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| In the House of Rising SunI've been working at my dad's office all this past week. Finally, i understand what my dad does all day. Not only in the sense that i know what pays for my college tuition, but also seeing my dad as an actual hero. I mean, he is a hard worker, a brilliant man, and helps so many people by giving them the gift of vision. Currently, I'm helping them with their newsletter and computer scheduling program. More updates to come! I had some friends over for a bday splash last night! I really set the bar low, not planning anything at all. The party turned out really fun. Nora and i made very "normal" vegan dishes. We made sundried tomato and olive hummus, spring rolls with thai peanut sauce, spicy vegetable kabobs, and a decadent vegan chocolate cake. Apples to apples, swimming, cards, knocked up, i'd say it was a nice little get together. And now, tonight, it's july 13th. A night to reflect about what happened three years ago from this very night. I found my much loved little white maltese, Lucky, eaten by a coyote in my backyard. Now, three years later, his wife (who we formally married in a dog wedding ceremony) a beautiful and unforgettable shih tzu was killed in the last year by a coyote while i was away at college. Now, sitting just a few feet away from where i'm typing, sits Fluffy, their son. Often times in a quiet room i ask Fluffy outloud if he remembers his father, if he remembers his mother. He always just looks at me blankly. If only he knew the gravity in what i'm asking him to appreciate. At least I remember Casey and Lucky though. At least I remember and appreciate his parents. At least I love and appreciate having my parents around with me. | | |
| Sto Lat, Sto Lat!I'm
T W E N T Y !
yes, that's a 2 in front of that 0 I had an absolutely wonderful birthday. I always try to plan the biggest dance party, or some gathering, or whatever, but not this time. This birthday i just let happen, and it was perfect. (I will be having a gathering this weekend and a dinner tomorrow night with my aunt and uncle, but this day in itself was more than enough for a smiling Joanna.) I got all dressed up in the morning in my sister's (sh) pink chifron dress. I went with my sister and Nora to lunch at Mandala, our favorite vegan restaurant. We had a lovely time together, chatting and taking pictures. We had a delicious lunch, with iced pumpkin chai tea and carrot cake! Nora surprised me with my favorite-- a loaf of Chocolate Chip Kuby Banana Bread!! Then, we shopped at Urban, and i used the gift card i recieved from my parents that morning and bought a skirt! Betsy and Nora were happy too, because they got forty dollar shoes for five dollars. Betsy got a Starbucks, and I got some soy icecream at Sprouts. I came home to find a package on the table, with a very eager mother waiting for me to open it! It was from Zeke!!! I found a bag of vegan chocolate chip cookies baked especially for me! A nice note, complete with vegan assurance on every ingredient! Such a sweet thought, and delicious cookies! I got so many dear phone calls. From grandparents, Benny, Lexi, Zeke, Erin, Don, Cameron, just to name a few. Not to mention, the birthday video of Grace singing Happy Birthday to me!!! Katie came over and we went to dinner with my parents and sister! They really surprised me taking me to this Hawaiian Vegan Restaurant I had never heard about! I thought I had all of them mapped out, but i missed this one (since it opened two months ago)! We had the best meal, with thai iced teas, summer rolls, tofu, eggplant, fried banana fritters with tapioca, wow. Everything was so delicious, and such nice people there. I opened up the family presents, and my mom of course got me a piano towel, wallet, keychain pocket, and key cover. My sister made me a beautiful Joanna collage. As she gave it to me, she realized her picture happened to be in the center, with Joannas all around the side. Haha. My dad gave me a purple real pearl necklace. Wow. That's really a step up from my dad. Completely unexpected, these are the best ones. Especially when it's one of those really special gifts, from father to daughter, i know i'll have forever. Oh, did i mention how many special people I have in my life? My family, my best friends, what more could a girl ask for? Seriously, I'm so lucky and appreciative. I'm really really so so happy. Really really. So the girls drove home singing loudly to Love Song by Sara Bareilles, Follow Me by Uncle Kracker, as my mom once again prooved her coolness by turning the radio up loud. Some last Bryan Adams song came on, and my mom did "Donuts" (Spinning the cadillac in circles) in the Cul De Sac in front of our house. Katie and I kept talking about the radio and then we realized my mom was repeating what some "cool mom" did at my 5th grade bowling bday party (and we casually mentioned this on the ride earlier that night going to the restaurant.) We laughed hysterically, and I think a little sentimentally. Here i was comming back from my 20 year old birthday dinner, and how many more times will my mom be driving "the kids" back in the car and do something "cool." Here I was turning 20, and only leaving my teenage years by a number. Here i was turning 20, and younger than ever. The girls took a walk around the neighborhood, taking many many photos, reminiscing about the past. We came back in the house, and found that box with all those pictures. One by one, we mostly talked about how our bodies had changed since then, haha.. such girls. How superficial of us. But really, maybe that's because that's the only thing that has changed about us. Seriously, laughing in car, i forgot all the time that passed. 