A Life Less Ordinary

Dance Party at the Louvre!

by Helen

Just to save you all the suspense, the mineral for Paris is marble.  And to honor all the marble creations in Paris, we take you to a very special location in the heart of Paris.  

 

 

PS This is the most fun time I've ever had at a museum ever.  I love my husband! 

Random Meanderings

by Irene

Dear Helen,

Your recent posting abundance has inspired me to post too. Problem? Have no idea what to write about.

This has been my first weekend without visitors in I think two months. On Friday evening I went to Niv's art show opening at Giant Robot. It's a rather small gallery in Cole Valley, which had what seemed like a gazillion people come to see the art work the first night. It was art work inspried by video games, and showcased probably about 15 artists' work, Niv's, among them. Brindha came all the way from Stanford, and another friend from high school who now lives in SF was there too. His college friends. And then seriously a million of other people (who all sorta look the same -- bearded, drinking beer, wearing hats, smoking). Afterwards a couple of us got drinks at a nearby bar. Oh, and before that, Vanya and I tried EOS, a small plates wine bar, which quite delicious food (where, if you're on the poorer side, it helps to not go too hungry). Learned that a "flight" means trying a bunch of different wines. Was recommended to go there by running into one of the actrices from the theater I volunteer at, who apparently lives in that neighborhood. She was on her way to the theater for that night's performance.

Anyhow, Saturday ended up being a super mellow day. I don't even necessarily remember what I did, except for volunteering at the theater. Basically, I am a stage manager, which means that I set up the props and the stage and  make sure the actors are in their places before the show starts, and during intermission I move stuff around the stage and again, make sure the actors are in their places. The backstage is underneath the stage and it is usually a good 10 degrees colder than the box office area. So I bring my ski jacket. There, I started reading Angels in America by Tony Kushner. It's a really intense play about HIV and the 80s and politics.  Backstage there are a million plays and the actors sit around talking or practicing lines before they climb super rickety stairs to get to the stage. There is a heater, an iron, and a water boiler, which, if you turn them all on at the same, causes a power outage. There are two racks of costumes from previous performances, there are worn leather couches and props from shows probably back in the 90s. After this play is over, they'll be showing A Streetcar Named Desire.

Volunteering at the theater was interesting for the first couple of weeks, but now I'm quite over it. Unfortunately, it's much more like a second job two days a week than something interesting and creative. I realize now that I need a creative outlet as a compliment to my job. I will probably not volunteer there more, or, if I do, it'd be to help paint something or think of props. Also, working back stage sorta takes the magic away for me. I like being on the outside of the performanc, behind the "third wall" as I think it's called. Or the "curtain" that divides the audience from the actors. Knowing all the props and what the other actors are doing while the commotion happens on the stage....I don't know, it removes what helps you otherwise watch the play and get involved in that story. And I really like that feeling. That's why I go to theater. To be removed from my life, and examine or think about or feel something completely different, which, inevitably, in the end, I somehow translate back into my life or how I perceive something in my life.

Today I went  back to Berkeley to meet up with Niv and his friends for brunch. It was interesting to be in Berkeley on a Sunday afternoon. Haven't been there for a long time at that hour. Going back to Berkeley is really pleasant. It's become like coming home, for me. I know all the little stores and restaurants. I know the streets. I know where to get anything I might need. I know all the bars and things to do or where to find out about them. I know the campus -- I feel utterly at home in Berkeley. This feeling of comfort and a sort of ease of mind in Berkeley reminds me of how little I know San Francisco, and how I absolutely do not feel at home here. It is new and exciting, but it's also big, and strange, and foreign, and I haven't figured it out yet.

Getting to know a larger place of course also takes a lot longer. Berkeley is tiny in comparison to SF, and I was there for 4 years. There's a publication I started looking at called 7x7, which lists interesting things happening in the city, from best new restaurants to try to arty things to new movies to even weddings. There's seriously a tab on weddings.

