How I Met Your Mother...The Finale

Now I know on the surface this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with what the basis for this blog is. The blog is an insight as to adventures and experiences I hope to have in my life, which I can one day tell my kids and if I’m lucky enough my grandkids. So then why the hell would I be writing my thoughts on a show that just wrapped up its season finale and sent the social media world into a firestorm. Well because the show in question, How I Met Your Mother, is actually a major influence in why I started up the blog (again....for anyone who’s been here since the early days.) The show inspired me to one day sit my children down, the same way ted does, and tell them some of the crazy stories and adventures in my life. Because in the end that’s all we really have, our stories.

I’ve had two days to process it all (and multiple viewings of the finale.) Now although it seems as though many people hated, loathed, despised, still can’t get over etc. etc. etc. the finale, I absolutely loved it and thought it was so phenomenally done that it’s a shame how many people have failed to realize the beauty in it. Now I come from a different breed of HIMYM fandom, I haven’t watched from the beginning as many (including a few family members) have. I instead started the series this past year thanks to Netflix, and in the past few months have managed to binge watch 9 seasons and 207 episodes on my laptop and Xbox to finally catch up and be able to watch the finale during its actual runtime. Now some may question how I can have opinions when I just started watching this past fall. However from the onset this show really hit home for me. All the subliminal messages about life and the bumps along the road really resonated with me. My life, like so many others, is far from perfect, but this show really brought to my attention that 1) I’m obviously not the only one and 2) NO matter how bad things may seem, there always is a light at the end of the tunnel. 3) But no matter what, you can only control so much of your life, the rest has to be left up the universe and its plan for action. So Monday night I sat down and said goodbye to one of my favorite shows in recent memory. And for that I thank you HIMYM.

Spoilers to Follow:

Now I understand why some people are so annoyed at the ending. They feel cheated that for 9 seasons they have been waiting for Ted to find the one, and when he finally does she’s gets killed off screen and the series ends where it began, with Ted outside Robin’s window with the Blue French Horn. But if you look into the deeper meaning and all the scenes that preceded it, you can see the true beauty in how they did this.  If you listen to Ted’s words, his actions are justified.

“Aunt Lilly wasn’t wrong, it was at times a long and difficult road but I’m glad it was long and difficult because if I hadn’t gone through hell to get there the lesson might not has been as clear. You see kids, right from the moment I met your mom, I knew I have to love this woman as much as I can for as long as I can. And I can never stop loving her not even for a second. I carried that lesson with me through every stupid fight we ever had, every 5am Christmas morning, every sleepy Sunday afternoon, through every speed bump, every pang of jealousy or boredom or uncertainty that came our way. I carried that lesson with me. And I carried it with me when she got sick, even then in what can only be called the worst of times, all I could do was thank god, thank every god there is or ever was or will be and the whole universe and anyone else I could possibly thank. And I saw that beautiful girl on that train platform and then I had the guts to stand up, walk over to her, tap her on the shoulder, open my mouth and speak…."

The entire basis of the show was Ted’s search for his one true love. And his words show that he did find her and he loved her as much as he ever could. The writers show that, Unfortunately for Ted, and so many other people in this world, fairy tales do not exist. The world is not perfect. People get sick, people die, things change. But the message Ted is trying to promote is that yes these things happen, but as long as you value every minute and every second of the time you spent together then it will forever be worth it. The same can be said for Tracy, who lost her first love too long. Yes we would have all loved to see Ted and Tracy live happily ever after and end up on the porch with Lilly and Marshall, but unfortunately the real world has its own agenda. Tracy reunited with his first love, leaving Ted the opportunity to reunite with his,

So why shouldn’t Ted, who loved his wife with every beat of his heart through all the good and all the bad, get a second chance at happiness? From the Pilot up until moments before Barney and Robins Wedding (another example that this world is far from perfect and unfortunately things don’t work out as planned) Ted and Robin have always had a special chemistry. Unfortunately for them, they were never in the right state to take it to the next level, Robin was a career driven woman who couldn't have children (and didn't want them either), Ted a hopeless romantic who couldn’t wait to have his kids on the couch hearing his stories (albeit like the blog you’re reading.) They shared a special bond, the same way all the characters had their own bonds with each other, and in the end the hopeless romantic that was Ted still had the iconic Blue French Horn as was able to continue his journey to happiness…..

The Time I Took My Wife on a Gondola Ride…

When you think of Italy, the possibilities of things that pop into your mind are endless…food, wine, history, soccer, Mussolini the list can go on and on, but if you get more specific and think of Venice the list of first thoughts will greatly narrow. And for many the first things you thought of when you heard Venice was Gondola.

Gondola with the Co-Conspirators.

