tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62209732008-07-24T22:27:09.271-07:00Jenninoreply@blogger.comBlogger368125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-27098944603493619342008-07-24T22:03:00.001-07:002008-07-24T22:27:09.297-07:00

Can you tell what we're doing? Just another green recycling crafty project, saving some broken down used crayons from the landfill! We started a few weeks ago on my day off. Some people wonder how I find the time to blog, much less spend a morning with Maiya peeling the wrappers off of broken crayons. Believe me, it was very time-consuming, and no less than 3 baskets of unfolded laundry sat

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-8887825062808572042008-07-22T21:16:00.000-07:002008-07-22T21:34:43.636-07:00

This year was me and Maiya's first time to the Nishi Obon. Tony went years ago to help set up when he worked at A3M. Maiya's preschool class sang some songs and the older girls did some very cute odori dancing on the entertainment stage. Tony and Uncle Bill went to Far East Cafe earlier for lunch, and then Maiya and I stopped at JANM for about 10 minutes and saw as she calls him "Manju Man" do

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-9648362045244504342008-07-22T19:34:00.000-07:002008-07-22T21:43:10.007-07:00

We've enjoyed doing brunches at our house from time-to-time. Tony cooks a mean breakfast, and when I say mean, I mean, yummy. Here's another recent brunch at our house with Uncle Bill, my parents, and my brother Darin's family. My mom brings her famous Fruit Platter, which everyone loves. Here's a cute picture of Maiya and cousin Kevin (one month apart), sharing the same seat and enjoying the

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-11243320883329948522008-07-17T01:10:00.000-07:002008-07-17T01:15:29.355-07:00

When Maiya was a baby, I started saving yogurt cups, choosing to re-use, before recycling them. Before long, we had a bunch of them. They provided her with hours of fun. We also use them in the bathtub every night. Here's Maiya at 20 months with pyramid yogurt cups. In 2007, cousin Kieth (5) is measuring the height of the stacked cups with Maiya (2 1/2) and cousin Kyle's (4) help. A few

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-45870743429990191772008-07-16T23:23:00.001-07:002008-07-16T23:52:11.313-07:00

Our friends Mike, Laura, Amani & Leela came over on the 4th of July. We ate BBQ turkey, potato salad, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember (that's what happens when you are 2 weeks behind on the blog). MG & Amani hanging out in her room and talking Rub a dub dub, 3 kids in a tub Walking to the Marina for fireworks Watching fireworks in our PJs! It was a warmer night than we had

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-30323149422667150592008-07-15T00:40:00.000-07:002008-07-15T01:01:08.135-07:00

I've written a few blog entries the past few days on the Little Tokyo Blog. Check 'em out!

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-34941834821459277852008-07-14T22:33:00.001-07:002008-07-15T00:59:09.382-07:00

With new friends, K and L Nothing says summer more, than watching little kids in their first swimming class. The photo above is Maiya, a few weeks ago at her first swim class at the Y. She is in Pike's, the beginner's class for 3-5 year olds. And the difference is, that we are not in the pool with her anymore, instead, we are outside the pool area watching with all the other parents in 2 rows

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-58709075710302022622008-07-09T07:44:00.001-07:002008-07-09T14:44:23.648-07:00

Yay, we finally planted a little garden! Inspired by our work with community gardening in Detroit for many summers, I planted a small vegetable garden (2 feet x 8 feet) in our backyard for several seasons. But I would spend about an hour a day in the backyard. It just got so hard to keep up for me with my busy life, so I eventually stopped gardening, always intending to come back to it. By

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-52099978933313968582008-07-06T19:17:00.001-07:002008-07-06T20:46:59.096-07:00

The Senshin Obon is one of my favorites because we see so many friends. People from the community, friends we went to Cuba with, friends, artists and activists that we like to hang around with. This first photo is a collection of those friends. Here is Maiya with Asiyah, Nobuko's granddaughter, visiting for the summer from Michigan. She was a pretty good dancer! I was inspired to find

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-76909201747843396172008-07-05T20:53:00.001-07:002008-07-05T21:35:41.309-07:00

So, last Saturday afternoon I said to Maiya on a whim, "Hey shall we go get our hair cut today?" To my surprise she said, "Sure!" I have been asking her every now and then for the last year and the answer was always no. But my hair was beginning to drive me crazy so I thought, "Let's go get 'mother-daughter' haircuts." So, I grabbed my wallet and we walked down the street to Fantastic Sams.

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-67135597297304245342008-07-03T16:28:00.000-07:002008-07-09T17:37:12.584-07:00

Tony finally sold his '71 BMW motorcycle after sitting in the garage the last several years. Tony cleaned it up and took some pictures of Maiya on it before shipping it to his friend Bill in Delaware. Years ago, Tony rode the motorcycle a lot when we were a one-car family. We're going to be able to fit a car in the garage very soon, I can't wait!

