When I first walked into the exhibition space, I was initially disappointed to read that this exhibit was focusing not on his paintings, but rather his pencil and printmaking works. After going through the exhibit I was very happy to have seen this side of his art that I had never experienced before. A good part of one room was dedicated to his series featuring a minotaur representing lust and the id side of sexuality.

My favorite photo from the series. I just love the playful style and the audacity of the image.

I found this series to be both playful (because of the art style) and highly symbolic. Unlike the extreme abstract art we sometimes see with post-modern art, Picasso’s symbols were clear. Before I read the caption explaining the series, it was quite obvious to me that the minotaur represented unrestrained sexuality. I enjoyed being able to understand the art pieces without having to first read about what the heck it was I was looking at.

One of the most interesting aspects of this exhibit is that it showcased most of Picasso’s least surreal/cubist/etc artwork. It was often pretty obvious what it was you were looking at. The following sentiment will probably reveal my boorishness when it comes to art, but frankly anyone can create cubist art. It seems to simply require forgetting everything you know about 3D and putting the back and front of an object on display at the same time. Kids often do this when they’re learning how to draw. (this is not to take away from the skill required to properly paint it) But to see this artwork showed that Picasso was a master artist. His drawings reveal that he could draw and paint normally if he wanted to. That is, of course, how I define art – knowing the rules before you break them. So, a kid scribbling on paper is not art. But an artist scribbling on a canvas with a purpose will have the same result as a kid, but it is art. So to know that Picasso was not drawing weird simply because he didn’t know how to properly draw a face made me see him as an even greater artist.

On display were also a bunch of portrait drawings of each of his mistresses. Apparently each woman with whom he became involved sexually also became one of his muses. He made dozens of sketches of each of these women and they also appear in other works of art where they are not the only focus or maybe even not the primary focus. As I observed these, my mind wandered from the art to real life. What would it be like for his wife to have him not only involved with all these women, but sketching them and incorporating them into his art. Would she feel sad that she could not provide him all the inspiration he needed? Did she feel it was so brazen for him to create art from his mistresses?

And what of these other women. When they could no longer provide him with inspiration and he tossed them aside for another, did they feel spurned? Did they feel used as they became part of his art and he earned money from their likenesses? I also wondered how they felt about his portraits. While some of the portraits were drawn in the traditional manner, many of them are cubist or surreal. I know, from the captions at the museum, that at least one of these women was a surrealist artist. She would have appreciated the distortion in his work, but what of the others? Did they find it weird or grotesque to be depicted in this manner?

Above I mentioned the playfulness on display in some of the art from this exhibit. Another series which exemplified that spirit of play (but which I did not photograph) was a series of drawings of a bull. This series is Picasso playing a reductionist game to see how basic he can make a bull with us still recognizing it as a bull. Each successive work has less and less detail. (by analogy, the end result is similar to a stick figure as representative of a person) This is playful on an intellectual level and it tickled my brain to see it. But what I found extra funny was that amongst the details Picasso deemed essential to know it was a bull (horns, almond head, large body) were large testicles and a penis.

As I ascended the stairs to my final destination on the sixth floor, I stopped to see a photographic exhibit consisting entirely of female photographers. The first impression I got while walking around the exhibit was that there appeared to be no inherent difference between having a male or female behind the lens. In other words, there was nothing on the surface that screamed out, “This was taken by a woman!” On closer inspection I found a few threads that ran through the exhibit, but, at least in the way this exhibit was curated, they were only the faintest of threads. One such thread was an examination of the female condition — using the photograph to show others what it means to be a woman. Often this was very subtle, although there was one piece by an artist featuring a series of self-portraits that appeared to document her life in an abusive relationship. The images were brutal without being overly graphic and it made me hope that it was staged and not photodocumentary.
Another thread, again, very faint as it only encompassed a few of the photographs on display, was that of motherhood. The piece that stood out to me here was a series of portraits of the photographer’s daughter — one per year (only a subset of these were on display). Each was taken on a chair by a window. It was interesting to see the expression on the face go from childlike happiness to “ugh, I have to do this again!” to appreciation of the effort as she grew. The most profound was the last photograph chosen for this exhibit in which the daughter is now pregnant — presumably with a daughter of her own.

