n i c k y n a x . c o m

I guess one of the good things about being friends with a Life Coach is that he often goes into Life Coach Mode and I tend to get free advice and guidance from someone certified to dispense it.

One of the bad things about being friends with a Life Coach is that he often goes into Life Coach Mode and I tend to get free advice and guidance from someone certified to dispense it…whether I like it or not.

But when it comes down to it, I’m glad he’s there and would much rather have someone there to help than not. And besides, a lot of things I get from him are good nuggets that I’d be silly not to listen to and adopt into my life.

One of the things he and I have discussed in the past is the importance of Life Lists. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a Life List is a list of things you want to do during your lifetime. The intention is that you accomplish them and cross them off one by one. The theory being that if you have written them down, it helps you to focus on them and visualize them and acts as more of a motivator for you to get out there and actually accomplish them.

In short, it helps you to be an active participant in Life instead of a passive one.

It’s been awhile since I first made my Life List. I started in January of 2007, and at the start was very excited and ready to achieve everything on it. But over time, I forgot about it and put it aside. And seeing as how mine was on my hard drive and not an actual physical list, when I got a new laptop earlier this year, the list was lost.

I’ve been feeling a bit antsy about things lately and felt I haven’t really had a lot to get excited about or work toward, so I’ve decided to dig out my old laptop, find the Life List and transfer over to this computer and really set about crossing more goals off and living the life I dream about.

I found that a majority of things on my list were travel related, which I guess shouldn’t come as a huge surprise considering as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more and more interested in exploring the world and seeing what’s out there.

My Life List

• Visit all 50 States
• Travel to all 7 continents (though I won’t be incredibly disappointed if I never make it to Antarctica)
• Take a gondola ride in Venice
• Take a cross-country road trip
• Swim with Dolphins
• Visit every Disney Theme Park on the planet
• Water Ski
• Snow Ski
• Ride a Segway
• Learn Sign Language well enough to have conversations
• Write a book (and have it published)
• Stay in a suite at a Five-Star Hotel
• Stomp Grapes
• Fly First Class on an international flight
• Host a Dinner Party
• Scuba Dive
• Take a hot air balloon ride
• Be a guest on a talk show
• Do a flip on a trampoline
• Have a six-pack (if just for one day)

That’s just a sampling of twenty things on my current Life List. As you can see, some are big things and some are small things, but when it comes down to it, all things that I would like to do.

I was pleased to see that were some things on my list that I had actually accomplished in the year and few months since I had written it. One of the items on the list was to run a marathon, and not only have I done that, but I’ve done it twice now, and really see no reason why I can’t and shouldn’t run even more in the coming years.

I also swam with sharks, which was something that was on the list. Sure, it was snorkeling at Typhoon Lagoon, which I’m sure holds no threat of actual danger whatsoever. But there were sharks in that water, and I was doggy-paddling to the other side as fast as my terrified body could manage, so technically, I DID swim with sharks.

Also on the list was cosmetic dentistry, and considering I started the whole Invisalign process about a week and a half ago, I think it’s safe to say that I can start to cross that one off the list too even though it will take a year or two before it’s actually finished.

Would I have accomplished these things had I not had the Life List? Sure, it’s entirely possible. But seeing it with my own eyes that I had goals that I achieved is very empowering and only helps to give me more confidence, motivation and belief that the rest of the things on my list will one day have a horizontal line through them as well.

And that’s half the battle right there.

I got a great surprise in the mail this week.

It’s been about ten weeks since I finished the marathon, and had completely forgotten about it, so when I saw the large envelope sitting in the mailbox from Disney Sports Attractions, I just assumed it was a brochure for some upcoming events they had planned.

But when I opened it and saw what it was, I couldn’t help but smile! It was my Official Finisher’s Certificate for completing the race!

And look! It’s signed by Mickey, the Official Race Mousecot. Oh, and some other dude who is actually a real person. But seriously, who cares about him?

And there was also an advertisement in the envelope for the upcoming Half Marathon at Disneyland this Labor Day weekend. I ran that one two years ago and was kinda sorta considering running it again this upcoming year, but hadn’t really decided. But this ad said that since I had completed this past race in Florida, if I run and finish the Half Marathon in Disneyland this year too, then I will have automatically completed the newly established “Coast to Coast” race requirements which will garner me a THIRD medal just for doing both races.

Damn you, Disney! You always know how to tempt me into giving you even more of my time and money!

But right now I am focusing on my certificate. I’m so glad it finally came in the mail. It’s always nice to reminded that you can accomplish some amazing things if you put your mind to it.