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-18680373384428890502008-07-01T20:00:00.000-07:002008-07-03T16:58:43.204-07:00

Happy 13th anniversary to me & Tony. Hard to believe it's been 13 years since our first date 7/1/95. You know how sometimes you just know? I knew. Months before our first date, it came to me in a dream. Edited to Add: For our anniversary, Tony's friend's daughter Katalina watched Maiya for 2 hours while we went on a date for dinner at Orris. We had tapas and then had dessert at Beard Papa's

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-1783366791005649862008-06-30T22:30:00.001-07:002008-06-30T22:47:24.183-07:00

Last weekend on June 22nd, we went to the Venice Japanese Community Center Carnival, as our kick-off to Obon and Carnival Season. This year, at 3 years old, Maiya enjoyed playing the games even more than last year. Here she is playing the "everyone wins" something game where you pluck the toys out of the spinning water with a fish net. She won a little army guy with a canteen (luckily it

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-64088359051508790642008-06-21T13:43:00.000-07:002008-06-21T14:14:39.612-07:00

Today is our first day of summer. We're really lucky living near to the beach. Where my sister lives in the Valley it is 105 today, but here near the coast it's a balmy 84, and at 1:30 pm, I actually feel a relatively cool breeze wafting in through my bedroom window. One of our cars hasn't been working all week, so we've been happily keeping one car at home and carpooling and taking the bus.

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-31303679724421236242008-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:002008-06-15T09:48:25.508-07:00

Here are Tony & Maiya dancing to the "Groove Line" by Heat Wave. I get such a kick out of watching them dance together. Maiya came into the den/office/hovel yesterday and said, "Daddy, do you want to dance with me?" She wanted the "whoo whoo" song. As you can see, they've been working on their moves. Happy Father's Day Tony! You're a great Daddy and I love you. Happy Father's Day

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-35524555313307655272008-06-12T22:17:00.000-07:002008-06-12T22:22:09.337-07:00

The amount of money I have spent on gas in 9 days. Damn.

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-73306441832905511202008-06-09T23:00:00.001-07:002008-06-09T23:16:11.537-07:00

Here we are arriving at Legoland... with 7 kids, 8 adults Waving from the airplane ride! Maiya, Kaylee, Kieth, Ronnie & Leeta on a Lego Camel Maiya and Cousin Kevin shivering after the water ride I had 3 days off last week. On Thursday, we went to Legoland. My sister Gayle arranged for everyone to go for Kieth and Kaylee's birthday. It was everyone's first time there. The kids had a great

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-82166225027074403672008-06-08T22:51:00.000-07:002008-06-09T23:00:05.498-07:00

Retrieving the Activist Tradition of "Militant Humility" for Our Asian American Communities By Glenn Omatsu On May 31, 2008, the Southern California Library celebrated 93-year-old Okinawan American Dick Kobashigawa's more than seven decades of activism by adding his name to its Wall of Honor. Tributes by fellow activists and friends highlighted the key role of Mr.

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-49079578302703210852008-06-03T09:24:00.000-07:002008-06-09T22:56:26.016-07:00

This morning when Maiya saw the pictures of Mr. Kobashigawa she said, "Hey Kashi-wawa!" These pictures are from Saturday's event at the Southern California Library honoring Mr. Kobashigawa. Afterwards, we had a Japanese Peruvian dinner at the Okinawan Clubhouse. I put Tony's folktale "Jiro and the Magic Blanket" in the next post. Mr. K. with his son Ben, and Glenn Omatsu With Yuko, who gave a

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-43835626236788145062008-06-03T08:27:00.000-07:002008-06-03T08:31:06.656-07:00

In the mid 1990s, I rented a small Sawtelle house behind Jiro Dick Kobashigawa and his wife Sumiye. For a Yonsei interested in Asian American history, it was a treat. Mr. Kobashigawa, a Kibei Nisei shared his books and writings with me, educated me about the Okinawan America experience, and talked story about the early Issei activists he knew and admired. On the outside he was a Sawtelle

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-30831050163537745422008-05-27T01:54:00.000-07:002008-07-09T17:37:53.918-07:00

Tony took Maiya for a long bike ride Sunday. I caught the tail end of it. She can move pretty quick for a girl on a rickety little $5 bike. I was hoping for a little post-ride interview, but as you can see, she wasn't so interested. Next time I'll try not to shadow the subject when filming. D'oh!

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-59596342433200722172008-05-24T08:59:00.000-07:002008-06-02T20:48:05.775-07:00

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Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-8633424351237326852008-05-15T13:37:00.000-07:002008-05-15T14:25:58.210-07:00

As a fundraiser for Maiya's preschool, we are selling reusable bags with a unique wide bottom, bit enough to hold 30-35 pounds, or 2 gallons of milk. In the US, we use 100 billion plastic bags a year, and less than 1% are recycled. And paper bags require 4 times as much energy to produce than plastic. The preschool has been raising money for several years to purchase a play structure and

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-3533120305551169082008-05-13T22:41:00.000-07:002008-05-14T00:54:58.495-07:00

I'm selling raffle tickets and general admission tickets for a Benefit Fundraiser for Little Tokyo Service Center. You can see the La Vida Lowrider exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Thursday, May 22, 2008 VIP Reception ($100), 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm SOLD OUT General Admission ($60), 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Enjoy a unique evening featuring a palette of sake from around the world and hors

Jenninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6220973.post-69098776123224568692008-05-09T22:20:00.000-07:002008-05-09T22:33:32.603-07:00

Our friends Mike, Laura, Amani & Lela came over for breakfast last weekend. It's been way too long since we got together. We had so much fun! The kids started out with the musical instruments, and then moved outside to Maiya's playhouse while we were making breakfast. Then we ate... After breakfast, Maiya & Amani moved on to Playdoh animals. Then we switched to finger painting and sponge

Jenninoreply@blogger.com