Additionally, I'm reading an incredibily good book by Junot Diaz, called The Brief Wondrous Life of OScar Wao. It is fantastic. Diaz has a way to write that it gets under your skin, so that you sorta smell the characters and what they're going through. Unlike a lot of books that you observe from the outside, this book swallows you and all of a sudden you're inside the world of the characters. You're still observing from a distance, but you're inside the book. I'm going to use a Harry Potter reference here - so, sometimes, it's like you're standing outside the Pensieve looking into the memory (typical books) and then you dive into the Pensieve and you're part of the dream but you're invisible to the other characters (this book).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life is Messy

By Helen

Dear Irene:

When you graduated from college, I wrote this blog post to you about my life lessons for after college. And I do feel like I've kept you in the loop on the general roughness of the early 20s though most people look back on that time nostalgically. As it turns out, it's because we remember things by pictures and we are usually smiling in those because who would want to take a frowning one?

Anyway, I know that year 1 is still rough. There are all these self-discoveries that are happening and all this lack of clarity of what to do with your time at work and at home. Money is tight, flexibility is there but not the way you thought it would be. Friends are scattered. Family is judging you and wondering what the heck you are doing with your life and if it's going to work out or not. My favorite lines from parents back when I just graduated were:

"I just want you to figure out how you are going to stand on your own two feet and then I won't worry."

Yeah, thanks guys. I'm doing my best over here. If this is what parents say to their employed children, I wonder what the unemployed ones or those working a temp job while figuring out what to do next hear. I bet we have it "easy."

So for what it's worth, try to remember that you are going through the hard patch because you went from a world you knew well to one that is unknown. If I may remind you, your first year of college was only so-so, but by the time you got to year 3 and 4, you loved it, though it was a totally different experience.

It was very similar for me. First year on the job was rough, then I switched jobs because I didn't like what I was doing. After that, I had a great time, but not because it was easy or known. I was pushed in all directions, I didn't learn or know how to take care of myself physically and I certainly had no time to date seriously. So it all came with a price and as a result made me who I am today.

I feel that this all sounds super preachy and I don't mean it to be. I just want you to know that you are not alone. So I thought I'd pull some resources that might help:

Books:

How Remarkable Women Lead - a bunch of stories from super successful women on how they deal with life.

Positivity – being an optimist is a learned skill as it turns out. I know the optimism genes don't run heavily in our family, so I'm working through this book.

Be Your Own Mentor – haven't read this one, but heard good things about it.

 

 

Things to do:

Meet ups – This is a place where people organize each other by interests and meet up.

I've always heard great things about the Road Runner clubs, here is the one for SF.

First Thursday Art Walk

Anyway, I'm sure you know of all these things, but I thought I'd put them all in one place.

 

Day 2 - Company Visits Begin

by Helen

On Monday, we began our company visits.  We started off the visit with Kenya Airways.  We met with the director of marketing who gave us a great overview of the company but more importantly its goals and its mission.  The goal for Ken Air is to become the premier airline in Africa opening up the continent to the world.  The challenges that an airline faces in Africa were interesting to hear about.  For example, consumer research showed that the reason sales in Nigeria were on the decline was because Nigerians felt that the Kenyans weren’t respecting them.  So for example, respect in Nigeria means handing items to people using your right hand, not your left.  Everytime anyone on the airplane did it the other way, it was disrespectful.  Another finding was that the food that Nigerians were being served on flights was not anything they liked and they got “rabbit food” instead of meat.  So the segmentation of customers is critical for Ken Air and now they pursue a cultural study before they enter a new market. 

We also took a tour of their control center and saw the daily operation and coordination that goes on.  Currently, Delta does not fly into Nairobi and interestingly, we were told that it was due to the airport being not nice enough.  However, in reality, it seems that Delta was all set to fly into the Nairobi airport but then unrest broke out and the US government asked Delta to suspend service until Kenya got its matters in order.  Not clear why no progress has been made since the riots have calmed down. 

The second company we visited was the regional division of Unilever. I actually didn’t know about the company and all its products (like Lipton) until this visit.  What struck me is the fact that energy and educated labor costs in Kenya are many times higher than those in China so it is very hard to keep the margins as they are.  Also, Unilever charges the same price for soap in the US as it does in Kenya.  The only difference is that in Kenya, you can get the soap in many different sizes which supposedly makes it more affordable.  So it is mindboggling to me that essentially it sounds like a $1 in Kenya goes as far as a $1 in the US, but half of Kenya lives below the poverty level.  This continues to be pretty puzzling to me and I would love to talk to corporate headquarters of one of these companies (Coca Cola, Unilever, etc.) to discuss this lack of “ability” to dilute the brand by lowering the price for those who can’t possibly pay it.  The CSR presentation by Unilever leaved much to be desired for as well.  The group of the presenters did not seem to love their jobs and seemed to be under a lot of pressure to cut their costs so that the factory doesn’t go to China (which it probably will because it’s much cheaper).

