For my nineteenth Turnstile NYC Thursday, I am going to write about a certain spot in Lower Manhattan that a lot of out-of-towners go to see. I am going to write about the second most famous statue in New York City. I am going to write about the Wall Street "Charging Bull".

The Wall Street Bull is located at the corner of a small park at the end of Broadway in the financial district, called Bowling Green.This park has been around since the beginnings of New Amsterdam, which later became New York City. There was the famous story in this park, about the statue of King George III, and when they read the newly made Declaration of Independence in late July of 1776, they melted down the statue, and made bullets of of it. 

The current statue faces the rest of Manhattan, and especially Wall Street and the Stock Market. It is meant to represent the "Bull" Market, meaning a good market to sell stocks in. It was installed as a type of Gurellia Art movement, across the street from the Stock Market in the Christmas time of 1989. The police moved it and impounded it, but the people wanted to see it, so they put it Bowling Green, and for over 26 years, the Bull statue sits has stat at the corner, ready to charge.

Now there are a few ways to take a photo with the bull. First, is the straight up front shot right next to it. Second, is to climb on top of it, around the head area, and take a picture. Thirdly, and now wildly popular, is to go to the back of it, and take a picture of you with its large, oversized balls. Now knowing a classy man like my father, guess where he had his photo taken. Thats right, the ball shot. In the days after 9/11, and when we all knew Osama Bin Laden was the man who did the whole thing, someone put a picture of his face on the ass of the Bull. Pretty nice if you ask me.

So that is the Charging Bull Statue. I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully get to see it one day, and take a photo with it, THE RIGHT WAY!

Have you ever seen the Charging Bull Statue? Would you want to go and see it? If you were to see it, which photo would you take with it?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Living well is the best revenge." - George Herbert
"The present time has one time advantage over every other. It is our own!" - Charles Caleb Colton
"Love is the only gold." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

For my eighteenth Wisdom Wednesday, and I am going to write about a piece of wisdom that I received from my old high school, Kellenberg. I am going to write about something that can shop every single one of our lives. I am going to write about the motto of Civility, Order, and Respect, or "C.O.R.", but apply it to what I have seen so far in my almost year at college.

COR was the guildeines that we had to follow back in Kellenberg. In everything we did, or everywhere we went, we had to display COR to everyone. Let me tell you something, they wanted us to display COR to opponents during games, and that is not easy. I rarely ever did, and they returned the favor too. COR is impossible sometimes to display in sports, but it is very easy to display in everyday life. 

There is a bit of civility in college, but not a lot to go around for everyone. People are civil, except when it comes to certain big topics these days, like Gay Rights, Abortion, Feminism, and other balls of wax of that nature. Like God forbid that you have a differing opinion than those other people, to create a dialogue, and try to learn the other side of the story, to become a more rounded individual. 

You can display COR in everyday life, by letting other people have their opinions. That goes into the last one of respect. A lot of people in college need this, not going to lie here. In college, some people get in there, mostly girls, and have their way about life, and everyone else is wrong, and they need to know it. That completely goes against COR in every way, shape, and form. These people in college seriously need to relax.

I seriously cannot stand these 18-19 year old fake "social activists", that honestly don't know jack shit about anything. Perfect example of no COR in college is those college kids who are 'democrats', that go and try to disrupt Donald Trump rallies, and when they are asked by the reporters why they are there, they go "I don't know".

What do you mean I don't know! That is the work of absolutely no COR, and the work of liberal professors trying to make one political party seem better than the rest with propaganda, and not giving order and respect to the other side. Trust me I have seen this in action, and it is so stupid. They tell these impressionable teenagers that Communism is ok! ARE YOU SERIOUS!! I want the number and location of the crack dealers some of these professors, because whatever they are smoking must be really strong.

I really do hope that this can all change, and that we can all just stop acting so sensitive, and starting living life with some of the COR values!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the post, and can live out some form of COR in your daily life!

