BEAUTIFUL START TO THE NEW YEAR

This morning, I woke up to the kind of day I love - sunny and crisp without humidity. Mike and I got breakfast sammys and ate them on the front steps of our apartment. I cleaned the house while listening to the song "All Night Dancing" (by same group that did "Funkytown") to prepare for The New Year.

I then set out into the neighborhood, where I came upon some boxes of free albums set outside someone's brownstone, so I took a Jay-Z album from 1998 called The City is Mine (Featuring Blackstreet). By the way, did you know that J has outdone Elvis (but not The Beatles) as the solo artist with the most chart-toppers in US chart history?

I also found a couple of free books - Sharon Creech's Love that Dog and Stephen Steinberg's Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy - and I am looking forward to reading both of these works.

While walking back home, I came upon a block party. These folks went all out with a bouncy castle, a mini rocking Pirate-type of swinging back and forth boat ride, and a karaoke machine where two young women were belting out Madonna's "Material Girl" while a rowdy crowd cheered them on.

I love my neighborhood!

Came back home, showered and changed, and taxi'd over to my friend Carol's place for an incredible New Year dinner.

Happy New Year everyone!