I'm Not Judging or Anything, But

King of Roma

kazuki_kozuru — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:33:43 GMT

Saban Bajramovic passed away yesterday, at age 72.. He was the voice and soul of Roma. It's strange. I was at DID over the weekend, and heard August sing his song. I was moved to hear his song unexpectedly at such a beautiful event under the stars, and was impressed that Onca's troupe would choose it for their performance. August's performance was different and lovely. I thought of Saban, and wondered how he was doing. I had met him a few years ago, and he was not well then. Seido is sad. I guess all Roma are.

prego photoshoot

kazuki_kozuru — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:04:50 GMT

so like 3 weeks ago, when I - "look good now. now. do this now." (Seido) - okay, looked decent, our good friend Sarah Skinner took some photos of my prego-ness. check it out!! http://www.weclick.net/gallery/4981545_KGqx6#298482455_rmrJs okay, Sarah rocks!!! there are sooooo many more images she took, and some of them are of Seido and I being goofy, which I will share with you all soon. All the images are so warm and make me and Seido look so much more attractive than we actually are!! I am really lucky with the friends I have.

because he digs youtube all the time...

kazuki_kozuru — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:27:49 GMT

my 20-year-old friend Jesse showed me this the other day. it's awesome! http://youtube.com/watch?v=BUJiI--56Pk

2 days later

kazuki_kozuru — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:30:52 GMT

I am still recovering from the CD creation/release party tornado. The show/party went really, really, really great. I did nothing. My super talented and generous friends turned up with their gear, and just did their thing with me, and it was the party. The vibe was warm and great, and the show was excellent. We filled the tiny "theatre" space with a great energy. I am deeply grateful to have so many fantastic friends - Kamille, who pushed me into this, and planned the whole thing with me. Nevik, who drove 11 hours from home to be there, and ended up being the integral part of the performance. (Christina was right!!) Paul, Sarabeth, and Marnen, who just came and made a beautiful music, no questions asked. Mel and Karin (and Jim and Adam!!), in their ever-laid-back humor, just came and gave me a great support. Belladonna and Mavi, who drove all the way from DC, and brought their fabulous swords! on Mavi's birthday! Sarah Skinner, who gave me encouragement, and her beautiful sensuality on stage. Jaida, who took this very seriously and made me feel really special with her beautiful dancing. Jesse, who ran in with his violin in between gigs to be a part of the show. Pacita, who brought the "village dirt" with her great dance. June Li, who was pretty much conned into performing her birimbau on stage. Peter, who opened the show with his soulful piece of Africa. and, Ashar, Dan, and Sabrina, who guarded the door and greeted all the people, smiling and ever-so-friendly. and everyone who came to be a part of the show. I hope you had as much of a great time as I did. and, oh yeah, Seido, for being supportive and proud of what I've done, and doing whatever I tell him to do. I am really, really, lucky. thank you all.

first wave of CD is now here

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:54:47 GMT

this is scary. 100 CD is now sitting next to me, in a box. I had them sent here, in the office. so far, I haven't found any typo. it is a matter of time, though. I played it on this computer. it plays. hmmmm. Kamille and I are constantly calling and emailing each other about Saturday's CD release party. If it takes a party for us to be connected this much, maybe we should do this more often. Nevik will be here for the party. Great news. If it takes a music-related party for him to turn up, we should do this more often, too...

Roddick and recording

kazuki_kozuru — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:54:31 GMT

So I am staying focused on my recording the first album. My nature truly comes out at times like this - I have recorded 7 songs so far, and i like only 2 of them. So I keep going. I decided not to use too much of "click". it seems to limit me in many ways. if my tempo is uneven, so be it. i take creativity and fun over stiff any day. my calf is healing, but slowly. so no tennis yet. so when I'm not recording and mixing and cooking and eating and yelling at seido and melina, I play the INNER-TENNIS. I watch the newly acquired Tennis Channel on cable. instead of actually following the match, i try to watch the way the players move. just focus on their form and movement, not the ball. so i dreamed playing against Andy Roddick! ha! he was taaaaaaal, and his serves were clocking 158mph. (and I noticed, in my dream, that he had a really good posture.) i managed to return only a couple of times, just by telling myself "just guess the direction and stick your racket out!" but was really fun. was enjoying this impossible challenge. hmmm. tennis=album?? it is funny that it was Roddick that showed up in my dream, and not Sampras or Federer...