Have you ever displayed the feelings of COR in you life? Was it easy or was it hard? Which one of the COR values, do you find the most important

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "A dog is the only thing on Earth, that loves you more than you could ever love yourself." - Josh Billings
"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs." - Charlotte Brown
"Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age." - Anais Nin
'Always make the audience suffer as much as possible." - Alfred Hitchcock

For my twentieth Tune Tuesday, I am going to write about a song, to get us in the post-Easter mood. I am going to write about another Steven Curtis Chapman song that I learned back in Kellenberg. I am going to write about his country styled song, "The Great Adventure".

The lyrics are so up-lifting. The first verse goes, "Saddle up your horses! Started out this morning, in the usual way. Chasing thoughts inside my head, of all I had to do today. Another time around the circle, try to make it better than the last." The the second verse says, "I opened up a Bible, and I read about me. Said, I'd been a prisoner, and God's grace set me free. And somewhere between the pages, it hit me like a lightning bolt. I saw a big frontier in front of me, and I heard somebody say, let's go!" 

Then the chorus goes, "Saddle up you horses, we've got a trail to blaze. Through the wild blue yonder, and God's amazing grace. Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. Yes, there's a life like no other, woah, woah, this is the Great Adventure. yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah." 

Then the third verse says, "Come on, get ready, for the ride of your life. Gonna leave long faced religion, in a cloud of dust behind. And discover all of the new horizons, just waiting to be explored. This is what we were created for, yeah!" Then the chorus comes back in, and then goes to a bridge, that says, "We'll travel over, over mountains so high, we'll go through valleys below. Still through it all, we'll find that, this is the greatest journey, that human heart will ever see. The love of God will take us far, beyond our wildest dreams, yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah! Oh, saddle up your horses! Get ready to ride!" Then the chorus repeats one last time, and then the song fades out. 

I love this song, because of the feel that it has. It compares our journey with God, to roaming the plains of the Wild West, on a horse. It is a great analogy, and that is why I love this song. This song also feels like a pop-country song, so I love that genre of music, so that plays into it too.

We used to hear this song at least three times a month back in high school, so I became so familiar with this song, by senior year. It was one of the songs that we picked to be in our senior class Top 10 songs, at the end of our run in Kellenberg.

I hope you all enjoy this song, and get around to loving it as much as I do!

Have you ever heard this song before? Do you guys like it, like I do? Should I do the final Steven Curtis Chapman song that I know, 'Lord of the Dance', or leave that one on the shelf for a while, and go after more Pop songs like Billy Joel's?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well!" - Virginia Woolf
"You are remembered by the rules you break!" - General Douglas A. MacArthur
"It's important for us to latch onto the people that you love." - Connie Stevens

For my twentieth Memory Monday, I am going to write about something that happened on this date, six years ago. I am going to write about one of the best moments of my life. I am going to write about my first acting gig, in my seventh grade play, Don't Say No To The U.S.O.!

I remember back in seventh grade, in Sacred Heart School, when we were told in mid-November, that we weren't going to have Spring Flings anymore, and we were instead going to resurrect our drama program, which had been dormant for well over a decade, no-one was really happy. We all loved doing the old songs and having a blast. We were uncertain of what was going to happen that year. I remember we were all told we had to participate, whether acting, or as a stagehand. Since I loved to perform, I tried out, and convinced my friends Will and George to do so as well. 

We tried out, and got out parts. I was O.S.S. Operator Elliot Abner Martin, and George was my partner, Horace Mendez Lopez. Will got to be Mr. Wilcox, the leader of the U.S.O. Club in Brooklyn, where the play takes place. The premise of the play is that there are spies from Germany during World War II, infiltrating U.S.O. clubs and stealing the codes for where American ships are going to be, to attack them. Our two characters enlist the help of the leader of the club, Ms. Ruth Taylor, to help protect the American cryptographer, Kilroy. In the end, it turns out that the assistant to Ms. Taylor, Angie was the spy, and the tap-dancer in the club was sending out the morse coded messages over the air.