I imagine the job of being a Mayor would be pretty boring. I envision a lot of meetings. I envision a lot of budgeting. I envision a lot of longing to slit your wrists from the boredom.

So, when my mom became Mayor of our hometown at the start of the year, I wasn’t expecting any stories from her to be all that interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised when she sent me the following email yesterday. And what it made it even more delicious was that it is about someone who was in my class throughout junior high and high school. Names have, of course, been changed to protect the innocent.

Well, this week is starting off with a bang! I really am dreading the rest of the week now!

I got a phone call at 3 am about John Doe’s dogs barking and keeping the neighborhood awake. This has been going on for a year or so now and we’ve had numerous talks with John Doe – but he won’t do anything! We’re going to have to start citing him; but it’s embarrassing because he’s a jailer at the law center and works for the county. You’d think that he’d do the right thing, wouldn’t you?

When I called the law center to report the dog issue, I was told that the recycling center was on fire and was guessed to be a total loss! I drove by this morning and it looks pretty bad indeed!

Then, at 4:15 am I got another call about John Doe’s dogs – they were still barking and the complaining citizen said that if they had to be awake, they were going to make sure I was awake, too. Well, John Doe is also a volunteer fireman, so he was out fighting the fire and couldn’t do anything about his dogs!

Can’t win for losing!!

Pray for me!

Who knew being a Mayor of a small town in the Midwest could be so interesting!

There are three reasons I am glad my mother ended up deciding to run for Mayor.

For starters, it is keeping her busy and active since retiring, which is something I was worried about. I didn’t want her to become inactive. Also, she spent well over thirty years as a single mother raising three children. It was high time she focused on her own life and doing something for herself. She’s more than earned that right.

But most of all, now I get stories like this delivered directly to my inbox!

I’m a firm believer that sometimes it’s beneficial to your soul to do things that don’t necessarily have a purpose other than just being fun and being silly.

I think it was George Bernard Shaw (though I could be completely wrong) who said “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” I wholeheartedly agree with that statement and have lived my life accordingly since long before I knew of his quote or knew that there were such eloquently formed words to express it.

So, in keeping with the idea of finding new and fun ways to “play” and stay young, I now am the proud owner of my very own Traveling Toy!

For those of you who have already grown up, I’ll explain what a Traveling Toy is.

I think it pretty much started with the Traveling Gnome Prank. From wikipedia:

The traveling gnome prank is a popular method of returning a garden gnome “to the wild”. It involves stealing a gnome, taking it on a trip around the world (usually passing it from person to person), and photographing it at famous landmarks, with the photos being returned to the owner. Sometimes the gnome returns with a wife and children.

From there…it’s safe to say that the Traveling Gnome Prank inspired the Flat Stanley Project that many school children take part in. Again, from wikipedia:

Students begin by reading the book and becoming acquainted with the story. Then they make paper “Flat Stanleys” and keep a journal for a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley is involved. The Flat Stanley and the journal are mailed to other people who are asked to treat the figure as a visiting guest and add to his journal, then return them both after a period of time. Students may find it fun to plot Flat Stanley’s travels on maps and share the contents of the journal. Often, a Flat Stanley returns with a photo or postcard from his visit.

So, that’s the basis from which the Traveling Toy grew. Now, I’m not doing it as a prank or part of a school project to study geography. I’m just doing it for the fun of it.

A couple of my friends have their own Toys that they take with them everywhere and do photo shoots with and even the occasional video. I always thought it was a cute idea, so for the past couple months I’ve been on the hunt for a Travel Toy of my own.

I originally wanted to find a Peter Pan toy that would work as a good Travel Toy, not only because he is my favorite Disney character, but because the character of Peter Pan has some parallels to the whole idea of playing and not growing up. But finding a Peter Pan toy that looked like it would be good for this project proved very difficult.

I finally found one this past week that not only looked like it would work well, but also just looked fun. He arrived in the mail today, and he is perfect!

His name is Bossy Bear and he was created by the same man who invented the Ugly Dolls. I’m going to be doing some testing with him around the city over the next couple of weeks to determine how to best photograph him in various locations to optimize his facial expression and physicality to result it the funniest pictures. Because, ya know, there’s a science to this sort of thing. And then two weeks from tonight he goes on his first trip with me to Disney World.

I’m hoping to get some bizarre pictures with him as if he’s an actual travel companion. And if I’m feeling ballsy enough, I may just ask some of the characters to pose with him. Whatever happens, it’s going to be fun and silly and isn’t that the whole point anyway?

As soon as I got him home, I couldn’t wait to snap a couple pictures of him just to see how they would turn out, and I think this one is pretty cute. I think they’re going to be the best of friends.