Asians and Points

kazuki_kozuru — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:31:52 GMT

I am definitely harsher in judgment with Asian people. well, not including Indian sub-continent people, just the ones that look like me. Oh yeah, if you are Japanese, you are pretty much dooooomed. I wonder why. It could be about anything - the posture, narrow-mindedness, illiteracy, teeth, sense of humor, clothing, mannerism, table manners, politeness, penmanship, hair, "D.W.A."... I keep almost-subconscious score on everyone I meet, but it is way tougher with "my people." I guess I feel that whatever they do sort of reflects on who I am. It is ridiculous, but can't help it, man. Don't worry. If you were Asian, and I just deducted a bunch of points, you won't know.

recording and torn muscle

kazuki_kozuru — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:24:34 GMT

taught a workshop last Sunday. small crowd, but went well. teaching is interesting in many ways. started recording. finally. i really need to lock myself up somewhere for like 10 days. things like a day job and eating gets in the way... tore a bit of my calf muscle the other night, playing tennis. hmmmm. not so young any more, i am. no tennis for 2 months, so i went onto amazon.com and got a Federer vs Sampras and a Federer vs Nadar DVDs to obsessively watch, to play "inner tennis." should drive Melina insane, which would be a bonus. this will limit my ability to do stuff, forcing me to drumming, which is also a bonus in disguise. Alone in the office. I am hungry now, and am not in the mood for delivery. I will need to hobble over to some place a bit too far on crutches.

one year anniversary and

kazuki_kozuru — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:51:29 GMT

it's been a year since our wedding. we are still happy. we are still busy. i thought all that busy-ness was caused by the wedding prep, but it seems that i was wrong. i am just busy. always. i managed to push out all the thank-you cards before our actual anniversary date. i understand that is the deadline. if you were there and haven't received the card yet, you live too far. i took them all to the post office before 7th. you will get it eventually. tennis lesson started, and i feel old. yesterday, my instructor noticed my racket, and said "wow. i like your racket. i haven't seen one like that since..." then i finished his sentence for him - "before you were born." my racket i found in the storage was actually the one i used to play with in high school. it is definitely older than the young instructor. at least i look good in the brand new outfit. now i have a 9-year-old regular student at my weekly dumbek class. he is actually really good. next generation, man. spoke to kamille today. she lives too far, too.

being a nerd and all that excersise

kazuki_kozuru — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:18:13 GMT

immediately following the US Open, the registration for the tennis classes across NYC quadruples. And I am now a statistic. I will be taking the lesson at The Billy Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows - the same place where Roddick competes (and loses) and Federer wins! Starting October 1st. After the Ren Faire filled summer, this would be a nice change of scene/attitude. I was asked what level of a player I was, to which I said, "I used to play competitively in my small mountain village back home, in the middle of rice patties and cows, in high school, which was, like, TWENTY YEARS AGO..." man, time flies. so we put me at a "level II" class, which is "NTRP level 1.5", whatever that means. I plan on proving my skill level to be too great in that class and hastily booted up a couple of levels. haahaaahaaaa. really, I'd be lucky if I could see the balls at this time of my life, man. Went to Adidas flagship store after a couple other mainstream sporting goods stores totally failed me, and was presented only with 3 choices of shoes. Tennis is still rather minor in this country. Ended up with the most expensive pair against my earlier promise to myself - that was the only comfortable pair - and also with a compete outfit. black shorts, and cute little black shirt with white stripes on the side. I look good in them. Isn't that the most important thing? I am such a victim. The second episode of Torchwood was disappointing. Is anyone else watching? Okay, other than Claire?

