Yes...yes, indeed

Excerpt from Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake"

At the end of the breakwater, there was a field of yellow reeds to the right, and dunes beyond, and the ocean behind it all. He had expected his father to turn back, but still they had continued, stepping onto the sand. They walked along the water to the left, heading toward the lighthouse, past rusted boat frames, fish spines as thick as pipes attached to yellow skulls, a dead gull whose feathery white breast was freshly stained with blood ... He heard his father cry out — they had left the camera with his mother. “All this way and no picture,” he’d said, shaking his head. He reached into his pocket and began to throw the striped stones into the water. “We will have to remember it, then.” They looked around, at the gray and white town that glowed across the harbor. They started back again, for a while not trying to make an extra set of footsteps, inserting their shoes into the ones they had just made. A wind had picked up, so strong that it forced them to stop now and then.

“Will you remember this day, Gogol?” his father had asked, turning to look back at him, his hands pressed like earmuffs to either side of his head.

“How long do I have to remember it?”

Over the rise and fall of the wind, he could hear his father’s laughter. He was standing there, waiting for Gogol to catch up, putting out a hand as Gogol drew near.

“Try to remember it always,” he said once Gogol had reached him, leading him slowly back across the breakwater, to where his mother and Sonia stood waiting. “Remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go.”



YES! YES!

Hard Hats & Steel Toe Boots

A few years back, I spent about 7 months working in a warehouse as a consultant. I was required to wear a hard hat and steel toe boots whenever I went into the actual warehouse building. I kept both as a souveigner of some of the crazy experiences I've had (and will continue to have) as a consultant. Given the state of current affairs, I may need these items to dig us out of the mess we're in. Have you read the news today?

> Some 35 people are dead in Baghdad after three car bombs went off. A lot of the dead include individuals who rushed over to help victims after the first car bomb only to get hit by the second and third.
> About 23 Palestinians and 3 Israeli were killed after more fighting.
> Russia (once the bad guys) oked the Kyoto Protocal - something we still haven't done.
> Bush and Kerry are set to debate tonight!

I don't know about you, but I'm gonna watch the debates tonight with my hard hat on. Chicken Little may have been right - the sky may just start to fall!

Cheap Date

Apparently that's what I am. Or so said 4 different people to me this past weekend.

I never realized that I could get so very silly tipsy on ONE vodka collins. Albeit, I hadn't had a proper drink in some 8 months...but still! There is something wrong in the world when I can barely manage one drink and my 4 foot 8 3/4 inch, 85 lb girlfriend can toss back some 5 -7 shots and still seem excessively sober.

Total alcoholic units since Jan 04: 2

Briget Jones I am not.

HE'S HERE!!!!

J.K.T.B is here!!!!

DOB: September 24, 2004
Time: 10:27 AM (EST)
5lbs 10oz
Echo Score: 9.9/10 (!!!!!)

Mama B and Papa B are all smiles!!! Yipeeee!

YEAH!

Jewish like me

Having grown up in New York City, I've always had a sweet spot in my heart for Jewish holidays. As a public school student, we'd always get the major Jewish holidays off - Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and I even think we got a day off for Passover, although I may be wrong on that one. As a second grader, I didn't much understand why we were getting those days off, but heck, you don't have to tell a 7 year old twice that they get to spend the day eating cereal, watching cartoons, and trying to convince Gus, the slightly slow kid who lives on the 4th floor with his mother and grandmother, to tie his shoes together and toss them up on the phone lines outside; a bit wicked, I know. It wasn't until I was in junior high school that I began to develop an understanding for these holy days. I probably know more about the Jewish holidays than one would have predicted back in 1975, when my mom gave birth to me in a country hospital, off an ill-paved road in Chon Ju, South Korea. It was with wonder and amusement that I learned during my freshman year at the University of MI that not every school child grows up with these extra days of frolic.

To my Jewish friends out there, Happy Belated New Year. Yom Kippur begins today at sundown. Yom Kippur is a beautiful holiday, one that I think more religions should adopt. Regardless of whether you are religious, or spiritual, or nothing at all, I think the insight found in the practice of reflection, meditation, atonement, and fasting can help us cultivate our capacity for empathy and kindness.

While I don't get the day off anymore, the holiday still affects my life in a pretty profound way. The subways were remarkable empty today (as they were last Thursday & Friday during Rosh Hashanah). I'm sure tomorrow while I drive around Queens & Manhattan, I will get to witness dozens of families traveling to and from synagogue and other family gatherings, all by foot. It's nice, even as a non-Jewish person, to include these shifts in daily routine into my life. It's a reminder that we all live lives of quiet birth and renewal and passage. While we can't be apart of every aspect of every life on this earth, we can, at a minimum, acknowledge that wonders and celebrations are lived outside of our own.

And while we are on the topic of birth, celebration, and renewal, please include a quiet prayer or moment of reflection for my friend LB and her husband SB as they prepare to welcome their first child into the world (4 weeks early!) I can't wait to meet you BB, my little honorary nephew!

See me on TV!

Just a quicky...I filmed a PSA (created by AsianCineVision & Woo Art) last week geared towards getting young (18-35) Asian-Americans to register and vote in the upcoming election. I was chosen to fill the young, female, professional role. I look quite proper in the commercial. Anyway, I just learned that the PSAs will be airing on the International Channel during the month of Oct. More channels will be added but for now that's all I know. For once, being obnoxiously opinionated helps!

