And All Is Well

Just got back from Dim Sum, and all is well. The long weekend served its purpose, and now I am rejuvenated and ready to go back to work. I have a lot to look forward to during the week, and as I aid all is well. I am ready to roar. I still have two slots to fill for my theater viewing and I am getting very close as to what y decision would be. And again, in that case all is well. I feel much better now.

"God turns you from one feeling to another And teaches you by means of opposites So that you will have two wings to fly, Not one." - Rumi,

Relax

I am calm right now, and that's just fine. There is something rally good in stillness. I finished a book in an afternoon, and I feel really relaxed. Isn't that what I always crave, though? Shortly after this, I will pop a Blu-Ray and watch, and that's all I want to do right now. By the middle of the coming week, i will be in New York, and I am still finding the right balance for these trips. The last time I kind of did not where I fit in the city yet, but I have a better idea now. I will still be going through trial and errors, but my expectations now are more realistic. I also don't want to overtire myself this time around, cause that happened the last time. That way, I can enjoy the experience better. I also don't have the overwhelming need to see everyone and everything because pacing is key. 

Art washes away from the soul
the dust of everyday life.
~ Pablo Picasso

The Turkey Day At The Desert

So yeah, it's Thanksgiving. Or it was. My first one here, and it was kind of sweet actually. I wanted to do a turkey but I know I would be the only one who would eat it, so I got a whole chicken, which I baked and roasted. It was a country french recipe - with white wine and celery and onions, and it came out well enough. Plus, they wanted me to do Puerto Rican Pernil so I did that as well, and that was pretty fantastic, and was the hit of the table. It was just me, my dad, my brother and his wife, and the dogs. It was simple, and kind of sweet, and it was perfect for me. I don't think I would have wanted a bloated affair with me trying to be all fake with people I don't know. Same time last year, I never would have thought my next Thanksgiving would be at a desert. I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a little wistfulness, and truth be told, I never really appreciated it as much, and took it for granted most times. I kind of loved the parade of Broadway shows and tore up a little bit. But I will be there next week, so there's a lot to look forward to. 

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tristesse Dos

Holidays After All

So now it looks like we will having a Holiday Reunion after all.  Jeff had asked me a while back if I was available the second weekend of December to go to LA, and I really was unsure, but I just had a flash today, and I said why not, and then it was like kismet that I got an email from Spirit Airlines advertising $17.00 fares to LAX, and I just said fuck it all, and bought tickets. I haven't asked at work, and I of course will have just gotten back from NY by then so it's gonna be tight, but it should work, and it should be fine, and I am just glad I will be seeing Pipo and Jeff and Mike that weekend. It promises to be a repeat of the Pipo birthday weekend with the same cast of characters and it was so much fun the last time and it will be yuletide fun this time. The funny thing now is that Pipo is still in South Africa right as I type this and he doesn't have a clue that this is all going to happen. I think that he just thinks it's Jeff who is arriving and when he arrives it will be Welcome Back, and guess what we are all going to be there ! Hallelujah!

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." - Groucho Marx

Incessantly

I love Adele and I love her song "Someone Like You," but for heaven's sake pop radio plays that song at least once every half an hour. Seriously. Our secretary has the local Top 40 radio station on and they play that song incessantly. I sometimes don't want to hear it anymore but it just is that kind of song that will hit you, and no matter how many times you have heard it, well, a good song is still a good song.  I just heard it and I am in love with the song again. and again, and again.

Music washes away from the soul
the dust of everyday life.
~ Berthold Auerback

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

I was at the Supermarket tonight and of course, I know that Thanksgiving is just around the corner so I see all the ads and specials for turkey and pumpkins, but they were playing Christmas music the whole time and it just kind of surprised me. Well, I know I shouldn't be surprised but it just stuck to me, and right there in the middle of the produce aisle I realized it will be my first Christmas here and I don't know how I feel about that, I am honestly still processing the idea in my mind. Oh how my life has changed from a year ago, like night and day. This time last year, I don't even think the move was an iota of idea in my mind. And look at me now. While at dinner last night with a bunch of people, someone asked me "Are you happy here?" and I couldn't answer the question.

