The Inner Life of a Cell

http://aimediaserver.com/studiodaily/videoplayer/?src=harvard/harvard.swf&width=640&height=520

holy geez. i don't know to post a video, but please check out this video...

jen

health to spirit to thought

hi everyone,

i am now in therapy. yes, i am in therapy. the state of california offers a free stop-smoking hotline through which you can talk with folks about getting through the process of quitting and staying off afterward. today was my first conference call: a lady called me at 10am and we were on the phone for over an hour investigating why i smoke, why i started, why i like it, why i don't, what i've tried to do in order to quit in the past. i actually learned a ton and it actually felt REALLY GOOD to talk with someone about it, for someone to help me piece apart why i smoke and what i want to do about it. my next appointment is tuesday at 11am.

i bought my oil painting pallette supplies today. piece of glass, piece of plywood, gesso, duct tape and looooove. also bought thick watercolor paper and painter's tape. and am now broke, but am ready to roll with painting again.

biking a ton now. started when i got back from missoula. i no longer feel pressured to go super fast and am much more comfortable with it. it's my vehicle of choice now.

about to read 'the road less traveled.' whenever i take it out of my bag, someone comments on it. come to think of it, any time i take a book out of my bag someone comments on it. hooray i live in a literate, book-lovin' city!

spoke with tom the professor (remember that guy? dated him for a few months? studies modern chinese history at stanford?) for over an hour about applying to history or archeology departments for my ph.d. he was ENORMOUSLY helpful. we feel the same way about various aspects of academia and he had plenty of fantastic advice. he also did a great job in helping me to think of systems to organize the ridiculous number of ideas / interests i have and subsequently become at least a little more focused. he also agrees that i'm not ready to go back just yet (due to the nature and time and passion that one must dedicate), but the conversation was a perfect one considering the stage i'm at in going back to school. i was super excited after the conversation and have started to get to some of the ideas we both came up with.

various updates in various arenas. yea yeah?

hope all is well out there!!!

jen

alice's adventures in wonderland

this book has entered my top 5 books of all time. read it whenever you can. it's super short, lyrical, clever and reads quite quickly.

also, lewis carroll is an intriguing guy. a math professor at christ church, oxford who based the character of alice on his dean's daughter with the same name. there is talk of pedophilia, but the hardcore lewis carroll fans i've met (and there are many in this city, it seems) tend to wholeheartedly (and with unremitting, unsubstantiated hope) counter that claim.

favorite bit:

• "No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise."
• "Wouldn't it, really?" said Alice, in a tone of great surprise.
• "Of course not," said the Mock Turtle. "Why, if a fish came to me, and told me he was going a journey, I should say, 'With what porpoise?' "
• "Don't you mean 'purpose'?" said Alice.
• "I mean what I say," the Mock Turtle replied, in an offended tone. And the Gryphon added, "Come, let's hear some of your adventures."

dated

yo dudes. below are photos, a bit dated, but nonetheless they are here, here almighty.

the first bit includes photos of the birding trip i took with lars in bolinas, ca during his visit here a few months ago. bolinas is a super tiny beach / hippie community north of sf where lars did birding work years ago. a lot of his birding buddies are still there, so lars was able to reminisce and chat and i was able to borrow super sweet binoculars and go on many birding adventures:

* * *

most folks asked us if we were whale-watching, but in fact i was i-hope-i-see-a-coot-ing:

a strangely desolute looking environment directly next to the shoreline, or perhaps i don't know my "habitats" very well:

the path along the lake during a different hike:

el lago:

walking along the path:

surrounded, or perhaps alongside of, various birding smarty-pants-faces:

* * *

the next bit includes photos of leonard and crew. leonard is the fantastic son of gun who i met couchsurfing in edinburgh, scotland. he now lives in angel-land in so-very-so-cal, and came up to sf on a comedy tour. oh he is hilarious. hi-LARE-ious... and strangely has become one of my closest friends, even though i've spent no more than 7 days with him in total. travelling sure as heck brings people together. oh digressions, how cool you are.

