2001-12-21 | 6:54 p.m.

corduroy licorice appreciated pearls of wisdom. he'd often visit rest homes and ask at the front desk to speak to any resident going by the name of pearl. if there was a pearl living there, she'd almost always have some wisdom to impart.

***

it's almost christmas and two nights of staying up past two a.m. to wrap presents and write cards tells me so. i was really born to be a night owl. this morning stuff is for the birds. they can have their worms. i'm gonna kick it with the owls in smoky jazz joints into the wee hours and wake up just in time for lunch at the corner diner. keep the searing black coffee coming, flo.

i love christmas. i love to pick out gifts, and receiving them ain't bad neither. i love the music and the food and the tradition and how people act more friendly. as martha stewart would say, "it's a good thing."

oh, i ain't all falala or nothin'. i'm still a bit bummed that online dating boy never gave me a decent sayonara. i guess i hurt him or made him mad or both. it's a bummer. i like to stay on good terms with past paramours. but it's his choice. i broke down and sent him a holiday e-card wishing him well, but now i'll leave him alone.

i forgot to tell you that i had a dream about him recently. i guess my subconscious is a very powerful thing! me brain must have wearied of my worrying about it all and scripted a very nice ending to the story.

in my dream, he explained to me that the reason he had been so stand-offish in our relationship was that he had been very badly hurt by his last girlfriend and was afraid to connect with anyone else. the other details are fuzzy now, but it was one of those real-feeling dreams and i woke up feeling a bit more resolution over the matter.

'tis true, i'm a bit bummed not to have someone who makes my heart hum right now, but i've got friend love and how. i was smothered with cool presents from my posse. the best part was that the gifts reflected my taste to perfection. it's nice to have that feeling that your friends really know you and show it through their thoughtfulness. i'm really knocked out by it all. i'm such a lucky, lucky girl.

and now i'll soon be winging my way to see the parental units with my sister. then back for a work-free week and QT with my inner circle.

it is a merry christmas after all.

i hope you have one, too, if you celebrate that sort of thing.

if not, choose life, as they say. relax, don't do it. wake me up before you go-go, unless we're talking pre-noon.

happy new year's to y'all!!!

here's bubbly in your eye.

mwah!

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