Sudoku

I'm obsessed. My favorite part of the day is when, on my way back to the office after lunch, I pass the newspaper stand and pick up the Nashville City Paper. After reading the Headlines and skimming Entertainment, I quickly flip to the Etceteras section for the Comics & Puzzles. And there, glowing before my very little eyes is Sudoku! Whenever I have down time throughout the day, I get to working the puzzle. Sometimes they're easy, other times I get stumped and peek at the answers (c'mon!). Though I would only consider myself a "white belt" by Sudoku standards, I so enjoy it. Try it once and you'll be hooked (http://games.latimes.com/). You've been forewarned!

Surprise!

This is what I saw when I awoke today...lovely snow! Shot is taken from our living room looking out. The rest are of the exterior of our house covered in the beautiful white blanket.

New Mexico Reviewed

So I'm back from my weekend trip to Albuquerque, where I totally fell in love with the New Mexican landscape, culture, feel, you name it. I spent 3 days with sweet Aria, her husband James, who is one of the coolest guys ever, their cuttie-patuttie-eat-those-little-rubbery-ears little girl Sasha & dearest Samantha and Tony Schmitz.

Aria, Sasha and Samantha took Tony and I on the longest Tramway in the world which ascends to over 10,000 feet! For those who don't know the concept of the tramway, it's basically a little box you stand in that's balanced on a couple of cables a few thousand feet in the air! I'm totally not kidding! Highly terrifying but so thrilling at the same time. I loved it! At the top of the mountain, after smiling through grinding teeth and clenching the inside bar of that tiny tramway box, I was completely struck with the most amazing above view ever, overlooking all of Albuquerque and other cities and mountains in the distance. And though the winds gusted and the temperatures neared the single digits, it was splendid!
We also got to go to the Seals & Seals concert that was awesome. Several Bahá'ís from Albuquerque and surrounding areas traveled to see them play too, like our dear old friends from Costa Rica, Violeta and Phillip Mirkovich. Following the concert, which little Sasha soundly slept through (she's the cutest!), we took many pictures together.

On Sunday, my last day in NM, Violeta & Fipo prepared a delicious Tico breakfast for us. Afterwards, Aria, James and Sasha took me to the Jemez Mountains, where James had been just a day earlier on a class trip. Let me tell you, James, the soon-to-be geologist, knows his rocks and I was stunned and impressed to learn all the history of that region. Thanks for the incredible tour guys!In all, there are no words to thank these dear friends for such a lovely experience. I can only say that I miss you dearly and love you so much! You have to come to Nashville now, so I can return the great favor! Check out these pictures of darling, sweet, beautiful Sasha.

New Mexico!

The much awaited day has arrived! I'm finally making my way to New Mexico. My dearest friends, Aria, James, Samantha and smallest but not least, little niece Sasha Layli, await.

I had a dream about meeting my buddies in Albuquerque last night. In the dream, we were at this very and I mean very rocky beach surfing (I know, totally strange). It must have something to do with the memories I have of Samantha and I joining the Costa Rican Women's Surf Team some years back. Segun nosotros, we were going to become world class surfers back then. We would've settled for just balancing on that darn board and duck diving! This little surf group took us on a couple of memorable trips throughout the beaches of Costa Rica.

Also in the dream, I sat watching in awe as my dear friend Aria attended to her daughter! In the dream I was mesmerized that she actually had a baby. Somehow I think this will be the theme of my trip...sitting in awe and watching them together. James was there too and played guitar for us. I'm so anxious to see if Albuquerque looks anything like it does in my dreams! My flight leaves at 1:30pm today...

****Going to definitely catch the Seals & Seals concert there on Saturday night! I'll post all the pics when I get back. Toodles****

Sneak Peak

Here's one of the Seals & Seals t-shirts I've been working on. It's not quite finished, but thought I'd share the progress so far. I'm excited about seeing their show this weekend in New Mexico!

Mad Hot Ballroom

Have you seen Mad Hot Ballroom yet? You must immediately...especially if you're a lover of the art of dance. It's a superb documentary directed by Marilyn Agrelo, which follows the lives of several inner-city elementary students as they learn and compete in ballroom dancing. Uplifting, inspiring, and emphasizes the importance of the arts in education. Now I'm no Ebert or Roeper, but I totally recommend it. Two thumbs up!

Updates

I feel like so much has happen since I last posted. I'll try and cram it all in. First off, you'll be glad to know that the Seals & Seals photo shoot I mentioned a couple weeks back went off without a hitch (well sorta, the weather turned nasty and we had to finish shooting indoors) and we just got the contact sheets back yesterday. Despite weather conditions though, the Heavens opened up and blessed us with some great pictures! I'll post soon.




