Saturday, June 24, 2006
What's in a Name?
Egads, it has been hard keeping up with this lately. Here is an interesting couple of posts on names on the blog Harlow's Monkey, written by an adult adoptee from Korea.
First she talks about the wonderful movie Spirited Away, and compares Sen's journey to her own.
She has a follow up post to try and answer this question: "“We would like to keep our child’s Korean name . . . but if it happens to be a name that really makes them stand out and makes them more of a target for teasing/harassment - is it worth it? Is it better to have it as their middle name and let me choose when they are old enough? Also if the Korean name is given by someone other than the birthfamily (e.g. agency, foster parents) does it have as much resonance?"
Her post is really enlightening, and follows much of what I have read already regarding name and identity and adoption.
First she talks about the wonderful movie Spirited Away, and compares Sen's journey to her own.
"Of course, this makes me think of the practice we have in adoption of re-naming children. Just like Chihiro, I had a name that I forgot and for thirty years I lived as an outsider. Only when I remembered and reclaimed my name was I able to stand proudly and through my name, reconcile my place in the world."
She has a follow up post to try and answer this question: "“We would like to keep our child’s Korean name . . . but if it happens to be a name that really makes them stand out and makes them more of a target for teasing/harassment - is it worth it? Is it better to have it as their middle name and let me choose when they are old enough? Also if the Korean name is given by someone other than the birthfamily (e.g. agency, foster parents) does it have as much resonance?"
Her post is really enlightening, and follows much of what I have read already regarding name and identity and adoption.
"The name issue is essentially a microcosm of the entire act of adopting a child from another culture and ethnicity. As an adoptive parent, if you are adopting a child from Korea (or any other country) you are already committed to bringing a child of color into your home and community. Keeping the name is admitting (as in, not trying to cover up) the fact that your child is, yes folks (drumroll please), an Asian child."
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Draco Veritas
About 10 years ago Derek's cousin was studying to be a tattoo artist. Never one to pass up on a freebie, I had him do a dragon tattoo on my lower back. Lately we've been watching Miami Ink, and I never gave a thought to the notion that there are tattoo artists that can simply draw on you and tattoo something beautiful because they are in fact artists. I've been itching for a new tattoo, and Derek thought I should get the dragon upgraded first. I took a pic of the tat and printed it next to the picture I got the idea from. It had none of the depth and character. Now to be fair, I brought this huge complex tattoo idea to D's cousin, and then only visited him for like a day. He did what he could while I was there.
Back in 2000 or so, thanks to my mad phone dialing skillz and stalker-like knowledge of the Barenaked Ladies, I won us tix to see BNL at the KINK radio studios for an intimate in-studio session. Afterwards we got to talk to the band, and I saw Ed's tattoos peeking out from his shirt sleeves. "Nice tattoos", I said. He proceeded to tell me that he gets them whenever he is in Portland from Matt Reed at Tigerlily tattoo. (searched for a pic of his tats, but only found a couple faraway photos.)
A couple months ago I took my printout to Matt, and he said he could "sass it up" for me. I went today for my first sitting. He spent about a half an hour drawing on my back with a pen - adding a second wing, a second arm, and extending the nose and tail. He outlined it, then started in on the black and dark green shading. After about an hour and a half we were almost out of time so we called it quits. I go back in a month to get more shading filled in, and for him to work on the ball, which was an earth in the original picture. I think I will ask him about wrapping the body around the earth as well (it was in the original), so it appears the dragon is wrapped around it, not sprouting out of it.
Anyway, it looks amazing. Really vivid and beautiful. On the super plus side, Matt is like the nicest guy in the world. Friendly, patient, talkative but not obnoxiously so. Even talked a bit about BNL, which was pretty great. Matt designed some of BNL's shirts, like this one. He really seemed to care about the work he put into it. It felt great to be sitting there and having his co-workers come and and positively comment on the transformation. Check back in a month for the final product. It was hard to get a decent picture, I had to put some antibiotic ointment on it so it was kinda shiny. The original is on the left, the new one on the right. Below is a close up of the new detail, and a pic of the shop. I got to sit up in that big bay window and watch the world go by. He played jazz on the radio. It was almost relaxing, other than the searing pain.
Back in 2000 or so, thanks to my mad phone dialing skillz and stalker-like knowledge of the Barenaked Ladies, I won us tix to see BNL at the KINK radio studios for an intimate in-studio session. Afterwards we got to talk to the band, and I saw Ed's tattoos peeking out from his shirt sleeves. "Nice tattoos", I said. He proceeded to tell me that he gets them whenever he is in Portland from Matt Reed at Tigerlily tattoo. (searched for a pic of his tats, but only found a couple faraway photos.)
