imisstony.com

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Guh, Valencia


First day in Valencia was a bit of a drag. Starting off the day hungry and exhausted didn't make things easy. It's a nice city architecturally. There's a very 'seaside' feel to parts of it. I spent most of my day popping into Horchaterias for a soothing cold rice drink while I tried to think about responding to these gnarly commments. By the end of the day, I realized that all of this anonymous posting makes it sort of pointless to respond. I never really know who I'm talking to or who's posing as who. In this sort of flame war, people start getting silly, attacking each other's grammar. (Above, I was even trying to figure out whether I was supposed to use "whom" somewhere... but I can't be bothered right now to review my English skills when I'm desperately trying to figure out how to order food properly in Spanish)

So the beginning of the day, worn out and moody from hunger, I kept thinking of ways to explain my trip again but I've already done that. Then I wanted to discuss my thoughts about the future since some mystery dude from my old college dorm seems to lose sleep over it. I'll get into it a bit since I seem to be in the rambling mood.

I started this trip with a life savings and zero debt. When I end this trip, I will most likely have some debt. Face it, it's the American way, baby. But I think of this debt as a college loan. I'm gaining knowledge and experience from this trip that I haven't even realized yet. I get excited some days while I'm lost in a foreign city because at some point, I will unlearn what I've learned so to speak.

When I return to the states, I believe I have options. I will deal with my debt as I've dealt with it before. Work. Simple as that. What I will do, I have no idea. You see, I am scheduled to return in 2008. I have absolutely no idea where my life will lead me.

==at this point the other half of this blog was lost due to connection problems==

The missing part of this blog really got into some dark area so maybe it wasn´t meant to be shared. The gist of it was that I had at one point, just over a year ago, wanted to conform to what society dictated was the ´right´ path. I watched as friends got the better jobs, a spouse, and a dog in the yard. I envied it. I decided that´s what I wanted too and I was never so excited in my life to finally know what I wanted. But the powers above said it wasn´t meant to be. And I was crushed. Crushed to the point where I didn´t think life was worth continuing.

Thank goodness my passion was reignited because since then, I´ve seen Honolulu, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, London, Cologne, Havana, Dublin, Edinburgh, Krakow, Prague, Amsterdam, and currently, Spain! This is the dream coming true. I´m livin´ it man! I am truly blessed. It´s an amazing planet on which we live. Don´t forget that. We all have some part to play in it. It´s overwhelming. I´m overwhelmed. This is my time to get a grasp of some of it.

I´m sorry for rambling so much but I carry this in my head all day and it weighs on my shoulders. I hope that this can still be a safe place to unload some of it.

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14 Responses to “Guh, Valencia”

  1. # Anonymous Anonymous

    TONY!! Let me just tell you that reading the comments of "Anonymous" and I may have spelt that wrong and I don't care, made me mad.

    Who are they to judge you!!?? With that level of language, it just sounded pompous. I would blow it off.

    The rest of us think you are doing the most awesome thing in the world and it is truly an accomplishment to take a step (leap) outside of your comfort zone, risk losing your savings for an experience that only a few have conquered!! I love living vicariously through you through "imisstony."

    Lastly, in response to your last blog, I do have the perfect spouse and a job that I love, and I still have dark days wishing I had the other things...the kid, the house, etc. No matter what we've accomplished in life, there is always room to want more.

    You are wrong to think that you haven't accomplished as much as your married, dog in the yard, with a good job friend counterparts. You have done so much. For goodness sake, you had a film in a film festival! You are one of the most sincere, and fun people to be around, etc. I think "Imisstony" should be renamed, "Welovetony." Everyone whose gotten to be a part of your life is truly lucky. You rock.

    By the way, that Spanish accent in the valencia video is so great!! I almost fell off my chair laughing!!

    LOVE, AMY SY

    So anybody who wants to point out any of my grammer mistakes can know exactly who or whom to send them too!  

  2. # Anonymous Anonymous

    LA CUBANA! damn those stubborn ghosts!

    (manash)  

  3. # Anonymous Anonymous

    P.S. We're waiting until October to buy you a meal because Dan wants you to be in Vietnam so he can buy you one of those eggs with the chic still inside. EW! :)  

  4. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Dear Critical Guy (or those who find him agreeable),

    I don't expect you to even begin to comprehend the usefulness and importance of the journey Tony is taking. No medical books will explain it; no scientific formulas will justify it; but at the end of the day, not only will Tony will benefit from it, but also the world as a whole.

    You see, suppose at 29 you have started the next chapter of your life, full with a wife that allegedly loves you, kids that you will provide for and dogs that you take for walks in your suburban white-fenced neighborhood. Suppose this chapter will continue for another two decades, when your kids will leave you, and you start thinking about the next and final chapter; retirement.

    Then what? By this point your life will have no meaning, and the only thing you will have to show for it are thousands of prescriptions, memories of dissecting frogs in med school and the many nice cars you had leased over the years.

    And when you're gone, the most a person can say about you is that you fixed things that were broken. If you weren't there, someone else would have. You didn't add anything to the world and left it unmarked.

    Meanwhile you have someone like Tony who doesn't live his life in three boring chapters of education, work and retirement. His chapters are endless and there is never any talk of retirement. He's at a stage where he's taking in the world in which we live in, and once this world is processed by him, it will reappear in the form a lifetime of books, films and meaningful relationships. He will one day have his wife, but he will love her more than you could ever love yours -- because he will know the true meaning of love.

