Pablo Neruda is beneath my skin...
I now know why so many people regard Pablo Neruda has one of the world's greatest love poets. He is. He most definitely is. Today, when I was taking a break from fixing up my senior project, I came across some of his stuff and I was blown away. It's like he got inside my head and expressed all my thoughts in the such beautiful words I have to wonder: Did I really feel that? Here's the first one I read and I just had to share.
Love Sonnet XI
I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.
I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.
I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,
and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.
Final thought: Poetry is to the soul as water is to the body. Here's my own short poem in the spirit of Pablo Neruda.
You are to me as the sun is to the flower.
You nourish me as no food can.
You leave me, and it is as if
All blood has left my body.
Allergy attack
My allergies are acting up. It sucks because it's a sunny day and it just seems wrong to be sneezing and wheezing and carrying crumpled tissues around. But such is the nature of my immune system. When my friend Marc graduates and establishes himself as "The Best Darn Oxford Immunologist", I'm going to petition his company to come up with a pill to cure allergies. All allergies. In a single pill. That's a Nobel-worthy endeavor. Ask anyone with even one allergy. I have like twelve. I have more allergies than times I've been kissed by the opposite sex! Then, once the pill is manufactured, Kwan can prescribe it. It's great having friends in the medical community...:D Anyhow, gotta be off to try to finish my project, although my eyes are tearing up and my nose is now alternating between running and being stuffed. Oh, boy, today it's just great to be me.
Final thought: Achoo! :o
Confessions of a Warped Mind
This is actually a variation of my "things you didn't know about me" list, but it's my blog and I'll recycle if I want to. :P
1. I despise coffee.
2. Yes, I have a copy of Justin Timberlake's Justified.
3. Although my mom can whistle, I have yet to master this ability.
4. Never had a security blanket as a child.
5. In the second grade, I lost a spelling bee because I was befuddled by the word "answer".
6. Singing in the shower? Guilty.
7. Still not exactly sure how bluetooth works.
8. Was totally unmoved by that sobfest of a movie Titanic.
9. I have now listened to Jojo's Leave (Get Out) a total of 22 times (and counting).
10. Can't swim.
Final thought: Get out. Right now. It's the end of you and me...Jojo, Leave (Get Out). So riotgrrl! :D
Small update
Just wrote this blog to say: I got into Chulalongkorn University's master's program in English instruction. So, I have that to fall back on. For all who think I have abandoned my perfectly good science education, I can now reveal that today, I sat the Mahidol graduate school entrance exams for forensic science. The English part was okay, but I failed gneral knowledge. (They asked stuff like, "When did Siam change to Thailand?" and "What is the highest level of Buddhist heaven?" My general knowledge isn't that good.) Now, all I have to do is graduate...I have a lot on my mind, but nothing seems to come out in words, so that will be all for today. Just wanted to share that bit of info.
Final thought: Only when one's mouth is shut and one's mind is open can one truly hear.
What's the buzz?
Hahahaha. I am at my brother's college now, blatantly exploiting the printer and the internet. It feels good to be a vigilante. In high school, I sorta had the reputation of a goody two-shoes. People have even called me "Sister Anna". I suppose I deserve it. I once called my entire grade "immature and juvenile"; not that they didn't deserve it. I wonder if I would have the life I have now if I maintained that "holier-than-thou" attitude...hell, I sorta have and here I am!
