Jan 30 - Relax, Refresh, Renew I know it's 10 degrees around the country, so stop reading here if you are the jealous type. On Wednesday, we took the Great Leap staff (Nob, Nona, Phloe, Luke & board member Charlie) on a relaxation retreat to Glen Ivy Hot Springs. We closed the office and went for our first annual staff retreat. It took us an hour to get there without any traffic and we got there around noon. It was a nice day, around 60 degrees. First, we all went into the Mineral Water Bath (smelled like a sulfur spring!), then when it got too hot, I went into the regular swimming pool and did a few slow laps of the frog stroke and floated on my back, looking up at the palm trees and blue sky. Then, I joined everyone in the salt water bath. Ehh, it was ok. I'm not a big fan of salty pool water, but it was a soothing calm bubbly jacuzzi. We were getting hungry, so we got salads and sandwiches and ate next to the pool.
After lunch, we went into the mud bath! Now that was fun!! It's red clay mud, and you spread it on your skin. It was too cold out of the water for me to let it dry, so I stayed in the warm mud bath, we took some funny pictures (maybe for our newsletter!!??) and then rinsed off. We went to the champagne pool, which I thought would have champagne in it, but it turned out to be a very shallow jacuzzi, shaped like a champagne glass. Then, I went into the lounging pool (1-1/2 feet deep) and lounged on a float. It was kind of chilly, so we all went inside and down the elevator to "The Grotto," (or P1, was we called it), which looked like an amusement park ride meets the Flintstones. They slathered a sea kelp/aloe vera moisturizing mixture onto our skin with a paintbrush, then ushered us into the "Hydrating Chamber," where we rubbed in the slippery mixture, laughed at each other's green bodies, and gave shoulder massages to each other. Afterwards, we rinsed off in a granite shower, relaxed, ate apples, drank tea and hung out for a bit, feeling very mellow.
Then, we went back to the dressing rooms, sat in the steam room for a bit, got into the indoor Roman tub jacuzzi for a brief minute, and then went to take a shower. Five hours after arriving, we had to leave--we went to dinner and then drove the hour back to LA. It was funny how we didn't talk about work all day, but then as soon as we passed the 110 Freeway, passing downtown, we started talking about work. It was a great getaway day, seemed like we had been on a mini-vacation. It was amazing how quickly we were able to decompress. We're blessed that we were able to have this day... not so long ago, we couldn't even afford a paperclip, much less a day at the spa. Friday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 29 - Two Quizzes I got these quizzes from Tish. The first is "What kind of blogger are you?" and was not surprised that I am the "guy next door." We are described as follows: "You tell about your life and thoughts honestly and without pretending. This might at times come out pretty dull and boring. Never mind - those who know you will be coming back day after day, week after week." it's pretty close, although it didn't have an option that says that you like to write about your take on current day issues, merging politics, community, daily activities and the search for balance. The other quiz is "Which Western feminist icon are you?" I was rated as "Angela Davis." I wonder who the other options are. It's not science, but they're fun to do. Who are you? Thursday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 27 - Random Stuff Here's my latest column, "My Surreal Life Experience: Standing Up for Justice" talking about my experience as an extra for the upcoming Ralph Lazo film. I wrote it yesterday morning before I went to work.
Still working on the Manzanar Poetry Zine - I thought we were done with it - but I need to redo practically every page.
I see that the Democratic primaries are looking like Kerry so far. Hmm. I don't know what to think b/c I don't really know him. I know that Michael Moore is into Clark. I hear Martin Sheen (the-I-wish-he-was Pres.) was supporting Dean, but... I don't know. They're saying on the news that people are looking more for someone electable who can beat Bush, not necessarily anyone who can lead the country well, or who has a message of inspiration and vision. Kucinich was probably close... but of course he's nowhere on the radar screen.
Every time Arnold opens his mouth I want to gag. I see him blaming the legislature and not taking responsibility for his own actions.
I read an LA Times article that said the LA City Council took a formal position against the Patriot Act, saying that it is anti-American and encourages racial profiling. In his State of the Union speech, Bush called the act, passed in the weeks after 9/11, an "essential tool" in defending the US against terrorism. Librarians are fighting back against a portion of the Patriot Act that allows the government easier access to library and bookstore records, allowing them to secretly watch what people are reading.
