Saturday, March 24, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Sidewalk Coral
No I was not under water. This was just somebody's front lawn
shrubbery in California.
Friday, March 09, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Apartment Hopping
I've spent a lot of time with children in the last 8 months, working
as a part-time nanny. As a result, I've also looked out on Manhattan
from some lovely apartments.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Train along the Hudson
Slivers of sun slice through the murky sky
traveling west.
Inviting.
Teasing.
Fleeting.
More tomorrow?
Or is this simply a projection of the day past,
imagined...
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Another Airport Visit...
My mom and I took my dad to the airport on the second day of 2012. He
has to go to China for a month because my grandmother, my dad's mom,
is in the hospital with pneumonia. If you come from an immigrant
family, you're always being taken or taking someone to the airport.
You're always saying goodbye, or hello, but with the knowlege that
goodbye is coming.
The last time my mother and I put my dad on a plane by himself, I was
five years old.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
A New Year...
A good beginning...
I crossed into the new year in with my parents. And the first thing I did on the first day of this year is to go for a run around the little peninsula we live on. Good job Jo (giving myself a little pat on the back)!
Somehow, Jack Gilbert has been on my mind a lot in the last 24 hours. I don't know why. I have never met the man but I did try to call his house once because his number seems to be in the phone book. I just wanted to tell him what an important artist he is, to me, and I hope he remains healthy, and I hope to meet him one day. I think he would be amused by that.
Jack Gilbert is a poet. He is an artist I admire so deeply that I am unable to explain why. Look him up. Buy a book of his. There's only three. Perhaps he'll speak to you the way he does to me.
FALLING AND FLYING
By Jack Gilbert
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It's the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
A night with Maggie and Nicky
Dogsitting Overnight
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
I never had a single pet growing up.
I found a bunny once in the parking lot, but its owner came looking the next day, and there was a turtle that was crossing the road as we drove by, but somehow it died, well, I didn't know what to feed it. But no actual pets that my parents and I picked out and brought home and named. This on top of being an only child of immigrants... if you're a friend of mine, you'd agree, it explains a lot about who I am as a person.
Hence in my imagination and dreams, when I finally grow up and actually own things and take responsibility for them... one of those things is gonna be a dog. I have a few favored breeds but I wouldn't mind a little mutt. I'd let it sleep with me but I will not feed it under the table. And we'd play a lot of fetch in the park and eat outside together as often as possible.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Goh in a Saturday
Goh in a Saturday
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
As the saying goes, be careful what you surround yourself with because
you will become what you surround yourself with. The great thing about
living in New York is that you can surround yourself with some of the
most talented and interesting people in the world. People who love
what they do, are good at what they do, and spreads joy with their
talent and passion.
It's 6:30pm on a Saturday. NYC. I'm listening to Goh Nakamura play a
private concert, 19 stories up in Lower Manhattan. Bliss.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
A View from the Roof
A View from the Roof
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
Trying out my new email uploading tool and hence sharing this gorgeous
view of the train yards. Late night. Post black tie event. Post many
many cocktails. Many.
Graduated!
Graduated!
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
It's now officially one month since graduation. This re-integration into real life, this enrollment into the larger campus of life... it's just as hard as everyone said it would be. And every bit as exciting.
I've suddenly had a lot of time to think. Sometimes that's helpful, sometimes it's detrimental. Either way, I am learning to take ownership of what I do with my time and energy.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Breakfast at Jennie's
Breakfast at Jennie's
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
I'm very lucky to have a few very good girlfriends whom I know will be in my life till the end of it. I wish they all lived in the same city as me, but I guess you can't have everything. However, on the occasions we can be in the same room together, we celebrate with great food, and drinks, and gossip, and laughter. Lots of it.
My favorite dive
My favorite dive
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
When I first moved to New York after college, the first show I got cast in was an adaptation of a famous Chinese play from the 1930 and we rehearsed in the basement of the Transfiguration Church in Chinatown. And every other night, after every other rehearsal, on my way to the subway, my cast mates and I would stop for a drink at Winnie's Bar & Lounge. The place is like a time capsule and the karaoke selection, played off an ancient TV that looks like the wardrobe that takes you to Narnia, ends in the early 90s.
I thought that was the life. Finally I was living like a real actor in New York City, all because I was in a show, I rode home on the subway, and I had my own dive bar hangout.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Late Night Dressing Room Fun
Late Night Dressing Room Fun
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
The Juilliard women's dressing room has been my second home for the last four years. The amount of history and memories these rooms and each desk contain cannot be capture by a single camera or recounted by any one person... I'm just gonna make the most of my time there before eviction day.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
A View From A Gym
A View From A Gym
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
As graduation approaches and the realities of the real world dawn on me, I've finally started using the Juilliard gym. It's not the best equipped gym in the world, but at 22 stories up, it does have a spectacular view of midtown Manhattan and the Hudson River.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Art Deco Lobby
Art Deco Lobby
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
It's good to have friends, especially friends with normal office jobs. For example, my dear friend Cheryl works in the historic RCA Building aka, the General Electric Building, and whenever I have time to kill during the week I like going to her office for a free cup of coffee, a nap on the couch, or, on this occasion, partake in the girl scout cookies one of her colleagues left in the break room.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Walking
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Wintery beach
Wintery beach
Originally uploaded by jo.mei.
The New England beach in winter is no joke. The wind is bitter and unforgiving, even as the sun blinds you from the sky and surf. Despite all this, I can't resist a brisk walk close to the water... something about the millions of broken seashells and the carpet of seaweed at low tide and the flocks of seagulls... make me feel at peace with my minute existence.