Do you know this man?

kazuki_kozuru — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 21:41:44 GMT

this flier was pasted all over the neighborhood, near Columbia U. Seido and I were cracking up!

momo means peach and

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:39:59 GMT

her name is Momoca - "scent of the peaches."

it's lunchtime and

kazuki_kozuru — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:10:40 GMT

my calculation: location of the ladies room - 100 feet from my desk. my curiosity: since the film "Harold and Kumar Goes to White Castle". I have actually tried one burger and a thing of fries - shared them with Seido for a taste. but I really wanted to experience the whole thing. my second thoughts: after looking around and being assured by seeing a bunch of healthy looking young men ordering their "30 cheese burgers" or whatever they eat in one sitting, this BIG guy with badly swollen & discolored legs walk in to order his burgers. obviously a diabetic. I kept thinking, "dude, this is the last thing you should be eating!!" by the time my second thought became loud enough in my head and I seriously considered bolting - "it's only $5... I can still go get my regular organic vegetable and fish lunch" my #1 Meal came. well, experience, man.

my niece is two, and

kazuki_kozuru — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:48:00 GMT

she eats with her chopsticks. she wins.

Pennsic and love of NYC

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:46:30 GMT

I still feel the drumming in my bones. The middle-Saturday drum-jam at the House Hedgehog camp was one of my top 3 drumming experience EVER. Pennsic always makes me question my life and life style. I have just gotten a call from a headhunter for a possible lead on a pretty tempting position. Timing is crazy. I would have flat out declined on the spot if she had called me before Pennsic. I am currently wondering about running away and joining a circus. Well meanwhile, I will go out with my friend/boss for a dinner and Bourne Ultimatum tonight. I love New York, anyway.

in the middle of summer frenzie

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:29:16 GMT

after getting Deathly Hallow book 10 minutes after midnight on Saturday from Scholastic store downtown (after standing in line for 1 1/2 hours after coming back from Kamille's performance in Brooklyn after hanging out at the "Harry Potter Place" behind the said Scholastic Store for 3 hours, making a really cool looking wand) finished the Southern Connecticut Renaissance Faire last weekend. look! this is a video posted from Connecticut Post web article. they featured our music as sound track! cool!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIipzBILjXw then interviewed Nourhan Sharif for a Japanese bellydance magazine on Monday. then played Greek music at a park in my neighborhood on Tuesday. reading Deathly Hallows up during the sound check, and up until the moment we started playing. Antonis: "oh, you are one of THEM." the MC introduces us with, "this band is very busy, they are about to tour the world, starting Europe!" we look at each other and say to each other, "oh yeah, I forgot to tell you." "make sure you have your passport." such lies. then finished reading Deathly Hallows that night, or, Wednesday morning. oh my gosh!!!!!! so many things to talk about!!!!!! I called my boss Bern the next morning to discuss some points. went to sleep a bit after midnight last night. it felt luxuriously early, which is messed up. I'd been getting only a few hours of sleep since last Friday. Kamille and Zoom left today, after staying with us for 10 days. I will miss them. I am about to leave for LA tomorrow morning to pick up Melina from her theater summer camp. I come back red-eye on Monday. this is my first time in LA. My boss and I are planning on going to see the Order of Phoenix movie again next week, after work. Then I will leave for Pennsic on Friday night - Saturday morning. Summer is full. I will catch up on sleep during the day at Pennsic. as usual.

experiment & Harry Potter

kazuki_kozuru — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:45:55 GMT

success! i wanted to see how sensitive i am to poison ivy, so i rubbed the leaf onto my arm. seeing that nothing happened right away, i broke off a stem and put the juice on it. and left it to dry on my skin. nothing happened for about 2 days, then on the 3rd day, bug bite looking thing formed. it itched a bit, so i scratched it a bit. on 5th day, it got bigger, turning into a blister about 3/4" across. on 8th day, i went out and bought this Zanfel thing and used it on my arm - now it fashions a scab looking thing about 1" across and oozing some orange (matches my car!) liquid. it is they day 10 today. the scab is harder, and it is still oozing orange fluid from it here & there. the swelling that was there this morning seems to have gone down a bit. interesting. we are going to see Harry Potter tonight.

ate a lot last night

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:44:48 GMT

on my condo's terrace. my friend Harris lives there, and we ate a lot of food, watching the fireworks. Astoria is getting built up real quick, but we still had a decent view.

the Hong Kong office is closing on Monday because...

