Rub a dub dub, Kiyomi in the tub

Well if the Red Sea can be considered a tub. Perhaps perhaps. I just received this picture from a German guy I met on a diving trip in the Red Sea.

Diving!!!

Golden California

Who knew I would end up in California? I sure didn't! The weather is absolutely gorgeous, by the way, just to make you (readers) jealous. Especially in L.A. It's actually hot. Sunny. Hot. Ugh hot! Woohoo hot! Really though, I forgot how nice L.A.'s weather is all year round. This doesn't mean that I would ever want to live there for an exended period of time, but three weeks is fun. And working in L.A. has meant coming up to El Cerrito to see the family homestead. I must say, changes have taken place: a new area rug, taller trees, a backyard garden, and the clubhouse is being moved. This clubhouse is a 4.5 foot x 4.5 foot little house that my dad, Scott, and I built when I was about five. Perhaps 'built' and five year old really should be 'paint' and five year old, but you get the picture. I can't believe that it's lasted so long, and now it's getting a new home in the corner of our yard. It's my dad's passive agressive way to tell our backdoor neighbors to trim back their creeping vine plant.

Every time I go back to El Cerrito, I bring back another treasure back to New York. Previous treasures found is my key charm that I've worn around my neck for the past month (replacing my poor robot, whose chain is still broken). I thought about bringing my two braids of hair back, just to freak people out, but I've got something better: a pair of my Grandma Furukawa's day gloves from the 50s or 60s. Ah those were more dignified days, pre-public crotch showing (public not pubic people. Get your minds out of the gutter). They are a dark blue, with scallop detailing. So pretty.

If anyone is keeping track, I'll be in L.A. these next two weeks and flying back to New York on the 15th. Don't know where I'll be the week after that, but my goal for the next six months is to become billable and to do fantastic jobs on all my projects! Attainable goals I believe, so all is great in the world.

As for the other part of my life (the 1 1/2 - 2 days that I'm actually in New York and not working, those being two conditions), I've decided to fill my free time with creative projects: learning how to fashion draw, sew, art, photography, helping a certain someone with photo shoots, long walks on the beach, sunsets, and violin music following my every step. That should balance out the corporate-ness nicely. I'm also determined to read more news, novels, economics, business, and photography books, so I actually know why things work, how things work, or don't work, whatever may be the case. Perhaps I should also read a book on grammar and how not to write a run on sentence. Oh and I should add French to that list. Eeks, I'm giving myself a lot of flack for saying that I know 'fluent' French, when it's disintegrating into nothingness. I also want to learn Japanese from my roommate, Hindi from my co-worker and Arabic from Rosetta Stone. I suppose this is all rather ambitious. I guess I need to stop watching so much HGTV (which is preparing me to buy My First Property) and get down to business.

Ah gotta wake up in four hours and hop on a plane at 7am. And the week begins.

Dos and Don'ts of Corporate Travel Primping

Do bring nail polish remover in convenient <3 oz. bottles (even though it's flammable, I got it onboard in my carry-on luggage. Lucky? or stealthy?).

Don't layer on your nail polish on so thick, that it takes over an hour to scrub off with aforementioned nail polish remover, also taking the first two layers of skin off your finger tips.

Don't forget essentials like toothpaste and razors.

Do get a dental kit, shaving kit, comb, deodorant, manicure set welcoming you to your hotel bathroom.

Do press your clothes with the iron and board in your hotel closet.

Don't forget your suit and skirt in said closet.

Do pad around in slippers and a robe in the morning.

Don't pad around so much that you forget to dry your hair before going to work.

Pre-Corporate Vagabond Days

Humph, I can't post more than five pictures at a time apparently.

Sooo, more pictures of Roosevelt Island. These are more pensive. Think gloomy storm clouds and killing puppies. Japanese horror and red corn syrup.

Reality: Sunny spring day, thistles in my pants, awesome building in the background (sadly full of construction guys, so I couldn't take pictures in it)

Do you know why I make such a kick-ass babysitter, not only do I pillow fight, I also make awesome Batman & Co. masks out of construction paper. Now there's a quality babysitter if there ever was one. (Yes my head is really that big)

Bane and Harley Quin

Pre-Corporate Vagabond Days

Ever wonder what this vagabond does during her spare time when she is neither vagabonding nor corporating herself?

