Why The Oprah Winfrey Show Inspired Me

Yes, I said it. Now, sit down, close your mouth, open your ears, head, eyes, heart... and Listen (and dance, of course!). As Oprah closes out the 25th season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," I thought I'd finally say my piece on this and people can take from it what they will.

Some of My Favorite Things (aka Things I've Learned from Watching The Oprah Winfrey Show):

- Maya Angelou (numerous appearances): "When people show you who they are, believe them." That means, if someone tells you they're crazy, believe them. If someone tells you they drink a lot, believe them. If someone tells you they're selfish or lazy or a jerk, believe them. I don't always remember to follow this, but it stuck with me and I've, in turn, repeated it to many people. A couple weeks ago, a non-Oprah-watching friend of mine told me that this had stuck for her after I'd said it to her and it helped her realize things about her relationship and she decided to get herself out of a bad situation. And just the other day, another friend repeated the same thing and I was like, "That comes from Oprah!!" I love how I've totally plagiarized stuff I've learned on Oprah, used it with friends who aren't really Oprah viewers, and they get to learn the lessons too.

- The bra show: This episode really did change my lingerie life and probably goes down on a lot of women's lists of most memorable Oprah shows. I upgraded my bra shopping from ye old Mervyn's (similar to Kohl's) to Nordstrom's and the like. I am now a devout follower of the Le Mystere demi t-shirt bra. And I know my correct size. The girls are much happier now and get to wear nice stuff.

- Tererai Trent episode: This woman from Zimbabwe wasn't allowed to be educated because she was a girl, was married off at 11, and had three children by the time she was 18. Eventually, she moved to the United States and completed a bachelor's. Then her husband was deported because of his continued abuse of her; a single mother of five, she completed her master's. A few years later, she completed her PhD. If this woman can do this, with all these challenges, my privileged butt has absolutely no excuses. Get. This. Done.

- The girls in Oprah's South Africa school: One of the girls, Lesego, had such an exuberant personality and was so, just, with it, even as a teenager. I was impressed by how powerful, wise, and smart people (especially girls) can be. I put a quote from her in the "Words to Live By" section on the sidebar of this blog. She said, "You're an individual. Act like an individual. Don't try to blend in. Blend out!" That is one powerful dose of self-confidence and I'm excited for her future. I can only see her doing something amazing. 

- Suze Orman episode looong ago: You can never, ever know enough about personal finance. Really, seriously, ever. Sadly, a lot of smart people I know, they don't know so much. Smart people with lots of degrees and work experience and job responsibility. I guess it's intimidating to come at when you've never really learned about it before. I had a great foundation set for me with what my dad taught me and I refined it with some of the stuff that Suze Orman talks about. She's an acquired taste, but if you're ready and willing to learn, don't worry so much about what she's like as a person (you don't have to be her friend!), just pay attention to what she has to teach you about the fundamentals of personal finance. I have, on several occasions, used what I learned from watching Suze Orman's PBS special for young professionals to help friends figure out their credit cards, open/use various banking and retirement accounts, juggle my own personal finance situation (freelancer over here!), etc.

- 20,000 person flash mob: Oh. Mah. Gah. This was one of the coolest things I've seen on TV ever!!! And it was a total surprise to Oprah! Dance, the Black-Eyed Peas, and a surprised Oprah--it's like it was custom-designed for me to love. ;) Still gives me goosebumps and makes me want to get up and dance when I watch it. Here's how they made it happen, in case you're curious (I was!).

- Kevin Aucoin makeup episode: This man was a famous makeup artist, openly gay in a time when people were still getting used to that in a national forum, and just seemed really nice. And he did great things with makeup, thought all women were beautiful in some way, and told us how we could accentuate that. So I got his book. Sadly, he died in 2002.




There are surely many, many more, but I can't think of them all. These ones have stuck in my memory without doing too much digging, so I guess they're really the standouts for me. 

It's never a bad thing to have greater perspective, tolerance, and love for the other people we share this globe with. It's also fun to be able to share in other people's happiness--how can you not smile when you watch Oprah give away something, be it a car or a vacation or a house or, most touchingly, an education? (FYI, 64,688 people have been educated through Oprah's foundation. Biiiiig like!) Don't you smile when you see people receive gifts or kindness in every day situations? And it's special to be allowed to share in people's sorrow, troubles, grief, and triumph.

I know it's de rigeur to make fun of Oprah and people who like/love/idolize/worship her. I know that people get hung up on the touchy-feely, mumbo jumbo they think she/her show spouts and stuff like Tom Cruise jumping up and down on the couch is a stand-out moment.* But, for me, her show is more about the lessons I learned about how to be the best version of myself... and there's always going to be something new to learn.

Oprah started out for me as just a fun show to watch in the afternoons after school (hello, Bra Revolution and makeover shows!), but, probably in the last ten years or so, morphed into something that offered a little more substance and guidance--a little more meat, you could say.

