reverie

At the beginning of the baseball season, my favorite player Jacoby Ellsbury walked onto the field with a new number. I didn't like it. I wasn't happy about it. I had no particular attachment to his old number in and of itself, but something inside me said switching your number is a terrible plan. With number 2 on his back Ellsbury has spent almost the entire season on the disabled list due to broken ribs sustained while colliding with another player on an attempt to catch a ball in foul territory. Neither of them caught the ball. That's about all that can be said for the new number. With number 46 on his back Ellsbury walked onto the field a baby player and quickly became one of my favs. Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS, with very little experience in the Majors, Ells was thrown into a high pressure postseason position as starting center fielder. He performed so well that he started every remaining postseason game, up through the Red Sox's 2nd World Series win since the c...

I'm officially declaring this month, "No Excuses June." I don't know about you, but there are more than enough things in my life that get put off til "tomorrow." And somehow before I know it weeks or months have passed and that "tomorrow" of productivity never seems to arrive. Well not this month! This month I am setting reasonable & achievable mini-goals and I am determined to cut out excuses & be a better steward of my time. I frequently feel too busy or too tired, and no doubt working toward opening a restaurant is no small task in addition to the normal stuff of life, but I am also aware that enough of my time is spent less productively than it could be. So, for June I am making the following goals. 1. re-organize my bedroom & keep it that way 2. work out 3 times a week 3. cook more frequently & when eating out is necessary, make healthy choices 4. write 1 letter a week--real, honest-to-goodness snail mail 5. get back to jour...

Dear Joe West, I find it troubling and disappointing (you might say "a disgrace to baseball") that an umpire crew chief would make the kind of pace of game remarks that you did regarding the first Red Sox/Yankees series of the 2010 season. A more productive use of your time would be making sure that you and your crew are getting calls right, rather than worrying about the pace of the game or denying batters on both teams brief timeouts. You wonder why "two of the best teams in baseball" are also "playing the slowest." Have you considered the possibility that a correlation exists there? Perhaps being the best means concentrating more on playing a great game than worrying about how long it takes. Besides the fact that these were just the first 3 games of the year and everyone is just getting back into the groove of the long season. I realize that pace of game issues are typically related to getting more fans due to the misguided notion that more people d...

Today I went strawberry picking with my sister & her kids. I think it was the first time I had ever gone, save for a berry here or there in the ginormous garden my grandma used to have in her backyard. It was rather delightful. I love being able to do things like that with my sister & nieces & nephews. Surprisingly way more berries ended up in our buckets than in the children's tummies, so really quite a successful outing. And just in case you're wondering, yes the strawberries are as sweet & delicious as they look! :)

In keeping with tradition, happy February! It is officially the best month of the year. In fact this month had proven to be so delightful in history that the ancient Romans cut it short so as to prevent Roman subjects from being too joyful, which as everyone knows could have led to pipe dreams such as overthrowing praetors, consuls, emperors, and the like. In fact they knew they were playing it fast & loose by adding even 1 extra day every four years, but the earth's orbit around the sun necessitated it, February was already unique, and it offended their sensibilities to adjust any of the other months. (Any and/or all of the preceding "facts" may or may not be entirely accurate, save for February being the best month of the year--that's been scientifically proven.) For all the amazing attributes that February has, and there are many, which you can read about in my previous first day of February posts, it is astounding to me that I've completely overlooked ...

It's the last day of January & I'm pleased to report that progress has been made on several of my goals for the year. :) launch IV We have completed 2 orders for IV, we have 2 more coming up this week, we've made some business cards, and our website is underway. I'm rather pleased with the progress we're making! :) get in better shape uhh...look over there, a flying monkey! watch out! okay, so no progress to report here yet. I will keep you updated. do more crafty things I tacked a blue ribbon horizontally across the length of one of my walls & using tiny clothespins I have hung from it various photos cards, and tickets from previous concerts & baseball games & snowboarding adventures. I find it quite delightful. find a church prior to moving to Texas I did some research on churches & found one that looked very promising. I have now attended that church 3 weeks in a row & am pleased to say that it has been fantastic! barring any unfo...

