Do you remember your first...

Firsts are special. First steps, first word (mine was "hammer"), first kiss, first relationship, first you-know-what, first job, first baby, first spouse (haha). My first book acquisition is special in so many ways, least of all because it was my first. It's special because it was the perfect book to BE my first. It was a book I absolutely loved, and even though the first draft (that I read--not the author's first draft!) was so different from the published book it became, I loved each manifestation of it along the way. The book is Blow out the Moon by Libby Koponen. It's a book about a feisty young girl who moves with her family (by ship!) to England, where she deals with dreary grayness, prejudice, and unpleasant change. She eventually ends up at a boarding school in the English countryside where she finally finds her bearings, learns to ride a horse, learns proper manners, and grows up just a little bit. It's a charming, wonderful book that reminded me of all my favorite books growing up: LITTLE WOMEN, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, LITTLE PRINCESS, CADDIE WOODLAWN, etc etc.

The manuscript originally came to me after my boss at the time, Megan, received her own imprint at L,B: Megan Tingley Books. She decided to open up our submissions guidelines somewhat and allow unsolicited query letters, and I was in charge of reviewing these letters, as well as the manuscripts I requested to see. I liked Libby's description of the book and sent a letter that I'd like to see the whole manuscript, and the letter was returned to us as "address unknown." Luckily, we also had a conscientious intern who took the time to track down the author's email through her website which was (also luckily) on the original letter. It turned out that Libby had a major typo in her return address!

Well, I read the manuscript, loved it, my boss read it and saw something in it as well and told me I could ask for a revision, which I did. After I believe two revisions, we took it to our acquisitions meeting where it was well-received, but unfortunately several key members of the committee were not in attendance, and they were not as enthusiastic about it. So, I went back for another revision. Happily, though, because my boss saw my passion for this project and was willing to give it a chance, we were able to sign it up, and I made my first-ever call to an author to make the offer. That is still one of the highlights of my career so far.

Libby and I met for the first time for lunch at Silvertone (the BEST mac and cheese EVER) for my first expensed lunch. We had, of course, talked on the phone and had many correspondences since then, so we were already dear friends, but that was confirmed when we met in person. Libby is a kindred soul!

At this point, our relocation to New York was taking place, so again things were a bit in limbo in terms of its publication date, but after many more revisions and several moving of lists, it was finally published in the Spring of 2004. Its first review was from Booklist--a star!

"The word delightful is overused in reviews, but it's difficult to find one that's more appropriate for this novelized memoir -- though warm and cozy would do in a pinch."--Booklist

It's since received many other glowing reviews, was picked by the NYPL as a Top 100 Title for Reading and Sharing, and was a Massachusetts Honor Book. It has just come out this Spring in paperback (with a newly illustrated cover!), so I'm hoping that it will reach a whole new audience.

This was a very sweet first for me, and also Libby's first published book. But the best part of all of this is that I gained a new friend for life in Libby. She wears glitter on her face, cooks a kick-ass meal and is a wonderful host, has traveled the world (and isn't done yet!), reads voraciously, and has a unique view of the world. Her personality really shines through in her writing, and I hope to work with her on many more books to come. But she and I will always remember our first time.

Defense Finance and Accounting Service

I get a lot of wrong numbers at work. And many of them are looking for something to do with the military--the defence finance and accounting service? I've discovered that the area code for that number is 216, while mine is 212. I would better understand all the wrong numbers if the correct area code was 213 or 211, but 216? That's a number over AND a number down.

Oh well.

Maybe I should start doing what Kramer did when he started getting calls for Moviefone. "Welcome to Moviefone!"

"Defense Finance and Accounting Service, may I help you?"

Food adventures

I can tell that I've been devouring too much television/blogs/media when I start feeling like my real-life experiences are mimicking them. This weekend roadtrip to Western Mass for Julie and Jim's wedding felt very much like a Food Network show like Rachel Ray's $40 a Day, or even The Hungry Cabbie blog.

On our trip up, we decided to stop for lunch around 1 pm, and decided to exit the next time "food" was designated by the freeway sign. I thought it would be nice to try something local, non-chain fast food, and after passing this place:


we did a U-turn and went back to it. It was called Carville's Ranch House, and it looked great. Sachin and Dennis both got cheeseburgers, and I got a veggie grinder (we were in grinder country!) and fried clams. I can't say any of the food was the best I've ever had, but it was solid, and the place had a good vibe. As I was taking the picture, and older patron told me mid-chew that the place had been around for 60 years, and he used to come there as a kid over 40 years ago. He now lived in Florida, but decided to stop by while passing through. "But don't come here at night" he said, "this is a horrible neighborhood." Heh. Seemed okay to me.

Once in Deerfield, MA we passed a sign for "Bub's BBQ" off the 5/10, and so on Saturday we had some free time for lunch before the wedding and decided to check it out. It was 5 miles away in Sunderland, MA.














