Cousins

From my aunt’s e-mail thread.

Here is a photo of the two cousins (Terry and Tammy) with Teresa and Seung

Terry Tammy in Pittsburgh

I got that sweater on a vacation to New Orleans when I was in grade school. I remember my father taking us down Bourbon Street and afterward my dad teasing my brother for “tripping all over himself.” I myself wondered why all the people in the posters there were wearing black tape for clothing.

Continue reading and seeing more photos from the past after the jump

Eyes

…there is no thought, “I have attained something.” When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners.
— Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Now that I’ve spent over a year relearning how to program, it’s getting to the point that I can spend some spare time applying the system of shuhari to something I never learned: drawing.

The cynical me says if President George W Bush can do it, how hard can it be? But the real reason is I’ve always wanted to draw and admired and encouraged my friends who had the talent, but gave up trying myself around the sixth grade.

Later, I learned that “having talent” for something just means willingness to practice at it and fail, a lot. It was feeling embarrassment over the latter that kept me from seriously attempting to learn drawing.

Continue reading about my attempt to draw my eyes after the jump