Lunamania

Spending summers in Tokyo meant watermelons, fireworks (legal over there), festivals, grandparents and wary use of a most lethal household appliance--the fan. While no one seemed to give a second thought to me and my brother shooting off bottle rockets at each other or careening down major highways on our little bicycles sans helmet, we were warned at every instance of the possibility of the fan chopping all of my fingers off with their razor sharp blades. But becoming finger-less was easily avoidable--no matter how tempting, don't stick fingers in the fan. More dangerous was the creeping, silent, mysterious, but most certain Death by Fan.

It looks so harmless...

For folks who did not grow up in mortal fear of stealth oxygen deprivation via innocent looking cooling fans, "fan death" --with it's very own wikipedia entry--is a widely held belief in South Korea and Japan that sleeping with the fan on will Kill You. How? Who cares. You will die. No adult was ever able to explain to me how/why/mortality rates of Fan Death. Nevertheless, this was like a public health mantra similar to wash your hands and gargle when you get home. Fan Death was not some clever adult ruse to get children to eat greens or save energy. This was Fan Gospel and no one in my family ever slept through the night with the fan on.

I recently learned that Fan Death originated in South Korea and just now heard on PRI/NPR that a Korean Broadcasting Station report debunking the myth of Fan Death was met with all kinds of disbelief and cries to hold the reporter personally accountable when the next person dies.

I am not ashamed to admit that until very recently (like 3 years ago) I firmly believed in fan death. I did not have air conditioning during muggy New York summers. I couldn't find any fans with timers at K-Mart. So I set up a window fan and a smaller floor fan that I pointed away from me at night. Somehow I felt this crafty configuration would facilitate the proper air flow that would prevent my housemates from finding me dead in bed. I am not kidding. I was disavowed of my belief in Fan Death when I raised it--I was serious! --as a concern when the Home Improvement Monkey and I considered putting in a ceiling fan. A fan going all night right over my head!! Just kill me now. I guess I no longer believe in Fan Death, but we still don't have a ceiling fan...

Posted by at 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The NY Times Book Review has a special slot on my Sunday schedule. In this a.d.d. world, it affirms that books, and more importantly, the time consuming process of mulling over words and putting together sentences that convey thoughts clearly--the act of writing, is still valued. Book Reviews in the Times generally go on for 3 pages before even mentioning the actual book and then it gets like 2 paragraphs--with a quick reference to a third book for comparison. I'm fine with that. They're always well written and this sort of reviewer is often not a book critic per se, but an "expert" in the subject matter. So historians compare the book with others exploring related disasters/discoveries; political consultants frame the ideas against the prevailing strategies of whatever domestic/foreign policy; and professors parse the un/successful efforts to riff on various writerly, pop culture, way back in the day, or other influence. It's a macro read of the big concepts in a book. I enjoy reading them in part because it's reassuring to know that books are still subjects of and a means to explore big and small ideas.

Those reviews make some parts of my brain feel bigger, but they have never made me feel close to the reviewer or author. I'm often left thinking, "That was a very smart intellectual exercise. So was it a good book? Was it well written? Did it have funnies? Do you even LIKE to read?" Reading with Francine Prose is like the opposite of this macro read. She's like my new best friend. She shares her exuberance for a well chosen quirky word and graceful sentences and reminds me of the pleasures of savoring each word. She loves to read. She writes well about her love of reading--not an easy meta task. This book reminded me of all the reasons why it's SO WRONG that 1 in 4 Americans did not read a book last year. Anyway, I've been carting this around and making mental appointments to read snippets of it at a time--kind of like a cozy coffee date with a new friend. Check it out.

Posted by at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday was a delicious birthday afternoon with many friends, two dogs and one Michelin Man disguised as a baby. Once again, I grilled under the watchful tutelage of Teacher Derek. The Monkey got to celebrate with excellent company, spam musubi, hamburgers, Taylor's sausages and her favorite rum cake from Dianda's (thanks,Catherine and Laura!) The dogs begged for scraps. The baby tried to avoid being kidnapped by his new fan club. I hope folks had fun and thanks everyone for making it all happen. Pictures are here.

Posted by at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy grill


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Posted by at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Seems that temp agencies around the world use the same tactics to cheat workers.

Posted by at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Warning: ear worm ahead.

