I can only assume this is cool enough to be Japanese.

The download takes a few minutes, but it truly is worth the wait. The Marimba Ponies can be described in many ways: inspiring, skillful, cute, totally killer xylophone players!

Put a little knot in my throat...

I just read the following passage from Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, "A friend once told me a story about how he was going through his five-year-old son's backpack and he found a picture of a little boy standing under a rainbow crying. His first thought was Oh God, my son is having serious problems. When he asked his son about the picture, he told him that he had been playing at school and he saw a rainbow and it was so beautiful that it made him cry." (cut to me and my eyes welling up)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Ten things I love about my father:

1. Beautiful hands.
2. Always has a joke for me.
3. Adores my mother.
4. Loves his children.
5. Never bullshits - you always know where you stand with him.
6. Open minded person.
7. Excellent dance partner when I was a child (standing on his feet).
8. Taught me to write letters when you're an unsatisfied customer.
9. Taught me to leave my ego at the door.
10. Plays the best version of 'Paddy McGinty's Goat' on the guitar that I've ever heard.

Kindred Spirits

I discovered this blog today through Superhero. This is an amazing blog, being maintained by people who are currently in Antarctica working with penguins. If not for my complete distaste of cold weather, I could very well request a spot on their next expedition. In fact, a few years ago I genuinely considered applying for the National Science Foundation's Grant for Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. Again, the cold weather deters me, but certainly there exists an attraction within me to study these small, flightless birds and the frozen landscape. If you've never seen me waddle along in snowy weather with my black coat, winter wooly hat and gloves - I imagine it would be difficult to understand. But for those who have witnessed it, most notably my husband, it would appear I am simply attempting to return to my natural habitat.

Catch

Max's mom is in town for ten days, and she arrived before Valentines Day. So we celebrated on Saturday instead, in order to have some 'alone time'. I did some extensive research, as I was determined to pick a place to eat that we hadn't been to before. I wanted it to be somewhere with good reviews and good food. I used OpenTable for the first time, and made my reservation online. It was all very professional -- emails the day of as a reminder, and a call from the restaurant confirming as well. I settled on Catch, located in the Castro. The design of the restaurant was nice, beautiful bar, great service, excellent food. Max is a super nosy person, and can't stand it when there's a secret. He was trying to figure out all day where we were going and what we doing, but I kept my mouth shut. For once. When we got there he was very impressed, and we had a romantic dinner, if I do say so myself. We sat at in the front room, beside the central fireplace, and stuffed ourselves. It was really good, and I would recommend it to people for dinner.

Love letter to my husband

Darling Max,

Today may be Valentines Day, but it is not unlike most days in our home. You are such a caring, devoted, attentive person. You make me laugh until my belly aches, and there isn't anything I would hesitate discussing with you. I am in awe of how kind and generous you are to those around you, and I am proud of the way you treat everyone with respect and sincerity. My time spent with you is filled with love and joy. I am yours forever more. In the words of E. E. Cummings, "I love you much (most beautiful darling)."

Oh my lucky stars!

On Friday night we saw Stars play at the Fillmore. I had never been to this venue before and I was really looking forward to it. I am aware that the space is steeped in a very long history of amazing performers, and I'd heard it's a fairly small space. I was bummed when Max told me there are no seat. No Seats! For a little penguin like me this can be awful, trying to see over everyones head. But we went straight to the front of the stage, off to the right, and I saw everything. The opening act was pretty good - The Elected. At first I thought these guys were in high school, and somehow landed this dream gig. But it turns out they are accomplished, and this band is actually a side project of lead singer Blake Sennett. (Who names their kid Bake anymore?! It's so Dynasty). And the Stars show was amazing. This is a band you definitely want to see now, because they will hit big soon, and then these intimate venues will no longer exist. I was mesmerized by the female guitar singer - Amy Millan. Her voice sounds like an angel, and she has an intense stage presence. Without doubt, a very cool woman! They have a great sound, awesome lyrics and a really humble attitude about the whole thing. As lead singer Torquil Campbell put it, "A sold out show at the Fillmore is our dream come true. Thank you!"

Welcome Rydell!

A friend of mine just gave birth to this gorgeous little girl! At one week her eyes are wide open and she's smiling. Totally dreamy...

She's still got it

Last night I watched the first hour of the Grammys, and Madonna was the opening act. 20+ years later and she still gives me goosebumps. I am in awe. She looked so good, and the dancing was amazing. Her dancers are also really hot, and the outfits were so 70's. I loved it. I should probably watch MTV a little more, because I didn't know half the bands. But it is interesting that performers like U2 are still raking in the awards. Perhaps having real talent and integrity do stand for something in show business after all. Another goosebumps moment occurred while watching Bono and Mary J sing together. I love how she gets so into it and jumps up and down. Very passionate. Very cool. Still an excellent song.

Megan

Every day that I work in the east bay I drive to and from with Shaun and his girlfriend Megan. Today when they dropped me off I needed to take some photos of Shaun for a project, and afterwards I snapped a few of the two of them.

