[Ed. note: Numerous people have asked for "the story" of me proposing to K, so I thought I'd write it down. It feels a little odd to write a blog post about such a moment, but we here at deeptrouble.com are all about giving the people what they want. Also, this post allows me to explain why we have unexpected pictures of the proposal itself.]

I’ve been thinking about asking Kimberly to marry me for a while now & I told myself that if I felt like asking her 5 times or so, I should just do it. In the end, it ended up happening half by intent and half by serendipity, like many of the best things in our relationship.

Unexpected Proposal-Cam! (courtesy of Hannah Tries)

Trixie in her natural habitat, the ‘Deepistan National Parklet (& in front of our temporary construction mural by Adrian Cotter.)

When I started my front-of-home renovation project, my architect Jane Martin surprised me by asking if I was interested in doing a parklet. The irony was that though I spend plenty of time involved in issues related to urban spaces & livability (and thus I run in parklet-y circles), the thought never occurred to me! Luckily, it did to Jane & I immediately loved the idea.

Months later, as the parklet project was really making progress, Jane proposed doing a “succulent sculpture” for it. And since she was so dead-on about the parklet, I immediately said sure! I thought “Ummm – a what?” Jane excitedly explained that our parklet needed an artistic focus & that it should be plant based. At that point, seeing her vision completely, I said “sure!” I said “Ummm – hmm” & started trying to figure out how to say “no” to something she was so enthused about.

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[Ed. Note: This post is 4 months late. The trip was 8/15 to 9/10/11. Now that no one cares, I thought I'd post about it. I've been trying to write this for months, but really I was too focused on this project at work to make it happen...  If you want to just look at my PICTURES, here they are, but I think the pix are better if you read this post & vice versa...]

[Ed. Note II: I was in China for less than a month. I saw a tiny, tiny, fraction of the country in terms of square miles.  I met maybe 150 Chinese people.  I had more than a "Hi, can I buy that?" conversation with maybe 10 (being REALLY generous).  Nonetheless, I'm about to post something now that makes vast sweeping generalizations about an entire nation of over a billion people and thousands of years of history, with languages I can neither read nor write.  So please accept everything I say here as gospel from someone who knows everything.  I certainly do.

In all seriousness: I hope I don't offend anyone (esp. my Chinese friends) with my thoughts and impressions - I really am just trying to understand what I saw & felt while in a fascinating and very different place.]

Our hero in the Great Taklamakan Desert

A few months back, I was whisked off to China by my girlfriend to experience her step-mother country.  Kimberly, although pretty damn white, has studied Mandarin since she was very young & then majored in Chinese studies in college & lived there for a total of 8 years.  I knew she was missing China, so it should have come as no surprise when she hijacked our planned trip to India by taking us to China instead.

I recovered from this by planning to trade her for a panda. Perhaps two.

Unbeknownst to me, she subverted that plan by having us head to the far western deserts of China along the Silk Road.  Pandas are NOT in the desert. Sigh. (She’s tricksy!)

Luckily, I found a new fascination soon after arriving in China: looking for signs of happiness.

But, before we get into that, a brief map:

View China Trip 2011 in a larger map
We landed in Hong Kong, then flew to Beijing, spent a week or so there, and then started heading consistently west, more or less along the route of the Silk Road: We took an overnight train to the ancient capital Xi’an, spent a couple of days there, then took a 26 hr train ride to Dunhuang (sort of the gateway to the West). We then flew to Urumqi, the most remote city from any sea in the world according to Guinness, and the biggest city in Xinjiang, the western-most province. From Urumqi, we flew to Kashgar near the border with Pakistan, and spent a few days there exploring the edge of China, before flying east to Shanghai & then back to Hong Kong.

Click HERE for more…

This post is a brief collection of thoughts and impressions that didn’t fit into my in depth and more thoughtful (I hope) post on China (see above). I recommend that one if you’re only going to read one of my China posts. But if you prefer little tidbits sized chunks of randomness from my month in the PRC, here they are! (Also, if you want to just look at my PICTURES, click here.)

As I said in my other post: I hope I don’t offend anyone (esp. my Chinese friends) with my thoughts and impressions – I really am just trying to understand what I saw & felt while in a fascinating and very different place.]

