rolla'coasta

Check out is the Wedding section of the Society pages of the frickin' NEW YORK TIMES on March 18, because.... drum roll please.... Jason Reade and Eddie Jauregui's union (at Oxy on the 17th) will be announced! How cool is that?

Something else to check out: I just almost peed myself laughing at Erik and his brother's youtube video. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID2nBkP8_Mg
I was wondering if other people have secret or not-so-secret youtube publications. If you do, will you let me know? It's so creative and grassroots and fun!


So, I'm back from NYC once again after a few days holding Uma's hand and trying to make her smile. One of the most beautiful things to witness is Uma reaching her hand out to you. She often reaches out to touch John's face and I was able to snap a cell phone picture of it for you all to see.


She seemed to be doing better each day I was there. Her eyes seem more bright and clear. She was trying to push her body up and turning herself from side to side- we joke that she's trying to jump out of her bed. The funny thing is she probably is. Like Uma always has, she is scratching her face and skin a lot, which isn't necessarily good, but it sure is Uma. Yesterday, they did a CT scan to see if her ventricles have continued to swell. If not, then the shunt procedure may not be necessary and she could be on her way to a rehab facility by Tuesday! Even if they decide to go ahead with the shunt, leaving the hospital is likely to be later this coming week. John joked with the doc about leaving on Monday and instead of scoffing, the stoic dr. H shrugged and said, "I don't see why not". So, good news from the 11th floor of st. vincent's.

If only to be there under better circumstances because New York City is so rockin'. Being a young professional sans babies would be such fun in that city. I stayed with my sort-of cousin, Corey, this trip and her life seems so glamorous- darling apartment, super stylish clothes, fabulous office, cabbing here and there. I guess my life in Tokyo was pretty cool in a nyc sort of way; not that i had stylish clothes or even close to a fab office, but i did have freedom of movement, friends with good work schedules and flexible incomes, and loads to do and be stimulated by every day. So, if I never get to live the new york life, i am really glad that i got to live the tokyo one.


The waiting room for the neurological ICU is not such a rockin' place. It's full of people living in limbo, who don't know when or if their loved ones are going to recover. The past two weeks have brought in two twenty-somethings that were hit by cars. One, Jeremy, a 26-year-old investment banker from New Jersey, woke up soon after admittance and was able to be moved to a rehab center in another part of the hospital a little over a week later. Last Sunday, a 24-year-old dietician named Sabina, from Northern California, was on her first date with some guy when a pick-up truck hit her. She is still in a coma and her scores of friends that visit her each day have that glazed look of people who just don't know what to hope for. We've met too many families, too many groups of amazing friends and colleagues over the past month. Their caution is so familiar- not daring to assume the best but just not ready to face the worst.
Isn't life just so random? Doesn't it just make it impossible to believe in an order of things, in divinity? All I can really take from this is: LOOK BOTH WAYS AND THEN LOOK BOTH WAYS AGAIN BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET. What else can you say?