West High

So strange to be sitting here on a small hard chair in a public high school. The sweetness of some of the kids...Fifteen year olds talking about how their happiest
Days were seeing their mom or going to Disneyland. One's favorite movie is Toy Story. They Like Lemony Snickett and a Series of unfortunate events...This is all quite surprising and definitely unexpected. Although they look 15 or older, they seem so much younger, innocent. One girl said she sleeps with rubber duckies.

It's Official

Tomorrow is my first day as a Salt Lake City substitute teacher. Yikes! West High English class here I come...Actually, I'm really scared of unruly kids! But I'm sure my firm demeanor and loud voice will keep everyone in control (just kidding).

Sigur Rós Njosnovelin aka Untitled #4 Live

First Sigur Ros song I ever heard, substitute teaching at Boulder High in 2004!

end of august 2010

-loving fleeting fig and peach days
-running and crunches and yoga. really!
-tomatoes with every meal
-wondering if i will get called to sub monday...a bit afraid of unruly kids. perhaps mormon children are more well behaved? i can hope...
-make candles, blackberry and nectarine crumble
-a ballet class...

Teri Ore!

I posted this video a few years ago but the link no longer works...At that time, Keith was away, and when he found this video here, his comment was, "Give me a break!" or something to that affect...

Oh Bollywood. How I hate you. But how I inexplicably love this song!

Teri Ore (full song) : Singh is King

From the Vaults

A Bangalore Family Dinner

Keith and I had just disembarked from the plane, upon arrival in Bangalore—finally in India after much anticipation/trepidation. Our first experience was typical of India in so many ways, although we didn’t know it at the time.

Upon exiting customs, we found ourselves stuck in a very long line—mosquitoes buzzing our ears. Little did we know, the line was simply to go down an elevator. For some reason, only a few people were allowed down at a time.

During this extensive wait, the man standing ahead of us struck up a conversation, asking where we were from, where were we going? What were we doing? Saleem told us he was from Bangalore, but had lived in Seattle the last several years. He’d gotten married a year ago in India, had stayed with his bride a few weeks for a honeymoon and then returned to Seattle—but now he’d finally come home for a vacation. After telling us his story, he proceeded to give us all his and his wife’s contact information in both India and Seattle, told us we should call him if we ever visited Washington. We then asked how we could get to a hotel near the city bus stand. He said he’d tell us what to do after we got our bags.

When we finally made it down the escalator, we began a new wait at the tiniest and slowest of baggage claims (this was at the old Bangalore airport—now there’s a new modern, gleaming fancy one). Saleem seemed to have disappeared. So much for him helping us, I thought to myself as I squatted on the floor waiting for my backpack while Keith exchanged our remaining Thai bhat into rupees. Happily, by the time we’d retrieved our backpacks, Saleem had appeared out of nowhere with several large suitcases. We helped him carry his vast amount of luggage, until he was stopped by a security guard. Saleem told us to continue on into the lobby whilst still carrying his bags and to wait for him there. Keith and I exchanged looks, hoping there was nothing illegal in the bags which were now in our possession.

But after some time, Saleem came, welcomed by a large crowd of men who relieved us of his bags. He then introduced us to his friend Umashankar, saying he’d take care of us. Saleem was then immediately swallowed up by a huge group of women and children outside. The friend, Umashankar, looked none to happy at the job which had just been thrust upon him. Nevertheless, he fended off all the taxi drivers swarming us, brought us to an autorickshaw and told the driver to take us to a certain hotel, haggling over the price of the ride. He also got the rickshaw driver’s cell number and gave us his card. We were in an extremely foreign country, for the first time, and we had absolutely no idea where we were going, but we were off.

We’d only been driving a few minutes when the driver’s phone rang. It was Saleem, wanting to talk to Keith. How odd, I thought. He wanted us to come to his family’s home for dinner. As we were still on Thai time, it was already 11:30 PM for us, and we were exhausted. But we figured we’d just roll with it, we were in India afterall, right? So Saleem talked to the driver again and told him of a gas station where we would meet Umashankar.

