New Museum!

The much hyped about New Museum finally opened in the Lower East Side on Dec. 1!! I was really excited because my firm who I had worked with before going to Japan had built it, and it was a really interesting project by SANAA architects. Actually, it's the first art museum ever constructed from the ground up in downtown Manhattan! There is a pretty cool time lapse video of the building construction on the New Museum's website.

Standing in the depths of the foundation pouring a couple years ago...



It's also about 3 blocks away from my apartment, in the "gritty" Lower East Side. When I first moved to New York, the area was still emerging as this hip, underground area, lots of dirty little bars and small boutiques and cafes (and pretty much the only neighborhood I could afford). Now it's inundated with bars, expensive restaurants and loud drunk kids on the weekends. I'm not opposed to change- but I guess it's weird to be part of such a drastically changing neighborhood. This building is supposed to symbolize this change- a new growth in the formerly rough and tumble neighborhood of kitchen supply stores and colorful residents.

Admission to the museum on opening day was free for like 24 hours, but you had to apply for tickets online beforehand so that they could stagger the guests on half hour intervals. Wendy, Sean, Midori, Ahmed, Paul and I went to brunch before at Cafe Charbon- the wonderful little French bistro across the street from my house (and downstairs from Wendy) and trooped over the museum as the architect/design geeks that we are. It was packed with other architect/design geeks, and not surprisingly, I ran into several other people I had gone to architecture school with in California!

From far away, it looks like a bunch of gray boxes stacked on top of each other, but when you get up close, you realize that there is a layer of sharp aluminum mesh screen covering the building. Seeing the neighborhood through the screen was pretty wild- like a super slick chain link fence.

One of the highlights was that the top floor, an event space with 270 degree views of downtown Manhattan, had been transformed into a pumping music, neon lighted, candy station for all (sponsored by Target). There were piles of white paper bags for guests to fill from the drawers overflowing with candy! I think the sugar was to fuel us for the grueling 7 stories we were walking up and down in the emergency stairs to all the galleries (the museum was so packed that there was a long wait for the elevators)!

* s * n * o * w *

They warned us, they told us to stay in...

They said we'd get a foot of snow overnight.

Stay off the roads! BEWARE!!!

I was excited to look out of Paul's window in the morning...


It barely snowed.

:(

Thanksgiving

This year, Thanksgiving was pretty mellow. I was busy with my new job and my side job, so the whole long weekend was devoted to working. :(

But Paul and I took a quick day trip away to Norwalk, Connecticut to visit his parents on turkey day. His twin sister, husband, and dogs were also joining us for the afternoon/evening meal which was great. Because Paul's mom had recently suffered a stroke, it was definitely a time of being thankful for good health, good family, and good food. Barb's speech and agility has been steadily improving and Jim is fantastic at taking care of her, when she needs it!

Paul's family members are such "foodies"- it was hilarious to watch all of them putter around the kitchen with all their utensils of choice and crafting these delicious dishes and suggestions & tips to each other. I am really comfortable with them and so excited to spend many more meals around their table!

Corona- Queens, not the beer...

During my desperate unemployed days, I was answering ads for focus groups and random little things like that. Paul's friend, Nikki, knew I had just returned from teaching abroad and teaches English at a night school in Corona, Queens. She was going to be gone during Thanksgiving week, so she asked me back in October if I would sub for her adult night class on Tuesday before Thanksgiving at a local community center.

Of course, I said yes since it was a two hour gig that didn't seem too difficult, and it sounded like a fun way to pass an evening. Of course, I didn't think I would be working a full time job AND a part time job, so I was pretty screwed. Thankfully the class started at 6pm and I get off work at 5, so I had JUST enough time to get on the 7 train and ride the hour out to the primarily Hispanic neighborhood in Corona. Before then, I never really knew where Corona was (isn't that a beer?) and realized afterwards that even Simon and Garfunkel sang about Corona!
Goodbye to Rosie, the queen of Corona,
Seein' me and Julio down by the schoolyard

Armed with vague directions and a loose lesson plan, I walked down from the elevated train tracks and found myself standing between 41st Avenue and 41st Avenue, looking for the "grocery store with lots of signs and the stairs that go up next to it". I was confused enough about the two streets with the same name and couldn't figure out which direction to go when I felt a heavy wet drop on my head.

