HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well, It is that time of the year again.... Whew where does the time go???
"No se" As is often quoted from many of my Amigos... I suppose New Year's
Eve is the day where we look back at the previous year and see what we have accomplished or what we haven't.. Did we keep that resolution we made, this day last year??? Well, the way I see it is keep it simple... For instance I usually make a resolution not to fall down... Then that way it's a pretty easy one to keep... Though this year I couldn't even keep that one... Tee hee..
Damn knee... So to all of you who are making the grand resolutions here's what I have to say to that... You won't fit in the skinny jeans by this time next year so eat.... You won't just have one glass of wine so drink.. Your kids won't stop being a pain in the neck so let them be.. Your hair won't stop turning grey so quit dying it. You won't get any younger so stop trying and just love yourself for who you are. What I do hope for you is this... If you play the lottery... I hope you win big. If you do plan to take a trip as part of your resolution, it better not be a car ride to your parent's house in the sticks... Ya better go somewhere big!
Okay here is my wish for all of you for the New Year!
Dream big!! Think of the most outrageous thing you can possibly think of and do it!!
and please for God's sake don't use the word CAN'T!!
Okay that's my New Year's wish for y'all hope you have a healthy and happy one...
No matter where you are. If you are watching the ball drop in Time square or playing the Rhumba in Dubai, having a quiet night with your pets, or you are falling asleep on your couch and waking up at 12:30 to kiss your sweetie.. Have fun... And don't fall down!!

Happy Day After Christmas!!

Hey Hey!

Well, with all good intentions I had planned on posting yesterday but I decided that I needed a break from technology.... It was an extremely wonderful day... I had a wonderful Christmas dinner with my a friend of mine from London and her family.. Well, we met about 4 or so weeks ago here in Arles. Her son in law cooked and I was happy to celebrate the day with her and her family!!

THANKS FAITH!!

Here are a few pictures of more of the holiday lights that lit up Arles on Christmas Eve Night.

These were lights they used to light up the facade of St Trophime church... It looked like the front of the building had been painted...

It was beautiful!!

I wondered around on Christmas eve night and took some pics of the lights.... Arles is so beautiful this time of the year..... And it's so quiet... Well, As soon as I say that I see a boat load of English speaking tourists take over the Neighborhood.... I can't tell you how many people strolled by my door and laughed...... Okay gang enjoy the pics I'll post more soon

Here's hoping at least one of your Christmas wishes came true!!

~Mel~

Here is a shot of the lights in the "Roquette"

Happy 21st of December

It's a fine line we walk when our heart's are allowed to sing... Today I saw a friend of mine who I had not seen for almost three weeks... I know that seems like a short amount of time... And realitively speaking it is... Seemed like an eternity to me.. Three weeks gives you just enough time to run through a whole range of emotions, feelings whatever... It gives you just enough time to be angry... To fill your heart with rage.. To let your head attack what your heart is feeling. You sit and try to justify what you are feeling... You talk to friends your family. They offer your their opinions.. And what your heart feels gets burried. All of the things of the past run through your head and you start to doubt yourself and why you ever did what you did. You start to curse the day your heart ever started to feel the way it did. You wished it would just go away. You simply wish that someone or something would take the hurt you are feeling away.. Further burying the feelig you have in your heart. Well, at least I did. I ran through all of the emotions of why when where, who what..... Made me sad to think about it. Makes me sad now even to think about it.. How could I have possibly pushed something so wonderful away? Then one day it just stops.. The anger goes away. The name calling subsides. And the big wish of "please take this away from me" goes away. You start to feel again, you start to find that little bit of hope deep in your heart that never really left. You know that it's still there.. And again the feeling gets stronger. Again, It comes back.. As if it ever left in the first place. Today I talked to a friend who I hadn't talked to for a while. I asked him how are you? He said to me I am playing again. Honestly, that was one of the best Christmas presents I could have ever had. Made me happy to know that he IS making music again. I had started to get that feeling back a few days ago. I knew that I had to clear through all of the crap to get to what really mattered. Hearing that he was making music again solidified the feeling. It was back. Bloody hard to hold onto but it was back. Tonight I saw him. Tonight I saw something in him that I had not seen in a very long time. I saw him, again. The beautiful soul that connected with mine well, exactly 4 years ago. I saw it again. Somehow through all of the chatter of different voices his song, faint though it may be right now, is being heard. I heard it. Somehow I think, that I am the only one who hears it.. Maybe I am the only one who listens? It made me smile to see him today. Honestly he wasn't feeling all that well.. But I saw it in his eyes. I saw what I saw 4 years ago. He has changed in those 4 years and so have I. Today, today I connected again with the love of my life. As much as we push each other away as much as we try to literaly remove each other from our lives.. We see each other and we smile and it's there. Amigos? Si! It's all we can be. I am not sure I believe in soul mates. I know we connect with certian people and you know when it's right. And right now it's simply RIGHT. Thank you so much for being who you are. Thank you so much for your song my friend. Most of all thank you for your smile.. For it is the one thing that keeps my heart strong and my head at bay. My Christmas has come early. So when I walk home tonight from the hotel where I "borrow the internet" and where I sat for the very first time in Arles, filled with hope and a dream that one day we would be close. I'll look up at the moon and next to her will be a small bright light, the planet Jupiter. And It will all be RIGHT again. I'll smile and whisper a Thank you on the wind and I know he'll get it.. That makes my heart smile. So HAPPY 21st OF DECEMBER MI AMIGO! & THANK YOU!

Christmas time in Arles

Hey Hey

Yeah I know it's been a while since my last post.

I thought I would post some photographs of the holiday lights here in Arles and some of my own holiday decorations. OOOh and it did snow here... Once every 4 years... hmm the very first time I came here was 4 years ago and it snowed then too.... So here are some pics of the sites around here.. And my stuff too.. I have offically added a touch of "white trash" to Rue Renan!!

tee hee... No lights... haven't quite figured out how to exterior illuminate my door... Oh well, don't want to piss off the neighbors just yet.. ha ha!!!!!

okay kids enjoy...

Snow in Arles????? Yeah the official "blizzard"... The Saturday market was a bust but this was something to see....

Here are a couple of shots of some of the Holiday lights in Arles. I took these about two weeks ago...

And finally here are some pics of my own holiday decorations.... Tee hee... Okay that's it for now from Roman Gual... I'll post more as the Holidays get closer...

~Mel~