09.19.04
happy paper anniversary eve!!! today is morgan and my 1 year anniversary eve. we're going to celebrate by going to the cornelia street cafe (our favorite restaurant!) courtesy of my super sister (a.k.a. morgan's super sister-in-law). thanks bonnie!!!

so i've had 2 weeks of classes now, and i'm feeling pretty excited. i had a lot of apprehension beforehand, but i'm really happy with my professors, class content, classmates, and the school in general.

my friend jake emailed and said, "if you keep posting on frogwosh, we'll all get a free education." so with that said, here's a couple recommended readings from me!

The Lessons of Classroom 506
I read this story in the New York Times magazine last Sunday, and it is incredible! A beautiful piece about a kindergartner with cerebral palsy, and his parents' goal to help create a classroom experience for their son to learn and grow alongside "normal" kids. i don't know the lingo, but it's talking about "inclusion" vs. "mainstreaming". it's long, but SO worth your time. Very inspiring!

Doctors Share Their Woes for Aging Parents
if someone who's spent 30 years of their life as a geriatric research doctor can't figure out how to best care for their own mom, how can the average person be expected to do so? I heard this piece on NPR on tuesday, and they've created a feature page with some added links, and a synopsis, as well as the audio link.

on friday night, i was reminded of the wonderfulness of small, independent bookstores(1), when i spent two hours in st. marks bookshop.

perhaps a little bittersweet, since i couldn't actually buy any books to read(2) considering the amount of reading i have to do for school, i didn't want to risk distraction.

but i felt so giddy just BEING among so many reading possibilities!

in the next couple weeks, i would like to encourage you to go into a non-chain bookstore and just peruse. perhaps look in sections you wouldn't normally!

and if you do want to peruse with a purpose, perhaps take a look at one of these titles(3):
about grace - anthony doerr
stable strategies and others - eileen gunn
change your underwear twice a week - danny gregory
hospital builders - tony monk

and if you don't have time to go to a bookstore, you could always peruse booksense's monthly top 25 lists online!

(1)note: i have been using amazon.com way too much, for textbooks, used books, and i am not very pleased with my behavior. bad crissy! no more! i'm trying to get in the habit of ordering books i need from a local bookseller, but if not, i'm going to use powells.

(2)note: i did in fact buy a book - an architecture book for empty nesters - it was $4, i couldn't resist!

(3)note: i have not given you the quicklinks for the titles on an online bookstore on purpose!

09.08.04
i have my first day of class today - social welfare policy - i think today's class is devoted to learning about the nooks and crannies of the government.

there are so many differences to me beginning school now, and 10 years ago, when i first arrived at tufts. here's are some comparisons...

1) my mom didn't take me "back to school shopping" for clothes, although i'm sure she would have loved to. i did think about it, as more of an excuse to go shopping, but a quick look in my closet reminded me that that wasn't necessary.

2) i didn't call my prospective roomate to find out what she was like, and if she or i would bring a stereo. ironically, my wonderful freshman year roomate visited a couple days ago... she lives in japan now.

3) i'm married. that's a big difference.

4) i went to the school gym (first time in 6 years), and felt like i was just there to do my own thing, not socialize, or sneer at the girls who were wearing 10 layers of makeup.

5) older students are not the anomaly, they are the norm.

my desk is a terrible mess... piles here, piles there. i figured out that i was using my messy desk as a procrastination tool to not do my reading for school...

and then i read this in my horoscope today:
(capricorn)

If you clean out the stultifying chaos in your closet, your garage, or your mind, you will set in motion events that will ultimately bring you in contact with fertile, delightful chaos. - rob brezny, free will astrology

i take this to mean that i should continue cleaning up my desk, but that i should be quick about it. no dilly-dallying.