I realized that I had been standing under a huge tree full of burbling pigeons and the ground around me was pickled with white pigeon poop! Argh!!! what luck!! I finally saw a set of stairs wedged in between a McDonald's (that would've been a great landmark) and a deli with a bunch of signs written in English and Spanish (ahhh, the "grocery store"). I ran up the stairs as the 6:00 bells started ringing and burst into the little community room. There were about 6 or 7 people already there and they turned around to see me rush in, wiping bird poop out of my hair.

I broke the ice by telling them the bird poop story and we all got a good laugh. The community center was kind of run down and old but seemed adequate and safe. I set my bag down next to a table that looked like it was covered with wet mylar balloons or something and wrote my name on the whiteboard. Nobody really called me "Laurie" the whole night anyway- I was always referred to as "Teacher".

Anyway, although this was an adult English class, their level was not much different from my Japanese high school students. The class is pretty dry- we were teaching them the basics of English grammar, practicing the "subject, verb, object" pattern of sentence structure, but there were a few students who just blew me away. The class is offered free to the community for recent immigrants and I was amazed to see how motivated they were to be participating. They were wedged into those little desks with the built-in armrests and everyone was eager to call out answers. It looked like many people had just come from work- at one point, a dude walked in wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung over his shoulder. Couldn't figure out if he came in from a gig on the subway or a restaurant or something?!?

The director stopped the class about a half hour before the class was to end to announce that there was going to be a turkey raffle because it was Thanksgiving week! He pointed to the table of "mylar balloons" (oh, didn't I feel stupid- I have never seen a whole frozen turkey) and said that we were all going to get a chance to win one of the turkeys! He passed around these raffle tickets and insisted on giving me one but I resisted, feeling that I wasn't really a part of this community... Then the whole class got in and insisted that I join because I was the teacher and I had come all the way out there to teach their class. So I gave in and took a ticket. Then they had me pick the first winning ticket out of a bag. The trepidation and excitement on everyone's faces was contagious- I practiced my Spanish and read out the numbers... As I read out the last number, one of the guys shouted in and everyone cheered and clapped.

I passed the bag to him and told him to choose the next winner, and so it went for the next 4 turkeys. But, the crazy thing was, I WON one of them! I really felt bad because at that point, I was like, hey, it's just me, and these people all have families and aren't doing that well- I feel terrible. When they had picked all the winners, the director snapped a bunch of photos of us, and then steered us to the table of frozen turkeys. He handed the largest turkey to me, "the Teacher" but I put my foot down. If I was to join in this raffle, I would get the smallest turkey because I live alone and don't deserve a huge turkey. They conceded and so that's how I ended up carrying a 12 pound frozen turkey on the train home that night. Maybe what they say about getting pooped on is true... maybe it is good luck!!

Tiffany & Jason's Wedding

Well, the first of the Five Families (of the Iron Fist) daughters got married in November... Tiffany and Jason, high school sweethearts for 12 years, finally got hitched!

The other daughters of the Five Families (me, my sister, Nikki, and Chrissi) + Jessica (Jason's sister) were the bridesmaids. It was the most beautiful, extravagant wedding I've ever been to... the whole ceremony & reception was at San Francisco's City Hall. We were shuttled around in a stretch Rolls Royce, photographed at the Ferry Building, and pampered with all kinds of special treatment that day. I was a bit frazzled with all the "beauty" products that all the girls... (manicures and getting my hair "did"? fake eyelashes? all the **bling!** The fabulous dinner! The lion dance! The great silly photo booth! The open bar!

It was a crazy whirlwind 36 hours. My first day on my new job started on Monday and then I took off Thursday and Friday for the wedding! The nerve....








Congratulations Tiff & Jason!!!

LONG TIME NO ENJOYING!!!

Ok, so I have been seriously lacking on the blogging front.

I apologize to everyone.

I know I haven't blogged/updated since Halloween so it's unfair of me to "postdate" this back to November (considering it's actually January 2008!!) but I have to do this to make things chronologically accurate with photos and all that.

First off, the short story is that I went from "back-from-Japan / enjoy-New York-while-unemployed" to realizing that I NEEDED a job... STAT. My rent in NYC is 3 times the amount I paid in Japan, and EVERYTHING here is expensive! For a few reasons too complicated to explain, I didn't go back to the firm I was with before I left Japan- plus I thought I had a few promising leads thinking that I wouldn't have to go through the painful interview process again. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. So, all of October I was furiously (and frustratingly) interviewing at architecture and construction firms... looking for the very obscure job position that somewhat straddled the line between construction and design.It was a very difficult time- I met a lot of different people, and was impressed by many, and especially disappointed when things don't follow through the way I expected or wanted.

