year's end

The collards are cooking, the black-eyed peas are soaking, the pork tenderloin is marinating. Jim is gigging -- New Year's Eve is the biggest night of the year for a working musician. If you've made reservations at the Crown Plaza Hotel Ravinia in Atlanta tonight, Jim's band is the one serenading you. Dance!

We make eggrolls on New Year's Eve around here. Couldn't find the wrappers this year, so we're making steamed (or fried) dumplings with the eggroll filling. I'm undressing the tree. At 11:30, I'll chant in the new year with friends at the Vedanta Center of Atlanta. Then I'll come home and tuck myself into bed so I can dream about the year -- the decade -- to come. What I wish for you, and for the world: Peace, my friends. Peace. Happy New Year.