Wedding woes

I don't know what it is about wedding details that makes me a little grumpy sometimes. Just the mere mention of having to call around to ask questions makes my stomach turn over.

I know I KNOW, it's a happy occasion. And it IS. But just the overwhelming feeling that I need to sort everything out at once has me going mad. While I remind myself to just figure out one thing at a time, inevitably everyone I talk to brings up the other details I haven't yet had the energy to tackle (e.g., where we're getting our cake, where are we going to get the flowers, who's taking out photos, etc etc.). Yeah, I'm crying like a panty aren't I?

My friend said, "It's because you're a GUY." I'll leave it at that. Apparently I'm genetically inclined to be totally useless at wedding planning.

I went to a wedding expo yesterday. Yeah. I think the women to men ratio there was 1000:1. I went to many booths and the exhibitionists didn't even know what to say to me, I think they were so used to talking to brides rather then the grooms. I just walked around with my expo bag gathering paperwork like I was at Halloween....only there was no candy to sort through after. Just MORE information to drive me nuts.

What did I get myself into?

Porcelain Bus

For the past few days I've had some stomach problems. I'm about to buy a daily pass on the "porcelain bus" if you know what I mean.

I don't know what it is.... Monday and Tuesday I really couldn't eat anything at all. Wednesday I'm able to eat some, but then I think my stomach said "no thanks" to me last night. UGH.

Meanwhile I'm thirsty as hell all the time.

At first I thought this would be some diabetic symptoms but my fiancee didn't think so. It's nice to have the opinion of a nurse! OK, I know nurses are not trained to diagnose a problem...but her opinion is still way more knowledgeable then mine!

UUUUGH. Back to my all-Gatorade diet. HOOORAY LIQUIDS!

Alarm Clocks

OK, here's a design related topic...

Why is it that it's so hard to find an alarm clock that looks halfway decent. OK, I know most people will say, "Why would I need something nice? It just has to wake me up in the morning and tell time" True, but certainly a device that's in almost every household bedroom should be given more thought considering how elegantly designed electronic devices such as MP3s and gaming consoles are looking these days huh?

I need a new alarm clock. The one I have now I've used since high school it's super old and the snooze button has almost worn out already.

So now I go online to search and just about all the alarm clocks out there are butt ugly. Not to mention they don't really have the right features. Here's what I'm hoping to find:

1. Nice wakeup sound. Nothing worse then having an alarm sound that makes you jump out of bed. My fiance has one like that. I would wake up clinging to the ceiling. I need a clock that maybe gradually wakes me up.
2. Timer. I've been practicing the 20 minute power nap technique sometimes. It would be nice to have a clock that has a simple timer on it so that I don't have to go through the hassle of resetting the alarm times.
   
3. Snooze. Oh I snooze baby...I snooze. Like my mom, I think it takes me about 40-minutes to 1 hour of snoozing before I can really get up. My dad and brother jumps right up on the first ring. No way I can do that without getting a headache.

Clocks that have these features are SO unbelievably ugly it's like the design is an afterthought. Look at this hideousness. Give it some red lazer eyes, some legs and a leather jacket I think it might save us from annihilation:

Now I DID find a couple clocks that looked cool but didn't have the features. This French company has this cool little clock that let's you tilt the clock to turn the alarm clock on & off. It certainly looks stylish and comes in multiple colors. But I don't think this has snooze:

Now supposingly the granddaddy of cool alarm clocks is this one by Tivoli. I think Tivoli is considered one of those high-end names like Bang & Olufsen where you pay a premium for the style. I like this little retro number but it costs about $199. Heard some great reviews about how great it sounds and all. But that's quite a bit of money for a clock/radio.

Chad Vader

Just for a good laugh....

Went to a funeral today for the first time in over a decade. I guess it was ok...not too many people getting emotional so it didn't feel too bad. While certainly some of it was long and drawn out, I can understand how some of that process is necessary for family to cope with the situation. I suppose an hour of my life to just sit there and remember the life of a person I knew isn't a bad thing.

Man...I want a full Vader outfit. Raph Vader has a nice ring to it.

Wedding superstitions

OK....picking a wedding day is not as simple as I thought.

Wait, let me clarify. If it was all up to me, picking a day would be simple. *click through PDA* "Yup, I'm free....let's get married on the 16th!" I mean, one weekend to the next is fine with me.

