Science Fair for May 3rd-9th

I just returned home from a tough, but ultimately satisfying and memorable weekend spent helping my grandmother recover from eye surgery. English being her second language, there were difficulties in the Q&A portion of getting her checked in at the surgery center. Example: "What is your ethnicity?" The receptionist looked at me for the answer because Grandma doesn't know what "ethnicity" means. Oh, Grandma! You are Asian! Before she could say "Oriental," as she often does--come on now, totally politically incorrect--I said, "Asian." Again looking at me, question: "That's it? Asian and...nothing else?" Look, lady, just because I am mixed doesn't mean my grandmother is! Welcome to the melting pot! Someone else assumed I was Grandma's nurse aid. People! Anyway, we had a weekend of ice packs, swollen eyelids, Japanese food, stories about my grandfather who passed before I was born, funny sayings from old Japan, and reruns of the Laurence Welk Show. Wonderful, wonderful! Grandma says, "you know, in the old days, we had such nice music--like that 'Tokyo Serenade' and 'Smoke Getcha in the Eye.'" Clarification: that is "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," in Grandma-speak. Smoke Getcha in the Eye!

-FINALLY, Maia Hirasawa's second album is out: GBGvsSTHLM (Gothenburg versus Stockholm)! Here's her first single off of it, South Again. Love the zeppelin balloon, love her little nonchalant jeans and tanktop, and I pretty much want to run away to Sweden to play the piano on a pier at sunset. I'm loving "Hush Now," "Come With Me," and "This Is What We Have." Highly recommended if you like: Hello Saferide, New Buffalo, Regina Spektor.

-I just discovered that my adorable friend Kate's little sister Molly has an Etsy shop, so of course I just HAVE to give my girl props! She is in high school, you guys! If only we'd had the entrepreneurial spirit at that young age. Jeanne and I are always coming up with crazy/stupid little business ideas for Etsy, like my plastic-mounted vintage button necklaces and knit animal hats. It'll never happen, but yet I still have a giant collection of buttons that only an obsessive hoarder could love. They will become fabulous jewelry and accessories someday!

-Another one of our shared passions is Gothic Lolita, or just sweet Lolita fashion...ugh, I love it, and everyone knows I would wear tiny boaters and feathered top hats with veils at, well, the drop of a hat. (Pixie Market, whose LA boutique recently closed down BOOOO, has darling wee boaters. I want to put my hair in big sausage curls and tie one on with grosgrain ribbons...to wear to work.) The Japanese brand Emily Temple Cute's Kyoto shop has a new blog documenting their new styles on display. Loving the vintage-hanky pattern dresses and skirts! Here's a tip from a longtime Tokyo denizen, shhh don't tell anybody but there is a tiny closet of a secondhand Gothic Lolita brand shop in Shimokitazawa, Grand Bazaar Lolita. Their merchandise leans toward the Sweet end of the Lolita spectrum, with much less gothic items than the better-known and easier-to-find Closet Child in Harajuku.

-Fabulous homegirl/fantasy bestie Mindy Kaling has signed a deal with NBC to develop her own show, possibly a ladies-buddy-comedy a la our boyfriends in The Flight of the Conchords. A MOST PERFECT/HILARIOUS UNION, I THINK--if the three of us were in the mix! What!

-I just wanted to share my joy over the news that Hulu might start distributing shows from UK television like Green Wing due to a new international deal. Allow me to illustrate via the chat I sent to Jeanne, below:
"OH MY GOD
GREEN WING
=FUNNIEST SHOW EVER
> Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother, combined
Sometimes I think about scenes from that show, and it makes me laugh out loud."
As a special Green Wing gift, I'll spare you the wait for Hulu and point you toward IMDB, where they have FULL EPISODES OMG. Mac! Guy! Now I won't get to bed on time.

-My nesting instinct must be in full gear lately, because not only am I tentatively looking at a place to buy (oh lord know I don't need the extra debt), but frankly drinking in all of the architecture and interior decor I can get my little hands on. I am usually super-derisive about silly contrived home photo shoots. This remodeled guest bedroom in lilac is delightful and I want to put it in an ice cream cone and eat it on a hot summer's day. Also on offer are six tips for a sexier bedroom, I know I'm going to regret mentioning it! Sometimes even we single-swingle ladies need a little help. It's just so easy to throw all the dirty clothes on the floor and pile up shoes in the closet, we forget.

-Blog and real-life friend Courtney sent me this gem to cheer us up on a gloomy day, you've probably seen it if you love that scruffy-haired scoundrel Robert Pattinson, but I do believe I love this more: Twilight with Cheeseburgers. Uh, YUM.

Have a great week, everyone--after 72 hours at Grandma's house, I am ready to be home in my own bed, so now it's off to finish reading The Black Dahlia Avenger (interesting, but kind of hard to believe a la recent claims that one's father was the Zodiac killer) and then, the Land of Nod! Ahh, home sweet home.