Ancient History: I am of Japanese-American descent born in Wakayama, Japan thirty-something years ago. My dad was a True Texan, but my mom is Japanese and influences me greatly in the appreciation of Japanese culture. I have one brother, Bill, who is a police officer.
After living in Japan as a small child, my family also lived at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Yongsan Air Force Base in Seoul, Korea before finally coming home to Texas. I attended high school at L.V. Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas (a suburb of Dallas) where I met and fell in love with my husband, Ken. We have two children plus one cat. Michael is 14 years old and very handsome--of course he is--he looks just like his father! And then there's Sara. She's six years old and a sweetheart. Then there's Skippy, a former orphaned kitten, who thinks he's one of the kids.
Geneology: Visit my Bracewell Geneology Page for geneological information about the Bracewell side of my family. Thanks to Joe Taylor, I have quite a bit of Bracewell history but it will take quite a bit of work to get into an on-line form. For now, you can read "Why the Bracewells Came to America" by Joe Taylor or Bracewell Civil War Letters. There's also a couple of photos and links to other Bracewell/Braswell geneology sites. My in-laws have history from the Skinner and Cram sides of the family and I am promised a copy of everything in the near future, but for now you can read about early Cram history. (It's interesting!)
Civic associations: I enjoy being a homemaker and taking care of my family and home (I love cooking, but hate cleaning!), but I also stay very busy serving as newsletter editor of the Japan America Society of Austin, a non-profit organization that strives to increase cultural awareness of Japan in the Austin community. I was president the last two years and am still busy with projects started before my term as president was up. I also coordinate the Japanese Cultural Awareness Program and visit area schools and do presentations on Japan, ranging from comparisons of Japanese and American lifestyles to Origami demonstrations. I can't say enough good things about this organization and the wonderful group of people who make up the Board of Directors. These volunteers deserve a lot of credit for all the time spent on JASA events, projects and community programs.
Books I've read: Okay, Books I've Read is a webpage title that is a candidate for "Web Page with the Least Hits," but in case you're really, really bored, here it is.
Earlier this year, I read "The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang, a historical account of the Japanese invasion of the Chinese city of Nanking. I am horrified by the the treatment of the Chinese non-combatants by the Japanese Army. It is estimated that over 300,000 people were killed by the Japanese in a six-week period. That is more than the combined death tolls of England, France and Belgium for the entire WWII campaign. In my opinion, the victims of Nanking are still being victimized because this terrible event in the Japanese-Sino War is still being refuted as having ever happened by some Japanese and no formal apologies have been forthcoming from the Japanese government, much less any reparations made. Everyone knows what happened at Aushwitz and Dachow, but hardly anyone has heard of Nanking. These Japanese soldiers were not all psychopathic murderers to begin with nor did they continue this brutality when they returned home. What could have possibly caused them to behave in such a brutal way in Nanking? This book has an unlikely hero: German Nazi John Rabe. A heartbreaking book, but I highly recommend it. One of the most stirring books I've read in years.
Another book that I have read in this genre is "Unit 731 Testimony"--testimony regarding gruesome medical experiments conducted on human guinea pigs--prisoners of war--by Japan's Imperial Army Medical Unit 731.
On a lighter note, before "The Rape of Nanking," I read "The Hundred Secret Senses" by Amy Tan. She also wrote "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Kitchen God's Wife" all of which I read and thoroughly enjoyed.
I recently read "Masterharper of Pern" by Anne McCaffrey. It tells of the life of Robinton, Pern's Masterharper and frequent character in the Pern books. It gives a different perspective of events that we have already read about, namely, the Searching of Lessa and Fax's scheming and eventual overthrow. As usual it was a fast read as I just couldn't put it down. (I can sleep later when I'm really old). I highly recommend ALL of the books in this series, but I urge you to read them in the order the author recommends. It makes for much more interesting reading that way. The Pern book before this one, was "Dragonseye" which takes place during Pern's second Fall, and of course, was excellent.
