-
Delightful and Challenging Language Learning
This week in language learning, I continued my Pimsleur, Innovative Language, Fluent Fiction, and Duolingo, and also enjoyed watching some foreign language films in Spanish, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Watching language films while learning them is definitely a delightful and enriching experience, but for me, it’s a very humbling one to see how little I actually know at this point, especially in Japanese and Vietnamese, which I just started in the fall. But knowing that also gives me a sense of excitement that there’s so much more to unravel. The most challenging aspect so far is learning Hiragana, but I also think that the characters are so beautiful that I’d like…
-
2025: Year in Review
From the first cozy day of 2025 relaxing at home to seeing many difficult times, politically, to the last night of 2025 out dancing with my sister and friends on New Year’s Eve to usher in a wonderful beginning to the New Year, 2025 was a tumultuous year but had its great moments, too, and was a year of change for me. I started 2025 taking the “Science of Well Being” class on Coursera, which was my first wish-list item, and I did implement several lifestyle changes last year as a result of it. The class uses data to show how certain lifestyle changes can rewire your brain for happiness…
-
Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks
With the beginning of the year, I find myself going through my wish-list items, taking inventory of which of those I reached in 2026, and one of the most enriching ones was a summer vacation in the American southwest. In August, 2025, a friend and I set out on a road trip to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, where I attained two of my national park wish list items and took in so many beautiful views. Carlsbad Cavern, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located about 18 miles southwest of the city of Carlsbad in the Guadalupe Mountains and Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico. Visitors…
-
Car Wash
-
Big Fun in Little Tokyo
-
A Rainy Day at the Santa Monica Pier
-
Night Swimming in the Rain
-
Sister New Year
I’m in California for the new year and today my sister and I spent numero uno driving through the Santa Monica Mountains until we reached our destination of Malibu Beach. It had rained on New Year’s Eve and the hills were verdant and a little foggy. At the beach the air was misty with ocean spray and lingering wetness from the rain. We got calamari and fish for lunch at the famed restaurant, Neptune’s Net, where the salty air married with the scents and flavors of fresh seafood, lemon, and vinegar. We talked about the power of intentions and decided that one of our resolutions would be to set more…
-
“Fog on the Ouachitas” Oil Pastel
My magical experience watching the Oklahoma landscape rise on a foggy morning nearing the Ouachitas.
-
“Ouachitas” Oil Pastel
