Lady Luck

First off, let’s talk about Hurricane Sandy. It has left NYC scrambling, I’m sure the news agencies are still talking about the millions of dollars in damage, and the families impacted, and the efforts still happening with clean up. Thankfully, my immediate family stayed safe and most of us live on higher ground. Altho’ my sister’s Soho apartment is out of electricity, she and the kids are crashing at my mom’s place. Poor mami. Hehehe. No, just kidding. We have been lucky and I acknowledge that. I know there are people who were not so lucky. My neighborhood had trees go down but that was the worst of it.

Really I spent the last three days taking cat naps with Pandora, watching episodes of shows recorded on my DVR, wrote a little, worked on some assignments that are long overdue and listened to music. I took the opportunity to just take it easy. I had a mild migraine during the storm but once the storm let up so did my migraine. I did not take photos of the damage nor did I venture outside during the storm...I opted for being safe. Today was the first day back at the office and my subway line is working. I was able to get into work in an hour and a half. Again, I’ve been lucky. Last bit, today is the start of National Writing Month. I am going to try to hit 50,000 words by the end of the month and hopefully finish the draft of my novel. That is the plan. I will let you know how that pans out. It amount to about 1,666 words per day. Wish me luck!!

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

What a vibrant world

I had a helluva morning commute. My train is delayed and it sits in-between stations because of an incident in lower Manhattan. Twenty minutes later it finally enters a station. I wait another ten minutes before I decide to try to catch a cab since it looks like we weren’t moving any time soon. Yep, a few hundred people had the same idea so I couldn’t hail a cab if my life depended on it. I walk a few blocks to catch a cross town bus. It’s packed but I managed to squeeze in and then realize that I’m going in the wrong direction…that’s right, it’s going back uptown. Ergh. How does that happen?? Anyway, it does manage to cross over a few avenues. Hop back off and walk a couple of blocks and check the bus signs. Yep, right bus heading for Penn station. At least it’s going in the direction that I need. The bus pulls into Columbus Circle and announces that it’s the last stop. Are you kidding me? I hop off and decide to walk the rest of the way to work. At least that was a plus. It’s a mild overcast October day. I popped in my iTunes and listened to some hard rock as I power walked my way to work (3/4 of a mile). Hehehe. Picked up a bagel and entered my building. I was an hour late for work. Sheesh! Now I’m sitting in an air-conditioned office…chilled to the bone and this hot tea just doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.
The Fall always brings an abundance of energy for me. I am awake and bright-eyed!! Even overcast days can’t take the smile off my face. I love the feeling of the wind on my face. I feel like a superhero because I can feel Power (yes, with a capital P) radiate from my body. Yum! I enjoy the sound of small birds perched on the straggly trees or the sound of the wind moving through the trees. I can feel the vibrancy of the world around me, from the red and orange hues of the leaves to the little girl wanting to be in her daddy’s arms because the world is such a big and noisy place. Lovely.

Can’t wait for the weekend to see what I can get up to...Yay! Have a great weekend.

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Wired and Tired (part deux)

Hudson River, October 2012

I'm back!  It's taken me a couple of days to sit down and write an entry.  The long weekend visiting T was good.  Lots of running around, schlepping materials and inventory.  Not much writing done...oh well.  Basically, I crashed every night I was there.  Altho' I managed to learn how to make sushi rolls...who knew it was so easy?  Thanks for the lesson Tony.  Brought home some stinky Korean stew and homemade white nectarine jam.  Yum!!  Also managed a quick pic from my train window.  

It's 11:30 pm and my brain is wide awake...the body not so much.  God! I want to write and write and write and I'm sure I'll end up with only quick paragraphs of random bits.  

Finally finished Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith by Andrew Wilson.  This bio was both dense and so well written.  It took me a while to get through and the inevitable ending brought tears to my eyes.  She died in a hospital alone.  Ah.  We are all moving in that same direction, n'est pas?  I am neither morose or morbid about death, instead I've linked arms with it.  If we're doing this, there is much to done before it comes to pass.  Hopefully, I'll get to accomplish one or two more things before I pass on.   

I've picked up the book Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland.  This is a must-have for every creative person out there.  I've read this book quite a few times especially when I'm stuck with my writing.  I am telling you I can open to any page at random and it inspires me to work.  This book is MAGIC for me.  On the train home from the day job, I read the section on Perfectionism and actually laughed out loud because the authors should have just started the chapter with Dear Lily... it was so on point.  Ergh!  Embarrassing but true.

I've been watching the show Nashville.  Yes, guilty pleasure.  Loving the cast and storyline on this new tv drama.  Okay, I know I'm not a big fan of country music but there are a couple of songs on there so good I had to download at least one.  My pick for tonight was Fade Into You sung by Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen.  The version was so sweet and tender it made me go all mush.  * awwwww *

Okay, I think I'm going to finish there...I'll write more in the morning after my first cup of tea.

Peace,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.