The Re-emergence
Thank you! Thank you very much! It's great to be back. My apologies for my recent, very low profile. To say that I've been busy would be too huge an understatement. However, following some "light" pressure (ie. a boot up the ass), I have returned to the spotlight. The show must go on!!
DRAMA has been the theme for 2007 so far. I'm still licking my wounds and counting the bodies. Hopefully, this month(April) marks the beginning of a peaceful reign for the rest of the year. There have been some positive highlights in amongst all the strife, which included a trip across the Atlantic to the East coast and a very memorable birthday dinner. I finally saw my beloved Knicks at Madison Square Garden, after many previous failed attempts. It was a pleasure to see them defeat the defending NBA champs. Unfortunately, D.Wade decided to dislocate his shoulder days before the match, meaning that I did not get to see the "Flash" live in action. But I happily settled for the win. I returned from the US a week before my birthday, with no definitive celebration plans. So at the last minute, I sent out a mass email inviting 30 friends to dinner on my birthday at one of my favourite restaurants. I did not expect a big turn out though, as organising dinner for just 10 friends was usually a logistical nightmare involving months of planning, babysitters, transport arrangements, dietary considerations, financial proposals and the alignment of 5 planets with the moon. Therefore I was understandably shocked, amazed and delighted when 25 of the 30 invitees RSVP'ed almost immediately. It turned out to be a reunion as much as a birthday celebration, as I had not seen some of the guests for over a year. It was great to catch up. Definitely my most enjoyable birthday over the past decade.
My birthday also marked a conclusion to much of the ongoing drama, which I was thankful for. It made me poignantly reflect on the last year of my life. Even though only one year had passed, I felt like I had aged several years mentally. Any small traces of childhood innocence that I had in me seemed to have varnished for good, which is sad. "Facing the Music" is probably the most pertinent title for my 26th year of life on this earth. There have been a lot of painful lessons (all my lessons always seem to be painful, but that's another topic for another post), so I decided to make a list of my most notable realizations over the past 12months:
DRAMA has been the theme for 2007 so far. I'm still licking my wounds and counting the bodies. Hopefully, this month(April) marks the beginning of a peaceful reign for the rest of the year. There have been some positive highlights in amongst all the strife, which included a trip across the Atlantic to the East coast and a very memorable birthday dinner. I finally saw my beloved Knicks at Madison Square Garden, after many previous failed attempts. It was a pleasure to see them defeat the defending NBA champs. Unfortunately, D.Wade decided to dislocate his shoulder days before the match, meaning that I did not get to see the "Flash" live in action. But I happily settled for the win. I returned from the US a week before my birthday, with no definitive celebration plans. So at the last minute, I sent out a mass email inviting 30 friends to dinner on my birthday at one of my favourite restaurants. I did not expect a big turn out though, as organising dinner for just 10 friends was usually a logistical nightmare involving months of planning, babysitters, transport arrangements, dietary considerations, financial proposals and the alignment of 5 planets with the moon. Therefore I was understandably shocked, amazed and delighted when 25 of the 30 invitees RSVP'ed almost immediately. It turned out to be a reunion as much as a birthday celebration, as I had not seen some of the guests for over a year. It was great to catch up. Definitely my most enjoyable birthday over the past decade.
My birthday also marked a conclusion to much of the ongoing drama, which I was thankful for. It made me poignantly reflect on the last year of my life. Even though only one year had passed, I felt like I had aged several years mentally. Any small traces of childhood innocence that I had in me seemed to have varnished for good, which is sad. "Facing the Music" is probably the most pertinent title for my 26th year of life on this earth. There have been a lot of painful lessons (all my lessons always seem to be painful, but that's another topic for another post), so I decided to make a list of my most notable realizations over the past 12months:
- There is no escaping the past, no matter where you run to, or which corner of the earth you try to hide in.
- It is kindness to immediately refuse what you intend to deny.
- Not all burning bridges can be saved.
- Male role-models are more important to a young boy's upbringing than we will ever give them credit for.
- I don't have to be perfect. I no longer need to pretend that I am. I will be loved in spite of my many flaws.
- Jill Scott's 2nd album (Beautifully Human:Words and Sounds, Vol. 1) is a huge step forward from her 1st album (Who is Jill Scott?). I'd always preferred her 1st album until recently. Her 2nd album is just much more emotionally mature than the 1st. Maybe I just wasn't grown-up enough to fully appreciate it before now.
- Not being completely upfront and forthcoming can be just as dangerous as telling a bare-faced lie.
- No matter how much I try to deny it, I am more like my Dad than I ever wanted to be or cared to believe. Considering how little input he has had on my life, the similarities are scary. However life holds a different path for me. His destiny shall not be mine!
- I will never understand women. For some reason, I felt that I could succeed where all men before me had failed. I felt like I was on the cusp of major enlightenment, but now I realise that I was never even close. Like the rest of the male species, my ignorance was only darkened by my failure to accept that it will never dissipate.
- Love, far from being benign and sweet, is, in fact, the closest many of us will get to experiencing mental illness.
Thanks for the boot, Randomly Sane. I'll hang on to it and return it to you at a time when you need it most.
posted by Shaft @ 11:45 pm
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