Ringraziamento

I am thankful for:

• fresh, crisp, snowy white linens (TY Nika & Gordon)
• my husband (!) who comes with (among other things) a beautiful set of family china (TY Aunt Betty)
• my GROWING family ( a new granddaughter, Beatrix Jane, born 11-16-09, new(step) daughters,brother-in-law, parents, etc.)
• flickr
• United States Postal Service
• Bill Cunningham-his bike and his camera
• wireless
• The New York Times at our front door every Sunday morning
• a driveway
• a garage
• friends who know how to cook (well!) and offer their talents (TY Norman…Stephen too)
• airplanes that bring my children to me and me to them
• family recipes
• kitchen items that belonged to family members before me
• aprons
• comfy slippers
• a fireplace
• knitting
• audio books
• bells (church, jingle, door,bicycle, etc.)
• students who tell me when my clothes are on inside out (yikes)
• working and living in my home town
• friends who shop for me (wedding dress-TY Ardvisura)
• friends who take care of ALL the details (TY Sandra)
• ALWAYS, the public library

Kay Ryan(16th Poet Laureate) and her thoughts on libraries:
“Keep the libraries open; cherish your branch library.  Don’t let a single library close.  Have the maximum hours.  Libraries are our freedom.  Libraries are truly democratic.  Anybody can go in there, and teach herself, and be free.”

the above from an interview with Grace Cavalieri in September 2008.  Published in THE AMERICAN POETRY REVIEW. July/August 2009 issue.

A few favorites of 2009:

book(s):

• A Map of Home by  Randa Jarrar
• The Help by Kathryn Sockett
• Flight by Sherman Alexie
• The Animal Family (children’s) by Randall Jarrell

meal:
every Sunday

quote:
Never be the brightest person  in the room; then you can’t learn anything.

James Dewey Watson
discovered the structure of DNA.

(The lists are on hiatus this year due to house moves and babies, but I’m cheating).

• not being one of those families with a completely f*cked up situation
• being 4
• another year in the house
• the house is blue
• stumpy and the return of mountain biking
• the park is open
• the ability to enjoy this holiday and all it means (even if it is just a day off work)
• ebooks borrows for my reader from the SPL!
• short thanksgiving lists

Books

• The Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin by Francis Spufford
• Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
• The Temeraire books (I, II, III) by Naomi Novik

Movie

• Valkyrie

Music

• Viva Voce: Rose City
• Snow Patrol: A Hundred Million Suns

Thank you to Karima and the whole family for inviting me to share in this tradition, as it has now become one of mine (even if I don’t always get around to doing it on time…)

This year, I feel very, very grateful for so many things so narrowing this down to a short and sweet list… well it will be tough, but here goes… As 2008 winds down, I am most grateful:

to be living a life that is so much more liberating, peaceful, and content than I can remember

that each new day seems to bring more beauty and joy to my life

the smell and taste of a REAL italian cappuccino

vipassana meditation

for challenge, hardship, and change… all of those wonderful gifts that make us stronger and more whole.. and for courage and strength that has surpassed my own imagination

for the love and support of my beautiful friends and family… especially during those times when I really needed it this year… I love you all!

pain au chocolat

to have the most dynamic and inspiring girlfriends… who just continue to change right along with me!

yoga classes w/a fabulous soundtrack.. just 2 blocks away from my apartment

the wonderful public transportation system here in SF

to have been blessed with the opportunity and courage to take an extended vacation from work.. in order to explore myself and the world in greater depth

the lovely SF hills that keep me healthy and slim w/o having to go to the gym!

for continually meeting new people that make me excited to be alive

brazilian dance classes with live drumming

for those glorious, tearful moments right after they announced the new president of the United States and flashed their cameras to depict hoards of people of all different races crying, dancing, and celebrating as one unified mass

modern art museums

for the great chefs that continually produce so many mouth-watering recipes that I am always wishing there were more hours in the day..

homemade pasta

for my newly discovered love of backpacking!

the opportunity to have seen Italy for the very first time w/my best friend- one of my favorite people in the whole world!

bright, sunny days being lazy at the beach

forgiveness

for the unparalleled beauty of a bright, starry night in the most remote areas in wild nature

fantastic foreign films

hot and steamy herbal tea on cold nights

Thanks to Karima, Gordon and all for creating space for me to consider what I am thankful for, a rare reflective treat these days…

In 2008 I am thankful for:
nephews and niece

a credible presidential candidate that I can believe in
volunteer time well spent in Ohio and Iowa

that people now have an idea what community organizing is and that the profession is even respected in some circles

friendly vegetarians

trains

weddings

saunas

lake michigan

dance parties

friends that send emails from far off places

the everglades

greens

lower rent

friends that help you move twice in one year

house plants

being challenged
Favorites:

Book: Whatever it Takes by Paul Tough
Movie: hmmmm.  I just saw quantum of solace

Music: Gutter Butter

Trip: PNW!!!![errr, I mean Geneva in November]
Futbol Team: Barcelona

Meal: Pumpkin Ravioli in Brown Butter Sage Sauce at Ante Prima

Things I am thankful for:

My children (they make me so proud),

My family,

My friends,

Work that is still challenging,

Travel, and the chronicling of same with my Nikon,

A partner that gets my craziness, inspires new travels, different adventures,
makes my children and friends hers as well and tolerates my experiments in the kitchen on Sundays and my quirkiness outside of the kitchen on most other days,

That two week period in the Fall where the leaves are just the right color and they seem to animate my way as I drive, walk or ride in their midst,

That untouched first snow that is oh so beautiful, which I saw much too early while on my way to Warsaw, N.Y. in early October,

Comfort food by and for comfortable friends,

Foreign movies that make you think, feel and appreciate a non-western industrial complex based point of view,

Jazz…. a beat….a vocalist that speaks to me… instrumental soloists…a melding that you can sometimes hear when the group is in a groove, finding the all but extinct small jazz club where the music is meant to be heard at, a rhythming that gets to you when you finally get it (not all jazz is meant to be got [at least by me]).

Art in its many forms…thanx to a partner that practices, appreciates and shares that art she makes, encounters and that seems to flourish all around her,

Computers and the things I am being exposed to as a result of them,

An opportunity to do something that I never thought I would be able to do in my lifetime…to not only see and vote for a viable presidential candidate of color but to be able to work for his election and to see him elected,

I am thankful for being a part of this history that is happening all around us right this very moment

Favorites:
Film:  There were a few, but my memory is poor.  Right now one of my favorites that comes to mind is the Paul Verhoven film Black Book with an amazing Carice van Houten, I am sure there are more, but….

Music:  Alison Crockett, Esperanza Spaulding, Gordon Webster, Sandra Nkake, Camille, Marcus Miller, SMV, Raul Midon, Kenny Barron, Don Byron… so much more music and so little time and money.

Books: As most of you know I am either into detective/mystery stories or sci-fi, but my most memorable read this year might have been A Thousand Splendid Suns, heart-wrenchingly sad yet beautifully written.