about 2 years ago...

i headed back to work monday morning after a very nice vacation (since the 27th)...it was so clear and serene and pleasant outside, i wondered if maybe i was mistakened and it was in fact sunday. seemed wrong to begin the dreaded 9-5 cycle on such a beautiful day...a day for the beach and bike riding and sketching and zazen and a long lunch followed by an afternoon nap and a good book and...instead i was inside labs all day, all week. i cant believe i fooled myself into taking this engineering job; I was ready to run after the first 3 months. maybe i can understood the people who actually spend a decent amount of time getting their hands dirty in the labs but ive never seen so many `deskworkers` who werent programmers or secretaries. i still dont know what half of my coworkers really do...do you need 3 or 4 section leaders to `lead` the other 10 people??? no wonder unemployment in japan is so low.

some of the guys at work, when they found out i would be leaving in june, asked if i could get an extension and atleast stay thru the summer...im flattered that people enjoy my company but ha! i hope i wasnt smiling too hard yesterday as i went over my last experimental plans with my boss. and if i was, hopefully it looked like one of those `i had such a wonderful time here and i really dont want to leave but dont worry ill be back (as a tourist)` smiles. i could really use a time machine right about now.

other news:
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last week i discovered that i do know how to cook or rather i know how to read a box and follow a recipe and buy food for more than 2 days. plan to take it up a notch or 2 this summer using all those cookbooks i read thru without once taking out a pot.

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horoscopes dont work very well when you`re thousands of miles away from friends and family, potential boyfriends, and office romances.

going on a zazen retreat up in the mountains this weekend...