After about twenty minutes, Umashankar rode up on a motor scooter with a kid on the back who got off and hopped into the rickshaw with us, telling the driver where to go and making sure he didn’t lose sight of Saleem’s friend as we sped down the road, twisting and turning into alleys full of cows feasting upon trash.

Down one last muddy lane, and we had arrived at the family home (Umashankar kindly paying the driver despite our protests), only to be greeted by Saleem, newborn daughter in his arms, as thought we were the long awaited prodigal family. We were ushered into a small marble-tiled house and introduced to extended family. We met Saleem’s young brother-in-law who could recite 250 pages of the Koran from memory without a single mistake and Noor, his sister-in-law who was nineteen, beautiful, and attending university. She spoke perfect English.

Perhaps I looked dirty, or at least bedraggled, as I was told to go wash up in the bathroom at the end of the hallway. Saleem’s wife took her plastic sandals off for me to wear. I wondered why, and soon discovered it was because when you flushed the toilet, the entire floor flooded. At dinner (now 1 AM for us), we were fed copious amounts of spicy curried potatoes, fish and who-knows-what-else. I thought I might choke to death on the thousands of tiny bones in the fish and Keith drank glass after glass of who-knows-where-it-came-from water. After dessert, we were ushered to the couch, offered cigarettes by the grandpa, who was shocked we didn’t smoke, and brought outside to meet Saleem’s mother, who invited us to her house next time we were in Bangalore.

Finally, Umashankar said he’d take us to a hotel. Everyone said goodbye and Noor said, “Don’t forget me!” handing  us her email address. Luckily, one of the family members owned a rickshaw. We piled in with our bags, and Umashankar rode next to us on his bike through the dark back streets. We ended up at an extremely sketchy looking hotel across from the Magistrate bus stand. Umashankar arranged the cost of the hotel with the sleepy desk clerk, warned us to be careful, and told us to call him in the morning (as he insisted he wanted to help us get a bus ticket to our next destination) before vanishing into the night.

Summer Highlights

Well, this summer I have not been to a proper beach (only the beautiful Bear Lake where I wouldn't swim with Keith when he wanted to cause there was garbage about) or hung in a hammock or swum in a pool or gone berry picking in the woods, or camped, as all the parks were full that time. But I have:
1. made and eaten lots of delicious popsicles
2. eaten lots of fresh corn
3. hiked to three glacial lakes surrounded by fields of wildflowers
4. seen a bear
5.stuck my legs in the beautiful iciness of Crazy Creek with Talia
6.watched Jessie wrangle the horses
7.watched Old Faithful geyser it up
8. eaten lots of delicious Farmer's Market melon
9. planted a garden and successfully grown tons of sweetslice cucumbers, basils, lemon verbena, lime thyme (not so successfully) and three different kinds of heirloom tomatoes (which are slowly chugging along--I've yet to eat one)
10. worked on poems and stories and finally submitted a few pieces to journals
11. dunked my head in a waterfall
12. sat inside a tree
13. hiked in snow in June
14. made amazing spearmint ice cream
15. made and eaten two blueberry pies (not eaten all by myself!)
16. picked and eaten lots of strawberries from the yard and mulberries and grapes from sidewalk trees and bushes
17. gone on a ropeswing in Snowbasin
18. swum (is this really a word?) in two amazing swimming holes in Snowbasin
19. covered myself with clay with Meredith
20. roasted marshmallows and eaten smores twice! (once outside with Eleanor and her lovely family. 3 horses wanting to get in on the action).
21. watched fireworks twice
22. gone on bikerides in the canyon by the creek (well, okay, only twice)
23. gone on picnics
24. gone to the DriveIns twice
25. made and drank lots of sun and herb tea
26. waded in beautiful Jenny Lake
27. eaten huckelberry ice cream for the first time (very exciting!)
28. seen the Great Salt Lake in all it's pungent glory
29. visited Boulder twice and gotten over it
30. eaten breakfast outside on the sundeck (but not lately)
31. received two wangs from the Khyentse Yangsi!
32. checked out and read oodles of library books
33. watched huge slow buffalo walk the streets looking like lost snuffleupaguses 

Still To Do:
1. go again to above mentioned glacial lake. this time swim, then lay on huge hot rocks to dry.
2. pick and eat one of my very own homegrown tomatoes
3. picnic again
4. go to water park on a weekday--is it still open?