Anyhow, I had a dream the other night about Kwan. We were talking on my cell and the signal was atrocious. I mean, that's sorta normal, coz my phone is like from 1993, but this was bad. I kept saying, "Where are you? Where are you?" I was in a mall. Suddenly, I see Kai, her boyfriend walking past and I was like, "Kai, where's Kwan?" And it turns out she was right there. Now here's the freaky part - Kwan called me last night! Just out of the blue! Guess we're on the same wavelength or something. Makes me realize I miss my friends. Just some updates on them: Kwan's starting med school like next Monday! All right! <three cheers for Kwan> Marc was real nice and forwarded me some stuff on the senior project. (three cheers for Marc> June's finished with hers, so I guess I can call her and bug her about it. <three cheers for June> I don't know what's up with Miko. <but a cheer for her anyway> Smithi is still MIA and I'm worried but I don't wanna call coz a) her boyfriend might pick up and think I'm weird, b) her other friends/family might pick up and think I'm weird or c) some random person might pick up and think I'm weird. <sigh for Smithi>
Final thought: Keep your friends close...and closer. :P
Lost in Translation
Sometimes, I find myself slipping into Thai and I don't even know it. I wonder if this is a commom occurrence for people who speak more than one language? Are we incapable to sticking to one language, of forming a thought that is possessed by only language? It's the same thought, whether in Thai or English or French or whatever, I'd say, but then again, maybe it's not. It makes me rethink the validity of the Sapir-Whorf theory of linguistic relativity (or whatever its fancy name is). Sometimes, I'll think something in Thai, and yes, it can be translated into English, but I think something is lost in translation, some of the original flavor. It's the same with my English to Thai; English has its own rhythms, its own patterns that Thai simply doesn't. So, when I read a translated text, am I really reading the same thing as someone who read it in the original language?
Final thought: Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. Shakespeare
Ecstatic
My advisor emailed me!
I am totally ecstatic! And he fixed up a lot of stuff! Oh my God, he is going to get a monster of a gift basket.
Majorly glad now that I decided to stick with being calm and hanging in there instead of going off the deep end. It looks like everything is definitely going to be fine..but I'm not gonna jinx it. :P I'm gonna be cautious and cross my fingers and hope for the best. Well, just wanted to blog this, and I will now go back to working on my paper. There's still a lot to be done. Science waits for no one.
Final thought: Please explain to me the scientific nature of the 'whammy'. Scully, The X-Files
Spin
Last night, I listened to the whole of Darren Hayes' Spin. Listening to it, I remembered why it was the soundtrack of my life for four years at MUIC. ("If the going got worse and the worse got rough and days became endless and hard and tough, I'd be good enough." The mantra of my university life!) I used to listen to it every single night, practically, but now at home, where there's other stuff to do, I hardly ever. It makes me think of friendship and relationships and life in general. Everything takes effort - even a favorite album, that helped you through heartbreak and crisis, has to be listened to every so often to help you remember why it was your favorite in the first place. Friends need to stay in touch and relationships need to move forward, otherwise, they lay around collecting dust and eventually, will be destroyed.
But, are there some relationships that aren't worth salvaging? Are there some people who you thought you wanted in your life, only to realize that it was a drain on your physical and mental resources? Maybe it's just me, maybe because I'm a moron sometimes. There are some people who just made a beeline for my life and I didn't have the heart to give them the boot, even though I should have. Then there are other people I dismissed out of hand, kicked out of my life before I realized how compatible we were. I guess I'll never know...:(
Final thought: Better than best would be simply to be good enough. Good Enough, Darren Hayes' Spin
Quiet Sunday
Today's pretty quiet (although construction is going on as I write). I tutored and came home to surf the net. I like the sorta quiet and it'd be all good and dandy if the construction site across the site would turn off their lame-ass music and take a freakin' break. But calm, I am calm, as calm and as cool as a cucumber.
My advisor has shut off his cell and I can't get in touch with him. Time is running out, but I'm trying my very best not to panic. It all works out in the end, doesn't it? That will be my new mantra: It will be all right. Everything will be all right. Hope is a good thing, even if it was the only pathetic thing not to escape Pandora's box. :twisted:
Final thought: It's gonna be okay. :D
Watchin' X-Files with no lights on...
So all right, I've cooled down sufficiently. Everyone over at the Tru Calling board is hopping mad. I suspect foul play, but, then again, I'm a die-hard X-Phile, so paranoia is in my blood. Thanks for everyone who helped vote, though. You helped push Tru to number 6 on the poll, at least. We all feel good about that.
Anyway, before I get to the meat of this blog, I just wanted to segue into why I love this show so much. Basically, I think it's just me. I don't like realistic shows - which is weird, coz I don't like fullblown fantasy either. I like shows about people with superpowers or special abilities, possibly coz when I was little, I dreamed of being a superhero. I wanted to be telekinetic or hurl fireballs or see the future. It doesn't matter that I'm older and a bit wiser; I still wish these things sometimes. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to stuff like Tru Calling. Well, it ran for one season and there are 6 episodes of season 2 floating around, so if you get a chance, do try and watch. It's fun, it doesn't make much sense, but I love it.
