Are you talkin' to me?

I find this picture so sweet. They're standing so close together, with no regard to personal space, that it made wonder where the concept of personal space originated.

According to Wikipedia, the term personal space was first proxemics, and refers to the space around a person that she or he considers her or his domain. It is also highly variable -- people who live in more densely populated areas require less personal space than those who live in sparser ones.

It seems to me that in our Western world, personal space has become more strongly associated with the idea of ownership and protection of that:



By engaging in space politics, we miss out on some of the benefits of working with people; truly being part of a team; engaging in more than just shared work; failing to make real connections.

Granted, some people do have strong issues with having their personal space invaded, and those should be respected. But wouldn't not living in a bubble be a fresh way to go to work?

Bahaha! Off-roading

As I said in my inaugural post, part of my motivation for creating this blog was to record the things that happen in my life -- many of them being monkey-centric. So the kid talk will be going on for a while, but I'll try to keep it from being overly mushy.

For the last month or so, I've been walking to day care with the monkey riding on one of those push tricyles.

It's been great! He has fun driving, has been learning left from right, and the smoothest parts of the curb.

For me, it cuts down on time a lot (no more lollygagging), especially when he demands that I go "Faster!" (I am raising a speed demon.)

This morning, we were 3/4 of the way to daycare when he decided to explore off-roading. First I thought he was just distracted and drove on the grass accidentally. This clearly was not the case when it happened 5 more times and he exclaimed, "That was FUN, Mommy!"

I cracked up -- how could I not? A 3-year-old, redheaded Evil Knievel buzzing up and down grassy banks with a Cheshire cat grin on his face on his red push tricycle is funny.

Like a bird, free

That's the song that was playing on my radio this morning when I woke up. (Knowing me, there were quite a few songs that I slept through beforehand so I believe this to be serendipitous.)

And I'm free after last night's exam!!!! No more conflicting feelings about leaving my family for schoolwork! Time to myself (look out HP7, here I come), time for my friends, to get back in shape, to just chill.

And yet...and yet...I do somewhat glimpse the adrenaline crash and depression that some colleagues have spoke of when being done. I'm hoping that this is just from being the first day without obligation this summer and that it will wear off in a day or two; in fact, I'm sure that is going to be it. Because I'm like a bird now.

This bird has so much space to explore

The Scorpion
October 24 to November 22

Traditional Scorpio Traits

Determined and forceful

Emotional and intuitive

Powerful and passionate

Exciting and magnetic


On the dark side....


Jealous and resentful

Compulsive and obsessive

Secretive and obstinate