    So as you will sit on your death-bed (and I hope you live to be a 100), and you glance over and find one of your grandkids reading a book written by Tony (or someone like him), you will realize that it was you who had chosen the more meaningless path in life, not Tony. It will be then that you will wish a friend of yours had warned you about a lifetime of mediocracy. But by then, it will all be too late...

    Azad  

  5. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Critical dude, you appear to be a shallow man. There is more to this world than the rules you grew up with and now cling to as if they were the only guidelines to accomplishment and self fulfillment. Trust me dude, there is way more to life than SATs, MCATs and GPAs. I mean WTF? I am almost certain you are one of those Americans we all laugh about in Europe: close minded, righteous and self absorbed. Also, men who travel get laid more - that is a fact buddy.  

  6. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Tony!!!! I miss you!

    Wow... looks like some madness going on here, so I thought I'd throw in my support and encouragement.

    What you're doing is awesome. I wish I could do it... In fact I can but, for now, I choose to finish up my degree and see what path that leads me down. Is that the right choice? I don't know. I know I'm getting older and it's going to be harder to travel... And I want to make sure I see the world while I'm still young and can enjoy the adventure. But I'll see soon enough and maybe I'll travel after I'm out of school.
    But do I envy you, because you had this opportunity and choose to take advantage of it. I also think it will help you gain perspective into what you want and what you value. Each person has a different perspective on what they value in life and it seems that the poster disagrees with your decisions due to their perspective on life... That is fine and they have that right but do what you feel is right and learn what you value.
    A steady 9-5 job, wife, and dog are easy things to get... But is that for everyone? No... And it's definitely not something I'm looking for right now.

    I've always planned out my life and probably would be married and with kids and a dog by now if I had not gone to the hippie high school I went to and met such great friends like you and my other artsy fartsy friends. Because of those experiences I've been able to open up my mind and see new perspectives and ways of living.

    I agree with Julian that the anonymous poster sounds like a typical "closed minded American" but more so someone who didn't question what was always sold to them by their parents, the media, and many more outlets. I do not think arguing with this person will help because it would be like trying to explain a 3d world to a 2d creature... He/she will never understand until they can gain the perspective and experience to properly understand it. And I do not mean this as a slight or insult. We are all ignorant in various ways but we must accept this and then try and maturely move forward trying to continually educate ourselves so we can properly deal with this problem. And with the experience you gain on your trip, I am sure you will chip away at various things you were previously ignorant of.

    With that in mind, I hope that this poster will possibly get a chance to learn what else is out there. Remember that ignorance can be bliss and you can achieve all your goals in life if you take a myopic view and limit it to only the few things that you are told to do. For the rest of us who continue to question and experience all that life can give us, I say, good luck on the journey.

    I'm jealous, proud, and happy for you and hopefully I'll get the chance to visit you near the winter break.

    OK... I think I've rambled enough and I hope that I've articulated what I wanted to say clearly enough.

    If the poster would like to speak about this then I can also be reached at gillies-at-usc.edu.  

  7. # Anonymous Anonymous

    I second the motion the site be renamed welovetony.com because--DUH!--we do!!!

    Of course, we all know Tony is much too humble to do anything of the sort, but that's part of why we love him so darn much.

    Well, that at his fabulous head of hair. =P  

  8. # Blogger Nik

    Hallo Tony, Hallo to all the other people, who actually have time to read these comments.
    I have had sex with about 74 women (at a 75 % female orgasm rate with 15% multiple orgasms), accidently had sex with 2 men ( it was an orgy, dark and they saved their butt).
    Now i´m married and have 5 kids ( 2 adopted). I am a millionaire, have 312 good friends (at least 2 friends, male and female of each race and religion), 678 friends who like me more than i like them and 31547 contacts in Skype . Also i successfully studied medicine, law, economics and genetic engineering.
    As you can see, I am very successful in life.

    How did i do it? What´s the trick? Why me? Why not you?

    I will tell you. You just have to follow my 10 step plan:
    1. Never travel
    2. Study hard
    3. Be or become a citizen of USA
    4. Masturbate 3 times a day
    5. Spend all your spare time on and in the internet
    6. Avoid peolpe like tony ( i think they are vampires)
    7. Never eat fish
    8. Only deal with people smaller and weaker than yourself
    9. Read the bible (strongly recommended after masturbating)
    10. Avoid arts at all cost
    11. Be smarter than everybody else and tell them what they are doing wrong

    Tony it is not to late. Come back. Don´t visit Julian in Berlin. He is the biggest threat to success you will ever face.
    A Critical Guy is right. This is all a huge waste of time.

    Nik  

  9. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Damn, Studio City house is representin today!

    Love ya, t-balls!  

  10. # Blogger Unknown

    I love the picture :)  

  11. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Nik

    I'm following your plan. I have done 3,4,5,6, well i'm doing 4 a couple more times a day than you recommended in hopes that it will speed up the process of success.

    Thanks for the advice.

    CS  

  12. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Ah, Tony if this is what is taking up room in your head, I think you need more drinks. Uh, and the American way would be to collect as much debt as you can and then file chapter 13.

    Charley  

  13. # Blogger Tony

    Sometimes I carry this stuff in my head. Other times, my heads just full of sunflowers and bumble bees.  

  14. # Anonymous Anonymous

    It's chapter 11...you canadian freak. Go back to where you came from...canadian freak!  

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filmgen@yahoo.com A 29 yr old filmmaker from California traveled through Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia/NZ over ten months from April 2007 to March 2008.



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    2007
    April 6:
    Cuba
    April 30:
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    Scotland
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