So, today, I'm online and I find David Duchovny's blog! It's about his movie, House of D, and you can access it here http://www.lionsgatedirectors.com/duchovny/index_flash.html" title="http://www.lionsgatedirectors.com/duchovny/index_flash.html" target="_blank"http://www.lionsgatedirectors... I miss the X-Files like crazy, so I had a mini-marathon today (watched half of season 5 - non-X-philes, you should watch Bad Blood if you want a laugh). I know I should be working on my paper, but my advisor is a) ignoring me and b) totally ignoring me and I don't have the heart or the energy to do anything about this or any other problem in my life. So I'm just going to look over my paper and see if the urge to do anything hits me and tomorrow, I'm going to start bugging my advisor. Well, that's all for today.
Final thought: The truth is still out there. :D
Useless rant
All right, I broke one of my cardinal rules - thou shalt not blog more than once a day. But I had to; I needed a place to vent. I think I had one of the top ten worst days of my life. Final thought: Deep breath...:evil:
First off, I got to the university at two. My class is at two and I hate being late. But, I can't go directly the gym because I have to 1) return my library book, 2) check to see if I'm still graduating (June said there were new forms to fill out), 3) pick up senior project stuff A. Prayad left at the fifth floor office and 4) change into a t-shirt. Well, the library book returning was fine, and I decided to head off to the fifth floor before checking on my graduation status - and I find out that my proposal never got through! What the heck! So, I'm totally having a panic attack and it's 2:15, so I'm fifteen minutes late and still in my uniform and uncertain of graduation. I run to the computer room to check if I still have a copy of my proposal and decide to see how Tru Calling is coming along in the polls.
After all we did - after all the letters and the excessive voting and the campaigning, Tru loses! Horrifically! After the initital shock and finding a copy of the proposal at one of my email addresses, I just got offline. I check on my graduation (it's all good), go to class, and it turns out, even though it's 2:50, my teach is still not there. And the final's next week. And he gets there and doesn't teach anyway. I discovered that when I'm excessively angry, the flesh under left eye starts to throb - like there's something under there. It was dancing up a storm today and I swear, I saw red.
Anyhow, I'm home and I'm trying to cool off. I don't want to be Ms. Hothead anymore, but today really tried my patience.
Dream Interpretation
I'm just dashing off to my self-defense class, but just wanted to detail a dream I had last night. I was in a car, driving, but I was in the passenger seat. The car was speeding out of control and I stomped on the brake, but it just kept going. It made me really uneasy. I think I have to assert some more control over my life.
Final thought: Dreams are a glimpse at the naked psyche. :oops:
Ms. Hothead
I have a very hot temper. I can be downright ferocious. I've thrown, smashed, kicked, slapped, pushed, pulled, scratched, yelled, screamed, ripped, torn, shoved and tripped - all in the name of anger. :evil: Am I a Type A? I wouldn't go so far to label myself that, but I do know that when I get upset, it's not a pretty sight.
Looking back on my temperamental outbursts, I can't help but feel guilty and ashamed. There's something about anger. You get caught up in it; it's like alcohol, I guess, or any other kind of stimulant. You get drunk on it and do all sorts of crazy things you'd never do under normal circumstances. Like push a guy down the stairs. Or dump a whole cup of ice over his head. Or slap him. (And all this in the fifth grade).
Nothing I can do can erase what I've done, but I think I've learned and gotten calmer over the years. I wish I did have the chance to go back in time and undo what I did (maybe then I wouldn't have this scar from the sixth grade when I got into a fight and the guy stuck his nail into my arm and took out a centimeter of flesh), or somehow fix things, but of course, that's wishful thinking. What are you going to do? Tell someone, "Hey, I'm sorry I hung up on you in the middle of a sentence/called you names/hit you/(other atrocious act committed by me)"? The best I can do is to think and weight the consequences before I fly off the handle. That will help prevent any future regrets. Although, I do sincerely apologize to anyone I've hurt with my thoughtless anger. I hope they know that really, I'm not a bad person, deep down. I'm trying. Maybe it'll even get to the point where the label "Ms. Hothead" won't even apply to me anymore. (Though I'd settle for "Ms. Mean".) And maybe I ought to stop enjoying being cruel...:twisted:
Final thought: The one thing you can't get rid of by losing is your temper. Anger Management
That’s what friends are for…
Here is the (edited) text of an article I intended for the now-defunct MUIC Tabloid (university newspaper). I decided to publish it here instead. Sorry if it's a bit too sentimental.:P
This is dedicated to:
M.V. (future “Best Young Researcher/Doctor” of Thailand, for helping me to graduate!)