I mean, come on! That’s adorable!

And who knows, maybe some day Bossy Bear will have even more stamps in his passport than I do.

For most of my adult life I have been unhappy with my smile.

I wouldn’t say that it has caused me self esteem issues, because I feel as if I have a strong enough sense of the things that are actually important in life. I know enough to realize that something like imperfect teeth make no difference in who I am as a person or what I have to offer in life or bring to the table.

However, that being said, it’s still something that has bothered me for years and caused me to be more self conscious than I normally would be.

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I’m a very happy person and spend most of my time having fun and laughing. But whenever I see my smile, I personally don’t feel that it reflects that same joy that I’m feeling inside. And I find that it causes me to not smile at times. Or, if I do, I try to adjust my smile into one that doesn’t feel natural or genuine in order to hide the imperfections. And in doing so, it perverts the happiness I am feeling and stifles me from being the happy person that I am.

It got to the point where I felt like my constant lack of a real smile was only drawing more attention to the problem, so nowadays I try to at least muster something resembling a full-tooth grin, but never feel comfortable or happy in doing so. And if pictures are being taken, then once I see them, all I can notice are the imperfections in my smile.

Like I already said, I know it’s not something that determines anything about who I am as a person, and I am probably the only person on the planet who even notices it enough to care, but it is something that has bothered me for well over a decade, so I’ve finally decided that I am going to do something about it.

Last night I had an Invisalign consultation with an orthodontist from whom a friend of mine received her Invisalign treatment. They discussed everything with me, walked me through the procedure and showed me examples of previous patients who had similar teeth issues as I currently have, some crowding on the top row of teeth and a slight underbite.

I agreed to go ahead with the procedure, and spent the rest of my consultation filling out paperwork, having tons of pictures taken of my mouth from every possible angle, getting panoramic x-rays of my mouth, and having molds/impressions made of my teeth. And while it’s going to be pretty expensive and I’m a little concerned right now with how I’ll manage to scrape up the cash to pay for it all, I’m optimistic that once treatment is over it will have been worth every penny.

This does mean the Disney Vacation Club I was working toward will have to be put on hold for the time being, and while that does sadden me, I know that this is a more important investment to me at this point in my life so I’ve made my peace with that decision.

I’m a born worrier; a trait I got from my mother, so naturally in the back of my head there are concerns. What if it’s painful? What if my treatment ends up lasting two or more years? What if I spend all of this money on it and (gulp) it doesn’t work?

I’m confident that I will see at least some good results though. The doctor I am seeing is considered one of the top Invisalign specialists in the country and he handles some of the most extreme cases that there have been. So I know I’m in good hands.

Now I just have to sit tight and wait about six to eight weeks for the doctor and Align (the company that makes Invisalign) to examine my x-rays/pictures/impressions and agree on the best process for getting my teeth where they need to be. Once that happens, they can make the actual aligners that will do the job and then I can start the whole treatment. I’m a very impatient person, so I wish it didn’t take so long, but I’m trying to remind myself that good things come to those who wait and that it will all be worth it in the end.

I’m toying with the idea of chronicling my Invisalign journey in the blog with updates and pictures as the treatment progresses, but I haven’t made any decisions on that yet. I’m not sure the entire world needs or wants to see the inside of my mouth.

Although, once I finish treatment and have a smile that I am finally proud of, I have a feeling I’m going to be showing everyone I meet.

The world is going to be sick and tired of seeing these chompers if it’s the last thing I do!

I wish every day was St. Patrick’s Day.

I have green eyes and being forced to wear green everyday would just mean my eyes would pop and sparkle that much more often.

It’s nice when holidays make you feel sexy.

This past week I got a phone call from my landlord, and upon seeing his name on the caller ID, my heart sank. It’s never a good sign when your landlord is calling you. Either something is broken, something is infested with rodents or insects, or you’re being evicted. So, it was with an apprehensive gulp that I meekly answered the phone.

He informed me that there has been an issue with someone in the building has not been recycling their trash. Now, there are only three apartments in this building, so there are only a few people who could possibly be the guilty party and only a few other people I could try to pass the blame onto.

I was the guilty party. I fully admit that I was not recycling my trash. Apparently I am the only person in this city that wasn’t aware of the fact that residents here are required to recycle their trash. How on earth I made it eight and a half years without knowing this is beyond me, but somehow it wasn’t until he called and tore me a new asshole that I crawled out from my dark and comfortable cave and learned that saving the planet isn’t only the decent thing to do, it’s the law.

And once I actually took a second to think about it, I was shocked that I wasn’t recycling already. I like to consider myself a somewhat environmentally aware person. One of the great aspects of going Vegan, aside from the obvious animal rights issues and health benefits, is that it is such a great thing to do for the environment as well.

