VirtualTourist Member Michael_D
| Page Views: 26,279 | ~Welcome to Sunny Florida~ by Michael_D - last update: Jul 26, 2008  |
When in doubt,,,try KINDNESS;-) PIC ABOVE=ME MINUS 71LBS. IVE LOST 92 NOW. I AM 201LBS. GOTTA GET A NEW PIC;-)
DAILY BLOG...I want to weigh under 200lbs, if only for a day. 207lbs at present. Lost 86lbs..woo hoo.
Mikies MantraBlog
-I am very eclectic as a person.
-a PHD with a contractors license who does musical theater SOMETIMES confuses othersLOL
-I can find something NEW to learn every day
-I love worldly things but have no desire to own them
-I have very firm core beliefs
-I DETEST unfriendly people
-I can tolerate almost anything but narrow-mindedness
-I grew up embarassingly poor, care about the poor, care about the downtrodden
-I PRAY for better leadership in America..the past 7 years were an embarassment of monuMENTAL proportions.
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STUFF DONE LATELY
MEMORIAL DAY...party...too much vodka n hot wimmin LOL
BRUSH FIRES,,,spent a weekend wetting down my roof. The smell of smoke was horrible and I could see the fire in the night in the distance. Scary indeed.
MARCH...JAX/OTOWN/VILLAGES/ST AUGUSTINE....great trip...Dorothy from Canada visted
-INTERNATIONAL BOWL TORONTO
Rutgers 52 Ball St 30
One great day. One GREAT trip!
To/from Orlando in ONE day!!!
Total cost $390!!!!!!!!(including airfare ..woo hooo!)
2x in Toronto this year,,definitely less stressfull than the 1st trip(by far)
-THE HOLIDAYS..HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL-
St Pauls, Trafalger Square, Victoria Station... REAL friends, great pubs, ),at a 5 STAR hotel, Did a gig>THREE PENNY OPERA in York, good food...good people, great pubs, lotsa culture.
*Many thanks to Martin Ralf /hospitality and & HUGE THANKS to his 21 yr old son(attn DORKY) who was part butler, part chef, part tourguide and taxi driver the whole time we were there.(and a happy 21st Birthday;-) Luv to all.
-Then on to the warm weather to usher in the New Year...Orlando/Daytona/Villages..St Timothys...luvly weather,,heaven at 84F...I loves MY FLORIDA!
NEW YEARS bash at Ocala/Jumbolair(of John Travolta fame). Home in the wee hours....we toasted 2008 for a 2nd time! HAPPY 2008!
12/7
MT DORA XMAS PARADE
My friend Broadway actor and radio host Richard Ryan(we did PHANTOM together) was "grand marshall" called out "there is ONE incredible actor" as he drove by LOL(that would be>ME! LOL) Talk about "old home week"! DOZENS of old friends. What a GREAT DAY! I LOVES my Florida!
12/7
"Light Up Mt Dora" sang "ill Be Home For Xmas"etc ,,about 4,000 people
xmas tree lit up,shops open. Felt like a Charles Dickens vignette. Mt Dora= New England town architecturally that reminds me more of up north than most places up north..I consider Mt Dora it my town..inasmuch as Iived there the 1st 20 years;-) Last night felt like it was out of Dickens story....twas a nice/nice time.
11/26
Peter from Russia visits with his Marriot Volvo truck enroute to Miami. Villages, Starbucks, Golden Corral, photo albums and laughing into the wee hours.
10/18
IKEA OPENS IN ORLANDO.Live on TV. 1st 100 people get free recliner armchair. 99c breakfasts, lotsa good stuff, lotsa old memories worldwide(been to 2 in TorontoDORKYLAND), New Haven, Moscow and others). Amazing what thrills me these days hehehe
3/10
John Travolta WILD HOGS fundraiser in Ocala for tornado victims of Lake County. JT has an estate at JUMBOLAIR with a jet runway & is "in residence" about 4 mo a year. He pulled up on a Harley w/wife Kelly Preston & talked to us for about 20 minutes.It was a great time.(but still doesnt top my lunch/ Johnny Depp in Mt Dora story;-P
3/25
Jewish Art Week Celibration LOCH HAVEN PARK
sponsored by the Jewish Community Center in Maitland
A great time. Artwork, jewelry, ethnic food, Klesmer music, Israeli folk dancing & ooodles of great conversations,,a South African Charlize Theron look alike, to scads of New Yorkers, Israeli guy passing thru Orlando & Cornell grads who I LOVED sharing Ithaca NY memories with! |
|  | Sweet Sixteen |
I LOVES MY FLORIDA I live in the Greater Orlando Florida area Y'all!