That's all I can think of. I guess my summer is almost complete!

yesterday and today,

the air has had it's first hint of fall. so apropos, as yesterday was the first day of school here. after my interview at the library yesterday morning, i was walking around the campus in search of the english building. a creative writing phd in my future? i don't know. first i have to brush up on my more-than-rusty high school french in order to pass the language requirement...we'll see...walking around, i wondered if i looked old to the college kids. i didn't feel like i did, but who knows? maybe this cooler weather will make my tomato plants start bearing more fruit. i hope so. time to plant lettuce and kale? i see a lot of kale chips in my future.

Disheartened!!!

Oh so disheartened that I can't even get an 8.50/hr job!!! It's as though some wicked witch has put a curse on me...How to break it?

Gazpacho Recipe

Every year I wait for the days of fresh tomatoes in order to make this amazing Gazpacho. The recipe comes from a book my sister-in-law's mom gave my mom a long time ago!

 Gazpacho
-2 or 3 cloves of garlic
-2 teaspoons salt
-1/4 teaspoon cumin
-2 tablespoons vinegar
-4 tablespoons olive oil
-2 cups tomato juice (i always use v8 and it is seriously delicious)
-2 cucumbers peeled and chopped
-4 large tomatoes, choppped

That's it!

Yay For Summer Food!

as a kid, at the beach with my parents. a long flat expanse of quiet. eating dripping plums, nectarines, cherries.

And yay for Farmer's Markets! Cherokee, Mortgage Lifter and Japanese Black Heirloom Tomatoes, tiny native plums...

fresh corn, gazpacho and salad for lunch on the porch with peach sun tea!

Oh The Sidewalk Bounty

White Bread Dipped in Tea

Keith says the title of this post should be: How Can I Make Money Doing This? But as you can see, I haven't taken his advice. Instead, this post is about how I have decided to try to ameliorate a bit of the schizophrenic nature of this blog by starting a new blog strictly for poems, and perhaps prose. I know that some of you--I won't name names--are not fans of poetry. And so this way you won't have to read it when you look here. Anyway, the blog is called White Bread Dipped in Tea--which undoubtedly, i am. For anyone interested, here's the link: http://whitebreaddippedintea.blogspot.com/ PS Drew, I just started reading Khenpo Ngakga's bio again in "Masters of Meditation and Miracles" and it is sick! For starters, on the third day of his life he assumed meditation posture and began chanting the Vajrakilaya mantra!

Yes, More!!!

Last night Keith reminded me that we had a copy of Nyoshul Khen's "Natural Great Perfection," which neither of us had ever read. So this morning I've been taking a look at it.

In "A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems," Nyoshul Khen does not include his autobigraphy. Instead, Sogyal Rinpoche tells a bit of his story in the Introduction. But in the beginning of, "Natural Great Perfection," Nyoshul Khen tells of his life. Can you believe that he memorized, "the entire 7 Treasures of Longchenpa, as well as both of Longchenpa's renowned trilogies, The Trilogy of Natural Ease and The Trilogy of the Inherent Freedom of Mind, and Jigme Lingpa' s revered Yonten Dzod, The Treasury of Enlightened Qualities"!!!!! He also says that he spent many years at Kathok Monastery in Tibet and that it was called Kathok Dorje Den "meaning Kathok Bodghaya or Kathok vajra-seat of enlightenment because 100,000 yogis achieved rainbow body there!

