the fall of 2010 was an a defining year for me. i worked my first session at the capitol for representative mina morita in between two stretches of unemployment.

these were taken at an reception for george takei, who had accepted an invitation to a fundraiser for equality hawaii, the largest lgbt rights organization in hawaii.

being a huge trekkie, this event was so exciting; you can tell by the enormous grin on my face.

you might notice i’m fairly thin here. i was pretty sick, actually, and several weeks later, i’d be diagnosed with crohn’s disease.