Jumping of course!!

Central Park Summer Olympics

Balance Beam

Long Jump

Amazing Left Handed Lay Up


Roosevelt Island

I just rediscovered this pictures from the spring/summer. I mean I had to fill my days with something productive riiiiight??

The two bottom pictures are from Roosevelt Island, a little slice of land between Manhattan and Queens. Take the gondola across the East River to the island with a swipe of your metro card! It's that easy. Also explored on that fateful April day: Woodside for corn fungus tacos, Coney Island, and the corporate world (I got my job offer that day, grabbed Mai, jumped up and down twice and verbally accepted it on the spot).

All American USA Americana Waves of Golden Grain Sunshine and Butterflies

These past few weeks, four to be exact, I faced the unknown: The Midwest of the United States of America.

I have to say; although I didn't get much of a chance to explore Chicago, the minute part of the city I did see was great. The immense expanse of lake along the east coast of the city. The mini beach, the jerk chicken wings at Calypso Cafe. Awesomely spicy green papaya and chicken salads at the BYOB Thai restaurant in Wicker Park, amazing sunrises over the lake, the Art Institute. Ahh the Art Institute. Take my heart. Siiigh.

Most of the time, however, I was in a conference room. Ah, thus is corporate life. But you know what...I was learning something, about which I'm happy. I was forced to recall economic facts, to dig deep in my econometric memories, did I really do fixed effects regressions or was I dreaming about that ridiculous 36 hours in the library trying to finish that project. UGH. My old, graying gray cells really took a beating, but a loving beating. Beat me back into decent shape.

And you know what pictorial evidence I've taken away from all this, the structured and chaotic patterns of Chicago's man-made and naturally created limitations or limitlessness, boundaries, er hm...











The Countrified Countrrific Midwestland:

You know what Sunbury, Ohio has, lots of sunshine and open skies, bbqs and ribs, community activities, firepits and vegetable gardens, magical white rabbits, wildflowers, sunsets and sunrises (that I didn't once see. It was vacation, what can I say). Not a bad introduction to the country. A nice respite from the corporate-y corporate world. Although, I do have to say that my semi-corporately clothes were worn there too. In fact, most of my clothes probably got thought up in Ohio, Columbus being the second biggest city for retail corporate headquarters.

My vacation was more fries with horseradish sauce and blue cheese than laptops and cubicals.

Dos and Don'ts

Do buy wrinkle resistant clothes.

Don't buy the cheapest iron in Kmart that inevitably will live you rumpled.

Do keep an extra tie in the office (guys) which is versatile to wear with any colored suit/shirt. You will eventually drop something on your tie (if lucky).

Don't wear ugly ties. It's like painting a large ugly, colorful arrow to your groin. Unpleasentness...

Do have at least six work outfits. Drycleaning/laundry will be forgotten.

Don't wait until you have thirty pounds of laudry stuffed in your closet. It gets terrifying.

Do have a talented fashion student roommate that can hem pants and even better make suits.

Don't try to cut your bangs at home right before an important engagement (like I've ever done that)

Do buy clothes that are comfortable. You may be wearing them for 18+ hours.

Don't keep eating the free snacks. Your comfortable clothes will soon become uncomfortable

The Dos and Don'ts of Corporate Dress

So I decided to repost my do's and don't's of dressing for success in a corporate setting here, since, let's be honest, I will in no way keep up two blogs. I hardly do one (which I hope to remedy in the near future and beyond)

See below if you need to dress for success!

Do dress for success.

Don't leave clothes shopping until AFTER taking a 45 day vacation.

Do carry Band-Aids at all time for the inevitable uncomfy shoes and random ridiculous popped blood blisters.

Don't get mosquito bites on parts of your body that you will have to show in the office during summer.

Do wear stylish, low heeled shoes that can be used for walking to the snack room seven times a day.


Don't wear shoes that 'fart'.

Do buy blazers and pant/skirt suits of various non-descript colors/styles so they can be potentially worn more than one time a week.

Don't wear yourself ragged shopping in the middle of the summer to the point of heat exhaustion.

Do bring a dainty hankerchief (is that really how you spell that?) to wipe the persperation from your brow before going into the office.