As expected, there were far fewer images of the female form than in a male photographic exhibit. Although there have been exceptions, throughout photographic history most images of the female form have been by male photographers. (As was the case with painting) Nor were there many images of the male form — it appears to be more off limits — perhaps exposing an undercurrent of sexism in the art world? In my surveys of photographic history and in what I’ve seen of paintings in museums, males have seldom been depicted nude. Far more likely has been the depiction of the nude or semi-nude female form. In fact, masculinity often is masked, as in the case of Picasso above, in the form of a minotaur, centaur, or other mythological half-man create. Part of this appears to be changing — at least from what I can tell on flickr. If females are not taking more portraits of the female form with other models, there is a proliferation of self-portraiture of the female form on flickr. This may, however, simply be a symptom of our narcissistic culture colliding with our voyeuristic culture. The female form will attract a much greater audience to someone’s photostream. Still, it removes at least one layer of exploitation to have the woman photographing the naked woman. But, as in other fields (pornography, music videos, film, etc) a case can be made that the woman is simply still functioning in the same world under the same pressures even if it is for a female master. Suffice to say, it’s a complicated issue and one that will not be explored any further in this post.

My main draw to the museum was a comprehensive exhibit of the work of photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. This exhibit occupied all of space on the top floor that was available for public viewing. (Another area was under construction for a new exhibit) This collection of photos was amazingly vast. The space was arranged to take the visitor through Cartier-Bresson’s career in a roughly chronological order. The chronology was broken up a bit in order to divide his photojournalistic work into different categories —mostly on geographical boundaries.

The bulk of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photojournalistic work was accomplished in the 1930s and 1940s. His photographs appeared in all the important photojournalistic magazines of the world at that time. On display were magazine photo essays from American and French magazines. Given that commercial aviation was still a novelty during this time, it is astonishing that Henri travelled to so many places to bring back photographs for his assignments. Photographs on display included locales as diverse as America, England, Communist Russia (one of the first non-communists allowed to photograph there), Shanghai, China before and after the Maoist revolution, and Spain before, during, and after the 1930s civil war. Even today, with all our modern airplanes and relatively cheap flights (especially compared to the 1930s) most people don’t get to visit so many countries. But, back then before the Internet, his photographs (along with other photographers of the time) were all that Americans would get to see and know about places like China. It probably conferred both a great responsibility to properly represent the countries he was photographing and a feeling of great privilege to travel to all these places. In addition to the photojournalism work, he had photographs of some of the most famous people of his time including Jean Paul Sartre. They also had photographs of women and his capture of feminine beauty.

It was interesting to see the photos in a museum setting. For the most part, museums are associated with art (especially when the museum is named the “museum of modern art”). While photojournalism can produce photographs that people would conventionally consider art, I do not believe that 99.9% of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photographs would fulfill those requirements. They are great photos, often capturing a great moment. Most of the time they also exhibit great technique. To me, this makes them art. But they are not artsy photos. And that is what had my wife feeling a bit disappointed. She was expecting a great art photographer – I had told her nothing about Cartier-Bresson other than that he was a famous and heralded photographer. I guess, when it comes down to it, she found the photos too ordinary. To put it another way, she asked why my similar photographs of NYC life were not on display on the walls at MoMA. What made his photograph of a man in Shanghai haggling at the market different from one a tourist might take today that was of the same technical merits. I could not answer that question. He was, no doubt, a great photographer – as I mentioned, his photographs both capture that special moment and display perfect technique. But in modern times we are inundated with photographers of similar skill on flickr. Who will decide if one of them will end up in MoMA in the future?

