wishin' and hopin'

I have a confession to make. Back in October of last year, while in Vegas with Carly, I met someone. Someone special, someone I've had a hard time forgetting. Black, petit, fit, with almost feline qualities about her. It was an instant attraction. We sat and had drinks, talked, touched. During our brief time together she told me about her belief in the magic known as Hoodoo.

A traditional folk magic born in Africa, the goal of hoodoo is to allow people access to supernatural forces to improve their daily lives by gaining power in many areas of life, including gambling, love, divination, cursing one's enemies, treatment of disease, and employment. Now I can't say I've ever been much of a believer in such Harry Potter-esque business but something about her made me want to listen and believe. I guess I'm just a sucker for a beautiful woman. Maybe just a sucker. Hell, I'm a male. We didn't have much time together but what time we did have was memorable. And some of her hoodoo must have rubbed off on me because for that one day I had nothing but luck in the casinos. We never exchanged names or numbers and our time was cut short because we both had other places to be. Had I known that Carly was busy welcoming the attentions of a wealthy, older gentleman from Texas, things may have turned out differently. There were no goodbyes. I left Vegas wishing and hoping that our paths would someday cross again.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. After what turned out to be an exceptionally frustrating day of car shopping, I stopped by a random bar in Burnaby for a drink. I cozy up to the bar, order a beer and try to relax a little. Slowly sipping my beer I gaze up into the mirror (because there is no mirror or reflective surface on the planet that I can resist) and I see her. I won't get into details but let's just say i got lucky.