Lighten Up, Little Sister

Was talking to my sister, Wisha, today and telling her I was feeling more "optimistic" about things lately. She said she could not tell from my blog, because it has been rather "dark" lately. I guess I could see where she was coming from. Although, I have tried my best to lighten up, I guess it hasn't reflected in my journal. I know I have a tendency to write when I'm pissed off at the world or down in the dumps.

I will sweep away some of those dingy cobwebs from my dusty old blog and focus on the warm light that surrounds me. Ever since I stopped doing my writing job at night, I've been spending more time outside. Sunshine has been an ally in my quest for inner peace. My wonderful and generous comrades have been spending many days soaking up the Vitamin D with me. Three weekends in a row of fun! All Weekends should be as good as this past one was!

I kicked it off Friday night by going to the Whitney Museum to see the "Summer of Love" Exhibit with my surrogate mother, Ms. M, who pointed out pictures of events on the wall and wondered if she could find her face somewhere in the photos. She reminisced about the protest marches, the trippy concerts at the Avalon Ballroom and The Fillmore West and felt sad every time she saw a picture of Janice Joplin.

Ms. M lived a few blocks from Golden Gate Park during the LOVE movement and her tales made me feel closer to a past I merely romanticized about during my old life in San Francisco. She said they NEVER identified themselves as "Hippys". That was actually considered to be a derogatory term. I told her I could kind of relate. We never called ourselves "Ravers", we just liked to party and pretend we were children. After the exhibit, we had Thai food and girl-talked.


Saturday, my friends and I went to PS1 for the weekly Warm-up party. It was a complete blast as usual. We mingled on hammocks, took in some pretty decent modern art, drank beer and danced our fool heads off on the stairs overlooking the huge crowd. Fake rainstorms from the massive outside sculptures cooled us down during the heat of the afternoon. Hundreds of souls were there to get down. We have reached a new music era where the bands open up for DJs and people actually come to see the DJ, not the Rock Star. The Ex-"Raver" in me feels redeemed! Afterwards, we bought a new window AC unit and life is happy again in my old apartment.

On Sunday, we headed to Jacob Riis Beach. It's an island that's part of Queens. It used to be an old military base; now it's a national park and a really nice beach. The waves aren't impressive, but it's free to go to and only about an hour away from my apartment in Brooklyn. And also, further down the beach, just a little ways over from the family area, there's a topless beach and a safe haven for Gays. We spent a good three hours in the family area, got a lot of sun and managed to spend some quality time in the Atlantic Ocean. Later on that night, R cooked a gorgeous meal of white fish that we bought at the "G-store" but can't remember the name of. Then, on a coffee and marine high we cleaned house. See, I'm not always dark, Sister! I forget to write about the happy days sometimes. Thanks for the reminder!