• Unsurprisingly, knockoffs of Western brands were plentiful but this is my MOST FAVORITE ONE EVAR: I give you Clio Coddle.
  When I first saw it I simply chuckled, but something about the name really stuck with me and I had to think about it for a few minutes. Suddenly I realized the “Clio Codile” was probably an Asian L-R-switch attempt to pronounce “Crocodile” – it is simply a filtered onomatopoeia! This cracks me up no end.
  

Click HERE for more…

[Ed. Note.: Yeesh.  I haven't blogged in about a year!  I have so many things to tell you about (Parklet! Rickshaws! China!) & will be getting to it ASAP. But this broke the log jam & I plan to be writing more soon. Sorry  for the delay dear readers (assuming you are still out there!)]

[PLEASE NOTE: The opinions below are entirely my own & do not represent those of anyone else, much less Apple, Inc.]

Over the past 9 and a half years, I’ve often fantasized about sitting down at lunch with Steve Jobs. I frequently walked past him eating with Jony Ive at the Apple cafeteria and considered it.¹

The last time I saw them having lunch together was a few months back, but that time I didn’t experience the wild flash of “what if I just sat down and started talking!?”.  That time, I could tell something was very wrong: just seeing the sadness in their eyes and the silence between them made me hurt. I convinced myself that it was just that Steve wouldn’t be coming back to Apple. I think I was very wrong.

Since Steve died last week, I’ve been surprised at how much it has affected me, and in the aftermath I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why.  What was he to me? I’ve been having a hard time finding the right word.

The first word that comes to mind is “hero”, but Steve was no hero of mine.  He could be too mean too often for that.  I’m sure a lot of people will start calling him one, that seems inevitable, but I dislike the process of whitewashing his story.  It’s so disingenuous and ultimately devaluing.

So what then? “Pioneer” – too impersonal. “Eminence” – meh. “Mahatma” means “a person regarded with reverence or loving respect” but even besides the fact that Gandhi has that covered, it captures none of the “why” since it is just an honorific.  ”Visionary” is pretty good but fails to capture the real world drive he imparted to my life.

So what is the word for someone for inspires your best, focuses your creativity, and creates the standards by which you judge yourself and the world around you?

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[Ed Note:  What follows is just a lot of blather about how I decided to remake my classic Disco Ball costume - if you just wanna see it in action CLICK HERE for the 1 minute video for all you need to know , otherwise see ALL THE PIX HERE.]

So every year around Halloween three things happen:

1. I start wondering what costume I’ll do for Halloween since it’s my favorite holiday.
2. People from all over the interwebs find my Disco Ball costume online, and start emailing me for advice on how to make one for themselves*.
3. People start asking me if I’m going to do my Disco Ball again…

(Click for more pix)

In response to 1, I always have to do something that makes me happy.  That usually means it has to have high production values, it has to be ambitious, and it has to ”wow” people. Ideally, it is somehow interactive, and even more ideally it is something I can wear on my bike**….

Click HERE for more…

Last weekend at FlashDance 29, Sister Viva L’Amour and Sister Selma Soul showed up & asked for the microphone & I of course, said “yes” immediately out of respect. They then proceeded to Saint me!! I’ve been Sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence!

Courtesy of Adele Burnes

This means so much to me I don’t know where to start!

To be appreciated is always nice, to be honored is even better, but to be honored by people you admire, that is simply fantastic.

For those of you who don’t know who The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are, check this great Wikipedia article* – but in the best sense of the words, I’d say they are the clown-priests of San Francisco, steeped in social justice, gay pride, high & low comedy, and irreverent demolition of many of the most troubling aspects of organized religion (like guilt and intolerance.) Add to that the fact that they bring flair, wit, and humor to all they do, and you begin to understand why I hold The Sisters in such high esteem. And now they have deemed me to be part of their world. Wow.

The proclamation says it all:

SAINTHOOD!

Absolutely, Totally, and Universally Administered by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc., The Sisters Hereby Forever Proclaim Amandeep Jawa

I now answer to “Your Saintliness”, or “Your Holiness”

-Saint ‘Deep

*Even if you think you know who the Sisters are, the Wikipedia article is a GREAT read. At the very least, check out their mission statement at the end of the “Inception” section & the list of my fellow Saints. I imagine those are the A-list saints (unlike lil ol’ me) – but nonetheless wow again! (Also there is a pic of Sister Viva L’Amour in the “Sisters at Reno Pride” section.

