Happy New Year

Sitting across the dinner table, K and I had the same conversation we tend to have each New Years Eve without fail:

K: It's New Years, I feel like we should do something
Me: yeah, same here
K: What do you want to do?
Me: I don't know, its a little late now.
K: We could go to see the ball drop
Me: It's cold and I'm sick.
K: We could go to one of those hotel parties
Me: But its pricey and everyone's drunk. See a movie?
K: Nothing on that I want to see.
Me: Hmm.
K: Hmm.

As we sat and recounted our year over spaghetti and salad, I reflected on 2008 and how quickly it passed as I now face an uncertain future. I took a bite and looked up to see the pink glow of a lamp in the distance, and heard the low rumble of the dishwasher nearby. I glanced around and it hit me: that here in this home, in these PJs with this person sitting across from me is perhaps one of the best places to be tonight.

A blog reader e-mailed sometime back saying that they thought I had a rather charmed life. I know I'm blessed but my secret is not that my life is perfect, in truth it is no more perfect or more beautiful than the next person. The difference, if any, is that I choose to focus on the good in my life and I appreciate it deeply. I may not always succeed in a rosy outlook, but I am always trying to continue to grow and remember the blessings that God has placed in my life. Sometimes its as easy as floating up on a hot air balloon, other times its a struggle much like hiking upstream in skis. Still, I keep trying, and in trying I find beauty in the ordinary, what is often considered mundane. Beauty exists in every breath one takes, and the more you seek it out the more your heart opens to see it. I've found the more you try, the stronger you grow, and the easier it gets to realize and recognize the simple miracles and immeasurable beauty in your life.

Happy New Years. May your 2009 be filled with focusing on the good in your life, and trying to learn from the bad. May it bring you happiness and may it bring you peace.

Books, Fifty Five!

Because law school deprived me of the pleasure of devouring books as I was accustomed to, one of my 108 in 2008 was to read 50 books. I am proud to say that I not only met my goal, I exceeded it with a grand total of 55 books so far! (The year's not over yet!) Here are the highlights of the fifty books I read this year:

Best Fiction: Empire Falls
Best Non-fiction: In Defense of Food
Best Chick Lit: Can You Keep a Secret?
Best Classic: Lolita
Best Memoir: Dreams From my Father
Best Inspirational: The Last Lecture
Best Chai Read: 44 Scotland Street Series
Best Multicultural Read: Sold

Next year I am planning to go big or go home with the goal of 75 books! What books do you recommend I add to my queue?

Top Five Side Effects of Being a Writer

Eavesdropping, a little. I don't actually teeter my chair over to my coffee shop neighbor or buy pricey spy equipment, but if I'm walking down the hall and a girl is having a loud conversation with another on the drama of her relationship, I find myself listening, and finishing off the story long after they are gone. It's as though my mind sees a story in everything, a muse in every face.

Narrating at random. Standing in line at the grocery store I find myself observing the scene in a novel-like format. "The cashier frowned, then blushed as she handed the credit card back to the customer. 'I'm sorry m'aam' she said, 'your card has been declined.' The elderly woman pushed her glasses up and stared at the cashier in shock, 'how can it be? My son was supposed to pay it online last night.'" (And on and on...) It makes it easier to pass the time for sure.

Feeling envy towards the likes of Tila Tequila, Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus because they have the right connections to get published for books of drivel they likely never wrote but had enough hype to support.

Reading like a fish. I finished my 50 books goal for 2008! I read books in a different light now, enjoying the prose and the play on words more now that I too am preoccupied with similar goals. Reading good work helps me write better, reading bad work helps inspire me that between the good and the bad surely there is room for me.

Drinking copious amounts of chai. Parts of my novel are set in Pakistan so I tell myself this is to set my mental mood, but let's face it, I will look for any and every excuse to cozy up to a cup of tea.

Remember me?

I haven't posted in a while. Partly because I've been out of town and here and there doing this and that. You know, the usual stuff that preoccupies one from attending to their bloggy duties. Lately I find myself opening up the "create post" button, typing in the starts of what I want to say and then experiencing a writer's block of sorts. It's not that I don't have things to say, I do. It's just that when I finally sit down to begin, I feel a little tired. I'm not sure if the affliction is terminal to my blog or just a one time cold that will soon pass. I guess I will let time tell. In the meantime belated Eid Mubarak and hope all of you out there are doing great.