The Last One For 2011

My last post for 2011, and I better make it worth the effort. Last year at this time I made a decision, and here I am a year later and I am in a much better place in my life, with very little regrets. There are things I miss, but there are things I will always miss, and I am blessed enough to not want important things in my life. And that's that. It's funny, because on all the news reports on Times Square, the balminess over there is what everyone is mentioning, and I just went to throw the garbage and felt a chill. So it looks like I have a colder New Year's Eve here. So there, for better or worse, are the facts. 2011 was a pretty good year for me, but then they are all good years nowadays, since I want to always look at the good things. You know what, too? 2012 will just be better, better than the best. I know it will be. Let's all do this together!

Ratty - Out!

I have started my (now) yearly tradition of throwing 100 things before the New Year. I realize that I am still finding things I brought from the big move that can be disposed of. There are quite a number of things I brought that are still in boxes, and between now and Saturday, I will dig a lot of them out, and chuck them. Just last night, I am finding T-Shirts that are really ratty looking. And I had planned on using them for lounging at home, but I have enough lounging tees so I am eyeing the real ratty ones to throw away. Or even the halfway ratty ones, they could go, too. I am just glad that I got rid of all the kitchen stuff from long ago, but there are times when I do miss them, like the other day when I needed to use a tong and couldn't find one. But, those instances are few and far between.

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

There's Got To Be A Morning After

And just like that, Christmas is over. All the stress, all the preparation, gone in 24 hours. But it's not over yet, that spirit of giving and kindness can be left in our hearts for the rest of the year. I am just getting read now for the New Year, and this may be the last year of our lives if, indeed, all the predictions for 2012 being the end of the world, prove to be true. Let's live this year fully and make it count. 

"Where there is much light, the shadow is deep."  - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This Christmas I Give You My Heart

Christmas is almost here, and it's quiet right now. I marvel at how stress-free this one has been. I bought my gifts way back when I was in New York, and whatever I bought recently - not really much - has just been "incidentals."  My life now is just totally more quiet, and I like that. With old age comes a desire for serenity. I love how it's not nearly now about material things for me, for I value life experiences  much much more nowadays. In an hour or two, we are all going to my brother's house where there is a little bit of a spread. I have my specialty "Pernil Puerto Rican Style" roasting in the oven and it should be ready by then. Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

A Day

Here is the photo of the Botteha Veneta.  Ever since I got my iPhone, i have been taking Daily Pictures for the photo blog I created: 

luhaday.blogspot.com

A Picture A Day takes the Luha away !

The Gift

The Holidays are really here, whether we like it or not. I got my sister's gift today. She had been harassing me in regards to what to get me, and I honestly didn't want her to get me anything. I told her that I understand times are tough ow, and she has kids, and I wanted her to make them her priority, but she was insistent, and was incessantly texting me, so I acquiesced. I told her to get me the small bottle of Bottega Veneta. I have been admiring and testing the thing for a couple of times now, but every time I try to get it, something better always comes up for me to buy. Every time I sniff it, the combination of jasmine and the buttery leather always gets to me, and it's a reasonably-priced gift, too so I am happy about getting this now, and will be wearing it tomorrow. I finished the last lot of my Christmas shopping last night, at the mall, of all places. I can't remember the last time I went mall shopping, and I thought it was going to be a madhouse, but it was surprisingly pleasant. I did the bulk of my shopping in NYC when I was there the beginning of the month, so this year I am not as stressed. It will definitely be a very different Christmas this year, my first here at the desert. I look forward to it, there's a novelty to the whole Holidays here that I am enjoying. My first Christmas somewhere else after 27 years, who would have imagined?

Hunting Hunter

Health Is Wealth

I started new blood pressure medication last week and when I was in LA noticed that I was having some nausea and vertigo, so when I got back I called my doctor and told her what was happening. She told me she was going to give me new medication but it has been so busy today that I didn't even suggest picking it up. And when I checked my blood pressure earlier, it was high. I hope I get to be better. I always go through this whenever I change medication, and it is kind of frustrating for me. Oh, health is wealth. I hate when I don't feel well.

"If Shadows could talk they would tell us there is gold to be mined, in every experience." - Debbie Ford,

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