new stuff

I've been busy making stuff and putting things in my etsy shop. I'm particularly in love with my fortune cookie cards.

collecting heroes

I met a woman in Maine this past weekend who raised 13 children. 11 girls, 2 boys. All of them are fascinating and successful individuals. What a feat! I was just in awe meeting her and all her children.

I read a short little piece by Rebecca Walker recently:

Buddhism's teachings on interdependence, compassion, and the cultivation of happiness rather than regret, were just what a mixed race, multi-everything girl needed to hear to feel whole. Buddhism said the fragmentation I felt was an illusion. My essential nature as a human being had never been broken, never been stained. My thoughts about myself were problematic.

But my thoughts could be changed.

And I met a guy named Phil on an island in Thailand. He said to me, "If you're looking for a life partner, just focus on making yourself happy."

I'm collecting heroes. These people, the things they've done, the things they say, they've been stuck in my head. I carry them with me everywhere I go. Thank you.

journals

I keep a lot of journals. Shelves filled with thoughts, ideas, funny stories, doodles, records of trips, and all the silly things I try to work out in my head. I love my blog, but I still love paper. Adding videos and audio is a lot of fun, but nothing beats writing with my favorite fountain pen.
I've come to believe that travel wouldn't be as much fun without a glue stick. Colored pencils, the water soluble ones, are an extra thing worth packing. I've figured out how to make all kinds of collage without using scissors. And recently I've taken to plastering the covers with random things I come across as well, meaning that I'm seriously mad if I leave the house without tape in my bag. If journals just had spell check...

iso... A JOB!

Miss Koco needs a job. Seriously.

Looking at job postings, going to interviews, and trying to decide if I'm picking the right position feels a lot like dating or trying to find the ideal life partner. Oy vey. I'm not looking for the short-term fun, or the crazy adventure deals that take me to a wild place and show me all kinds of freaky things I never expected. I'm looking for the real deal. So here it goes...

YOU: in Philly, NYC, or San Fran. In one of the following industries/fields (though I'm open to others): higher ed, museums or cultural institutions, instructional design, non-profit. You come with benefits, mainly health care and some kind of pension plan. You require me to travel or allow for a decent amount of time per year where I get to go somewhere cool. You pay enough so I don't feel like everyday is a struggle. Meaning: While I'd love to make like six figures, I'm not even being that fantastical. I just want to pay my bills and have enough left over to have some fun, buy some art supplies, and save a bit for a yearly vacation to somewhere I've never been.

ME: Well-educated with 2 degrees from NYU (Art History, B.A.; Interactive Media, master's). A quick learner, a creative thinker, and very detail-oriented team player. Extensive experience living and working abroad in Asia. Several years of experience working with students, especially at the university level as an instructor as well as an administrator and peer leader. Outgoing. An enthusiastic and encouraging teacher. Honest, punctual (most of the time), great at planning events. Not an expert programmer or designer, but totally comfortable with HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, all those silly MS office programs, and quite familiar with image, video, and audio editing for online content. A blogger, a knitter, a bento box maker, a museum-goer, a fabulous dancer, a baker, and a bit of an artist. I've got extra pages in my passport, I work hard and play hard, and sometimes I'm funny.

Basically, when someone asks me what I do, or where I'm from, I want to be able to provide a simple answer I can be proud of. I don't want to pay for my own health care. I don't want to hate my job. I want to feel happy that I contribute to a collective effort or help people in some way with what I do. I want a respectable job where I am respected for what I do. I'll work hard and I'll continue to do what I can to be continuously be better at what I do.

If you or someone you know is what I'm looking for, I'd love to hear from you. If you hear of any exciting positions that are so miss kocolicious, please pass them my way. And if you think I'm being completely insane, leave me some comments and show me the light.

Thanks.

xoxo,
miss koco
koco(at)misskoco.com

scantastic

I got a new scanner today. I may never leave the house.

after the tone (update)

Miss Koco's Hello Happy Line, the three month experiment with voicemail, has been fully updated. I was surprised by how many people called to tell personal stories. Sad, tearful stories they really just needed someone to hear. To those people I'd like them to know that even though you didn't always get a response, I was listening. I was also throughly entertained by the silliness left in audio format. Coming home and checking my messages was really a treat.

You can go to the site to see all the posts, or go the itunes store (search for misskoco) and download them. Here are a few of my favorites:

On being a Jew. Sugar monk tells a true story from nyc about his interactions with a Korean lady at the deli.

The giveaway. one of my favorite callers left a message outlining a story she's writing that involves Oprah.

Africa? Mr. Pugh tells a funny tale from his world.

in the day

Sunday. A day for picnics and hanging out in the park. The weather was nice and people were being friendly. Especially this dude who planted himself next to the group and decided to chat everyone up, until he passed out.
I was reminded of the ajossi I saw in Seoul passed out at 2pm in the sun--on a weekday. I have a tendency to make up stories or assume that everything is some kind of performance work. I'm always looking for the camera. Reality in my world is often a bit unbelievable, so imagine most of it is being staged.

TV, a portal to a whole other dimension

I try to do one new thing everyday. Sometimes it's something simple, like trying a new kind of tea, or playing with a new word. But, today I went for something big. I turned on my television. I never watch TV. I'm overwhelmed.

1. There was some MEGA-Jpop girl group on called AKB48. There were like 20 girls on stage, all singing and dancing, though not all together. I'm sitting there wondering how many teenie-boppers you can stuff into one girl group??? I looked it up, there are are actually 48 members in this group. The huge posse is broken up into three teams, A, K, and B. This is a totally amazing concept to me. I've never in my life seen such a thing.

I guess no one would really notice if they replace a few now and then. If one is sick, it kinda doesn't matter. I can't seem to look away, I don't understand.

2. Sumo is on TV too. Once again, I can't seem to stop watching. These dudes are huge, and wearing very little. I'm reminded of when I'd watch football with my dad and he'd compare the players to the size of different large appliances in the house. There's a lot of adjusting, preparation, salt tossing and a significant amount of stretching, a repetitive crouching of sorts. Actually, they can achieve quite deep 2nd position grand pliés for big boys. Then, finally, they go at it. They struggle, things wiggle and wobble, they pull at their opponent's mawashi (the thick thong belt outfit) like they are trying to force them into submission by administering the most wicked wedgies ever. One of them gets pushed out of the ring or thrown to the ground, and it's over. Somehow their hair hasn't moved one bit.

They seem to show the audience a lot. Everyone is fanning themselves, some people don't look like they're paying attention, a couple even look a bit bored. No one is wearing shoes, they're all sitting on little mats. Looks like a chill time.

3. I think "So des ne" may be the most frequently used phrase in the Japanese language.

4. What's up with all the cross dressers?

Chiba Power

It's like black power, but different.

the 13th hour

I'm always looking for more time in my day, wishing I had just a little more time. Well, I found it. The 13th hour everyone has been looking for, it's in Nishi-Funabashi.