Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: hoppy Russian porter   Sight: slashed tights   Sound: "Mad World," looping cello  Zoë Keating Cello — brilliant artist, sexy mathsician; rumbling purr of enlightenment and an indignant yowl   Touch: cat hat   Smell: rubbing alcohol; baked potato   Extra: transcending, mesmerizing, sublime Grateful for: transformative experience

Taste: bananas   Sight: bright white computer light   Sound: women whispering   Touch: bathing in saltwater, with an octopus and seaweed   Smell: espresso cupcakes   Extra: deja vu as in a dream; remembering those you know who have died of skin cancer; feeling blessed   Grateful for: little free libraries

I've been volunteering for hospice for four years. It's been a remarkable experience. I've met some wonderful people and I've grown a lot; gaining serenity and becoming more compassionate. The modern hospice movement was founded in 1950 with the philosophy that no one should die alone or be alone in aiding the dying. It provides services for people with six months or less to live and support for their families. Sometimes these services prolong life; always they improve its quality. In general, since becoming a volunteer, I find I have become more patient, less irritable, and friendlier just walking around. It's impossible, after summoning up the love to listen to the stories of someone with Alzheimer's or to sit beside someone who is actively dying, to just go back to being your grumpy old self. It may sound odd, but I've also learned it's never too late to make a friend. And I'm no longer afraid to sing aloud or hold someone's hand if it see...

Taste: oatmeal, white rice, and unsweetened almond milk   Sight: dogs carrying yam sticks and jumping up for yam treats; the glimmering red, wet, shiny street; the opaque, shiny-topped black pool   Sound: rumbling purring   Touch: cat whiskers, cat fur on the side of my face Smell: mint tea   Extra: "Promise Yourself" To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind./To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. ― Christian D. Larson in Your Forces and How to Use Them   Grateful for: steamed rice and cough drops

Taste: salt and pepper   Sight: The Maker — stop motion animation by Christopher and Christine Kezelos; an indigo blue rectangle of sky in a purple frame; water droplets ice skating across the stovetop   Sound: warbling geese   Touch: eating to satisfaction   Smell: a heightened sense of smell; mango-peach gum; toasted raisin bread   Extra: word of the year: savor; moderation; "Metta means loving-kindness...loving actions offered without attachment, independent of self-interest. The quality fosters a sense of belonging and true safety, reducing feelings of isolation. It calms a distraught mind and serves as an antidote to anger and fear. It cultivates the qualities of ease, well-being and clarity...As the New Year starts, we are reminded to make the kindest choice....to simply begin again." — Frank Ostaseski, Founder,  Metta Institute Grateful for: activists

Album of the Year: Assemblage 23, Bruise — listening to this and going to the CD release party made the highlights for the year in sound, I also love the lyrics to this song: " Otherness " — "To give completely | From within yourself | To treat compassion | As the truest form of wealth | It isn't weakness | It isn't frailty | It's being human | And it's sustaining" Songs of the Year: "Wild Horses" by The Sundays (this looped in my head on a trip to Nevada to see my aunt) and XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" (my friends' child Nigel was born this year and he came with a great theme song!). Band Crush of the Year: Chris Corner's IMAX — I've been discovering new songs and listening to many of them over and over so they've been repeatedly popping up in sounds. Looking forward to the 2013 concert in Seattle.

Memorable Books of the Year Cloud Atlas fiction by David Mitchell Plume poetry by Kathleen Flenniken The Sexual Politics of Meat (20th Anniversary edition) nonfiction by Carol J. Adams   A Paradise Built in Hell nonfiction by Rebecca Solnit Quotes of the Year  "Death is a gate of dreariness and gloom, That leads to azure isles and beaming skies And happy regions of eternal hope. Therefore, O Spirit! fearlessly bear on." — Queen Mab , Percy Bysshe Shelley "Yo soy obrero pescador | de versos vivos y mojados | que siguen saltando en mis venas." (I am a working fisher | of verses, living and wet, | that go leaping in my veins.) — Pablo Neruda "I suddenly understood that if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of a life should be taken seriously as well." — T he Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , Sherman Alexie In memorandum : Ernest Callenbach , author of Ecotopia , died this year.