And to think that two years ago, Keith and I were in the office at Yongey Mingyur's Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya when suddenly there was this adorable little monk asking over and over in Tibetan, "What's this?" and tugging on Keith's zen! "Have you met Nyoshul Khen?" a woman asked us...ANd then a few months later, Noelle, Minh and I were having lunch in Namdroling's guesthouse and there he was again, the little Nyoshul Khen eating lunch with us...

In his story of himself, Nyoshul Khen also spoke a bit about Khenpo Ngagka (who I mentioned in my previous post) who also goes by yet another name--Ngakgi Wangpo.
This is what Nyoshul Khen says of him:

"He once sat for three years on one meditation seat, without going anywhere. When this grand lama did a three-year meditation retreat, he was in a translucent state of rigpa throughout the entire period; nobody could see a shadow fall from his body for three years. This is absolutely true.

While Khenpo Ngakga was in this meditation, on auspicious days like the tenth of every month-Guru Rinpoche's lunar holiday, and the 15th--the day of the full moon, the 8 auspicious signs would appear on Ngakga's body, because his body was the actual nirmanakaya, the rupakaya, the manifestation on earth of the Buddha.

The Dzogchen tradition states that every one hundred years an enlightened Dzogchen master is emanated from the heart of Vimalamitra to fulfill the Buddha's intent in this world. In the 19th century it was Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and in the last generation it was Khenpo Ngakga."

Although Holiness was also an emanation of Vimalamitra...

Excerpt

Keith says this blog is schizophrenic--and he's right. You never know what my mind is going to spew: recipes, lists of berries, videos, random sentences, pictures. And for this, I am sorry, but no too sorry. And so, for today's second installment of PaperPinwheel, I give you...

These days I'm tackling Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche's huge, "A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems." Within the pages of this unbelievable book I found a prayer which was written by Khenpo Ngakchung AKA Khenpo Ngawang Palzang AKA Khenpo Ngaga. The second Penor Rinpoche was one of his heart sons. Here are some excerpts:

While the Lord of Death hounds me from behind,
Days, months, years--time draws me onward from in front,
And in between, I'm seduced and enthralled by distraction.
There's a danger--that, without ever realizing it, I'll be completely deceived:
Longchenpa, father of mine, look on me with all your compassion!

All things in samsara and nirvana are devoid of any substance.
This body will not last and has no reality of its own.
Like the rainbow that arches across the sky,
It is taken as real, but fades into thin air:
Longchenpa, father of mine, look on me with all your compassion!

By marking even the smallest failing in others,
But failing ever to notice how rotten I am inside,
By constantly fooling and misleading people,
Aren't I just purchasing my own misery?
Longchenpa, father of mine, look on me with all your compassion!

Because of all this, I feel my heart breaking in sorrow,
And I pray now to all the buddhas,
For the beings of this degenerate age, and
Especially those like me, who just bear the likeness of practitioners:
Longchenpa, father of ours, look on us with all your compassion!

Taken By Trees - Anna (live)

More Khyentse Yangsi

The past few days I've been really thinking about how hard it must be to be recognized as a super famous, realized being, as in the case of Osel Hita Torres--who was born in Spain in 1985, recognized as the indisputable incarnation of Lama Yeshe by the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the age of 14 months, and spent much of his childhood at Sera where he was taught both Buddhism and Western studies, right by Namdroling in South India. He ended up going to a normal high school and then university in Spain where he studied film and I read that now he wants to maybe study cooking...Anyway, there's the movie Tulku, made by Chogyam Trungpa's son Gesar Mukpo about western tulkus and the conflicts they face and the different paths they take--usually leading more normal lives than their Eastern counterparts. And thinking about this had really made me wonder why? Is it simply because they are brought up in the west? Does it just depend on who their teacher is and how they are brought up? I don't know.

