apartment and lavender kitten

I think I'll rise my head out of the swamp of school long enough to tell you something I saw there in the murky waters.

1. Yesterday I was waiting for the bus and was accosted by a lively Chinese Fillipina who seemed ecstatic to meet another Southeast Asian Chinese person. Along with harranguing me about when the bus would arrive she also tried to pitch to me an apartment she was renting (a three bedroom with one room for 3 ppl? i had a hard time making out the confirguration was) as well as inviting me over to eat with her. On the bus she tried point out to me, not discretely enough, that the black women on the bus with their babies were out to get government money and didn't have to work. It's the middle class that get's screwed over, she said. Uh, ok. Good luck finding tenants.

2. A poem I found by Alonzo Lopez.

THE LAVENDER KITTEN

Miles and miles of pasture
roled on before me.
Covered with grass and clover
dyed pink, white, and blue.
At the edge of the fluctuating
sea of watercolors
Sat a lavender kitten.
Its fur glinted from an oscillating
ray of pink.
Quivered gently at the touch of a
swirling blue breeze.
Its emerald eyes glittered
And gazed blindly at the lighting
and fading sky of hazy red,
Yellow, white, and blue.
My heart knocked within my chest.
I must have the lavender kitten!
I ran across the multi-colored field,
my arms reaching forward.
Time slower.
I tried to run faster
but moved twice as slowly.
The blue breeze circled and tightened
around me,
Holding me back.
The kitten rose and stretched
sending lavender mist
Swimming in every direction.
It turned and started away
in huge, slow strides.
I follow and,
by a shimmering prism lake,
I came within reach of the kitten.
I offered my hand
and the kitten edged away,
Farther and farther.
The lake turned from crystal
to deep purple.
I looked around.
The colors began to melt.
The red sun turned to dull gray.
The color-filled sky turned to black.
The grass and clover began
to wither and die.
I looked down into the pool before me,
There, at the bottom of
the orchid glass cage,
Lay the lavender kitten.

it's the little things...

My life has been school, internship, school, internship for the past few weeks. Very little excitement that came in the form of very little things. Of things that are worthy of reporting, there are

1) aphids! These ickle things have decimated my cilantro plant and are now working on my strawberry plants. I quickly quarantined them away from my other young herbs but am at a loss for how to save my slowly dying plants. Ah, the cilantro is a goner. The strawberry's stems are turning red and flopping over. Darn those tiny drops of honeydew! Darn them to heck.

and

2) pokey, the subject of the above visual representation. I found him while searching with my visiting friend through the Castro district for a sushi place, which was ultimatley closed. Found him in a Pictionary game box, which I also picked up. Oh Pokey, whose red-orange has inspired a thousand crayons.

Incidently, the Pictionary game will be a perfect addition to my small collection of board games that will get a little exercise this Friday as my roommate and I are hosting our first social: a game night! Open house for classmates and friends. A chance to share aphids and Pokey with the world!