SOFA KING BUENO

(7 months 8 days)
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Paso Zinfest and sample lots of great wines and food.
The highlight of which was CHRONIC CELLARS, a winery opened by the 2 sons of the classic Peachy Canyon. The rebel sons.
http://www.chroniccellars.com/
The label hooked me in, as a friend kept raving about their designs. And being an avid fan of great aesthetics, I was curious.


"Sofa King Bueno" (please read it fast for full effect) is 66% Syrah, 12% Petite Sirah, 11% Grenache, 11% Mourvedre. I loved the wine, and I loved the name. And as I read this label, I blushed. I am 55% still a prude. And while I blush at such expletives, even cleverly disguised, I am reminded of how my prudence in life has held me back through the years.

I am actually much better now than when I first moved to New York. The city taught me to be very open, and very little actually shocks me anymore. But still, I do watch what I say, and keep any profanity minimal, which is almost never, aside from sh_t. And even then I have to "underscore" it.

But I am really not talking about how well and how often one can use profane language here. I am really talking about that zeal, that "charging towards life" quality that some people are just naturally gifted with. Beyond just the surface uber "discretion" I have always had, there is that deep lack of caution to the wind in me. Imagine this, when I was about 18 I think, I wore a tanktop underneath my one piece bathing suit because I deemed it too low cut and revealing. Even my aunt was begging me to take it off.

I am really not that bad. In fact, my parents will argue that. They have always looked at me as the rebellious daughter who ran off to the big, bad city. But I know myself. And I know I hold back on certain things because of my "decency to a fault creed". You know, the kind that prevents new experiences and growth sometimes. The kind that could really only give you 45% of life. And this is what I'd like to savour more.

After all, life is best spent when every so often you get to scream out, "SOFA KING BUENO!" to the world around you.

Bye Bye Baby

(7 months, 19 days)


(play the music as you read)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUwW108ITzw

I have had the same arms and sadly, thighs all my life.
So I will target these areas in hopes of shaking off the "not so baby, baby fat".

Don't worry, I promise not to wear the short dresses, even though they are back in style.

Vanessa in Wonderland

(exactly 8 months to go)

The past few weeks I feel like I’ve been to hell and back.
If there was something to learn, it’s really important to practice composure in life, especially in the current business I am.

Because of my tendency to be a stickler for what I believe in and my passion for doing things right, I do end up being “reactive”. And frankly, it gets tiring. In my head, I hate hearing myself whine. So I think it’s time to wrangle myself in, and be proactive instead. This takes a lot of deep breathing and walking away from heightened moments sometimes. The truth is a lot of times, the best way to behave is to just do "nothing". Let life sort itself out. That actually by doing "nothing", we are often times, doing something good. An act I am not used to. A reaction that's novel to me and the most challenging for most of us.

One of the things that will help me visually remember this habit is a reading chair. Basically, I will carve myself a proper reading nook, or what might really be more specifically a “time off, gather myself, hear myself think" nook.

I purchased a rather beat up, cigarette burnt wingback, tufted chair a few weeks ago. It’s so dingy (and in a very groovy corduroy state), I couldn’t get myself to bring it straight home. So it’s been sitting at the antique shop, until I pick a fabric to have the old gentleman across re-upholster it for me.


(The Wonderchair)

I shall create a physical space where in I am safe.
A space where I can be still...where I can participate by not participating.
A place where I shall remain the captain of my own ship.