Tuesday, January 6, 2009

...looking back/forward sort of...




Yesterday, a good friend of mine posted a picture of me circa 1999-2000. He took it at the Yaffa cafe in NYC, at about 2:00 a.m. after taking an hour-long train ride in to hang with me.

Looking at the picture, now almost ten years old (and shot on film no less), got me to thinking about the ways we change, and the ways we stay the same; whether over the course of one year, or ten.

This new year I had a grand plan to wake up on January 1, drive to the beach, and wade in to the water up to my neck...and then hustle right on out. I liked the notion of water as a purifying source, a way to symbolically wash off the old year and ring in the new.

However, ahem, I rang the new year’s bell with a little too much vigour {and champagne} and instead found myself in bed the entire day of the 1st, watching a Bones marathon. Not bad, but not entirely auspicious.

It wasn’t until Sunday that I was able to make it out to the beach for an attempt at immersion. Though I couldn’t bring myself to go in past my knees (I convienently blamed it on the tenderness of my new tattoo, more on that later), I spent the afternoon chasing dreams of sharks’ teeth, and coming up with shells instead.

The shells are really beautiful and we found so many that we actually returned home with an “edited” collection. The lesson here? Instead of considering things from the full frontal position, look sideways, and look for spinning. I need to remember that the treasure I seek isn’t always the treasure I find.

In 2009, I look forward to continued blogging, writing, and general commentary. I hope to make more drawings, be more precise with my words, and make more insightful assessments while considering historical antecedents. Oh, and be willing (ideologically at least) to take the train in at 2:00 a.m. for a friend.

Good luck in 09 everyone!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

because she is wise and touches that which is in motion

steph said...

i didn't know you were going to be plunging in!! you should have told me and we would have made that crazy happen!!!

next year.