---
a good sandwich: cucumber, avocado, vidalia onion, and mayonnaise

---
a must see movie: HERO
directed, written & produced by Zhang Yimou
cinematographer: christopher doyle
this is what crouching tiger, hidden dragon should've been.
read an interview with zhang yimou

08.22.04
morgan and i have just spent 6 lovely, lazy days in new hampshire

pre-trip, common exclamations from me were:

"oh boy, it's going to be us and the cats!!!"
or
"i'm so excited! the vacation of cats!!!"

my outbursts were usually met with a look of fear and worry from morgan, who would say,
"vacation of cats means being lazy and lying on the couch, reading, and sleeping a lot..."

morgan likes to accomplish things, even on vacation...

we were going to go hiking, but morgan came down with a terrible cold

so, we have been moving slowly... lying about on the couch, reading, sleeping about 10-12 hours a night...

and have spent LOTS of quality time with the cats

i guess this turned into the vacation of cats afterall

morgan really didn't mind.
we'll go hiking another time.

08.18.04
i asked bob atchley, a contemplative gerontology professor at naropa for some advice on attending graduate school. this is what he said,

"give yourself space to take deep breaths"

i think we humans only have a certain amount of space in our brains, a certain number of file cabinets, drawers, boxes... and every once in a while, we could use a good emptying.

as summer's end draws near, i am trying to make a little more room...

stop thinking. i went on a 4 day meditation retreat earlier in the summer - my first time meditating - one of most important things i learned, was to notice when i was "thinking"... and to tell myself, "okay, you're thinking, now stop" and to stop. i noticed just how often (all the time) i had extraneous thoughts that i didn't pertain to what i was doing at the moment, and were in many ways, distracting, and pointless.

keri smith's entry from yesterday is really lovely!
8.17.04 - space

summer reading isn't over yet!
firethorn, by sarah micklem
a fully engrossing magical, almost medieval world... reading firethorn is reminiscent in feeling of reading the chronicles of narnia. firethorn is the first book in a trilogy. i highly recommend this!!!

the spirit catches you and you fall down, by anne fadiman
i am reading this for social work school. about a hmong family in california and the difficulties the cross-cultural lack of communication and understandings that occur between them and their doctors in caring for their epileptic daughter. it is extremely well written, and very powerful.

books i will read in the future
the master, by colm toibin
life of pi, by yann martel
living out loud, by keri smith
everyday matters, by danny gregory

05.28.04
look outside
i know that you'll recognize
it's summertime
- the flaming lips

summer's here, and i am ready to begin my yearly quest for beachtime, limeade, summer reading, picnics, and lazing about.

ongoing things lined up currently:
the fingerless mitten project :: will this fully realize itself? will my fingers fall off?
figure drawing class :: my first time taking a "real" drawing class, and i love it! it's new and exciting for me.
hospice volunteering :: i'm about to make my first visit (don't worry mom, nothing contagious)

weglue
going to see a great show and want others to know about it? wondering if there's any good dance perfs coming up soon? check out morgan's new event listing where you too can post an event! share the love!
oh, and be sure to check out the second listing, posted by me --- that's happening tonight!

four chimneys organic wines
may was fruit wine month at the vintage new york in soho. we tasted some, and bought a bottle of blueberry skies by four chimneys. i'd like to go visit this place!

UPDATE
new york city kind of grows on you after a while, and while we look forward to being new englanders again, morgan and i have decided to stay here for a few more years. i will be starting a dual msw/mpa program in the fall, and morgan will be embarking on some exploratory missions of his own.

05.03.04 i am in HERMIT mode. i am donning my own shell in which i can tuck-in and retreat, or face the world, protected & strong.

this all seems to have started, when i came across the fellow pictured above. CLAUS. morgan and i were sneakily eating our brought food in the botanic garden, when we noticed a girl (jane) and her pet HERMIT crab. it was on a little yarn-leash. claus (pronounced "claws") was a scrappy, sociable fellow, who spent time nudging his way into the shady areas cast by my arm, and deflecting the harrasments of jane's younger brother.

a week or so later, i had my tarot cards read. one of my cards was the HERMIT card. my overall reading said that there is a longstanding issue that i'm grappling with, and that i will need to retreat (hermit-style) to work through it.