And, I'm happy to hear that the 13 year old girl from "The Whale Rider" got an Oscar nomination. That and Diane Keaton in "Something's Gotta Give" are the only movies I think I've seen. I'm kind of happy that Nicole and Tom didn't get nominations. Together or apart, they're kind of on my nerves. Petty, I know. Whatevah. Tuesday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 24 - Wall of Honor Today, after my Manzanar planning meeting, we went to the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research Reception for their Wall of Honor presentations. SCL is a pretty cool library of archives and books, and their mission is to link history with present day issues of social and economic justice. Our sweet friend Laura, is a board member of SCL. One of her goals is to increase the Asian and Latino presence at the library which is located in South LA. So, she raised contributions for SCL from our friends and family to honor me and Tony with a "brick"! They honored about 20 individuals today, many of the people involved in social justice causes from the 40s to the 90s, and then us, who didn't even begin until the 90s. We were very humbled to receive this honor, among such amazing company, from Howard Zinn and Robbie Conal, to everyday people who've been involved as community activists.
Jenni & Tony
Japanese American cultural workers
creating murals, teaching kids and teens,
building community in Little Tokyo,
crossing cultural borders through the arts,
working for peace and justice.
In addition to Laura & Mike, a bunch of our friends and family came, surprising us. So, thanks to Laura, Mike, Kathy, Jan, Suzy, Sue, Iku, George, Juana, Letty, Hector, Erica, Gayle, Kieth, Darin, Kyle, mom and dad for coming today. And thanks also to other friends who made donations to the library in our name: June, Haru, Lily & Kent, Patty, Nobuko & Tarabu, Alan & Yvonne, Scott & Emily, Maria & Eduardo, Darin & Sao, Tony's parents, Fran & Don, Larry and Uncle Bill. Ok, I gotta go write my column and prepare for another Manzanar poetry 'zine meeting tomorrow. We're getting close. Hopefully tomorrow we'll review the final edits and choose the photos. Yay. Saturday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 23 - Oprah is 32? I went to the dentist office today for a filling. I walked over to the rack, grabbed a magazine and sat down. I was reading articles about how to clean your house quick, bathroom in 1 minute, bedroom in 5 minutes, etc. Pretty good info, although some of the things they had as weekly things, I'm lucky if I do it annually, and some of the once a year things, I never do. We never do windows, we rarely clean the kitchen floor or mini-blinds. Anyways, the ads seemed a little outdated, but I figured oh, dentist office, old magazine, whatever. Then I turned to an article and started reading an article about Oprah. It said, Oprah Winfrey, 32, huh? 32? Isn't she like 50? wtf? So I flip to the magazine cover and and yes, my friends, it was dated October 1986. Can you believe an 18 year old magazine? In 1986, I was still in college! I just had to laugh at that.
Anyways, I got a filling - Hector, the friendly dental assistant, asked me if I was having a tooth-colored composite? Hmm? I thought the choice was silver or white, I think the dentist suggested white. He told me there was no such thing as a white tooth, so they call it tooth-colored fillings. You know I liked that politically-correct description. So I asked for a yellowish tooth-colored filling, and of course it isn't even covered on my insurance, costing $210. It felt weird when they did the drill thing - I couldn't remember the procedure - and it turns out my last filling was in 1995. Well, folks the numbness is wearing off. Bleh. Got to run. Friday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 21 - MLK and Mo(o)re
It's an incredibly busy week. Working on a lot of stuff, meetings just about every night this week. Manzanar stuff took up my whole weekend. Great Leap board meeting last night. JACS meeting tonight. Manzanar the next 2 nights. In between, I've been crocheting like a mad woman... I'm working on a baby blanket for my sister's future baby. I don't know if this is such a great hobby for an anal/obsessive/compulsive-type like me. It's hard to stop once I've started, but I'm pretty busy, so I have to force myself to put it down.
