I was thinking the other day how regional festivals are going beyond their religious shades to blend with the popular culture. That is a great step forward and these festivals really do a world of good to a globe that has already seen enough conflicts in the name of cultural and religious divisions. Friends, I think we must all welcome this step forward for a new unity. One traditional holiday that renews our spirituality is Rosh Hashanah…

Well folks, you won’t believe the twist that Megan’s love life recently took. You read about the disaster Oktoberfest that we had, right? Megan called up Leo the next day and dumped him. She told him that he was being a pain to her friends and embarrassed her. She also told him that any boyfriend of hers wouldn’t do that. We were all cheering for her when we heard the news, of course. Well for Rosh Hashanah she has new plans with a new um… well, different person!

Megan dumping Leo is only the beginning of the story. Since Rachael and I went to pick up a pup from the animal shelter, Seth learned about what happened to Megan. (Yes, yours truly has a big mouth.) I didn’t know that I was supposed to keep my mouth shut to ex-significant others of friends. I only mentioned it in passing and talked about the disaster party. Ok, maybe I should have realized that I wasn’t supposed to be letting my tongue loose. Well, before I knew it Seth had all the info he needed about Megan and it gave him enough reason to call her. I didn’t know that I unknowingly started another chapter in Megan’s life until she called me. She was furious at first, “What gave you the right to talk to him about me?” she accused me. I had to calm her down and told her to think positive. I remembered a friend telling me of seeing the positive sides of things in any outcome. Maybe I read that from one of the comments. Yes, folks, I do read your comments! I couldn’t remember properly because I had to think of ‘evasive maneuvers’, as Steve calls them.

After her venting, Megan calmed down and told me that she just needed to let things out because there are too many things going on in her life in a pace that she’s not catching up. “Hey, what are friends for?” I asked, just glad that she wasn’t yelling in my ear anymore. It was a good thing she called and not show up. She might have beaten me up on the spot! Women and their fury I tell ya… But Megan was glad overall because she was on a rebound with Leo when she broke up suddenly with Seth. She wasn’t that serious about him, “He just sounded nice for some reason, all that motivational talk can be addictive,” she said. Ya, and a lot of self-help books are best sellers, I know, I’m a writer. But when the infatuation faded, there wasn’t much to him and she was bored. So now she’s on a rebound with Seth to get out of being with Leo, which was caused by the break up with Seth to begin with?! Okay, that’s just way too complicated! Let me just leave it at that and hope she’s happy.

I really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I heard about Seth and Megan getting back together. I still remember doing the emotional triage after their disaster road trip last time. I let out a big sigh when she said that they were going to take the train this time. I think Seth is counting on this trip, too. It’s almost poetic because Rosh Hashanah is all about renewal and new beginnings. I hope Megan and Seth’s new beginning starts off well and stay that way!

Talk about the world of cultures, Rachael is becoming more and more aware of her surroundings and the world at large. Her questions are becoming tougher and deeper. I mean the other day she was sitting with me, watching Animal Planet. They were showing a tiger running after a herd of deer. She asked me why was it that some animal had to be food for another. I was stumped and she noted that and was at a lost for words. She then promptly decided that she’ll look into the matter herself. She relearned about the food chain and the balance in nature and she even went on to discover about food habits of different cultures and how some people are becoming vegetarian because of the food crisis. I was dumbfounded when she told me about her “research”.

She called me after a few days and declared proudly that she wanted to be a vegetarian. Lucky for her since Donna had already invited me to a small World Vegetarian Day potluck dinner! I was taken aback by Rachael’s conviction. I love my steak and fries, even after we somewhat over ate during our road trip with the explosive duo. I don’t think I’d have the will power to exchange my steak and going totally green and healthy. I won’t be able to keep track. I’ve also never been able to make a resolve that is strong enough to make me quit red and white meats completely. Plus I don’t really like tofu. Rachael also stated how she has done an extensive study on ecological and medical issues and other stuff to come to the decision. Come to think of it, she’s like a mini-Donna, so aware of issues. I feel like a dumb blond (no offense to blonds out there). She had the data on her finger-tips. Now she’s even advocating the cause to her parents! I’m sure, with her determination, she’ll stick to vegetarian food for a really long time now, if not forever. I hope Donna gives me some of her guidance on how to go about this vegetarian diet, I don’t want to hinder us hanging out together. Who knows, Rachael might even convince me to go vegan!

After meeting Berka at the International Day Of Peace screening Donna took me to, I had to meet her again. I don’t know why, I just couldn’t resist! Luckily for me, I had exchanged phone numbers with her. For some reason, meeting her rejuvenated me. I felt inspired. She’s one of those people who come into your life and make you think about things in a completely different way. She’s certainly a ‘mover and shaker’ or as they say, ‘Tour-de-Force’. I had to get that high again. We’ve been planning to hang out over coffee but we’ve both been really busy. So when Donna told me that Berka was preparing the main course of the World Vegetarian Day potluck, I was exhilarated.

For one thing, I’ve never really tasted homemade Indian food. I’ve always had food from the all-you-can-eat Indian restaurants or the row of Indian restaurants on 8th Street. They’re really tasty, I tell ya. There’s also a nice little restaurant that is totally vegetarian and opens late night. Whenever you go in, the family that runs the restaurant welcomes you with great smiles on their faces. I still remember Rick’s first night there. He was a bit drunk by that time but we were all starving. He didn’t know what he was getting himself into because it was the first time he wasn’t going to have his steak and potatoes. He got in and he didn’t really know what to order, so Megan helped him out. Megan explained what was in each dish and how it was prepared. I think knowing the ingredients in the mysterious dishes settled him a bit. He loved the tandoori naan and the spinach and cottage-cheese stuff. It became our regular spot after Rick liked the food. We go there whenever we’re really hungry after a night of revelries.

The nights at this little Indian restaurant make me look forward to what Berka’s going to bring. I think Rachael is going to have a feast too. She’s really looking forward to not having any meat at all!

If you think my infatuation with Berka is moving fast, you should know about Mrs. Bradley! I hadn’t seen her for a while and finally I bumped into her on the stoop. She was on her way out, I was on my way in. She was carrying a rather large bag and smiled at me as soon as she saw me. “Hey Mrs. Bradley, where have you been hiding?!” I exclaimed, “Well, Bob I’ve been just really busy, that’s all,” she said, and with a tint of blush on her cheeks, she continued, “I’m glad I ran into you, because I wanted to give you my spare keys. I’m going off to Atlantic City for a couple of days.” I guessed that things must’ve been going well with Frank. As soon as I finished my thought, the man of the hour showed up! “Hey Frank, you know Bob, right?” asked Mrs. Bradley to Frank. “Yes, of course I do,” said Frank. And extending his hand, he continued, “He comes into the store to get dog food, and some groceries.” Mrs. Bradley handed me her keys, “We must be off now, we have to catch the bus, there’s a discount for senior citizens you know,” she said with a smile. Then the happy couple left, having their arms in each other and walked off to catch the bus to Atlantic City. They looked happy and content. I’m really happy for Mrs. Bradley and Frank. I guess all these years of Frank’s silent admiration finally paid off.

It’s time for us to wrap it up folks. If you need to catch up on stories, remember you can always hit the Archive Vault. You can also check my blog for updates and stray thoughts. This week’s Zen quote comes from James A. Garfield, and I thought it was really neat so I wanted to share it with you all. Garfield wrote: “If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.” That’s right, and I know most of you will agree because I’ve read the stuff you’ve sent in about Mrs. Bradley. Thanks for reading the newsletters, and thanks for all your support. I love hearing from you, so keep on sending in your comments!