Palo Alto contribution

Hi Hana,

This font's for you...

I was so happy to see Hana at my house (first time since the Brit Lows left) and her comment was: "yeah! there's not much food left at Daddy's house". I was still happy to see my prodigal child though - whatever the reason.

I sent the link for Matt's photos to my friends and everyone agrees they are awesome/sensational/holy cowish. David's sister, whom I have never met sent me an email asking what kind of camera he used because the images were so sharp.

Hana thought dinner with the Starks at a Greek restaurant in Palo Alto was quite entertaining. Grandma Stark with a bubble thought "I've never met a real live person from Gibraltar", and MR saying "I'd never realized quite how American Hana's family was".

Not really Low-related but it was a funny story so I'll share. A friend of mine, Nancy, (blond, WASPy, from Boston, grew up vacationing in Nantucket) told me that the author of "French Women don't get Fat" Mireille Guiliano, used to stay with her family as an exchange student and "the American family" she talks about in her book with the fried, stodgy, carbs that get Americans fat was her mom's cooking. It was all post depression food. And No, Nancy is not overweight like those boat women in Tahoe, in case you are wondering.

I enjoyed seeing all of you SOOOO much. Thanks for coming over. It was so nice that you could be here for Hana's graduation and meet the Starks (if only to prove that them that I'm the freak loser in the family and Hana's not necessarily doomed to a life of unemployment). Hopefully next time you can meet David who really wanted to come but was held up by the Habitat blitz build.

Just came back from visiting Ysa, my childhood friend from Malaysia whose husband is the founder of Walden investments - the company I had told Matt to contact for his venture. John and Sayling will remember Ysa. They had just bought a new house in Piedmont and we were invited to visit. She had extended the invitation to all the visiting Lows who were still around. Holy Moly! I was expecting a grandish, Don-Chi-style house but it was a mini Hearst Castle. Makes Don's house look like a cottage. 20,000 sq ft house in 4 acres of forested land in one of the most expensive parts of the Bay Area. Absolutely gorgeous! It was a 80 year old house that had been restored with original tiles in the original style of the house really nicely, obviously expensive but nothing ostentatious or garish about it (apart from the fact that it's a 20,000 sq ft house in Piedmont). Emma and I felt like we were at a resort. The pool looked a little small, but it was only in relation to the rest of the house, it's at least twice the size of our pool. The coolest part is they are going to do a nature trail around the property. Lip Bu told me he had specifically put in an elevator for his aging father who had lived with them for years so he could get down to the pool area and garden, but he died before they moved into the house. I left feeling like I should have paid an entrance fee to view the house, it was that grand. Ironically for mom and Henry and some of their cronies, (Ysa's parents were also included) when Lip Bu first started out 20 years ago and asked them to invest in his company, no one wanted to take the risk because he had a moustache, and by Chinese standards that made him look like a crook. I'll bet they regret that little prejudice - the guy's got to be a billionaire. Ysa still looks beautiful and as unaffected as ever. No designer clothes, make up or plastic augmentation evident anywhere.

So from EMma, Loser Loser, Double Loser, WhatEVER, get the picture, DUH!

L8er
Pen

Sappy

Kate and Dave and I were talking while we were in Yosemite about the John Lennon line "life is what happens when you're making other plans". I just watched Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrell and there's this monologue by Emma Thompson at the end that reminded me of the John Lennon quote and of why I had so much fun in Tahoe with everyone. So, as sugary sentimental as it is, I'm going to share it. It's actually much better with the video that accompanies it and after you've seen the film, it wraps it up nicely, but here it is in black and white.

"Sometimes when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies.
And fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or a subtle encouragement, or a long embrace, or an offer of comfort. Not to mention hospital gurnies, and nose plugs, and uneaten danish, and soft spoken secrets, and Fender Stradocasters, and maybe, the occasional piece of fiction.
And we must remember all these things--the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties--which we assume only accessorize our days, are actually here for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives."
--Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Thank you.

Blog!

Awesome name ... love the name ML. 

Just wanted to say that I am so glad to have seen many of you Lows (and TRs) in Tahoe. I had forgotten that you all are so cool that one doesn't even need to DO anything to have fun ... existing is enough. Only wish James & Pip and significant others could have been there. :(

Come visit me in CO and we'll ski! Yay!

Btw, this is from xkcd ... a fave webcomic of mine:



And here are some photos from graduation/baby photos. Mine are the excellent ones. Must be the genes.
http://www.stark.ws/ More when I get my compy up and running.

Hello!!!

Great idea Matt! Always think I should get in touch with the 'Low' family more...I'm rubbish at keeping in touch with Dad and James though so there's not much hope for the rest!! Hopefully this will change things.

So, thought I'd leave a quick post to let you all know how Ry and I are doing. Basically, things are great! We spent most of May in HK with James and Dad which was FABULOUS and just what we needed. Since Christmas things have been a bit crazy with all sorts of family and work 'events' and what with moving a week before we left for HK, we really needed our holiday! But we came back feeling very refreshed to a new apartment...very cool, 2 bedrooms (Please all come and visit!), living/diner, much bigger kitchen and right close to my work so we are selling a car and I walk to work!! It's been a really good change, and will continue to get better as we work on the decorating! (That's the fun part though!)

Unfortunately the holiday to HK meant we couldn't join you guys in Tahoe...VERY disappointed about that, but will try and sort something out for Pen, Emma & Henry to FINALLY meet Ryan! I have submitted an abstract to an Orthopaedic conference in SF next Feb, so if I get in hopefully I'll be able to come over, which will mean a flying visit to see those of you in CA...will keep you updated on that one.

Right, I did say this would be quick, so I will stop now. But hey, that's a little bit of an update on what we're up to. Hope all of you are good...miss you all!!

Love, Pip. x

Tahoe Pics

here are my pics from tahoe/yosemite.

Welcome!

Hey y'all.

Made a blog so that we could all keep in touch a little better.

Here are some things you can use the blog for:
- Posting links to your pictures
- Posting (a few) pictures
- Posting links to interesting things you've found
- Telling everyone about what's going on with you
- Asking people a question you want help with

To use the blog:
1. Accept the invitation that was sent to you from green.or.die@gmail.com (my account).
2. Sign in to Blogger here.
3. Make a new post, comment on other people's posts.

As with all blogs, it's only interesting if there's new content posted, so it's up to you to keep it going. Make new posts, comment. Let us know what's up.

Love ya,

ML