So Michael Moore is supporting Wesley Clark, that's interesting to me. He makes a pretty good case for Clark. Yesterday, I watched "Roger & Me," Michael's 1989 documentary about GM laying off 30,000 workers in Flint (where I visited in October). I tell you I was really emotionally affected by the movie - he's a master storyteller, sarcastic and intelligent, it was even better than "Bowling for Columbine," which was pretty great.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Martin Luther King's b-day this week. Luke, our newest Great Leaper went to the MLK Parade and said it was a bunch of corporate-sponsored floats, the LA corporate rap radio station, lots of ROTC and drill teams. The few progressive elements of the parade were the SEIU union float with a huge MLK poster, and the striking grocery workers. We saw highlights on the news. Tony said if MLK were alive, he would have joined the picket line at Ralph's and Vons instead of joining the parade. It's sad how King's message has gotten so diluted by the mainstream media who act like he was simply about civil rights. Wednesday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 18 - Stand Up for Justice
Last year, I blogged about being an extra in the film, "Stand Up for Justice" produced and presented by Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR) and Visual Communications. It is a 30-minute drama telling the true story of Ralph Lazo, a 16 year old Mexican-Irish student who joined his Japanese American friends at the Manzanar Concentration camp during World War II. The film explores the values of friendship and loyalty between teenagers of different cultural backgrounds. The film will be premiered next month at the annual Day of Remembrance which commemorates the day the that President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the removal and internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast. JA communities around the country hold programs as a reminder of the importance of protecting the civil rights of all people. The film will be available to teach high school students about civil liberties and the power of one person's actions.
As an extra and longtime NCRR member, I got to dress up in 40s clothes and imagine what it was like to be almost my grandma's age and board the train that took them to camp. It was a day that filled me with a myriad of emotions. The premiere will take place at the Japan American Theatre on Saturday, February 21, 2004 at 7pm. I am selling tickets--$20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets to the 800 seat theater are selling fast and will definitely sell out, so we are encouraging people to buy their tickets today. If you're interested in attending this film premiere, please email me at the address below or leave a comment here.
Went to the Farmer's Market today. Organic blood oranges were in again... juicy sweetness! Just about made my day. We came home and watched "The Way Home," a Korean film about a spoiled city kid from Seoul who goes to live with his grandma in a rural mountain village. It was sweet and beautifully done. Got to go work on the Manzanar Poetry Zine now... looking forward to the end. Sunday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 17 - I Feel the Earth Move It's the 10th anniversary of the 6.7 Northridge earthquake today. At the time, I happened to be on a ski trip at Whistler, Canada, and missed the whole thing. My condo in Panorama City was about 4 miles from the epicenter, on the same street, and I had lived in Northridge for 5 years in college. My neighbors Asta and Arni were watching my condo, and the story my parents told me over the phone was that there were CDs in the fish tank. My TV fell off the stand, my patio walls were cracked, and the mirror above my bedroom set broke in pieces and might have seriously wounded me, had I been sleeping there. The confusing part was that my CDs were in an enclosed glass cabinet, about 10 feet away from my fish tank, so I was definitely concerned. When I got home, we found that it was actually a few cassette tapes which were propped up in a rack on the wall, had fallen into a small fish bowl that one of my sick fish was temporarily in. Phew. We were very lucky, considering how close we were. Bullocks and The Wherehouse were leveled, parking structures and CSUN campus buildings destoyed, sections of freeways collapsed. To this day, I always close my cupboards at night because I have lost a lot of glasses and dishes from California earthquakes. Better go check my water supply and batteries! Saturday - Click here to comment:
Comment Jan 15 - Pizza & Bread
Happy Birthday to Mom, who celebrates her birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr. Last night, we got together at my sister Gayle's house for a family dinner. It took me an hour to get the 15 miles to her house in traffic, and 15 minutes to get home. We decided it was easier than going to a restaurant. Kieth was a very hyper 2 1/2 year old, so we asked him to see who could sit still longer, he or their dog Dudley. Kieth won! I had fun making a house out of Lego's with Kyle. We ordered pizza, pasta and salads.
I have a ton of old cassette tapes--and no cassette deck at home. Tony's been after me to get rid of them. But yesterday, I went through and selected a dozen tapes for my car, mostly ones that I made. People born before the 80s will remember taping albums onto cassettes. I've been listening to an old tape from the late 80s. It has Sade on one side, and Bread on the other. I was a big Bread fan. I've been enjoying listening to and singing out loud to story-songs, "Diary," "If," "Baby I'm A Want You" and "Everything I Own." And Sade has a great anti-war song about wanting peace in the world. The good songs, with great messages never go out of style.
