The usual update

Far be it from me to let an entire month go by without blogging. Thus this late-night-Sunday entry when I'm already taking stock of my life, the week past, the week ahead, now translated onto blog format for your viewing and reading pleasure.

What has happened since October 20, the date of the last post? So much and so little. In many ways, I have a rhythm to my life, a routine and a regularity of things that I do. Which makes life simple, really. Days fly by.

But also so much. I went to South Africa! Yes, that was unusual, a break from the routine. Although everything is a repetition in some variation of things that have passed. Like not having electricity in the Pretoria guest house when trying to prepare for my presentation -- just like living in Sierra Leone all over again!

I don't feel like recapping the goings on. I always feel that I do them injustice. I'm too half-hearted, too hasty. Trying to capture factual details in a hurried way, not delving into them and exploring their nuances. So, instead, thoughts, highlights:

(a) I love visiting friends. Old friends were in town this past weekend, and we did the usual, epic things we do when we get together, like karaoke, eat dinners out, drink beers, sit in front of the TV, lounge, lounge, lounge and talk, talk, talk.

(b) I love traveling but traveling alone can be tedious. I enjoyed South Africa, particularly, walking along the beachfront in Durban. But then every now and then a twinge reminds you that it would be nice to share the experience with family and friends. For which I think technology. Photographs can be shared instantly by blackberry, and text messaging keeps one in touch when afar. Wow, sentimental.

(c) India is full of multitudes. I say this not from recent personal observation although I agree with the observation. Rather, I was reading an interview with Salman Rushdie regarding his upcoming novel, and he said that he wanted to convey a myriad stories in his previous novels, such that the main narrative had to push and force its way through on to the page. I thought that was a great description of a narrative technique.

(d) Cooking is important. The more I cook, the more I like doing it. I want to be the kind of person who can put tasty nourishment on the table at any time. This is important to me. Today, I had a couple of friends over for brunch. The majority left but two guests lingered while I cleaned up. They sat on the couch, drinking coffee, and exchanged news important to the other. I put all the dishes in the dishwasher, I wiped down the table, I put the leftover food in the fridge, I sorted my mail, I stripped the sheets from my bed and the guest bed for washing . . . all the while knowing that two friends were relaxing in my living room, catching up, and that made me happy. I want to provide an environment where people can be comfortable.

(e) I love music. I have heard some recent new music. Again, I'm captivated by certain songs to the typical point (typical for me) of endless repetition. Like this is the only song I can listen to on repeat over and over and over again as I go to the grocery store, as I ride up in my elevator, as I walk to work. I wonder sometimes if this kind of "obsessive" behavior is bad, and whether I should change these habits. But I never will. I don't think.

(f) I hope Christina Yang rejoins the residency program on Grey's Anatomy. Yes, I know it's not to admit that I still watch this show, but I don't care. And I identify most with Christina (even though our lives are completely different, not to mention she's a fictional TV character). And I feel sad that she won't go on to become a famous, successful heart surgeon. As I feel sad (in an abstract way, not entirely meaningful, yet not meaningless) that I won't be a surgeon.

(g) Walking the streets of Paris is wonderful. Yes, I did that, too, on my way back from South Africa to New York. I forget how beautiful Paris is. And how much I love windows. Of apartments into which I can look. It's not glimpses of private lives, really. I don't actually need to see people in the apartments. Rather, I want to see the lights. The bookshelves. The high ceilings.

(h) Point (g) meandered. From Paris and walking to glimpses into apartments. I guess that these are not self-contained points, but rather meandering, rambling points. Which is fine. I hope you agree with me.

(i)I love working out. I take that back. I don't like lifting weights. But I love physical activity and exercise. I dream about an ideal life. Which I should "actualize." It involves being in a tennis league where I am a ferocious player. And a racquetball league. It involves swimming in a clean pool (far from my present New York public pool). It involves running half-marathons (for which I registered recently; let's see if my lottery application gets accepted; the NYC triathlon was full, and my lottery application didn't succeed). I'm not sure why. I certainly wasn't a jock in high school or college. But I just love the idea and feeling of falling asleep exhausted on my bed.

(j) Enough.