We had a lot of fun doing the play. We had fake handguns, wore trench coats, and had fake federal badges and business cards. I used a lot of my grandfathers wardrobe for my outfit. I had my own suit, but the American flag pin I wore on my trench coat, the coat itself, and the hat I wore were all his from the time period of the war. I kept the flag pin in my room, and wore it everyday on my uniform sweater when I was class president, and it was on my gowns when I graduated from Sacred Heart School, and Kellenberg Memorial High School. 

This play means a lot to me, because as I have illustrated before, if I don't do this play, especially with George, then I don't do Beauty and the Beast with him also, and then I don't join the chorus, and get very popular throughout high school. This was so important, and also, the dance moves I had for this play were pretty good, not going to lie here!

Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this blog post, and now for the next three Memory Mondays, I am going to highlight each day of my senior trip to Disney, as I will be counting down the days until this years senior class goes in late April, early May!

Were you in any plays when you were in Middle School? If so, which / what one(s)? Were they happy times for you, or not?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Loose lips sink ships" - Elliot Abner Martin
"This is one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind." - Astronaut Neil Armstrong
"All change is not growth, as all movement is not always forward." - Ellen Glasgow

Happy Easter Everyone!

Easter is here, so that means that this is one of the only days of the year, where it is acceptable to eat pounds of chocolate like it is nothing. I have already received four chocolate bunnies, and I haven't even left my house yet. 

I love Easter so much, because it makes you feel good inside. The weather is nice, so you can wear short sleeved shirts, and even shorts, unlike Christmas, but not unlike last Christmas with its 65 degree day. Its spring by this point, so the sun is out, and usually nothing but blue skies all around on this day. 

I'll tell you what we do as a family. First off we wake up, and me and my sister open up our Easter baskets. Then we get all dressed up and go to church. Then we get in the car, and go to my cousins house out in Suffolk, to go hang out for like seven hours and to have dinner with them. Our Easter dinner is made up of Ham, Pirogies, Carrots, Cauliflower with Cheese, some salads, and some other vegetables. 

Also something that is a lot of fun, is that me, and my cousins Mack and Connor, who we three are almost 19, then 17 and a half and then 16, go out into the big field across the street from their house, and lay about 150 eggs, for all of our younger cousins to go and find. There are assortments of small change, candy, and other small trinkets inside. Then we sometimes play some basketball outside of their house between the now generation of men, and the previous generation of family men. It is a lot of fun. We also like to sometimes after that, watch real people play Basketball, whether it be in the Tournament, or in the NBA. 

We have a lot of fun on Easter, and I think everyone should. Easter is a great time of the year, and should be celebrated as such, with family and with friends. I will be updating this blog post later on, with pictures from the day. Stay tuned!

Anyways, I hope that everyone has a great Easter Sunday, and a great break this week... if you have one!

What do you do on Easter Sunday? What kind of traditions do you have? Which one is better, Easter or Christmas?

For my eleventh Seasonal Saturday, and in keeping with the theme of Holy Week, I am going to write about a song that is so beautiful. I am going to write about a song that has such a powerful message. I am going to write about Josh Groban's hit song, "You Raise Me Up".

The lyrics are so beautiful guys. The first verse says, "When I am down, and oh my soul, so weary. When troubles come and my heart burdened be. Then I am still and wait here in the silence. Until you come and sit awhile with me." Then the chorus goes, "You Raise Me Up, so I can stand on mountains. You Raise Me Up, to walk on stormy seas. I am strong, when I am on your shoulders. You Raise Me Up, to more than I can be." That then repeats one more time.

The second verse says, "There is no life, no life without its hunger. Each restless heart beats so imperfectly. But when you come and I am filled with wonder. Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity." Then the chorus repeats twice more, and then the song ends.

This song is so beautiful, because its message is so large. What its message is, is that whoever helps you through a situation, will help raise you up. In this song, it is so open to who you want it to be. It can be God, a family member, a friend, or even a stranger. In my case, I am writing it as God as the person, because today is Holy Saturday, and tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and this song goes so well with the whole theme of Easter.

