Pictures from The Engagement Party

My gorgeous older sister and her fiance.


B and me.


Guess who "had" to drink the extra champagne?


My cousin and her son (my nephew). So cute!


My, how our family has grown.

Sha la la

Today Darren, his friend Zhen from CFR, his friend Stephanie from P'ton, and I went to watch the taping of tonight's Daily Show with John Stewart. It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to finally meet the friends Darren talks about so much. Strange that, though Stephanie was at P'ton at the same time as us, and though she and Darren are so close, I'd never met her before. She was very cool though. I approve. ;-) Zhen also seemed very sweet, if a little shy and quiet. Or maybe she was just really really cold from waiting outside in line to get into the studio.

The show itself was of course awesome. The guest was Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium and host of NOVA miniseries "Origins." His interview was by far the best part, though Darren and I seemed to be laughing louder and more often during it than anyone else in the studio. Maybe 'cause we're nerdier than the average person. I can't believe I hadn't gone to a taping sooner. It's free, you just have to be willing to wait 2 hours in line. I am really not taking advantage of all the city has to offer. And needless to say it offers a lot. Depressing.

Tomorrow my SAT kids take their 2nd practice SAT test. Interested to see if they'll have improved at all. Saturday I begin my second SAT course, all the way out in Flushing. :-( Inconvenient, but oh well. Hopefully those kids will be as good as the ones I have now. I think I still prefer my job at the restaurant, but the kids make it fun.

Just wanted to make a quick update. My sister expressed concern that I hadn't updated.

Oh, Sunday Brett and I went to Long Island. I'd wanted to see his parents. It snowed just a bit while we were there, but apparently didn't last at all in the city. It was very pretty, if cold. Wouldn't mind a real snow some time this winter.

Killing time

Leaving for work it about half an hour.

The girls' spaying has been postponed until Momotaro is completely over his cold. They don't want to put the kittens under for surgery while their immune systems might be weakened. Fair enough. I just hope they don't go into heat again in the meantime.

I proctored the diagnostic SAT test for my first Kaplan class yesterday. Only 6 (of 11, I expect) students showed up. It was dreadfully boring and freezing in the room, but I read 200 pages of Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" in the process. I'm not so nervous anymore about being at the front of the classroom, but I'm kind of dreading teaching this material. It's something I've always been averse to, and I really feel like I've sold out. I'd rather be working at the restaurant, to be honest. It's more fun, more active, and (at this point) more lucrative.

Things at the restaurant have been going *fairly* well, considering it was just our first week. I made ~$400 last week in tips. I'm hoping I can keep it up. Working 5 shifts a week at the restaurant (I'm eating a lot of yakiniku, but hey it's free), teaching Kaplan twice a week, class at Columbia twice a week... We'll see.

"On Beauty" is so far the best of the three Zadie Smith books I've read (the other two being "Autograph Man," which I enjoyed, and "White Teeth," which I couldn't make myself finish). It has less of that over-the-top "look at me I'm so clever" quality that I feel so many novels (including White Teeth) have these days, and the characters are less extreme, more real.

Brett's college friend Yael Goldstein just published her first novel, "Overture," and so far it's getting good reviews. She's having a reading the 25th at which Brett's ex will be playing violin. Still debating whether or not I want to go with him. In any case, congratulations to Yael. I read her mother Rebecca Goldstein's "The Mind-Body Problem" a little while back. I thought it good but depressing. It made me anxious, but I *had* to finish it. Heh. Trying to make an effort to read more from now on. When did I stop? It's sad that I stopped.

Can't believe my sister's 28 today, and Brett turns 29 next month. And I'll be 24 this year, and I'm teaching SAT prep to 16 yr olds!

Happy Birthday, Ba!

She turns 28 today.

I thought I outgrew it.

Looks like it's back.

"It is now well known that stress and anxiety play the major role in causing bruxism. If you suffer from bruxism try to more effectively manage the stress in your life. By carefully monitoring and controlling the stress you can often dramatically reduce bruxism. "

That doesn't bode too well for the next 10 years of my life.

Wine and hormones

The restaurant opens for dinner this Tuesday. Finally. I have been reading and attempting to study the wine and sake and shochu lists since I got the news. I have little confidence in my ability to remember details about wine. I can tell you my personal favourites; maybe that will suffice for now. Am scheduled for lunch tomorrow (Monday), dinner Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; may pick up another dinner shift Friday. Have my last Kaplan training session Wednesday. All this work had better start *paying* off soon.

Meanwhile Serena seems to be in heat. According to Darren she did the same thing just before I left for the holidays. I didn't notice it then, but I definitely notice it today. Strange murmuring/whining and lots of rolling around and sticking her butt in everyone's face. No, Serena, that does not entice me. Called in December to schedule spaying but was told to call back in January. Must definitely call tomorrow.

On the street

The walk home from the subway is a fair distance, at least 12 blocks. Tough when one is in a rush, but generally I really like it. It ensures I do at least that much walking every day. Today I heard 4 different languages at 4 different lights in a row, and when I realized it I thought, "how cool." That's what I like about this city. That's what I missed when I was in Japan.

On another note, I never make new year's resolutions. Well, okay, except this year. This year's resolution is to lose 5 lbs (get back down to 110) and get back my muscle tone. Progress so far: none.