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My grad school friend, Matt. Just before he left us for China to do his stint in the Foreign Service. At
least he gave us his jazz recording before he left, it sounds great. From a political family in Maine, he is really
a New Yorker at heart. His mom is great, although he may not admit it (would you complain if you had a place to stay in Beacon
Hill?). I love his stories about his grandpa and trust-fund babies, always hilarious. Matt is a lawyer, but doesn't
really practice which is redeeming. A great Rat-pack fan, he is usually seen drinking martinis, probably wearing a jacket
(always), and talking about absurd Department of Defense stories (my brother works for DoD so I understand). I
love his story about going to the opera at the Met wearing a tux and being asked, are you the waiter?
Aaron and I went to grad school together (and few years ago we went to Spain and Portugal with Aaron and Helena).
Aaron had studied Chinese literature and trekked around in Asia for a few years. We somehow ended up in the same Japanese
politics class and that is how we met. Aaron and Matt were nice enough to come to my roundtable discussions in world
affairs, and as usual, I got to talk about Russia and Eastern Europe. Aaron's interest in ancient history is pretty
amazing and he makes a mean dish of curry. Our favorite hangout is Wally's, an old Jazz place in Boston. Aaron
is my partner in crime for the Phoenix project and has 2 episodes already completed in his head. We are buffy fans, so we
should have some learned-by-osmosis experience in this genre, hopefully we can translate some of that into text. He recently
gave me some Japanese Anime, Lain Experiment, which was interesting, a web/tech social commentary infused with plenty of x-files
element. Aaron has a good eye for photography, his Vietnam & China shots are my favorites. We'll keep up our tradition
of hiking each year and this year is no exception.
New Years Party at Katherine's roof top. Harry (now in sunny Madrid) on the top left, and JK and the most
right hand side. Harry is a wonderful pianist, with heart of gold. He was my teacher in grad school, and welcomed us
to his friends and family. He is known for many things, such as writing poems on paper napkins in cafes and
quoting Rilke or Neruda. Above all, a great friend.
Katherine & Letizia. Katherine's wonderful bash is always filled with wine, food and great conversations.
She is my Wildean inspiration, of wit and humour. Whether it be listening to opera and then doing the Greek dance next,
she has more energy than I can keep up with. We both had similar interests in movies. Leti, is at the UN still,
and I love her old adventure stories from India. She invited us to Southern Italy and got to meet her family which was
very memorable. Her parents are amazing.
Atif, the master chef. No he isn't really a chef but his dishes are too die for. He also conjures great stories like
no one can. Atif is from Pakistan and studied in London (a reputation from being kick out of every boarding
school) and then in the US. He is noble, not just in blood, but in spirit as well. My family or clan has
the same spirit, so I understand. His dad was the Minister of Interiors and his mom was a great educator. Atif is a
good role model for me that you don't have to have one career, if career at all. I may end up making him a hero in one of
my stories. He was a journalist for the London Times, great Squash champion, a Wall Street trader, a World Bank consultant,
and now an educationalist helping kids to get the education they need around the world, and world trekker (except for one
other person I know, I don't know anyone who has travelled the world as much), in that sense, a fellow trekker at
heart. I love his stories about Daniel Day Lewis, one of his childhood friends, that romantics DO make it, and funny stories
such as what NOT to do abroad, whether you are in the middle of the Afghan territories or hanging around in Malta.
Cat, the photographer. We were just hanging out in NYC at Katie's (Cat's mom's best friend who teaches art, we
laugh because we mirror them somewhat). Cat studied fine arts, painted and sculpted, but now she is a pastry chef creating
edible art. Cat is really a New Yorker (although we grew up later together in Conn.), I sometimes think of the
art studio her father had in Manhattan and wish we can be painting there now, so much has changed in 30 years...well, that
is our dream...
One of my Amnesty friends, we were in London for a few days together. Outside work, we got to have done fun and
visited Shakespeare's home.
This is my favorite picture of Cat. Cat is my best friend from childhood (well since Jr. High). She
studied art / painting and now she is a pastry chef and a great one at that. During summer & fall, we used
to go to the Great Dimond Island in Maine and stay at her family summer house. This is a picture on that boat that took
us to the islands. We still go, but not as often as we used to as kids. The island used to have a lot of fisherman
and artists (like a colony) and they both are there, but the tourists, unfortunately, are moving in. Cat is wonderful,
she was my maid-of-honor at the wedding and I took her to Paris with me afterwards (even though my honeymoon was there
too, well any excuse to go to France one more time I say). She loved trekking through Scotland, to her family clan homestead
(or what is left of the castle) and visiting her brother in London (great stories there). Catherine Bruce (her middle
name from the great Bruce family) is beautiful! I wished I could have met her grandma, who taught art at Columbia, she
lives on through Cat.
Julie is my best friend from college. We are like sisters. At my wedding, my father-in-law thought that she
was me and wondered why she was wearing a blue dress instead of the white dress. Lots of people think we look a
lot alike. Here she is with her hubby, Todd, in CA during Halloween. She is a bee and he is a Q-tip swab, with their
friend, Jane, as Frida. Todd is hilarious, he is from Utah and loves skiing. Julie met him at Fidelity (we all
worked there). When I was at their wedding, we made sure that he made fun of all Korean customs, including the Mikey Mouse
hat that he had to wear (it was a formal head dress, but I liked it better the way he described it). They now live in
CA.
Here are some of my college friends. We all went to a women's college. Some how, our friends were mostly
of asian descent such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean, or for me Pakistani and Indian. It was amazing how we had so
much in common (mostly first generation in the US). Julie is on the far left, we were roomates for 4 years.
She is one of the funniest and nicest person I know. She is the glue that keeps all of us somewhat connected after
all these years. Most of us were at her wedding, as bridesmaids, and strangely enough, none of us have changed
much. Guess which one is me. A hint, I am wearing a scarf (I am always cold in the winter, I really shouldn't
be living in New England, right?).
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