UN for Taiwan!

Last Saturday, September 15, hundred of thousands of people rallied around the world to support Taiwan's bid for UN membership. I participated in the peace rally in NYC across from the UN (although I wasn't able to stay for the march).

There were a lot of people there despite the early hour and threatening rain. Everyone was festive and friendly, excited. The speakers energized the crowd--it was hard to judge how many people were there, but I'd guess 500-1,000, some of them having traveled from far and wide, some caravaning together on buses, to be there. There was even a performance of John Lennon's Imagine. I wore my "Dai wan lang" (Taiwanese) T-shirt, waved green flags, and chanted "UN for Taiwan! UN for Taiwan!"I'm not an overly political person (although I of course do have certain strong beliefs), but I do think that Taiwan is rightfully an independent, sovereign country--it's a democracy, has it's own president and political system, and is so separate from China in almost every way. Unfortunately, the UN rejected the membership bid. I don't know when/if Taiwan will ever win their bid, but I know they will keep trying, and I applaud everyone's efforts.

You can read more about the rally and the politics behind it here and here.


UN for Taiwan!

100 Words a Day

My roommate Rose has been contributing to the blog 100 Words a Day. Check it out here. It's a cool idea and an interesting exercise; I think 100 words can sometimes last forever, and sometimes seem way too short. At any rate, I decided to make this post exactly 100 words to see how it feels. A bit weird, to be honest. Each word feels at risk of being wasted, but also feels worth something more.

I've been thinking about trying something new every day. This is one of my new things for today. My very first 100 word post.

Poems for Grace and Robert

Elaine has recently posted two lovely poems on Wild Rose Reader for Grace and Robert that really touched me. Read them here and here.

New beginnings

It's been a roller coaster few weeks for sure, going from sadness to happiness, mourning to celebration and back again. To highlight the celebration, I thought I'd share my animoto.com video from my cousin Jason's wedding to Jen in NYC, including a few pics from the after-party and after-wedding picnic in Central Park. It was a beautiful, personal, flat-out fabulously fun wedding. I wish them all the happiness in the world.

In Memory of Robert Salvatore Mercer

In case you haven't yet heard the sad news that we posted over at Blue Rose Girls last week, Grace Lin's husband Robert passed away last Monday:
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Our dearly beloved Robert passed away on Monday, August 27, 2007 at the age of 35. Robert, with his great passion for life, accomplished many dreams. With a Bachelor in Architecture degree from Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Architecture degree in Urban Design from Harvard University, he led a successful career including work with world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. He was a remarkable man who battled Ewings Sarcoma Cancer for over five years with strength, spirit, and determination. After being diagnosed, Robert and his wife founded Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure, which to date has raised more than $200,000 for cancer research.

Robert was blessed with wonderful parents, Anna Valente and Edward Mercer, a loving wife and soulmate Grace Lin, his sister Alison (husband Garry Butler), his brothers Tam and Greg, and an adoring grandmother Angela Rossi Valente. Robert will be lovingly remembered by his aunt Vicki and uncle Tony Valente, his cousins Michael (wife Lori Martins) and Lisa, the Lin family, as well as his many relatives and friends. We wish to celebrate Robert’s life; we welcome all those friends and loved ones who want to celebrate with us.

Visitation at:
Centre funéraire Côte-des-Neiges
4525 Côte-des-Neiges road, Montréal
(514) 342-8000
on Thursday, September 6, 2007 from 4 to 9 p.m. and on Friday, September 7, 2007 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. followed by a religious ceremony in the chapel of the funeral home at 10:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, we would ask that you make a donation, in Robert’s name, towards Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund
Attn: Lauren Nash, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline, MA 02445-7226. Please make checks out to "Robert's Snow." If you make an online donation, mark it in memory of Robert Mercer and note "Robert's Snow" in the note section.

