“Pat your rats on yo’ back/Take some time out your waltz
And tell your loved ones that you love ‘em every so often…”

Yeah, I know I used that one last year.

I’m sitting here in my office on the 46th floor, alone now…Liz has gone for the day and I’m just reflecting on life, watching a solitary hark lazily circle nearby. When you’re this high up, you can see them rather well, and often there are more than a dozen or so scattered about in the sky above Central, stretching from the Macau ferry terminal to Admiralty, drifting over Soho and the Mid-levels, just riding on the wind and looking for grub, I guess. Today there is just one, and it has come within 50 feet of my window at one point, which is pretty amazing to see. I’m in a slightly emotional state – these all-day hangovers make me equal parts randy and emotional. I can usually, uh, handle the former, but the latter stays with me all day.

And, of course, when one is being sappy and reflective, one tends to assign meaning to things, and of course I’m looking at the hawk and thinking about Matt McGrory. I never knew the guy, nor am I wont to mythologize him just because he died at 32 (though 32 is too young, and pretty damn sad). From what I knew of him, though, he seemed like a cool guy, a person who could get along with just about anyone, and possessive of a guarded enthusiasm regarding the movie business. His website reveals a person who was just a regular dude – psyched to be able to talk to kids about diversity, psyched about the pictures of himself that a friend shot, and a man completely without an ego to match his stature. Ok, I know that was mad corny, but put down the cool and feel me for a second. Think about what you’re doing with your life, how awesome and precious and dope life is, what a great gift it is to be able to do what you do (whatever that might be) – but also think about what it means to be a good person and why the world needs us to strive toward that goal as we strive for everything else we want and love. We all have our passions, and of course you only live once, so those passions should be pursued with ambition and vigor. At the same time, though, we should be passionate about being decent people – people who can be called honest, trustworthy, loyal to our friends, full of love and good humor and patience and compassion. That’s the good shit right there. That’s how you want to end up – fully satisfied with what you accomplished and who you became.

Anyway, that’s all I’ma speak on right now. I’m all hot – the office gets greenhoused up in the afternoon, though the sunsets over the harbor from this height freakin’ rock – and I want to go home, take a shower, and just fully chill. Perhaps I’ll mack on some steam and sauna at the gym before I head home, though those cats always laugh at me when I decline the offer of gym clothes and go straight for the towels. “No workout for me today,” I say. “Just some steam for me today,” I say. “Ha ha ha,” they say in English. “Fatty fat fat fat,” they say in Chinese.

Ok, peace to the godds and the earths. Matt, ya large, baby. K-k-k-keep risin’.