Remember laundry day in college? Where every shred of clothing you owned was dirty. Dirty, not just worn once or twice. I loved that the building I lived in had 10+ washers and dryers in the basement, because I generally had 6 or 7 loads of laundry to do at once. The only problem was getting a washer that worked was a bit like Russian roulette. Half the time they would stop, mid-wash, with all the filthy water standing around my clothes.
Last week, when discussing the end of a decade with Raju, I had the realization how long a decade really is. "I graduated college!" I said, wide-eyed. Hell, I was still in college at the turn of the decade. This was the end of a long list of other major milestones that happened:
1. I got married... more than once
2. We bought a house
3. I traveled around the world
4. I traveled to French Polynesia - twice
5. I acquired Milo
6. I acquired Raju :-)
7. I started this blog and this website
8. I got my first real job (cut'n'paste ninja!!)
9. I quit my first real job for an "art" job (and promptly went back to first real job)
10. I moved to California
11. I went to the Albuquerque Balloon Fest (one goal on Mom's travel list)
12. I visited San Antonio Riverwalk (another goal on Mom's travel list)
13. I learned to drive a stick shift
14. I learned to like, then LOVE beer
15. I attended my first NFL and NHL games
16. I lived through my first surgery... and suffered only minor embarrassment from the drugs
17. I became addicted to coffee in the AM
18. I had my first gallery shows
19. I had my first ever Indian food (and Ethiopian, and probably a few others)
20. I went from carrying a 300+ CD case to an iPod
21. I got my first computer (Dell desktop) and became addicted to the internets
22. I graduated college
I know there were many, many more things that happened in the past decade, some I will remember later, some are completely forgotten. However, I still have piles of laundry to do on laundry day, just like in college. I have a feeling housework is a chore I will never learn to embrace.
So that's my laundry list; that's my reflection. Enough dwelling in the past, it's now time to focus on the present and the future.
Labels: Life Changing Moments, Reminiscences, Year in Review
I cannot believe I've been writing this blog for over 4 years now. From the first post in Missouri with Milo enjoying the fresh air to the latest hiatus followed by domestic bliss, it's interesting to read what I was up to then and the thoughts that swirled through my head.
A few days ago we celebrated our second anniversary. On our first anniversary we just chilled out on our deck, enjoyed the view of the mountains, and talked all night while drinking a bottle of Krug. For the second anniversary, we chilled out on *our* deck - the one we spent a weekend staining a month ago. Switch Dom for Krug, and last year's conversation for something more light-hearted and less philosophical. Oh, and switch out the champagne glasses to the kitschy, heart-shaped, freebie glasses we used at our wedding, for nostalgia's sake.
Then we decided we needed to eat this time around. Out we went to Zeni, and Ethiopian restaurant, where we enjoyed our favorite, kitfo. After eating all the meats, a little injera was left, and Raju showed his artistic side by carving Orion's Belt into injera.
All in all it was a great night. Piece by piece it was a great night.
One year ago:
Selling prints, reflecting on the honeymoon, spawning the idea for the gray roomTwo years ago:
We were gettingggg marrrrrriiiiiiiiieeeedddd!!Labels: Day in the Life, Domestic Life, Fun Times, Happy, Reminiscences
Blink. A year went by. 2008 was a good year where I feel like I did a lot of nothing. I rested up from
event-filled 2007. I wasn't quite as crazy as I was in
2005 heading into 2006, though the way this work week is going, if I'm not careful, I'll be back there. I guess I'll just have to keep my sage friend pappy's advice in mind, "Fuck work. :D"
I'm back to blah again, with nothingness sitting in my brain. My mind is blank - right now would be a great time to take up that whole zen meditation thing, because I can't force a thought out of my head, except, of course, this rambling. Which hardly counts as a thought.
Labels: Day in the Life, Observances, Reminiscences
Twenty years ago I was off on my first great adventure out of the country. That day, as I boarded the Continental jet headed for Cancun, I saw the headline on a man's paper - 8.8.88 - in big, bold letters.
This morning I opened my inbox to an advertisement telling me it was my lucky day - 8.8.08. Memories flooded back of heading to Mexico, mingled with thoughts of well-wishes for all the brides tying the knot on this day. Though it seems a little funny to me how we've adapted the Asian culture in the last 20 years and everyone is excited about 8.8.08. I don't remember the same hype around 8.8.88 - but I was 9, so maybe I missed it; I was more concerned with relaxing over summer break at that time.
Ah - to be frolicking on the beach, swimming in the salty ocean, building sandcastles. Wouldn't that be lovely?
Labels: Reminiscences
Yesterday morning when I woke up, it felt like holiday-time. The air was cool, and I just wanted to snuggle back down under the covers, which I did for a while.
