I am not dead.

Even though this blog has been uninhabited for a few months, I have been here. Alive and beating. Blood pumping, the kabob digesting in my stomach, my brain fighting off sporadic urges to write. My skin has gotten darker. Friends have come and gone. My library of books expanded exponentially. For no particular reason, my sense of smell has heightened - which has become quite useful in cooking. Even my tastebuds have doubled in number - I'm almost certain - where I can actually differentiate between tarragon, thyme and mint (I never could before). My driving skills have not changed. The tactful practice of holding one's tongue and refraining from giving his opinion: I have definitely not developed that skill yet. However, I've developed dog-parenting skills, which I wasn't planning for at all.

Meet Millie. The nervous, hyper-vigilant, active-yet-sometimes-skittish beagle. Age four. When she first joined our house, she would fly up the stairs at the sound of a dropped spoon. Now, she runs to the foot of the stairs. Stops herself. Paces back and forth in contemplation, and eventually returns to her original place of comfort. Millie, you've come a long way. She is probably the most - and I say this without any bias whatsoever - sweet and good-looking dog in the world. I have witnesses who can attest to this. Being a dog-mom has busied me more than I ever expected. Did you know beagles shed?? That shit has to be vacuumed like every other day. (In my house).

To be completely honest, I have been uninspired to write. My most lucid thoughts come to me just before I am falling asleep and, at that point, there is no chance I'll get up and turn on the computer, type my stream of consciousness, tweak it for the sake of eloquence, etc. Then by the following morning, I have lost the momentum, if I have not already forgotten the conversation with myself from the night before. And of course, the real world tends to interfere with hobbies. Particularly the feeble attempts at artistic blogging :).

Nevertheless, I am still here. I still have conversations whirring through my brain constantly. And my brain still needs to be drained of that noise, from time to time. If I have lost your attention, that is alright. I will win it back. Or, in the very least, I will re-gain the inspiration to write in the process.