Fishgirl Speaks

A Day of Ceremonies

Last Saturday we said goodbye to one and celebrated the joining of two.

Friend and supporter of The Choral Project, Will Kaven, passed away on June 15th. Saturday morning, I sang with other members and alums of the choir at his memorial in Fremont. As one of the speakers pointed out, we frequently learn more about a person when honoring his memory than we do in life. I only knew Mr. Kaven as a dedicated fan of the choir, and as an excellent traveling friend when he and his wife Mae toured the UK with us in 2004. You would never have known he was 84. At the service, we learned of his amazing life, including that he served 32 years in the Air Force as a fighter pilot in both WWII and the Vietnam War. The memorial service touched on all aspects of his life, including his service to his church (reading and hymns), his love of music (three songs from The Choral Project), his love of culture/heritage (attended Scottish games - bagpiper played a couple of tunes), and his military service (presentation of flag, Taps, and 21-gun salute).

From the memorial service, we sped directly to Pleasanton for Timir and Komal's wedding. After a quick change, we pulled into Casa Real just in time to see some of the baraat. Timir was riding high atop a white horse, surrounded by revelers in the pre-ceremony procession.

Upon entering the hall, we were greeted by Ganesha, Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles.

He also appeared as a graphic (designed by yours truly) on the invitation and programs.

The ceremony was lovely, with handy explanations in the program. And while steeped in ritual, it was not without its light moments, being such a happy occasion. The lighting in the hall was of candle-light quality - great for being there, not so great for our camera. In any case, here is Timir, waiting for his bride to appear on the other side of the bridal curtain (sorry, don't remember the proper term).

The idea is that in a traditional, arranged marriage, the groom sees the bride for the first time when the curtain is dropped. The officiant (again, terms? sorry) encouraged them to act surprised. We all had a good chuckle at that.

Another pic from later in the ceremony:

After the ceremony there was quite a long break until the cigar and cocktail hour. Some folks went to their hotels to rest and change. Charles and I walked around, did an impromptu modeling session, and was joined by Matt.

After the photo session, we went across the street to Starbucks, where Matt took this pic with his phone:

Cigar and cocktail hour isn't exactly Indian custom, but it is Timir custom. We got there early, so I was able to snag Timir, still in his wedding attire, for a quick pic:

The bar offered two drinks named after the guests of honor: the Key Lime to Komal's Heart and the Timir Today, Gone to Maui. Here I am with the latter and a wee cigar:

Finally, dinner time came. Timir and Komal, in a change of wardrobe, made their grand entrance. A few words were said, then we were released table by table to the buffet. Given that there were roughly 400 guests, the three identical buffet tables made the lines move quickly. The food was excellent, and easy for the vegetarians! Here's our table, before dinner, minus Matt, who was off taking pictures somewhere:

The cake cutting was not trumpeted much, but I happened to be on hand.

Notice the henna on Komal's hands.
The cake was German chocolate cake and white cake with mango cream filling/frosting. Yum!

Shortly after cutting the cake, Timir said a few words, and announced that he would dance AND sing to Komal. Well, OK, he used a recording, but it was beautiful. He and Jack of the trio had recorded a cover of Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World (Israel Kamakawiwo Ole's version). Having kicked off the dancing, the DJ dug in with a combo of Indian beat and hip hop. What a blast! We worked the dance floor for a bit, started to fade, and headed home.

The day was an impressive array of how to mark a special occasion with meaning.

No, this isn't at all familiar

Go here if the video embed ain't happening, or just go there to find more Simon's Cat vids.

Recess!

Last week, I quit my kung fu school. The long and short of it is that the path the school is taking does not mesh with the path I want to be on. I'm still a student with much to learn, but for now I'll be training and exploring on my own (and with Charles).

For the first time in, say, 15 years, I have nothing regularly scheduled during the week. Yep. You read that right. Nothing, nada, zip. How fabulously freeing! you think. Well, yes, and at the same time, it makes me itchy. It's not that I don't have things to do. There are always things to do. There's just no schedule to tell me when to do them, no group of people to meet up with who will be doing similar things. Oh wait! I still meet with a group of kung fu students and we work out on Sundays. OK, I have one thing scheduled.