I really like Megan. She has moved to San Francisco and into Shaun's life like a breath of fresh air. They are so good to eachother, and behave like an old couple that has been together for ages, even though they only met in May last year. She is smart, funny, kind and adores my brother (which is the most important thing!) We have started this ritual of going every month to have manicures and pedicures. We sit and chat at the salon, laughing and catching up on gossip. I've never hung out with any of Shaun's girlfriends like this, so it's all very new to me, but I really like it.

As you can see from the photos below, Shaun is very happy. And it fills me with joy to see it.

Remember Steve Martin in 'Little Shop of Horrors'?

Well my dentist is nothing like that. He doesn't sing, he isn't crazy and he didn't inflict any pain on me yesterday. I am the only person I know who doesn't have cavities, but gets fillings anyway. Apparently the grooves of my teeth are so deep, they could potentially become cavities in the future. And so, on more than one occassion, I have had fillings inserted into these grooves. I saw a dentist in college who said the same thing and gave me a few fillings, which turns out were done incorrectly. Thanks a lot dude! My new dentist in San Fran decided these should be replaced, and so I received 2 filling replacements yesterday. I have to say that the whole process took an hour, and was the most painless experience I've had concerning my teeth. Unless you count the removal of my wisdom teeth, which involved enormous amounts of that gas they give you through the nose, and a bottle of Vicodin. Apparently I grabbed the surgeon just before he started to pull out my teeth and told him I was madly in love with Matt Oreto (a friend from high school). I didn't feel a thing during that procedure. I could hear them yanking all 4 teeth out, but I was much more interested in the James CD I had playing through my headphones. The drugs afterwards were great too, and I rationed what I really needed, and saved the rest through the summer for my first semester at college. But then I got to college, and met Max, who has never used an illegal substance in his life. So for fear of seeming unimpressive I chucked them out. I know - I'm totally lame! (I should have sold them for art supply money) Anyway, the new fillings are in, they're white and I've already chomped down on some almonds with no problems. If anyone needs a dentist recommendation, just follow the link to check him out.

Images below: The first is one of my old metal filling. The second is the replacement. Those black flecks are from ink tape which helps him to sculpt my filling into the same shape as my tooth, so that biting down is natural and painless. The tape came off after 1 brushing. How cool is this mouth camera?!

Hush Hush

Thursday night was the opening for my latest curatorial project. Hush Hush is a show about secrets. I selected 5 artists to make work about secrets, and they all produced excellent results. My curatorial statement reads as follows. "Hush Hush offers works created with a secret in mind. While each artist has created something that contemplates this idea of discretion and concealment, both the approach and outcome are quite different. At a time when information is often unauthorized or undisclosed without privileged access, these artists are bravely divulging their own aspirations and apprehensions without restraint. Whether these secrets are known or shared only by the artists is immaterial, as these works create a residue that will certainly answer some questions if not divulge the mystery altogether."

The turnout for the opening was astounding. There were so many people, and they stayed for a long time. When we left after 11pm, there were still a large number of folks sitting, drinking having a good time.

Three of the artists created video projects, and those are presented on tv monitors for the duration of the show. But for the opening, these were screened on a large projection screen that the owner Kate now has at the cafe. To see images from the opening, check out the photo album here. Documentation of the arts projects will be coming soon.

It's a Wrap

As mentioned earlier, I visited my family for my mother's birthday last weekend. Much of the time was spent in their fabulous health food restaurant It's a Wrap. I ate so much good food and spent time with Max's father, Ben, Jose and my extended family. My mom had a fantastic birthday party at a neighborhood restaurant, and I got to meet her friends -- such nice people! The photos I took tell it so well, so I'll keep the post brief and direct you to the photo album. Enjoy!

How many times you gonna get hit in the head?!

I am not done touching up the images from my trip this weekend. In the meantime I can share a story about the leak. We have one above the shower in our bathroom. It has been coming and going for months. It has become so bad that Max put a cup above the medicine cabinet to catch the water. And yet -- he continually forgets it is there. And has opened the cabinet to be doused in water and hit in the head with the cup more than eight times now. Last night after doing it again, he finally resorted to leaving himself a note.

Back to the west

I am back in San Francisco, and it's raining. On the shuttle ride home from the airport, I felt this deep sense of joy. I felt like I was coming home. In no other city have I felt this. I didn't care that it was grey and gloomy - I was so happy. Lots of warm and fuzzies!

As can be expected, I took loads of photos on the trip, which I will include in the next post. I saw my family and had lunch with Ben and Jose. It was a really awesome weekend.

In the meantime I will say a few words about my grandmother, who charmed and astonished my friends. We sat and ate lunch with her, as she told us dozens of stories about her life. I am not blind - I see that she has aged quite a bit in the last few years, but I still see her as a rock. She is so amazing. And I see much of myself in her: both stubborn, but also very loving! I feel so fortunate that I am now 30 and she is now 82, and we are still in each other's lives.