the grateful living

On this day, like many other days when I remember, I am grateful for my beautiful life.

It's a charmed and beautiful life, surrounded by many good friends, kind ones, interesting ones, talented ones, quirky ones, silly ones, loyal ones, loving ones.

It's a beautiful body, despite all the scars & marks, dark eye rings, uneven tan lines, flat chest, blemishes...

It's a wonderful life despite the ups and downs, storms and floods, dry spells and what not.

I am thankful for all the loves in my life, my love for animals, love for music, love for humans, love for knowledge, love for food, love for challenges, love for exploring the unknown.

I am thankful for I have aged and grown out of many silly things, still many other silly habits but I am moving to the better.

Here's to more restful sleeps, good food, good music-making, lots of hard work, loving friends, patience, and world peace.

Pick Myself Up

When am down and out and in deep doubt, other than talking to wise ones for advice, I turn to music when all else fails. Music & songs have never failed me.

On this particular night, this is the song for me :)

Pick Yourself Up

Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields, 1936

Pick yourself up...
Take a deep breath...
Dust yourself off
And start all over again.

Nothing's impossible, I have found
For when my chin is on the ground.
I pick myself up,
Dust myself off
And start all over again.

Don't lose your confidence
If you slip
Be grateful for a pleasant trip
And pick yourself up,
Dust yourself off
And start all over again.

Work like a soul inspired
Until the battle of the day is won.
You may be sick and tired,
But you'll be a man, my son.

Will you remember the famous men
Who had to fall to rise again
They picked themselves up
Dust themselves off
And start'd all over again.

high & low

I have not been to India before, it's a destination on my to-visit list. Where I live now, it feels like a mini-Little-India in town, although the actual Little India is a couple of main roads away in Masjid India, Semua House and all that jazz.

My study room window overlooks a narrow road named Suppiah Pillay where it's scattered with two road-side food stalls, a shabby car workshop (where a slow moving breast-feeding black dog resides), a roti-man snack food distributor and other businesses, don't know what. In the near distance is the elevated highway that links Jalan Ipoh to Jalan Duta where the highway can take you to wherever you wanna go, Bangsar, down town to Bukit Bintang, Jalan Kuching, Petaling Jaya, TTDI, Puchong...you name it.

When it's not scorching hot outside, I like to have my window open to let in a slice of the outside life. You can smell the burning incense from all the way up on 21st floor, faint Indian music from a radio somewhere, dogs barking...and if you are lucky you even smell someone's dinner.

I like all of these because it's a sign of life, it's a friendly place buzzing with life. Though when am driving home from somewhere there's always annoying double or triple parking right at the entrance of the flat. J told me to see it as a sigh of this place being very `happening'. ....hehe, after all, it's named Viva.

The shop lots down on the ground & first floor are taking shape extremely slowly, there was a buzz of renovation activities for about a week and then now it's all closed up and not a buzz of work. I hope the vendors come in soon else we are just here with 7-Eleven and this corner pub of mostly talk dark handsome Indian blokes with beer bellies. Though the pub serves fantabulous pasta and its kitchen closes pretty late (or early morning).

I like sitting inside the Indian restaurant just by the side of the flat and looking out to the street, having warm dahl with plain Thosai and watching the guy at the Appam counter scratching & tugging at his pants while making a fresh one.

Back inside my flat, I do a daily wind-chasing routine. At different times of the day the wind direction and speed changes so I leave different windows and doors open and close at different times of the day. I have seen heavy storms and hot humid days thro these huge windows. To mute the heat & traffic noise from outside, I bring the curtains down and put some my crazy 2-HP air conditioner in the hall. When the sun goes down I draw the curtain to open the home to the `NYC' city landscape outside, bringing in fresh evening breeze for my hit-the-sack view.

Will see how long it takes before I get over my intoxication of this place, hopefully it takes forever...