Cats go to work?

Tomorrow morning I leave my parents' nest again. There will probably be fewer tears than when I was 18, but the transition into a new job (having absolutely nothing to do with what I spent 7.5 years of higher education studying), a new city (which I have heard is much safer than it used to be), and new friends (haha...they don't even know what is about to hit them) will be accompanied by the same exuberant anticipation.

Of course my final week in SF has not been without a few rallies around the adventure-pole and has included:

*acupuncture and Chinese herbs (I don't recognize a single ingredient - it must be awesome!)
*acroyoga: apparently a combination of acrobatics, yoga, and Thai massage
*and a flying trapeze class at the SF circus center

...with these three first-time experiences under my belt (including a long conversation with a young lady in clowning school but who also really interested in contortion), I feel ready for just about anything...even say, sailing catamarans in Puerto Rico on my new job's dime (probably even plural).
ladder up to the flying trapeze platform
another unwitting class-member

Fasting...

Objective:
Try out fasting for 24 h as a way of giving the digestive system a break and cleaning the "tubes"

Disclaimer:
Anyone who knows me, is aware that my emotional and physical balance is sensitive to the regular intake of food (read: When meals are late I often become cranky, snappy, and in extreme instances will lie down on the ground and cry). Taking this into account my fast consisted of half a piece of fruit 4 times during the day and lots of water.

Results:
My energy level was higher all day than usual and I had more free time (since I didn't have to find, prepare and eat food). I also wasn't weak as a result of not having eaten more than 400 calories in total. Nevertheless, I did think about food quite a bit, although I was surprised to find that the craving for food faded through the day - separating this emotional impulse from the feeling of physical hollowness that did persist.

Conclusion:
Not as bad as I had feared. It felt pretty good as eating adventures go, but there was not definite proof of improved cleanliness of the digetive system. I think next time I could manage just water (with lemon juice).

Music as a guide for life

Are some people so in tune with music that they are moved to tearful realizations about the meaning of life? Are whole life philosophies inspired by music? Alternatively, are there people who are genuinely apathetic to all music?

If so...what causes this spectrum of personal meaning derived from music? Are some people just more sensitive to nuanced lyrics or spectacularly funky base lines...or have some of us just not found "our artists"? ...and most importantly: Where am I on this scale - can I be getting more out of my music?

I then set out to understand more about what music means to those around me and the conversations ...:

*Particular songs can be associated with specific times/places/people in our lives. A song may trigger a brief sensory memory related to when you first heard it or emotions so overwhelming that you might vault over a couch and smash your hand on the stereo buttons to avoid listening further.

* Some people listen to music to feel an emotion they are not currently feeling. For example, listening to "Fuel" by Metallica first thing in the morning to get pumped.

* While others may use music to accentuate an emotion they are already experiencing. Like listening to love songs after a break-up.

* Some people like to listen to sad songs to feel an intense emotion, while others go out of their way to avoid sad songs because they don't want to feel unnecessarily sad or unhappy. What benefit do we get out of feeling intense emotions? do they make us feel more alive - more present? or can they result in self-absorption and being less present to the rest of the world?

...still pondering
My father just opened our broken refrigerator as an incentive for us all to go to bed. It smells like a gaint fart in here...geez dad.

What is that?

I was in the fresh fruits and vegitables section of a Chinese grocery store was surprised at how many were completely foreign to me. I picked out the strangest-looking ones and took them home with me...

Rambutans are tasty...very much like leechees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan

I made a dish with the lotus root and the black fungus. My family couldn't eat more than a few bites because of how bitter it was...I may have picked the wrong string of bulbous roots or maybe it just needed to be cooked longer...

To be honest, the rest rotted before I did anything with them, but this was fun and I would like to give each the attention they deserve in the future...with the liklyhood of several iterrations.





http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/22672/

blind for a day

Challenge: experience life without sight for a whole day.

There were several quiet highlights early in the day: eating chocolate while sitting in the warm sun, listening to Vivaldi while lying on the carpet letting my mind paint pictures.

But several hours into the day frustration set in as I slammed into a set of shelves when attempting to enter the "bathroom" (aka. linen closet). Challenges ranged into the kitchen as well and some highlights were identifying items in the refrigerator, making tea (while parents are hovering and telling me not to hurt myself), and chopping an apple (very slowly).

My mother an I went to a 60 min walk to the library and back, which I returned from completely exhausted and overwhelmed. After the first 2 blocks of the walk my mother noted " I feel like I am pulling you" and I replied "there is a good reason for that"...every time a shadow passed over me my muscles contracted, I was clutching my mother's arm and I had the persistent feeling that I was about to get walloped in the head. However, with practice I was able to relax and get walking pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the movement on and off curbs was a work in progress: early up-steps aren't a problem, but late up-steps result in slammed toes. Here is a picture I took of the two of us on the walk.


There were many points during the day where I said to myself: "Screw this! I really need to see now," but I stayed in the dark and struggled through the frustration. I realize how much I am motivated and stabilized by constant visual input: I was mentally exhausted half-way through the day and disoriented by not noticing the movement of the sun or seeing clocks.

Later in the evening I took requests for items to be made of clay.

BONUS: Cactus in the SF arboretum.

My sister shoveling a scoop of dirt over some of my grandfather's ashes in our back yard. My grandfather Jim passed away almost one year ago.

exercise over the holidays...

Needed:
1 Disney movie DVD
48" HD flat screen TV
1 open living room floor
1 nearby pull-up bar (or margarine)
1 or more equally psycho friends or family

Rules:
30-40 situps (your choice) every time an animal appears in a new scene
6-15 pull-ups and 15-20 push-ups at the beginning of every song

Discoveries:
There are 6-7 songs in Cinderella
Cinderella only has one scence with no animals! (the ball)
Cinderella is apparently the longest Disney movie ever
Your lats (the next morning)



Rewards:
Stuffed mushrooms
OR Catherine's mushrooms with banana (vanilla yogurt optional)
OR Catherine's mushroom and baked feta

(NOTE: some rewards in experimental stage)

Alternative-to-TV programming

Hello friends,

if you were the recipient of an anonymous - yet admittedly hilarious - letter made from magazine cut-outs within the last two weeks then you can stop posting in the craig's list "missed connections" section, such as the one pasted below:

"I recently received this letter regarding the edibility of turkey and was hoping it was from you - girl stacking packages in the cookie-aisle of the Cambridge Whole Foods - please send another sign if you are interested in a relationship."

...okay, not really. In fact - thank you Rayna - for being the only one who receives and publicly reacts to mail!!! Eight unique letters were designed and hand-crafted by roommates at Putnam House brought to you by "Alternatives-to-TV" programming.

BONUS PICTURES:

Part of the volleyball team at pratice:
Red tree on Magazine Street on my last day in Boston
What a cute, hip family!