Everything is new...

2012 and five days in, I've heard the sad news that one of my favorite haunts (for a lifetime) has suddenly closed. My beloved Golden's Deli on Staten Island shuttered its doors this past Monday--it's a good thing I was there three days before Xmas. God, if that wasn't a shock to read about. I had been contemplating for a while that this may be my last year in Staten Island. I'm beginning to look at the borough of my birth, Brooklyn, as a viable (may be the only) option. And as silly as it sounds, something like this kind of news just reaffirms to me that my island in the sun is now going into complete darkness. That's not an over-exaggeration or hyper-inflated dramatics. Every time I turn around, another business on the Island closes down. In a word, it's deflating. So now the future takes shape in a different way...

The brilliance of the sun belies the bitter cold. On the positive side, I'm still feeling as good as I have in recent memory. Feeling no sense of pressure or obligation, I've resumed musical activities with the same verve as I had. There's a ridiculous amount of material I need to zoom in on and really structure. My gym discipline hasn't wavered and the energy (not just physical) is maintained in every good way. The people in my life are nearer and dearer to me than ever and I am one very lucky individual.

Of course, that does not numb the pain over losing the best matzo ball soup and the pickle/cole slaw bar. Is there no respect for tradition, especially with my peoples?