Metallic Art

A couple weeks ago, we made it out to the Met. It'd been a while and we heard about this amazing exhibit on the history of the Samurai. The exhibit is the first time most of the pieces have ever left Japan and been allowed to be shown outside of the country. It also groups together different time periods of the Samurai and their evolution and demise. I've heard they will continue to change the exhibit with new pieces so I totally recommend people to go out and see it. It's called Art of the Samurai.


After looking through all the intricately made swords and armor, Scott and I realized how lucky we had been while living in Japan. We visited so many museums and castles and even informal places that had historic pieces like this that we started to take for granted because we were able to see so much of it. Now we really appreciate those opportunities.


Upstairs, the roof garden was still open and we got to see this installation by Roxy Paine. Scott had actually seen job openings at the studio where they make these huge stainless steel pieces. We were trying to remember if it was last year that they also had metal trees in Madison Square Park as well. Anyway, I liked it better than last year's metal balloon things and Scott couldn't help but check out all the welds. Actually, as we were leaving we overheard a guy say, "It's pretty cool, but the welds are pretty crappy."

Every Vote Counts

Have you voted today? There's still time!

I did my civic duty at the below, the Immaculate Conception Church in our district. Hopefully something immaculate will come from it. I went in the middle of the day and found out I was only the 15th person in my district to vote. That was a bit disheartening. I guess it's not as exciting of an election as last year, but I was hoping the momentum for people to go out and vote would continue especially since other countries are dealing with threats and opposition to this privilege of democracy. Well, we'll see tonight who's in charge for the next four years and what they can inspire for our future. Just hope it's affordable.

Happy Halloweeeeen!

President for Peace

President Obama just won and accepted the Nobel Prize for Peace. It's really quite amazing. It will definitely add pressure to his expectations, but it also gives an opportunity to refocus his agenda. His words still resonate as he mentioned that he feels accepting this prestigious award is more of a "call to action" and that he accepts it "for all who strive for justice and dignity."

It's almost been a year since he was elected and everyone's still waiting for him to change the world (or at least all the big problems in America). Regardless of what policies get accomplished, with today's announcement, he's already changed so much. He has such a unique opportunity to speak to the world because apparently, everyone's listening.

Strangers in the night

The best thing happened to me the other night. I was waiting (in the disgusting heat) for the train at 23rd Street when a man and a little girl got off. I instantly recognized the man. I'm almost positive he's Japanese and he has crazy bleached blonde hair so he's pretty recognizable.

When I worked by Madison Park, I'd eat lunch there or take breaks with my coworkers. Almost every time we'd go to the park, we'd see this blonde Japanese man with his adorable little daughter. She had a bowl cut with short little bangs. The first time we saw them, she was probably about 2 years old, still learning to hold her balance while running around on the bumpy grass. We figured they must live nearby because they seemed to be there every afternoon. It was sweet to see. Eventually, we felt like we were watching her slowly grow up. When I saw her the other night, she looked at least 5 years old, baby fat shed away but still the short little bangs. I couldn't believe it was them. I hadn't seen them in years. I don't think they saw my gaping face, thankfully, and eventually I got myself together and got on the train, smiling all the way home. It's moments like this that make me love the city.

One Les Legend

I just found out sad news... legendary guitarist Les Paul died today at the age of 94. Though he obviously lived a full and seemingly happy life, it still saddened me to see another legend leave us. From what I hear, he had been playing weekly gigs in NYC for the last 20 years. Amazing. Before leaving for Japan, I did a bunch of NYC things I never got to do in case I didn't make it back here again and I'm so glad I did because one of them was seeing Les Paul live at the Iridium. He was amazing, playing completely at ease and with such joy. Scott and I waited in line outside hoping we'd get in and were one of the last to sneak in. We were surprised and pleased that it was still such a hot ticket.

A few things struck us the most. One was how frisky and slightly inappropriate he was with his sassy, much younger, female bassist. His comments were charmingly sexist, if that's possible, and he was pretty lewd! Another thing was how supportive he was of fellow musicians, especially young up-and-coming ones. He invited several unknown talents to the stage to play with him, one of many things that must've helped keep him young. And of course, his amazing talent. So smooth and quick with his fingers. It was truly a thrill to be in the presence of his musicianship.

Luckily, he won't be forgotten. The Les Paul guitar is the most famous electric guitar in the world and he also invented multi-track recording which changed the world of music forever. There was this amazing PBS doc about him I saw a few years ago. I just remember how much Les purely loved music and everything he invented (guitars, recording equipment, etc) was all in the name of that love. He used to record with his wife, Mary, and wanted her to backup her own vocals. Eventually he figured out a way to split tracks so that there were "two" Marys. That kind of simple inspiration is so incredible to me.

Les Paul, you will be missed.

Phantom phone limb

My cell phone was stolen this week. Total bummer. But I now realize how I attached I was to it and how crazy everyone looks on the street clutching onto their phones, texting and checking texts and doing whatever else makes us feel secure and connected. On my way to the police station (I have to do a formal report for my insurance... that was a first and a whole other story!), I felt so aware of people and their phones, it seemed everyone had one and was punching info into it, engrossed in their private worlds, some people with one in each hand! It started to feel really creepy, like some Sci-Fi movie where they show the future and how humans are all reliant on some technology and become all zombie-like. Of course, I'll replace my phone, but I just hope I don't get all zombie again.