The famed boats of Venice are one of the most iconic images of the great city and carry a unique mystique amongst the world. The thought of a romantic gondola ride has been something associated with the boat for years and years. Countless couples have ridden the solo captained boats throughout the canals of Venice. One day I hope to share such a experience with my future wife, where ever she may be currently. It wouldn’t be the first time I ride one of the boats but I’m will to bet it will be much more romantic then when I rode it with 5 of my buddies from High School, whom thought its be hysterical to try and convince the Gondolier to flip the boat so I fell out. Yeah, real romantic….

Nonetheless it was an awesome experience traveling thorough the canals which so many before me traveled. My first time was almost 7 years ago (as if I haven’t been feeling old enough as it is) yet it still resonates clearly in my memory.  It was then when I thought how awesome it would be to share this experience with someone truly special and it is now that I continue to imagine how the experience will go once I find her. Until that day I can do nothing but wait and dream, but hey that’s Life in a nutshell, a lot of waiting and a lot of dreaming. Until then…..

That Time I Took The Midnight Train Going Anywhere...

Don't Stop Believing.....motivational quote, inspiration in a difficult time, song we've all heard a million times. All are true, but it's the latter that is the reason for this post. It's actually a lyric from the song, but we'll get to that. Journey released Don't Stop Believing in 1981 so it's older than the majority of people reading this post (of course if anyone is actually reading this) and that fact aside the song still resides in 2014 to solidify its mega-hit status. It's a song we've all heard countless times in a bar or at karaoke, in restaurants and shops over the loudspeaker, it's been covered by Glee, featured in The Sopranos and heard at countless High Schools as students move on to college (Shoutout to VC 07.) It's a song that has transcended decades but it's a particular line that has it included in the bucket list...

"He took the midnight train going anywhere"

Sounds like a simple line but when you apply your imagination to it, the adventures can become limitless. Thus getting us to where we are now. Luckily for me NYC is home to two major trains stations that can take you thousands of possible locations. Penn Station and the more famous Grand Central Terminal (thanks to Cornellius Vanderbuilt, who if you don't known much about I strongly suggest watching The Men Who Built America.) The adventure starts when you enter the train station, whether it be the two previously mentioned or anywhere I end up in the future.

The lyric is where the story starts. Walk into the train station, find a midnight train (or as close to midnight as possible) and buy a ticket going where ever the trains last stop is. Get off and let your adventure begin...find a bar or a cafe or restaurant. Meet some locals, explore the town or if it's a ghost town, figure out how the hell you're going to get home. Anyway you spin it, it's going to be an adventure. So get out of your comfort zone, explore the unknown, meet new people, have a story to tell and don't stop believing.....

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That Time I Retraced My Steps...

If you know me, you know a couple of things, first that I have an (sometimes unhealthy) obsession with Italy and all things Italian, Second that I’m extremely sentimental and finally that I consider my time studying abroad in the aforementioned country as the best experience of my life. Since the day I returned that summer I have been trying with all my power to go back and one major reason is because of something I was unable to do.

The reason I hold the trip in such high regard because being over 4,000 miles away from home, it was the first time I was truly on my own. I grew both as an individual and as a man because I was very much outside of my comfort zone. I lived with a host family that was extremely busy so if I needed anything be it food, transportation, guidance or anything else, it was on me to do it.

So being the lost little sheep that I was, commuting to school proved to be a difficult experience at first. There was a bus stop on the corner of my apartment but I had never really traveled on mass transit and struggled to figure out when the bus would be there and how I would get to school. This is where the journey to find my way back to Italy begins. Because rather than figure out the big bad bus schedule, I decided for the first week of school to walk each day. The walk was a little under an hour but was one of the most unique parts of the trip. This is because I was lucky enough to walk through Villa Borghese Gardens (the equivalent to Central Park in the City) for majority of the trip. It was early in the morning when few people were in the par and you could truly enjoy the peaceful landscape.

Not A Bad View to Commute With

As enjoyable as the walk was, I eventually learned how to take the bus and save about 45 minutes on my commute. It was the last week of my trip when the sentimental side of myself came out. I wanted to walk to school one last time. Unfortunately or rather unluckily the last week of the trip was also the biggest party week for my classmates and me. Getting up an extra hour early on the last day of class with a splitting hangover is an extremely difficult proposition. So I did the only thing any right-minded hungover (rather contradictory but nonetheless applicable) individual would do; I took the bus to school. The fact that I was unable to retrace my steps to school is what has me writing this inaugural blog post about my bucket list. Before I die, hopefully a long time from now, I want to return to Via Monti Parioli in Rome and retrace my steps through the park into Piazza del Popolo and on into the heart of Ancient Rome…. 

Piazza del Popolo; My entry to Ancient Rome

Hopefully this can inspire you to go back and retrace some steps in your life that have a special meaning to you and hopefully I can share my experience with you all when it actually happens for me..