Verbose does the job? Nay!

January 20th marked the inauguration of our 44th President of the USA. What a day.

It's hard to find the right words that capture the essence of the day's events...perhaps words don't really do it justice as sometimes things are better left unspoken and best interpreted through observation. Too many words can mar a scene, a moment, an event...and that's coming from someone who believes writing and literature can be used as an analogy to explain life; breathing is to living, as reading and words give our body its soul.

I imagine other countries, children, adults and elders who've never experienced democracy, the right to vote, freedom of speech or whom lack an identification card and it weighs heavy as a responsibility. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all individuals are free and equal...yet with all the violations occurring in OPT, the dearth of health services in Zimbabwe and the lack of international attention for the refugees in Thailand and Bhutan...it's challenging to recognize.

This past Tuesday helped revive any lost hope. As pessimistic as some may be, I think we all saw a sliver of a silver lining then. Facing these global strifes will not be easy, but at least we're reassured through someone whose vision is not obstructed and whose attitude and ethos can be expressed in 3 simple words: Yes We Can.

D: it is written

A friend recently reminded me I had this blog. Weird. Had I forgotten? How did this happen? Should I be surprised? The 1 answer I have to the latter questions is: No.

I started this blog over a year ago as a record of my temporary time in the city. I say 'temporary' because given my previous track record, temporary reflects my amount of time spent in new places since graduating from college. I will say though, I've lived in no other place where time can consistently reinforce your age. I feel I'm constantly remarking how quickly the days pass, or how I must do this before I'm too old. In general though, the pace of life is an innocuous reminder of how there's so much to do and so little time.

I am not a list-maker. My mom was one and though I love her dearly, I vouched to myself that I would not follow suit. I am inspired by randomness, change, challenges and the unknown - making a list would seem the antithesis of 3 out of 4. However this weekend in an attempt to maximize my 4 days off and address my New Years resolution(s) (still in the making, never to be confirmed), I made a list. Item number 2 (no particular order) was to watch Slumdog Millionaire - mission accomplished. It's the 4th movie theater I've visited in the past 17 months and while I didn't know what to expect, I hoped to walk away with motivation brimming from my black/gray/white knit gloves with a hole at the tip of the middle finger.

I found the story beautifully written and the perfect movie for a new year. Although not everyone aspires to find wealth, a life-long partner or a chance to appear on television/reality-tv, Slumdog Millionaire certainly inspired me. It instilled a lost passion and a reminder that no matter your destiny in life (sorry, aspirations to be the first individual to grow coffee beans in space, live in an underwater seaworld drinking cabernet sauvignon, eating grapes, brie and reading the likes of Gunter Grass and convert me back to meat-ism do not really qualify...), there'll always be opportunity to find it so long as your eyes remain open.

Given the strained economy and people's moods in relation to this global financial crisis are marked with despondence, this film can certainly lift one's spirits. If only temporary. And as Alfred Lord Tennyson stated, "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." I presume the idea is about people and love, however in the context of this message, whether it's people or a career, find something you love and fill yourself with so much of it that you lose your breath at its beauty.

A bientot.