Still Kinda Summer

I am seeing all these updates of my East Coast peeps saying fall has arrived, and I am missing the "seasons" once again - that time when you start putting away all your summer wardrobe, and you start layering. Layering is a good thing, layering is one of my favorite things. Right now, the weather here is certainly more pleasant - it's not the scorching hot of summer anymore, but...it's still 89 degrees. It's not hot - there is a nice breeze and there is no humidity, of course, but it is still kinda summer. My morning walk is really nice now, but it is still kinda summer. Fall here is still kind of summer...and I miss my Autumns. But there's no point in missing, I guess.  I love my Kindle. It's smaller, and sleeker, and just like their advertisement, it fits at the back of your pants pocket. I really don't know what I did before this - imagine now I have almost a thousand books in this small gadget. It is kind of like when the iPod was invented. Now I can't imagine myself lugging around CDs. It's a digital world. We are living it now.

"Life is a great mystery to be lived moment by moment, not a problem to be solved once and for all."

- Jackson Kiddard

Reading Is More Fun Again!

I got a new Kindle. When they released the new regular versions yesterday and saw that the prices were down to about $70.00 for a regular one, I just couldn't resist. My current one is now from three versions ago, and I want to bequeath it now to my sister, who has been asking me for one for a long time now. I think of it this way - all the money I save now because I just download books will pay for this thing. And I have a new toy - it is definitely smaller, lighter, and the screen brighter, which is now perfect for my eyes. Ever since I started using the a Kindle, I can definitely say, Reading Is Fun Again! Now I just have to go through the arduous task of transferring all my book files to this new Kindle. I now have 800+ books , and more that I need to unzip,which I will now do so I can transfer a whole heap of words. I cannot wait. Oh, and to go back to my constant complaining about call center attendants from the Philippines, I was with one of them via Amazon earlier, and the experience was actually pleasant. I still cringe at their lame attempts of an "American" accent, but I am kind of happy for them. Oh, Jeebus, could I really be in a good mood?

"What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."

- Oscar Wilde

An Opening

Well, looks like next year's vacations plans are solidifying. Jeff and I got an email from Desiree yesterday saying that a spot has opened up on the Paramount Deck for the RSVP Danube River Cruise for next year. It was a quick decision - it was the room we wanted to be in, it just matches, and yes. I was just going to write an email to Jeff when there he was, calling me, telling me we should go ahead and do it. And then we did it. A couple of hours later, we get a confirmation and we are in. It was essentially a quick and painless process. And I never really looked at the ship website before, but I finally did (after booking the cruise, curiously) and now I am doubly excited because it looks like a glamorous ship, and the itinerary looks wonderful and all in all it looks like another trip of a lifetime. But then again, all the trips e take, we make sure they are trips of lifetimes. It will be the very first RSVP for us, and it would be kind of interesting, as we have done Atlantis before and we want to compare and contrast. Will it really be a calmer, more subdued crowd? I guess we will find out in July!

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

— Guillaume Appollnaire

Rajo Laurel for Nora Aunor

All So Predictable

Very rarely does it rain in Las Vegas, or so I have always been told, but it did yesterday, if briefly. I think the Universe was trying to tell me something, because I was walking from the movies and was totally contemplating going to the gym. I was almost totally not going to go, but then it started drizzling, and I heard thunder. And guess where was teh nearest "shade"? The gym, of course. So maybe someone, something, was telling me to go go go, and I just had to obey. I saw Abduction, which I review here,   but when I was deciding what to watch, it was a toss-up between that and "Sarah's Key," which is a French movie about the Holocaust, and I thought, well I think I would prefer something light and mindless. I kind of regret that now, but maybe not. Taylor is eye candy, but he didn't really show a lot in the movie. Plus, even though he seems "amnly" with all his martial arts and stuff, he has such gay voice that it is pretty hard to believe he doesn't play for the team. I predict years from now, he will come out and write a tell-all. It's just so easy. 