That evening I went to dinner at Danielle’s cousin’s house. I was able to get some shots of people interacting with all the kids. They’re all in the 3-6 year range so they make nice, cute subjects. Here are a few photos from the evening.

Finally, we all went to see Toy Story 3 (in 2D) at a 2230 showing. I will discuss this in my next blog post.

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Dina on the DC Train

Danielle’s family came to visit so we did what we always do when company comes, we went to Washington, DC. Seriously, I don’t really know what else to do. If it were Florida I would have taken them to the beach. In NYC I’d take them to Manhattan and either just walk around or go to a show. But around here I don’t really know what to do with visitors. Inner Harbor is really too small for just an hour or so. And not everyone likes the museums from DC. So if you know something to do around here, let me know.

Photographer on the Stairs

It seems as though every big city with “Rocky Stairs” always has a ton of people sitting on it. This guy on the corner was taking photos of people walking on the sidewalk. I’m pretty sure he got me, so I returned the favor. Ever since Rudy’s talk I’ve been photographing other photographers.

Daniel walking towards the Washington Monument

Daniel was leading the way to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum…. or so he thought. Danielle thought it was that way and I didn’t correct people because I was too busy taking photos. No one wanted to do the tourist thing and take a photo with the Washington Monument or Senate in the background. So I was sneaking photos of everyone with the monuments in the background.

Pointy Airplane

These planes with the needle on the end kept me thinking about ramming ships. Obviously, planes don’t do that, but I couldn’t help it.

Walking Back Towards Chinatown

After that one museum we made our way back to the subway. I think it took us longer to get to DC than we spent there, but it was very crowded and I just suggested it so we wouldn’t be in the house all day.

The Barack Stars

This banner for Barack Stars made me think of the Rock Band logo.  And it’s funny because Dan made a Rock Band band called Barack Me Obamadeus  made up of Obama, Biden, Palin, and McCain.

Barack Me Obamadeus - what if they put all their differences aside to form a band? (photo by Daniel Mesa)

Sara Palin in Barack Me Obamadeus (the real reason she quit being governor) (photo by Daniel Mesa)

John McCain in Barack Me Obamadeus (photo by Daniel Mesa)

Obama Store

Obama’s popularity has been a real boom for people selling t-shirts and memorabilia in DC. This store had tons of Obama imprinted shirts. Yay capitalism!

tangysweet

We stopped at TangySweet to get some ice cream because it was really hot in DC and on the train. It was a really trendy place like a Starbucks,but for frozen yogurt. The store and the adjacent one, Red Velvet Cupcakery, were situated where the Juan Valdez restaurant used to be.  It was ok, nothing special. Danielle and Chi Thao ordered green tea ice cream and it just tasted like vanilla. I got a smoothie with tons of berries. It was ok. But that’s not their fault, I think I’m just not into blackberries.

Escalators to the Trains

Then it was time to head back to Maryland.

Daniel and Brian on the Subway

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Dina, Daniel, Ho, Beo, and Lauren put a lot of work into the decorations

Last weekend I went to a graduation party Dina and Daniel organized to celebrate Dina, Ho, and Lauren’s graduation this year.  It was a great BBQ event and I had a lot of fun.  I only knew about 1/10th of all the people there, so I kept entertained mainly by ecording the events of the night with my cameras.  I did end up speaking at length with some interesting people.

Beo and ho hard at work on the Tiki Bars

Daniel and Tri get the grass for the decorations - photo by Dina Nguyen

The final Tiki bars

Planning for the tiki party started months ahead and construction on the tiki bars started in May.  The tiki bars went through a couple of revisions, but the end result looked great.  I was very impressed with the work Ho, Daniel, and others did with the bar.  The other decorations in the form of tall dried grass, christmas lights, flowers, and tiki totems really added to the atmosphere.  When the sun began to set and the lights came on, it really came into its own.  For Danielle, Daniel, and I – deciding whether we could attend the Tiki Party was a roller coaster ride of decisions.