Thinking about the holidays put a smile on my face, and I started thinking about my favorite ones. Thanksgiving, Christmas. Then my mind wandered, and I was making a list in order of favorite, and then I thought about how those had changed over the years.
1.
ThanksgivingThis one became my favorite somewhere in college. When I was younger, I'm sure Christmas would have trumped Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is all the fun of Christmas - family, food - without the stress of buying presents. Plus, one of my favorite things to do is pour through the Martha Stewart magazines, my collection of cookbooks, and foodie websites, and Thanksgiving gives me a great excuse for a couple of months leading up to it to spend my time doing so.
Last year, it was just Raju, Milo, and I. We spent the day stuffing ourselves silly - but no turkey was had. Instead we feasted on oysters and bloody marys while watching football, and we had prime rib for dinner. It was wonderful, but this year I want turkey.
2.
ChristmasWhat kid doesn't love christmas? I remember barely being able to go to sleep the night before, being all keyed-up from the events of Christmas Eve. When I awoke the next morning, there would be a split second of bliss where I was snuggled under the covers, away from the cool air (much like yesterday morning), before I would remember, "Oh yeah! It's Christmas!!!" and jolt out of bed.
No matter how old I get, or whether I've opened presents the night before, I still get that feeling when I wake up on Christmas Day.
And even though finding the perfect present is stressful (not to mention getting that present to Tennessee) Christmas is still pretty high on my list. Lately I've taken to just making most of the presents, which is awfully fun. I think everyone likes the homemade presents -- if not, they've yet to say anything.
Plus, 'tis the season for sausage balls! I don't think I've ever eaten sausage balls other than around Christmas time. Once, my mom made some for me before I went to school. She served them to me in my room, or maybe put them under my tree in the room, with a glass of orange juice, and gave me a suede jacket (I guess an early Christmas present?). That was a good morning.
3.
Valentine's DayWhen I was very young, I'd wake up early, before Dad had to leave for work, and we'd all exchange Valentine's gifts. Mine was always candy and sometimes a stuffed animal or something (I still remember the little white dog on a red pillow Dad gave me...). Valentine's Day, like Easter, means I get to eat candy for breakfast. Chocolate, to be exact.
For many years, I'm sure this holiday would be further down the list, but since this is the day Raju and I celebrate our anniversary, it's been pretty high on the list for almost 6 years and counting.
4.
New Year's EveI love any holiday that celebrates with lots of champagne! Bubbly is indeed a wonderful way to start your year, though I think me along with others in my family have decided the Southern tradition of eatting Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is not particularly lucky for us.
5.
EasterThere's just some satisfaction I get from biting an easter bunny's ears off. My Mom and my aunt still send me either chocolates or money for chocolate, and just this past year I tried to get Raju into biting bunnies' ears off (he just didn't get it). I do miss coloring the easter eggs -- maybe next year I'll try it, just for the heck of it.
I remember the year I went egg-hunting at Jodi's house. I never got to do a lot of easter egg hunting, and I was excited about going to this one. However, at the end, when we were checking out the loot we had found, one of the people that had organized the egg hunt told me I couldn't have one of the eggs I found (it had a dollar in it) as it was meant for someone else. WTF??? Not so big on the egg-hunting after that.
6.
Fourth of JulyFourth of July is a bit iffy for me. I love fireworks, I just hate the usual trek you have to make to watch them. And it usually involves sitting in the grass if you forgot a blanket. Grass makes me itch. It's a lot of planning, walking, itching, and time involved for 30 minutes of light.
However, Raju and I have gotten lucky a few times with the firework displays. When we were in Kansas City, we once drove directly to a place in Overland Park, parked, and found a place to lay down and watch the fireworks overhead. In San Jose, we can simply take the lightrail downtown. Last year we didn't feel like even doing that, and we discovered we could see several displays from our porch. Cool!
7.
HalloweenMuch more fun as a kid than now. I remember trick-or-treating with my cousins once, and my cousin Josh and I would run ahead of the others (who were younger) and get all of the candy from the bowls left on doorsteps of people who weren't home. I know it was mean, but damn it was fun.
I always went trick-or-treating at my grandmother's house, and when I got back in, I would sort out all of the candy I didn't like and feed them to my dachsund, Odie. I'm sure Tootsie Rolls have no chocolate in them, because I probably fed him 5 lbs or more of those things, and he lived to be 17 years old.
Labels: Reminiscences
I started this post 21 days ago - 8/31 at 7:16 AM... amazing how time is still flying, even though the wedding has come and gone.Occasionally there are moments in my life where everything else seems to fade, to quiet-down, and one subject sticks out, defined very clearly, and overtake everything in that moment. And that moment just sloooooows down time. It's rather hard to describe, but these moments stick in my head, and they seem so surreal to me. I'm not sure if I've ever posted about the tree, the rain, and the Doors in Kentucky... if not, I will sometime. I'll have to dig around and see if it's anywhere in the diary.