Yum! We decided to share a combo of spare ribs and pulled pork, which came with all-you-can eat cold and hot bars, so we were stuffed. The ribs and pork were delicious--great seasoning--but I think we were both taken by the sides of hickory smoked potatoes, orange glazed sweet mashed potatoes, dirty rice, collard greens, etc. etc. Sachin got a local beer: Berkeshire Brewing Company's Steel Rail, that was very flavorful and good. And only $3. The total bill came out to be about $25--maybe a bit pricey for lunch, but a ton of food and totally worth it.

After the wedding we dropped Dennis off in Flushing, and then since we had the car we took the opportunity to go to Sachin's favorite Falafel place, Naomi's Kosher Pizza, which is nowhere near a subway stop. Yeah, sounds weird (Kosher...pizza...Falafel?), but it was awesome. Sachin was disappointed I wasn't raving about the Falafel more at the time, but I was a bit nauseated from the car, and really, although I like Falafel, I generally don't find that one place is so different from another. But truly, they were great, and certainly worth trying--and actually different from other Falafel I've had. Not as crispy or hard as usual, a bit softer and with a nice smooth texture. The tahini and hot sauces there were excellent. The place was a total trip--pizza and Middle Eastern food on the menu, a very diverse clientele, and buzzing at 4 pm on a Sunday. Anyway, afterwards we went to Chinatown Flushing and walked around a bit, and then found a random teashop called Tong's or Tang's on Main Street where we got drinks (Watermelon Milk Shake for Sachin, Plum Red Tea for me) and a bowl of wonton noodle soup. Perfect.

I also bought a bundle of my favorite vegetable kong xin cai (water spinach--or literally translated as empty heart vegetable, as the stems are hollow) to cook when I got home, stir-fried it up with garlic and olive oil and ate it for both dinner that night and lunch the next day. The perfect finish to the perfect food weekend. And I didn't even mention the wedding food which was also excellent. Tuna shish-kebabs, noodles with peanut sauce, mahi mahi, and the desserts! Oh, the desserts. This was one of the cakes from that awesome dessert party:

When I was a kid, I remember reading about how in the future people will be nourished via pills, and I was horrified. I get so much enjoyment from eating. I look forward to each meal, each food adventure, and since I don't have picky taste buds, I tend to like almost everything I try.

I'm hungry now. What's for breakfast?

I'm famous!

Every now and then I think about writing about my career, but never get around to it. But I just did this lengthy interview that's up now on www.thecareercookbook.com, so read all about me if you want. Thanks to Jarrett for referring them to me.

Just got back from Julie and Jim's wedding in Deerfield, MA. It was an incredible time, so unique and perfect and fun, and full of this amazing couple's personality. It was great to see old friends, make some new ones, and just enjoy a weekend away from the city. I'm so honored that they included me in their special day. They had a zydeco band perform at the reception--months ago, when I heard that this was the plan and also heard about Jim's "No 80s music" rule, I was a little apprehensive. But I have to say, I didn't even miss the 80s music. High praise indeed, coming from me.

A few pics (had to throw in the one of the beautiful cakes from the dessert party on Friday night):

Marathon-bound

So, I haven't been posting anywhere for a while, and I've decided that I'm going to stick to Blogger instead of friendster. I hope all of you who used to read my posts there will now visit me here.

I found out this week that I got a bid into the NYC Marathon. I had entered the lottery and found out a few weeks ago that I didn't get in, and even though I had been half hoping for just that, that I wouldn't get in so I wouldn't have to train, I was disappointed. You know how when you decide to flip a coin to help you decide something, and then the coin tells you to do one thing, and you realize that what you really wanted was the other thing? This was like that. So I looked into running for a charity, something that I would have done anyway if I had gotten in, and signed up with Fred's Team to raise money for pediatric cancer research. They didn't have any more guaranteed slots, though, so I had to wait to see if more space opened up, and then on Monday I got an email with the subject heading: Congratulations! and sure enough, I had a slot.

So...it hasn't really sunk in yet, except that I keep telling myself that I have to start running more--I haven't run more than 5 miles since I did the 10 mile Cherry Blossom Race in DC on April 2. So I decided to go running last night. At first I thought I'd start by running 5 miles. But it was a beautiful summer solstice night, perfect running weather, and once I got to McCarren Track in Greenpoint where I sometimes run, I decided I would run 26 laps to represent the 26 miles I'd be running in November. I like to be all symbolic and sh*t.

Running is such a mind game. Sometimes 1 mile seems like nothing, sometimes it takes forever. After 6 laps I was despairing at whether I'd finish, but by 13 laps I felt like I could run forever. The Park was the most crowded I've seen it, and I was constantly dodging soccer balls (kicked three last night) and little kids zooming around every which way on bikes and scooters. Sachin ran a few laps with me and compared it to a video game. But anyway, I finished the 26 laps and felt great. Of course, it's daunting to think that I only ran a quarter marathon, and I'd have to run 104 laps to run the distance of a full marathon! This is why I don't prefer to run on a track for long distances. Counting laps is so much more of a task than counting miles. Or just doing one lap in Central Park.