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:43:04 GMT

this is a direct quote from today's email from my Hong Kong work buddy Wils Ma. Please note that Next Monday (July 2nd, 2007) is public holiday in Hong Kong "The day following Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day". Gotta love these guys, man

risking my life to get to work

kazuki_kozuru — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:25:23 GMT

I started biking to work yesterday. It takes about the same amount of time as when I take the subway. 45 minutes. Biking in NYC requires a bit of skill. Yesterday, I found myself having a bit too much fun riding in the street - the same kind of fun feeling I get when I'm going downhill on ski a bit faster than I'm comfortable at. It was fun, because it was DANGEROUS. So I figured, as long as I know of my own tendency to enjoy danger and need to keep it in check, I am okay. sort of. I am wearing a helmet, and I am watching all the cars carefully. It's sort of like driving, without the other drivers knowing me being there.

Ex and Present

kazuki_kozuru — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 04:46:17 GMT

saw my ex the other night. went out for a bellydancer viewing. Seido came - he had his own reasons - and my ex had his girl co-worker with him. interesting outing. Seido and I actually had a fun time goofing around on the dancefloor. the next day, the ex stopped by my office to show me how to really operate my Nikon D80 - as my boss Bernadette and my co-worker Donna observed him intently. It is interesting to note that when your (girl)friends tell you "he's CUTE!" you feel a bit of a relief. I guess you don't want it to be TOO much of a mistake of the past - I mean, it was a mistake, that's why he's your ex, and as you see him as a friend, you are constantly glad that he is your ex and not present. but, there is always this vain part of you that wants other people to see some of the reason why you were with him once, to see that you weren't THAT stupid in making a decision long ago, when you were young, and, yes, stupid. anyway, Seido is still the best in the universe for me, and I wish my ex all the best. some people still find him cute, afterall. And, if any of my girlfriends are looking for a sweet, gentle artist type, let me know. I will introduce him to you.

it is 1:30am in Fukui, Japan.

kazuki_kozuru — Mon, 28 May 2007 16:39:17 GMT

and i am a fool to be staring at my mother's computer screen... both of my nieces will start calling my name in about 5 hours, telling me it's morning and i should be playing with them. i got here on friday, at midnight (catching the very last train from Osaka airport, 2 1/2 hours away) and am leaving tomorrow, Tuesday to fly back. there's only so much of family one can take. short and sweet, is the way i like it. it is nice to see my baby brother being a good dad and husband, though. and to see all my little cousins actually as adults of sorts. many of them doctors... where the heck did i come from? i don't like telling people what i do for a living, cos it seems to paint some deeply impressive picture in their heads, that seems to involve some sort of fabulousness... i enjoy what i do, but it's a job like anyone else's. and, i guess it's actually a job that requires skills and focused training, which the assumed glamor almost cheapens. i dropped off framed 8x10 photos of my wedding at my relatives houses, telling them to add them to their official list of family treasure. hee heee heeeeeee. went to a really cool playground, where my brother, my sister and i had more fun than my nieces. will have to share photos with you when i get back. my mother's involvement with the cult persists. i found this photo in this mac. hmmmmmmmm. some people start their soul searching waaaaaay too late in their life.

