missed connections

i've read these little stories on craigslist before. most are strangers who crossed paths. a few are of someone writing about how they realized the other person that they are no longer with, was the one. it always breaks my heart to read those even though i don't know who the person is.

today i had my own missed connection. i was walking home from one end of the town center (a shopping center) to the other end which is the way out of the center and towards home. on my way out of the center i would have to pass a walmart. a guy exits the store. i only see his back as he is walking in the same direction i am. immediately his style is familiar. the guy i like at work (who left back in the beginning of the summer) has the same style: dark skinny-ish jeans, black shoes, dark t-shirt, and a dark beanie (guy's knit cap). the guy in front of me today is a bit leaner than the guy at work. also a few inches taller. seeing this guy immediately brought back my feelings for the guy at work. back at the town center, this guy keeps walking and then turns the corner where i would be going too. i assume he parked his car there. i stop to take off my jacket to wrap it around my waist before getting to the corner as it was hot. as i turn the corner, he is not in sight. walking out of the town center and heading towards the street corner i see him. he is crossing the street but in a different direction i'll be taking. he enters the coffee bean on that corner. i want to follow him but i have two bags of groceries with me. i head home.

perhaps it is better that i don't know what this guy's face looks like but just seeing the semblance brought back strong feelings. the guy at work i have not seen since he left. i have been hoping that he would come visit the two kids he cared for at work but he hasn't shown up yet.

sometimes i wonder about these kind of happenings. the universe is strange sometimes.

seen & heard on the playground

stepping out to the playground the other day, a bunch of first, second, and third grade boys were playing soccer. they saw me and pointed towards the sky, shouting, "rainbow! rainbow!" i turned around and there was a rainbow. the sky was grey and threatening to rain that whole day. it probably did in some parts of the city. after turning back around, i thought to myself, well, that will be the last time a bunch of boys will say that to me. interesting to see what they see at this age.

wishlist

beautiful, isn't it?  this oval bezel ring ($265) is by blanca monros gomez and one day i would like to buy myself one.

book review or two

my life recently has been about trying to get out of a rut. it's been very hard on me. fortunately, i have been able to climb myself out of it. two books have crossed my path and i don't think it was by coincidence. as i went to the library to print out my resume, i walked down the aisles by the copy machines. i found myself in the "you can do it/think big" aisle. out of the several books that i wanted to check out, i decided to go with "make the impossible possible" by bill strickland. it is an excellent example of how the author broke out of societies expectations and labels to do great things with his life. he did not let his background (poor) or skin color (black) to hold him back. of course, when he was younger things were a different story but through events in his teen years, he saw that those things were not real limitations. from that day forward, he never looked back. by following his heart he has changed his community and many lives by helping them get good jobs--jobs that could lift the person and their family out of poverty.

the second book, i just picked up a few weeks ago, is titled, "the traveler's gift: seven decisions that determine personal success" by andy andrews. this book was calling out to me more than the first one. this, though, non-fiction, is written really well in a way that it teaches the reader a few important lessons about how to attain personal success. ironically, it was a response to some of the complaints that i had written about a few posts back regarding what to do with my life.

i highly recommend both books and i know if i ever meet anyone who is going through what i am going through, i will tell them to read these books.