J.Y. (for your dry sense of humor and your endearing ignorance of basic scientific phenomena)
S.V. (for your sarcasm, second to none and your mysterious ways)
M.I. (for letting me cry during math and that Hello Kitty! figurine)
K.P. (for all things British and for caring about me)
And finally, last but never, ever least, my roommate, best friend and confidante, B5 (for you know why – and a trillion things more)
I love you all very much. Thank you for everything you’ve given and continue to give me.
As my graduation draws near (gasp!), I can’t help but look back over my years at MUIC and take stock of what I’ve learned. Let’s see…aside from all the stuff I should have learned (i.e. the academics), I realize some of the most important things I now know weren’t discovered anywhere near a classroom. For instance, I know now that “Burberry” and “Pena House” are not a type of berry or a cake shop, respectively. I know what “Marmite” and “sashimi” are; I found out that yes, peacocks do attack. Did I learn these tidbits from some humanities course? No, these pearls of wisdom came via that group of people who have shared my ups, my downs and my in-betweens - my friends.
Elbert Hubbard once claimed, “A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.” Well, my friends know me and amazingly, I still feel an abundance of love from each of them. Sometimes, I even take it for granted, as I’m sure we all do. We show our gratitude to our parents by being good children, to our teachers by being good students, to our country by being good citizens – what about our friends? I wonder, as we traverse the paths of our blessed lives, if we ever truly stop and give thanks to and for these people who make our lonely journeys that little bit less lonely? So, as one of my final columns for this paper, I’d like to do a tribute to friendship and most importantly, to my friends. (Please note: names have been omitted to protect the innocent; or me, as the case may be!)
According to evolutionary psychology, friendship is a form of altruism, which is basically a fancy term for helping. Your friends probably help you in a million ways you can’t even appreciate and you probably do the same for them. My best friend will pick me up after drama rehearsal, even if it’s late at night and she has to work on a major project due the next morning. I can call her at two in the morning with any sort of crisis and rant and rave for four hours without her holding it against me. She once dictated my biology notes onto a tape so that I could study in the shower. If you think about it, your friends probably do similar things for you and you for them. Most likely you think, “Why are writing about this? This is total common sense.” Would it surprise you to know that altruism, and by extension, friendship, is one of the most enduring evolutionary puzzles?
Think back to your basic biology; specifically Darwin’s theory of evolution. Remember natural selection, survival of the fittest (although FYI, Darwin did not coin that latter phrase)? If everyone is primarily trying to pass on his/her own genes, if everyone is in essence, selfish, how do friends fit in? Why would you bother helping someone who has nothing to do with your genes?
There are no scientific answers, only speculation. However, anyone who’s ever even had at least one friend doesn’t need validation from science or any source; your friends are your friends and you love them. End of story. So, you see though that friendship – something we take for granted every day - is a complete mystery (rather like the MUIC bureaucracy’s lack of efficiency). It makes no quantifiable sense. Perhaps it’s not earth-shattering, but it’s something to think about – why do you love your friends, and more importantly, why do your friends love you? I was sure I would be friendless after I laughed so hard, I fell off my chair in the middle of the canteen and my friends had to leave or die of embarrassment. Yet these same people still allow me to call them my friends today. They still message me to tell me that they’re there for me, they care about me, they’re willing to listen when they sense I’m depressed. They smile wryly at my corny jokes, patiently explain to me how blue tooth works, tolerate my ignorance of all designer brands and calm me down when I suffer a sudden attack of nerves before an exam. My best friend knows me about as well as anyone can know me – and she still hasn’t run for the hills. Mysterious? Definitely.
