normally, i dread emails from Public Affairs because
they usually are about a rape or suicide on campus.

but today's is a "Deer Fawning Season Alert":

"Finding a fawn (baby deer) alone in the woods or a meadow is fairly common. Many people assume that young wildlife found alone are abandoned, helpless and need assistance for their survival. In nearly all cases this is a mistake, and typically human interaction does more damage than good. If you see a fawn or other newborn wildlife, enjoy your encounter, but for the animal’s well being, it is important to keep the encounter brief and maintain some distance."

found an apartment for seattle!

"she asked students in one first-grade classroom in a very transient neighborhood to tell what came to mind when she said twenty-four.

the children immediately gave a variety of answers:
two dimes and four pennies, two dozen eggs, four nickels and four pennies, take a penny away from a quarter, the day before Christmas, my mother was 24 last year, when the hand (on a grocery scale in the classroom) is almost in the middle of twenty and thirty.

When she asked this question in a third-grade classroom

in a professional community, 24 was just a number that is written in a certain way, that appears on a calendar or a digital watch."

there's something so magical about

children that our current system takes away.

i am so interested in this

and how to keep the curiosity and creativity alive.
i am certain this is possible.

i cannot stop roasting & eating brussel sprouts.

i must be getting so much

(2S)-2-[(4-{[(2-amino-4-hydroxypteridin-6-yl)methyl]amino} phenyl)formamido]pentanedioic acid

(folic acid)

**preheat oven to 400 F
**cut brussel sprouts in 1/2
**cut up onions & potatoes
**drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper
**bake for 40 minutes

i have been searching for a sunhat for the last 4 years.

today, i found the perfect one.

it's light green and red and made from hemp.

what a nice way to remember santa cruz by.

now i'm off to my and ryan's "going away get together!"

M A Y  
may skipped her class & we went on a farm adventure.

a bee kept flying violently in my hair,

then it stung my leg.

roasted brussel sprouts & spring onions!

(and some peaches with leaves)

"some of the most intelligent

people i know are farmers."
-a. matthews

i had a dream that i found an abandoned koala.
it was very soft and didn't bite me.

i went to great lengths to find it

the right type of leaves, flowers and plants to eat.

i walked past a barber shop today.
feeling impulsive, i walked inside and
chopped off 4.5 inches of my hair
(& got a student discount!)

OVERWHELMED.

@______@

*2 weeks*

SAN FRANCISCO 
i went to the de young with

dominique & the havc department today.

we saw Vermeer's "The Girl with a Pearl Earring"
(aka the "dutch mona lisa").

her uncle met us for lunch.

he was super nice and impersonated julia child.
("neeeverrrrr apologize!!")

then he bought us baklava & showed us around sf a bit.

!!sourdough croissants!!

this is domi's "dutch fish platter."

i also saw a photo exhibit documenting

the US invasion of iraq.
the photographs really affected me.

this is what an iraqi visa looks like.

 the sudden shift in exhibits was kind of startling.

here's a peruvian mosaic figurine.

and some rothko.

i forgot to get a picture
(because i was so mesmerized)
 but my favorite piece was by
an Australian aboriginal artist of The Dreaming.
just imagine a simple faded black
background with hundreds of little white dots
flowing across space. undulating, like currents.

pathways; some breaking along the way.
like these lives we live..

today, a homeless woman at a thrift store offered

to help me look for clothes that i
"would look so cute in!"

i accepted her offer but then
decided it wasn't working out because
i would never wear any of what she held up :(
(but i appreciated her generosity). 

then she turned to me and said very seriously,
"i'm supposed to meet my friend here, but he's not here!

do you think he got arrested?"

CHIA SEED FRESCAS

after going to Bruce Ames' talk on
nutrition, synthetic chemicals, government, & cancer,
i realized that i wanted to start cooking a lot more.

santa cruz county is one of main producers of
fruits & vegetables in the country
(for example, watsonville's strawberry industry
alone totaled $198 million last year)
so i need to keep taking advantage of all this local stuff!

today, nadya and i met up at farmer's market

and sniffed, touched and inspected everything.

then i came home and made myself a big lunch:
panko fish, quinoa, various leaves, mozzarella,tomatoes,

chickpea salad & brussel sprouts.

ISABEL ALLENDE IS COMING TO SANTA CRUZ

TO TALK ABOUT HER NEW BOOK.

BUT I AM NOT GOING TO BE HERE :(