AMERICAN JOURNAL OF AUSPICIOUS DISCOVERIES

Keith and I were born in the same Detroit-area hospital and we both plan to end up in the same Detroit cemetary, where both of our family’s have plots.

Keith and I also share a common love of science, coffee and art. I sometimes have to call him to wake him up in the morning to get him to come to work.

You can view Keith’s blog here.

Nada.  Thank God for Nada.  She knows all my secrets and keeps me in check all day long.  We’ve worked together for years. 

Rami.  Married to Nada.  The fourth member of our remaining Collective team.  Rami saves my ass at least once per week. 

 My brother.  He’s is a DJ. But he also has a finance degree and is currently studying culinary arts.

He’s very versatile, refined and always looks good.

I was pretty mad when he was born after my 6 years of only-child bliss. But I’m not mad anymore. I’m really happy to have this brother.

My roomate (aka: My brother’s girlfriend): Jenn.  Everyone thinks we’re rich lesbians since we live together at the mansion.  We are neither.  She’s my brother’s girl.  We are of average means.

 My Grandma.  She’s a devoted Catholic, but if you ask me, she’s really a Buddhist in disguise.

She’s been a great teacher, I’ve learned a lot about love, acceptance and compassion from her.

 My Dad.  He’s taught me some very important life skills: How to play blackjack. How to travel light with your liquor (pour it into an empty plastic water bottle), and how to remain chill when everyone else if freaking out (I’m still working on perfecting that one).

<                                                                                                                                        My Mom.  People say we look alike and sound alike. She loves handblown glass.She really went out of her way to teach me about art, music and culture when I was a kid and I’m very grateful.

Jennifer.  Not to be confused with my roomate and brother’s girlfriend, Jenn. I was with Jennifer the day that I found Marco in a little shop in San Francisco.

Jennifer also once took me to a monkey park in Kyoto. Wow, I never really realized that Jennifer and I had all these monkey connections.

My token Arab friend:  Samer.  He recently spent 2 years traveling around the world. I missed him a lot while he was gone.

Then I met up with him in Vietnam where we ate a lot of water spinach together and fought over the price of our hotel rooms. Most of the time I was like, “Dude, we’re arguing over $2.00, the amount of cash you used to earn in about 3 min. of work”. It didn’t matter, he said, it was the “principle”. Amazingly, Samer and I are still friends.

My finger puppet monkey: Marco. I let Samer take him around the world, and he disappeared somewhere in Bankok.

I was sad at first, but after going through all the typical stages of grief I found peace in the realization that he disappeared in a country that worships Monkeys. Marco has gone home.

This is my landlord.

But he’s also my friend.

(I have boundary issues.)

Which is part of why I need to spend time with…

My therapist.  Yes, I finally got sick of being everyone’s therapist. So I went out and got my own.  He analyzes everything I say. I like the attention. I can’t show you his photo, but you may spot references to him in this blog. Most likely to be prefaced with the phrase, “My therapist says…”.

This is my cat. We have a lot in common.

She likes to lay around, eat fish, and can spend hours playing with yarn without a hint of boredom.

My most frequent companion.
(I seem to do all the listening in this relationship.)