Let's get the formal introductions down shall we? I'm Mark! Hi.
Kinda jumped the gun and forgot to put a "proper" first post I was so eager to start! On second thought no. I'm actually glad my first post was a photo of my brother resurrecting our ginormous 7-year old Egyptian hookah that we haven't used in 4 years. Why? Because this page is the rekindling of an old idea I had almost four years ago. Anyone remember planking? I thought it was pretty amusing but I felt iI could go a little further.
I was on a hike with my friends Maggi and Daniele (It's pronounced: Dahn-yeh-lee, his family is very italian but I digress), on a very difficult trail in Cold Spring, NY called Breakneck Ridge. I was not adequately prepared for this trail. We also got lost for five hours. I had worn out and hyperextended both of my knees. I was very tired and ended up calling out sick to work so that I could recover. We had just crested a hill to get to a viewpoint before our exit and then I told Daniele that I was going to lie down. Maggi had her camera with her and that's when this photo happened:
I showed this photo to some friends and posted it on Facebook and got some response to it. And then I came across Where The Hell is Matt? and Improv Everywhere. And I totally dug their way of trying to spread positive energy by going around the globe and in random cities and places with the locals. That's when over a few beers; my friend Dan and I came up with the idea of Mark is Down. A humorous little blog where people suggest a place for me to go; be it a restaurant, a landmark, whatever; and snap a funny photo of me looking like I had face planted, was being attacked by an unruly mob of people, or being dragged against my will by friends/enemies/strangers.
Then life as always got a little hectic and this little thought sat on the back burner for quite a while.
So after just about two years of intense procrastination, I've finally gotten this blog going. The whole point of this exercise is just to promote a good laugh and give people something absurd to smile about and really just to have fun. I also want this to be a source of some hopefully useful inspiration to get people to think outside their comfort zone and to really connect with others around them. There is so much out there that so many of us never get to experience and see because we become too complacent and take our time for granted.
I spent 4 years working in a UPS package sorting warehouse as a loader, sweating from the physical pain and exhaustion of moving 1500 packages 6 days a week. Since then I have been working for 5 years now as a Patient Care Technician in the adult Medical Intensive Care Unit in a South Bronx community hospital. I have seen and felt the many faces of despair, anger, sadness, pain and mourning of families with loved ones who were dead or dying. I have also witnessed the joy, hope, relief and gratitude that comes from those who recover, from newborns, children, parents. It made me so much more acutely aware of how precious little time we all have.
I am 27 and was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, weighed 305 lbs, had high blood pressure, and a liver issue which needed to be addressed quickly not more than 4 months ago. With a lot of effort, support, and positive thinking I managed to reverse and control all these problems. As of this post I am 259lbs.
These experiences are what fuels my drive to live as fulfilling of a life as I possibly can. And if I can do it making new friends and generating laughter and creating new stories along the way then I have accomplished my mission. Find your passions, rekindle them, and pursue them. Stop living like zombies and go out there and make life amazing and not a burden. Lets make each other laugh! See you out there and live extraordinarily.
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