Instead of viewing God
as one who helps me accomplish my purposes,
it is now my joy to help God
accomplish the divine purpose -
seeking the best for others
and seeking the growth of the beloved,
which is to say everyone.
~ Philip Gulley 

Bit Of Time

Well, whaddaya know? Sometimes things do work. My Blu-Ray player is all set now to stream through Netflix, and it may have taken a little bit of time to get there, but I *am* there. I could just get very impatient at times. Patience has never really been my greatest virtue. But I try, I really do try. Tonight was my first day back at the gym and I feel good, at least about the fact that I was back. I know that I walk about a mile and a half a day, but I always feel like it's not enough. Actually, I know it is not enough. I had my blood pressure taken at work yesterday and I was surprised how it was on the higher side. Well, I have a confession to make - I have not really been regular with taking my medicine. Actually, I haven't been taking them of late. No wonder. I know it's stupid for me to be like this, but I have only myself to blame, so there you go. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't.

"Meet this transient world
with neither grasping nor fear,
trust the unfolding of life,
and you will attain true serenity."  

- Bhagavad Gita

Walk 9/21/11

I went back to working to work in the mornings, and I love it. here are the pics from my walk on Wednesday morning.

I Am Not A Baby

In a lot of ways, I am still trying to parch my life together. Work has been busy, and it is going to just get busier because my brother is going to be on the Epic. So right now, I am getting the bearings of doing everything. Right now, it seems like the vacation was so long ago, and, well, it was three weeks ago... The office gave me a new Blu-Ray player, because I want one that has an internal wi-fi so I can easily stream Netflix, and I spent a good part of the evening last night trying to set it up, and of course when you call,  it transfers you to a call center in the...wait for it.... Philippines. And the young man helping me was more concerned about projecting an "american accent" instead of helping. I love it when he says, "Tenks for wetting.." Instinctively, I wanted to snap back and say, what am I a baby?  By the end of the call, it seemed he was too helpless to give help, so I just quietly hung up when he put me on hold. I still haven't figured out why my screen blinks when I play a DVD (as opposed to a Blu-Ray disc where it works just fine) but I have the weekend free to figure it out.

No one tests the depth of a river with both feet.
~ Proverb (Ashanti)

 

44

Turning 44

There's a calm serenity right now here, as Jojo has left, and he was the last visitor to depart. I suddenly miss them all, and I am really thankful they came over and visited me for my birthday. This picture was taken Sunday night dinner at a restaurant in MGM Grand, and as you can see, we are all smiles as we had just finished a truly scrumptious dinner. But the company truly made it, though. Who would have thought that my 44th birthday (such a random number) would be so memorable, but thanks be to God it was so. I thought the best times where when we were all just hangin' out, doing nothing. It is at those times when we can all enjoy each others' companies, and those are the moments that make memories. And I shall always cherish the ones we made this past weekend.

Let 'Em Eat Cake!

That "Day"

So yeah, Jeff, Pipo and Jojo celebrated my birthday with me, and it really was a happy birthday. It was so nice to be surrounded with all your BFFs on your natal day. Since it was my first birthday here after the move, I don't know how I would have felt  if I had spent it alone. But then again, birthdays aren't as big a deal to me anymore. I firmly believe now it's just another day. But I am just grateful that this year, it was special, because I was with very special people in my life. It couldn't have been better. Jeff and Pipo left this morning, and Jojo leaves tomorrow evening. I arrived back from London Thursday evening and it's been non-stop after that. I'm not complaining, mind you, because this is feel-good tired. But, I have laundry for days ....

"The future hasn't happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I'm in."

- Annie Lennox

A Provincial Pride

Las Vegas pride is kind of....lame. Maybe I have been spoiled by having gone to the best Pride Celebrations that this one pales. Plus, the people - I know I will sound like a snob by saying this, but Pride does bring out the riff raffs of any city. But anything is what you make of  anything, of course, and you can till have fun, and we still did. But then there are pictures!

Unsaved Memories

Jeff lost his portable hard drive, along with all his photos in there. We had more than a hundred photos from last night which got lost, except for one which was saved, this one:

Everything Is Unique

Just thought I would post this week's horoscope for me, from Rob Brezny.

"Everything is unique," said the 19th-century
authors known as the Goncourt brothers, who wrote all their books
together. "Nothing happens more than once in a lifetime. The physical
pleasure that a certain woman gave you at a certain moment, the
exquisite dish that you ate on a certain day -- you will never meet either
again. Nothing is repeated, and everything is unparalleled." Of course this
is always true. But I suspect you will be more intensely aware of it in the
coming days than you have in a long time. In part that's because the
sensations and experiences headed your way will be so piquantly unique,
so exquisitely fresh. And in part it's because you'll be wide-awake to the
novel pleasures that are possible when you appreciate the fact that
everything changes all the time.