Happy Birthday to xphilehb ! May the coming year be the best one yet :)

Same-sex marriage was legalized in New York State late last Friday. I feel happy and moved and proud to be a New Yorker. It's another step toward greater equality.

( Here are some pictures from today's Gay Pride Parade taken from the corner of Fifth Ave. and 33rd St: )

PS: It was extra-special and fun because I was there with zandperl , who I haven't been in touch with for some time, and we got to hang out and catch up :) .

I've been away for a long time, and don't know when I'll be able to "come back" fully. I miss LJ -- I miss keeping up with my friends here.

Today I wanted to write something, anything, with a beginning, middle, and end. This was the result. I don't know yet if I like it, and I feel nervous about posting it and then disappearing again. But I've been trying to take more chances, so here goes anyway:

( The Girl Without a Name )

...killed a spider with my bare hand before I knew what it was.

I'm going to go amputate my hand now. Just as soon as I find my bone saw.

Happy belated birthday, jonelvisamerica ! I hope that nothing foils your many plans :)

I've been doing the w word (let's not speak of it!) and therefore have been extra vigilant about my spending. So far so good -- I bought four rice bowls, but that was only $4, and rice bowls are very practical *nods emphatically* My Amazon wishlist reports alarming growth, however. Must...sit...on...hands....

( Leaving the port, and food )

In the next installment, a tour of the ship that indulged my inner pleasure-seeker and that provoked my inner Marxist.

There's SO MUCH to post!

First, thank you so much for the birthday wishes! I had a wonderful birthday, and your words made it even happier :)

Second, there is so much to be thankful for! But I feel the need for a reprise -- I am thankful for my family, who show me what it means to love unconditionally; and I am thankful for my friends, who help me to love who I am.

Third, I still owe replies to earlier posts -- there are conversations that have now been suspended for weeks! Maybe I should just let them go...Then again, they make puppy eyes at me from the corner of my brain...

Finally, here is the first installment of my account of my cruise vacation!
( Read more... )

A very happy birthday to green_maia  (aka merrymaia )! I am so glad to have met and gotten to know you. You have helped me to feel more deeply about fiction, nature, and life, and you have supported me through stormy times. May this coming year be as beautiful as you are. May changes be kind, and may all your loves flourish.

There are some comments on my last post that I will have to return in about a week's time because

I'm going on vacation!!!

Today my mom, dad, sister, her boyfriend and I are all going to get on a cruise ship to Bermuda. It's just a five day trip, but I am SO excited. I've never been on a cruise ship! I intend to eat like the crazy eating person I am.

Anyway, best get back to trip prep. I won't be on the internet during the trip -- a strangely tantalizing prospect. See y'all in a few days!

I did some more writing (let that be the last we hear about that dread word, I prithee), and experienced more mood swings. Next thing I know I had a new shirt and four new pairs of pants. They're very nice. I'm very happy with them. I am also very, very bemused with my brain.

Another thing that amused and bemused me -- while I was at the mall's parking lot, at least a mile away from any grocery store I know of, I saw a single, very large potato sitting very carefully on one of the concrete bumpers. It was adorable! I felt like it was saying, "Humph! I like it here, so what? A potato can't get some sun?"

Last week I chatted with a friend from Russia. Everyone I meet here tells me that Chinese is a very difficult language. Okay, fine. I understand that the characters are hard to memorize and the tones are hard to hear and to reproduce and there are probably a dozen other things I'm not thinking of. But behind that statement is always an implied "European languages are easier to learn." Well, yeah, if you already know one European language!

( Longish rant on why hardness is in the mind of the beholder. Okay, my mind just went to a dirty place...sorry... )

Thanks for today: my left foot and my right foot. They may be slightly different in size, but they make a very cute and helpful couple.