Anyway, below are some things the 17 year old Khyentse Yangsi said over the weekend (which come from the "Celebrating the Return" website):

"To cultivate a good heart, one should stop the following eight activities. This came to my mind:
1. hypocrisy
2. judging
3. gossiping
4. hurting others' feelings on purpose
5. being narrow-minded
6. taking advantage of people's kindness
7. giving with the hope of getting something in return
8.invading people's personal space and life."

- Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, Colorado, Sat. 14. Aug 2010

“Training the mind with poisonous thoughts is like unsuccessfully kissing a shark. There is very little percentage chance you will have your head back.” – Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche

"If it were possible to make our mind perfect, it would be possible in America [already], where everything is possible. So we have Lojong – training the mind. Mind is like a computer chip: takes any kind of information around it in. So we have to be careful, make sure, to take in the good information not the bad, and look again and again. When we get influenced by the bad information we can get carried away and it’s hard to return to the good; so make sure to take in good information. Motivation colors the mind. If mind and motivation are pure, path will be pure. If mind and motivation are polluted, your path will be polluted. With any type of mind training, then, we should be free from any type of poisonous thoughts."

Children’s Blessing at Boulder Shambhala Center
August 13th, 2010
Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche to the assembled younger students: “I have one thing to say: please don’t be so uptight! I can see you all sitting there looking at this weird boy, getting uptight. Anything that pops into your mind, just blurt it out.”
“What is your daily routine? What do you like to do?”
“What do I like to do? My normal routine? Watch TV, sit, just sit and day dream. Day dream about something. My study routine, do you mean? We study very hard.”
“Do you like sports?”
“When I was young, I wasn’t fond of sports. I just sat in my bed, sitting there, and eating some, and I expanded. [Laughter.] It became a big problem. Doctors were getting worried. Then the King of Bhutan sent an Army Officer every day to train me in basketball. Now, I swim sometimes; play basketball, work out a little.”
“How do you like being in America?”
“Oh yeah… That’s one of the questions I was really looking for. America: I only knew America through books, films, photos. I thought America was a dreamland- where whatever you wish for, poof, like a car, it comes to you. I really thought it would come like that. But when I arrived in NY, I thought, this is not a dreamland; it’s a big city, like all big cities. I like the people. And to see all the development and technology is amazing. Bhutan is quite laid back, we don’t have so much of that like here. So it’s quite something.”
“If you could have one wish, what would it be?”
“One wish…one wish. I never thought of that. That is a question I can’t really answer. I never thought about that so much.”
“Have you thought about driving a car?”
“I like driving a jet ski.”
“How does it make you feel that you have, like, a big past life guy?”
“I don’t think about that much. I respect my predecessor, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; he’s a great teacher. But I don’t think about that much now.”
“How did life change when you were recognized?”
“At first I thought, ‘wow, I’m a big shot. I’ll never have any bullies or problems like that.’ But it’s not that easy, to be well known as this great teacher; and you don’t have any of his qualities. I feel a bit ashamed at times to walk in front of people, as they see me as this great incarnation with all the qualities. But I don’t have them, at all. So it can be hard to cope with my life. Like any life, it has it’s difficulties.”
“Do you like meditating?”
“Uh oh. That’s a very deadly question. [Laughter.] I’m not a meditation fanatic. When I sit, I think, what should I do, where should I go, what will I do with my life. Then my mind collapses. [Laughter.] I’m not necessarily a big fan of meditation, but I do meditation, to practice.”
“Would you rather just be a normal person?”
“To be a normal person, I think, is not that easy, or very fun. [Applause, laughter.] I’m not criticizing, or speaking badly. But, just, for you guys, let me ask, is it that easy to just enjoy life? Do you wish to become something else? So that’s what I see.”
“Are you on Facebook?”
“Let me tell you something, I’m a really laid back, boring, old fashioned, traditional boy. I don’t have a good voice to sing, or dance, I’m just an old school boring boy. You can keep that in your mind.” [Laughter.]
“What do you do on a long flight?”
“I sit there, looking at people’s faces, thinking about when I will arrive. Please forgive me: this is not some fun disco party, I’m not a fairy tale guy. I don’t tell fairy tale stories. For this moment we are together, please just try to sit and look. Please try to enjoy it.”