"The bliss you seek Can't be found by another Not friend or dad or mom or lover Begin within and you'll see Its yourself that sets you free." - Jackson Kiddard

Sushi And Sake

For The First Time

I never thought I would do it, but there is always a first time. Last night, i went to a Pacquiao Party. I thought I would hate it, but I didn't, honestly. Well, most of the time, I isolated myself to read via my Kindle, but when the main fight started, I went to the main room with everyone and started watching. And it was kind of exciting, to tell you the truth. I now understand why people love it. Is it something I would always do? Probably no. My taste would tend to be more towards Hugh Jackman Back On Broadway.  But it is always interesting to see how the "other side" lives.  I do hate what the win does for Filipinos - they become these arrogant, belligerent people who thinks they are the shit. I still contend that one person's success does not mean it's the whole country's. But then, I mostly just steer clear of them when they start getting unbearable, and it was back to the Kindle for me afterwards. 

I begin to understand as never before
that holiness is made of dailiness,
of living life as it comes to me,
not as I insist it be.
~ Joan Chittister

Veterans

I just want to thank all the veterans who have served our country so we could be free. Oh, and I also want to thank them because tomorrow, because of the day honoring them,  there's no work! So hurrah, hurrah, hurrah. Plus it's 11/11/11, and isn't there some kind of asteroid that's supposed to hit something? I just keep on hearing Rufus Wainwright's song "11:11" in my head, and right now I am just in that place where I may actually relax. Do you realize it is almost Thanksgiving? Wow, time is sure flying by fast.

"If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Delilah's Fault

So maybe it was all Delilah's fault. We were on the car this evening, when while flipping through radio stations, chanced upon the Delilah show. Oh wow, I used to listen to this a long time ago, but I haven't in such a long time. And it is still as cheesy and saccharine as ever, but in my heart of hearts, I loved it. All these people falling in love, falling out of love, falling back in love. All the stories may sound the same, but the beats of each heart are so different. And beautiful. And when I got home, saw the GLEE episode, and it's the one about first love, and first time, and it just tore me apart. I am such a wreck, that I found myself hysterical in tears and I look at myself in the mirror and I ask myself, how did I get here, at this point of my life, and I had no answer.  but now I am okay, and I can just say I like the way I have lived my life, mistakes and all. And I vow never to listen to Delilah again. 

My private measure of success is daily.
If this were to be the last day of my life
would I be content with it?
To live in a harmonious balance
of commitments and pleasures
is what I strive for.
~ Jane Rule
  

Cutey Critters

Fall Back

We got an extra hour of sleep, yay. So of course, I woke up earlier than normal. But maybe because my body clock is one hour earlier? It's been a very quiet weekend, I had a lot of shows on my DVR and I took time to catch up with them. So, I am finally caught up with PAN AM. The series really picked up steam after a couple of episodes. I glad I stuck with it because now the characters are a lot more interesting, although I think the tone of the whole series needs to be more focused. And I still think Mike Vogel is the cutest thing. Unfortunately, I found out he is a Fundamentalist Christian, which means he is probably homophobic. This almost makes me want to stop watching the series. And I just realized Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I don't even know if I am doing any kind of celebrating this year, but it is kind of frightening to think that Christmas is right around the river bend. Yikes. 

Having been created in the image and likeness of God,
unlike trees or flowers or fire or the moon,
we are most fully human when we love, forgive
and work toward peace.
To be violent, vengeful or selfish is to be un-human!
~ Daniel P. Horan

Booked

I made a vow to visit back every quarter, and so far, so good. I have been checking fares daily and today it went down, and I said no more thinking about it, and boom, I bought the plane ticket. I also got my desired flight, the red eye going there which maximizes my time, and then leaving there Sunday afternoon, arriving here evening with plenty of time to spare to rest for the next day. I am just excited to go back, and I am now one by one planning the shows I will see, and just cross y fingers that everything works out. It will, I have faith.

"Perfect love is to feeling what perfect white is to color. Many think that white is the absence of color. It is not. It is the inclusion of all color. White is every other color that exists, combined. So, too, is love not the absence of an emotion (hatred, anger, lust, jealousy, covetousness), but the summation of all feeling. It is the sum total. The aggregate amount. The everything."

- Neale Donald Walsch