Hi Lisa, I really enjoy your blog! One of my favorites, and you are on my feed for sure :) Thanks for doing what you! I think you would really enjoy a performance I'm a part of coming up in November, Fox and Jewel. A retelling of Japanese myth of a fox, in support of Japantown. Details at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/203517 . You can get in touch with me if you want more details. A preview at this Saturday's Tsukimi Matsuri, 11-4 in Japantown Peace Plaza. Thanks.

It's really great - and Hirano regularly plays in SF. I heard him at the SFMOMA recently. I wrote a little about the film here: http://festival.asianamericanmedia.org/festival/2009/03/19/memoirs-of-a-superfan-vol-43-a-short-course-in-shorts/

This one I can make sense of: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/health/21placebo.html

An actress did a stunt like this, very famously, about 30 years ago - a protest against the fashion industry commodification of women's bodies...as I recall, she was chased by dogs in NYC! I wonder if Lady Gaga knows about this - and is turning that protest on its head - or if she's more likely just being sensational herself. Anyway, sashimi would have been more appropriate! A few well placed slices, and voila!

Lisa, Thank you for this moving, eloquent glimpse into VInny's life. I'm a psychiatrist, and so also work with people undergoing similar difficulties, but even I rarely (except with therapy patients) have enough time to really hear about their lives as a whole. Your writing inspires me to keep trying to keep the space open for that. Good on you for working at Maitri. As you must know, Maitri means "loving kindness" in Sanskrit; I often give a lovingkindness meditation to my patients, and your last quote ties in directly to that. I also love your blog, too, by the way - though this is the first time I've been moved to actually post a comment. I'm sure Vinny and your words are touching many - and I will repost. Best, Ravi