Gratitude. I was sitting in a basement cabaret Monday night watching Justin Randolph, Greg "My Director" Cicchino's boyfriend sing an adorable set, and it hit me that when I envisioned moving to New York, this was my idealized vision of what I wanted. At first, I thought no, I want to be successful, I want to have a lot of friends around me, etc., and fortunately, I stopped myself and enjoyed the moment: I was in a New York cabaret with professional colleagues who are now friends. I made myself feel the same appreciation last night when my sweetheart introduced me to his "regular" bar, across the street from Grand Central Terminal. (Not station, you rubes!) 'I'm in New York, looking at Grand Central, with a wonderful man who loves me, well, right now he's in the men's room, but he'll be back in a minute, so let's just say he's here.' And I felt the moment and how much I hoped that I'd have it some day and wallowed in gratitude. It feels good, the wallow.

The census just called--I train Wednesday to be a Questionnaire Assistant. Coming soon to a card table in a library near you! Well, near me. They want you to work in your own zip code. Hey, one of my New Year's resolutions will be met--this is going to be the Year of the W-2! (The other one was to practice better sleep hygiene.)

Gratitude!!