1.22.06
breaking news! i'm half-way done with grad school and i'm 30 years + 1 month old!

second week of school and i'm still figuring out my class schedule. i feel like i am deciding how i want to experience the next five months. do i want to be overworked and stressed? (well, stress is somewhat inevitable) part of me wants to take all these challenging classes, more than i need to or should - this part of me is afraid i'll be missing out on something great if i don't - while a slightly larger part of myself is nudging me, saying "balance. strive for balance - mental, physical & emotional balance."

i just re-read something i had written on frogwosh right before i began grad school... from when i spoke with a incredibly wise gerontologist/educator who told me, "give yourself space to take deep breaths". i am taking this very seriously as i make my decisions.


here are my two favorite times over the holidays with my family:
one. spending christmas day with my grandmother. ten of us descended upon her and her nursing home with carols, laughter, love, and of course, FOOD! the look on my grandmother's face as we broke out into song (and i must say we sounded pretty good) was full of so much happiness, joy, and amazement. the von liu family singers!

two. family charades! from 5 to 70+ and a wide assortment of ages inbetween, it is amazing how fun charades is for everyone! my dad wins for having *eggplant* which included him gesturing laying an egg...priceless.

great winter food!
jerusalem artichokes
these ginger root looking things are so good roasted! leave the skin on, just scrub them, cut of the ends and into golf ball size pieces, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs (i like sage or thyme), and put in the oven at 500 degrees for a half hour or until they give when you press on them (so they're mushy inside like mashed potato balls!) yum, yum, yum...

interesting things on the web:
david milne: watercolors
i had never heard of this artist before i wandered into the exhibit at the MET, and was instantly happy i did so. he used a really non-watercolory technique of applying the paint directly onto a dry brush (without water) giving an effect that looks very monoprint / woodblocky print-like. i love the colors, i love the scratchiness.

father's roundtable: the writers
candid honest funny talk from a bunch of guys who are new (or newish, if having an eleven year old counts as being new) dads. one of my favorite illustrator/bloggers danny gregory is one of dads (actually, the dad of the eleven year old) and so isn't one of my fave fiction writers anthony doerr.

parkour
i don't know where this came from, or when, but i feel a little behind in not knowing this existed until now. while it looks a little like gymnastics, a little like breakdancing, it's none of the above, really cool to watch (at least on a video).

jess hutch's knitted toys
knitted robots! knitted two-headed monster! jess hutch seems to be a master of crazy knitted toys. she had/has a little instruction booklet for sale which i bought, and someday i'll make something - perhaps the little egg man!!!

12.21.05
well, it has certainly been an eventful 29 hours...
i am officially on WINTER VACATION!!! no school again until january 17th! woo hoo! i had my last final exam yesterday (statistics). i was scheduled to take the exam at 9am, however because of the MTA strike, it took me 5 hours to get to school, i missed my exam, but got to take it in the afternoon. i will not go into details about my transportation experience, but will say that i spent a total of 3 hours waiting in lines, and my toes froze and thawed countless times.

while my morning commute from home to school was grueling, my evening return trip was magical, thanks for morgan and his bicycle! after my exam finished, i made my way to his office and we walked/rode home. some streets were closed to car traffic and bike lanes were sectioned off with orange cones, so there was plenty of safe biking zones! a lot of people out and about, on foot, on rollerblades, on razor scooters (remember those?!) and on bikes. morgan was quite the trooper, riding his bike with me sitting on the crossbar sidesaddle. we got many smiles and happy comments and were even stopped by a tv reporter. i felt like i was in a foreign film. (cue georges delerue soundtrack please)

today has been pretty eventful too, even though i haven't left my apt. my upstairs neighbor gave birth to a baby girl! upstairs! in an unplanned homebirth! while i was on the phone with my sister! welcome to the world!

pictures worth viewing:
jk's dailies archive. every morning, my friend john walks through the arboretum on his way to work and takes a picture. i love this simple collection of his *dailies* from 2003-2004! some amazing thing happen with ice in winter!

a musician worth following:
morgan packard. i don't just keep mentioning him because he's my special boy, but because i think he's pretty spectacularly talented and is creating some beautiful stuff. he has most latestly popped up on textura sharing his two cents on what music he liked this year. go to 2005 artist picks. 2005 has been a great year for morgan - i look forward to what he'll create in 2006!

a movie worth renting:
to catch a thief (hitchcock)
the details and the dialogue are amazing! car chase scenes and lounging on the french riviera abound. cary grant and grace kelly at their cheekiest.