Ov' Elegance..

I needed a bit of inspiration so I went here www.figaro.com/cafes-eastmla.htm

It's cozy and quiet here..Perfect for someone like me who wants to get away from the chaotic mimics of a city so dunked in a sea of noise. The coffee blends with my taste..and the grilled chicken focaccia with a side serving of greens and olives conjures a taste of what the third state of bliss would be like...classic comfort....

As you open the glass door, a solitary table to the right seems to always miraculously be vacant for me. From there I have a vantage view of those in the main dining area...A stately mirror fronting the table affords me that view.

I observe people..unobtrusively...not making judgments but merely wondering what their lives are really like....Those seemingly absorbed in their laptops..the college couple huddled in whispers....two Koreans animatedly discussing something obviously funny...another foreigner, a man with receding brown hair, reading Business Week...What are their lives like..outside the realms of this coffee shop?

Nobody seemed to wonder about me though..I was out of sight...

Having done with the lunch, I ordered a cup of...of course...cappuccino...As I sipped on my drink my eyes caught on the cover of a glossy magazine that talks of technology..The cover had three scantily clad women...all very gorgeous and looking svelte..all striking poses to drive attention to their assets..all holding on to different Ipod Models...

Aaah'..to be gorgeous..and sexy..and..and... selling Ipods..

Suddenly, something about that thought struck as insanely silly!...I looked at the girls and went into private chuckles...my gawd..they look ridiculous!...

And my thought is not to think degradingly of those women...At that moment I felt sorry for them. Sorry because..I hope that years from now they wouldn't regret posing that way...almost naked....holding on to an....... ipod!...hee! hee! hee!...

Looking up I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror..my eyeglasses clearly showing me traces of lines beginning to bloom....and I smiled...

I smiled because I embrace my lines...

I don't want to be just beautiful..I want to be..elegant.

You can buy beauty..but elegance cannot be shaped by a scalpel....

It is a spirit...It comes not in the form of a body shape or skin color or painted eyes..

It comes from good bearing...manners....grace....and character..

from a life well learned and lived...

To age with classic elegance..that's what I want...

No fashion magazine can give away the secrets to this...I would have to adorn elegance on myself everyday...by the way I think....I speak...I dress...I move...I handle disappointments..I handle crises...I handle change...


....and just simply.... by the way I care ....for myself... and for others..

"elegance..."

( picture is of 1930's famous Filipino love team Mila del Sol and Rogelio dela Rosa..They both lived classic elegant lives.)