First off, we needed to see if Danielle would be working that weekend.  Then, once we found out she *would* be working that weekend, we had to know if she would be able to get out on time.  Once we had finally decided to go, Danielle threw a monkey wrench into it all by having a horrible allergic reaction to some bad shrimp.  After going to the ER and getting an injection of what was essentially liquid Benadryl, Danielle was no longer in mortal danger.  Although the medicine given to her made her unable to go to work because it made her insanely dizzy and tired, she really wanted to support her sister, so, at the last minute, we decided to go to NYC.

10 avocadoes! And other husks from the guacamole making

We ended up arriving just an hour before the party was to start thanks to some annoyingly slow traffic on the Verrazano Bridge and Belt Parkway.  This is always the case in the summer as people who have apparently never seen water, people flying kites or running before.  So they have to look while driving and, therefore, slow everyone else.  Danielle supervised the making of the guacamole.  Even though 10 avocadoes were used, it was completely gone by the end of the night.

Ho running the BBQ

Ho focused on BBQing the ribs, steak, and vegetables.  Brian focused on grilling burgers and hotdogs.  When Danielle wasn’t battling dizziness, she focused on the chicken.  Various guests brought a large portion of the alcohol.

Brian grilling the hamburgers and hot dogs

I brought along the DJ equipment I bought while in HS so Daniel could use my amp and speakers for the party.  We had a bit of uneasiness at first because my amp hooks into a mixer and getting knocked about for the past 10 years or so has messed up something with the internal wiring.  If you try and adjust the volume on the mixer, the music starts fading in and out.  Heck, even if you just leave it along it starts fading in and out.  So it needs to be set to a magical spot where the music remains at a costant volume.

Daniel setting up the DJ equipment.

Dina’s about four years younger than I am, so it really made me feel old when her friends at the party (some of whom were still in school) asked me what school I was attending.  I have been out of school for as long as they’ve been in.  Shoot, I was out before some of them started.

The Party from a Peeping Location

I think the party topped out at about 60 people, so the BBQing had to go on for quite some time before everyone had been sated.  Even then, people were munching on food late into the night.  Which brings me to the one part of the night that sucked.  Dan literally got sick to his stomache.  This was tragic for two reasons.  One, he felt badly the whole night and couldn’t really enjoy it.  Two, his departure from the party (he went inside to drink some ginger tea) cause a huge drop in the number of people I knew at the party.  He also missed out on some of the best parts of the party, including a lesson in the psysiology of alcohol poisoning.

Again from the same location

Technically, I greatly enjoyed busting out my new 50mm f/1.8 II lens.  I had been itching to try out that f/1.8 aperture in a low light situation and it didn’t dissapoint.  Although I did get *some* blurry photos, most of those were due to people moving around.  I was mostly able to get the camera to have a fast enough shutter speed that I was able to handhold the camera and get some good shots.  This allowed me to only have to throw my 580EX onto my other camera with the 28mm-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.  I was very, very happy with my shots and I’m now craving the substantially more expensive 35mm f/2 (it costs 3 times as much) for those times when 50mm is just a little too long.  Of course, it’s an issue magnified by the 1.6x crop factor in my camera, but I’m quite a few years away from getting a full frame camera.  So I’ll definitely be looking to get the 35mm whenever I get a chance.

Dan and Xixi chalk up the bars

I had a great time and it was worth the whirlwind travel Saturday just to attend.  I’m hoping to have my [much more modest] BBQ some time this summer as soon as I get a BBQ.  It’s one of the events we’ve been looking forward to as home owners.  Congrats to the class of 2009.

Congrats Dina, Ho, and Lauren!

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Dina, a new graduate!

A few weeks ago I attended Dina’s Bachelor’s Graduation.  After having attended my own as well as Daniel’s, I had some idea of what to expect, but this was the first college graduation I had attended outside of Cornell.  (Not counting my dad’s graduation when I was young)  I have have come to believe that all college graduations are the same everywhere.  It is a bit odd that Stony Brook used red gowns instead of black ones.  The was also my first long outing with my GPS unit.  Here’s where I ran around that day. First as a static PNG:

The Path We Followed for Dina's Graduation at Stony Brook

and here it is as a Google Map:

I think some of the wild movements near the basketball stadium are due to getting an erratic fix in the building.