* * *

leonard to the left with his cute as sin boyfriend, kieran. kieran is also wooonderful, which is not suprising considering how top notch leonard is:

with the gang. not pictured is jessi, who's sarcasm and crassness surpass my own. whoa.

it's great to have these kids living in this state. yes, they are far away l-a-style - but it's good to know i will be able to see them whenever i venture southward.

* * *

photos from wa/mt may take a while, but hopefully these will do for now. yes? yes. yes!

it's ovah and done with it's ovah and done with

the song. the proclaimers. download it, please.

i'm sitting on my back porch as the sun is setting. no, i cannot see the sunset but there is a large wall of vinery with gorgeous purple blossoms rising 20 feet in front of me.

i arrived this afternoon from my train-> seattle -> bus -> missoula -> plane -> san francisco 2 week adventure, and man oh man did i ever need THAT. subsequently and obviously, i have accrued a billion stories - the majority of which involve some of the prettiest views that i've seen in a while, if ever - but i shall stick with lessons learned. they may not be as exciting for you folks out there, but i'd like to note them down somewhere. this is as good of a place as any.

1) i have to get out more. "out": a) ... of the neighborhood. i've been super absorbed in making myself feel better after work and been REAL lazy about it. i've been hitting up nearly the same places extending within the same 8 block radius for nearly a year now and it's getting old, loud and annoying. same faces. same places. same walks. when i first moved here, i created a list of things i wanted to do in sf and it's time to get back to that list. i live super close to so many incredible sights with a fantastic amount of positive-crazy stuff happening and i want to get back to. b) ... of the city. i want to camp, hike, explore, climb and rest. again, so many cool places outside of san francisco and it's time i hit those things up.

action plan 1: purchasing a hiking in california / west coast book.

action plan 2: hiking with rudy and steph in the marin headlands tomorrow morning

2) quitting smoking: tomorrow is the beginning of a slow-paced plan.

action plan 1: calling the 1-800-quitting smoking number tomorrow.

action plan 2: only buying rolling tobacco from this point on

action plan 3: purchasing "the patch" oh the beautiful "patch" as soon as enough funds are in account

3) exercise: directly linked to 1 and 2. if i do all of these things, all of these things will be easier to do.

4) bike. i must bike. it is so much fun. when i was in missoula, i wrote a 5 foot tall bike with metal antlers dubbed "the stag." oh sweet lord i fell in love.

action plan 1: purchase bike lights

5) i can accomplish a heck of a lot in a day. i remember back in austin when i used to paint, read, do yoga, run, hang out and research wierd interests - all in one day. seattle and missoula revealed the same.

action plan 1: building a palette tomorrow afternoon

action plan 2: setting aside an hour each day for reading

action plan 3: reading a one-page section from "four quartets" by t.s. eliot aloud to myself every morning and every night (same section)

6) birding lists: i did a lot of birding while in montana and learned a ton about regional birds, a bit about migration patterns. i started compiling a birding list during my birding job in travis county and want to keep it going. really birding is way too much fun. i loooooove it.

action plan 1: purchasing AWESOME binoculars as soon as funding is allotted

action plan 2: purchasing birding in california/west coast " "

7) i have tremendous family and friends in the great states of washington and montana

8) scott, van (seattle) and michael (missoula) are some of the most intelligent and driven folks i know. wait, all my friends are. why are my friends so amazing.

9) i judge too much. i curse too much. no action plan yet. solely recognition.

* * *

i feel refreshed and focused again. i'm hoping this peace that i found from this trip last for a long, long time. hopefully the above will keep me in check.

hope all is well out there!! i took two rolls of old school film and shall post those as soon as i can. in the interim, i will post random photos that i've collected over the course of the previous months. i know there wasn't a story this time 'round, but i wanted to post a little somethin' somethin' for the moment. i miss each of you a tremendous amount and hope that everyone is smiling as much as possible.

i love you!

jen