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FLORIDA AS A PLACE TO LIVE
Im originally from New York, now live in SUNNY Florida & along the way lived in London, St Petersburg Russia, Barcelona, Colorado, California & New Jersey.
I grew up amidst bone chilling temperatures & mind numbing blizzards of (Rochester New York)7 month WINTERs. After my studies at Cornell & Rutgers~I raced to the warm embrace of my ORANGE BLOSSOM EMPIRE in Central Florida 24mi N of Orlando.
-YES! ...Florida IS wonderfull ...its FEB and 72F..hello!
-YES Southern folks are as friendly & hospitable as they say
Though I have had a Disney World yearly pass since 1985, you will find my Florida pages have very little about theme parks & alot on the REAL Florida>> nature, wildlife & charming INLAND small towns like Mt Dora, Eustis and Tavares....far from the devastation that hurricanes exact on those who choose to live in overcrowded beach communities along Floridas Coasts.
(Orlando Florida)
(Mount Dora Florida)
(Eustis Florida)
(Tavares Florida)
The picture is of Fort Matanzas beach, my favorite beach. It may not look like much...but its virtually the LAST beach on the east coast of Florida you can drive on and see absolutely NO high-rise condos;-)
-YES! ...Florida IS wonderfull ...its FEB and 72F..hello!
-YES Southern folks are as friendly & hospitable as they say
The REAL FLORIDA is more than the theme parks(though I am a seasons passholder at Walt Disney World) the REAL FLORIDA is so much more:
~DeLAND..Stetson Univ & a 16 sq mi historical district.
~NEW SMYRNA BEACH where locals go to avoid Daytona crowds
~St AUGUSTINE .. oldest city in America 5 different national flags have flown over it
~the clearwater springs & lofty trees of THE OCALA FOREST
~the Kentucky-like rolling HILLS & horsefarms of OCALA/Marion County
~Mt DORA...a city that was built to look like a New England town
~CROSS CREEK..home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlins
~WEKIVA FALLS...YES there are waterfalls in Florida!
~ROCK SPRINGS ..a river current strong enough for tubing comes out of a cave.
~the abrupt hills of CLERMONT(where WORLD CLASS triatheletes train and compete on HILLS) & a place most tourists bypass on their way to Disney World .
(Orlando Florida)
(Mount Dora Florida)
(Eustis Florida)
(Tavares Florida)
(click on any of the above) | | |
"Travel only with kindred spirits"
Summer REPORT CARD
-New York City..A+
..... St Pats, Battery Park,Staten Island Ferry, Central Park,ground zero,Union Square, Grand Central Station, B'klyn Bridge, Chinatown.
-Staten Island..A+
.....Yankees farmclub park,Russian churches,cheap eats,free place to stay,Gateway Bay Park, friendly NYers
-Rochester NY..A+ (if I ignore the downtown area LOL)
.....80 old friends, Drum Corps,Nick Tahou's, Swillburg, Cobbs Hill, Paetec Park, Clarion Hotel, Monroe Ave....childhood memories ..feel the love;-) Just dont stay downtown after dark;-(
-Ithaca NY........A+
... My Alma mater>Cornell campus, Cayuga Lake, Gorges, libraries, Taughannock Falls,Treman State Parks..I may be in Florida but my heart is in Ithaca.
-New Brunswick NJ..Rutgers A+...(NJ D+)
..Rutgers my other alma mater,Old Queens, Kirkpatrick Chapel, downside? its in NJ;-( but I survived!(NJ has some nice places but avoid Camden, Passaic, Hawthorne and RT1 at all costs!)
-Port Jervis NY..B+
.... tattered but quaint, 20mi r/t to NYC by train, Delaware River, High Point Park..I could live there
-Brockport NY...A
...uncrowded quaint Erie Canaltown, peacefull days, SUNY, friendly people,30mi from Rochester
-Albion NY.........B+
....even less crowded Canaltown, library/historical buildings, backroads, farms , the way life should be
-Buffalo NY........C-
...nice new subway but the Queen City(like a dowager in decline) has seen better days, 20% of the population has left, local GOV is asking for public donations to demolish 5,000 abandoned houses over the next 5 years...but Bocce Club Pizza is still king! I have nightmares of living there in winter
-Niagara Falls....D+
"Scarytown USA">cab driver shootings, boarded up main st and nasty cops(Niagara Falls NY) a slice of NJ in upstate NY. I was stranded here for 9 days(just sayin;-)
Toronto D+
(Toronto)
It has changed almost totally since I visited as a kid. Whats up with a city of 5 MILLION that has fewer expressways than a city of 200,000? Waaay too much traffic and pitifull hospitality.