20 is just a number, and July 8th is just a day. A day for all your favorite people to remind you just how much they love you... ...and boy, did they. | | |
| Caught in between 10 and 20These are my final hours of being a teenager. I'm almost 19. I'm beginning on the third decade of my existence. Whew. This is a milestone. But really, there are so many along the way, why should I let numbers mean so much to me? There are actual real-life moments that are much more defining than when the clock will strike midnight tonight. Afterall, it's a weekday, and i'm just at home. The party isn't 'til the weekend anyway. Real moments? My Bat Mitzvah (first "teen" bday --> 13 yrs old)
My first kiss, and those other firsts.
My first (of many) all-nighters to finish a Latin Scrapbook and Aristotle paper.
My first piano lesson I taught.
Sleepovers with my best friends.
My own students' piano recitals.
All night conversations that turned random faces into close friends.
Move-In day at NYU in the pouring rain.
Writing songs.
Banding together, making films.
My own piano recital.
Turning Vegan. Tonight at midnight, not much is going to happen-- except for a nice phonecall. But it's not about this midnight moment tonight. It's about opening this new chapter of twenties. A chapter that I hope will be filled with love, excitement, and even more character and life-shaping moments. So let July 8 be the moment of moments. The moment that divides those defining events in the past with those that I'll pursue in this grand journey we call life. | | |
| Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and ThymeThe movers hoisted this giant grey retro couch from outside her porch on the second story of my sister's apartment. Packing up was a massive project--one i was a little too lazy to handle. I stayed out of it, mostly sidetracked with interning and volunteering at the film fest. Now, i'm left finding my stuff in random boxes, suitcases, and floor piles all over the house. My last night rocked, working a theatre shift at the premiere of Hellboy II, getting to see the film, and the premiere block party. It ended all too quickly when my sister tracked me down and took away the Bibbity Bobbity Boo. I was crammed into the backseat of the vanilla bean PT Cruiser, with mounds of stuff packed all around me. We arrived at 5:20 am, but i drove for those last 2 hours on cruise control. So there I was, a burst of energy, driving my PT Cruiser back to where it and I belonged. Words can't explain that first time in 2 years I drove the PT to tempe, down that stretch of the 101, which I used as an hour of my Me-time every day during high school. Anyway, I'm back. It was oh so good to reunite with some of my favorite people, playing pingpong, a lightsoff pillow fight, and falling asleep in a nest together. Flower and I Xtreme Beaned it up, and i made her a one-of-a-kind list and map of all Joanna's hotspots in the New York City Radar! Oh, and Nora's full course vegan dinners are so delicious, they'd make your tastebuds explode... with happiness. I'm still scattered though. I'm on the job hunt. I've done more unpaid jobs than paid jobs in the last 2 years, and i need the independence more than the experience right now. I need more tempe freedom and need to start finishing those "personal projects." Back in the desert isn't so hot. I love the toastiness, and the 4th tomorrow should be filled with tons of swimming and sunbathing. Today I worked at my dad's office. I've always been involved, whether helping pick out carpet and tile, or making a large colorful eye painting for the lobby. Today, however, I worked all day with files and phones. Basically, similar office work i do interning at film production companies. Except this time, at an Eye Doctor's office helping patients. Cool! I finally understand the family business that pays for my NYU tuition! haha, or at least one day in the life of. I really wanted to record my first song before i turned 20. Michelle Branch was 19, and she's from Sedona. I don't think that's gonna happen, since my birthday is 4 days away. Happy 4th! Happy Independence Day!! hehe
Hopefully soon the parent dominion will lighten and the free spirit can live! | | |
| Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, Seamstress for the bandWhen Penny Lane asks Will if he'll go with her to Morocco, he says yes.
