I think bonsai are interesting in that in creating them one is compelled to think in terms of years, if not decades. Whether it's my dad collecting trees from the canyons (which, incidentally is a whole other angle of naturalist skill required for the art), which can take several years of preparation before the tree is ever dug up, or the tags at a show listing how many years a tree has been stylized (for example, the annual SABE show which just finished), the art or cultivating plants that are already hundreds of years old is measured in appropriate terms - not very much instant gratification involved, I guess.

words I just understood today:
-algebra (yeah I knew it was Arabic) ---> Al-gebra. Yes, yes, obvious, &c.
-geurrilla ---> from "little war." I know, like geurre in French. The double-l threw me off, so neener.

Xuemei's (and sous-chef Magda's) Nice Meal of the Day:
-miso soup with nori
-pork and cauliflower (with many and sundry spices)
-Orangina

Calvin and Hobbes - and lots of it

The Awakening of Consciousness - a short film starts out hauntingingly surreal, then just gets silly