"Wow Vows" in Toronto

No, J and I didn't get married. Instead, we were up in Toronto for my younger brother's wedding, Cwell and his wife Melinh. It was months in the making, and it went into a kinetic frenzy just days, even hours (MINUTES!), before the actual event ... and it occurred just a few days after we moved from Grinnell to California. It didn't help when the movers were late in arriving, but we unpacked whatever we could and before we knew it we had to leave again. We just got back a few days ago and we're back to unpacking; it's not home yet, but it's pretty close. But before we left, J and I helped out with Cwell's vows and wedding script. It was pretty hilarious at times poking fun at each other and acting out what we would say. It was also odd considering that as cultural critics we would generally criticize the commodification of marriage. But my brother needed my help and we were more than happy to help out. On a personal note, I was getting all the more anxious because I was the officiant for the ceremony. I am not an official officiant designated by any church or state agency. Cwell and Melinh asked me to do it, and I initially said no because it wouldn't be official. But they were already married for several years and that this ceremony was really to make it "official" in their families' eyes. Everyone knew they were married, but it's the symbolism that was informing their decision to have the ceremony in the first place. So they were simply playing a role and that I should see the officiant as another role to play, a glorified emcee. I was then persuaded ... but I still resisted at the thought till the last day! So for several days Cwell and I worked on a wedding script, scouring the internet for examples, themes, and words, and agreeing upon something that could work. By the end, it was out of control laughter; we were adding the silliest and most inappropriate lines to the script. Of course we cut out those lines, but we needed a very good laugh, the kind that siblings share together. We gave it to J for her final approval, and that was another moment of hilarity as her careful eye scrutinized grammatical errors, subject-verb agreement, voice, etc. etc. Yeah it was fun.

On the day of the wedding, it was a beautiful ceremony with lots of laughs, tears, drinking, eating, and dancing; it is a celebration. Afterwards, J and I were able to spend a few days in Toronto without the eyes from my family. What we needed was simply time away to ourselves and that's what we got.

Speaking of commodification, the biggest expense in the marriage was the video/photography crew. HUGELY EXPENSIVE! It was a lot more than I had ever imagined, but their job was to "capture the moment" so here it is:

melinh + cwell's sde // toronto from stillmotion on Vimeo.

*YAWNS*

It's about time to get back to work. My trip to San Francisco was great if it didn't include my stay with my parents. Sorry but I don't have that kind of a relationship with my parents that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. They push my buttons, and I am more than happy to return the favors. At any rate, it was nice to get away from the frigid temperatures of Iowa and to enjoy the warmth of the sun, and the comfort of great food and friends. Here's a quick summary of my vacation highlights:

1) California Academy of Sciences: closed due to earthquake damage and reopened in September 2008, the newly redesigned and refurbished museum is simply AWESOME. Smaller than before but nevertheless a great exhibition on conservationism, environmentalism, history, science, astronomy, biology, and ecology.

2) Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970 at the de Young Museum: this is probably the first comprehensive survey of ASIAN AMERICAN artists featured at a major fine arts museum. There's over 100 works by 60 artists that spans nearly 70 years. A very fine exhibition.

3) Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes, also at the de Young Museum: Just right after the Asian American art exhibition was Maya Lin's new exhibition which was ... okay. Basically, it's taking computer generated wire framed topographies and transforming them into large scale physical pieces. Some were cool; others ... well ... it just didn't work for me. It doesn't help when I still have this ambivalence about Maya Lin and her racial/gender politics during the Vietnam Veterans Memorial controversy. Meh ...

4) Would you believe that I saw two of my former students from Loyola Marymount University? These two were the better ones, not the screwed up ignorant elitist kids. I was pleasantly surprised and glad to see that they've graduated and moved on with their careers. One was a graduate student in urban planning and the other received her teaching credentials. It was awkward considering that one caught me at a cafe reading a book and the other called me yelled out "Professor Leung!" at the de Young Museum. I was embarrassed, but I was so happy to see both of them. They were my favorite students.

5) Great movies to watch: Doubt and Slumdog Millionaire. Dumbest movie to watch: Bedtime Stories. My younger brother and his wife wanted to see that one. Really, they did.

6) Read a few chapters on a cultural theory and popular culture in preparation for my classes in the spring. That was somewhat productive.

7) I brought my camera with my and photographed The City to my heart's delight, and I also got an opportunity to do a photowalk at the Mountain View Cemetary in Oakland. Very cool.

8) On a sad note, I found out from one of my former students that Randy Senzaki passed away on June 13, 2003. I was shocked and utterly speechless. I remember Randy when he was the director of Equal Opportunity Programs at San Francisco State University. He was one of the few APA administrators who was extremely supportive of student activists and worked tirelessly on issues of social justice. I'm still shaking my head.

My back to work "to do" list includes:

• finish my syllabi
• send back final papers back to students
• two letters of recommendations to write up and send off ... maybe three
• check my emails
• write up my section for the sociology departmental self-study review
• rework the Sociology Department website
• confirm the retreat meeting for AAC and ASIA

And a few long term ones that include sending out more applications for a few more positions, preparing two conference presentations, and writing/submitting an article to a journal and another that is co-written with a colleague of mine.

It's going to be a busy semester.

Vacation Highlights (Cont)

I'm just finishing up my previous post on some remaining vacation highlights that I now remember. Some of them I had conveniently forgotten for obvious reasons. =P

• Lunch at Wow Bao (Hot Asian Buns) in Chicago.
• Took a morning walk outside the hotel for the day's first snowfall.

• Slipped and fell forward down a small hill of fresh snow in the park. No pictures provided.
  
• My hotel played host to a Christian youth conference. Hundreds of teenagers and their bibles. Can you say, "Be afraid. Be very afraid"?
• Still amazed at Chicago's skyline (From the Shedd Aquarium entrance).

• Dinner at Oysy, a Japanese restaurant, Izagaya style. Think of it as tapas or dim sum.
  
• The maps exhibit at the Field Museum was awesome. I came across maps of Hull-House district (ca 1890) in Chicago that identified individuals/families by race/nationality and wage. There was also a map of England measuring literacy rates by color codes, as well as ones identifying health, income, etc. Biopolitics anyone? Governmentality?