Also, this last Saturday my bros., Suth & Josh (they've got a rock group called Hum Static and also tour as part of the Seals & Seals band), helped their buddy Brad out by playing guitar & bass with him at Caffeine Coffee Shop on Music Row. They were fantastic(see above pictures)! On this same night, my love for music was yet again renewed. The culprit? A blonde-haired, doe-eyed, fairy princess. Her name is Stephanie Dosen (pictured below). For those who dig the folky sounds of Carol King, Enya, Sarah McLachlan, Emmylou Harris or Joni Mitchell, you'll love her. Her album is pretty good, but I tell you her live performance was like 10 times better! It was so raw and truthful, which made it all the more moving. The kind of good that makes you never want to touch another instrument ever again. Remember her name. I'm certain it won't be the last time you hear it.



What else? I'm so excited that February 10-12 I'll be visiting my dear friends Aria and Samantha in New Mexico and finally get to meet James (Aria's lovely hubby) and my darling little niece Sasha Layli Pyburn (Aria & James' beautiful daughter)! Also hope to catch the Seals & Seals concert that will be making it's way through there that Saturday. Mustn't forget my camera!

Let's see...oh, and my mom left for Costa Rica today. She'll be gone for 3 weeks! Ahhh...Costa Rica. My love. My heart. My home. How I miss it so. I believe home is wherever loved ones are, but there is something so special about that place. A spiritual presence you might say. And so, it is and will always be a home for me.

Hmmm...on second thought, probably needless to cram everything into this one entry. I mean, c'mon! This thing has gotten so long. Perhaps this is enough for now. Here are more pictures taken after Josh & Suth's performance.

Thank God!

Divvying up time has been my main task at hand lately. If there were only a few more hours in the day, some tranquility might set in (Not likely though. Rarely satisfied with my doings and always wanting to do more). I'm hoping, with some assistance from Above, I can accomplish those things I am setting out to do. With work, design projects on the side, writing music, women's gatherings (which have been on short hiatus but will soon be back in effect), the possibility of tutoring a new study circle, I don't know if it can all be done. I've been contemplating the idea of running the Nashville Country Music Marathon this April as well. Do you see how delirious I am? It's times like these when you put it all in God's hands and know He has a higher destiny and purpose for us than we could ever orchestrate for ourselves. Thank God for that!

Weeeeekend!

Just a few hours left before I get off work and I'ma countin' the minutes! This work week was so hectic. Also, my sweet Sahba Joon left for ATL this afternoon to visit some of his old Louhelen buddies and I miss him already! The plans for this weekend? Selecting the wardrobe & setting up the photo shoot for the upcoming Seals & Seals album. It should be great fun and I'll get a chance to spend the weekend at my parents' house too. Always enjoy being with them! I'll post some pics from the shoot soon.

Mi Tierra

My dearest Costa Rica, you're so close and yet still so far. Today has been a challenging day for me and all I can think about is you. There are just some things that only you could understand. The beauty of simplicity you offer is what I long for, and though you've changed so much it seems, you're still at the very heart of me. I miss you.

Opportunity Knocks

Today two wonderful design projects came my way. I've actually known about both of them for a few weeks now, but today, many key elements started to come together. The first, an album cover. The second, a wedding invitation. Both, a little intimidating actually. The album cover—because it will be mass produced, distributed, and sold. The wedding invite—because it marks two people's special union and will be remembered as so for years to come (gulp...gulp gulp...gulp gulp gulp...okay, just thirsty). Anywho, in the midst of such intimidation often comes great inspiration and it's moments like these that make it all so exciting. Will keep you posted on the progress...or not if it tanks!

The Seals

01/07/06—Josh, Suth and I take a moment to pose in the studio before Dave plays drums on the new Seals & Seals album.


Dad, Suth & I sporting our "We mean business" looks.

The Sound of Music

So I just received one of those emails from Ticketmaster, you know the ones that highlight upcoming concerts in your area. Well, it got me thinking of my own little concert list, so here it is:

1. Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen & Tracy Chapman—First memory I ever have of attending a concert was in 1988 when these four legendary musicians came to Costa Rica on the Derechos Humanos tour.

2. Seals & Crofts—Got a chance to see many of these when they toured throughout the US in 1992, and I had the bounty of tagging along for a month!

3. Dan Seals—Washington State Fair, 1992.

4. Bon Jovi—Their Keep the Faith tour hit Costa Rica in 1993. An unforgettable experience mainly because Gaby, Aria, David and myself were pulled out of line by concert crew members recruiting helpers for the show. Later on we got to see them front row.

5. Aerosmith—Costa Rica (think it was 1994 but can't say for sure).

6. Eros Ramazotti—Costa Rica, 1994.

7. D'Angelo—In 1999, my sweet sister-in-law, Nika, surprised me with tickets to this concert for my 21st b-day.

8. Mya, The Pretenders, Sheryl Crow & Sarah McLachlan—Lilith Fair came to Nashville in 1999 and I was lucky enough to be here when it did. It remains a favorite.