One day, my friend Pam (who is also a broker) hooked me up with a friend of hers who bought a loft from her earlier in 2007. He was looking for an architect-ey/ designer-ly type who could help him re-design/renovate his place in the East Village/Alphabet City. It turned out to be a cool design project and he was really cool, so I figured it would be a great little job to float me through winter. Or at least another month.

Turns out that I got an offer from a small high-end general contractor the day after I signed the contract with Ian! It was a great offer, and a great opportunity, so I took it. So in one day, I went from 0 hours to 80+ hours a week of working. And I have been trying to stay afloat since then.

I love having the design project as a creative outlet to offset the semi-dry construction management though- just wish I had a bit more time for sleep, and socializing!

I have photos of other things that have popped up like weddings and Christmas and stuff... stay tuned!

Halloween

I love Halloween! Unfortunately, this year we didn't get the full effect of the big Saturday night dress up party before since we were up in Massachusetts the weekend before, but NYC still celebrated, despite it being a chilly Wednesday night.

Paul and I wrestled with all kinds of coordinating "couple-y" costumes but in the end, we just figured to go with fun and cheap- cowboy and cowgirl! There was no reason to go out and spend lots of money on an elaborate superheroes costumes or something for just a couple of hours. And good thing, because we saw sooooo many Supermen & Wonder Women!

Ahmed joined us for the parade watching on 6th Avenue and then we joined the mobs of people in the West Village looking for food and drinks afterwards.

The funniest part of the night was when this black girl ran up to another group of black girls and asked in a loud voice: "Y'ALL GAY?!?!?"

One of the girls was like, "Um, what?!"

"I SAY, Y'ALL GAY?!?!?"

"Um, no."

"DAAAAAAAMMMMMMNNN!!!!" and she ran off to ask another bunch of girls walking down the street.

New England Foliage

Last weekend, Paul and I drove through New England to view the gorgeous autumn leaves- aka "leaf peeping". We rested our heads at Michael & Mary's (Paul's oldest sister) amazing purple Victorian home in Williamstown, Massachusetts, near the Vermont/New York border.

The colors of the weekend were bright and rusty, deep reds and flaming oranges and golden yellows... it was like you turned up the "saturation" level in Photoshop. (OK that was nerdy.) More photos here.

It was an "authentic" New England experience, complete with baking apple pies, picking vegetables from an organic farm, walking Mary's black lab, driving down country roads, seeing lots of red barns, and watching the World Series. We drove through Massachusetts and Vermont enjoying all kinds of wholesome hearty food like shepherd's pie, lots of sandwiches and burgers, and chicken soup. With the temperatures dropping down to the 30's and 40's at night, we were getting an early taste of what winter was going to be like!

It was nice to squeeze in some artsy fartsy stuff too. We drove out to the next town over, North Adams to visit Mass MOCA, with its beautiful renovated brick buildings and awesome exhibits like the upside down trees. We also went to an art auction that Mary (Paul's sister) helped organize. Originally we were there to nibble on the free food and drink the free wine, but ended up bidding (and winning!) this beautiful piece... delicately made with human hair...



Lots of fleece, down vests, and wool hats... Oh, and a trip to the outlets in Manchester, Vermont scored Paul and me some new clothes... (Thank you Paul for my new clothes!!!)

It was as American as... well, apple pie!

Rotten Neighbors!!!

Ha ha!!! This is one more website dedicated to people who love ranting and complaining!

This time, it's for people to gripe about their rotten neighbors!


The map uses Google's easy to use street/satellite hybrid and little red house icons indicate where people have complained.

BEWARE- this website can be highly addicting and hilarious. And, it's nice to be able to share your pain!!

Japanese-style Urban Camouflage

I read articles like this and I get frustrated because people think of the Japanese as silly and naive. At one point, Japan was known as the pioneers of technological advancement- computers, cars, robots!!! But they are potentionally hurting their reputation with some of these far fetched and silly ideas?!?

Back in the day, ninjas wore all black to disguise themselves at night. Inspired by this practical idea, a young fashion designer invented a bulky full-size vending machine costume to elude assailants! One interesting invention is the "manhole bag": when unfolded and put on the street, this purse hides valuables by disguising itself as a sewer cover. Of course, the texture could give it away and to me, if you know that you're being followed, then how and when would you have time to lay this on the street without having someone see it?