A couple months ago I took my printout to Matt, and he said he could "sass it up" for me. I went today for my first sitting. He spent about a half an hour drawing on my back with a pen - adding a second wing, a second arm, and extending the nose and tail. He outlined it, then started in on the black and dark green shading. After about an hour and a half we were almost out of time so we called it quits. I go back in a month to get more shading filled in, and for him to work on the ball, which was an earth in the original picture. I think I will ask him about wrapping the body around the earth as well (it was in the original), so it appears the dragon is wrapped around it, not sprouting out of it.
Anyway, it looks amazing. Really vivid and beautiful. On the super plus side, Matt is like the nicest guy in the world. Friendly, patient, talkative but not obnoxiously so. Even talked a bit about BNL, which was pretty great. Matt designed some of BNL's shirts, like this one. He really seemed to care about the work he put into it. It felt great to be sitting there and having his co-workers come and and positively comment on the transformation. Check back in a month for the final product. It was hard to get a decent picture, I had to put some antibiotic ointment on it so it was kinda shiny. The original is on the left, the new one on the right. Below is a close up of the new detail, and a pic of the shop. I got to sit up in that big bay window and watch the world go by. He played jazz on the radio. It was almost relaxing, other than the searing pain.
Screech
Weird. First Jack Black mentions Screech on Jay Leno, and then I see this. Apparently his house is in foreclosure and he is trying to save some cash. Won' t he just be saved by the bell?
Friday, June 09, 2006
Snost and Lost
We have both been so busy that blogging has been put on the backburner... although I see and hear things and think about blogging them! Oh when will there be the technology to blog our thoughts...
So, in no particular order, things I have been thinking about.
Dog Bites Man. We just watched this show on Comedy Central, and it is so funny. From the CC website: "Dog Bites Man is an outrageous, part improvisational, single-camera show featuring a group of dysfunctional fake newscasters interacting with real people in a documentary-style format. The Spokane-based KHBX News Team is comprised of Kevin Beekin (Matt Walsh), Tilly Sullivan (Andrea Savage), Alan Finger (Zach Galifianakis) and Marty Shonson (A.D. Miles). Together, they tackle hard-hitting stories that other newsmen shy away from, like "What's in Your Muffin?" and "Do Sneeze Guards Really Work?""
Former host of Attack of the Show on Tech TV Sarah Lane got married to Brendan Moran (also from AOTS) and they are traveling the world for their honeymoon. For a year. Wow. We watched the first couple of their video podcasts, and they are pretty darn funny. They each have a blog (hers and his). Follow them. Be envious.
A thank you to the Senate, for keeping gay marriage issues out of the constitution. I mean really. *bangs head against wall*
So, the Oilers. I had such high hopes. Finally, a team I really like in the Stanley Cup finals! Then a teammate helps knock out the glue holding everything together, and I fear the worst for my beloved team. Hopefully saturday's game won't be too awful, and that NBC will actually play it in HD, as opposed to saying they will and then not doing it. Rat bastards.
Hmm, what else. Oh, while watching an episode of Veronica Mars, we found some new music we like. While Veronica was at the anti-prom and Logan was drunkenly confessing his heart to her, there was this cool song in the background. Thankfully there are sites like this, and we discovered it was "Hear the Bells" by Mike Doughty - formerly of Soul Coughing. Excellent song, excellent album.
Took a picture of the kittens.
So, in no particular order, things I have been thinking about.
Dog Bites Man. We just watched this show on Comedy Central, and it is so funny. From the CC website: "Dog Bites Man is an outrageous, part improvisational, single-camera show featuring a group of dysfunctional fake newscasters interacting with real people in a documentary-style format. The Spokane-based KHBX News Team is comprised of Kevin Beekin (Matt Walsh), Tilly Sullivan (Andrea Savage), Alan Finger (Zach Galifianakis) and Marty Shonson (A.D. Miles). Together, they tackle hard-hitting stories that other newsmen shy away from, like "What's in Your Muffin?" and "Do Sneeze Guards Really Work?""
Former host of Attack of the Show on Tech TV Sarah Lane got married to Brendan Moran (also from AOTS) and they are traveling the world for their honeymoon. For a year. Wow. We watched the first couple of their video podcasts, and they are pretty darn funny. They each have a blog (hers and his). Follow them. Be envious.
A thank you to the Senate, for keeping gay marriage issues out of the constitution. I mean really. *bangs head against wall*
So, the Oilers. I had such high hopes. Finally, a team I really like in the Stanley Cup finals! Then a teammate helps knock out the glue holding everything together, and I fear the worst for my beloved team. Hopefully saturday's game won't be too awful, and that NBC will actually play it in HD, as opposed to saying they will and then not doing it. Rat bastards.
Hmm, what else. Oh, while watching an episode of Veronica Mars, we found some new music we like. While Veronica was at the anti-prom and Logan was drunkenly confessing his heart to her, there was this cool song in the background. Thankfully there are sites like this, and we discovered it was "Hear the Bells" by Mike Doughty - formerly of Soul Coughing. Excellent song, excellent album.
Took a picture of the kittens.