BUT, it's not quite as easy for my girl. A lot has to do with Chinese superstitions. After many crazy conversations about picking a day, I hereby present you with a list of all the restrictions you need to consider if you ever marry a chinese man or woman:

1. The month of the wedding cannot fall on a family member's or couple's birthmonth. So we cannot have our wedding in January, May, September, October, November, and whatever birthdays her family members fall on.
2. You cannot pick a month or day with the number 7. I don't know what the background for this is, but apparently the number 7 is bad luck, just as 13 might be for us. So having a wedding in July is uncomfortable.
3. You cannot pick a day with the number 4. This one I understand a little. 4 is bad luck in both Japanese and Chinese circles because when you pronounce 4 in those languages, it's really close in sound to the word "death". So it's bad luck too! Are you going crazy with me yet?.... there's more.....
4. The hours you marry during the wedding day, has to be chosen according to the pair's astrological sign. So I'm a Boar, and my girls a Rat. So according to chinese astrology we shouldn't get married between the hours of 9am - 1pm. So we either have an evening wedding or I'm waking everyone up so we can get married before breakfast! hahah.
5. It has to sound good. OK, so this last one is probably my fiance's preference. She says 3 numbers sounds better then 2. So if it's June 30th, she can say "Six Three Zero" for the wedding day rather then say June 2nd where it's just "Six Two".

Apparently there are wedding astrology specialists in Asia that spend their entire careers picking days for a wedding couple. The stars, moon and universe seems to have to align just in the right way before you're given the OK to marry. There's actually MORE restrictions I know of but I better not remind my fiance or else she'll add to the list.

It's like you have to be Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones in order to find the right day where sunlight has to strike the groom's forehead on the left temple, so that the skies will open up and adorn the bride with a beam of light coming out from the groom's eyeballs.

Given all these crazy superstitions, it's amazing there were enough couples in China to make 1.4 billion people there at all? How in the world can anyone ever get married over there?

OH, what did I get myself into..........

Life is short

I have a bit of bad news today... I was informed one of my old clients passed away this week with a sudden aneurism. Mariko was her name. I'll keep her last name out just in case her family doesn't want it out. She was one of the reps who worked with me regularly at one of the resorts on the Big Island.

She was SOOOO nice, I would consider her a friend even though I really never had a chance to meet her face to face. We'd always make plans to meet up sometime, either I would go to the Big Island or she'd have a chance to come to Honolulu, but it never panned out.

I told some of my old coworkers about it today and everyone was shocked and depressed. I'd say that says a lot about someone when you have all these people you never even met face-to-face care about you so much. She was richer then she knew. I will miss you Mariko.

My grandfather passed away of an aneurism shortly before I was born. Thankfully while it's shocking to everyone else, at least it's a brief and painless situation for the person who suffers from it. It's things like this where you wonder where is all the justice? Why do the good people seem to go first? My dad had told me my grandfather was one of the nicest men he ever met as well. /sigh.

But in the end, it will remind us to live each day of our lives to the fullest. No regrets. Challenge ourselves to do something EACH day like it's our last. And last of all.....to be nice to others.

1st year

Wow! Next month would mark the 1st year anniversary of Lowe Studio, LLC.

I survived the brutal 1st year! I have to think of something cool to do. Maybe I'll buy a 1yr birthday cake at home and invite my neighbors heheh.

Ball of nerves

I had to give a presentation today. I hadn't done one of these in a while I was a wreck all weekend. It turned out ok...I think my weeks of practice in my BNI meetings helped.

There's something about having to sell your own work that makes the situation very nerve-wracking and vulnerable. I used to have people tell me my work is all that great and what-not, but I have never been super happy with my own work. I hear that's natural though... a book I'm reading lately says that an artist that is completely happy with his own work is not pushing forward. Well, if that's the case I'm PUSHING baby!

Hmmm....that doesn't sound right. Whatever....

I managed to eek my way through the experience. I think I did alright. I give myself a B+ for the presentation. I notice when I'm nervous I either ramble on incoherantly, I stutter a bit, and sometimes I lose my train of thought. I'd be talking and then realize, "What the hell am I talking about?"

Today I didn't stumble around TOO much. I had practiced all weekend. I may have missed one or two points I had planned to mention, but the pacing was good and the mood was pretty calm and light. I think it went alright...now I just have to sit and hope I get the project.

I haven't really started wedding planning yet. Should I be worried? My girl is leaving it all up to me. She thinks it's all easy...maybe something we can do maybe just 3 or 4 months ahead. Somehow I've seen my friends get married and they were freaking out a year ahead.... so am I supposed to be worried now too?! Well, if she's not worried I'll try not to be worried. She better not complain if the only wedding dresses available at the time makes her look like Shrek. Our cake is going to come from Zippy's bakery, our flowers from a downtown lei stand, and our music will be my collection of Parliament's Greatest Hits. "Get up for the downstroke"

OH boy....I think I'm worried.

Deeelicious

There are a handful of recipes my dad makes that is simply untouchable. In all the restaurants I've eaten locally and around the world, I can't find anything better:

a) MaPo Tofu
b) Pork Chops
c) OxTail Soup
d) Hot & Sour Soup

If he makes any one of these things, I'm going to follow the smell trail back home no matter what. I'll die for these dishes. One day I'll learn the recipes and post them here.

What makes it difficult to document is my dad cooks by feel..so he just eyeballs everything. How the heck am I supposed to write that down? I should learn it though...or else my lady and I will be eating out all the time when we're married.

