August 29, 2010 · 7:44 am
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The Coupeville Festival, Broccoli & Sulfate-free Shampoo

BROTHERS-IN-LAW: Som-J, Me, Stig-J, San-J & Edison-J

BROTHERS-in-LAW ‘J’: This summer both sisters arrived to Washington State with their families, and not only that, one bro-in-law brought his parents and brother, and over the weekend Aunt Tracy & Sanjay arrived. That puts three generations, seven grandchildren, nine parents/aunts & uncles, and four grandparents all at the Powell house on Whidbey Island. Twenty people total. We spent a weekend there during the Coupeville Festival. Fun joy fun joy fun joy…

 

Kaya holding broccoli. (Dad had to disinfect her immediately)

Gia, Ava & Kaya making crafts.

CRUCIFEROUS:  I hate broccoli. Not just dislike. If broccoli had feelings, then I would ridicule that plant mercilessly. There are health attributes to the “vile weed” (as Newman called it in Seinfeld, see video here), but I say that even afficionados do not eat it for pleasure. If broccoli were harmful to the body, like bacon, no one would eat it. Thus, in the spirit, I wrote a poem, published this August, with uninhibited punctuation and all:

“Cruciferous. What a word. Can anything be done?…“
Read poem here.

Little Pirates: Gia, Damien, Orion & Ava

NORWEGIAN: Nephew Nikolai asked his father if he spoke English as well as he spoke Norwegian. Stig said, “Of course.” Then Nikolai said, “Oh, so you mispronounce words in Norwegian, too?” (It should be noted that Stig’s English is excellent, he’s fluent, although his Scrabble game suffers by not being a native speaker)

Face Painting at the Coupeville Festival

ERRANT PARENT: Also out in August, my essay about the mother who thought it’d be okay if her kids peed in the pool:

“Since having children, my wife and I have fallen in love with the all-inclusive vacation. We sit by a pool, waiters and waitresses bring us drinks, and when we want a break from the piglets, we put them in daycare. However, our last vacation in Mexico (and first exclusively at an inclusive) set the stage for a little poolside confrontation…”

Read essay here.

Kaya…

THE HAIR CHRONICLES – NEXT CHAPTER:  True story, no exaggeration. I’m hanging out in the kitchen when Aunt Tracy, of Northwest Hair Academy fame,  in our living room reading some girlie magazine, calls out, “Wow! I don’t believe it!” I mean, she just screams, multiple exclamation marks will not capture the glee. So I run over there and ask, “What is it?” She says, “Paul Mitchell just made a sulfate-free shampoo!”  Really.

我爱中文酷！Also out, my Chinese puzzle book based on Sudoku. Sarah, my sister, publishes music books for children, and she put out Chinoku at Yellow Cat Publishing. The artwork is done by my mother, see her painting here, at The Copenhagen Review, and here. 我愛中文酷！
Chinoku: The Original Chinese Sudoku Game (Volume 1)