r e d.chilipepper

Peering through the corn...

Peering through the corn...

boy and i went to a corn maze in fremont this weekend and got lost amongst hanging stalks, 6-year-olds who had a better sense of direction than we did, and 10 million misshaped and orphaned pumpkins.

those poor pumpkins.

we finally adopted our own, brought him home, carved him up, and baked up his innards (aka pumpkin seeds). somehow, they never taste as good as they did when you were kids

i think i finally satisfied my regressive urges.

funny sh*t

BSB-I want it that way - Google Video

this is so funny. i love my people. meta sent this to me in lab and it cracked me up hard...

notice the guy in the background playing warcraft. he has *no* idea what's going on...

the best feeling ...

in the world is realizing how vulnerably exposed you can be without feeling weak or flawed. sometimes you harbor so many silent burdens that you forget how beautiful it is to plainly be.

an open invitation...

My Zen Teacher, Master Thien Son, will be coming to San Francisco on Saturday, November 19th for a Zen Meditation Retreat. I've been a student of his for 4 years now, and have always found his retreats to be a welcomed break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. In this retreat, he'll give a brief introduction to the art of living in the moment, a review of meditation, and a discussion of other relevant issues to young adults today. The class will be held in Mandarin with an English translation.

Master Thien Son has been a Buddhist monk in the Vinaya tradition since the age of 8. He was born in Vietnam and fled to Germany with his family as a young child. While there, he studied under Master Thich Nhat Hanh. His approach towards Buddhism blends science, Eastern and Western philosophies, and psychology. His temple is located in Frankfurt, Germany.

Details are Below:

**********************************

When: Saturday, November 19 from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Where: Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, Main Hall.

150 Eureka Street, San Francisco, CA 94114

Parking is rather inconvenient in the Castro area, so please try to take public transportation. The church is accessible by the Muni Castro Stop, and the 24, 33, 35, and 37 bus lines.

Here is a link to the SF Muni system:

What: Bring a pillow to sit on and dress in layers. Remember to bring water and snacks if you tend to get hungry.

How: To register, please email redchilipepper@gmail.com by November 1st, 2005.

Cost: $15, which includes a Thai vegetarian lunch. A discount may be available for students.

Please feel free to forward this on to anyone else who may be interested.

lessons in siblinghood

some psychologists theorize that only children are the bane of our existence, the supreme leeches of society. they exist only for themselves, inherit all of their parents' assets, and never really need to learn how to share or compromise. siblings, afterall, can be the biggest pains in the asses; they abuse you, beat you, compete with you, and in some cases, throw sh*t in your face (i kid you not -- my brother once hit some dog poop in my face -- it was vile) but at the end of the day, you still love them regardless of what they hurtled your way.

hence, i had a friend who told me he believed that only children *could not* understand the concept of unconditional love, or the love you have for another regardless of who they are, or how they treat you.

i'm not sure i agree with that. the lesson of learning to love another can be achieved in many ways. i do believe, however, that having someone who can antagonize you so terribly is a wonderful way to learn how to love more compassionately and more selflessly. really, all that internal agony is more a reflection of one's self than the other being.

if this seems like mad talk, ignore me -- i'm still operating on low on the sleep battery.

i just wanted to say that if you hate me, and are angry at me, it's okay. i love you anyhow. i fully admit that i'm a tragically flawed human being, perhaps in more ways than you. at the end of the day, you're still beautiful to me and i want nothing more than for you to be truly happy.

recommendation

if any of you want to get your oil changed, i strongly recommend oil changers on san antonio, right off of 101. i took gunther to his first oil change last week and the fellows there were extremely nice. they didn't try to put any hard sell tactics on me, partially because they were pretty honest people and also because i was probably armed with a mental knife and fork that that might happen.

i was most impressed by the fellow's willingness to explain what everything was:

rcp: "what is that cap with the white stuff on it?"
dude: "clutch fluid"
rcp: "and that?"
dude: "brake fluid."
rcp: "do you ever need to change it?"
dude: "no.. bla bla bla (explaining)"
rcp: "when do i know whether i need to change my coolant?"
dude: sticking his hand down into gunther's innards "see that plus and minus sign?.. etc etc etc."

i walked away feeling like i was a slightly more badass. there ain't nuthin' like a chick who knows the bidness under the hood of her car.

when all is said and done

sundried tomatoes are the best addition to a weak pasta dish, and there is no preferable activity to a few lazy hours of cuddling. also, peanut butter and banana sandwiches beat out peanut butter and anything else (even honey!!), and really, my friends are the *best* people alive on this planet.

lately, i've been feeling this strange urge to go to a pumpkin patch and to a haunted house. it's as if i am regressing back to my days as a 10-year-old girl scout. i even want to carve one out, put a candle inside and bake the pumpkin seeds. i secretly think that boy thinks me insane, but is humoring my childish tendencies.

we made a haunted house in my middle school with the help of our art teacher, mr. o'malley. besides being phenomenally talented, he was exceptionally weird. we used canned peaches for human ears, canned mini onions for eyeballs, macaroni for diced intestines, and built walls that collapsed around our visitors. it was incredibly fun, and for some reason, making that haunted house bred in me a stubborn desire to go visit one ever since.

the sick thing is that, knowing me, i'll go visit it and end up being scared out of my wits. actually, come to think of it, i wouldn't want to go with me, either. i'd be a screaming pain in the ass.

a great weekend...

it's gorgeous in sf today. i'm pounding away at the keyboard, trying to get some lectures and exams written before work hits tomorrow. i really need more sleep. i only got 8 the last two nights. maybe a quick nap today after dinner...

boy and i went to the portola redwoods park yesterday. i had been intending to go for months after seeing goonley and horizonline's pictures and finally found the perfect pocket of time to sneak away. we both went a little camera crazy, but the hike was absolutely stunning thanks to clear skies, paths devoid of tourists, and plenty of banana slugs and spiders. i love my camera, though i'm still trying to figure out how to use the damn thing.

A few picts: Tiptoe Falls at Portola Redwoods Park in San Mateo County.

sleep deprived

again. if i don't fix myself soon, i'm going to be talking as if i suffer from a lesion in broca's area. sounds coming from my mouth are going to be all gobbledy-gook. then again, it usually doesn't make sense anyhow.

this time it's good though. i think it's euphoria because of NG...

it was inevitable...

i am sick.

it was long coming -- boss got sick from kids, grad student got sick, i wasn't sleeping, moving. today, i had the bright idea of going for a long run, even though i felt it coming on beforehand. sometimes, a harsh workout can actually serve to repel a nascent illness. today, i think it had a pejorative effect on my sniffles.

but, at the end of the day, i know what it was that did me in:
the matlab programming.

that stuff is nasty.

i'll be recovering from the effects for weeks, i know.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

if i work anymore, i'm going to turn into a green turnip and my head is going to shrink into a raisin.

this is insane!

ugh

gross. catie was eating mints in lab this morning. i thought i wanted one until i read the small print:

PEACH FLAVORED PASTILLES. Ingredients: Sorbitol, Citric Acid, Glyceryl Behenate, etc ...

All seemed fine until this came up: PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE. Excessive consumption may induce laxative effects.

define excessive?

drunken debaurhceyr

all i have to say his that i hdrank to much today and i'm in a retty bad stpo

thanks goondley for inviting me out to christina's birhtdya party but instead iwent esleswher.
it's pretty late righg now.

what else?

someties you look verywehre else for what you want when 't is relaly right her eunder you nose.

reminddr: do not drin an d ridrve. it's really bad.

i really hope i sleep until lat ass tomorrow.