Finally, condolences to our sister-in-law Nina, and her kids Nika and Chris, Jr. on the loss of her father, and their grandfather this week. OK, got to get back to the Manzanar 'Zine now. Been working on it at work, and at home every day. Thursday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 14 - Jotting Quick Thoughts Found this on Smallhands. What comes to mind when you hear... ...snow?: growing up skiing in mammoth, love when the snow piles up to the 2nd floor of our condo (sold last year) rain?: love the hot weather humid rain, hate cold freezing rain, grateful Tony fixed my windshield wipers. tornado?: nothing. Hey, I'm from Cali. summer love?: havin' a bla-ast, summer lovin, happened so fa-ast. met a girl crazy could be. met a boy cute as can be, summer fun, somethin's begun... Jon?: Jon and Ponch from CHiPs Mike?: Hella funny, loves to hear stories, sharing tips, half of Mike & Laura. Shea?: Love her. She's a walking encyclopedia on Detroit history, community and politics and womyn's issues. banana?: Asians who are yellow on the outside, white on the inside... a guy I had a crush on called me a banana in college. dizzy?: gillespie? dizzy jenni? Laura?: Hella goofy, very supportive, high integrity, half of Mike & Laura
Hiking with Mike & Laura
Juan?: Carlos - one of Tony's former 3rd grade students, who was a great poet car?: 93 Honda Civic, going on 11 years! white?: christmas? lame answer, sorry. peppermint?: tea New Found Glory?: huh? i got nuthin. placebo?: pills that work, if you believe hard enough orange juice?: Naked Juice and Trader Joe's Organic fresh squeezed are the best. candid camera?: SMILE! You're on... sister?: Gayle (37) is pregnant brother?: Darin (35) is a great daddy hate?: crimes need to be stopped. NOW. school?: i still have dreams i'm in school. President?: idiot liar dangerous bad agenda, makes me cringe every time he speaks football?: not really into it, don't really get it. rap?: like the kind that comes from the streets and is socially conscious, political and positive. not the bling bling stuff. rock?: music, i remember KMET, KLOS wars in high school - Styx, Journey, Triumph, Queen punk?: music, KROQ - Rock of the 80s... Rock of the 90s... I lost touch, what do they say now? Rock of the millennium? sex?: not lately death?: community treasures are dying, must do oral histories and get the stories of the elders baby?: recently lost mine at 8 1/2 weeks. seems like everyone is pregnant these days. duuude?: Heard everytime Tony talks to Hector on the phone, and every message Hector leaves on our machine starts with, "Hey dude." ..the end?: This is it for today. Wednesday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 11 - Productive Weekend
AP Photo
Lots of busy work this weekend. Saturday, I stayed home all day, organizing the bills, making little labels with my P-touch labeling system, which I totally love. I filed a foot-high pile of papers. I cleared off my desk, organized my articles, did dishes 3 times, a load of laundry and watched a bunch of TV. And I spent hours working on the Manzanar Zine, which needs to go to the graphic designer in a few weeks. I still need to work on a grant report which was due last June. And I need to write the intro for the zine. I must have spent 12 hours in the home office, maybe more. And I watched Michelle Kwan win the US Figure Skating Championships for the 8th time with an awesome performance. She was 4th place going into the long program, and just nailed it. It was beautiful. She got seven 6.0's. I worked on the Manzanar website till 2:30 am.
Today, was a shopping day. We slept in till 11am. I spent an hour on the phone with my friend Mike. Then I left for the Ocean Park Farmers Market at 12:20 pm, knowing that it closes at 1pm. Took 20 minutes in traffic to go about 4 miles. Took another 10 minutes to park, 5 minutes to walk the 4 blocks to get there. As I got there, the guy said there were 2 minutes left to shop. I managed to get organic Fuji apples, blood oranges, mixed greens, garlic, and jalapeno cheddar bread in 2 minutes! From there, I went to Trader Joe's and stocked up. Man, was it crowded. I couldn't even park in the lot. I ended up driving around the block and parking up the street. I went home and made myself a tofu salad and ate some fried eggs and hash browns that Tony made.
I went back out, got my car washed, got gas, went to the video store, two different banks, and then went shopping. I bought a pair of black Ecco boots, and tan sandals. The boots were very expensive, but I've been wanting comfortables dressy boots for awhile. I went to Ann Taylor's 40% off sale and got a rain coat, and 4 shirts with some Christmas money. I've been needing some dressier type clothes and got great deals. Then I went home, finished laundry, made a lasagna (first time in years), did dishes and watched "The Surreal Life" with Tony. Erik Estrada still has it. Now, I'm blogging. I still have all this Manzanar stuff calling me, but I'm tired. Sunday - Click here to comment:
Comment Jan 9 - Gotta See VV
Just wanted to make a quick plug for my friend Glenn, who is in the band, Visiting Violette. I just found out that VV is having a concert next week in Little Tokyo. I've known them for many, many years, seen them in many different venues, clubs and at community events and they are really great. They came and performed at the Manzanar Pilgrimage in 2003. They're kicking off their 2004 US concert tour and performing songs from an upcoming album, "The Spirit of Jellyfish." Joining them are zero3, Ken Koshio, Johneric Concordia, Cousin Kate and Jenny San Angel.
