New

Akemashita omedetou gozaimasu! The kids, ten or fifteen of them at least, used to pound on my door early on January 1st and yell this at me in unison when I finally answered. It was hard to distinguish it from the other jumble of Japanese phrases they spoke to me (without taking a breath, the entire time we were together), but I quickly noticed a pattern. Every person I came in contact with used the same phrase. It's the Japanese new year greeting and is said before any other words the first time you see someone in the new year. 

Last night I had a fun dinner out with my sister and BIL and then went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire for the second time in a week. It's not a perfect movie, but there's something about it that totally draws me in. I know I'll see it again. I wonder if it will propel me to Mumbai at some point sooner than later. And the credits! Oh, the credits. 

I love the process of reflecting on the previous year and making resolutions for the one to come. I'm thinking about joining a Flickr 365 day pool where you post one photo each day for a year. That sounds like it would help me see the world with new eyes. I've been reworking my 43 Things list lately to keep it current and utilize it more. I've been trying all kinds of new music lately with fun results. Best find so far: Arcade Fire. I'm starting this year about 30 pounds lighter than when I started the last one. I hope I can say that again next year. I have one less organ than I did last year. I've officially been in my current rental for 2 years now. I haven't lived in one place that long since my condo in Portland (exactly 2 years) and before that, it was the apartment I had after college 16 years ago. I'm connected with all of my friends in meaningful ways. My family is healthy, my 1 1/2-year old nephew is beautiful and happy (and mysteriously speaking with a British accent.) 

This is weird: when I think about writing more, I generally decide against it because there are so many people who can do so much better than I can. Nothing kills my desire to write like reading a great book or a really expressive blog entry. And when I think of taking pictures, I feel like there's no great urgency because there are so many incredible photos that are such a pleasure to look at. Going through those always gives me that feeling of being full (but not too full) from my favorite meal. Like I've had enough and there's no reason to have anymore. I hate to let it stop me. I guess there's enough room for all kinds of expression. 

When I lost my religion about 19 years ago, I decided I wasn't ever again going to do anything I didn't want to. That can be taken a lot of different ways, and I don't mean it in the most juvenile of interpretations, but it's pretty much remained true of my life. It feels good. No regrets, I suppose. Or very few. 

2009 holds good things for us, I know it.