Please also support Robert's Snow for Cancer's Cure this Fall.
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I was roommates with Grace when she and Robert started dating. He hung out at our apartment a lot, making fun of how much candy we all ate. He never tired of laughing at my I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray butter that I would squirt onto my popcorn; I liked to make fun of his love for his car. He loved hearing the juicy details of my dating life. I liked asking him for music recommendations. We saw a few movies together, especially since Grace wasn't a huge movie fan. I remember all of us going to concerts together, going dancing, fruit picking, and lots of lots of eating out, especially Ethiopian food at Addis Red Sea. Grace and Robert's rainy wedding day, their last day in Boston, having them over at my parent's house in CA for Thanksgiving during their brief stint in LA, when my mother made me sing "This Land is Your Land" in front of all of their guests.

The other day I was sorting through old cards and letters and came across a card Grace and Robert had given to me on my 25th birthday. I thought Robert's note perfectly captured his personality:

"You're old now, but at least you're still good looking."

That was Robert to a T. We will all miss him dearly.

Happy Anniversary to me

Today is my eight-year anniversary of working at my company. It's been an amazing, rewarding eight years. I remember my interview and first days at my job. I remember setting my goal of becoming an editor, and the moment I achieved my goal. I remember my first acquisition, my last acquisition (yesterday!), my first office, my first time interviewing for an intern, for an assistant, my first agent lunch, my first auction book, my first performance review.

I can't say I've loved every second of it, but I can say that I'm extremely happy with where I am, am constantly challenged and inspired, and I still absolutely love my job. None of my firsts feel that long ago, so it's hard to believe it's been eight years. I remember when I first started and heard that some of the other assistants had been there two years; it seemed like an incredibly long time to me. But as well as things have been going, I would be extremely happy to be at my company for another eight years. I know I'm always rah rah rah when I talk about my job (even when I'm talking about the things I hate), but for me, an anniversary is an opportunity to look back and where I came from and where I am now, and I am happy.

NYC half-marathon, take two

I ran the NYC Half Marathon this morning. All week I was a little nervous about the weather--it's been incredibly hot, stuffy, and humid in New York, and although I knew the race started early (7 am) I was still worried about the race conditions. But it turned out to be a beautiful morning for running. A little hot, sure, but overall just gorgeous.

My realistic goal was to beat last year's time of 10 minute 23 second miles, and my outside goal was to average under 10-minute miles. The results have just been posted, and I averaged 9 minute 31 second miles! Almost a whole minute better than last year. This despite getting most of my carbs this weekend via beer.

Rose and I started the race together as we did last year, but lost each other after the first mile. I felt pretty good in the Park, familiar territory.

Early on I run behind a guy in a bright blue Speedo, knee-high red and white socks, bright blue running shoes, and nothing else. "Full Moon Rising" and "nakedauthor.com" were written on his back in big black letters. He was holding a copy of his book. I see him all throughout the race and at the finish line. Pretty memorable publicity campaign. Also ran behind a tall man in a turban with a T-shirt stating "Proud to be Sikh." Two girls with bunny ears. "Good job, bunnies!" a woman cheered.

After one lap around, maybe mile 6 or 7, all of a sudden I look down to my right and see this big dog (I think a rottweiler) rotting trotting happily next to me. He's going at my exact same pace, and so we run together for a few minutes. He's slobbering everywhere, but I'm so delighted and charmed that I don't mind. But after a few minutes he gallops ahead. I don't know who his owner was. After he left, the guy next to me looks over and says, "That was the coolest thing ever!" and I agree.

The moment we exit the Park on 7th Avenue, heading down toward Times Square, is one of my favorite things about this race. Crowds are cheering, and it reminds me of running the marathon. Makes me want to run it again. Towards 42nd Street there's a double-decker bus with a band playing Greenday's "When I come around" and I can't help but sing along. After the race, Rose tells me that as she passed, they were singing "Eye of the Tiger."

Last year, I remember having trouble on 42nd Street heading towards the West Side Highway, but this year I'm feeling good and keeping up my pace. It's not until after mile 10 that I start to struggle a little. I realize that I hadn't run more than 10 miles since the marathon in November, about 9 months ago. But then again, I know that I've done it before, so I keep going. At this point, I know I'm going to make my goal, so even though I drop my pace down to 10-minute miles, I'm happy.

