Dear 123Greetings Subscriber,

How’s the New Year treating ya? I mean is it cold enough for you or what?! I’m freezing my butt off here. But I’m completely recharged and totally ready for this New Year. Thanks so much for your supportive emails.

Of course getting back on my feet after Aaliyah left wasn’t easy for me. I’m glad my old buddy Adrian was there. Sometimes we forget the little things that people do for us. Sometimes, having them there and just listening can make a big difference.

Adrian’s been looking for a place to stay and not having much luck, so we agreed to share my place. Looking for an apartment in the Big Apple is a big pain. My place may be small and I don’t have much to offer, but he doesn’t seem to mind. I’m just glad he’s here. He’s good company.

I hope the holiday season wasn’t too stressful for all of you, but saying “Thank You” is always in season. If you have family or a friend who helped you out during hard times, why not take some time out for them and let them know how much you appreciate them?

What’s up with people getting so sick at this time of year? Mrs. Bradley’s been down with the sniffles since New Year’s Day. I usually drop by her place on my way back to my house to bring her whatever she might need. She doesn’t want to go out much because of the snow and the cold.

Speaking about the cold, did you know that the flu virus has a higher infection rate because of the dry and cold weather? I read about it last month in the papers. If you’re sick now, stay warm. Get well soon and please, please don’t go to the office! If you’re an employer, give people sick leave – trust me, it’s gonna save you money and productivity. There’s nothing like a person spreading sickness all over the office! I for one don’t want to get sick. As it is, I’m not feeling so well in other areas!

That reminds me… I should pick up some chicken soup for Mrs. Bradley. Her favorite deli is on my way home.

We’re planning to go down to the Village at MacDougal to get a new tattoo for Rick. He’s been planning this for ages and this is the ‘2008 tattoo’ for him. He talked about his new tattoo so much that we were all really sick and tired of hearing about it.

On New Year’s Eve, he got really drunk and passed out. We decided to teach him a lesson. Steve already bought a temporary tramp stamp tattoo – the one that goes on your lower back if you’re a girl. When he passed out, we took the cue and stuck it on him. It was really funny with a girly tattoo on his bum. We were all roaring with laughter the next morning when we showed him the pictures.

He thought he did it while he was really drunk and he couldn’t remember anything. But it was so much better than having ridiculous Chinese letters that no one can really understand like Kobe Bryant!

I mean, what’s up with that? If you’re going to put something on your body you should at least know what the freak it’s all about! Seriously folks, think not just twice but three or maybe even ten times before you think of having something inked on your body. Permanently! And remember, before you get that tight tattoo on your body, taking a tattoo off is a LOT more painful and expensive than putting one on.

I’ve been completely screwed up lately. It’s a surprise to be single again. The whole thing about being back on the market and the pressure to look for someone to date etc. can be really overwhelming. I don’t know where life is taking me or what I’m going to be doing. What do you do when you really miss your ex and you really need to move on?

I bumped into Aaliyah last week. Her classes at the University should have started already so I thought she’d left town. It was a surprise when she walked up to me. She was doing some last minute shopping before she left. I don’t really know why we decided to talk. Maybe it was the last good bye or something. It didn’t really hit me until I was down at Tribeca at a blues club to see Jeffrey perform. Ya, remember Kate’s infatuation with Beethoven? It turned out it wasn’t really Beethoven that she was infatuated with! It’s Jeffrey!

They got close over the holidays I guess, and started going out. It was really nice to see the sparkle in Kate’s eyes. I guess I miss those moments when I had the same sparkle. I’m not going to say I didn’t miss Aaliyah, because I do immensely. And listening to Jeffrey playing the blues just made it worse because it brings out all those nostalgic feelings that I’m trying to bury.

Aaliyah looked really beautiful under that winter glow of the sun. “I’ll be leaving town in a couple of days,” she said. “I’ll see if I can call you… may I?” There was an awkward pause. The pause that you just hate to be in. The one beat that goes on for eternity. I didn’t know what to say, or how to react. Part of me was hurt, and part of me really wanted to speak to her again and keep in touch. “Ya, sure, you can call me.” I replied, in the same breath, I blurted out, “Aaliyah, I miss you. Maybe we could still be friends?”

Anyway, that’s all I have time for now. Tune in next week to know what her reply was. I’ll also keep you updated on Kate’s new beau. I don’t know if Aaliyah is going to contact me once she’s in Chicago. In the mean time, I ran into Irina, another ex whom I haven’t seen in a long, long time. We’re planning to catch up…

This week’s Zen quote comes from Morrie Schwartz, of the “Tuesdays with Morrie” fame. He said, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” Right now I’m just waiting for time to move on.