Saturday, January 17th at 8pm at the Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro Street. Tickets are $19. Tickets available at 323/953-9363. Gotta see. VV. Friday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 6 - JK's DVD Ranking Last week, kuidaosumi joined the 21st century and got a DVD player. We were both off last week, so we rented 11 DVDs for $12
(6 were with free coupons saved up over the last few years) and spent New Year's Eve watching movies. Here is my ranking:
1- Bend it Like Beckham
2- The Whale Rider
3- Bowling for Columbine
4- Drumline
5- Raising Victor Vargas
6- Bhaji on the Beach (also by Gurinder Chadha)
7- Comic Book Villains
8- Strawberry Fields (by Asian American filmmaker Rea Tajiri)
9- Clerks
10- Ocean's 11 (original rat pack version)
11- Old School
The top 4 were far better than the bottom 7. I did doze off and/or walk away on the bottom 6. I totally loved Bowling for Columbine, even more than I thought I would, but it's a different genre from the top 2, and definitely the most political. #11 was just plain stupid. I asked Tony what he thought of my ranking. He said it was pretty good. But, I think he enjoyed Old School because he was laughing out loud during most of it. We also saw Something's Gotta Give at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica which cost $19.50 ($7.50 more than 11 DVDs). It was great, very entertaining, cool furniture, but next time we'll wait for the DVD. Tuesday - Click here to comment:
Comment Jan 5 - How Do U Connect?
Can't believe it's the year 2004 and we're still on freakin' dialup connection. Why oh why? A year ago, we planned to join the millennium and get DSL, then somehow we got the idea to get a cable modem, but we just never got our acts together to get the cable modem. I recall we had gotten a good price estimate, but the problem was that the deal was for PCs only, and not for Mac users. (Which reminds me, I went to Best Buy during the holidays to buy The SIMS game, but Best Buy only carries PC games. What is up with that? Aiyah.)
Anyone have any suggestions of a provider? We currently have free dialup through LAUSDnet, but it's limited because I can't check any of my yahoo accounts from home because of all the filters on LAUSDnet. It seems like maybe Yahoo DSL is a pretty good deal--what do you think? And now, you can humor me and sign the January poll at right.
Monday - Click here to comment:
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Jan 4 - Into the Monkey Year
From Left: Sao, Kyle, Jayne, Cort, Kieth, Gayle, Hiroko, Akira
Okazaki's and Kuida's on ny-04
Today is my day to archive all the 2003 stuff, and the last day at home before I have to go back to work. I've been playing around with switching to blogger or livejournal for my blog updates, so it would be easier to update, but they're not working for me. So I'll probably continue to update manually. I've tried to do some things to make it easier to update. At the least, I'm changing some of the look of the blogger background, and I updated the look of the homepage. Not sure if I like it.
New Year's Day was lots of fun, one of my favorite Japanese American holidays. Tony and I started the day with a 45 minute walk through our neighborhood. First, we went to my Auntie Kaz and Uncle Fumio's house in Boyle Heights and met my family there. We had four kiddies, Akira, Kyle, Kieth and Cort--all boys ranging from 8 months to 4 years. We had delicious ozoni soup with deep fried mochi, homemade sushi and the traditional Japanese ossechi plate with all the good luck beans and bamboo shoots. Next, we went to visit our good friend Glen, who had a great spread, lots of relatives and football. I chowed down on mac salad and potato salad, two of my favorites. Tony loved the homemade chashu. Our final stop was to visit Evelyn and Bruce's house, which was full of friends, community activists, filmmakers, artists, all people active in the JA community. It was such a fun night, with lots of laughing and joking, more great food, including the sour cream cheese buntcake made by Carrie, and a lot of people getting happy drunk. It was a great way to end the New Year's celebration in JA style.
No resolutions this year, but I would like to finish up the Manzanar Zine in the next few weeks, keep eating healthy and organic as much as possible, and continue exercising through yoga, walking and/or taiko. Happy Year of the Monkey... for those born in 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 and 2004. Sunday - Click here to comment:
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