monday gratitude

yo. i am grateful for…

1) having this list to come back to when i forget my voice or lose it in a cramp of fear. it’s small but helps the big.

2) elf. ok, how can i forget how fun that movie is? i read about it in mindy kaling’s (from the office) memoir (not my favorite of the celeb memoir genre, but made me smile and chuckle a bit), and realized i needed a refresher. most fun movie i’ve seen in a while. and yes, this includes friday night’s ill-fated foray to see “harold and kumar’s 3-d christmas.” yes, i know. of course it was bad. my excuse is: a lot of people thought it was “fresh” on rotten tomatoes. it had a high fresh rating. and i consider this, a little, when movie-selecting. who wants to see a splat? but i digress. elf! funny, redonk, sweet, and a blond zooey deschanel who sings. need i say more? possibly. so: amazing holiday decor and some snowball throwing magic. and ed asner as santa.

3) not leaving the house yesterday, but rather: making lentil soup, baking gluten-free bread (from a mix, but still, i am martha, hear me dissolve yeast with almost exactly 110 degree water), cleaning, laundering, crafting (if painting the snack box white counts as crafting, which i’m not sure it does), finishing the mindy kaling book, and purging books. and sheets. and towels.

4) seeing elena azzoni read from her awesome memoir, a year straight: confessions of a boy-crazy lesbian beauty queen at bluestockings book store. she was of course hilarious and gorgeously pregnant and had a full packed house. so proud of her (wait, are we allowed to be proud of friends? outloud? or is that patronizing? or subtly self-aggrandizing?) and happy for her. also great to see our writing teacher and have him encourage me to finish my book. on which i am stuck, but about which i consider myself encouraged.

5) being with d. last week. it is rough. very. the news continues to be bad and worse. but her man is so gentle, so kind, so profoundly loving i am blown away by the tenderness–getting her a damp washcloth for her warm head. kissing her. i can’t even imagine. i wish i was a giant bunny and could cuddle them both simultaneously in a furry, soft, warm embrace. while infusing them with light from the center of the heart of the one true loving source of divine love. while of course not scaring the hell out of them with being a giant bunny.

6) i’m leaving this space blank because now i want to go to something more superficial and it feels better to skip a line after that.

7) apps. yes, i am a new iphone user and it is good. aside from the headache-givingness of its emf’s. i love the anatomy apps, drawing with a finger apps, aromatherapy apps, track my lady cycle apps, and more.

8) how i feel when i hit my water quota for the day–3 liters. better.

9) getting psyched to see the rockettes! yes, really. voluntarily and dragging along my mom and b. who will of course love it too. holiday time is culturally sanctioned magic. (pimped to sell stuff, i realize. but still, sparkly time.)

10) a great talk with my naturopath, whom i have known for 15 years. she’s also a shaman. and also amazing. and talked about the essential importance of me booming my creative life. reminding me i am an artist. which sounds embarrassing almost. no! i’m a journalistic professional with experience in increasing seo, optimizing visibility through content-rich multimedia platforms, harnessing the social media power of web 3.0. but yeah, artist feels true. now, how to live like one. starts in my head. allowing.