I have to thank my roommate Rose for inspiring me to run. She reminded me that it was at brunch with my father, Lisa, and Rose that I decided I would enter the lottery, and if I made it in, that would decide for me. Before last year, I've never had even an inkling of desire to run a marathon. I've had other friends run, and I've always thought, no way, 26 miles? And watching Rose train last year definitely didn't make me want to run. It was just watching the marathon and watching Rose run, seeing the people in pain but trudging on, seeing the people who were exuberant, smiling, having fun, cheering everyone on, and feeling the electricity of the moment. I wanted to be a part of that.

So, more running posts are to come! Happy summer, everyone.

Nothing but the truth, I swear.

I've been meaning to write about more of the books I've edited that are coming out, but time keeps slipping away from me. But finally I found some time to write about another book I edited that came out at the beginning of this month. It's called NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (AND A FEW WHITE LIES) by Justina Chen Headley. This novel features a hapa (half Asian, half white) narrator, Patty Ho, who has just been to a fortuneteller (who tells fortunes via people's bellybuttons) who predicts that Patty will end up with a "white guy." This is baaaaad news to Patty's ultra-strict Taiwanese mother, who likes to ignore the white part of Patty's heritage due to her out-of-the-picture white father. She sends Patty off to math camp at Stanford in the hopes that she meets a nice Taiwanese boy, and there Patty finds her first love (not quite Taiwanese), learns to be comfortable in her own skin, and uncovers some family secrets.

This book is special for many, many reasons--the wonderful voice, the biracial narrator, the fact that it's both humorous and poignant, and on and on. It's also significant in my career because it was the first auction book that I've been in involved in--four publishers were battling for this novel, and I was thrilled that Little, Brown came out on top! It was also exciting because this is a book that could have been seen as another quiet multicultural book, but I was thrilled to be able to drum up so much excitement for it in-house.

I thought I'd share with you some of the letter I wrote to her agent when we sent in our offer two years ago:
_______________________________________________________
Steven,
Okay, perhaps I'm being a bit hokey, but I couldn't resist writing in the spirit of the book!

Truth: Little, Brown would love to publish Nothing But the Truth and a Few White Lies by Justina Chen Headley. Justina is obviously a talented author; she has such a fresh, wonderful voice, and the novel has a great balance of humor and poignancy. We were all extremely enthusiastic about this book and of Justina as a writer, and we truly hope to be able to publish this book and future ones on our list.

Truth: You sent this novel to me for a reason, and your instincts were correct. I feel very strongly connected to this novel, not only because, like Patty Ho, I am of Taiwanese descent, but because I, too, have struggled with identity issues growing up. I lived in various places where I was the only Asian person in my school (Upstate NY and a small town near Pittsburg, PA), and I distinctly remember wishing I were white, that I wasn't different. I didn't feel right in my own skin until I moved to Southern California with my family, so I understand Patty's adjustments to being at math camp when she is finally surrounded by other Asians. Because I identify so closely to Patty, I feel I am the perfect editor to help Justina shape the novel and bring it to the next level. I would love to work with her on this wonderful character, and I would love to introduce these important issues to the YA reader in a funny and entertaining way. 
________________________________________
It's been an interesting experience for me, because this is the first book I've edited where we actually have a full marketing and publicity plan in place and are spending a significant amount of money to promote it. It will be interesting to see how it does. I love the book, and my fingers are crossed that it will do quite well. And so far so good...it's already received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, is a Booksense Pick, and is also a Border's Original Voices nominee!

The author and I have become great friends, and she's proved to be a dream to work with. Incidentally, she and I spoke on a panel, along with Grace Lin, on "Taiwanese American Women in Literature" last weekend in Houston for the North American Taiwanese Women's Association (NATWA) conference. I'll try to write about this more another time. Anyway, Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) is intended for ages 12 and up, and adults will get a lot out of the book as well. Justina is sponsoring $5,000 college scholarship through an essay contest, so check outwww.nothingbutthetruthnovel.com. Her website is www.justinachenheadley.com.  It's truly a great read, so go on, get out there and buy it! Like, right now!

April 21, 2006

I would walk 500 miles...

Not really, but I'd run 10. Yesterday, I completed the 10 mile Cherry Blossom run in Washington DC. It was a great race and a great day. The route was beautiful-- cherry blossoms in full bloom (the perfect shade of pale pink) and DC monuments looming at their magestic best. We had to wake up at before 6 am after daylight savings, so it was really 5 am. But I went to bed at 9 (before the time change), after stuffing myself with a great Southern cuisine meal of carbs (cheese grits, cornbread, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes...), so I got a good night's sleep. Amy, Bryan, and Julie gamely and graciously awoke early with me and we drove into the city together as the sun finally started to rise.

I started near the back of the pack, and I couldn't run at my normal race for the first 3 miles because it was so crowded, but in a way this was a good thing,  because I wasn't even breathing hard after 3 miles, and knew I'd be able to run the whole way. I picked up the pace after that, but felt great. The volunteers along the route were supportive and encouraging cheerleaders, and it was great to run with so many people. I'd never run more than 8 miles before, but I knew I'd be fine once I reached that mark--afterall, just 2 miles to go? Piece of cake. Of course, those were the longest miles of the race, but Sachin was on the sidelines right after mile 9, and Julie, Amy, and Bryan were there with just 1/2 a mile to go, so that carried me through.

