Christmas in the desert

Poetry found here

I’m going to talk about Christmas in the desert here:

No snow, just dirt
Tumbleweed Santa Clauses
and encircling the Saguaro with a skirt
Hanging lights off the agave

Happy Holidays!

Luminaries on the walk just for me
Enjoy your prickly pear jam
While it’s 70 degrees
No snow in wintertime,
Just a little less heat and a whole lotta sunshine

Why wish for a white Christmas
When the sun blinds your eyes
As you walk around in shirtsleeves
Admiring the glare of the rays on the desert floor

Laughing at Auntie Edna in St. Paul
Still trying to get Uncle Bob to shovel some more.
This is the good life, you know;
Desert Christmas is the way to go

The palm trees covered in icicle lights are a bit much,
But at least you can ride your bicycle in broad daylight;
One you go desert you’ll never go back again,
Forget the romantic ideal of a white-blanketed wonderland.

Looking back on 2008

Too high

Originally uploaded by N-Sai

The Year that Was was certainly an interesting one. Submitted for evidence:

* Snow in January
* Bought my new MacBook, which was my first-ever Apple purchase
* Major tornado sweeps us up during our Pi Day party, March 14
* My 25th birthday
* Travel to Vancouver in June, where I met my grandmother and aunt for the first time ever
* Rainn Wilson, you know, Dwight Schrute, in the newsroom in the middle of July
* Went to San Diego in August and gawked at seals. We stayed at a beachside hotel, which was fun. It would be the first of two trips to California this year (and in a couple of months).
* Moved twice, first to a cockroach-infested studio on the lowest floor of a high-rise (I’m told that’s been fixed, but it’s by the trash chute) and then to a lovely but expensive place a few blocks away.
* Got my first credit card and went through a bunch of snafus with my utilities and lost a lot of money, but I’m earning it back.
* In October, I visited New York for the presidential debate at Hofstra University and then went to the JMMF reunion in Beverly Hills, where we ran into Kato. That Kato.
* Learned to edit videos in Final Cut and got promoted at work, which was cool.
* In November, I voted in a historic election and got a peachy sticker
* In December, I traveled to Arizona twice and did numerous “year in reviews” including this one and one for work.

Whew! Busy!

Rail on Camelback Road

Rail on Camelback Road

Originally uploaded by N-Sai

This is what it is like to drive by the light rail, as during the last trip to Phoenix we visited and ended up going alongside it during its brief appearance on Camelback Road (roughly between 19th Ave. and 7th St. if my memory serves me correctly). We were just coming back from the Tokyo Express at 12th St. and C-back. I loves me some Tokyo.

Horse-drawn carriage in a blur

IMGP9594

Originally uploaded by N-Sai

Took this pic during a recent visit to town. We stopped by Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona, and watched their cute little parade. Now I’m back in town and wondering how the whole light rail thing is going to go. We’ll have to see. Can’t wait to try it out on Saturday.