A few days ago my 3-year-old nephew asked me, "Aunt Azina, where are all your priends?" His f's tend to come out as p's. And he has this uncanny knack for saying rather perceptive things, though I doubt he is really aware of his profundity. I explained to him that all of my friends live in other places, and we agreed that I need to make some new friends now that I live in Texas. After all, he wants my friend to come over to "his house" and visit him. I can't help but find that adorable. Though, any potential new friends may not find is so adorable when he tries to headbutt them or use them as a road for his trucks. ;) Oh, the world of young boys... The meeting friends thing is kind of a tough one & something that really just takes time. I'm okay with that most days because I spend a lot of time with my sister and the 4 most adorable children on the planet, but I do lately feel a desire for the process to hasten and it's all because o...

This week as I unpacked one of the few remaining boxes from my move, I came across some writing I had done for a script about 5 years ago. Such discoveries often induce eye rolling, laughter, or even embarrassment, but I was delighted to find that I still like much of what I had written so much so that I want to continue working on that script & am inspired to write more altogether. It's somewhat inconceivable to me how much of our lives & ourselves we forget. I cannot really recall setting pen to paper 5 years ago & writing the things I recently rediscovered. I don't remember carrying around that 1 1/2 inch black binder with loose leaf paper and a blue pen. I don't remember opening it up, turning to a fresh page, and jotting in cursive ideas for scenes, character names, and bits of dialogue. And yet, next to my bookcase (next to because it's too tall for the shelves) sits that black binder, a piece of my life & thoughts that I had completely set as...

Tonight I caught up on a couple of shows I had DVR'd & was disappointed by both of them because of their all too lifelike portrayals of romantic relationships in turmoil. I found myself wishing for some good ole sappy romantic crap. I share this with you now because honestly I was a bit astonished by this. I am a sincere romantic, but 7 or so years ago I all but entirely swore off of Hollywood's depiction of romance due to its hollow & unrealistic nature. And yet tonight I realized I was in a place where a dose of sappiness would have been just dandy. I dare not dive too deeply into this or strain to derive too large a meaning from it, but I do think it is a result of happiness. This is not to say that in the last 7 years I have never been happy, that would be patently false, but I am in a very good place right now. I'm excited about all the possibilities life in Texas holds, and I think I am opposed to anything that might burst my bubble right now--even if i...

November and December looked like this for me: 2 weeks in Texas 2 weeks in India 2 weeks in Texas 2 weeks in Omaha Now I'm back to Texas for the foreseeable future & it's time to get settled in & get some things going. For the record, I love living in Texas. A lot of this has to do with how awesome it is to live with family, but also I feel like Texas fits me better. I liked living in LA, but I'm certainly more Texan than I could ever be Californian. I'm excited for all the possibilities that living in Texas holds and seeing as I'm starting a new year living in a new place it seemed like a good time to come up with some goals. So here is what I'm striving toward in 2010. ~ launch IV--for those don't know, IV is the name of the restaurant venture my sister & I are working on. that's 4 Roman Numeral style. we're nerds, what'd you expect? ~ get in better shape ~ do more crafty things--art projects, not devious activities ;) ~ find...

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to drive around looking at Christmas lights. While I am a fan of tasteful & fairly traditional decorations, few things delight & amuse me more than garish displays of holiday cheer. Here are a few of the Christmas highlights from my new neighborhood. giant inflatable Santa & penguin inflatable lighthouse with a snowman & Santa inflatable Noel with a snowman & Santa inflatable Santa riding a tractor! Nascar snowmen...if this didn't make me laugh so much I'd probably be a little sad. Santa being pulled by flamingos...uhh... most giant inflatable ever ho ho ho! dreidel, dreidel, dreidel! Merry Christmas Texas-style! I hope you are all having wonderful Christmas seasons! This can be such a fun & magical time of the year and I hope that the celebration of Christ's birth reinvigorates your life with a sense of awe, joy, and hope--all things for which God is the true source. Much love & merriness ...