Stony Brook Entrance

Walking around campus I saw the following sign.  I still don’t know what a sea wolf is.

You're In Seawolves Country

After Dina went inside for her college’s graduation, I decided I should probably try and figure out where she would be sitting so I would know where to aim my camera.

Dina's Seat

After some, but not too much, blabbering, Dina got her diploma.

Dina shaking hands

Getting Diploma

Afterwards, we took portrait shots.

Dina with her family

Dina and Brian

After that Dina went to line up for the university-wide graduation we went to grab a quick bite to eat and then waited for the university graduation to begin.  We couldn’t find a seat in the shade so we stayed under the seats for most of the ceremony.  But when the graduates were coming out, I took my 55mm-200mm lens out to capture Dina from the middle of the football field.

Dina walking to her seat in the football field

While waiting for her to finish packing up her dorm room, I noticed this medallion Dina had received and decided to photograph it.

Stony Brook Graduation Medallion

Overall it was a great photo day.  I used my two camera technique, first used last time I went to an Orioles game.  I used all the knowledge I had to get the best shots possible, including making sure to use flash to get rid of facial shadows in the noon-time photos.  It was also a fun photo excursion because I tracked my path using my GPS unit.  See more of my photos from Dina’s graduation here.

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My grandfather smoking a cigar - the way I will remember him for all of my life

It really sucks that I’m so far from my family.  My sole living grandfather, pictured here, is turning 70 this year.  Although I’ve always been closer to my mom’s family –  I really, really love my grandfather.  His humor, which was passed on to my father and which I hope to pass on to my son(s), has always cracked me up.  In different circumstances I think he would have liked all the same comedies I do.  

When I was a kid we used to visit them nearly every Sunday.  I freakin’ hated it!  The couches had plastic on them and we stuck to it in the Florida humidity.  They only had over the air TV, so there wasn’t anything for a kid to watch.  We couldn’t run around because they lived in an apartment.  Also, I barely spoke Spanish and most of the time the conversations involved my dad helping them out with some form or another.  

I absolutely love the way my grandfather laughs

It wasn’t until High School that I began to realize that my grandparents were a source of hidden knowledge and family heritage.  At that time I began to ask them questions about their childhood and the past and what it was like to be alive in another country – especially one that had undergone such upheavals.  

I was always into photography, but until I got my digital camera (when I was in my freshman year of college), I only took snaps at parties and other ocassions.  I didn’t get into portraiture and so forth because I didn’t know about it – not having had a formal photography education and because film was so expensive relative to my allowance. 

This brings me to the meat of my blog post.  Here I am, in Maryland, and my family is in Florida.  Not only that, but my immediate family lives in Tampa and my grandparents live in Miami so I see them even less than I see my immediate family.  So I don’t have too many situations to gather these portraits that capture the essence of my grandparents.  I don’t know if they’ll live as long as their parents, but I feel like I ‘m missing out on opportunities because of distance. That’s why when I take pictures, like the first one, and they come out blurry due to a strong desire to have a candid portrait, it really just annoys me even more.  

The best picture I currently have of my grandfather. Hopefully I can capture more like this.

I just found out recently there will be a big birthday bash for my grandfather’s 70th birthday.  I intend to be there, camera in tow, and get some great pictures.  In addition to that, I’m going to try and always have my camera and just fade into the background and take the pictures.  It’s worth people asking why I don’t stop.  I think when people need/want pictures after the person is no longer around, they’ll be happy I was there snapping away.  And for me, I’ll have the memories, frozen in time, to remind me of all the things I loved so much about my grandparents.