I just checked the race results, and my net time was 1:37:35, which is a per mile split of 10:40--about what I expected. My goal was to finish under 1:45, so that was achieved.

I had entered my name into the lottery for the NYC marathon on March 1 (which was also the year anniversary of moving into my current apartment), and although part of me hopes that I won't get in (it's about a 50/50 shot--I'll find out in mid-June), after this race, I want to make it in (kinda sorta), just to see how I'd do, if I could do it. To play to psychological race in my head while I run.

My friend Libby (also the author of BLOW OUT THE MOON, my first acquisition at Little, Brown) commented on my habit of goal-setting. I was raised this way--my parents taught me to set goals, and that's what I've done all my life. Libby was a child of the 60s, and wasn't brought up in this way. She marveled at my friends and me making our list of things to do before we died, and she's starting to enjoy setting goals now, too.

There's nothing so satisfying to me as achieving or doing something I've set out to do--whether it be breaking into publishing, becoming an editor, skydiving, or running a race. It helps me feel that I'm doing something, that I'm not drifting through life and standing still. In fact, I'm not standing still--I'm running!

Thanks to Rose for suggesting this race, thank you to Amy and Bryan for being superb hosts (cooked a kick-ass brunch after the race, too!), Julie for cheering me on and taking pictures, and Sachin for cheering me on and treating me to a home-cooked Indian meal at his parent's house. It was a great trip overall. I hope to make it down there again soon!

April 03, 2006

Ode to the Randoms

I just got home from Eveline's 26th Birthday party. I had to leave relatively early, because I'm heading out to DC tomorrow morning for the 10 mile Cherry Blossom race on Sunday. I've never run 10 miles before, so it'll be a challenge, but I have friends cheering me on, and the route should be beautiful, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm posting this now because Eveline's birthday reminds me of a year ago--the rest of our year would be completely altered by the people we met that night.

I started writing this post about six months ago but never finished it. But now, on the anniversary of Eveline and my birth and start of the genesis of the Randoms, I thought I'd finally get it out. Plus, it's been way too long since my last entry.

As I mentioned, Eveline and I say that it all started at her 25th Birthday party at Uncle Ming's last April 1. By this time, she and I were hanging out all the time, as both of us had recently gotten out of long-term relationships. We were going out, hanging out with different groups, excited to meet new people. Her guest list for her party was huge, people from every corner of her life were invited. Her party filled the bar.

At one point later in the night I ran into Eveline and she said, "You should talk to this guy Lee, he works with robot rats--so cool!" Later that night I ended up dancing with Sarah and some random people who I introduced myself to and found out that one of them was the aforementioned Lee. Another was Miguel.

This was the night Eveline and I were born, as we say now.

If you look back at the pictures from Eveline's party, it looks like they're her close friends, when in truth she barely knew them. I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. They were fun and interesting. They had been invited to the party because Miguel was the brother of Jorge, who had dated one of Eveline's best friends.

The next day I found Lee on friendster and sent him a message. He added me to an evite for Miguel's Games Night. Then I ended up on some mass email list he had called "Shit happening this week." I forwarded it to Eveline. "What the heck is this all about?" she didn't know. It was a compilation of different parties and events of people I didn't know--and it was sent to at least 50 people who I also didn't know. I think we found out later that Lee sent out two emails to two groups of 50 people. And if his connection to other people on the list were as tenuous as he and my connection, then there were a lot of random people on the list. And Lee didn't even make it a practice to actually go to many of the events he emailed other people about, something that Eveline and I found incredibly strange.

I kept getting the invites to Games, but I was always busy on Sunday nights and never ended up making it. Eveline went a few times, and the second time was invited to go with them to Founder's Day at Vassar where they went to school. So she went. Had a blast. James became her new best friend. For a time we were calling them Jeveline because they hung out so much.

Then came a free beer event at Happy Ending. I went to see Kung Fu Hustle first with Eveline and James--that was the first time I met James. At Happy Ending I met up with some of my friends, and some of the group soon to be known as the Randoms. I met Matieu and Annabelle for the first time.

Then my roommates and I decided to throw our first bash since I moved in on our rooftop. I joked to Eveline that the party would end up on Lee's email. I was shocked that it actually did, but although I complained, I ended up hanging out with the Randoms for most of the night.

We went to Session 73 afterwards, and Joe saved me from some leering scary guy. They all insisted on putting me in a cab to go around the block so that he wouldn't see where I lived, which I thought was crazy since I only lived half a block away. But that did it: I felt cared for by these people I barely knew.

That sealed my fate. I was now part of the Randoms myself.

There were some Frenchies (including Matieu and Annabelle) who are members of the Randoms, who were here for about 9 months doing internships. For weeks leading up to when they were to leave NY, we would go out almost every single night together. It got so bad that sitting once at dinner on a Sunday night, we had trouble remembering what we had done the previous night, Friday night, Thursday night, etc. It was frightening. And yet fabulous.

