IIN Weekend #8 and Activism at Union Square Park!
This past weekend really began the countdown until I graduate from Integrative Nutrition, since it was weekend #8 of 10. I have been looking forward to this weekend for a while because I knew that on weekend #8, Paul Pitchford - a real nutritional guru that I've respected for years - would be talking to us. On Friday me and Jon left here late and got in to Penn Station at around 10:30 or so. Usually, we stay at The Pod Hotel on the East Side, but they were all booked up for this weekend, so we stayed at the next best: Hotel Pennsylvania, directly across the street from Penn Station. Hotel Pennsylvania is pretty nice, and the beds don't feel like Andre the Giant sat on them, and the pillows are actually thicker than a piece of paper. Me and Jon checked in and then soon afterwards we went to bed because we were both exhausted.
Saturday was entitled "Dress for Success day" at our school and you may remember that I had ordered a wonderful suit jacket and tie made out of organic hemp, but there was a little problem... The company called me on Thursday to let me know that they were out of stock on that item and that all they had in black was the wedding jacket; I told them to just put it on backorder then. Due to this, I just had a dress shirt and a tie I borrowed from Rafael. Honestly, I didn't feel like I looked fantastic (I thought I looked a tiny bit sill since, again, this is not something I'm used to), but I did get some compliments. I forget what we went over fully on Saturday... I remember we were given information on designing a press kit and then... oh well, it wasn't anything terribly important (edit: we talked about family health, genetics, and basic Traditional Chinese nutritional theory... ie, stuff I already know :P).
After class on Saturday I really wanted to go out and explore some of these places that I have had bookmarked on my GPS for a year now but the weather has always been too cold. Me and Jon headed off to a place uptown on 94th st in Central Park called Ancient Playground, but were disappointed when we got there. It was only available for people accompanied by a 12 year old.... drat! So, this lead us to plan B: Union Square Park. It's known to be a gathering point for protesters and social movements, so I knew I had to check it out. Jon and I then got onto the very crowded subway train and went downtown to 14th street. We walked around a tiny bit and then I saw a 9/11 Truth group talking to a small number of folks with a giant banner stating "THE BUSH REGIME ENGINEERED 9/11". I was very happy to find them there, seeing that I was now in my own element.
Dennis - the coordinator - was talking a lot about civil liberties, specifically "freedom of speech" (mentioning that the law now states you can't have a sign bigger than 2'x3', and that he and his group have been arrested 33 different times there for protesting, although each instance has been fought and in the end the charges did not hold), and the 2nd ammendment/right to carry. Also talking there was a man introduced as John Lennon's best friend (although I forget his name), and a few others that were helping out. Dennis would occasionally offer up the megaphone to anyone who wanted to say something - whether in agreement of his group or not - and added that this is true freedom of the press, not the corporate panic-filled junk we see on the TV. One dipshit decided that everyone there was crazy and full of shit and he proceeded to yell and scream at both the people speaking and the people listening and kept cursing everyone off and was getting in some people's faces (to the point where I was wondering if I was gonna have to kick his ass because I was just waiting for him to take a swing at someone). I kept yelling back at the guy to STFU and just prove them wrong if they're so wrong. He just ignored my common sense and followed with his illogical argument that because they are able to speak there, that means they're full of shit. He refused to listen, and eventually walked away just as pissed off and stupid as he came.
Dennis asked if anyone would like to speak, and so I decided that I had to stand up and say something. I'm not too used to talking in front of people - let alone with out any preparation - but I knew I had to do it. I know so much about this stuff and I spend so much time researching and checking my facts.... First thing I did was explain to people what a "strawman argument" is and how that dumb idiot was using one (ie, building an argument out of nothing), and I encouraged people to prove any of us wrong if indeed we are instead of just throwing out obsenities and not getting to any real issues. I talked about the Patriot Act (#1.. yes, there's two of them) and how it was labeled classified so that no members of congress could read the contents of it before they voted on it, and I talked a good deal about how our water is poisoned with chlorine and fluoride and also how our food is contaminated as well. Jon and his two buddies that he made friends with there gave me a big Hell Yeah! after I ended (thanks for the support guys!).
After everything was done, I went up to Dennis and introduced myself, thanked him, and gave him my card, telling him that if he ever needed anything that I'll help however I can. Dennis invited me and Jon to go hang out with them at a restraunt on Avenue A, so I took him up on the offer. It was a long walk, and then we got to our destination and it was good to talk to everyone. Jon got Dennis's number and I plan on talking to Dennis before I am in NYC again because I would like to go more in depth and talk more about some subjects. Dennis and his group are out there every Weds and Sat, and he told me that if I ever wanted to do a demonstration in my area, that he'd come down to help me out. I thought about it, and I think I'd really like to do this somewhere in Princeton, but mostly I'd prefer to help him out at Union Square Park.
On Sunday, we had a holistic Dentist come talk to us (which was interesting) and then finally it was time for Paul Pitchford to come talk to us. He talked a lot about whole food nutrition and the traditional chinese "diet" (chinese medicine applied to proper nutrition). I found out that he has two seminars at his HQ in California that I will be doing next year. The first one is a 21-day seminar that focuses on everything he talked about as well as Qigong, Taiji (tai chi), and Zen Shiatsu Acupressure. Following that, there's a 3 month course that does all this more in depth as well. He does offer a very in-depth 9-month course, but I don't think I could do it as much as I want to... I just love all my friends way too much and being that far away for 3/4 of the year is a bit much for me. After class was over, me and Jon prompted left for home.