I hope that you all enjoy the song, and all enjoy this Holy Week-weekend!

Have you ever heard this song before? Do you think that this song has a good message? When you hear the song, who does the "You" in song mean for you?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred let me so love." - St. Francis of Assisi
​"A great work is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty." - Nadia Boulanger 
"Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold." - Zelda Fitzgerald 

(I am also dedicating this post, and this song, to my Uncle Bill. He passed away this past Monday, from a hard-fought battle with depression and substance abuse, after losing his wife suddenly seven years ago. That is the reason that the posts have been very late this week, because I have been seeing my family members, and also going to things like the funeral home. It was a very sad time, but he is at peace now, and we are all happy, that he is now very, very happy.)

Rest in Peace - William Bruce Graham Sr. - November 16th, 1948 - March 21st, 2016

For my seventeenth Film Friday, and in keeping in track with the Holy Week theme, I am going to write about a spectacular movie, that details the biggest moment in the Catholic Faith. I am going to highlight a movie that I watched many times in my years at Kellenberg. I am going to write about the Passion of the Christ. 

Basically what the movie illustrates, is the last few days of Jesus' life, from his arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, to the planning of Judas' betrayal, to the feast meal of the passover, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the handing over of Jesus on Holy Thursday, to the whole Pilate, and the fourteen steps of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. 

The movie is masterfully made, in many ways. First off, using no English, instead, the words of the Bible, in the original languages of the area, such as Hebrew and Latin. They highlight all of the main points of Holy Week, and they do it so well. I will try to link a few clips down below, to show you how powerful of a movie this is.

The movie is powerful, especially from the middle of the movie on, from the flogging of Jesus at the pillar, to his Passion and crucifixion. The movie doesn't really touch on Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday, but that is alright. This is called the Passion of the Christ, so it should only cover up to and including Good Friday. 

I hope that you all get to see the movie, and that you all enjoy it!

Have you ever seen the Passion of the Christ? Would you ever see it? If you have seen it, has it strengthened your faith, kept it the same, or weakened it?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Education's purpose, is to replace and empty mind, with an open one." - Malcolm Forbes
"He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything." - Thomas Carlyle
"The heart that has truly loved never forgets, but as truly loves on to the close." - Sir St. Thomas Moore
"Women, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves, and for your children." - Jesus on Good Friday in the Eighth Station of the Cross

For my eighteenth Turnstile NYC Thursday, and in keeping with the theme of Holy Week, I am going to write about a place in New York City, that is extremely holy, and beautiful. I am going to write about a landmark like no other. I am going to write about the legendary St. Patrick's Cathedral.

There aren't a lot of options to pick from for a Holy Week themed landmark in New York City, but this one quickly came to mind. Right on Fifth Avenue, across from Rockefeller Center, is one of the most legendary Cathedrals in all of the country. This is the biggest Catholic church in the whole city, as the two other churches that make up the "Big Three" in New York City, Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel, are both Episcopalian.  

It is also a really old one too. It was opened on October 5th, 1910, and has stood for over 105 years. At the time, it was one of the tallest structures around, until the 1930's came around, when it was dwarfed by the Rockefeller Center complex of buildings. Currently, the Archbishop of New York City, Cardinal Dolan, celebrates Mass every Sunday at St. Patricks. 

But the inside is such a beautiful display of statues. There are statues for all of the big saints, and other figures like Mary, and Jesus. There are two different altars that you can pray in front of, and many candle stations to light. There are the hats of the old Cardinals, hanging from the ceiling of the Cathedral. There is always a flock of people inside of the Church, no matter what time of day it is. 

This Cathedral is a National Historic Landmark, as well as a New York State Historic Landmark, and a New York City Historic Landmark. It is one of the most famous Cathedrals in America, and I am proud to have visited it many times.

