Making history

Health care reform is actually happening! They just announced that the House passed the vote for the bill but that no Republicans voted in favor. Ah well, I think most of us, especially in this economy can agree that we need change in health care. It would definitely open up choices for types of jobs: freelancing, opening small businesses, multiple part-time work. At least our house is unanimously excited about it. Make it happen!

So True

My horoscope from The Onion this week...

"The human mind is a thing of startling beauty. Unfortunately yours is mostly filled with old phone numbers and minor celebrity trivia."

My very first home phone number was 213 283 3382 which was pretty easy to remember in the first place so it's all the less impressive. And I'm starting to forget the titles of all the obscure Keanu movies I obsessively watched in high school... no wait, they're still in there.

Real live 3D

We finally saw Avatar: the 3D Experience the other day. The best part was that we saw it during the day on a weekday so most of the audience was over 70. During the previews, the comments from the ladies in front of us ranged from, "that looks awful" to "that's an interesting premise".

I kind of didn't want to like Avatar because of all of the hype, but I have to say, we both fully enjoyed it. The storyline was pretty predictable, but that really wasn't the most compelling part of it. We totally got sucked into the whole, vivid world created in the film. Scott was saying he could see why there were those reports of people getting depression after watching it and feeling that real life wasn't so magical.

I don't think I've seen a movie in 3D since Captain E.O. which I guess is more of a "ride" than a movie so I can't say I understand how much awesome-er the technology has gotten. But... the "3D experience" was pretty fun and it made me "ooh" and "ahh" a lot. And check out how cool you look with the glasses on! It was pretty funny seeing the crowd walk out with them still on not realizing they were living 3D and didn't need them anymore. Whoa, life is in 3D!

Tears for Coco

Illustration by Mike Mitchell

Happy 2010 everyone! I wish I could start the year off with something more positive, but I just had to comment on how sad it is that Conan O'Brien lost The Tonight Show. Who knows what all really went down, but all I can say is that I was moved by his sentiments and by his last show that I just watched. There are few people as funny and gracious as he's been. Hope he finds a good home soon. The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, we barely knew you...

Wedding bells (Part 2)

Since the end of 2009 is approaching, I couldn't help but reflect on the happenings of the past year. I am happy to say, I accomplished two happy things this year. I finally passed my 2nd degree (Nidan) black belt test in Shorinji Kempo! I've been building up my training and had a lot of support. I can barely believe I did it. Also, Scott and I had a second wedding ceremony for the family. I wrote this a while back and just finished it... it's kinda long, but it was hard not to leave anything out.


On September 20, 2009, Scott and I had a lovely wedding ceremony and reception in Brooklyn with our family and friends. But what? We're already married? Yes, well, we did get legally married at City Hall in NYC on July 27, 2007, but we didn't exactly invite anyone but ourselves to the ceremony. We thought we were being sly and got away with it, but not exactly!

Honestly, that was our attitude at the beginning of planning all this. Apprehension, some whining (do we have to?!), and then it started to get fun and exciting, but then it got stressful and then it got happy and then it got scary. Planning a wedding is no joke! I get it now when people talk about it and why there's so many reality shows about it. Now I kind of feel like we're part of a special club who've gone through it and can only understand it because we've gone through it. Who knew!



But the wonderful thing we never expected was all the love we felt from our friends and family. We had so many well wishers and genuinely felt their happiness for us. It was much more emotional than we ever anticipated. We really are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family who support us and want the best for us. We can't thank you enough for everything!

Just to highlight some behind the scenes... our good friend Jane was gracious enough to custom make my wedding dress. It was so much fun shopping in strange stores in the fashion district for all the intricate pieces (esp the vintage lace) and designing and fitting. She also made my headpiece in one night! And her lovely mother Diane helped with last minute sewing needs. I've never felt so glamorous.


Scott's Dad made and printed all the invitations, the name cards and table seating charts, as well as decorating the tables with candles during the ceremony with beautiful fabric. Speaking of dads, my Dad made ceramic cups of all different colors for guests with our names engraved in them. Scott's sisters helped bring and set up everything for the party and many pitched in (my cousin Chris and Aunt Seiko, and best friend from home Rosemary, Felipe for the van!). My sister helped keep me calm and get ready and made a touching speech as my maid of honor. Our brother in law was a kickass DJ with all his pro equipment and helped with announcements and got everyone onto the dance floor. Moms for all their support and for trusting us on big decisions!


My friend Rich was an awesome photographer with great angles on account of his height. And my friend Dan provided elegant music for the ceremony and classy jazz tunes for the cocktail hour. My friend Maggie, a pro film director, filmed our ceremony and guests and her husband Masa provided lots of entertainment! Scott's buddies Evan and Adam really knocked it out of the park (Evan married us with a lovely speech, Adam made a humorous and touching toast as the best man).


Thanks to everyone we were able to relax, enjoy, and take in all the love!

Additional info:
Bacchus Bistro- wonderful location for our party with room for the ceremony, reception, dancing and ping pong! The food was classy and tasty, great wine, and the owner was so kind and helpful.

Opalia Flowers- Just down the street from Bacchus has unique and sweet arrangements that were just lovely.
Richard Louissaint Photography- Prints are available for guests at the link.

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.