So my last day of being 37. Another year gone so fast. Tonight we are having dinner then off to a party for New Year's at Marie's (well some are calling it a birthday party, some are calling it a New Year's party: the peril of being born on a holiday). I feel happy this new year and looking forward to 2009 adventures! The only thing I wish for next year is to have Masa's immigration stuff sorted and to be healthy & happy. If we can move to our own place (i.e., buy), take a trip, see the family, make more money, make more friends, improve my French, and have more $$ in the bank, all the better! But all that'd just be a bonus since I feel very lucky and fortunate to be where I am this far.
by W.S. Merwin
In the cards and at the bend in the road
we never saw you
in the womb and in the crossfire
in the numbers
whatever you had your hand in
which was everything
we were told never to put
our faith in you
to bow to you humbly after all
because in the end there was nothing
else we could do
but not to believe in you
still we might coax you with pebbles
kept warm in the hand
or coins or the relics
of vanished animals
observances rituals
not binding upon you
who make no promises
we might do such things only
not to neglect you
and risk your disfavor
oh you who are never the same
who are secret as the day when it comes
you whom we explain
as often as we can
without understanding
Some pics from my friend in Japan...
I usually have three websites open at a time, in addition to any work I might be doing (or, ahem, Supercollapse I might be playing); well this morning I opened this page, did some work, then came back to it and began reading a story about how Dame Judi Dench was involved in a scandal involving a 32 year old female DJ, how there had been some "raunchy" photos of them from inside a club leaked to the press. I was like "Wow! Why is no other website reporting this INTERESTING story!?"
But feeling better this afternoon. There have been just a hint of rumours about one company I work for, that they are not doing well financially and are making cutbacks. GOD this makes me nervous as I've worked for this company for nearly five years and though they make up less of my income as they once did, losing that gig would HURT. Seriously.
Well they sent out a letter today saying that they are doing fine and, in fact, have record business and profits, so it's just people gossiping. Anything's possible but I do feel much better, I have to say. Makes me very aware of the money I'm spending, for sure.
And another company I know is making cutbacks, this one in New York. I don't really have much time to do work for them right now, but I was hoping I would be able to in the spring or summer, so hopefully they won't be suffering for long. I know they like my work, but if they don't have the money, they don't have the money.
I feel like a need a backup plan: getting a job here in an actual office or whatever would be hard for me since I have no experience doing anything but teaching and writing. I guess I could teach business people. I've done that for many years so it's certainly possible but I just prefer continuing with what I'm doing now. Of course, if I'm starving....
Anyway, things look OK. Maybe I can ride this terrible time out after all.
Fingers crossed....
So I was at this party a couple of weeks ago and a guy I know brought up this old Martin Scorsese movie After Hours. I remember seeing it in the mid 90s in Seattle, but could only remember little pieces of it. Anyway, my friend was raving about what a great movie it was so I downloaded it from iTunes and watched it this afternoon. It is an excellent movie: so funny, interesting, unusual, depressing, and bizarre. The premise is simple: guy meets girl, guy and girl hook up but girl is half crazy and guy loses his money so tries anything he can think of to try and get back home from SoHo. Along the way, he meets the deranged, a suicide victim, crazy artists, a lonely waitress, an ice cream truck driver, and a depressed bartender. Oy: quite a story. And full of famous faces: Rosanne Arquette, John Heard, Teri Garr, Cheech & Chong, and more. Highly recommended.