The thing about these moments - they would make wonderful pictures, but bringing the camera into the situation would break the mood and the experience that's happening. People often assume that the camera goes everywhere with me, that I can't wait to travel and take pictures. While it's true that when we go on the amazing honeymoon my husband has planned I will have the camera in tow, and enjoy that, it's not normally my preferred method of photographing anything. It disrupts my moments. I'd rather go back, re-create the moment, on another day, after the experience.
The point I'm getting to... During the wedding week there are a couple of these surreal moments, where time slowed and a subject came into clear focus. The first was meeting Raju's cousin Geeta. I believe in
my list I described her as
smoldering... fiery, full of life... those things all popped into my head during this one instant -- blink of a second really. I was thinking someone else caught this side profile view that I had of her at that moment, but I've yet to find the picture. Maybe the smoldering Geeta just burned her image into my memory and that's my picture.
The other slow, surreal moment was when I grabbed a bit of cool air, drifted away from the party. I was sitting on the ledge, talking to another of Raju's cousins (he has almost as many as a Southerner, maybe more). Diane had walked away, leaving only Shankar standing below. Again, time slowed and in one instant, a lull in our conversation, I can remember the cool air, the sky above, and the look on Shankar's face, standing below. No snap judgments this time, just a singular moment in time that is as clear in my head as if I'd taken a snapshot.
Labels: Memories from the Wedding Celebrations, Observances, Reminiscences, Surreal
There are so many things during the wedding that I don't think I will ever forget. Some have larger stories and will be expanded on. Some won't. And the list might be updated as I remember more of those little moments.
1. Shop towels2. The tears in his eyes when we were standing at the altar
3. The smile on his face
4. The story of 4:20
5. Being pelted with flower heads
6. My thali's clasp coming undone during the ceremony
7. The Hindu priest asking how to pronounce Harrison8. Our First Dance
9. Dance with Dad - all choked up
10. Talking with Shankar in the moonlight while cooling down11. Enjoying Robert Fleury with friends
12. The colors
13. I'm the lakshmi (and I've finally figured out what that means)
14. I wasn't right for a few minutes
15. The priest being kind enough to move the coconut out of my way
16. That feeling, walking up the aisle and everything else sort of fading away
17. Poor Phoenix bustling me, bustling me, bustling me, and bustling me
18. Chris's present
19. Getting the photo frames for favors at IKEA
20. How happy everyone was21. My uncle David talking about making Raju "disappear" during his toast (it was in jest)
22. Martin spilling the beans
23. Tiffany noting that Raju still makes me laugh
24. The smoldering Geeta25. Being surrounded by our friends and family
26. On the way down the aisle, trying not to cry and Dad saying "Just smile"
27. the Sharp Dressed Man
28. Joey's dance to
Sexy Back...
Labels: Memories from the Wedding Celebrations, Reminiscences, Wedding
The pizza has arrived and we're sitting on the couch, box between us, two-liter at our feet.
"Do you have any napkins?"
A blank look comes across my face. Napkins?
"Paper towels maybe?"
"Ummmm, no..." I'm not making a great impression on this first date. I need to get the man something to wipe his hands on after eating greasy Papa John's pizza.
"Oh!" I jump off the couch and run back through the hallway, into the back room, the junk room. Ahh, yes, this will work.
"Here you go." I plunk down a box of shop towels next to the two-liter of Coke. I'm quite proud of my find.
He pauses for a moment and just looks at me. Then he smiles and takes one and we eat.
The wedding is upon us. I arrive home, with a few moments to myself. On the kitchen counter: blue shop towels and a note,
"In case you don't have something used and something blue...".
Tears well up in my eyes. It was by far the best wedding present he could have bought me. And it was my something blue (and used).
And by far, my favorite memory of the the wedding week.
Labels: Memories from the Wedding Celebrations, Reminiscences, Wedding
Instead of the Easter basket filled with chocolate, Mom has sent tulips the past two years for Easter. Maybe she read my
smile post; maybe she just thought it would brighten my day. It did - my day and my table.
Last year I rushed. I was excited to have received tulips. I grabbed them out of their box and went to town cutting the stems and trying to arrange (I suck at arranging). I broke a few stems. I arranged them in a smaller glass.
This year instructions were read. Plastic stayed wrapped around the flowers so they're heads wouldn't droop. A penny was added to the bottom of the vase to keep them standing straight. It worked -- they're still beautiful 3 days later. Now I carry the vases from room to room with me as I move throughout the day. If I'm outside, my flowers are outside. If I'm cooking, they're on the dining room table. If I'm at my desk, I have one vase to each side.
Funny, the flowers seem to last
way longer than the chocolate.
Labels: Day in the Life, Happy, Reminiscences
"So, what is it?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Can I shake it?"