.ps for a few more pics go here…

.pps The Sisters’ website is here…

Note: the playlists for FlashDances 28 & 29 are after the break below…

I’ve been thinking about the future of FlashDance lately…But before I carry on with my thoughts, let me say how much fun the last 3 FDs, (27, 28, & 29) have been – I love you folks! Thank you for always making it worth the effort! And as for what follows, please don’t think it means I don’t appreciate y’all….

It is a mixed time for FlashDances & I’m curious what the future will hold for my beloved little party… As supa-fun as it still is, I’m beginning to wonder if after 5 years, FlashDance’s time might be ending….

On the plus side:

• the last 3 FDs have been FANTASTICALLY FUN!
• FD 27, the 2nd Annual Michael Jackson Memorial FD, was HUGE! (but it is different than a normal FD.)
• FD 28 reopened an area of the City that I feared we’d have to abandon due to a bad run in with the law near there last year…
• I got Sainted at FD 29!!! (More on that here – SO AWESOME!))
• I’m playing the best music mix I’ve ever done at these last 2…

On the minus side:

• Attendance was super sparse at the start of 28 & I almost gave up and went home (though it rallied into a great night.)
• We didn’t manage to have one in August (I was totally swallowed by the work monster) but no one seemed to miss it (usually I get emails.)
• At FD 29, attendance seemed down a good bit for a while, but luckily lots of random passersby joined in and it got big & super fun!

Some may say that I’m over-focused on attendance, but honestly it is about crowd-energy: a dance party full of people feels so much better than a dance party of a few people. And, depending on the size of the outdoor space, even a well-attended FD can feel sparse.  The size problem is often most acute at the start of FD – when I’m most nervous…. but maybe that’s my fault for being late so often… Then again, the FD list is now over 1875 people, so it seems like getting at least 40 people at the start of an FD would be easy.  Obviously, no one is doing anything wrong, if FD isn’t fun enough to sustain a critical mass, maybe it is just time to let it go. We’ve had a ridiculously fun 5 years!

Luckily, we’re not there yet, it is still super fun, It’s just that I’m wondering if maybe people are starting to move on… I guess we’ll see. For now I’m still having a blast, so we’ll keep going….

Which brings us to Halloween!?!?!? Given the drama of last year’s attempt at Take Back Halloween what should I do this year? I’m fairly sure I’ll do a FlashDance but hw, when, & where are all unknowns… Put your thoughts in the comments so everyone can discuss….

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What follows are some ideas I banged out late the other night while writing  the invite to my 2nd Annual MJ Memorial Flashdance (tonight! y’all should come).  It isn’t particularly well-written (it was 3am!) but I’ll post it anyway, because the thoughts are important to me & I don’t have time to improve it just now (my apologies! – I’ll try to get back to it later I hope… feel free to leave edit suggestions in the comments )

Besides color, what’s different about these two “Michael Through the Years” images?

from the Chicago Tribune

from the Daily Mail UK

I think it is that the Chicago Tribune stopped at 1990? Why? Maybe because it is easier for us.

In the aftermath of MJ’s death, I was once again reminded of the fact that we as a culture have a hard time getting it right when it comes to dealing with our heroes and our villains.

If the person is a hero, like one of my greatest heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr., we try like hell to make them into a saint – someone who was a perfect paragon & could do no wrong. Even if, as in the case of MLK with his plagiarism & infidelity, that is patently untrue. And if the person is a villain, we make them into a monster – someone beyond human understanding.  The problem with this approach is simple – in both cases we put a huge amount of distance between us and them, a distance that costs us in many ways.

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Does anyone have any good pix from either of the last 2 FlashDances? I’d love to see them & use some for this post!

So another two months, another two good FlashDances. Both of these were a little smaller than I would like to be honest, but I still had plenty of fun. There were extenuating circumstances in each case, but still I can’t help but wonder if people still love ‘em as much as I do… I guess we’ll just see how it goes for the next few…

—

It turns out I had blown a bunch of easily replaced fuses & the next day, Sunday, we were back in business. So we headed back to ferry Plaza on a GORGEOUS Sunday night (three day weekend!) and rocked it out. Again I was hoping for bigger turnout, but given the reschedule & the fact that it had been Carnavale that day, & that many people are out of town, I think the 80 people or so (at the biggest) acquitted themselves quite well. The playlist is below.

Anyway – like I said, we’ll see how FD 27 goes. That one will be the Michael Jackson Memorial FlashDance in late June – it will be interesting to see what that is like – one year out from the best FlashDance ever! Check the videos of last year’s mega-awesome after the jump…

Click HERE for more…