Outstanding parks, great subway, Ontario Lakefront,Kensington/Chinatown/food, Pacific Mall, Vaughn(Israel or Russia ?)Scarborough Bluffs, U of Toronto, North York(my fav),Dempsey Park(thought about sleeping there after the 2nd day). Eaton Center,City Hall/Pakistani Independence Parade,$1 breakfasts at IKEA, bike rides. Never again.
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favorite sayings
"Ive come to rely on the kindness of strangers."
Blanche DuBois(Tennessee Williams)"A Streetcar Names Desire"
"When in doubt...try Kindness"
-ME;-)
"I am a mirror, ill pretty much treat people how they treat me"
-me ..again;-)
"Distance,,,solves many things"
Moisha-Stebbinsky
You get..what you "get".
-Werner Ehrhardt
"Whats it take to answer an email...30 seconds? If you cant answer my emails you cant be a friend"
Will Ferrell
"Hows that workin out forya?"
Dr Phil
| | | TOWER BRIDGE, LONDON(MY FAV CITY) |
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| BEFORE and AFTER...SHORTS ;-)SIZE 46 TO 34 |
| | New York New York Like I said
I am originally from New York YO!
(Bayside Queens originally, then upstate NY)
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MORE THAN YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT MOI
1-I love train travel of every kind
2-I speak English & Spanish fluently..Russian,French badly
3-love all sports NFL/NBA/CYCLING..Tour de France..even soccer
4-I detest UNFRIENDLY people
5-I adore Florida & warm weather
6-I love most music(except hiphop)classical $ jazz most
7-I was once an actor/have done 41 plays and some TV
8-I dont consider a trip of less than a month "travel";-)
9-I am an unabashed anglophile(means ENGLAND lover)
10-love Cornell University/Ithaca NY/The Finger Lakes
11-enjoyed Cornell Profs Carl Sagan (astronomy) & Kurt Vonnegut(Lit)
12-had Rutgers>Milton Friedman for economics(we didnt get along;-)
13-played football, lacrosse and swam/swim team in university
14-attended 5 Olympics/worked at 4
15-Love to cook..and eat food;-),in spite of it all..,just lost 86lbs;-)
16-I once had not one, but TWO sailboats(doh!)money drainers!
17-love TV...all CSIs esp. CSI Miami/Survivor/AMAZING RACE/Letterman
18-Would fit in just fine w/ the Monty Python group
19-Sang with & also managed an Opera Company in London
20-Once bicycled from Munich to Budapest 800mi and around the Island of Manhattan(52mi one way)twice |
ITHACA,CARL SAGAN, GORGES and WATERFALLS PICTURE on the right is on a quaint rural backroad near Ithaca in Upstate New York's Finger Lakes .
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"As hard as I have tried to,,I just dont understand people"
~Miguel Esteban del Lago Florida Garcia (y Lorca)~
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity"
~ Albert Einstein ~
"Dont complain, dont explain...your FRIENDS don’t need it and your enemies won’t listen or believe it anyway."
~(me)MSD~ | | | Ithaca in UPSTATE NEW YORK |
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| Orlando airport...2008 "Wheres my Mikie???" |
| | SVETLANA..
моя жизнь. Я думаю вас всегда
Our time in NYC and London and Florida was priceless!!!!!
But Christmas was better than all the above;-)
СОВМЕСТНО СНОВА СКОРО
Yessly vas mohzjenah?....ahh...tochno!..Pravda!!!
LIFE,,,is good! |
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 Comments for Michael_D | | | | |
Mariajoy Sat Jul 26, 2008 17:35 UTC
Hi Michael! Hope you are having a good weekend! Your diet is inspiring! I should go on one myself! Well done! :) | WorldMeet2008 Wed Jul 23, 2008 19:44 UTC
Your next trip? Make it really unique! It's not too late to attend WM08 - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv & Dead- Sea on 25- 28th Sept (+Petra 29-30th). We want to double the num of attendees to 100! Click to learn where, when, what, how, how much! Avi [FruitLover]. | nomad7890 Sat Jul 19, 2008 00:06 UTC
Yes ... no thunderboomies today so I can't tell what time it is. Packing up to work in the San Jose site next week and see my grandkids during the weekend. Yey! Some little league action during the weekend! | angiebabe Thu Jul 17, 2008 16:29 UTC
Hey I take that as such as a privileged comment hearing that thank you!Your page its great too for bopping all around it youve got so much fascinating stuff happening on it! Congrats on all that you are doing! |
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