Evolution Of A Man

i made it back to the nyc safe and sound after a surprisingly quick red-eye flight last night. although i’m very excited to be back in my very own apartment (which looks amazing after the re-arrangement), i must admit that despite not being in the christmas mood in any way, shape, or form when i arrived, i had a pretty nice time in lala land visiting family, and actually had a very merry christmas.

most of the week at home was spent painting several rooms of my mom’s house. in the beginning, i really wasn’t looking forward to it, but as i got into a grove of paint-on, paint-off, i found myself having much more fun than i anticipated.

on christmas eve, my girl myra hit me up and invited me to a hommie holiday party somewhere close to beverly hills. after three days of painting, i was definitely down for some drinking and good ole tomfoolery. i was told that there would be a gift exchange, so i practically ran to the mall to find something cute and creative. i headed straight to walmart- a perfect choice in these fund-receding times- and walked around amongst the crowd looking for something that struck my fancy. i’m not very good at randomly buying gifts for people- especially people i don’t know; so i was a bit nervous that i would choose something dorky that would garner “what the fuck?” side-eyes from the other party goers. on my second revolution around the store, however, i struck gold! i found a really nice stone zen relaxation fountain perfect for any coffee or bedside table. and it was only $20.00. score!

(not actual fountain, but you get the idea)

as is always the case when i hang with myra, the party was a blast! most of the attendees were people i went to high school with; giving me the chance to get reacquainted with some old friends. there was food, lots of laughter, and, courtesy of myra’s boyfriend, a very tasty spiked eggnog. as for the gift exchange, we chose to play the old “unwrap or jack” game. each person who brought a gift picked a card, and one by one in order (1-9) we made the choice to either unwrap a gift, or jack someone for the gift they chose- leaving the jacked person to open a new gift. i prayed that i would get a good number (anything but #1, really), and was elated to have picked #7. the first gift unwrapped were a pair of men’s massaging memory foam slippers. every guy in the room (including myself) oohed and ahhed at them. they were undoubtedly the gift to jack, and i wanted them…bad!

more and more gifts were unwrapped including a large bottle of patron, a small bar set, and, of course, the fountain i bought. over time, my the slippers were jacked at least three times before my card was up. my turn finally arrived, and without hesitation i jacked them from someone who had only just gotten them a few seconds earlier; leaving him to open a hannah montana playset. sorry buddy, but there’s nothing but sun in california. you didn’t really need them, lol. that left two more people. #8 jacked the bottle of patron. good. #9 scared the shit out of me though. he had been eyeing the slippers the whole time, and everyone agreed that the two best gifts of the night were the slippers and the fountain (yay, i picked something awesome). as he eyed both gifts, i clutched my box tight in my arms, and almost jumped for joy when he finally settled on jacking the fountain instead of the slippers. words can’t even express how excited i am to wear them all winter long:

christmas day at home with the fam was just as fun! my dad came over and cooked a brilliant breakfast of salmon cakes, eggs, sausages, grits and croissants. we all stuffed ourselves silly. so much so, we didn’t get around to the tree until late afternoon. opening gifts is always fun with my family. my dad and i are usually pretty quiet in our receiving; my mom and sister quite talkative- either yelling in excitement, or in my sister’s case, asking “you kept the receipt, right?” (my mom is infamous for buying out of style clothes for us). in the end, we all wracked up some pretty good stuff:

my dad got a new razor and sweater

my mom, a very nice box-set of cards, an iPod, and hand and foot warmers (she’s always cold!)

my sister, a much needed (and rather large) set of cookware, and crock pot

(*she didn’t want her picture posted)

and me, my favorite cologne (black walnut), and wii music game (so stoked!)

yes, indeedee! it was a very merry christmas!

in addition to all that exciting merriment, there was the very inspiring aforeposted candelight church service and griffith park light festival. the latter sounds incredibly amazing- and it should have been- but it suffered from a tremendous lack of variety and creativity. just about every light scene was prefaced with a huge fixture or lighted banner reminding us that we were viewing a light “spectacular” sponsored by the department of water and power. it was less than wickedly cool and only warrants the following as a memory:

all in all, i had a very merry christmas holiday. i appreciate the time i got to spend with my family, the gifts i was able to receive in this oh so difficult time, and the inspiration i got from attending church. because of it all, i am able to end 2008 on a good note- with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. i hope your holiday season was just as enjoyable!

peace and blessings, and happy holidays!