Don't try to see if you stepped on the back of your pant's leg while balancing on one heel in the elevator.

Do hang up wrinkle-able clothes.

Don't leave them in a heap until your room looks like my room.

Mind you. These are basic essentials. More to come later.

In the air and on the ground

One last thing. So my airport/plane experience Friday was ridiculous in so many ways.

First, security was 'tight' because it was September 11th. I say this will just the tiniest amount of annoyance, since I don't quite believe that 'we're' so much safer because airport security actually follows every single regulation to the 't' for one full day and fussily say that 'you can't do that, it's regulation' when passengers do something they're able to do the 364 other days of the year. Really though? Wow, I feel a lot safer.

I suppose there is a reason why articles cannot go on laptops through security. It's not like one can see through shoes to inspect a laptop in anyway as it goes through the xray machine. But hey, the make airport security approved laptop bags. TSA approved laptop bags for the low price of $249 I bet. Bringing on a structured, rolling garment bag as a carry on isn't approved by the TSA so cannot be brought aboard on September 11th, even though it's be okayed the previous 10 times and is smaller in dimensions than what is posted online, AA. And Miss Ticket Taker, even if you have a stressful day because flights in NY have been canceled or delayed, no need to be snippy with my, because I'll cut you down if need be (and that goes for you Mr. Taxi Driver. Don't try to rip me off. You will lose).

But hey, I love flying, even if there are no more honey roasted peanuts. I got a full can of seltzer water on the flight and had a two hour conversation witha neuro-surgeon who works a block away from my Chicago home (The W) at North Western and whose Australian wife (we talked about Australian, standards of living, and traveling, so yes, that qualifier is relevant) is something something at Memorial Sloan-Kettering (where my brother's gf works. We'll she's on the corporate side in a non corporate-y job. Yay for her). Our conversation spanned from annoying airline personnel to reward programs to politics to health reform to wars to my family history to traveling to commuting to everything under the sun.

Oh and if one of you needs to have elective surgery, opt for a robot...that is, if you ever need a hysterectomy (which I just googled and girls, you don't want one if it can be avoided), just pay the extra dough and have them use the robot arm. It will hurt less and allow you to heal faster. That was my medical fun fact for that day. All the while my friend, Brenna, glimpsed back from time to time, amazed that I was still talking to the stranger doctor man besides me, thanking all things yoga that she wasn't sitting next to her (actually, I put that yoga bit in just for you Brenna if you ever read this. Yes, I sure did).

The tail end of my trip was magical in that 'did that really happen or did I fall down a rabbit hole' moment. Brenna's and my baggage was some of the first to pop out on the baggage claim conveyor belt, and the huge line for taxis were avoided because our other colleague Yuqiao had arrived on a flight 15 minutes earlier and was fifth in line. While sorting out a ride back to our respective homes, I hear an 'oh my gosh' and who could it be but one of the guys who interviewed the same day as me in Chicago that nippy April day. He had just come back from his training in India and Texas.

Randomly, ridiculously amazing. Flying is.

The Vagabond's Roots

Okay to my real post:

I have roots! Or at least I've just learned a little more about my family history. I actually now know the names of my great grandparents on my dad's mom's side: the REAL Japanese in my family.

Introducing g-grandpa Suyekichi (or Sayekichi but there are more Suyekichis on my google search) and g-grandma Tone Narita, b. 1878, 1888 and d. 1931, 1936.

What's cool about my grandma's family is that the husband of her older sister actually took on the family name Narita since there were no boys to carry on the name into the next generation. Ironically, my great Auntie Nei-san (I believe 94 or 95 years old now) bore all girls so the name never made it to my generation.

Also now known in my grandma's work history from 1956-1967 and beyond. After retiring, she continued to work as a dental assistant until 1971 is appears. She herself told me that she never got a degree in it, just on the job training. And she went back to work after retiring, because she was bored not working. I don't know if I've ever met a person with more energy and a better work ethic than my grandma.

And for all of you who complain about taxes: in Nov. 1967 $280 got taxed $117. Ouch. Or perhaps it's the other way...after taxes $280 became $117, but I can't quite believe that.

Okay my brain hurts from fatigue. Gotta wake up semi early to repack (err I didn't really unpack but you know...) and clean and see some friends!!