In 2012, my word of the year was homemade — a focus on home and making rather than buying. This concept waxed and waned throughout the year, but ended nicely with a great homemade meal and homemade vegan dog treats. My word of the year for 2013 will be savor: to taste or smell, especially with pleasure and to appreciate fully; enjoy or relish. I'm going to focus on appreciating what I have, what I am doing, and who I am with and also, specifically, taking more time over my food and drink.

The things I was most grateful for this year: things which remain as much fun at 40 as they were at 10: biking, going to the symphony with Dad, reading a good book, and reading comic books — I turned 40 this year; comfortable shoes — after some years of wearing vegetarian shoes that pinched, I splurged for some truly brand-name Vegetarian Shoes and found them comfortable and well-made--ahhhh; panthers, snow leopards, and ocelots — I started a new novel (my fourth) about panthers and a corresponding Pinterest board ; and food abundance and my ability shop for myself— I volunteered helping someone grocery shop and gained a new appreciation for the ability to do this routine task for myself.

Sight of the Year goes to Wim Wenders' movie, " Pina -tanzt, tanzt, sonst sind wir verloren " (dance, dance, otherwise we are lost) a film about dance choreographer Pina Bausch shot in 3D — the best use of 3D I've seen. Other outstanding sights from this year near and far include: the 1963 Studebaker Avanti and 1971 Kharmann Ghia seen at the greatly expanded Cruisin on Colby event; Recycled Spirits of Iron by Dan Klennert —  a sculpture park at the base of Mount Rainier; Nature's Best Photography exhibit at the Natural History Museum in D.C.; Sally Ride's uniform — at the Air and Space Museum in D.C. ; the Statute of Liberty; and the New York Public Library and it's lions — seeing this was a dream come true. Color of the Year : sunflower yellow — the dress I wore while celebrating my 40th birthday and 15 year anniversary Shows of the Year:  Le Reve - The Dream — a phenomenal show at The Wynn in Las Vegas The Addams Family — seeing t...

The sounds of the year came from hospice volunteering. The last words a beautiful lady said to me were,"Do you see the butterflies?" I will never forget them. Also, I listened to a teleconference featuring Rachel Naomi Remen MD, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom . I loved the sound of her voice as well as what she was saying. Favorite quotes: "What if despite appearances the world is not broken? The world is hidden and we have been born with the capacity to make a difference." and "And the heart is not a valentine. The heart is an organ of perception, a way of seeing which allows you recognize the hidden wholeness in others — despite appearances." — Rachel Naomi Remen This year needs a separate section for music of the year .

The best scent this year goes to "Sin" a mix of amber, sandalwood, black patchouli, cinnamon by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab . Also, a reminder, it's always a good idea to bring lilacs into the house.

The winner here is close to home — our new cat Sophie received many mentions with her fluffy cat belly, soft cat paws, and the weight of a cat on a chest. There were some notable away from home adventures as well including the weightless and pressure of indoor skydiving and then walking on all fours and attempting cartwheels in capoeira class.

Best homemade meal: pumpkin lasagna with kale and cashew ricotta Thanks goes to VegNews Magazine — and my dear friend who gifted me a subscription! Best meal out: at Science Club in Washington D.C. — a homemade veggie burger with Daiya and a dessert of "warm sticky fingers brownie" vegan with dark chocolate and raspberry drizzle. Thanks goes to the Happy Cow app which led me to many vegan noms in fun locations on an East Coast vacation. Locally, Sno-Isle Food Co-op makes yummy samosas with tumeric, spinach, and potato and I've been enjoying almond milk lattes and Flying Apron baked goods where ever I can find them. Pink Lady apples are a recurring favorite taste — and this year a neighbor gifted us twice with bags  harvested from a friend's orchard. In drink, this was the year of the mojito (mint, rum) in Vegas with a special nod to the version with strawberry puree.