Lights, Camera, Action!! It's New York City!!!

Yes, it's happened, I've finally moved to Manhattan, New York and I could not be happier. Born and raised a suburban New Jersey boy, with what I would like to call a little street cred, I've made the trek across the river and in just over a month in a half I can honestly say I've fallen in love with it; the city, the people and the atmosphere. It's everything I imagined it to be and more. But wait, let me clarify. Technically I live in Manhattan, but by every other stretch of the imagination I live in Harlem, New York, or as I call it the "heart of the NYC". Beyond the glamour of midtown Manhattan, drive a little uptown and you get to see all the lights and cameras and action you want; but by this I mean NYPD patroling every other corner, people being arrested for God knows what and shady business going on all around you. Sounds a bit much huh, but why not? I live for the action and excitement of what if. And yet I can't help but think it's only the winter, I cannot wait until summer.

There's is so much I want to accomplish here and yet so little time as I see it. I want to explore my neighborhood, my borough, go over to Brooklyn and even make some trips out to Queens where one of my best friends graduates from St. John's University with a Pharmacy degree in the spring. The food of course is one of the things that New York is known for and if you know me, one thing that I love to do is eat. Whether it's fried, baked or grilled or maybe dropped on the floor for under 5 seconds, I will eat it.  The places to see, experiences to be had is all apart of the journey that I am ready to embrace. I may spend so much I may not be able to eat a few nights, but I'm all for it. 

While the tangible things I can't wait to grasp and take advantage of have me salivating at the bit, it's the things that I can't see that I think I will cherish the most. In my short time being in Harlem I have had the best time interacting people and getting to know them on a personal level. From my two roommates Stephen and Alex who have completely different interests than me to the local shop owners like Omar at the deli across the street to Karen in the dry cleaners right next door to my apartment (she never did fully get that stain out of my white pants). But it's the good relationships, the bad ones and ultimately the ones that will change my life forever I am looking forward to growing with and through. Love and relationships seem to always find me in due time so I'm ready for it all. I am here for the foreseeable so in the famous words of Michael Buffer, "Let's get ready to RUMMBLE!!"

If you don't know the name of the song, chances are you know the dance. Bobby Shmurda's first hit single, "Hot N***a" has been the hottest song of the entire 2014 garnering over 25 million hits on YouTube to date; and as summer has come and gone, the song continues to gain in popularity. What started as somewhat of a hood anthem from deep in Brooklyn, New York about selling drugs and gun violence has transformed into a song that brings people together with the catchy "shmoney dance" as its called. First captured online in a Vine, the dance has since taken off. It started with the hat flip and now it's being played on almost every continent and in every country as feel good music. For some time it's been known that music can be the great equalizer, bringing people together of all walks of life. In many ways music can bring people together better than politics can, but the shmoney dance has taken things to a new level. All types of people, all ages and backgrounds know the dance, the words and when the beat drops nothing else matters. Much can be made of the success of the song, but what about the idea that as humans we're all not that different. If music can bring us together so too can every day life of sports and food and common interests. The hate in the world is so ugly and unnecessary. Centuries of oppression needs to be left in the past. We need to use one another to uplift. Let's all enjoy life -- and at the very least let's shmoney dance!