And if you haven't done so already and are eligible, please register and vote in Nov. This may be the most important election of your life! Registration deadlines are fast approaching.

Mel, Where you at?

It's the little gifts of New York that remind me why I love it so.

This morning, while walking into my office building at 8:45am with my fresh strawberry/orange juice in hand, what do I spy with my little eye but the one and only Danny Glover passing to my left as he exited the building. I suppose it could have been someone else, but I don't think so. I've always had a tender place in my heart for Mr. Glover. I do believe he is a talented and sympathetic actor. Unlike most other star sightings, Mr. Glover lived up to what I expected. Tall with a somber, no nonsense kind of face. He was dressed rather casually, baseball cap, long-sleeve T, and dark running pants (although I did not get a good look because as a New Yorker I'm conditioned not to stare.) He was also trotting along a wheeled suitcase and what appeared to be some sort of man servant or assistant. Now, what I want to know is what Danny Glover was doing exiting an office building on Wall St. that primarily houses non-profits (approximately 90% of the occupants) at 8:45am on a pleasant September morning? It doesn't quite make sense to me. Perhaps he was doing some work for one of the non-profits and his busy schedule could only afford him this early morning slot? I commend you Mr. Glover if indeed this is the case.

I've had many a star sighting in NYC. There was the time I rode down my office elevator with David Bowie. I nearly peed myself. He's quite short - maybe my height, an inch or so shorter perhaps. Older in the face than air brushed photos would have you imagine, but still trim. Then there was Russell Crowe standing outside of Da Silvano. Shorter and beefier than I expected with the biggest noggin I've ever seen on a human being (he was with Steve Van Zandt.) Savion Glover was fine, Moby was very petite, Matthew Broderick was humming, Yoko and Sean Lennon were eating dinner on the patio of Da Silvano, and Soon Yi and Woody were a bit...off putting (plus, they were pushing a baby carriage and that's just something I don't want to think about.)

Please don't mistake me for some crazy star sighting fool. All of these occurance are by chance...I just happen to be a New Yorker who never got the memo about not looking at things. I'm an observer by nature (one of the reasons I'm so good at finding small things like misplaced earrings, lost contact lenses.)

Now...if someone would please direct me to the ladies shoe department.

On a different note, I highly recommend the book "The curious incident with the dog in the night." A fine read.

And so it begins

The other day, while catching up on some friendly blogs written by some friendly friends, I came to the realization that I get a warm, fuzzy comfort in knowing that my friends are alive and blessed with enough happiness & health to provide me with a near daily taste of their snarktastic selves. Well, this nerdy little extrovert had to get in on the fun. Voila! I'm here. And what better timing...I'm reaching a point where it seems that many of the changes and hard decisions I've had to make over the last 3-4 years are finally starting to materialize and become tactile objects I can hold up to the sun and admire. What better time to start documenting the goings on in my goings on.

Ah, the luxury of reflection. It's often difficult to make sense of all the goodness in ones life when one is knee deep in the crunchies of change. Even now, as I begin to find context for so many varied aspects of my life, I am overcome with stress and anxiety. It's at these moments that I like to look back and think about what I have accomplished and learned. Here's a short glimpse of the last 18 months.

> Finished grad school.
> Packed myself up and moved to SF.
> Meet a dozen fabulous new friends in SF. (Thanks Ellen!)
> Dated, danced, and ate myself silly in a new town.
> Purchased my beautiful Gomez...and while I still feel like some horrible she-devil evertime I drive her...I still get a rush everytime I get behind the wheel.
> Started new job #1
> Learned that linolieum burns pretty darn quick.
> Also learned that that thing about toothpaste fixing nail holes is a lie!
> Packed myself up again and moved back to NYC.
> Figured out that I don't want to get my PhD. (Well, at least for the time being.)
> Confirmed that I really do love summer, autumn, winter, and spring.
> Swam in the Great Salt Lake. (Not highly recommended)
> Visited Wall Drugs and THE SPAM MUSEUM. (Highly recommened if you ever find yourself in southern MN and SD.)
> Started new job #2 and learned that you CAN marry your professional career with your intellectual passions.
> Got caught in a rather comical water buffalo traffic jam. (If I ever get around to figuring out how to publish photos, I'll be sure to include a snap.)
> Signed a contract to purchase my first piece of NYC real estate. Eep!
> Learned that I like to paint almost as much as I like to take photos.
> Refined my kite flying skills.
> Continued to grow as a yogi and yoga teacher.
> Started pulling together material for my first chapbook. (Keep your eyes here for breaking news.)
> Began volunteering with Dress for Success & started work on some really exciting projects. (Once again, keep those eyes fixed here.)
> Started and then restarted a lifestyle and career coaching practice. (Still getting if off the ground but I've already got 2 paying clients! Yeah! Cute shoe money.)
> And on the topic of shoes...increased my collection with the cutest pair of pale pink Marc Jacob stilletos. Not to mention the Celines and the Diesels and the...
> Realized that good live music may almost be worth waiting 12 hours in 105 degree weather in the middle of the Coachella Valley...key word being almost!
> Was reminded 2 more times why my family rocks like nothing else and I can't every take them for granted.

Life is beautiful...although this doesn't prevent my unconscious mind from grinding my teeth at night.

So thus the journey begins. Thank you for joining the ride.