A brief pause

The past few weeks has been a big blur. I went from rushing to get the first draft of my thesis done while studying for midterms (last ones for a while!) to rushing around New York City and having the most amazing time with my friend. Now I'm back to the grind of university and wishing I was still in New York. Look for a recap of my delightful trip later this week.

Today I wanted to express my gratitude for my life. My dad was talking about his upbringing at dinner this weekend. I knew he came from a poor farming family in Vietnam, but he doesn't talk about it much. He talked about not going to school because he was hungry, not wearing shoes except to go to the market or a celebration because they couldn't afford it, and taking a chance to leave his country with only the clothes on his back into an unknown destination. It's inspiring to see how far he's come and only a little bit of pressure to make my own leaps in life.

This leads me to thoughts of those fighting for their voices in the Middle East and North Africa, and the cruel lessons that even in a wealthy country disaster can strike at any moment.

I've also been impressed with all the lovely aesthic projects online whose proceeds go to the Red Cross and other relief organizations. This Colossal has a great archive post of some of them if you want a little something extra to show your support. The poster above is by Linda Yuki Nakaniski.

In this time of job searches between research papers and trying to enjoy the last few weeks with the people I've met in the last three years, it's easy to forget about where I've come from and what that means. It's easy to forget how blesssed a life I lead and it's important to take a few moments to recognize the sacrifices that created this journey for me to enjoy.

And some gifts for you, highly recommended new music from Seattle-area bands!

The Head and the Heart, "Cats and Dogs" and "Coeur D'Alene"

The Lonely Forest, "Live There" (new album out today!)

A Belated NPR Valentine's!

To celebrate turning in my NPR internship application today, have some delightful Valentines from NPR!

More at NPR. You really can't get better than public radio.

Seven years bad luck...

My poor mirror fell face first from my vanity set-up [pool cue rack with drawer and mirror]. Not a great way to start my [lunar] new year or my 22nd year of life! It's worse feeling like I could have stopped it. It's been two days [well, a day and a half], and I still haven't cleaned it up yet.

Super Sunday!

First, Happy Lunar New Year! For the Vietnamese, the New Year lasts several days and we're still in the middle of celebrating! Do some good. Visit some friends. Start the year off right!

Next, I'm not viewer (or player) of sports, but I did manage a semi-Superbowl oriented dunch today (between lunch and dinner).

Grilled cheese with onions and guacamole (always homemade); side of refried beans, two olives, chips and guac, grapefruit to end; Dr. Pepper instead of beer because I need not be drowsy before bedtime tonight - too much to do!

Lastly, I bought this little number over the weekend and am currently wearing it under my robe. So cute, so vintage. Not very practical winterwear, but I'm indoors the rest of the day.

Until later! [I'm in the midst of thinking of a good end phrase - please see How I Met Your Mother 4.14 - "The Possimpible".]

February 2011: New Month, New Favorites.

TV

I haven't shared this before, so I will say: I love Parks and Recreation. It's cute, it's funny, and it's a love letter to local government. A delightful little show that had a really rocky start, but grew into itself in its second season and is blooming in its third season [which started up in January]. If you haven't seen it, go watch it! If Amy Poehler is not enough to make you watch, I am now in love with Adam Scott [not the first time] and Aziz brings a necessary kick - but let's face it, this is an ensemble show that makes great use of all its characters. It's beat Community as my favorite comedy this season. [Bored to Death is now my number two.]

As an ode to my favorite drama for the past five years - Friday Night Lights will be a beacon to me for network drama. It gets a lot of flack for being "a show about football", but as a non-sports fan, I still love this show to pieces. It's about family, growing up, and making the right choices. Brilliant acting, brilliant writing, brilliant cinematography. This show is my heart. It also might be an unpopular opinion, but I like the new cast better than the old.

Style

My go-to winter wear has been oversized sweaters and wool in general. Especially Ann Taylor Loft cape. The cape I bought last winter at a ridiculous sale price. It was the last one in the store and it was in my size [and an extra 50% off because it was in the sale section!]. I was wanting it the entire winter, and found it. I went off to Vietnam a few weeks after I bought it, so it has only this year gotten a lot of wear.

Thanks to their half of sale sales, Ann Taylor Loft and GAP have made a nice home in my wardrobe as of late, and growing.

Blog

The Coveted [edited: it is now The Coveteur] is my favorite January find. Click on a post, scroll to the bottom, click on a picture, and you have a wonderful slideshow of a fashion industry-er's favorite items and some stories behind them. An absolute thrill, and great photography! It deserves a post of its own, but because I am a horrible blogger, it gets this mention. Not only does it have amazing photography and fashion, the design of the site is unique and fresh. The front page is a collection of posts, in each post is a blurb about a fashion insider, some of their favorite inspiration from the web. Scroll down and there's a series of pictures of their things in their home. Hover over a photo and you get a blurb about the image. Click on the image and you have a sildeshow with the blurbs and images that you can control with your keyboard or by clicking! I'm in love.

Event

Uprisings in MENA [Middle East, Northern Africa] has made me glued to my twitter and grown my instaread by leaps and bounds. I'm pretty flexible about government styles, but I do believe in a responsive government. Historic moment right now. Let's let their voices heard.

This was fun! New plan: favorites post about whatever tickles my fancy. Hopefully I will be posting again soon!

Even death is not feared by those who lived wisely.

My great grandmother passed away last Sundayv (she's the eldest woman in the photos - mother of my mother's father). The subject is a quote from the Buddha.

I've learned more in the past few days about my family's religious traditions than I have the rest of the time I've been alive. In the Vietnamese-Buddhist tradition, there are many Buddhas that are venerated (sixty-two, I think). My great grandmother's funeral rituals lasted more or less two days. Rituals continue for another lifetime as kin keep the spirit of the dead alive. My father is anti-organized religion, but it was enlightening (pardon the pun) to see a religious side of my mother's family. My great grandmother was very religious; she meditated and read Buddhist prayer everyday, and even kept vegetarian for decades. The remains after her cremation left purple and green bone fragments that, according to Vietnamese lore, means she's resting with the Buddhas in the sky/heavens. This has been one of the few times I've hoped for an afterlife. My great grandmother was one of the most patient, kind-hearted, gracious person I've ever met. Even though we had massive language barrier, I could tell that she was a pure and genuine person. She was religious, but not preach-y. She grew up when women didn't go to school and was forced to marry young, having only my grandfather. She was forgiving to a fault, and I do hope she's resting peacefully now. After her long life, she deserves the best any world can show.

Tragedy in AZ

There are no words to truly express the tragedy that occurred in Tucson earlier today/yesterday. I just wanted to say that my thoughts are with the victims and their families. It's still shocking, even after all the poisonous words in our public discourse the past few years, that something like that would happen. It strikes at the core of our values as a democratic nation, that something as earnest and routine as meeting with your representative can end so horrifically. That a Federal Judge can be stopping by after church to say hello and a nine year old girl, recently elected to her student council body and invited by her neighbor for a learning experience in democracy can suddenly not be with us anymore. One of the most important aspects of a republic like ours is trust, and I feel like that is rapidly dissolving.

We can disagree without being disagreeable.

Please let someone good come out of this tragedy. Please let us learn that we cannot replace civil political debate with violent rhetoric. Please let us learn.