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I think that the single largest source of mirth at the Thanksgiving dinner was Dan’s xkcd tshirt.  Dan and I were the only ones who knew what this meant.  Dave was the only other person capable of grasping it.  Everyone else kept asking Dan to explain the shirt over and over.  No matter how many ways he tried to do it, the response was always “I don’t get it”.  Later on the response was a sarcastic “OK”.  Later on in the evening/night everyone was sudo ordering people to do things even though they had no idea what that meant.  The person who was ordered to do something would invariably answer “OK!”  IT was hilarious and maddening at the same time. 

Blogged with Flock

Tags: tshirt, Danny

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For example, I am pretty sure that my brothers would have never gotten into Anime had I not introduced them to it while I was in Middle School. I also introduced them to Christian Rock and Rap music. Had I not found Monty Python & The Search for The Holy Grail funny, they might not have been introduced to British Comedy until much later.

As we’ve gotten older, our preferences have started to diverge. Dan told me he no longer likes Monty Python. I’ve taken photos since I was about six but really got into photography when I was in college so they usually don’t do more than simple snapshots. Both my brothers despise rap.

But another thing also started happening, now the influence goes both ways. For example, I’ve always listened to Alternative rock here and there, but my brothers have influenced me to give it more of a listen. Now rock and pop rock ar eon the tops of my playlists. What started with me listening to Gold Finger and Lucky Boys Confusion over Christmas Break because it’s all that was on the computer, has resulted in my current favorite artists being Anberlin, Thousand Foot Krutch, Lostprophets, and Fallout Boy. I’ve also gone back to music I had previously dismissed.

And I continue to influence them, for example, Dave’s fondness for creating videos.

So, basically, as we grow older we become even more individualistic while at the same time continuing a bond of influence which makes us unique as a set of brothers.

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Dan came over and we watched him play Guitar Hero 2 on the PS2. I gave it a shot, but it was actually a little painful on my phret (fret?) fingers. The overall game is a pretty good concept and the music was pretty good. But, because it was music being played, it felt a bit repetitive. I’ll probably have to give it another shot to be fair.

courtesy of Randall Monroe over at xkcd

When we weren’t hanging out with Dan and each other, I was busy working on “Sugar”. I started modeling a character named Nick. So if you thought “Sugar” was going to be about animated inanimate objects, you were wrong. Now you’ll really be guessing what I’m going to do. Started modeling on Friday and finished nearly all of the materials/texturing today. It’s my first attempt at a semi-realistic looking human. (As opposed to Raul Domingo, which is just a humanoid)

When I textured the eyes I was creeped out at how realistic it looked. I mean, not photorealistic, but it was like he was looking at me. See for yourselves!

I also started to give him hair, but due to something I don’t quite understand enough yet, his hair came out blue. It’ll be fixed soon.

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Hey all,

I went walking with no apparent destination and, about 6-10 miles
there and back later I found myself home and with impressions of
Japan that I figured I’d share. Pretty much, I’m gonna take myths
about Japan and debunk or support them. Here we go…

Myth: Everyone in Japan knows English.

False! Everyone in Japan knows English about as much as everyone in
the States knows Spanish or French or Italian…they might be able
to understand what you’re saying, but most can’t speak it to any
degree of proficiency (at least in Okinawa). Luckily, with
Okinawa’s large American base presence, road signs are in English
and most restaurant menus in Japan have pictures on them, have
English, or both English and pictures. Don’t expect the locals to
understand too much of what you have to say though, especially if
it isn’t rudimentary.

Myth: The Japanese all wear kimonos and stuff.

Obviously false. They wear the exact same stuff as us.

Myth: Vending machines are everywhere in Japan and they sell all
sorts of weird, kooky things.

Mostly true. I have been in the middle of nowhere in Japan and
there will be a soda machine right on the side of the road. It’s
also common and not rude at all to just pull over on the road and
get a soda if you’re thirsty. They have soda, coffee, tea, even
beer in machines. That’s pretty much all I’ve seen vended, other
than cigarettes and capsule toy machines (like the machines in the
grocery store that give toys for 50 cents, only these cost ~$1-$2
and are much higher quality).