The final episode was what Oprah called "a love letter" to the viewers. It started out a little lecture-y; at first, I was like, "Is this it for the whole hour? Bummer." Pretty soon though, I was thinking, "Oh, I need to write that down... Hey, that's exactly what I needed to hear... Yes! Service is important!," and so on. Of course I teared up at the end, but I didn't go into the ugly cry. The Oprahgasm continued the next day with tons of shows and news. And I'll get to watch the "best of" episodes all summer long. And, as people keep pointing out, there's now OWN.

So, happy trails, Oprah; I can't wait to see what's next. As my grandpa would say, ya did good. :)

*Tom Cruise and the couch incident, by the way, was not even in the least the weirdest show I've ever seen on Oprah. You wanna see surreal/bizarre/odd/huuuh/whhaaaaa? Try to track down the Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield show. Now, that was bizarre. These two huge guys that could barely fit in their chairs were practically declaring undying, high-pitched love for each other.

p.s. Here's a great list of "25 Things Oprah Taught the World." I would just add that a lot of what she taught us was stuff she herself learned from everyday people who did extraordinary things. And if that isn't a big go-do-something-meaningful-with-your-life kick in the pants, I don't know what is.

Top 5 Not-Obvious Things I Love About Japan

I started this list in 2008, but only got two down on the list. With a little 20/20 hindsight, I've found it much easier to finish now. I guess I'm starting to get a little nostalgic about my Tokyo life and those lenses are becoming slightly rose-tinted. :)

1. When you push the "close" button in an elevator, the doors really close right away, just like on TV. It's all very dramatic. 
2. My toilet paper holder - just click in, click out. If/when, I ever own my own place, you can be sure that there will be Japanese toilet paper holders throughout. Japanese technology innovation at its finest.
   
3. The "bidet" function on the toilets. This took me a couple years to get the hang of and get used to. My apartment came with one of these kinds of toilets, but, like I said, it took some getting used to, but once I did, well, all I can say is that these do the job they claim to. Squeaky clean! (Sorry if that's just too TMI for some people.)
4. The scotch bars. Thanks to my friend, JP, I started learning about different scotches and now consider myself an official scotch drinker. He started me slowly with Johnnie Walker Black and soda and we worked our way up to drinking scotch on the rocks in cool, small bars around Tokyo with impressively large and diverse collections of bottles. Tokyo is where I learned how a scotch on the rocks should be served--in a glass with one big chunk of ice (ideally hand-shaped into a sphere) freshly picked off the block so the drink doesn't get watered down too quickly. 
5. Aluminum screw-top bottlecans. Perfect for times when you want a cold drink, but just a sip at a time. Isn't it annoying when you buy a can of soda and only want a taste and then have to throw the rest out because you don't want to carry it around all day. Enter The Bottlecan. I definitely prefer this to plastic bottles, which aren't as cold and I don't like the idea of putting more plastic into the world. At least the aluminum is cheaper and easier to recycle (I think).

no idea where i took this picture, but i'm thinking it might have been at the miyako odori in kyoto

poor bastard

Or, how I draft a blog post.

Going through these old drafts is pretty entertaining. This post was titled and in my drafts and yet there was nothing written in the body. Now, even I am super curious as to what the hell I was planning to write about!! I started this post in 2007, so the idea is now lost forever and we'll never know what I intended, but knowing Tokyo, this could've been about any number of weirdos I encountered on the streets.

I've learned from mistakes like this so, now, when I've got something I want to write about but maybe don't have time to do all the "research" (i.e., hunt for funny and/or relevant links) and thinking about what I want to say, I'll at least write a few lines or bullets into the text area to remind me when I come back to the post. Then, later, I'll come fill the rest in. Sometimes I've got just enough of the writing juice in me to knock out a whole post in a short amount of time and will get it ready right away. Like this one. :)

What's up with all the old posts?

I'm cleaning house.

At least, in terms of my blog (I don't even want to think about what my room looks like these days... let's just say moving again will be easy because most of what I own is still in boxes). I just realized that Blogger makes it possible to see all my outstanding drafts... and I have half- or mostly written posts from as far back as 2006! I'm going to get to work on these, probably in no particular chronological order, and see if/how I can revamp them to be less time sensitive. Considering that most of these posts were begun while I was in Japan, there will likely be a Japanese-y spin on a lot of the topics, but we'll see if I can wrangle any of them into more broad-reaching topics. There are also A LOT of travel-related posts that are waiting to go. I haven't detailed anything from my super awesome SE Asia backpacking trip last fall and I'll be sprinkling in new posts as well as my upcoming summer plans promise to bring adventure as well.

The difference between a writer and someone who's got a writing hobby is that a writer writes... everyday... and, well, I guess probably gets published and paid for her writing every once in a while. Sign me up! I want to get this whole writing thing back on track. So, this may not be me writing every day on the blog, but at least working on some form of writing project most days of the week (that's how that whole job thing works, right?).