"So You Just Stare At My Face, And I'll Stare At Your Face, And We'll All Freak Out"

Boulder. What to say?

Boulder and I had a really difficult break-up six years ago. I left my beloved Boulder and couldn't get it out of my head. I endlessly talked about and longed for it. But now, it's official, I am finally over Boulder.

It's so strange how this keeps happening to Keith and I. We long to go somewhere, a place we really love--like Thailand or Boulder--and then we go, and end up feeling as though we've been thrust into a burning pit of samsara. Seriously.

I was so excited to go to Boulder this past weekend. In fact, Keith and I had stopped there a few months ago on our way to Salt Lake and hadn't wanted to leave. But this time, Boulder seemed like a circus. I don't know...it was all too much and I couldn't wait to return to my beautiful, peaceful Salt Lake, which seems to have put a spell on me.

I guess all this is good, as I no longer long for either Thailand or Boulder. Someone is apparently trying to sever at least some of my attachments!

And so what to say?
There was a circus led by a ringmaster high in the mountains.
I'm trying to think of nice things to say, but can't.

We've arrived home with a calligraphy by Chogyam Trungpa.

But yes, I am forgetting something. We received two empowerments from the Khyentse Yangsi! I truly was blown away during the Long Life Empowerment Friday night at the Boulder Theater. And then Saturday's talk by the Yangsi, followed by the Rangjung Pema Nyingthig--so wonderful. But like almost everything, this wonderfull-ness was ensconced in craziness. However, the Yangsi shone like a diamond amidst it all and I am so happy I had the chance to receive empowerments and teachings from him. Oh, and the title of this post? It's something the Yangsi said at one point. Taken out of context I'm sure it's not as good, but at the time, it was great (at one point he'd said how he'd forgotten everything he wanted to say and so then said the above--it was funny--but maybe you had to be there). Also, several times he said how looking out at the audience, everyone looked uptight!

Onwards (or Dear Number 2 Reader)

Yes, I realize that both yesterday and today I have posted an unprecedented three times a day! I realize this is craziness! But there shall be no more posts for a few days as we leave for Boulder tomorrow to see the delightful Khyentse Yangsi. Oh, and no, I did not get the job! But yes, I did just revise my resume and apply for an adjunct job teaching English at a college in town. More crossing of fingers and mandala will ensue!

And a few more things: the first picture is Ed and Meredith hiking here in beautiful, sunny Utah. Of particular interest is the fact that Ed hiked in a fleece in bajillion degree weather. He didn't take the coat off the entire time! Craziness. Also, note what he is carrying in his hand. Not sure what it is? An extra huge cup of coffee (yes, that is what it was called when he ordered and it really was extra huge). After buying said Extra Huge coffee, Ed proceeded to hike the entire two hours to the top of the mountain with his beloved coffee.

Second picture: morning bodhisattva vow led by bathrobe-clad K

Third: Ed and Meredith crashing the crazy fancy Grand American hotel

Okay, that's all.

Perhaps

Perhaps you've seen some of these lines before on my blog, but I think I've finally managed to put them together into a poem. Here it is:

Unfolding

into sky,

time dissolving

until touch of leper hands,

taste of embalming salt

there was the ruined face of the tall lady, blowing blood, billions of fake flowers

the amulet round the neck, his prickly skin rash, the string of jasmine above the mirror

400 butterlamps flicker the deer man’s hoofed-legs

suddenly the cuckoo

chatral rinpoche’s coconut

the rigor mortis cat in the gutter

the barefoot street boys huffing, crazed wobbling on the sidewalk

the small goats on the roof

they spooned mindrup into our hands

the truckloads of maoists yell, wave flags

children play in the street

finally, sun

the barebreasted woman on the roof of her house—dark pendulous breasts

how flora goes to the south of france in the summer and tans, how she wants to know if marike eats lots of strudel (marike says no, that’s german, not dutch)

the small monks are unaffected, saturday soccor outfits donned

she said it would go, the way a show slowly wears

still, it stuck like a sock on a wet foot

the mind’s desire

could you know there’s no heartbone here?