Sad/scary moment: around mile 11 I see up ahead a runner down, lying on his/her back with three people huddled around. As I got closer I saw them tapping his/her chest, and a woman runner stopped and said she was nurse and if they needed help. Looked to my left and saw that we were right across from Ground Zero. Two police officers head toward them. I hope all turned out okay...

At 200 meters to go, I pick up the pace, and with the finish line in sight, I start sprinting. Reminder to self for last year--start sprinting sooner. I still had some gas to spare at the end.

Rose and I celebrated the race with a few friends this afternoon with bagels and mimosas on the terrace. Fantastically beautiful day, clear blue sky, nice breeze to cool things off, 6 different kinds of cream cheese.

I just woke up from a short nap. Luxuriating in a free evening to relax.

This was another full weekend. Caught up on Entourage and Flight of the Conchords (I love those shows!) on demand. Housewarming party in Soho Friday night with some of the Randoms. Spent yesterday afternoon/evening in Astoria saying goodbye to some good friends who will be moving away to Australia soon. So sad. But we had a nice time at the Bohemian Beer Garden. Played with baby Ali who liked to wander the grounds, making new friends. Two friends from Boston who moved away from NYC a few months ago came down for the goodbye party and stayed with me. Please, nobody else move away! I can't take it! But that's NY for you, I suppose. Such a transitory city. I should get used to it.

Fireflies and bats

I usually prefer to run in the morning, when I'm fresh and everything's quiet and new. I like to start of my day with exercise, and then feel good about it for the rest of the day. But lately I've been running more often in the evening. Tonight, the sky was a soft pink and purple, the clouds that had been threatening rain now glowing with the light of the setting sun. And what I love about running in Central Park at twilight is that when the sun starts to set, the fireflies come out.

Fireflies remind me so much of my suburban childhood, living in the northeast, running around in the backyard with the neighborhood kids while our parents sat in lounge chairs closer to the house. We'd catch fireflies in our hands, open the palms a crack and peek in, hoping that the firefly would light up, but knowing that it wouldn't. Noting how odd it was that such an ugly bug could make such a magical light.

I didn't see fireflies anymore after we moved to California--I suppose because of the climate. I didn't see them again until five years ago, my first summer of living in NY (never noticed them in Boston, for some reason). I was on the West side, heading home after watching a friend's softball match. They were out like crazy in Riverside Park. Sparkling, almost like Christmas lights. They were there on my walk home through Central Park. So beautiful.

The bats also come out at night. This reminds me of one night while living in Taiwan, standing across from Da An Gong Yuan (Big Peace Park) at twilight. One of my friends looked up into the streetlight. "I love watching the bats," he said. "The what?!" I had never noticed any bats. I looked to where he pointed, at what I had always thought were birds flying, but sure enough, they had the erratic flight of bats. Kind of creepy, really, but also cool. Observing nature in the city.

Bats fly jerkily in the lamplights of Central Park, too. I wonder if any of the bugs they're catching are fireflies.

Party pics from my rooftop birthday party

I made this using my cousin's new site, animoto.com. It's in beta testing right now, so not open to the public, but I think it's launching on August 14th. It's really cool!

Editorial letters

I posted over at Blue Rose Girls on Monday, and there's a nice discussion going on regarding editorial letters here.

And also, am cross-posting this on both blogs (meant to do this ages ago!):

My former colleague Amy Lin (formerly Amy Hsu) has launched editomato, " a small, online business offering developmental editorial services to children's book writers aiming to be published in the trade market." Amy is an incredibly fantastic and well-respected editor with superb taste, and when we worked together, I relied on her heavily for editorial advice and support. She left the company to move away to where her husband lives. How dare she.

Amy was responsible for getting Patrick McDonnell on our list, and edited his NY Times Bestselling The Gift of Nothing. She has edited such beautiful books as What Are You So Grumpy About? by Tom Lichtenheld, Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo by Greg Leitich Smith, The Geography of Girlhood by Kirsten Smith, and after her departure freelance edited Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass and Exploratopia by the Exploratorium.

So, if you want a great editorial letter, check out her site! It's adorable and nicely designed, to boot. Plus, she's a great friend!