On Saturday, a friend said to me of my new situation, "It's nice - you'll have some time just to think." Actually, I'm kind of hoping I can use some of this time to learn how NOT to think. Most of the time, my head is a maelstrom of activity. I think that's why I watch TV, as I'm still in search of my own shut-the-hell-up button. TV is handy that way.

In the meantime, I'm declaring recess. Remember those days? When you'd get a break from cramming your brain full of numbers, words, and concepts and you'd run around on the grass and in the playground, playing different games all the time? I have a few ideas to keep me moving and expand my martial artistry and physical education:

• Crossfit (totally psyched about this one)
• Yoga (here and here)
• Capoeira
• Pilates
• Belly Dancing (hey, I dig the music)

I love that all of these have a drop-in option.
I'd also like to dig deeper into some of the stuff I've already learned, like:

• Praying Mantis
• I Chin Ching
• Drunken Style
• Eagle Claw
• T'ai Chi

Yes, I still have a backyard to work on and a studio to build. I also have an old scrapbooking project that will probably get pulled out this week. Always, always things to do. But, hey, if you get a recess and want to play too, just let me know!

Food for Thought

Back in January, I wrote a post titled "It Takes Money to Be A Tree Hugger." While slightly tongue-in-cheek, there's some real truth to that. Some even go as far as to call it "Green Apartheid." I think that's a little over the top, personally, but Colin Beavan adds some global perspective over on No Impact Man:

Equity or the end of the planet

Yesterday I posted this joke:

Q: What's the difference between a developer and an environmentalist?

A: A developer is someone who wants to build a cabin in the woods; an environmentalist is someone who already has one.

What struck me about it was the truth in it, a truth we need to be aware of. Let me recast it.

Q: What's the difference between the developer of a coal power station from the developing world and an environmentalist who fights the development of coal power from the developed world?

A: The developer just wants a better life for his country's citizens. The environmentalist and his fellow nationals already have a good life.

By 2050, there will be nine billion people but only one billion from the developed world. The one billion of us from the rich countries can go zero impact, but if the other eight billion still have to burn coal for a better life, we're done for.

Not only do we have to find a way to reduce our resource consumption in the United States and Western Europe, but paradoxically, we also have to find a way to transfer renewable energy to the developing world so they can consume more.

Make no mistake. Solving climate change, ultimately, is an equity problem.

Something to think about.

Yesterday I posted this joke:

Q: What's the difference between a developer and an environmentalist?

A: A developer is someone who wants to build a cabin in the woods; an environmentalist is someone who already has one.

What struck me about it was the truth in it, a truth we need to be aware of. Let me recast it.

Q: What's the difference between the developer of a coal power station from the developing world and an environmentalist who fights the development of coal power from the developed world?

A: The developer just wants a better life for his country's citizens. The environmentalist and his fellow nationals already have a good life.

By 2050, there will be nine billion people but only one billion from the developed world. The one billion of us from the rich countries can go zero impact, but if the other eight billion still have to burn coal for a better life, we're done for.

Not only do we have to find a way to reduce our resource consumption in the United States and Western Europe, but paradoxically, we also have to find a way to transfer renewable energy to the developing world so they can consume more.

Make no mistake. Solving climate change, ultimately, is an equity problem.

Something to think about.

Breathing Now

 

Last Saturday, June 21st, I tested to my fourth degree black belt. It's an ass-kicker of a test, to be sure, but at 7 a.m. it's even more, um, testy. Having spent about three years preparing for this test, it's a mighty big relief to have it over and done with. That doesn't mean I don't have plenty of work to do, but at least I can breathe a little bit for the moment.

Reverse Graffitti

Reverse Graffitti is when you remove dirt to create art. How cool is that?

Check out the video, too.

Trippin' - part 2

Welcome to part 2 of the Summer of '08 mini trips, in which we go to Tennessee for Charles's daughter's high school graduation.