this made a lot of sense to me, and so i began to think.

this past week, i was in a bookstore, and came across these cards: Archetype Cards by Caroline Myss. i shuffled the deck, with the intention of choosing one card, and one card only. that card was the HERMIT card.

my jaw dropped.

it read: "seeks solitude to focus intently on inner life... devotes all energies to creative work or spiritual practice... look for a longstanding need to retreat into yourself to marshal your powers."

okay, this is definitely a sign.
i am retreating. i am in HERMIT mode.

the forgiveness project
found through andrea, who found it through rachel, please read these courageous experiences of reconciliation. on such a scale unimaginable to most of us, if these people can forgive, we certainly can, for the trivial and petty gripes and grudges that cloud of everyday.

permission cards
it was one of those grey days we've been having recently, and i was feeling a bit tired. my permission card said, "you now have permission to NAP". i listened.
check out the rest of keri smith's site. it's great!

cheese quiz
what type of cheese are you?
i am brie!

special thanks to C and ppg for good thoughtful talks.

and happy birthday chicamiga!
wherever you may be!

• halcyon kitty •

03.29.04 for the past week, i've been compiling a list of "good things":

birds giving themselves a sandbath (you know, when you see a little bird squatting in a bit of sand, and flapping it's wings and jiggling around with glee)

sitting next to a happy babbling toddler on the subway

learning new knitting tricks - this week, i learned how to knit cables and making button holes!

7 yr. old boy double fisting kool-aid box drinks

starting plants, from clippings - little bits of love and care handed down from friend to friend to friend!

cafeterias & cafeteria food

french fries cooked with lots of garlic

social entrepreneurs - listen (the leonard lopate show/wnyc) read (how to change the world - social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas)

knitting a new beautiful scarf in 2 days

50 FIRST DATES :: this movie is lovely! i thought it was going to be just another silly adam sandler movie (although, i did like little nicky!), but instead, it's another silly adam sandler/drew barrymore movie that's full of heart and makes you teary (yes, i cried, even though i told morgan i didn't).
a great date movie!
a great non-date movie!
a great future rental!

and speaking of drew barrymore, a quote from why she wanted to make this movie, "i believe in the premise of the film, which is that you can fall in love with someone every day."

pretty lofty aspirations, but i'll give it a shot!


superhero designs : andrea scher
andrea keeps an almost daily web journal, full of insight, fun, and gorgeous photos. she also makes really cool *superhero necklaces*!

bird biologist viola : antarctica
penguins, icebergs, weddell seals(!)... you just have to go here! it's like looking into another world!

03.18.04 this morning, in the half-way world between asleep and awake, i had the craving for a thick slice of really good bread, with cream cheese and salami, along with a mug of general foods international coffee...

a saturday or sunday morning... me coming into the sunny kitchen, my dad, sitting at the table in his pajamas and robe (i too, was in my pjs and robe, of course!), with the newspaper neatly piled in front of him. i would find the arts, and comics, and somehow, my two sections would take up more room on the table then the whole rest of the newspaper.

sometimes dad would've eaten already, but if not, the hot water would be boiled, coffee for him dad, gfic for me, and for breakfast, we would have fresh bread, cream cheese, and salami. i don't know how this combination came about. i think my dad invented it, and i'm really glad he did!
try it!
and this too!
happiness soup : nigella lawson
morgan and i have been eating this all week; it makes our mouths and our bellies smile! ^_^

03.10.04

*artworks for frogwosh by neumunki*

who's neumunki? well, for a complete definition, you'll have to go to his site, but for a quick summary, neumunki is also known as ben moy.

who's ben moy? ben is the buddy of my buddy sam! ben and sam went to high school together... sam and i went to college together... ben and i figured since we both liked sam so much, we'd probably like each other. so we became friends!

anywho, i'm too busy this week, and ben was feeling inspired and generous, so he made me artwork! he was supposed to make one, but ended up making three.

lucky me!
and lucky you!
enjoy & happy week! *c