9. Seals & Seals—One of their first shows together at Nashville's Riverfest, 2004.

10. Sarah McLachlan—My whole family was able to go to this one which made it really special—Nashville 2004.

11. Metallica—This one was a freebee—Nashville 2005.

12. Hum Static—Album release concert at Tower Records—Nashville 2005.

13. John Legend—Riverside—Nashville 2005.

14. The Wailers—Mercy Lounge—Nashville 2005.

15. Coldplay—Once again, the whole Seals family, (we are lovers of music) made it to this spectacular show—Nashville 2005.

16. Gwen Stefani—As you can read from the previous Harajuku Girl post, Andrea and I rocked out at this one—Nashville 2005. I believe that's all of them. There are still so many I'd like to see.

Sleepless

I've got Goodnight And Go by Imogen Heap on repeat cuz I can't sleep. Too many thoughts/ideas running. Just finished putting Blessed Is The Spot to music, now I feel I must find something else to do. Why does it always seem that creativity lingers at these hours? In my life haven't met one artist yet that's on a decent sleeping schedule. Gonna try and close my eyes for now.

Love Actually

This Saturday, January 7th, one of our dear friends, Paul Ighani, will wed his beautiful bride Lorena. We had so wished to witness the celebratory union of these two, but sadly are not able to make it to the wedding. I had the distinct privilege of participating in Bahá'í service for some months in Progreso, Costa Rica and living with the Ighani family during that time. It is here that I got to know Paul better. It is hardly a surprise that these two special souls should find each other, and we are overjoyed that they will share a new life together. For those who will have the honor of being present at this most joyous occasion, please take lots of pictures to share with the rest of us. Paul & Lorena, we wish you the very best...Congrats!

Back In Town

The trip to Cinci was a real hoot! Maziar and Kimberly were so hospitable and went above and beyond to make it an exciting and unforgettable trip for us. In addition to a rather spectacular Gregorian New Years extravaganza at one of Cinci's hot spots called Boca, we hung out and played catch up with our ol' buddies. We also had the great opportunity to finally be introduced to frisbee golf, a sport we'd heard much about from Maz and Kim. I myself, along with the rest of my family, am both a lover and hater of the sport of golf (all you golfers out there will know exactly what I mean). Anyways, I somehow thought frisbee golf would be a lot easier than traditional golf, but definitely not the case. There is a lot of skill and technique involved in throwing a frisbee a few hundred yards and trying to actually sink it into a basket on the green. It's so much fun. Maz and Kim, thanks again for such a lovely weekend!

Road Trip

So, last night I was getting all my stuff together and doing the last-minute-clothes-wash thing to prepare for our road trip to Cincinnati. I even went so far as to make a list of everything I need to take (is this a sign I'm getting old or what?) to avoid those "Oh no, did I forget that?" moments. Sabs and I are going to visit our buddies Maziar and Kim. One of my goals for the trip is to knock out a few chapters (that is, when it's Sahba's driving shift), particularly from "God Passes By" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." I'm still debating on whether or not to bring the guitar. I know, this one should be a no-brainer. And can't forget the iTrip hookup to get our tunes going. There's nothing like a road trip with great music to sing along to. Ciao for now! I'll tell you all about it when we get back.

What's in MP3 Rotation Today?

As a an artist, working in the arts, seems I'm always trying to find things that keep the senses and emotions sharp and give inspiration. Music is by far my favorite. Here's a list of what's playing in my top 10 iPod rotation today:


1. Wait,by Sarah McLachlan. This song, by far, is on my best-of-all-time list! I can't get enough of it and Sarah's voice is as haunting as always.


2. So Far Away, by Carol King. An old-time favorite that I've been humming for a week now! Carries a lot of memories.


3. Low, by Coldplay. What melancholy bliss I live in.


4. I Bet It Stung, by Tegan & Sarah. Love the hard rock sound this song is packing, oh, and their mullets too!


5. Good Day, by Luce. Such a feel good song. Makes me smile a lot.


6. One Thing, by Amerie. But it has to be the remix featuring Jay-Z for sure. Bobbing my head and tapping my toes.


7. Into The Groove, by Madonna. Need I say more, really?


8. Touch, by Omarion. For those moments during the day when I daydream about being a hip-hop dancer.


9. Invincible, by Pat Benatar. A soundtrack for every woman!


10. Ventura Highway, by America. An all-time classic. The Janet sample "Someone To Call My Lover," is pretty cool too. I'll throw that one in every now and then.

Say "Cheesecake"

Nashville has officially become a member of the "it" crowd with the recent arrival of several new shops and restaurants like the all-time-fav Cheesecake Factory. We discovered the best time to drop by the restaurant is on Christmas Eve, when thanks to many family celebrations, there isn't the two hour wait to contend with. Suth, Andrea, Sabs & I enjoyed a wicked meal and some great laughs that night.

A Lovely View Goes A Long Way

Every day requires the routine; get to work, design, make phone calls, write emails, meet deadlines. I'm quite the fan of routine, that is, when it is a good one, but having a view to the world (okay, so maybe just downtown Nashville), makes it easier. A little cement paradise decorated with tiny vehicles rushing to and from. Funny, after years in Costa Rica, I never thought I'd see the "paradise" in other places.