You most likely have a number of these same anecdotes. If these are not enough reasons to love and cherish your friends, then I have nothing else to say. Or rather, I have one more thing to say (or rather, Muhammad Ali said it for me): “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” MUIC, you taught me a lot and I thank you for that, but the greatest thing you’ve given me are the people in my life, the people I’m proud to call my friends. God keep and bless all of you.
Oh, and additional thanks goes to a certain “friend” who pointed out how my Creon-like stubbornness and over-analytical nature would be my downfall (how true, how true).
Final thought: It's not the journey, but the people you meet along the way.
It's raining!
Yeah, it's raining! I woke up to the pitter-patter of raindrops against my window and I am ecstatic. Granted, the fact that it's raining in the middle of March in Thailand (which it almost never does) is weird and might well be a sign of the apocalypse, I can't seem to garner any sort of care. I love rain. I love it when it's cool and wet. I once wrote a whole essay on the beauty and wonder of rain - that is how much I love it. I once risked pneumonia playing in the rain with my brother. It's one of my fondest childhood memories. (The sad part? Just when we'd gotten outside, the downpour let up and we had to turn the hose on each other before it started up again.) Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time and be that carefree again. Oh, well...
Final thought: It's raining, it's pouring...:)
Make-believe
Here's a cute little exercise I just thought up. Blame my love of quizzes and psychology, but I think it's a fun way to peek into your psyche.
If I were...
...an animal, I'd be a rabbit, coz they're cute and people think they're harmless, which they mostly are until you annoy them.
...a color, I'd be black because it's my favorite and it has so many meanings.
...an office supply, I'd be a folder, coz it keeps things together and it can be transparent or solid.
...a body part, I'd be the brain because although it's ugly and gets way less press than the heart, it's where all the action is.
...an emoticon, I'd be this one :twisted:, coz, well, I likey :twisted:
Final thought: Of all the things I could or couldn't be, I'm simply glad that I am me. 8)
Gotta love science...
My bout of insomnia has disappeared. The night before my Chula interview (which was quite easy, if I say so myself - though I don't want to junx anything), I didn't get to sleep until about 4 in the morning and the next day, after the interview, I conked out until I got to Mahidol for my self-defense class. Then, that night, went out to dinner with my friends (sans Smithi - we think she might still be in the hospital, but no official word) and then I slept over at Kwan's. We went to the orphanage the next day to play with the most amazingly cute kids. I love kids. I want twins, if that's at all possible.
Here's a promise I made to myself - if I hit thirty and I'm still single (and at this rate, I most probably will be), I am still going to have a kid. I don't care if I have to adopt or go in vitro - I want children. I don't want my life to be lived in vain. I mean, other people can win their Nobel prizes or climb Everest, but I'll never do those things. Well then, I'm going to be someone's mother. What's science for anyhow? Maybe I won't be someone's wife, but definitely someone's mom. That's not too much to ask, is it?
Final thought: All parents want their children to be better than they ever intended.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Me
Things you might not have known about me, (and even if you did, I'm going to tell you anyway):
1. Favorite color: black
2. Allergies: crab, dust, damp weather, morons (might be others, but those are the main ones)
3. Times I've changed my cell phone number: 1
4. Favorite font: Garamond
5. Record of pizza slices eaten: 6 (and I was very sorry afterwards)
6. Only song that makes me cry: If You Get There Before I Do, Colin Raye
7. Can count to 10 in this many languages: 3
8. Times I've cried at a movie: 0
9. Least favorite kind of chicken: boiled (but I'll still eat it)
10. Number of people who care about stuff that's on this list: 1 (myself!)
Final thought: Lists, lists, lists - it's an addiction! :lol:
Insomnia
I've been experiencing a touch of insomnia lately. It took me three hours to fall asleep last night. I just lay there, tossing and turning.I'm not sure if it's because I've over or understimulated.
I've been unable to sleep before, but all those times, I had clear, defined causes, like exam worries or heartbreak or indigestion. But what could possibly be keeping me up these days?