but there were bodhisattvas

among us, cows fat on garbage, feces everywhere

amongst girls in orange-sherbert colored clothes, burning bandh tires,

amongst the insects, people, cars, horns bursting—the cacophony of dogs in the night

there, like a lump of sugar dissolves into tea

oh shoot, the line breaks didn't keep.
also, it's supposed to say "the way a shoe slowly wears," not "show" but i can't correct it as the html is all crazy...

Introducing...My Brilliant Friends

Well, it turns out Ed isn't the only one who reads this here blog...And not because they read this, but because they are amazing and inspiring artists, I'd like to encourage you to check out the blogs/work of three of my friends.

Kate Wyer and I met during our MFA program at the University of Baltimore. She is a prolific and beautiful writer (and also funny). Actually, she's one of my favorites, and is already making a name for herself in beastly Baltimore and beyond. Check out her blog for some seriously honest and lovely writing: http://www.movingsidewalks.blogspot.com/

Silvia de la Pena and I also met in our MFA program back in Bal'more, although she has since escaped to her home state of California. Silvia is a poet who has the wittiest (is this a word?) of wits. Her poems are poignant, bittersweet and sometimes sarcastic. You can look inside her mind and be entertained by her stories and by videos on her blog: http://silviaville.blogspot.com/

Last, but not least, is Evan LaPorte. Evan and I met 18 years ago(!) in french class when we were fifteen. His parents had sent him to check out the dreaded St Bernard's high school for the day. He sat across the room from me and looked seriously pissed off. I knew exactly how he felt, as a few months earlier, my parents had sent me to do the same exact thing, resulting in me being forced to leave my public high school half-way through the year in order to attend a crazy Catholic school, but that's another story. Evan looked just as unhappy about his prospects as I had felt--I had to smile at him. Thus began the friendship of Evan and Jenn, which led to us being locker partners and prom dates and friends and enemies and friends once again. Back then, Evan used to do graffiti art under bridges in Fitchburg and did really well in art class (unlike myself, who used the oppurtunity to make pipes out of clay). After high school, he went on to art school and low and behold, has become an absolutely amazing painter!! Check out his work on his blog: http://stateofpaint.blogspot.com/

Part 2-This One Goes Out to My Number 1 Reader

No comment necessary

Crazy man drinking from Great Salt Lake (Ed's look of incredulity was top-notch)

Meredith doesn't like the stench

Down they go

This is the place?

PS I am officially sick!!!!

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche/Forget the Interview and Watch the Sweetness of Khyentse Yangsi When He Was Little

They Came, They Saw, They Conquered aka This is the Place/Part 1

cities were walked upon, heads were dipped in waterfalls by pixies doing god-knows-what, last minute lavender was picked from sidewalks, white mulberries and green grapes were munched, apricots were "borrowed," plums were gazed upon, trees were climbed in, hidden lakes were found, fields of flowers were sat in, other friends were missed, breaths were caught, mountains were meditated in, mormonism was explored, park city's mexican restaurant was disdained, practices were practiced (unlike at retreat, here one can do their bodhisattva vow with one's fellow retreatants in one's bathrobe), hats were worn (by some), sunburns were gotten, books were read, ds's were played, laughs were laughed, coffees were drunk, noses were covered

Lately, I'm...

Anticipating: The arrival of dear friends!
Wishing: My two wasp stings weren't itchy enough to make me want to gouge my skin off.
Loving: Thai coffee
Cooking: Zucchini galette, slow roasted balsamic strawberries, quinoa chocolate chip cookies
Hoping: My interview goes well on Monday!
Wondering: If I will ever have money!
Doing: Neverending laundry and dishes!
Thinking: It really was silly of Keith to say exclamation points are obsolete!