It's been too long since I've stopped by here. It's ridiculously early in the morning & I should be finishing up packing for India & try to catch a few hours sleep, but I decided I'd rather stop by here instead since I will likely be without internet for the next 2 1/2 weeks. Much has transpired in the last month. Here are some of the more notable happenings. - was sick for much of my final 2 weeks in Los Angeles--the apex of which was a bout with tonsillitis. I'm happy to say that I won, but not before a trip to the worst doctor ever, $60 worth of Chinese herbs being pushed on me, tears of pain & frustration, and finally a prescription for an antibiotic which cleared things up almost entirely after only 2 doses. - moved from Los Angeles to Texas. Said goodbye to some of the most amazing people in the world and embarked on a new life chapter. I'm still kind of waiting for the full reality to hit me. Prior to the move there were 3 tear-filled mo...

It may be a million degrees in LA right now, but I can say for sure that fall is here! Starbucks says so . . . the pumpkin spice latte is back! hazaa! :) Certainly one of my favorite yearly events. I enjoyed my first psl of the season tonight & many others will surely follow. mmm :)

I hope to never see Brad Penny in a Red Sox uniform again. What a pathetic excuse for a pitcher. There's absolutely no excuse for having a starter who can almost always guarantee a loss. So glad to be getting Tim Wakefield back this week. If you know me well, you know that's saying A LOT as I'm not particularly a Wake fan. That just goes to show you how absolutely terrible Penny is. Now let's just hope Penny is the one ousted from the rotation. In other Red Sox news, we took Yankee pitcher Burnett for a ride this afternoon! Few things delight me more than my boys beating up on Burnett. Not sure why, just really dislike him. And our baby starter--Tazawa who's 23 & was pitching in only his 3rd major league start--shut out the Yankees for 6 innings! This was a fantastic turn of events after losing all of our last 5 matches against the Yanks including last night's horrendous (hopefully last) outing from Penny. Let's hope that was our last loss to t...

Nearly 4 years ago I had a dream about the frustrating dance that can be male/female interactions. A friend on whom I had a crush at the time and I were the starring players in this dream. At this point I don't remember many specific details save for the following as I had made note of it at the time. I was startled awake from the dream just as my friend shouted, "I'm in love with you and I'm terrified!" Quite a thing to try to wrap your mind around upon waking. Of course not having transpired in reality there's no particular need to parse out the meaning of such an exclamation. But now so many years later having run across what I had jotted down about the dream at the time, I do have thoughts on it. And guess what, you get to hear them! I know, you're feeling very lucky right now. ;) I genuinely desire that kind of love. A love that is so strong and amazing that it can also be completely frightening. And not in a bad or immobilizing sort of way,...

In a perfect world football season would only be 2 months long and would not overlap baseball season. Actually in a perfect world football would not exist, but I'm being kind(ish) to my football loving friends. Is it just me or does football keep starting earlier & earlier every year? All I know is that it's not even September yet and we've got plenty of good baseball left, so football can just shut it & go away for awhile (or forever). Thanks.

If heaven had a flavor it would be Red Velvet Cheesecake . Wow. Get thee to a Cheesecake Factory & try some today!

As promised! To Shark Week with love, I have a sick fascination with you despite the fact that you FREAK ME OUT! eek! I'm pretty sure any nerves I had built up to consider trying surfing are now completely shot. d'oh! Still, I will continue to watch all week. It's messed up, I know. To MLB Network with love, you offer me a delightful daily dose of baseball. You wrap me in your arms when I arrive home from work & guide me around America's ballparks. If you were a man I'm pretty sure I'd have to marry you. To Twitter with love, okay I give in, I admit it, I love you. I tried to fight it, but I truly enjoy you. To 30 Seconds to Mars with love, your new album is tantalizingly close to releasing. It is long awaited & I'm excited to hear the final product as well as finally see you on tour again! I am giddy as I think about it. :) To chipotle peppers/flavored foods with love, you are yummy! My current favorite use for you is chipotle marinade o...

Hey friends, I promise very soon to return to regular blogging here. For real! In the short meantime, though, feel free to check out my new political blog Boston Chai Party that I'm writing with Amber & Raj. Many of you know where I stand politically, but this blog is not about my or my siblings' opinions; it's about bringing news & information to the forefront for discussion so that people can form their own thoughts with a more complete idea of the facts, many of which are overlooked, ignored, or even hidden by mainstream media outlets. If politics aren't your thing, no worries, I won't be offended in the slightest, that's why we created a separate space for this, but if they are your thing I'd love to have you join us over there. Coming Soon: perhaps a return of to blank with love? We shall see...