Monday night, a couple of us went to a great Indian restaurant, Haandi.  I love trying different Indian food with people from India because it really expands my tastes.  One interesting thing about that experience was the cab driver that took us to the restaurant, did not have change for our fair, so he told us we can pay him when he comes to pick us up.  So we did call him and did pay him, but that seemed like a lot of trust.

On having russian food in the fridge

So my friends and I do a Wednesday night dinner thing. We haven't done it for nearly as long as your monday night dinner group, but....I hope we keep it up.

This past wednesday we organized a russian food night. This was the menu:

1. Olivier

2. Vinigret

3. Herring + black bread (Maria literally bought a herring, de-gutted it, and took the bones out)

4. Beet salad (you know the one grandma makes with walnuts?)

5. Peroshki (cabbage --> used store bought dough)

6. Pelmneyi (from scratch --> seriously!)

7. Fried potatoes (jharenaya kartoshka)

8. Torte Prague

9. Napoleon

10. Vodka and Baltika

It was a really intense process -- we started cooking on Sunday! We made a ton of food. I think people thoroughly enjoyed it. Though at first were sorta unsure by everything. We must have explained all the salads like ten times. Typically, our group is small, about 6-7 people. But this time we had about 15-16.

But now, the best part of it all, are the left overs, which remind me of home! So....I just and had left over olivier with a piece of black bread and a cup of tea. And this morning...I had a piece of Napoleon. 

But yea, I don't know how Grandma does it all on her own.

PS When I told dad about the menu, he asked if there will be blinyi. I was like...no. So there's room for improvement next time. :D

Miles

By Irene

Today was San Francisco Day. It started with a coffee meeting at Ritual Roasters in the Mission. I had a good drip coffee, which I didn't see the name of, and a currant and orange scone. I also bought a dulce de leche cookie because I needed to reach a $5 minimum to use my credit card. After the meeting I decided that I wanted to take a walk, and walk I did. I walked about 6 miles from the Mission to the Russian part of town, on the North side of Golden Gate Park, to 25th and Geary. 16th-25th streets along Geary are considered a Russian neighborhood. I've never been there, but heard that the stores/restaurants are good. I was a little disappointed that there weren't more russian stores, I was expecting russian writing and storefronts everywhere, but actually the Russian was thoroughly mixed in with Korea Town. I did see a Russian Orthodox Church, and a priest with a blue tooth in his ear, which was awesome. I knew I officially entered Russian Town when I saw women wearing animal printed clothing.

In "Russian Town" I took a double take at a window store front with a poster saying Alla Pugacheva will be singing at Zellerbach. I went in to talk to the owner of the store, the man has be in SF for 30 years, he has two sons both working jobs they're not particulary fond of, and he used to be in the show-biz in Russia. When he came to SF he first worked as a taxi driver for 15 years, then got this Russian video/DVD store and organizes Russian performances here in America. He name dropped names of some people  he's worked with, but I didn't know any of them --- I think as an older semi-famous person it would be frustrating when a younger person doesn't know you. But I couldn't really fake knowing that stuff. I called dad, mom and you before going back into the store. Dad didn't pick up, which always makes me feel bad for the person in surgery, who obviously isn't doing well at all if dad doesn't take a call from us. He texted me later asking if everything was alright. Anyhow, I ended up, as you know, not buying the tickets to the concert, waiting to hear if I can volunteer usher. Instead, I bought pelmenyi (which I already tried, they are really good) and a bylachka c makom. It was DELICIOUS. SO GOOD. Oh man. I ate it at the bus stop, because there was no way I was walking anymore.

So after that I took the bus to the Civic Center, where I snagged a $15 ticket to a completely sold out performance of La Traviata with Anna Netrebko. The seat is ridiculously in a bad spot, and I only got one, BUT I'm so excited to go. I called mom as soon as I stepped out of the opera house, and mom was like....I can see that you are very excited, please be careful and concentrate as to where you are going. Oh mom. So then I caught the BART back to Downtwon Berkeley: the pelmenyi almost didn't make it (which, to be fair, mom warned me about).