Myth: The Japanese eat dogs and cats and stuff.

False. They eat pretty much what we eat, with the addition of more
seafood. I have yet to see any dog or cat. Additionally, the meat
and food are all of comparable quality or better. In fact, the
Japanese are afraid of American beef getting them sick, if that
puts it in perspective a little bit more.

Myth: Electronics/Manga/Anime/Video Games/Music are cheaper in
Japan because they’re made here.

Let’s break this down a bit:

Manga: True. The books I normally buy in the states are about $8.
In Japan, depending on the exchange rate, they go for just under
$4, a definite improvement.

Electronics: False. Electronics in Japan are either more expensive
or about the same price as in the States. Don’t ask me why…

Anime: False. Anime is more expensive in Japan with less episodes
per disc and close to no special features. Again, don’t ask me why.

Video Games: Also false. Who knows?

Music: I’m sure some of you have thought: “Man, if only I lived in
Japan, then I could get this CD that I want for way less than the
rip-off $30 that Amazon charges me for the CD!” Guess what: that
price is actually pretty accurate. You pay about $12 for a CD with
3-5 tracks on it here in Japan. For a full CD, expect to pay about
$20. A soundtrack from a tv show or video game: expect to pay, you
guessed it, $30. This was a major disappointment to me…

Myth: Japanese TV is just jam-packed with anime.

False. I have seen less anime on TV than I can usually catch in the
States. Granted, I have few channels and I am in Okinawa instead
of Tokyo…

Myth: Japanese people act just like they do in the cartoons.

Obviously false. However, their live-action shows are over-acted
and exaggerated, much like their anime is.

Myth: Shopping malls only exist in America and Canada.

False. They have shopping malls in Japan, but with the major
shopping mall paradigm slightly modified. Let me illustrate this
change with what I imagine to be the brainstorming session that
came up with this.

Boss: So this mall we’re building, I want to improve it. It seems
that it doesn’t have everything a Japanese person could need in it,
I only want them to have to stop one place to get everything they
could possibly need. What can we do to fix that?

Employee: We could put a supermarket in?

Boss: WHAAAT!!!

Employee: But that would clearly be a stupid idea…

Boss: You’re brilliant! You get a raise! Have them put that in the
blueprints right away!

Employee: Uh, thanks.

Boss: There’s still one problem though…I can’t see all the other
merchandise when I’m in a store because of something…why is that?

Employee: Those would be walls sir.

Boss: Can we do anything about them?

Employee: Haha, like what, knock ‘em down?

Boss: WHAAAT!!!

Employee: I was kidding, of course.

Boss: (crying tears of joy) How lucky am I to have such amazingly
intelligent employees. You get a promotion for that brilliant idea!

Employee: Why thanks! I did go to Todai, you know…

Boss: STOP BEING LAZY AND GET BACK TO WORK BEFORE I DEMOTE YOU!!!

Scary how accurate I must be on that, isn’t it? Malls in Japan have
supermarkets inside and they have minimal walls. What walls they
do have are sometimes even made of glass to keep that open bazaar
feeling going.

Last but not least:

Myth: The Japanese work super-hard at everything they do.

I think this one’s true. Even going to a McDonald’s, you’re
confronted with motivated employees. The hamburgers they put
together look like they do in the pictures and everything. All
other employees seem to work hard too (they also wear the same
funny uniforms that you see in the cartoons and comics).

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If you want to know what the glue is that binds our family together, it’s my mother. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that we have built up the relationships we need in our family. Always working, it’s pretty rare to see her just slacking off. But then again, that’s what’s made her the amazing mother she is and the great wife to my father she is. When others were giving up, she was just getting started. She’s the strongest, hardest working person I know. The only person who works as hard as her is my father and that’s why they’ve pulled themselves out from being poor when they first got married to now nearly being business owners!

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