We can't quite remember who first used the term Randoms or who named the group. I think it came out of Eveline and I recounting a random adventure to coworkers at lunch, and one of our friends asking, "So, who are these guys?" and us not wanting to go through the complications of explaining it and saying, "Oh, they're just random." Some of the Randoms took/take offense to the name we gave to the group. But it's not meant in a disparaging way. It just refers to the way we met them, the way they're all connected, the way we all hang out, the kinds of adventures we have.

We've all since figured out how we all know each other, and although some are the usual (we work together, we went to school together, we met at a party), many of the connections are, well, random. When asked, "How do you guys know each other?" we always groan and don't always answer. But let's use me and Matieu as an example: "Uh, well, I work with Eveline, and her friend dated this guy Jorge for a long time, and Jorge's brother is Miguel, and Miguel went to school with James, and James works with Charlie, and Charlie's old roommate was Annabelle, and Annabelle went to business school in Paris with Matieu!"

When I think about who my close friends are now, the connections are generally pretty clear. We went to HS or college together. We work together. We live together. Occasionally there's a random connection--perhaps someone is a friend of a friend. And I love and appreciate all of my friends. But I love how random the Randoms are. I smile when I think of them. They are full of energy, joy, adventures. They are friendly and welcoming. They are also all unique individuals full of idiosyncrasies and personality. We are an urban tribe.

Someone told me once that the group was masterminded by Lee, that he had a vision for this large group of people with no real connections to each other, yet hang out all the time. If this was his plan, I would have to say that it has succeeded. We've also since determined that Miguel is also a central member, that he works hard to pull in these random people he deems worthy to hang out with.
So who are the Randoms? We're fun, adventurous, and up for anything. We write funny (sometimes), entertaining (usually), and distracting (always) emails all day long. We send emails and text messages with fun stuff to do constantly. And much of it is free/cheap. We have and go to lots of parties. We're not shy about expressing our affection to each other, both physically (gotta love the hugs!) and verbally. We make (most) people at ease with our openness and acceptance. We probably annoy some people by invading parties and events of strangers and making them our own. We have a lot of Peripherals around to keep the mix fresh. We're a diverse bunch in terms of ethnicity, nationality, gender, and age. We hang out often and know each other well--and yet don't know much about each other at all. Even after the first six months of hanging out, I realized that I had no idea what some of them did for a living, whether they were in relationships or not, where people grew up, where they went to school, if they have siblings, etc. It's mostly about knowing personalities, having fun, caring for one another, getting to know each other slowly.

At the end of the summer I was thinking about the Randoms and how much I like everyone and enjoy hanging out with them and being part of them, and feeling this glow, this wonderful feeling of goodwill towards all. A few days later at one of my BBQs, Miguel said, in front of several other people (including his mother, I think), something about how I was such a nice person and how they all liked me so much and were glad to know me. (Of course, I think this was motivated by the fact that we were having a BBQ on my terrace, and he wanted to ensure that there would be future BBQs on my terrace) I said something, like "I love all you guys, too! You're so awesome" and Jorge or someone said, "That didn't sound very convincing." But I meant it, and that's part of the reason why I decided to write this post. Maybe it's corny, but it's true. Thus, my "Ode to the Randoms"!

So to all you Randoms and Peripherals out there, you rock! I'm so glad you're in my life. Here's to many more random adventures! Happy Anniversary, Lee, Miguel, and Joe. And Happy Birthday, Eveline. I can't wait to hear about the further adventures of the night.

March 31, 2006

Looking back, looking forward

Last Friday was the year anniversary of moving out of my old apartment I shared with my ex. I always like to take note of the landmarks and see how far I've come--that's one thing I like about New Year's, it's a time to reflect on the past year and to look forward to the new. It's hard to believe it's already been a year, but at the same time, so much has happened, so much has changed. And I'm not one to regret things or wish things could be different, and as traumatic as things were, I don't really wish that the events hadn't happened the way they did.

I did something symbolic last week, and I almost didn't go through with it, but in the end I'm glad I did. I think it will let me truly move on. I feel better, I feel freer. And I also feel sad and guilty and selfish. But I did it.

Anniversaries, looking back. I like to read my old journals to help me reflect on how I've changed, and how I've stayed the same. I've kept a diary fairly faithfully since I was ten. They're all stacked up at my parents' house, and I have quite a few with me as well. I'm not really sure what I gain from it, except it's a great record of how I was feeling at the time and helps me put things in perspective. For example, there was one relationship that I had totally put on a pedestal in my head, and when I went back to reread my diary entries from that time, I was shocked to see that I was just as stressed out and insecure as I've been in other relationships.

I think I did okay a year ago with the situation--in fact, better than okay--but when I look back I also see how I acted out. And I also see how I dealt with dating again, and see that I truly wasn't ready, that I rushed into it, but at the same time, I think everything that happened helped me be stronger. Our experiences and how we deal with them makes us who we are, and although I'm not proud of everything I've done, I can never say I truly regret anything, because I wouldn't be where I am without those experiences and decisions.