I'll spare y'all the tales of unpleasant air travel, as I'm sure it's already quite familiar. In any case, we arrived fairly late on Monday, May 26th, in terms of both schedule and time of day. C4 met us at the airport in Knoxville, and then we drove about an hour to Gatlinburg. We chilled in the somewhat peculiar hotel room (clean, but excessively patterned, plus aqua sink and tub!). Jami drove over with her boyfriend to visit briefly. Of course, big brother C4 gave him the eye. He left when they did to go stay with some friends, and Charles and I crashed out.

We tried to hook up for lunch the next day, but I think Jami was pretty busy getting ready for graduation. Charles and I had a good time wandering about town - we could walk from the hotel into downtown Gatlinburg. It was warm and humid, but not disgustingly so. Downtown is all tourist oriented. In order of frequency, there are about a billion mini-golf places, then Old Tyme Photos (one of which Charles used to work at), then pancake houses, and then assorted ventures owned by Ripley's Believe it or Not. We had lunch, strolled back to the hotel, and zonked out for a nap.

Graduation was at the convention center off main street, so we drove down to grab dinner, then headed over. The place was packed, but we found some wall space in back. There were two Salutorians and 7 or 10 Valedictorians who all gave short, similar speeches. Then they read the names of the 175ish students. You wouldn't think it would take that long, but they read off where they were headed for college (or entering the work force) and all of the scholarships they earned. Holy effing shit, that school is a scholarship machine. Every single student going to college had some scholarship money. Jami earned about $96,000. I think the highest individual take was around $250,000. The grand total haul by the class of 2008 was 8.4 million. I kid you not!

 

After a lot of elbowing and periscoping, we finally found Jami in the lobby. Hugs around, and some photos of course. Earlier I had asked Charles about a graduation present, and he said he was going to go with ye olde cash. When we shopped for a card, I saw some photo albums and suggested we get a small one, and put the twenties in the photos slots. Around dinner that evening, I realized we didn't have any sort of gift bag to wrap everything in, so I hit one of the many shops. Not finding any gift bags, I figured I'd look for a cool t-shirt or scarf to wrap it in and found a pretty, bright teal handmade scarf, probably from Thailand, to wrap it in. The California hippie gets one in with the eco-wrapping. Turns out, Jami is very into photo albums right now, and the scarf matched the dress she was wearing under the graduation gown. Score beaucoup points for dad's new girlfriend!

The next morning, neither of our two alarms went off and we woke up about half an hour later than we wanted to leave. We made it to the airport OK, with about 15 minutes to spare before boarding. That flight ran late, and our already tight connection was just made tighter. The landing gear of our incoming flight came out right as our outbound flight was scheduled to board. We deplaned, raced to the connecting flight, and had our tickets scanned right as they made their final boarding call. Although we made the connection, our bag did not. Continental delivered it to our neighbor the next morning.

And now, a few snaps, mostly of the curiously touristy Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg:

 

Tennessee was very green.

 

Crazy, quasi-castle themed building in progress.

 

 One of a brazillion mini-golf places.

 

Not your every day pizza joint.

 

One of many Ripley owned buildings.

 

Another building in progress with no distinguishing features, except for that shark of a portal.

 

(psst - for you Californians out there, Tactical Outdoor Accessories = guns and knives)

 

Early morning, outside our motel, day of departure, May 28th.

Telecommuting

Have You Met?

Forgive me if I haven't introduced you already. This is my goddaughter Elinor.

This little button had a lovely and thoughtful naming ceremony on Sunday, which was also her papa's first Father's Day.

I am fortunate to count not only her parents as close friends, but also her other god/goddess parents.

From left to right we are Fairy Godfather Ben, Earth Mama Juanita, Ask Uncle Jack, and Cosmic Auntie Robin.

BTW, she is also known as Princess Crazy Hair.

I'm sure you'll get along fabulously. She's quite the charmer after all.

Photo Purrfection

I am continually in awe of the quality pics on Itty Bitty Kitty Committee.
I particularly like the caption/comment that goes with this one:

 

Picketts in the Pansies is also particularly precious.