Posted by at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I listened to a lot of Jawaiian (reggae meets local sounds) radio during our stay in Kauai. It was harder to find more traditional Hawaiian songs on the airwaves, but here's a classic. There is a Cher inspired "dance remix" of this song, but I'll spare you all. Kawaipunahele, Keali'i Reichel.

Posted by at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just finished a surprisingly painless upgrade to Movable Type 4. Visitors to Lunamania won't notice, but the back end is much sleeker (screenshot above.) Now, I need to become a more interesting person and have witty tidbits or breaking news to share.

Posted by at 7:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Americans really are getting dumber. 1 in 4 adults read NO books last year...

Posted by at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Photo_08.jpg


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Pam da Funkstress, LIVE @ butttaaaah! Yay Area!!!

Posted by at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Photo_08.jpg


Originally uploaded by lunamania

The long wait was worth it! An excellent coconut lemongrass sherbet from Ici Ice Cream in Bezerkley. Thanks to Natsumi and Pablo for the intro.

Posted by at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Actually, my address does. I'm often raving about how great my neighborhood is: farmer's market every Friday (literally one block away); the best handmade sausages in the Bay Area at Taylor's; Jack's meats the friendly butcher; a fish market; Ratto's for all your sandwich, cheese, olive and other bougie food needs (even have pate); ye old bodega for incense, lighter gas, ice cream and whatnot; the gym; Jesso's for nightly live music; a microbrewery pub; Tamarindo for tapas. All that is less than 3 blocks from my house and on the 4th block, it's boba, pho, pork items and free buses to Vegas from Chinatown. If all that boasting is not enough, thanks to Sunny, I have real estate broker proof that I live in a superbly walkable neighborhood.
96 points for downtown Oakland! My old address in Brooklyn gets an 80.

It's a little sketchy that the University of Phoenix is listed under walkable "schools" in my neighborhood. Since they are an "online university", I suppose you could "walk" there from any address. Check it out, it's kinda fun. Walk Score.

Posted by at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

As the pictures indicate, Hawai'i was beautiful and tasty to boot. Two weeks of floating in the ocean, mai tais, multiple bowls of ox-tail soup, many plates involving "two scoop rice and mac salad", exploring new music, hikes that took us on lush adventures and countless waterfalls and a final weekend of doing more of the same while the Bicycling With a Purpose Monkey raised over $6,000 for Malama Pono on her AIDS ride--many thanks to our friends for supporting!

It was lovely, but I'm glad to be home. Hawai'i is a difficult place to be for too long. Knowing my rental car and ABC store reliant self was chipping away at these achingly beautiful islands ("it's so pretty it hurts my eyes!") started eating at me. While I wasn't one of the hundreds of people marching ON TOP of the coral reefs, or the Marriott literally tearing chunks out of Oahu to create man made bays and beaches, my presence--especially on Waikiki--was definitely not part of the solution. Staying w/friends on Kauai and to accompany The Monkey on her ride was better, but even the Chicken Island, I mean Garden Island is straining from the rising tourist trade. The three lane road that connects most of Kauai is now bumper to bumper during rush hours and between 2PM - 6PM. That would be all day.

If I were local, I would find it near impossible to resist committing acts of violence like key scratching every Saturn, Ford escort and Mustang convertible; sabotaging the Aveda, Hilton and Outrigger armies claiming all the beachfront property; and deporting the island versions of the street punks on Haight St. And I think given today's "domestic terrorist" headlines, I should stop here.

I know I'm sounding terribly ungrateful, but had to vent. Perhaps the key is to stick to visiting friends on Kauai. Many thanks to folks who graciously hosted us and to our friends here who looked out for our animoooos, fetched us from the airport and supported the Malama Pono through the Monkey's Ride.

Posted by at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gettin leid in Kauai for the AIDS Ride


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Posted by at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Fluffy malasadas@Leonard's


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Posted by at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunset at Waikiki


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Posted by at 2:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The view from Diamond Head


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Posted by at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Helena's


Originally uploaded by lunamania

We learned Helen Chock passed recently, but her food lives on @Helena's. Pipikaula ribs, ahi poke, 2 scoop rice and haupia- all excellent and all $10.

Posted by at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aloha, spam musubi @L&L!


Originally uploaded by lunamania

Posted by at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)