This just brings back the major difference between American and Japanese culture... Americans want to protect themselves from criminals, and strike back, while many the Japanese, who avoid confrontation and self-assertion at all costs, favor camouflage and deception. I guess we all need a bit of common sense and creativity just to be safe.

DoCoMo in New York?!?

Walking through Nolita with my sister and some friends the other day, I saw a very familiar object from my past year in Japan.... The DoCoMo mushroom!

I ran in and saw a huge pile of thousands of the cute fuzzy characters that had smiled me from every DoCoMo mobile phone shop in Japan! There is a great temporary (October 19-28) exhibit by 16 up-and-coming Japanese painters, fashion designers, ilustartors and artists on these "Docomodake" (DoCoMo mushrooms).

Since I refused to have several pounds of obnoxious cell phone straps from my phone, I ended up hanging these DoCoModake "keitai sutrappu" from each of my pull light chains in my apartment... who knew I would get so sentimental?

My sister rolled her eyes and told me that they were going to check out the shoe store next door.

Giddyup!

A few of us went to the racetracks at Belmont Park on Sunday, dressed in our finest. It was a sunny but crisp fall day with a biting wind. The beautiful fall colors and long shadows of the racetrack really made it feel like autumn...

Ray arranged for us to get private tours of the padock and entry into the clubhouse, but the real fun was in the bleachers with all the other betters. Of course, none of us really had any idea what we were doing at first, so we each picked up a copy of the program and studied it intensely, placing our bets for each race. I just am not a gambler though.

But I liked looking at the pretty horses and little jockeys and their colorful jerseys.

Belmont Park,

New laundromat

I HATE the new place.
boo!!! hiss!!!

My old place closed down without any warning- the nice old Chinese guy and all the

First of all, I got there and it's $1.50 to wash! (didn't the old
place used to be $1.25?)
Then, i ask the ladies folding laundry for change, and they just
shrugged and pointed to the "change machine" in the corner. OH. oops.
So, I changed my $1 and got my 4 quarters.

So, here's a sidenote: I always throw my dimes and nickels in my
change purse so I can change them to quarters at the laundromat. So I
had 5 quarters in the machine and all i needed was another quarter for
the $1.50 wash- but I only had nickels and dimes left. So I asked the
folding clothes ladies if they would give me a quarter in exchange.
NO. They don't give change. WHAT?!?!?

so i went over to the lady selling pastries and sodas in the SAME
laundromat- all the way at the end- gave her the coins and asked if
she would give me a quarter. NO. She doesn't give change. WHAT?!?!?

I'm fuming, and started cussing them out, like what kind of laundromat
is this?!? I already have my money in the machine- all i need is a
freaking quarter. It's an even exchange!! it's not like I'm begging
them for the quarter.

Finally, one of teh folding ladies came over and said that this was
the only time she would do this- she pulled out a quarter in her
pocket and exchanged it for my coins.

I thanked her, but was still sooooooo annoyed. It's just an even exchange!

I guess I was used to the other place having supplied me with quarters
for all my loose change for so long.

Is that so wrong?!? Blargh.

otherwise, it was quite uneventful.
Digital times on the washers and dryers.
Fairly clean place, not so crowded, but then again, it was a Tuesday afternoon.

Japanese Music

For some reason, I have seen more Japanese music in the last 2 weeks than I did in the last year, LIVING in Japan!
I suppose the exposure and finding out about schedules is much easier when you can navigate the websites in English or whatever (and not living in the Japanese countryside helps), but anyway...

So a couple weeks ago, Paul and I went to the New York-Tokyo Music Festival in Central Park. The festival represent two extremes, as in New York & Tokyo, East & West, underground & mainstream, cool & cute, futurism & traditionalism.... Upper East riches & downtown rugrats?

The Upper East was oddly milling with skateboarders and hip hop fans, and the normally quiet park was throbbing from the deep booming reverberations emanating from the park...

It was a great lineup, with the impressive Kenny Muhammed (The Human Orchestra) as MC/performer- it was freaking amazing to watch all those sounds only coming out of his mouth! Yes, indeed, he is the human beatbox!!!


Also playing were DJ Red Alert, Pharoahe Monche, Collie Buddz from New York, and from Japan.... the surprisingly awesome and fun TERIYAKI BOYZ & DJ Uppercut. Teriyaki Boyz were like young cute colorful versions of the Beastie Boys- they had such fresh raw energy... What a shame they didn't seem to get the support that they deserved from the (young-ish) crowd...