So, shame on me!

But back to the landlord’s call. He said he had gotten complaints from the city that this building was not recycling properly and were threatening to fine him if it continued. But the city apparently wasn’t the only person complaining…

“Nick, the man who lives on the first floor is tired of having to sort through your trash in order to separate the recyclables out. He shouldn’t have to do that.”

Umm…

I have a few problems with that statement.

First of all, why on earth is the man on the first floor sifting through my trash in the first place? That’s just creepy and disgusting. If he’s going to be doing that, he deserves to be playing around in Miss Jackson’s dirty litter.

Second of all, if the man on the first floor is going through my trash and separating it for me, and there are STILL complaints coming from the city that the recycling isn’t happening, then maybe he isn’t separating it well enough, and he should be the one to blame.

And lastly, it needs to be said again. That’s just gross.

Naturally, as much as I wanted to, I didn’t mention any of those to the landlord. I simply apologized and assured him that it wouldn’t happen again and thanked him for bringing it to my attention, because I honestly didn’t know that it was something I was supposed to be doing.

I went online and found some information on recycling on the city’s sanitation website. I printed out some documents that list what is and what isn’t recyclable. I’ve posted them on the refrigerator next to the trash so that I will not be throwing away things I shouldn’t. And it’s a good thing I’ve got those lists, because some of the things on them are things I would have completely overlooked, like the cardboard tube in the rolls of toilet paper for example. And had I overlooked them, it would just be a matter of time before the landlord showed up at my door with a fine for me to pay.

The only issue I am having with this new recycling thing is a decor one. I now have to have three trash bags at once. One for trash, one for paper recycling and one for plastics and glass. My apartment isn’t all that spacious, so I’m having a bit of a problem finding a way to have all of these without taking up too much space or being an eyesore. As of now, I just have three bags of trash sitting in the corner of my kitchen. I would love to find a cute little device that has a space for all three types of trash, but that blends in nicely with a normal kitchen appearance. But until then, I think I’ll just try to find a way to store them all under the sink. Out of sight, out of mind.

I took my first bag of recyclables out to the trash a couple days ago, and, so far, I haven’t heard anything from the landlord or the creepy man on the first floor, so I’m hoping that means I did it correctly and everything is going to be fine now. And not only is my conscience now clean, but the planet is going to be a little cleaner now too.

You’re welcome, my children’s children.

I had a pretty humbling experience this morning that not only got my day off to a horrible start, but I had to wake up earlier than normal and get less sleep for it. Not the most enjoyable morning I’ve ever had, to say the least.

As horrible as it is to admit, I haven’t been to a dentist in about two years. Things at work got hectic and I wasn’t able to get away for my scheduled appointment on day. Up to this point I had gone religiously every six months for years and would make my appointment for my next checkup as I was leaving my current one, six months in advance. So, I had to cancel one due to something happening at work and then just kind of forgot to reschedule it.

Then I ended up switching from the PPO Dental Coverage at work to the HMO to save some cash, and found out my dentist wasn’t covered under the HMO plan. So I was stuck with the hassle of trying to find a new dentist.

I never know where to start with that sort of thing. I wish there was some sort of audition process for doctors. Like I would sit behind a table while they nervously waited in a line out in the hall. Then when it was their turn they would come into the room and show me their skills while I browse their headshot and resume. Then at the end of the day, I pick the most qualified candidate.

Or the cutest one.

Instead I was stuck just asking around the office for a dentist someone recommended who was on our dental plan and then picking the one who had the closest office or didn’t sound like a total drip based on his or her name.

A highly scientific way of finding a medical care professional, to say the least.

Well, a couple days ago, my gums started to bleed a little bit while brushing my teeth and unless something has changed in oral hygiene, that’s not a good thing. So, I got my ass in gear and picked a dentist and made an appointment.

This morning, at a far too early hour for anyone to be awake, I trudged my way to Central Park South to my first appointment with this new dentist. I filled out all of the obligatory paperwork and was then called into the room to have my teeth cleaned by the hygienist. Before we started she asked if I was experiencing any problems and I told her about my gums and how they were starting to bleed a little when I brushed my teeth.

She asked me what my flossing habits were like, and I immediately pretended I didn’t speak English and didn’t understand the question. “If I don’t answer and pretend I didn’t hear her, maybe she’ll forget she asked the question” actually crossed my mind. But I was busted. I had to admit that I have horrible flossing habits in that I don’t think I had touched floss in a fortnight until today.

