So Thankful...

...for many things, such as:
Narcisso, my love
Toby, Amos, Alistair, Peekaboo, Joseph
Quinnette
ICLA
Steve and Steve
Holly
the Flores-Kilgore clan
the Bassinger/Witte clan
the Sims/Derr clan
Debbie, Dave, Nickie
Alexis
St. Andrews Manor
Stephine and Isabelle
Midas
Ralphs (last minute turkey purchase saved dinner yesterday)
Gloria and Richard

None are perfect, but all are blessings.

Thanks for reading!

No Big Bear for us

After a grueling trek over an unfamiliar 2 lane mountain road in pitch black, this was to be our hideout for the weekend, with promised views of the woods, the lake and the slopes. Not so. A critical medicine was inadvertently left in Los Angeles, so we drove back through the night, down a "shorter" equally dark mountain road, back home to Koreatown. Oh, did I mention that the difficult-to-find cabin was not even available after we arrived (which coincided with the realization of forgotten medicine); the owner of our weekend mountain palace was already ensconced, watching tv, indignantly insisting that he had blacked out the whole month for his questionable hedonistic pursuits. Needless to say, we were useless the rest of the weekend.

Pain

I just caught a preview of a CNN special airing this weekend: C0mbat Hospital. I'm so lucky to live where I do and have the life I have, despite financial challenges, relationship struggles and vocational wandering. I have an incredibly low pain threshold and tolerance, and if I was a soldier or civilian hit by shrapnel or bullets or an exploding IED, I don't know how I could stand it. Let's end all war soon.

Today, you need to...

Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Independents, Libertarians, Communists, Socialists, EVERYONE needs to vote today! It's our right and our duty as citizens of this wack nation. I'll be watching CNN all day and tonight to find out what % of our populace got out of the house and braved last minute campaigners, foul weather for some, and the Big Brother-esque voting machines that we should monitor very carefully.

Weekend Review

Ah, let's see...

Friday night we STAYED IN as usual so as to watch Battlestar Galactica! If you aren't watching this show, you need to.

Saturday, lazy day. Discovered all the washers in my building are "broken" with no estimated repair/replacement date. Why this wasn't posted somewhere like on the bulletin board by the mailboxes is beyond me.

Sunday, we went to see "The Departed." Nothing like a mob/crooked cop movie on the Day of Rest! I was surprised at how many times I laughed in this tragic tale of rats and bullets through the head. Was justice served? You be the judge. Oscar for Scorsese? I won't predict.

I've started another blog for my mandala work, the idea being to share mandala facts and trivia, promote my Mandala Workshop enterprise, and post a daily mandala for you to enjoy. Check it out!

Mandala Workshop

I'm working on developing a mandala workshop that I can offer in the Los Angeles/Southern California region. Seems to be a shortage of people doing this here, which is surprising. Wish me luck! The Mandala Workshop website will be coming soon.

Masked Superhero and Faerie King

Narcisso and I and 500,000 of our closest friends threw a great costume carnival last night in West Hollywood! I think this was more fun than gay pride, since everyone was participating, everyone was "on parade," and there were no annoying barricades corraling folks into narrow, get-trampled-to-death pedestrian zones.

I was watching a CBS Evening News story last night about how kid-friendly Halloween has been hijacked by adults and sleazy costumes. I saw plenty of kids and parents traveling in packs trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. I also saw kids in West Hollywood dressed up, taking in all the craziness of the night. Halloween is for adults AND kids, for people of all ages. It's a night when anyone can wear a wig and make-up, eat disasterous amounts of candy, and revel in their community. Were it not for Halloween, I wouldn't be enjoying a day wearing fingernail polish, nor would I feel the kid in me remembering Halloweens from my childhood. It's hard to find things to celebrate these days, so I'm grateful for West Hollywood's open arms and the spirit of imagination and childhood enjoyed by so many last night. Sure, there were some drunken slobs momentarily dulling the ghoulish sheen of the night, but what I'll remember is a time apart from the daily grind, holding hands with Narcisso as we churned our way through pirates, monsters, super heroes, Bo Peeps, devils, women's sufferagettes, fawns, skeletons, nuns, knights, damsels, nurses, cheerleaders, Marie Antoinettes, and kittens. So lighten up, CBS. Let down your hair WITH your kids, trick AND treat!