Nobody Bothers Me!

I've been feeling nostalgic today - I found the myspace for a favorite DC band from back in the day, 9353 (page launches with music, this is your only warning)& very tangentially, remembered that a favorite old commercial is now on youtube. Without further ado, I bring you Jhoon Rhee's Taek Won Do commercial extraordinaire:

Thanksgiving

I'm a little late on to post on this topic, but want to make sure to get this in. We had a terrific Thanksgiving this year. J's parents came out for the weekend and J & his mom put together an amazing meal. Risotto, collards, turkey, and a blueberry pie for dessert. J & I have birthdays around Thanksgiving, so for our gift, we asked J's mom for help organizing our kitchen. It was terrific fun and very helpful - the best gift in a long time. They left town just before we were snowed in.

Starting with the above, I have much to be thankful for; food to eat, a warm house, good friends and family. I spent a great deal of time this year tracking down a health problem that it turns out has been taking the fun out of living for me & has been around for almost a decade. With help from several doctors, I've been able to get it corrected. This year, I got to enjoy time with my Mom at her 75th birthday. My sister & brother-in-law came out for a visit & we all had a great time together. J got to perform with other semazens at the Lincoln Center. We had the first harvests from our garden. We celebrated our five year anniversary. We are thinking about having children.

My thanks on a larger scale goes out to folks who are holding the light of peace in places where there is little of either. I have heard in these times (which seem dark to me) that the destructive elements are in their dying throes - that it is that truth that makes them seem so violent and overwhelming. I am hoping that with renewed health I can join in with my friends who are more active in voicing their concerns, in looking for answers and applying them. For now, I send out my thanks.

This week is the week of Shebi Arus. We saw the ceremony in Turkey last year at this time. Already a caravan has started in California & folks are traveling to Portland for the big day. J has contributed more this year. I get so excited when I work with these good folks, I lose my perspectives and am not able to identify my limits, which are pretty significant for now. So I am sitting this year out, helping only where I know I can, whatever little that may be. This Saturday there will be a sema ceremony in our part of town. I'm looking forward to taking photos, since I'll be sidelined from joining the dance.

One hour to go

"Alonso of Aragon was wont to say in commendation of age, that age appears to be best in four things, —- old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read." Francis Bacon (from Wikiquote).

In less than an hour, I'll turn 40. Good times.

My mom used to be (rightfully) concerned that I was too interested in being older when I was young, 11 or 12 years old. I wanted to dive into my late teens and the associated risks were not a part of my view of how adults lived. Now that I'm older, I've been excited to reach 40. In my 30's, the last hour of which I'm savoring, I said over and over again how close I was to 40. Six years ago I was saying I was almost 40. I tease my friends about my ongoing enthusiasm for ageing, saying "You know what comes after 40? 50!"

A year or two ago, I thought of all of the people I could thank for their help in demonstrating how I could be a better person; Richie, Beth, Kachi, Richard, all of my friends in San Francisco - Pax, Andruid, Olive, Raisella, Miriam - folks at St. Martin De Porres soup kitchen... my friends now, sisters especially - Laura's example of a very sassy 40 leading the way. We're having a party tomorrow & though it's because of my birthday ostensibly, it's really for all of those folks who continue to show me the way, simply through being themselves.

I didn't get a chance to write out my thanks for Thanksgiving, but they are for all of those folks, named & unnamed. I'm lucky... I know that.