Dolly Parton - 9 To 5 by jpdc11

Sayonara, 日本, for reals... :(

Well, it seems there was at least one casualty of my frenetic travels and mental paralysis: this blog post!! I just came across it today and I don't know why I didn't publish it before--it was all completed, with links and everything already done! Ah, well, it's just in time, sort of, for Father's Day. Enjoy!

- Miki

************************************************************************

Hey, Japan, it's been swell; thanks for the memories. With you I experienced great writing, great fun, great food, great friends, incomparable confusion (for better or worse), OIJ moments (also for better or for worse), and perhaps most valuable of all, the chance to connect with family in a way I never would have had the chance to do otherwise. It seems like it'd take a book (or a blog ;) ) to really sum up everything that's happened here and how I feel about my time here and leaving now. Suffice it to say, I've learned a lot (though, sadly, this is not evident in my Japanese language skills, though my French skills have never been better! Merci, les filles!).

One person deserves a very special mention though: my dad (aka DadEx; aka Bank of Dad; aka that super great guy that let me hang out at his fancy schmance hotel every month, even though it meant he had a roommate and someone mooching dinner and breakfast off him several times a month for the last four years).

Dad, you're great and I could not have handled this country for this long without your monthly visits and emotional support. Also, I couldn't have had any number of super amazing, one-of-a-kind, OWD (only with [my 日本人] dad) moments that you let me tag along for. To name just a few highlights: a split-second but forever memorable view of Mt. Fuji (why climb the thing when you can see this from the comfort of a warm hotel room??), hanging out with real maiko-san at a real ochaya (not this one, but similar idea) in Kyoto, great onsen in Hakone, silly onsen in Hakone (ramen-scented hot springs and fish that nibble on your feet, oh my!), and just all around good father-daughter quality time at izakaya, hanami in Chuo koen, .

Along the way, there have been so many other truly important people, too many to list and too many to worry about hurting should I forgot to mention them--you know who you are, my dears. So, to my brethren and sistren in Japan, I say to you, ハッピトレールズ！I'll miss you crazy kids!

What's next?

Oh the ups and downs, rights and lefts of my life since last fall. That sounds dramatic, but there has been a lot of change in my life since then. I moved several times last summer/fall, then I took of for four weeks of backpacking through what was originally supposed to have been three but then turned into four countries, then back to Tokyo to assemble the rest of my packing, some final farewells and teary goodbyes, some soul-soothing in Hawaii for a couple weeks (really, is there any place better suited to soul-soothing??), and the final step of moving back to America, settling back into SoCal life, even if it's also only a temporary thing.


I've traveled a ton since coming back to the States (Florida, DC, NYC, Grand Canyon, Palm Desert, San Francisco--I'm making the road trip rounds here out west), had some quality mother-daughter Harry Potter nerd time (hence, Florida to the new Harry Potter Land amusement park), caught up with a lot of old friends I hadn't seen since high school or college (shout out to my fellow Trojans and Eagles), and gotten back into writing a bit (I'm working on some short stories and a book idea right now). In the meantime, I've been freelance editing to keep my skills up and income in coming. 


Any feedback on the new look/colors/layout of the blog? I need to find another photo for the header because the one that's up there now wasn't shot in widescreen. The beach shot that's up there right now is from my trip to New Caledonia a couple years ago--truly paradise. 

Changes Are Afoot

I'm slowly but surely peeking out from the state of mental paralysis I've been hiding (hibernating?) in for the last several months. My paralysis certainly did not extend, however, to the physical because I have been a busy girl-on-the-go this year (not to mention my travels from last fall, a post on which I've got in the works), with a DC-NYC reunion tour (I met up with several old college friends I hadn't seen in years), a visionquest roadtrip to the Grand Canyon with another college friend, a trip to the desert to commune less with nature and more with resort, pool-side living with my old roommie, and another roadtrip this weekend to San Francisco with my first roommie ever from my Berkely summer. Now, I'm gearing up for a move east, at least for the summer, with a possible jaunt to Greece (and a quickie stop in Paris) in July. Grad school apps, GRE tests, job hunts, and finding great scotch bars and dance spots in NYC are all in the works for the summer. This time last year, I was certainly in a less sunny place emotionally and geographically (there was snow in Tokyo in April last year!!). I'm looking forward to seeing what the next few months bring.

p.s. I was in the middle of drafting this post when my mom called to tell me Osama bin Laden had been killed. Whaaaaaat?? Whoa!! Weird how things like this have a way of resembling each other. The last time I heard about an event related to OBL, it was a friend who called me in Paris while I was cleaning my apartment to tell me that a plane had just flown into one of the WTC building; last night I was sitting in a Starbucks and no one else around me seemed to have heard the news--even in the information age, good ol' word of mouth still seems to be one of the fastest and most reliable news sources.