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you know how a plane rumbles when it goes through turbulence, like it's falling apart or something? that's how i feel after only getting 4 hours of sleep last night. i'm going through turbulence. went to bed at 6am, woke up at 10am.

i woke up early to go to a new dim sum buffet at the yangtze river restaurant in lexington. for $9 a head, it's quite a deal. i went with my mother and sister, along with my aunt and uncle. my godmother's son jack was working there, pushing one of those dim sum carts. besides the dim sum, there were also buffet tables. we nearly emptied the cart jack was pushing, getting a serving of everything he had. he would periodically come out from the kitchen with fresh dishes, asking us if we wanted first dibs on them. i got a complimentary glass of coke because he knew how much i love that sweet carbonated beverage. we ate until we couldn't eat anymore, my stomach nearly bursting.

after dim sum, my aunt and uncle left to go home, while the rest of us went to costco. my sister wanted to get a scanner, we ended up getting the epson perfection 1660 (it was the only scanner they sold anyway, $140), which i recall from my past scanner research that it got some good ratings. we drove back home to belmont, where i set up the scanner for my sister and test scanned a few photos. this is actually our 2nd scanner, i also have a scsi microtek scanner i bought back in 1996. it still works, although i haven't used it in many years now. it's one good quality is its ability to scan legal sized documents, but that thing was big, noisy, and slow to scan, with no software frills. the 1660 on the other hand, i was amazed not so much in its resolution (which i understand is quite hefty), but rather in its ability to automatically adjust photos (if they're slightly crooked on the scanning bed) and crop them. the fact that i don't have any great need for a scanner is also due to the fact that i use my digital camera most of the time, which on occasions has substituted for a poor man's version of a scanner.

i then went out and did what i've been dreaming about for weeks, to inspect the backyard. it didn't matter that it was raining, it just made everything more dramatic. the familiar signs of spring were everywhere.


pussy
willow

flowering
bush

lilac

cherry


daffodils

celandine

lily
all the trees and shrubs were budding, and bulbs were emerging from the ground, including lilies and daffodils. celandines were out (i consider them weeds), their big broad leaves catching raindrops. i can't really describe what it is i feel when i'm out there. cold, wet, yet surrounded by all this re-emerging natural life, there's this kind of earthy joy that only another fellow nature lover could appreciate.

of course one of the most colorful signs of early spring is the appearance of crocuses. out of the winter drabness emerges these purple flowers surrounded by a crown of green leaves. i wish i had some crocuses growing in my own backyard in cambridge. i especially want to grow different varieties, so i can have a backyard full of pastel colors just in time for easter.

the last thing i did in the backyard was to take a page out of andy goldsworthy, create a natural composition using elements from nature. now i don't particularly agree with goldsworthy's artistic style, because my feeling towards nature is strictly hands off, look but don't touch, capture the naturalness, not the artificiality. but i couldn't resist, i found a sun-dried tomato husk in the backyard and wanted to get a few photos of it, but placed against a more interesting background that just dirt. so i pulled off some bamboo leaves and made an alternating pattern of dead (yellow) and live (green) leaves.

my mother, sister, and i went back to the cafe. robert reich, former gubernatorial candidate and a fellow cantabrigian, was getting a hot beverage. my sister and i went back to my place before my parents came by for sunday night family dinner. prior to that, alex called me from japan, perhaps checking up to see whether or not i smashed up his beloved car yet. i asked if i could take his car to new york, he said yes, as long as i don't crash it (a reasonable request). after dinner, everyone left, leaving me to my alias, where i nearly fell asleep, the mere 4 hours of slumber i had last night finally catching up with me.