When is our marriage you might ask? Good question. My girl seems to have a lot of fun coming up with dates in her head and all I can do is go "uh huh uh huh". SOMEtime around Summer of next year is all I figure for now. There's all kinds of things she's calculating from the Chinese astrology for luck, all the way to the practical matters like the paperwork and such. I think it's best I stay out of the way...

Spoke too soon

It suddenly got super busy for me again. Which is great don't get me wrong....financial security.
Seems like everyone suddenly decided to call me at once. Looks like another weekend of working for me.

The challenge is to get everything done while contantly continuing to line up new work. I know that this will be a permanent cycle for me...I'll always have to continually look for new work no matter how busy I am. Which is the downside of being self-employed.

I'm not complaining though....work is good.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this site before, but this is a fun site that's somewhat related to design: Threadless. The cool part of this site is that people submit designs to the site, then the viewership gets to vote for their favorite designs. The winner each week is chosen and a limited edition t-shirt is made of that design. I like checking the site out sometimes just to see what people come up with. A friend of mine regularly buys his shirts from there and they come out good.

TOOL is coming to concert. I'm pretty excited about that...the last time I missed the opportunity to see them because I had a prior commitment. I just love this band.... I remember seeing them some years back when they 1st came out but they've come a long way since then.

Another funny video for laughs. Old Korean show back in 2003 had these two girls doing karaoke. They were 16 at the time. The girl on the left is pretty funny:

Random Thoughts

So I guess my next trip will be to San Francisco in about 2 months to go visit my brother. I guess it's weird that I have a fiance now and my brother hasn't even had the chance to meet her yet so we're both going over there.

I don't know if that should make me nervous....perhaps my brother might scare my girl away. "Take this ring back, your family is fucked"

Nah, my brother isn't like that. I'm sure it will be good. I have friends now offering me a list of all the romantic places my fiance and I can go. I've been to SF a few times to visit my bro, but he always takes me to places like Haight-Ashbury or places like the Metreon. There's no way he'll take me to the modern art museum and places like that...he'd be bored to death.

This time I can do touristy things with my babe. The pier, fisherman's wharf, wine country, etc. Just chill around the town. There's supposed to be a place for awesome chocolate...another restaurant with awesome crab. I can't wait to find all of these places. But all this traveling is certainly a challenge on the budget. Gotta keep busting ass working that's for sure.

I've been watching Soccer. I guess when I went to Hong Kong everyone was SO addicted to the sport I came back with a little bit of the buzz. I guess the World Cup is such a huge thing for everyone else around the world except for the U.S. I must say it's better then watching baseball by a long shot. So far the 2 teams I was going for have been shot down...Brazil and Germany. I guess I suck at chosing my teams so far.

I've been addicted to Adidas gear all of a sudden I don't know why. I wanted to get the Brazil colors one time and be a total poser. I haven't played a real game of soccer my whole life. I think I wanted to go to my friend's house with a pair of Brazil Adidas shoes (my bud Kevin is a total Germany fan) and piss him off with it. Now I guess that doesn't matter does it?

Went to play with my camera the other day with my friends Robert and Yuka. I didn't even know there was a botanical gardens up in Hawaii Kai. It was alright but it's not the best gardens I've seen on the island. Beyond a few plumerias and cactuses all I saw was dirt. I got a few good lucky shots that I kind of like.

The Olympus camera has been great fun. Although I DO have camera envy when I still see people carrying those nice Canon 5Ds or Nikon D200s. Those bastards. I figure I'll keep using this one till I learn the craft a bit more then upgrade to one of those. Olympus is good...my only complaint is that there aren't as many sensors on it and there aren't as many lenses to choose from.

Back to work...no money no play.

Happy July 4th

OK, there's only 5 minutes left of July 4th here. I'm a bit late aren't I? Better late then never.

I was tempted to resurrect the cop video with him singing the national anthem. But that drove me crazy after a while with the stupid video playing it over and over again. So I'll spare you all the trouble.

Work is ok. It's not incredibly busy right now but I DO have work. I don't know if I've conditioned myself to thinking if I'm not shitting bricks with an overload of work, I'm not doing enough? Anyway, I'm antsy for more work. Beyond the projects I have to keep me busy for now, I got 2 luke warm big projects that look promising. I really hope I get those although I'm long accustomed not to consider a job mine until I get that signed contract. It's hopeful and I got my fingers crossed.

I really have to save save save now. With a wedding coming up next year to finance and a few trips to visit my fiance between now and then, I really got to crunch down and keep going. I adopted a slogan that my brother's girlfriend uses... "No Fucking Around." I printed that up nice and big and I posted that slogan right next to my monitor and on my front door. Any means of motivation works.... there's certainly nobody else around me to remind me so I have to tell myself don't I?

I certainly find myself a nervous wreck more often than not these days. I don't know how any business owner cannot be constantly in this worrying state. I suppose the experienced business owners learn how to quell this feeling, or they're simply insane and don't care about it at all.

New gallery: Botanical Gardens