All in all, today would not have been possible without the trusty iPhone's Google Maps. A map is a lot easier to follow when there's a little blue dot showing exaclty where you are. AND it gives fantastic public transportation directions, which I used to get to the Civic Center from Geary. My epic excursion was mainly through neighborhoods: I walked along Castro for a long time: saw a huge half-raised gay flag, saw the city from the very top (21st street), looking down east towards the Bay and the huge radio tower half covered in thick white clouds in frotn of me. Saw so many houses and walked up a lot of really steep hills. At some point the wind blew my sunglasses off my face. I ate my banana along the way, and my cookie. I didn't have an iPod and I didn't talk on the phone. I just sorta....walked, it reminded me a lot of last summer in Europe. I don't even remember what I thought about for those two hours I spent today just roaming through endless city streets.

Ballet Watching - What One Should Never Do

By Irene

At the risk of sounding pretentious I would like to say the following:

When watching a ballet performance in a formal setting, such as say, the San Francisco Opera House, there are certain actions which proper etiquette absolutely prohibit you from undertaking:

1. Inappropriate public display of affection.
        ie kissing, nudging, groping. Tights and well built performers can make anyone want to get it on, but please please please wait until you get home. Don't put on a show for the people behind you, that's gross, after all we came for a ballet, not an educational video on foreplay. AND we can't see the stage because you're heads are too close together!!!!

2. Inappropriate signs of appreciation for the art
        ie clapping before the dance is over, yelling as though you are at a football game, or whistling in a not stylish manner. I don't know why, but "Bravo!" is permissible. I know you might want to be the person who started the applause, but wait until someone who is more familiar with the music and the ballet in this particular case. This is not that movie scene where someone just did something brave and everyone is quiet and then someone starts clapping slowly.

Back to our Roots

Dear Helen,
Who needs frat boy when there are the following: Clark Gable, Paul Newman, Jimmy Stewart, and Robert Redford?

 

In the past two days I have watched the following:
1. It Happened One Night (Clark Gable)
2. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Paul Newman + Robert Redford)
3. The Shop Around the Corner (Jimmy Stewart)

It's like Momo said, you have to know your past in order to understand your present. Each one of those classics is definitely worth your time. They are romantic, well written, clever and they have something to them...I guess there's a bit of magic in them, really. And some fine looking actors.

I have reasons to go too

By Helen

When I get to a museum, I go through the first hall or two very slowly.  I read all the signs and historical background.  I swear to myself that I will remember all of it and be able to intelligently drop historical facts into a conversation as if it was perfectly natural.  Eventually my attention span passes, and I start aimlessly wandering through room to room, stopping at art that catches my eye.

I guess I try to think about what moves me and why.  And why I chose to stop at this work and not the other. I figure if I felt something, there must be a reason. 

That's why I go - to make sure that things other than my immediate trivial happenings can impact me and my thought process and make me pause.

I also try to go to exhibits that I feel will fill in my gaps in education or serve as reminders to information I should have remembered from college or high school, but don't.

Why go?

By Irene

Why do people go to museums? My very talented artist friend, Niv Bavarsky , is constantly peeved that people go just to say that they went, not to actually look at the art. I think that all sorts of different people go for all sorts of different reasons. But seeing as I can only speak for myself, and I recently went to the San Francisco MOMA on a very crowded Free Tuesday, I can say that I go for several reasons.

1. To look at life through the eyes of many artists and medias; to take time and examine some very small details blown up onto large canvases
2. To seem intellectual to myself (and then to everyone I can tell I went to the museum that day, and to the people at the museum)
3. To observe the other people that are there- any public space is like a zoo of human specimen.
4. To be inspired, overwhelmed, and completely switch gears from the daily to something on a different brain wave. 
5. Because going to museums was instilled in us since we were old enough to walk. 
6. To have something to talk about, to laugh at pieces of 'art', to wander in an air conditioned building, to be in a space built specifically to wander and think in
7. To learn [very useful] stuff and then just as quickly forget it

Why do you go?