Slightly Foxed

"Slightly Foxed" has been great.
Holding Privatjokr's hand, I gave my first steps in this virtual world and he has been a kind host and mentor.

But there's a time in everyone's life, when the place we grew up in, starts to feel small.
Slightly Foxed felt like my bedroom at my parents' house.
It was time to move on and get my own place.

So I did.
You're all invited to Slightly Lively.

There's a few details I'm still working on, but I hope you'll find the new site to be nicer and more comfortable.

Let's start the New Year at my new place. Bring your own chair and I'll bring the entertainment.

Love,
Alicia

Things I did in 2007
10. Entertained house guests.
9. Flipped someone off.
8. Joined 2 Bookclubs.
7. Went to 3 concerts.
6. Camped! in the wilderness! where the bears live!
5. Became a U.S. Citizen.
4. Wrote 5 new songs about Ryan.
3. Burned my boobs.
2. Saw the Grand Canyon.

1. Sang "99 bottles of beer on the wall" until there were 0 bottles of beer on the wall.

What I lost in 2007
10. 10 pounds.
9. That one donkey.

8. The sole on the heel of one of my shoes.
7. My favorite bookmark.
6. $300 on a very much deserved speeding ticket.
5. My anxiety.
4. The annual pumpkin contest!
3. My keys (twice).
2. My tea buddy.
1. My father.

What I found in 2007
10. The T-Bone.
9. The mermaid in Ryan.
8. An old, long lost friend.
7. The perfect table for my hall.
6. Mint Mojito Orbit Gum.
5. Fantastic glasses.
4. The true face of despair.

3. My 10th year wedding anniversary.
2. Cops in Mapleton.
1. Peace inside my head.

What I learned in 2007
10. It's not a good idea to test my physical abilities at work.
9. Rocking the car while in mud, will get you unstuck but you have to be smart and decisive about it.

8. I should always wear a t-shirt while in the sun.
7. I can pee in the wilderness.
6. I should bend my knees while lifting or putting down something heavy.
5. To make crescent rolls from scratch.
4. It's easier to write things on a blog, than to say them out loud.
3. You can cook brownies on the remains of a roaring fire.
2. It's ok to be scared shitless of hurting the ones you love.
1. Revenge is a choice we make. So is forgiveness.

Goals for 2008
10. Personalize and decorate my house.
9. Keep blogging.
8. Read the books for my bookclubs.
7. Focus more on family.
6. Exercise more.
5. Manage my time better.
4. Accomplish all my work goals.
3. Cook more.

2. Be more thoughtful.
1. Decide if I want to have a child.

People ask me why I don't really comment on the books I read, why I choose to quote them instead.

Here's the answer: Because books are like love, or sadness. We all experience it, but your love was not my love, your sadness was not my sadness.
You take a book and make it yours, learn from it what you will.
Far be it from me to tell others what to think, what to feel.
Telling you what I thought of a book in detail is like explaining how I love my husband. You won't learn anything from me. Go on and find your own way to interpret the world around you. Find your own way to love.

"Why was the word "idyll" so important to Tereza?
Raised as we are on the mythology of the Old Testament, we might say that an idyll is an image that has remained with us like a memory of Paradise: life in Paradise was not like following a straight line to the unknown; it was not an adventure. It moved in a circle among known objects. Its monotony bred happiness, not boredom."

"He suddenly recalled the famous myth from Plato's Symposium: People were hermaphrodites until God split them in two, and now all the halves wander the world over seeking one another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost."

"We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come."

"Perhaps if they had stayed together longer, Sabina and Franz would have begun to understand the words they used. Gradually, timorously, their vocabularies would have come together, like bashful lovers, and the music of one would have begun to intersect with the music of the other."

"Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love."

"Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two separate passions, not merely different but opposite. Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman)"

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera

Today the weather seems to have put everything on hold.
It's about to snow.
The city is eerily quiet.

I wish I could read the day away, but my responsibilities forced me out of bed and out of the house.

Then again, it's also a perfect day to concentrate on work.
With treats. I need treats to concentrate on work today.

So I drive to the supermarket and Oh, joy of joys! they're carrying a new item.
Ito En Tea's Tea.

This lovely Japanese tea company offers a great variety: Pure Green, Green + White, Green with Rose petals, Golden Oolong...
Pure tea, all natural, unsweetened, no carbs, no calories, bursting with antioxidants and vitamin C.
Right above the nutrition facts, you can find a different haiku on every bottle.
These are the ones I liked the most (so far):

rumpled teapot
beside grandma's shed
whistlin' with the wind

Lilly pads afloat
dull painted amphibians
practice evening music

Joy is in the little things.
Tonight I'm cooking pasta.
While we eat, Ryan and I will talk about our day and about the light fixture we need.
We'll put the laundry away.
We'll watch a movie laying on our couches, with homemade blankets covering us.
The cat will stretch in the warmest spot of the basement and look at us with disdain when we mention he'll roast if he keeps laying there.

I feel happy and I feel safe.
My world is balanced.
That's all I've ever wanted.
It's taken Ryan 10 long years to heal me and show me there's nothing to fear, that chaos offers no peace.

Thank you.