I strongly recommend my Catholic, and even non-Catholic readers, next time that you are in New York City, to go in and check out in person, St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Have you ever gone to St. Patrick's Cathedral? Would you want to go to it? If you have gone, what was your favorite part?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." - John Wooden
"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects from you. Never excuse yourself." - Henry Ward Beecher
"All men are equal before fish." - President Herbert Hoover

For my seventeenth Wisdom Wednesday, and in keeping with the theme of Holy Week, I am going to write about a phrase that I heard a lot during my time coming up through Catholic elementary, middle, and high schools. I am going to write about something so true to the core of my faith. I am going to write about WWJD, meaning What Would Jesus Do?

The whole basis around this saying is that we must live our lives like Jesus did, through love, peace, and good works. We need to sometimes turn the other cheek when it comes to tough situations, and we need to approach the situations as Jesus would. 

Trust me, it is not easy at all to follow this advice. This might be the hardest thing to follow that I have ever given out. There can be times when we don't want to be kind to those who hurt us, or forgive those that do wrong to us, but we always need to be better, and to overcome the adversity, and act in a way that proves our civility, or order, and our respect.

There have been times in my life where I was faced with adversity from fellow friends and random strangers, and in some cases, I followed this advice, and in most cases I didn't. I am not going to lie here on this blog, this is really hard to follow sometimes, because human nature says to get even for wrongdoings, and to hold grudges for a very long time. But like I said, we need to sometimes take a deep breath or two, and turn the other cheek. It can be very difficult at times, and not too pleasant to do, but we need to do it.

If we do it, then trust me, you will gain respect, and then you might even be able to end the conflict right there, in the way you present yourself. If you do this, you both in the disagreement, can go home and sleep easy, knowing the past is in the past, and we all can move on with life. That is what this is all about, forgiving and not so much forgetting, but definitely moving on with your life.

I hope that this was a good piece of advice, and good for this time of the year!

Did you enjoy this advice? Have you ever tried to live life like this? Has it succeeded, or has it failed?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - General George S. Patton
"Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself." - Michel de Montaigne
"Love is being stupid, together." - Paul Valery 
"Forgive your enemies, but, remember their names!" - President John F. Kennedy

For my nineteenth Tune Tuesday, and in keeping with the theme of Holy Week, I am going to write about a song that I love to sing in church around this time of year. I am going to write about a song that has so much meaning in it. I am going to write about the church song, "Were You There, When They Crucified My Lord?" 

​The lyrics of this song are so beautiful. All of the lyrics are verses, there are no chorus sections of this song, just similar repeating lyrics. The first verse says, "Were you there, when they crucified my Lord? Were you there, when they crucified my Lord? Sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?" The second verse says, "Were you there, when they nailed him to the cross (tree)? Were you there, when they nailed him to the cross (tree)? Sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there, when they nailed him to the cross (tree)?" 

Then the third verse says, "Were you there, when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there, when they laid him in the tomb? Sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there, when they laid him in the tomb?" The fourth and final verse says, "Were you there, when the stone was rolled away? Were you there, when the stone was rolled away? Sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there, when the stone was rolled away?"

I love this song so much, because it documents the very basis of my Catholic faith. It illustrates the Passion of Jesus Christ. The lyrics are so beautiful, and the music behind it allows it to build and then recede through the lyrics the same way. The beginning line is very sad, then the second line you sing louder to make it seem more sad, then the third line is sung almost like a remembrance piece, and then the fourth line is then sung like the first one, in a sad tone. 

This song only gets sung around Holy Week, and especially on Good Friday a lot. I always was very reverent when this song was sung in Church, when I was altar-serving. I hope to sing this song in Church this week. I will try to link a good version of the song down below, but it is very hard, because it is a church song, and the covers of it by independent artists aren't that great.

I hope you enjoyed the song, and are able to sing it soon!

Did you like the song choice? Do you like the songs place in the Mass? Have you ever sung this song in your Church? 

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "The greatest healing therapy, is friendship and love." - 38th Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey 
"Everything in the world has been figured out, except how to live!" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"What force is more potent than love?" - Igor Stravinsky