And now, to look forward. I make New Year's Resolutions every year, and I know it's almost March, but I'd might as well record them here and check in on how I'm doing. It's never too late! These are my resolutions as recorded in my journal in January:

1. Reduce my debt by 1/3 (still doable, despite an expensive, but totally worth it, trip to Thailand. Although now Chris is telling me my computer is shot and that I should buy a new one. Ugg. And also I spent almost $600 yesterday at the optometrist buying contact lenses and new glasses. Ugg again.)
2. Exercise at least 100 times this year, not including walking. But yoga counts. (I've exercised 16 times so far this year. Pretty much on track.)
3. Fall in love! I had originally thought to say "Find my soul mate" but figured this was less pressure. (No comment on this one, don't want to jinx things...)
4. Acquire 3 books at work
5.Run a half marathon (at least). (I'm signed up for a 10 miles run in DC on April 2, so that will put me much closer. I'm also planning to enter the lottery for the NYC Marathon, so we'll see if I make it in. I ran my personal farthest last weekend: 7.74 miles!)
6.Take more time for myself, don't over schedule, have at least one free night each week. (So far, so good! And it feels great, I'm less stressed, spend less money)
7. No candy, except on my birthday, and also excluding situations where not partaking would be impolite or be missing out on a new experience. (this is my 4th year doing this, piece of cake. Speaking of cake...)
8. Only eight (sweet) baked goods a week. (So far so good, although it's been tough, I'll admit.)
9. Call an old friend or family member at least once a week. (not sure if I've done this, although I've definitely tried to keep in touch better with people. You may be hearing from me!)
10. Update my blog at least once a week. (I don't think I've succeeded at this, but I've written more than I might have otherwise)
11. Keep track of expenses (I killed my Palm Pilot in Thailand, and since that's where I kept track of my expenses, this has fallen by the wayside. But I'll either get it fixed or buy a notebook to start doing this again)
12. Obsess less. Learn to identify the things I have no control over and let them go. (I don't think I obsess more than normal, but I hate doing it)
13. Volunteer more (I'm looking into getting involved with CASA--Court Appointed Special Advocates)

That's all I had. We'll see how it goes. I think I'll add one more to avoid unlucky 13:

14. Clear the clutter from my life both at home and at work. Clean my room/desk at least once a month.

Okay. Time to get some work done. We'll see how I do on these resolutions.

February 25, 2006

Thailand!!

Finally...

Thailand in a nutshell.

Well, a big nutshell. The vacation glow has faded, and the memories are fading, too. The big weekend snowstorm has come to an end. Snow everywhere--almost 30 inches, quickly turning to slush. And this darn Thailand blog has been weighing on me for weeks now. I gotta finish it. Gotta post it. I can't take it anymore. So I pounded it out tonight.

Here are some of the more memorable moments from Thailand. Excluding the "What happens in Bangkok stays in Bangkok" moments, of course.

Phuket: first three days

-Finally arriving on Phuket, checking into the gorgeous Katathani resort, reuniting with some of the gang and going for lunch. Walking on the beach and getting a fresh coconut.

-After the wedding rehearsal on the first day on Phuket, Ishmael, Brent, and I go back to our resort for a quick dip in the ocean. Divine. The water feels so amazing, and after over 30 hours of traveling, I have finally arrived and had more than a week of fun ahead of me. Paradise. It's at this moment that I realize how amazingly fun this trip is going to be. In the time leading up to it, I was too busy and anxious to really think about how fun it's going to be, and finally I'm here and enjoying it.

-reunion with everyone at the Welcome dinner. See Peter, who I haven't seen in 8 years or so. Good to see everyone else, too--I think aside from Ishmael, I hadn't seen anyone in at least two years! Mostly college friends.

-meet at a bar at the Katathani later that night, take a midnight dip in the pool and play with Steve's underwater camera, go for a swim in the ocean. Being in the black, black water, stars above, dark horizon beyond was so amazing. We swam in the ocean for three consecutive nights, I think. Those night swims were one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.

-the first few days I remember saying to Ish how I was worried/anxious that the vacation would pass to quickly. He would laugh and say, "It's just beginning!"

-morning of the wedding: get a manicure/pedicure on the beach while others get massages, go back to the room to find that Brent had written out his toast. I had been going over some things in my head, but panic and decide to write mine out, too. Ish comes back to the room and I tell him both Brent and I are writing out our speeches. He starts writing his, too. Meet up with Peggy to go over to Grace and Steve's to get ready and inform her that we all wrote ours down, so she panics and starts writing out her speech at their suite. Steve is loafing around as Grace waits for the hair and makeup people to come. Peggy and I chastise him for being there and seeing her before the wedding, but there really isn't anyplace else for him to go. We all get ready, take some pics before the ceremony, it's hot and humid as hell, everyone's dripping sweat. The girls get to go back to the air conditioned suite to wait for them to let us know they were ready for us. We all forgot to use the restroom beforehand so are delayed getting out there. Ish and Steve tell me later that Brent was convinced that they forgot to tell us to come. Other than that, the ceremony is beautiful. It's a bit surreal, but also awesome, to see Grace and Steve, two of my oldest, closest friends, finally get married.