I could chronicle my last week for you, and wow it's been Godgiven.
I wristbanded over one hundred wrists walking into the "Wanted" Premiere.
I partied at the Wanted afterparty.
I helped audition actors for a short Disney promo.
I heard stories from the Greenwich Village of the Pacific Ocean, Venice Beach.
I sang along with a penniless Asian entertainer, who could sing your name in any pop song and play 8 instruments at once, on the pier of Santa Monica Beach.
I saw independent film screenings (including a compelling and dramatic short and an elegant story of the bitter neighborhood around the corner of my new york dorm)
After one of those screenings, I hung out with the crew and cast of the film, and even had a beautiful and ethical talk with a Hustler.
I turned old dusty pages in antique and vintage books, especially those of the Beetles with my dad.
I read the entire Rolling Stones interview with inspirationaltalented Chris Martin and a provoking article on jerknerdprodigy Mark Zuckerberg.
I was fulfilled by a homey accoustic set that spoke to my sappy soul. We even chatted with the Rockstars.
I have savored the most delicious dishes any vegan, or person, could ever taste.
I spent a snipit of time with the most wonderful people in my immediate ny life.
I bumped into someone from Dance Class and life from at least 10 years ago.
I baked in the sun, while my sister walked down the to accept her High School Diploma.
I looked in every corner with the fam of that huge public High School for my sister's stolen purse (which was later returned).
I ate in the same Deli as Larry King, who seemed upset that morning probably from the recent deaths of prominent figures in the news. However, he still waved back at my dad.
I slept on a pad on the floor for four nights, since the four of us were crammed in my sister's place. I've recently moved up to the couch.
I walked through the Trojan kingdom to educate myself on the legacy of which my sister will be a part.
I hysterically silent laughed in a giant room full of sobbing parents during an "Oprah"-like Support Session as a USC Parent Orientation Event.
I silently freaked out for hours finding out through a text that one of my dear friends was pregnant.
Soon after, I began to understand and rejoice for that 6th grade sex-ed video called "the miracle of life."
I really don't think anyone could do it better than she will.
These have all happened in a week, and in less than that i'll be home. To all those sobbing parents in that USC parent therapy, i say to you this:
When your kids go off to college and meet people from all over the world, they'll find that the stories they tell, the traditions that set them apart, are all from back home. But as classes and parties unfold, these memories are the ones these new friends share in common, and the traditions are the new routines they've set with each other.
Although your child has assuredly changed, grown, comparing the then and the now will be world's apart. But the moment the newfound adult is home, reunited with those people and places that founded their essence, there's really no place like it. There's no place like home.
The child is appreciative for the support and opportunity, and for especially leaving the nest to fly into the sky.
However, I assume the rest of the story is that it's a balancing act, of the past and the future.
I guess, finally the present catches up with you, and we build our nests on some branch between the two, or at least on some branch that resembles the one we fell out of long long ago.
I just finished watching "Almost Famous."
Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Those characters, those relationships, how do i know you so well? Were you my past life? Or better yet, are you mine now?
Or what about that on-the-road rebellion which I know nothing about, being a prude overacheiver in a perfect civilized world. I just breathed in that spirit decades and legends old, in these last three hours.
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