I like this quiet. All I have to worry about is my paper, which I am working on - not well, or even fluidly, but I'm working on it. Other than that, my life is a picnic. I get up, have breakfast, watch TV, do my paper while I surf the net, blog sometimes, watch TV, eat dinner, watch TV or surf the net and sleep. Doesn't that sound like a total Hugh Hefner day, sans Playboy bunnies and silk pajamas? Maybe I am understimulated.
Well, I guess I'm just worrying for nothing. It's just that I hate insomnia. :shock:
Final thought: To die, to sleep --
To sleep, perchance to dream, ay there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come...
William Shakespeare, Hamlet 8)
Alternate universes
In movies, they always have these moments - the big moments, the revelation, the climax, the resolution. Moments that are emphasized by music or mood or color choice, so that you know that this is important. It's too bad real life doesn't work that way. I'm not saying that real life doesn't have moments. It most certainly does, if I may paraphrase Beverly D'Onofrio, "Life is just a collection of one or two big moments." It's just that you have no idea, in life, which are the moments. And that sucks.
I wish there were some way to know that a certain phrase, a certain response, a certain look might have significance later on. If you go down path A, your life would be completely different than path B. To think that all the little choices you made or didn't make might have resulted in a totally different version of events...that's heady stuff. It just makes me wonder. Though, you could go crazy contemplating all the things you would have done differently. Like, what if I hadn't gotten angry? What if I hadn't hung up? What if I'd returned the library book late? What if I'd shut up when he wanted to burn me a CD? What if I'd swallowed my pride and called? What if I'd taken French instead of Japanese?
If there really is an alternate version(s) of myself out there, I'm sure she has her regrets too, just like I have mine, just like everyone has theirs. She might have things (gained through decisions I made or didn't make) that make her extremely happy, but she might also have things (gained through decisions I made or didn't make) that make her infinitely sad.
All of this is making my head ache. :shock:
Final thought: Even fiction has twists. A lá, Triangle, The X-Files
Mulder: Scully...I love you.
Scully: Oh, brother. :P
Smell the roses...
I love cold weather. I was talking to this Japanese exchange student yesterday and I was telling her how much I love snow and ice and gelid winds and all things winter and she just kind of shivered and said she adored Thailand's heat. That was one of the main reasons she loves this country. I kinda laughed and thought to myself, to each their own. :lol: I mean, one of the main things I hate about Thailand is the incessantly hot weather! Sometimes it feels like I'm cooking in my own skin.
Well, not today. Today, due to some meterological phenomenon involving China and a front of some sort, Bangkok is actually cool. This made me so happy, I actually did some work on my senior project. Granted, it wasn't a lot, but I did something - something more than adding in headings and changing margins. Isn't it great how a change in the weather can affect your mood? (Though, anyone ever hear of SAD - seasonal affective disorder? Yet another thing I learned from the X-Files.)
What it comes down to is this - it's the little things that count. I know I for one constantly overlook the minutiae of my life, block out things I deem "trivial", but you know what? Nothing is insignificant. Every moment of your life is a gift, a gift that can be reclaimed at any second. Just for today, I'm going to savor the little things. The cool wind blowing through my window. A childhood memory that just popped into my head of me and my brother making a snowman. This pink pencil with a little plastic rabbit hanging from it my roommate gave me for my birthday. Remembering something funny my friend June said. The fact that I am alive and am in possession of all my senses.
For all of these minor things and all the major things, I'm thankful.
Final thought: It's called the present because it's a gift.
Shaun and my paper
I am trying very (x 100) hard to work on my senior paper, but I just can't seem to...but I will. I promise I will do something with it right after this blog, even if it's just putting in headings and stuff. That will give me a tiny sense of accomplishment.
Final thought: Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute, Josh Billings
Trapped on a desert island...
Three things I'd take to survive a desert island experience (if I had all other necessities):
1. My collection of X-files episodes especially
a. Triangle (for that great Mulder/1939 Scully kiss)
b. Detour (Scully's off-key rendition of Three Dog Night's Joy to the World)
c. The Truth (just because it's the series finale)
2. Basic cooking instruments, coz cooking calms me down (now, who knew that about me?)
3. ...would this be counted as a thing? I'll check on that, but I would definitely bring ... along.
(Anyone who really knows me could figure that last one out!) :wink:
Final thought: No man is an island. But I sure as hell feel like a floodplain sometimes :!: