where is power?

Troops had already opened fire on an ambulance that had tried to collect the injured, so other ambulances kept their distance. Finally, some unlikely saviors emerged — the rickshaw drivers.

These were peasants and workers who made a living pedaling bicycle rickshaws, carrying passengers or freight around Beijing. It was those rickshaw drivers who slowly pedaled out toward the troops to collect the bodies of the dead and injured. Then they raced back to us, legs straining furiously, rushing toward the nearest hospital.

One stocky rickshaw driver had tears streaming down his cheeks as he drove past me to display a badly wounded student so that I could photograph or recount the incident. That driver perhaps couldn’t have defined democracy, but he had risked his life to try to advance it.

That was happening all over Beijing. On the old airport road that same night, truckloads of troops were entering the city from the east. A middle-aged bus driver saw them and quickly blocked the road with his bus.

Move aside, the troops shouted.

I won’t let you attack the students, the bus driver retorted defiantly.

The troops pointed their guns at the bus driver and ordered him to move the bus aside. Instead, he plucked the keys from the ignition and hurled them into the bushes beside the road to ensure that no one could drive that bus away. The man was arrested; I don’t know what happened to him.

Nicholas Kristof, Bullets Over Beijing

grizzly bear

I went to my first 9:30 Club concert on Monday night. I was thrilled to finally go to a concert there after having listened to way too many live concerts via NPR from the 9:30 club. I was even happier knowing I was going to see Grizzly Bear, a phenomenal quartet of musical geniuses. The show was off the chain!!!!

The most exciting thing about Grizzly Bear is that they all sing to produce the most stunning four-part harmonies. As a former choir geek, I really really appreciate this about their music. Also, one band member, Chris Taylor, can sing like a boy soprano, play the flute, guitar, clarinet, and manipulate pedals like a wizard! Here's an awesome shot of him from the concert, via washingtonpost.

(Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear)

Doesn't he look like an ethereal pirate rockstar? Omg ... I am in love. If you haven't heard Grizzly Bear yet, I highly highly recommend you check them out. Here's their hit song, Two Weeks, off their second album Veckatimest. The video is wild!

lady i dig your style

Zooey

annie/st.vincent

michelle

I tried to find asian women of fame with style I admire ... but alas, I couldn't really find any.

through thick and thin

You know those people in your life that you know are going to be with you through it all ... graduation, bad fashion choices, your first waxing, break ups, college, marriage ... through thick and thin?

I'm blessed to have a lot of those kinds of people in my life and they bless me every once in a while when I'm reminded of how kind and loving they are to me, in big and little ways.

I'm going to a wedding at the end of June and I was thinking about wearing the same dress that I wore to the Brooklyn wedding a couple weeks ago, but then I was told it was black tie optional, which I guess means something a little fancier then what I was wearing. I am flipping out a little. I can't really find anything appropriate! And while I may be confident in my every day clothing choices, the fancy events always intimidate me.

I found this dress that I thought would work and asked my online forum of friends what they thought. Later that day, I get an email from Susan ... one of my dearest and most faithful friends. Check it out! She built me an outfit around the dress I was considering!!!!


I WAS SO TOUCHED! I know it's a silly thing to be touched by but this is so reminiscent of the kinds of little things that Susan does for me that makes me think ... man, I'm lucky to have a friend like her.

Thanks lady. You da bomb.
and HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

the reader

Last week I saw The Reader with some friends from work. I highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it already! I found myself unable to stop thinking about the characters -- why did they act the way they did? What drove them? What was their purpose in life?

Kate Winslet was stunning. I'm going to have to get Revolutionary Road now, just so I can take in some more of her amazing acting.

(from filmgordon)

I also watched Start Trek and thought it was so good. I was again really haunted by the characaters, especially Spok (who is a CMU alumn! Go Tartans! not the alien, but the actor) Here's to summer movies! Next up ... Where the Wild Things Are (though I don't think that opens until the fall).

magic

(Source: Jan Von Holleben; Hat tip to FriendFeed crew)

Remember your childhood dreams about flying? I had a lot of dreams about flying, but also about falling and about surfing with a killer whale. It was a lot of fun. The other day, I had a dream that I was in an acting class and had to walk down a set of stairs while pretending to be a pepper shaker. I squared my shoulders like Frankenstein, hands to my side, and came bounding down the steps, swaying to and fro, saying loudly, "Pepper, Pepper, Pepper, Pepper."

It was weird.

just dance ... duh nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh

Who likes Lady Gaga? I think she is kind of amazing but also gives me the heeby jeeby's sometimes.

Anyway, Chris and I went to a wedding recently in Brooklyn. My former boss, now friend, Niloo finally tied the knot with her longtime boyfriend Joe. They are a great couple. Niloo is Iranian-American and immigrated to the states with her family when she was just a young girl. Joe is a Brooklyn-born civil engineer by day, underground hip hop artist by night. The wedding was an amazing mix of cultures which made for a lot of fun music and dancing. The DJ switched between Iranian dance music, eighties funk, and hip hop top 40s. It was a lot of fun.

What is it about dancing with old friends that makes you smile this big? And what is it about spending time with people you care about that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside?

(My friend Jesse dancing in the foreground,
me in the back looking like I want a big burger in my mouth.
Photo courtesy of Joanna)



(Chris and me, with the Manhattan skyline behind, photo courtesy of Chris, who I think looks kind of fantastic! I always tell him so, but he says I'm biased.)