my recent history

kazuki_kozuru — Thu, 17 May 2007 03:20:08 GMT

Got back red-eye with a huge case of hey fever from a week business trip from Hong Kong and Osaka on 1st of May, after 10 hour lay-over at San Fran which I spent with Kamille and Alan. Was entirely useless for a couple of days, then besically useless til about a week ago. aging sucks, man. then whipped out a t-shirt design for a friend of mine, which i am about to bring over to the printer tomorrow, whipped out a couple of flyers to promote my weekly dumbek class and Seido's workshops, taught a dumbek class on 3rd, went to Melina's school performance on 4th, which, I vocally wondered why she wasn't the soloist, then went to play for some spring wiccan ceremony thing with Paul and Sarabeth on 5th, missed the 5 boro bike tour on 6th cos I was too distracted to register before it was sold out, so went to Orchard Beach instead to celebrate St. George's Day - Romani spring thing - with Seido's relatives. then went to my accupuncturist on 8th to combat my own body combating some imaginary harm that could be caused by pollen, went to borrow a dress from Don at Badgley Mischka for Melina and me on 9th, then went out for a celebratory dinner with Sarah and Mariana afterwards, then taught a dumbek class (man, already a week?) on 10th. then ordered some trees for our mansion - okay, a TRAILOR upstate, figured out what to do for Seido's upcoming birthday, reminded Melina that she's still punished and grounded indefinitely, then on 11th went up to our mansion with Seido to work on the sub flooring on12th with Joe - okay, Joe did everything, and we helped. then went to Seido's cousin Sebat's wedding, wearing borrowed Badgley Mischka dress at a beautiful hall by the water in the Bronx. Interviewed a few people over the phone for a friend of mine on 14th. Then I went to the dentist for a follow up yesterday, and walked around taping the flyers all over the West Village until Seido called me to come to Brooklyn for the Turkish Celebration in Brooklyn Day or whatever - great music, dance performance, and free food. since I got back, so far, I've missed one of Melina's school performance, my cousin Satsuki's birthday, Spiderman 3, Janet's naked male painting exhibit, Sue's visit into NYC last weekend, June Li's Capoeira party on 12th, Seido's Romski Boji performance on 11th, and I'm sure a lot more... I miss going to yoga, too. if only I could get out of this day job thing... if only, if only. ha. ha. ha. I think I'm going to bed now, so I can keep the pace.

turning of the season

kazuki_kozuru — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 12:30:36 GMT

So we are done celebrating Melina's 16th birthday for a month, and just done the tax and paid it. time to move on. music season is starting - playing tonight at Zebulon in Williamsburg... it will be fun, with Mavrothi and Antonis. Not even sure what we'll be playing - will probably include some zeybekiko, with Antonis around... Saw 300 last night. visually pleasing, though I kept waiting for kittens to pop up, thanks to Nevik. fun film to watch, and I totally understand why Ramin, my Persian friend, boycots it. not much martial arts shot, though. lots of effect. lots of beautiful men-muscle. no wonder Alan called me up all excited - "Gurl!!!!!" how's everyone's spring shaping up? have you seen your savior rise?

sweet 16 and all that work

kazuki_kozuru — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:39:09 GMT

so Melina turns 16 tomorrow. i will be leaving work a bit early to pick up a birthday cake - "some chocolate on it, but not too much, and strawberries!!" - and cook some elaborate dinner. she will be bringing home 2 girlfriends from a movie - some Martin Lawrence thing - around 8pm. as i type this, the printer is printing out her invites on cardstock - that i made, under Melina's instruction. Seido went out and bought 150 "chocoloate color!! that's the theme!" envelopes. i gave her my exacto-knife to cut up the invite. if she loses it, she's dead, birthday girl or not. the sweet 16 party will be on 24th, at a bar Seido knows, with Romani band - which Melina will need to call them up and beg to play for free as a gift - and her ipod for her hiphop needs, and pizza, wings, and salad. seido, myself, and a bunch of her gay "aunties" will be keeping both eyes on the youths, along with a burly security guard. oh and i need to design and make her dress, which, she goes "oh, I like that, and oh, I like this, and oooh, I like that!" to every sketch I do. Neither Seido nor I believe in the whole sweet 16 thing. I have my website, Seido's website, planning several workshops, creating flyers for several workshops, recording with a friend of mine, fixing up our trailer upstate, actually cleaning the apartment we live in, actually cooking meals, creating new businesscards for both Seido and me, getting the only 2 months old SUPER expensive Italian washer/dryer that just died fixed in my condo where my friend lives in, and hemming up of several pants - to take care of, while I bathe and go to work everyday. Oh, and I want to practice sometime, too. there are always more things to do.