-more pictures, and then the reception. The room is hot, we're all still pouring sweat, but we can't close the doors and windows and turn on the AC because some of the tables are seated outside. But Grace makes the executive decision to close the doors temporarily and turn on the AC to cool the room down. She says that it isn't as hot for the people outside anyway, because there's a breeze. But we still laugh when we close the doors on the two tables outside--seems a division of classes, somehow: we are in first class with AC, they are the peons outside sweating. Of course that's not really the case, but Ish brings it up later in his toast and everyone thinks it's hilarious.

-our toasts--my first time ever giving a toast at a wedding. We all make Grace and Steve kiss, for longer and longer times. They are notorious for their lack of public affection, aside for the occasional hand holding. Not many of us have ever seen them kiss in public. We all tell stories about them, their relationship, to many laughs, many "awwwws."

-perhaps the most beautiful moment of the entire trip: we all go down to the beach where there are huge lanterns that are lit, and we hold them down until they're ready to be released. They're released all together, and rise, glowing, into the dark sky. They go higher and higher, looking like glowing jellyfish in the sky until they become dots of light that mix in with the stars.

-I go down to the bar at one point to smoke, and pass Steve on his way up holding the bouquet. Uh oh. "We're tossing the bouquet" he says, "That's great." I say and keep going down. He calls after me, but I pretend not to hear. Go down and bum a cigarette from Jason, and then minutes later I hear Grace and Steve SCREAMING my name. Dear god. I don't know what my problem is. I know I should just fricken stand there and let them toss me the bouquet, but as I've noted in a past post, I just hate that sh*t. But I'm a bridesmaid and I should be mature about it, so I go back up, but I'm still holding my cigarette. "How are you going to catch the bouquet with that?" Suzie asks. "Exactly," I say. Grace throws, and it's heading directly towards me, but I kind step to the side and Suzie grabs it right before it's about the hit the ground. Looking back, I feel bad for being so immature about it. Sorry, Grace and Steve! And thanks, Suzie, for not letting it hit the floor.

-We go to the Katathani bar again, swim in the dark ocean again. This time, understandably, Grace and Steve don't come out to meet us.

-The next morning, still jet-lagged, I wake up around 5 or 6 when the birds start screeching. Can't fall back asleep. After a while Ish whispers, "Alvina? Are you up?" "Yeah" "Let's go for a walk" so we try to quietly gather up stuff and leave. I'm still wearing my pajamas. The only thing I grab is my camera. We walk to the beach--it's so peaceful this early. We decide to walk to the large rocks that are near Grace and Steve's hotel, where the wedding was held the night before. We see tons of crabs scurrying away, what looks to be leeches jumping and writhing in the water and on the rock. A guy fishing. We end up climbing up to Mama Tri's and then visit Grace and Steve's door--it's late enough that we know they'll be up and packing--we're all leaving at 9 am to go on a boat trip to Phi Phi island.

-highlights of the boat trip to Phi Phi: there are about 30 of us on this boat. Up front the wind is strong. I know why dogs like to stick their heads out of moving car windows. I love the feel of the wind on my face and in my hair. We go to a cove where there's some floating trash: a sponge, some bottles, and oddly, a light bulb. Find a floating log and have too much fun with it, trying to walk across it. Diving off it. Snorkel near monkey island, watch other tourists feed the monkeys. More snorkeling, swimming, drinking beer on the boat. Land on an odd, small island. Has some of the best snorkeling, but it's really hard and scary to get out to the deep water--navigating around sharp coral and anemones. But it's worth it. "Good times" as Pete kept saying.

-Dinner that night at a restaurant recommended to Christian. We have our first encounter with lady boys, although perhaps in this case, they're simply transvestites. They put on a show. Hilarious. Then off to Patong, an area know for the bars, clubs, and lady boys, as they're called there. There are bars everywhere with poles, and people pole dancing. Hard to tell if any of them were born women, which have had sex changes. Most of us get smashed. We go to see a sex show, the kind of sex show I had tried to see when I had first gone to Thailand about 8 years ago, in Bangkok. Back then, we were unsuccessful. This time, successful. Watch as a woman, wearing only a bra, lies down on the ground with her vagina facing a standing man with a balloon between his legs. Puts a dart inside her, shoots it out and pops the balloon. Then they pulled Sylvester, then Christian up there and pop two more balloons. Different women proceed to do other things with their vaginas, including smoke a cigarette and expel a live turtle. I feel that my life is now complete, now that I've witnessed that.

next 3 nights: Kho Phi Phi

The next day 8 of us took off for Kho Phi Phi for a few nights: Christian, Alan, Suzie, Derek, Ishmael, Pear, Brent, and me. Much different vibe. Not as fancy/touristy, much slower-paced, also much tsunami damage still visible. A lot of rebuilding going on. It was sobering, yet encouraging, to see. Our hotel rooms were separate little bungalows with back decks with a view of the beach.

Phi Phi memories consist mainly of:

-Alan's ridiculous thigh-high terrycloth robe that he'd wear with David Hasselhoff shorts.