"No."
"Is it fragile?"
"You can't shake it."
"Well, what is it?"
"You'll see."
"C'mon, just a hint... Pleeeeeasssssee!"
"Nope. You'll have to wait until Christmas."
"But, that's not the way it works. You're supposed to give me a hint."
"Don't you want to be surprised when you open it? I want to be surprised when I open your gift."
"Just a hint."
"It's made out of wood."
"Really? Give me another hint."
"I
gave you a hint."
"But I need another. I can't shake it, so I need another."
"Wooden clogs. I got you wooden clogs."
"Clogs?"
"Yep, clogs."
"Like people from Holland wear?"
"Yep. Clogs."
Labels: Reminiscences
Nothing kicks off the Christmas season like
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. In the South you'll hear that song a million times on the radio during the month of December. Outside the South, well, I'm happy iTunes had the song.
Which is what got me thinking about the song to begin with. I would also hear plenty of
Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy,
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and occasionally the morning shows would play Jeff Foxworthy's
Redneck 12 Days of Christmas (yuk :-P). Occasionally being only 4 or 5 times a week.
At home though, Christmas was not Christmas without Elvis, Bing Crosby, Dino, and the aforementioned Elmo & Patsy classic, more Elvis, and the classic Tractors Christmas (I almost forgot about
Santa Claus is Coming in a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train). Well, this was not so much at home, but at Ninny Price's house. She was the one who liked to play the music, and these were her Christmas songs, now my Christmas songs.
Labels: Music, Reminiscences
It's been a while since the last post. I've been a busy bee, yet I haven't produced much :-) I have a lot of things in my head though, and I'm through with the weddings and such.
In the meantime, enjoy the above pict. Life is one of my favorite games -- as a kid I loved the board because it was 3D (and that noise the spinner made). Fortunately real life is actually much more fun than the game.
Labels: Day in the Life, Reminiscences
I've sat on this stool a lot this year. Sitting this low in the kitchen gives me a different perspective.
I've spent a lot of time on this stool crying this year too. When my cousin died, when my great-grandmother died, and when I found out my grandmother was in the hospital. Something about being low to the ground was better than sitting on the couch, staring at electronics. Plus, my dog can reach me a lot easier at the stool level.
Despite the fact the stool is constantly in the way (the boyfriend and I stub our toes and knock our shins on it often) and it's not the best stool for reaching high into the cabinets (it teeter-totters very easily) the stool remains. It's somewhat of a comfort, like having a blankey.
I like sitting on it on good days too, not just to cry. Sitting, staring at the beige-ness of the kitchen. It can be slighly surreal. Or just sitting and talking to the boyfriend as he cleans up dishes and such. It's my kitchen island.
My mom bought this stool for me when I first moved to Kansas City. I needed something to sit my radio on in the bathroom. In my last apartment I used it to grab sweaters from the top of my closet.
My stool reminds me of the one at my grandmother's house, I believe it was my uncle's. It was a little red stool, slightly more stable than mine, and it had a little story about the red stool on top. I don't remember exactly what it said -- it may have alluded to kids using it to reach the sink to brush their teeth.
Labels: Reminiscences
The other night I had a dream about my Granny. I was sitting in Grandpa's chair and turned my head to the left, and there she was, standing, looking at us, where she usually sat. We all wondered how she'd gotten there, as she was supposed to be in the nursing home, not in good shape.
At that point in the dream, I woke up, saying, "That can't be right; she's dead." Then I woke up for real.
My grandmother lived a very good, full, long life until the last 5 or 6 months. She'd seen a lot of the world, she'd spent time with her grandchildren (that's an understatement), she'd live her life to the fullest. So it was hard that last 5 or 6 months to see her not living life -- though I wasn't seeing it, I was only hearing about it since I was on the other end of the US.
Which is why this entire thing still feels like some weird dream -- it doesn't feel real. She's not gone, I'm just 3,000 miles away.
What's funny is now when I try to remember all of the things we've done together over the years, there's only one moment that really sticks out in my head. I was in college, home for the summer. Granny was always telling me how proud she was of me, but this time was different.
We were walking out of the living room, where Grandpa was watching the news. She told me, "I'm so proud of you and all you've accomplished. You didn't get into those things other kids do like drugs and
sex..."
What was funny was the way she said sex. She lowered her voice, to almost a whisper, and had a little smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She said it like it was the most taboo word (and I was shocked to hear her say it, so maybe it was).
Then we both just giggled like a couple of schoolgirls, and I said, "Thank you Granny" as I gave her a hug.
I'm not sure why that is the one memory, out of all my memories of her, that overpowers them all. But I did like seeing that little twinkle in her eye -- she'd get it everytime she'd make a sly remark that she shouldn't and that was so atypical of her.
Labels: Dreams, Observances, Reminiscences
