've observed these young implants to NY I have realized that my mentality has changed from the start of my stay in the city. I'm still as aggressive and hungry for productivity but the city is less of a mystery, I've adapted to the awe factor and am at a point in my life where again I seek a place where the productivity and awe factor coincide.

My booker (agent) and I are going to sit down soon to discuss the best path for me as a model. With my portfolio barely consisting of any tear sheets, I think he may push me towards working in a country (not the states) that will get me work in magazines for the specific reason of acquiring photos for my portfolio showing that I can work. Whether it be Europe or Asia (again) now with a current awareness of my desire for new stimulation I am prepared to relocate where ever my agency believes that the most productivity will be achieved.

I'm no greater than the kid who will never leave home and who may be content with absolute simplicity. Humans can adapt to any circumstance and we're all alike in one sense that we can make a choice to either accept what we're given or push to be where we'd like to be. "You want to always be outside of your comfort zone or else you are not challenged and unmotivated to improve"(spin instructor). With the busy catering season amassing and for other blatant reasons, I've decided to take a brief trip to Mexico. I can't really afford it but I figure I'll adapt and make it work. I morally cannot say that I am better than any person but will say that I am that person who creates a life that he wants and will not sit back for shit to magically appear.

Werk It

Now that I'm with an agency that possesses international notoriety my efforts to find castings and coordinate photo shoots have lessened and transitioned into a drive to find work that is beyond the dreadful monotony of retail or endless catering. I'm a bit spread over the board with employers; walking two dogs, assisting a designer, the occasional catering work (via staffing companies or craigslist), assisting a music director for two churches, and a laborious job off the internet once and again. Eventually I will add modeling to the list but since being signed (10/28) I've not made any money by it. The holiday seasons slow a lot of modeling work so I pushed to have a few side projects rather than one awful job at Abercrombie and Fitch or being the steady bitch of one catering company. Variety is the spice to life.

Back home in NYC

To make a long story short, things in Hong Kong did not turn out as hoped and my stay there was cut short at my request. There was a lack of motion work wise and communication was choppy on a cultural and professional level. I had gone to Hong Kong with the intention of exploring a new modeling market and gambled on coming home with a profit. My excitement to go over seas whilst bypassing acquiring a mother agency in NY was the catalyst for a premature and apparently specious espousal with the management company whom I had enlisted to market me to the potentially beneficial work opportunities Caucasian models encounter during stints in Asia.

Business aside my travels to and through Hong Kong will forever remain a beautiful memory of adventure. The trip did not change me as a person, I was merely exposed to realities which only present them selves once we remove ourselves from situations and look in retrospect with appreciation of what we had. I learned that NY is the fountain of youth and that there are very few places in the world with as much energy and opportunity. Why would anyone with ambition and entrepreneurial drive to create and succeed be in a city any less?

The Boat Trip

Hong Kong differs from NY obviously in many ways but to me the most appreciated difference I've encountered is the fact that in an hours commute you can be in exotically remote areas scattered along rocky shore lines with jungle esque vegetation. I've hiked to a few of these locations but recently was invited to go on a boat trip which Hong Kongers refer to as a Junk trip. These trips bring you and a crew of like minded folks out for a day to anchor at a serene beach location where you've got a few options for activities throughout the day.

We met in Sai Kung (the village I had ended my first hike in Hong Kong in) and departed at about 9 am. The owner of my agency introduced me to Jocelyn and she was kind enough to invite me on this excursion with a few of her friends as well as a few of her friends friends. We all made our introductions and boarded the vessel, a large boat about 40 feet long with ample space to relax towed a smaller motor boat which was to be used for wakeboarding and banana boating once we arrived at our desired anchoring spot, and we were off.

After just about a half an hour we pulled up to an isolated white sand beach and the anchor was dropped. The first batch of guys boarded the motor boat and went off for wake boarding while everyone else jumped in the sea with a plethora of floaty noodles and a few beers then headed for the beach. It was really great; the people I had just met were all very cool and from such different backgrounds, the location was unlike anywhere I'd ever been, and the schedule of the day was flawless (chill on a boat or on the beach, eat, drink, and be merry). I fantasized about running such an operation; purchasing an old fishing boat somewhere in South America or some random Asian country and bringing out travelers or business folk on my ship wishing to forget about their lives for a day and providing them their temporary venue to do just that. The day dream was brief but I made a mental note to revisit the thought as it seemed promising. The day was packed with good conversation (with good people), decent food, and an overall highly entertaining day. As with any event where the alcohol starts to flow before noon my conciousness faded and in no time I was buying folks shots at a pub playing billiards getting black out drunk-Good times in Hong Kong.

The hike over the ridge...

I was told that my beginning month in Hong Kong would be slow so to counter boredom

and quench my thirst for exploration I've ventured to a few surreal locations. I live

in Ma On Shan and there is a "Country Park" about 15 minutes from my hotel. The first

day I went there I really was not sure how to get there. I mean it's relatively

obvious being that there's a giant mountain range staring you in the face everytime

you walk in my area but to find the trail itself took a bit of navigating.