As the excitement was building up, Kenny Muhammed announced that headlining MF Doom was not going to make it because he was in the hospital. The audience booed (and were immediately admonished for "disrespectin'"), but with Doom's mysterious personality, most of us were just trying to figure out whether we were getting tricked or not.

When his equally respectable last-minute replacement, Rakim, showed up onstage, Paul practically fainted from excitement!! Again, unfortunately, there was only a small percentage of the crowd who really could appreciate his talent, which was a shame. For him, it was like me getting to watch The Beatles live, so I could imagine what a treat it was for him...


Then, last night, we rocked out to DJ Krush on his first stop of his American DVD Release tour. We picked up a copy of the DVD along with an autographed photo! The Highline Ballroom is a fantastic intimate venue! As usual, watching Krush was an amazing experience. I think I was still smiling this morning when I woke up!

SKETCHBOOKS v.1

An exhilarating preview of the gorgeous images...

Made by a good friend of mine, this is an amazing... book within a book, culled from five years of sketchbooking. All works siphoned from the world around [her]; a manner of dialoguing with art exhibits, books, fossils, architecture templates, food wrappers, RV culture, love, cats, photography, sake, childbirth, cities, graphics, origami, tape, people on the street and landscape.

Bon apetit!

BUY THIS BOOK here!!!

Animals

I have been equally terrified of all animals, from puppies to arthropods for most of my life. (Are arthropods technically animals?) Fish were ok because they swam harmlessly in their little aquarium and pretty much didn't need any caretaking. I had my stuffed animals to keep me company- they were cute, didn't bite, and didn't need baths or walks.

I started warming up to dogs in my teens and 20s when my family inherited Mariko, a fluffy but yappy Shih Tzu from our Japanese neighbors. Not until I began to dogsit for my boss in San Francisco did I really learn to yearn for the company of dogs.

And then I moved to Japan where I shared a living space with lizards, frogs, mice, and many unidentifiable winged creatures. In one of my 2nd year English classes in Japan, we actually held debates on which were better: Dogs or Cats?

Cats to me, symbolized these snooty mysterious creatures that came and went on their own, with little regard or respect for people. Dogs on the other hand, were loyal, friendly, and approachable.

So, I never thought I would see the day when I would catsit. Regardless, Raylene and Ez asked me if I would be interested in taking care of Arwen, their Abyssinian, while they were away for a week. Since Paul has been outspoken about wanting to have a cat "slink around the apartment" for some time, we decided that he would host the kitty at his apartment and I would stay over and take care of her.

Well, after seeing that cute face, her beautiful and elegant poise, we both started fighting for her attention and the privilege to feed her, pet her, hold her... It was like having a cute little baby waiting at home for us without the mess, the crying, the diaper changing.

Unlike many [obese] American pets, this was one lean animal. She jumped and played gracefully and had a shiny coat, due to her very healthy and organic diet. She would softly "bonk" her head as her cute little way to show her affection for us, and purr softly as she inspected the apartment. After a week of having her around, we are now feeling a little empty spot in our hearts and Paul's apartment.

more pics of the kitty

An appeal for Manish and Emily

An excerpt from an email written by a good friend of Manish & Emily:


It's a great honor for me to make a sincere appeal to you on behalf of my dear friends, Manish, Emily and Dillan Desai.

Manish is 31 and an architect - a gifted one with a passion for design.
He and Emily have been married about six years and have a beautiful 21-month-old boy, Dillan. It's been six months since Manish was diagnosed with cancer.

The doctors are surprised that Manish is even alive because the form of cancer he has is known to spread rapidly. The cancer doctors were always clear that amputating Manish's left hand -- his dominant hand -- would be the best approach to dealing with this grave disease. Manish mourned the loss, but Emily says the day he was given the news he also started practicing writing and sketching with his right hand.

Manish is in the process of getting an i-Limb, by a company called Touch Bionics.


This hand provides precision and fine motor skills that are unmatched among other prosthetic devices, which are more hook- or claw-like. The i-Limb boasts four fingers and a moveable thumb, each powered by its own motor and directed by a central processing unit in the palm.

The i-Limb was just introduced in the United States about two months ago and there are only 30 in the country. Insurance companies are not paying for this yet, and the costs could be as high as $50,000 to get Manish set up for the first few years.

We've set up a website that will provide that information, as well as tell Manish and Emily's story for other people who may be going through similar circumstances.

Check out www.whatsleftisright.com to see the site, read their story and check out the blog.

You can keep up to date on Manish's progress via the website and his blog.
--Marshall Allen