Now, my fingers hurt. So that's all folks!
Saturday was entitled "Dress for Success day" at our school and you may remember that I had ordered a wonderful suit jacket and tie made out of organic hemp, but there was a little problem... The company called me on Thursday to let me know that they were out of stock on that item and that all they had in black was the wedding jacket; I told them to just put it on backorder then. Due to this, I just had a dress shirt and a tie I borrowed from Rafael. Honestly, I didn't feel like I looked fantastic (I thought I looked a tiny bit sill since, again, this is not something I'm used to), but I did get some compliments. I forget what we went over fully on Saturday... I remember we were given information on designing a press kit and then... oh well, it wasn't anything terribly important (edit: we talked about family health, genetics, and basic Traditional Chinese nutritional theory... ie, stuff I already know :P).
After class on Saturday I really wanted to go out and explore some of these places that I have had bookmarked on my GPS for a year now but the weather has always been too cold. Me and Jon headed off to a place uptown on 94th st in Central Park called Ancient Playground, but were disappointed when we got there. It was only available for people accompanied by a 12 year old.... drat! So, this lead us to plan B: Union Square Park. It's known to be a gathering point for protesters and social movements, so I knew I had to check it out. Jon and I then got onto the very crowded subway train and went downtown to 14th street. We walked around a tiny bit and then I saw a 9/11 Truth group talking to a small number of folks with a giant banner stating "THE BUSH REGIME ENGINEERED 9/11". I was very happy to find them there, seeing that I was now in my own element.
Dennis - the coordinator - was talking a lot about civil liberties, specifically "freedom of speech" (mentioning that the law now states you can't have a sign bigger than 2'x3', and that he and his group have been arrested 33 different times there for protesting, although each instance has been fought and in the end the charges did not hold), and the 2nd ammendment/right to carry. Also talking there was a man introduced as John Lennon's best friend (although I forget his name), and a few others that were helping out. Dennis would occasionally offer up the megaphone to anyone who wanted to say something - whether in agreement of his group or not - and added that this is true freedom of the press, not the corporate panic-filled junk we see on the TV. One dipshit decided that everyone there was crazy and full of shit and he proceeded to yell and scream at both the people speaking and the people listening and kept cursing everyone off and was getting in some people's faces (to the point where I was wondering if I was gonna have to kick his ass because I was just waiting for him to take a swing at someone). I kept yelling back at the guy to STFU and just prove them wrong if they're so wrong. He just ignored my common sense and followed with his illogical argument that because they are able to speak there, that means they're full of shit. He refused to listen, and eventually walked away just as pissed off and stupid as he came.
Dennis asked if anyone would like to speak, and so I decided that I had to stand up and say something. I'm not too used to talking in front of people - let alone with out any preparation - but I knew I had to do it. I know so much about this stuff and I spend so much time researching and checking my facts.... First thing I did was explain to people what a "strawman argument" is and how that dumb idiot was using one (ie, building an argument out of nothing), and I encouraged people to prove any of us wrong if indeed we are instead of just throwing out obsenities and not getting to any real issues. I talked about the Patriot Act (#1.. yes, there's two of them) and how it was labeled classified so that no members of congress could read the contents of it before they voted on it, and I talked a good deal about how our water is poisoned with chlorine and fluoride and also how our food is contaminated as well. Jon and his two buddies that he made friends with there gave me a big Hell Yeah! after I ended (thanks for the support guys!).
After everything was done, I went up to Dennis and introduced myself, thanked him, and gave him my card, telling him that if he ever needed anything that I'll help however I can. Dennis invited me and Jon to go hang out with them at a restraunt on Avenue A, so I took him up on the offer. It was a long walk, and then we got to our destination and it was good to talk to everyone. Jon got Dennis's number and I plan on talking to Dennis before I am in NYC again because I would like to go more in depth and talk more about some subjects. Dennis and his group are out there every Weds and Sat, and he told me that if I ever wanted to do a demonstration in my area, that he'd come down to help me out. I thought about it, and I think I'd really like to do this somewhere in Princeton, but mostly I'd prefer to help him out at Union Square Park.
On Sunday, we had a holistic Dentist come talk to us (which was interesting) and then finally it was time for Paul Pitchford to come talk to us. He talked a lot about whole food nutrition and the traditional chinese "diet" (chinese medicine applied to proper nutrition). I found out that he has two seminars at his HQ in California that I will be doing next year. The first one is a 21-day seminar that focuses on everything he talked about as well as Qigong, Taiji (tai chi), and Zen Shiatsu Acupressure. Following that, there's a 3 month course that does all this more in depth as well. He does offer a very in-depth 9-month course, but I don't think I could do it as much as I want to... I just love all my friends way too much and being that far away for 3/4 of the year is a bit much for me. After class was over, me and Jon prompted left for home.
Now, my fingers hurt. So that's all folks!