-our humungous and delicious seafood dinner the first night

-watching fire twirlers/dancers on the beach

-lying on the beach all day and getting sunburned

-parasailing

-private boat tour on a long boat, snorkeling with little rabid fish attacking us.

-Thai pancakes! With bananas and nutella, with condensed milk, with potatoes and cheese, with egg and cheese and ham. I still crave them now.

-Thai massage

-the Lazy House--this bar/lounge next to our hotel with Thai cushions and hammocks. Chilling.

-the Beach Bar, taking ridiculous pictures.

-the hotel bar, and the friendly bartender Kareem.

next night: Phuket

Back to Phuket for one night where we reunite with Grace and Steve, Peggy and Jason, and Julia.

-Take a swim in the ocean by myself at sunset. So fricken beautiful. Tread water as I watch the sun go down. Join the others at the bar for a while, then Steve comes and wants to swim again so we go in for one last swim in the darkened water and talk. So nice. Try to convince Steve to get him and Grace to move to New York after Hong Kong.

-We all go to a fancy dinner, then a last night of hanging out on the beach at night. Up early the next morning to go to Bangkok.


Last two nights in Bangkok:

-check into the gorgeous Majestic Grande hotel. Ish, Christian, Alan and I share a suite. Pretty nice, new, two fresh coconuts waiting for us, and complimentary polo shirts. Some of us go off to a fancy, huge, new mall. Shopping. The boys get more into it than the girls. Software and electronics.

-Bed Supper Club: fancy dinner club where they serve a 4-course meal to you in bed. A bit surreal. There's a Bed in NYC, but it's funny, I'd only really ever go to a place like that while on vacation. But it's a blast. There are characters walking around as entertainment. Women in high heels, short shorts, huge sunglasses, floppy hats. Tall European in a suit with a gold money sign around hisneck. They put on a show, one of the girls drop her sunglasses, and we steal them. They become our prop for the rest of our stay in Bangkok. The bathrooms at Bed are out of order, so when you have to pee, they direct you outside and down the stairs to a waiting motorcycle or scooter. You hop on the back and they drive you a few blocks to a hotel. Suzie burned her leg badly on the exhaust of one of the motorcycles towards the end of the night. Some dancing. A lot of eating and drinking. Christian and I have a brief pillow fight. Ish, Grace, and I pretend to sleep. Steve and Christa actually DO fall asleep.

-Ishmael meets a group of locals after Bed closes and invites them back to our suite. Alex, Karim, and best of all, Misty--a real, live, lady boy. She's sweet and nice and gracious. And best of all, she likes Ishmael. The quote of the trip: "That Ishmael, he's cute. Does he have a girlfriend? Ishmael doesn't know yet, but I still have my penis." haha! But we hang out with them, they're cool and they take Ish, Christian, Alan, Derek, and me to an after-hours club (most places close around 1 am in Bangkok). We go through a darkened storefront, up stairs through what looks like someone's apartment, and then all of a sudden we're in this packed club playing pounding music. So amazing, so much fun. We dance till 4 or 5, and then go back to our suite. We pass out one by one, until we kick the locals out around 8 am. Sleep for a few hours.

One (more) night in Bangkok:

-Am exhausted the next day. Make it to the market, but am walking around like a zombie, can't really concentrate on buying anything. Others split off to go to the palace, but I've seen that already on my last trip. Have lunch with Grace, Steve, Brent, and Audrey, and then head back to the hotel alone to nap.

-After a quick meal of street food, we rally for a cabaret show called Calypso Cabaret--all the "women" performers are lady boys or transgendered performers. We sit in the front row, and I've never stared at so many crotches so hard, trying to discern if any of them "still have their penises." Don't see any. Some of them are damn beautiful, and overall it's an entertaining performance.

-Head out to another part of town where the nightlife is good. I get my second wind. We go to a place called Tapas and drink vodka drinks. Dance.

-Eat street food across the street (fried chicken, Thai pancakes), then head back to the suite where we attempt to hang out for a while until everyone starts to pass out--not from alcohol (well, for most of us), but from exhaustion. Most of us have to leave at 5:30 am for our flights home. I sleep for one hour.

-On the shuttle to the airport Ish asks me if I'm still anxious that the vacation was going to end too quickly. Ha. I say that it's over now, but that it was the right amount of time. Too much fun, time to go home.

There are some travel snags on the way home, end up having to layover in Taipei and then Anchorage, but I get back late Sunday night. As always, I'm happy to be back in NY--it's truly my home, and I love it here. After one horrible and exhausting Monday at work, I pretty much went back to life as usual.

This has been a great exercise for me, actually, and I'm glad I took the time to sit down and remember the trip. There were so many more memories than what is recorded here, and I hope I'll still remember them when I'm old and gray. Such great times, and thousands of pictures to remember them by, to keep the vacation alive a little longer. (I took over 700 pictures. Others took hundreds as well.) Such a fun group of people to travel with, too--there's talk of traveling someplace different every year. I'm in.

Whew!

And now, I'm free to blog about other things! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone (ugg). I think V-day is stoopid, but I have someone new in my life right now, so I can't be bitter. Life is good, life is an adventure.

February 14, 2006 

SaveSave
SaveSave