The last book I read was "Wings of the Morning," the autobiography of Orestes Lorenzo, the Cuban MIG pilot who defected to the U.S. and then made a daring secret flight back into Cuba to bring his family here after two years of thwarted attempts to have them legally immigrate to the U.S. Though this book wasn't the best-written book I've ever read, it was still quite good as it gives a Cuban's view of socialism as opposed to the standard US perspective. No propoganda here! The book before that was the "Greenwich Murder" by Mark Fuhrman (of OJ Simpson fame, or infamy). Also very interesting. Those Kennedy's are connected to yet another scandal.
I also like to read books on spirituality, meditation and related esoterica. I often refer to "Messages from Michael." Michael is a channeled entity who imparts spiritual wisdom to those who wish to receive it. Michael contends that we are all fragments of a larger entity and that we are all striving to return to the "Tao" by being continually reincarnated each time gaining valuable experiences and forfilling our life tasks. I use this book as a textbook as it gives insight into all the soul types, etc.
In conclusion: In addition to my volunteer work at JASA, I also volunteer at least one day a week in my daughter's kindergarten class. It's a lot of fun for me, plus very rewarding. I also like to hunt for Japanese collectibles and dishes in area antique and thrift shops and lately I have been spending a heck of a lot of time in front of my computer. I am working on getting together a collection of Japanese Graphics which I am having a lot of fun with. A weird thing about me--I love Hello Kitty and all her stuff. Visit my Hello Kitty Graphics and Links Page. I guess I sound pretty boring. Right now I don't have much time for hobbies or adventures. My life is pretty much occupied by my family and home, and volunteer work.
Rina's Favorites Favorite Food: Japanese Food (especially when my mom prepares it); a good (and greasy) pork roast; Ken's fajitas; juicy Texas peaches; seafood--mostly shellfish; Japanese pickles--especially pickled eggplant, and a good cup of coffee after eating a big supper. My absolute favorite place to shop for fixings for making great meals is Central Market--it ain't just a grocery store!
Favorite TV Show: I adore the British comedies broadcasted on our local PBS station. Namely, "Keeping up Appearances," "As Time Goes By," "Chef!," "The Vicar of Dibley" and "Mr. Bean." We don't have cable, and since I don't like late night tv such as the Letterman Show, etc., my late-night viewing is limited to the British Comedies on Saturday and Thursday nights. Hence, my reading habit...
Favorite Movie: I can't pick just one. Among my favorites are "Heaven and Earth," "Blue Sky," "Air America," "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Airplane," "Shadowlands," "The Remains of the Day," "Aliens," (the second movie-even the book was great), and the "Terminator" movies. I still love to watch "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Mary Poppins" with my daughter. A recent movie that I really liked was "Blade."
Favorite Book: I sure can't pick just one favorite book. Some favorites are The Sorrow, Thorn and Memory trilogy by Tad Williams, (I'm waiting ever so impatiently for the paperback sequel to "Otherland" by the same author. It will definitely give you a new perspective about where we are going with this whole internet and virtual reality thing.), "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" by Herman Wouk, "Fingerprints of the Gods" by Graham Hancock, the entire "Pern" series by Anne McCaffrey and I can't forget about J.R.R. Tolkien's classic "Lord of the Rings." I have read through Book III of the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind and am looking forward to the 4th book. (I finally have the paperback and will tackle it soon.)
Favorite Music: Most anything from before 1980. (Not ALL the new stuff sucks... Okay, performers like Ian Moore, Sass Jordan, the Vaughan Brothers and Bonnie Raitt are actually rather fantastic.) I have pretty weird tastes in music. If I had to pick an all-time favorite band it would have to be Led Zeppelin, but I wouldn't want to listen to them all the time. I also like old country/western (60's and 70's), WWII-era music (I love Glen Miller and the big band sound), motown and some classical. The only kinds of music that I have no use for is rap and jazz.
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