She gave me a stern talking to and I felt like a grade schooler being chastised for passing notes. But I was soon to find out that that was the least of my problems.

She looked at my gums and informed that due to my lack of flossing I had some plaque buildup that was causing my gums to be enflamed and a couple spots were starting to show signs of getting infected. She told me how plaque starts forming within an hour of you getting rid of it, which means that I have something else to obsess over and be paranoid about.

She went to work on getting rid of the plaque buildup which is nothing I haven’t had done at all of my other dental checkups in the past, but this one was different. Since my entire gum line was enflamed it was one of the most painful experiences I’ve gone through in recent history. Every time her little pointy, metal pick-thing would touch my gums, it felt like she was slicing them open, peeling them back, and pouring salt all over them. And all I could do was lay there and take it, because it had to be done.

Once she FINALLY finished, I noticed that my cheeks were wet with tears (?) that had come from somewhere. I never actually cried, but the pain was just so excruciating that my eyes leaked from all the wincing.

And then she said I have to go back and see the Periodontist so they can do it all over again and make sure all the plaque has been taken care of. Oh hell no.

To make me feel better she told me she was going to polish my teeth next and handed me a menu of a few different flavors of polish to choose from. I’m not sure how choosing between Bubblegum, Wild Cherry, Mint, Chocolate, and Wintergreen is supposed to make me feel better about her having just raped my gums, and it actually ended up being a tough decision to make, but in the end, Wild Cherry won out, and it did make me feel a little better.

A very humbling and humiliating experience. It was a huge wake up call that I have to be more diligent with this sort of thing because it only takes a little lapse in maintenance for things to get out of hand. And honestly, I’m twenty-seven years old, I should be mature enough to take better care of my chompers.

After work, I stopped by the drugstore and upgraded my toothbrush to one of those snazzy Sonicare brushes. And based on the information I’ve read on them (because this is pretty much all I obsessed about all day), these brushes are just one step below a magic wand. In fact, I think you can even play Quidditch with it. So hopefully, this will also aide me in keeping things cleaner and healthier than ever before.

I also stocked up on those fun little flossy things that come on their own stick. I always thought they looked like little floss toys, and I’m more apt to play with a toy than fumble with three feet of string, so hopefully these will make it easier for me to actually start flossing more regularly as well.

And from this day on, I am going to be much more diligent about getting back to the dentist every six months. How could I not?! I mean, I’m really anxious to try those other flavors of polish.

That’s enough incentive for me.

I just got home from attending a friend’s Birthday/Housewarming Brunch/Party in Washington Heights. I hadn’t been to that neighborhood in at least five years since I had lived there. It’s always weird going back somewhere that you used to spend every day of your life, but have since left behind for such a long time. You are instantly flooded with memories of those days and then smacked with the realization of “Oh sweet Jesus, I’ve gotten old.”

Her apartment was really cute. I had forgotten how spacious some of the apartments up in that neighborhood could be. Her hallway was probably the widest one I’ve ever seen in a NYC apartment. Things like that would probably go unnoticed in apartments or homes anywhere else in the country, but in this city, where hallways tend to be of the long, dark and narrow variety, hers was so wide in comparison that it was the first thing I noticed upon entering her place. I believe the I commented on it by saying “You could do pirouettes in that hallway!” And if there weren’t people there that I didn’t personally know all that well, I would have proven that statement by demonstrating.

While at the party and in transit to and from I was able to point out some of the locations that set the scene for some of the more interesting things I had experienced in those days. For example, The Popeye’s where the clientele started gay bashing me one night. The subway platform where I was mugged at knifepoint by two guys. You know, those special times we cherish and hold on to.

While at the brunch I realized that I never actually threw a housewarming party for my current apartment. In a couple months, I will reach my two year anniversary in this place, and I never got around to throwing a party. I would totally organize and plan one now, because, well, we could always use the gifts that come along with such events, but I feel like having one two years after I actually moved in would be a little tacky and pretty transparent.

Plus, then I would actually have to clean my apartment, and why even bother pretending that that will ever really happen.

I think at this point I just need to cut my losses and come to terms with the fact that I missed out on having one and move on. But if anyone wanted to get me a belated Housewarming gift for that party I always meant to throw but never got around to, I certainly wouldn’t stop them.

And maybe as a thank you, I would give that very generous person an invitation to the Dinner Party I plan to throw. Because, you know, I’ve had “Host a Dinner Party” on my Life List for about 15 months now, and have yet to even remotely consider actually doing it.

Because, if it were to happen, it would be another instance of me having to actually clean my apartment. AND prepare and cook a meal. That people will actually eat. And hopefully enjoy.

Yeah, never gonna happen.