Harmonics: OVERTONE; especially : one whose vibration frequency is an integral multiple of that of the fundamental b : a flutelike tone produced on a stringed instrument by touching a vibrating string at a nodal point

basically, when you hit a harmonic (by lightly placing your finger on a certain area of a string), it creates a pitch that resonates with the vibration of the entire instrument. they are innate within each stringed instrument and to me it sounds as if the instrument is rejoicing - that it feels free to express what it was created for.

this seems so inadequately described in words, but i love the feeling when someone says something that feels like they've hit a harmonic in me. it doesn't happen very frequently but when it does, it just feels *right.*

Hugging - the perfect cure for what ails you
(found this in the newspaper many years ago)

No movable parts
No batteries to wear out
No periodic checkups
Low energy consumption
High energy yield
Inflation-proof
No monthly payments
No insurance requirements
Theft-proof
Non-taxable
Non-polluting
And, of course, fully returnable
Hugging is healthy
It relieves tension
Combats depression
Reduces stress
Improves blood circulation
It's invigorating
It's rejuvenating
It elevates self-esteem
It generates goodwill
It has no unpleasant side effects
It is nothing less than a miracle drug.

One of the best benefits to being home is all the physical affection. Both my mom and dad have always been very affectionate - kisses in abundance, hugs, and my dad does this thing where he chases me, pins me down, and rubs his stubble on my cheeks. it's silly but also so very familiar.

my brother is affectionate in a different way. he uses me for judo practice. we've always played kind of "rough" but he's had to get a lot more careful as he's gotten bigger and stronger. our tour group in Europe all thought we were going out at first.

it's weird, though, that as people get older, there's generally less and less "approved" physical affection available unless they're in a relationship. how sad because sometimes the difference in a good day and a bad day is as simple as a hug.

I made a student cry yesterday. but it was a good kind of crying - i returned his test and he was in absolute disbelief that he had received a B. i'm still so much amazed at how much power i have sometimes.

family similarities always surprise me. i know they shouldn't and they don't for the big, obvious stuff like our looks or tastes in food. but the subtle things... after years of not living at home for more than a month at a time, they just creep up on me and serendipitously appear.

for instance, in an aim conversation with my brother, he described one of his friends as having "a really contagious laugh." it's so odd that he and I are so different and have polar opposite types of friends and yet, I use the EXACT same phrase to describe some of the people i am most fond of.

in addition, today my dad and i were discussing the hobby of reading. He said that he has always thought of reading as much a necessity as water. If he's not doing anything, he'll read whatever scrap piece of paper, cereal box, or even the fine print on a coupon that's laying around. I'm like that too - we're our happiest when we're working our way through a book. one of the reasons he reads is for the sheer pleasure. he says that a sign of a good book is that he can "taste" it. to understand and feel so deeply that you taste it. I didn't know he used sense-oriented descriptions until today. I use them all the time when all else fails to reach my gut-feelings.

this is where the similarities for today end, though, because my dad also chooses to read for curiosity's sake. in my knowledge, he's always preferred non-fiction to fiction. He didn't discover until recently why and it's mainly a matter of language. while he craves pleasurable reading, he doesn't "taste" books as well in English, but in the last 25 years (living in Houston), he hasn't had much opportunity to get Korean books. That's why he gravitates toward filling the reading hole through the curiosity aspect. he likes the historical, documentary, informational type books in the English language. i vividly remember my dad reading DOS manuals right before bedtime! eeeeek.

again, that's one very big non-similarity between me and him. i LOVE to read for pleasure - to enter into whole other worlds and live and see through their eyes. but i don't read much for curiosity sake except little scraps here and there. i'd rather just hear information from what someone else has read or simply resort to making it up myself.

SPRING BREAK. one of the best inventions! yay! i love it!
museums being closed on random days of the week. not one of the best inventions. boooo

i found a cheat-sheet on my floor today that one of my students must have made for my skeletal system test. Instead of getting indignant, i found it absolutely funny that this kid spent all this time painstakingly writing the names of 16 bones in the body on this tiny little paper. but you know what? i always write all the vocabulary on the test in a word bank - they just have to be able to use the words in the correct sentences or match them to the pictures. so i have no idea what good the cheat-sheet did! =) haha

it's ironic that while i don't particularly enjoy making decisions, i currently have 3 different brands of shampoo and conditioner in my shower right now. that means i choose to force myself to make a decision (unnecessarily) every day. i don't know why.