I was 16 when I went to Vegas with my mother and her 2 friends. My mother doesn't gamble. I was 16 (ok, so I took my chances on a few slot machines- and won! Managed to even cash-in the paltry winnings myself. they should really look into better staffing...). The slutty (rather maimed-looking) strippers who floated about in the dry desert breeze (flyers) and obnoxious gangs of 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' 20-somethings (no judgement ;) really didn't oil the machine to let the good times roll. The trip is not amongst my top 10, let's just say that. But what I remember most about the 'city'; aside from my itching boredom, US-rendition of the Eiffel tower, oh-so-'risqué' topless showing of Folies Bergere, and an astonishing face-to-face with the sheer volume of old folk smokin on perpetually burning 100's while decked out in fanny packs and nylon track suits; was the, yep- you guessed it (did you?) outrageous Buffet options. All you can eat loses its charm after the first meal. In fact, make that during the piling-on process. Mixing all those options, cooking styles and courses adds up to a very confused palate and, ultimately, an unappetizing stomach ache. Maybe it was just me. Confronted by the ecstasy/panic-inducing smörgåsbord of food freedom, an OD of sorts was bound to happen (too many options can make me dizzy. And we all know when dizziness hits the first thing I grab for is drumsticks - the poultry and ice-cream variety. Hence the stomach aches. Is this is making me sound like an obese person with an insatiable apetite? Nahhhh.) After day-one in Sin City, and from thereon in, I took away the understated importance of moderation as a life lesson learned.
That being said, I've been getting carried away with my library card lately. I think I might even enroll in their Over-Ambitious Readers Anonymous program. One's library card record can be one of those personal, private and voyeuristically tantalizing peer into the realm of 'you are what you eat/read/buy' etc. Sort of like a credit card bill only more 'old-school'. But how many people actually use their library cards (own a library card?) like credit-cards anyway? Oh, that's right- me! If I see it and want it I will check it out (be it on ebay, an asos to amazon shopping cart, or through the wonderful inter-library lending system) even if that means pushing aside the stacks of magazines and books on my bedside table(s) to make room for the
newest addition and forcing clothes aside to allow for one (8) more article(s) of clothing in 2 already full-to-capacity closets.
Hold up- wait. What happened to the moderation, Ms. Just Say No to Allyoucaneat? Clearly I can get carried away by the dizziness of new and exciting ideas, images, materials of printed matter, scarves, sunglasses, (<-those 2 are really OD), silk shirts, dresses, sandals and shoes which I have been collecting with reckless abandon of late. When in the hell am I going to wear all this? Ingest all these words? And when I do will they mix in a crazy and unstable way like a chemistry experiment gone horribly awry? (hmm hopefully). More importantly, will anything 'stick'? It's up to me, in the end. Up to me to take the time to really read. I'm eternally optimistic so I do believe sticking will happen. As for the clothes, they will speak for themselves because I will speak for them (the (wo)man makes the clothes, duh) but then the meaning and pearls of insight and prosiac splendors within veritable content really need the mind to matter, to be mined. They can't just stand on their own can they (if a tree falls and no one is there to hear it does it make a noise???)? If 'true' and aligning with what one holds dearly, they need to be processed and integrated into life. Then maybe, hopefully, shared to add to the 'wealth' of another's basket. It's not as easy as zipping up and strapping into a great outfit or sampling the hottest entre. They (great works of all genres) need us to unpack them. Now more than ever. Good things take work, but the 'rewards' are important. And what is important is never handed out freely (weeds out the true seekers).
And I feel a bit tense if I take the time to reflect on how much crap I've accumulated over the years. I want so badly to organize a garage sale. Clear my chi of things no longer needed. Equally, there needs to be a disk defragmentation. Things are getting pretty compressed up in here.
But like all important things in life, timing is everything. There needs to be an incubation period of collection and fermentation before an important synthesis can be culled. The thing that concerns me is the pace.
I am of the belief that ever since the industrial revolution, and even before that, with the advent of the printing press (the written word even!?), society has been forging ahead with a speed and voracity that might be all-too-much. We don't unpack enough. We've got all this information and abundance (in the developed world, at least) and, like the latest and greatest in phone, computer, gaming technology, in some respects, it has become more about out-doing yourself (and the competition) and less about actually capitulating on the essentials already layed out for us (back in the day, day and even just yesterday). Progress yes. But in what direction, to what ends, at what costs? Would a return to the basics be asking too much at the point we've reached? For once the comfort has been integrated, it becomes so much a part of the 'given' that to imagine life without it would be a total
We've all felt it- leave home without your cell, PDA, BlackBerry, you know what I'm sayin.
What to do, what to do?
The months move frighteningly fast, the passage of time pin-pointed by the reception of a new issue when I've yet to finish (or start) last month's Vogue, Bazaar, Wired, Vanity Fair, Print. Thank the blueskies for the bibliothèque's renewal option.
Making a conscious choice to press pause every now and again, is that even possible? Like the stomach and body which runs so smoothly and continuously on its own, we must not forget to tend to other arenas which need our help in maintenance and growth. Because as tempting as it is to let time do as it will, is that all we're here for?
I don't want to stop piling it on my plate (not entirely at least). I (we all) just have to make sure the choices are the right ones, in the right portions. How to gauge? Your gut/heartburn will tell you.
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"Looks So Real - Lasts a Lifetime!"
"How the world sees you depends on how you see the world"
- HSBC ad in airport.
And I leave this post like Randy Watson starting @ 2:05 and then again at 2:17:
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