I found the "family area/BBQ area" and discovered a large map. It showed a mix of

lines going this way and that way but I really didn't know where I ought to go for my

first adventure so I kept it simple and took the road. You can follow a paved road

about the width of one car a pretty good distance, about an hours walk. The road

brings you through some dense vegetation, wild sounding birds, and what felt like an

endless climb. I came to a fork in the road (doesn't that sound so unoriginal?) and

the signs were in Chinese so I opted to go right, I snapped a photo as a guide for my

return back to this point should I have needed to turn around and made it to a

"squatter village".

I Immediately thought to myself how similar this looked to some places I've seen in

Mexico. The "houses" were very make shift either with concrete walls or other

materials bound together to keep the elements out and everyone had fences around their

patio areas where clothes were hung after being cleaned. The walkways through the

village were a maze of walls (with an occasional window I'd peer into to see how cozy

these shacks could be) and I felt that I could have kept walking deeper and deeper but

opted to take a few photos and carry on with my original intentions of summitting the

ridge I had seen and walked towards earlier in the day.

The fork in the road where I was originally puzzled by the Chinese symbols was less

intimidating since I now knew which way was "up". I carried on and eventually the road

got rougher before ceasing to exist as its concrete caterpillar and blossomed into the

butterfly of a (real) trail I was longing for. I completely appreciate having roads

and accessability to beautiful places for those who physically cannot bring themselves

to the gorgeous spots (like the road up Mount Washington in New Hampshire) but at a

certain point I also appreciate being places only accessible to those who push

themselves to their physical extremes (like Mount Everest). I took my pack off, drank

some water, had a handfull of cashews and prepared myself for whatever lay ahead.

Dense bamboo occasionally lined the path which eventually felt more like a natural

staircase than a walking trail and I was a bit disappointed not to be able to see very

far into the growth since I had been listening to some wild sounding birds and wished

to see them. I hiked up appreciating the infrequent openings through the trees which

permitted me faint views of the tall buildings where my hotel was located making the

increase of my elevation blatant. Again, I came upon a sign but this time it was

written not in Chinese characters but still in Chinese and I opted to hike to a town

rather than to summit the Mountain I had been tempted to after studying the map

earlier in the day.

The scenery went from dense forest to somewhat of an open field with rolling hills.

This was exciting for me because at this point I could no longer see any sign of

civilization other than a trail which was well travelled. After twenty minutes of

this, the awe wore off and I was reminded how brutally hot the sun was now with no

trees to protect me from the direct rays of heat. One last sense of excitement was

given to me that day when I saw the trail headed towards a ridge where I could see no

mountains beyond its top. From my past experiences I knew that this meant I would be

getting a lovely view. My pace increased until I made it to that spot and my

assumption was proven to be correct. I could have cried at the beauty, this was a

setting which I never had fathomed I would be viewing in person. Miles ahead of me was

a sea littered with small islands with abruptly climbing hills from their shores and

hundreds of yachts and sail boats accenting the natural beauty of this view like the

stars around the moon on a clear night. Everything in my vision right then was

flawlessly beautiful.

I checked the time and it was only 10 am so after examining the town on the shore line

I had just been flabbergasted by I decided to walk to it. I made it down through the

thick forest and entered what appeared to be the wealthy area of this town. There were

large properties with convertible euro cars parked out front and comfortable vibes,

this was a place I could see myself settling in many many years. I was not sure how to

get to the water but it was relatively easy considering all I had to do was walk down

hill and assumed once it got flat that it would be obvious where to go. Again, my

assumption was validated and I found myself on the sidewalk of the towns center

dripping with sweat but completely satisfied with my trek. I had no intention of

backtracking that trail so I asked a British woman where the bus station was so I

could confirm that I would be bussing out of this town rather than hitch hiking.

The town of Sai Kung is obviously a fishing/boating location and the restaurants

lining the water boast gigantic tanks showcasing the freshest seafood from the fishing

boats. These were the epitome of seafood dining establishments and I was thrilled to

be staring into tanks at creatures I had no idea of what they were and how they may

taste. It was about lunch time and I was starving so I, like any legitimate American

dismissed the notion of consuming this what appeared to be magnificent seafood before

my eyes and ordered a pizza and a cocktail. The bus ride home was brief and I was a

happy boy...

Ok Ok... I need to BLOG more

Now two weeks a resident of Hong Kong it has dawned on me that my adjustment to the

new land has distracted me from my writings and that an update was necessary. I live

in a hotel with two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchenette. There's a bathroom

with shower and I suppose it has everything one could need to survive here minus

cooking pots and pans. There is a pool, small gym, and computer room with 3 computers

that you can usually use as you please. The best part of the hotel is the shuttle bus

to the MTR (subway) stations.

The neighborhood I live in is mostly Chinese speaking persons with the occasional

European which is a nice change of scenery from my place in Brooklyn. Rather than

seeing hacidic jews walking around my abode there are loads of elderly chinese and

children. Also, I live right on a sea which is surrounded by mountains so I constantly

have this feeling of being in some exotic land, a place I once saw on the national

geographic channel or in travel advertisements and wished that I were there. But I

don't have the mentality of a tourist, I have a pressing fear that I owe someone loads

of money if I don't acquire enough work and it's a shame because I feel that in years

I will look back and say it wasn't so bad...