One more post about Rachael Ray’s stupid scarf and I’ll scream. 

For serious.

HAND TO GOD.

SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY NO ONE FUGGIN CARES

Aside from receiving the most giggle-inducing, snort-making news I’ve had all year, I just can’t help but enjoy this upswing in moods.  The sun is shining, I’m going to see some of my very favorite people tonight for real barbecue (which I love, I don’t know, smokey, delicious, fatty pulled pork is just… yum!), tomorrow grilling it up out in the boonies, Sunday going to see my other love (David Wright) whip the Dodgers soundly – oh and last night’s game, yay!…I have a fantastic life.  And someone even said to me yesterday: “I wish I were you, you have so much fun!” (to which I responded: “You can do the same though, you just choose not to.” 

I’m on a huge upswing!  I know, the greater the swing, the harder the fall, but we’ll see…

It gets better though: I got this email this morning.  Read this.  I can’t get over how funny this is – it’s an email from Time Warner telling me about the special discounts I’m entitled to as a customer, and about some special programs that are upcoming.

Because those are certainly the things I remember about 2001.  P. Diddy on trial for gun charges.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.  Ummm… no.  Maybe the other two, and I hope they explore a lot of other stuff that happened that year as well (it was a special year for me, too… I turned 21, for one thing…) – but come on.

And to start my day even better… this morning on the bus.  *giggle snort giggle*  I’m giggly lately.  Well, there was a guy sitting across the aisle from me.  He made a phone call and was talking intermittently loudly and normal voice.  Bear in mind, it’s early in the morning, we’re all snoozing on the bus, some of us are reading, whatever.  While he’s talking, a guy two rows ahead of me stood up and glared at him twice.  I don’t think the old guy on the phone noticed.

Then a long while later, the old guy’s phone rings, and he’s holding it in his hand while it rings, and he waits to pick it up.  It’s a pretty loud ring.  WTF?  Just pick it up!  So he finally picks it up, and he starts talking, and suddenly he’s saying really loudly “No, NO, NO!” and the young guy gets up, walks over to him and shouts, “CAN YOU KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN???” and walks away.  The old guy keeps talking on his phone but a lot quieter and starts holding his book in front of his mouth to ostensibly block out his voice.  HAHAHAHAHA. 

As he’s getting off the bus 15 minutes later, the old guy walks by the young guy’s seat and leans over and says – still really loudly – “I want to apologize for -” and the young guy cuts him off, “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to THEM *gestures to all of us* because WE DIDN’T PAY $5 TO HEAR YOUR PHONE CONVERSATIONS” and I guess he pointed at the old man.  The old guy is kind of taken aback – he was being polite and apologizing, but the young guy was kind of aggressive – and the old guy steps back and says “Don’t point at me!  Don’t you point a finger at me!”

“Well I just did!”
Old man continues walking off the bus at this point (he’d stopped to apologize) and says “NEXT TIME YOU POINT A FINGER AT ME, I’LL BREAK IT”
“I’D like to see you TRY!”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA… omfg… it was so great… the young guy was really just expressing how we all felt about the loud phone call.  It’s unnecessary!  It’s freaking 8 am, do any of us need to hear your phone conversation (well, there’s no time that we do, but it’s worse in the morning)!!! 

Oh I am so glad I caught this bus this morning… $5, complete with a show!  Hehehehe

Dinner last night, along with two rice bowls of miso soup & mushrooms

And today’s bento!  Hee!

Alright ciao ciao cuz I’m swamped with work!  But have a FANTASTIC weekend everyone, I know I will

Congratulations to T&E and S&C!!!  Both 11 years in the making… awww  

Still, no weddings that I am going to, which those of you who have been going to tons of weddings already – yes, we’re at that age – would tell me to be thankful for.  And I am, in a way, I hate having my weekend plans dictated so far in advance and depending on the group of friends, already knowing that I will have a marginally good time at best… but on the other hand, I am kind of eager for my closest friends to get married, because I would just be that happy for them…

Totally different topic: Has anyone read “The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club” (aside from the 4-5 people I lent it to)?  I thought of the book last night after I finished reading “The Chocolate Lover’s Club“.  (Yes. I’ve read Fight Club. I love books with the word Club in the name?  Interestingly- or perhaps not- the book I wrote has a temporary title of “The FC Mystery” where FC stands for Foodie Club.  I’m just kidding about loving books with the word Club in it.  Chocolate Lover’s Club was a gift, and Fight Club was just an excellent book.  Seriously.  Much better than the movie, but made better by my having seen the movie already and using the same actors in my mental movie.)  ANYWAY… you’d think The Secret Lives of the Sushi Club was, like, a chick lit, right?  All fluffy and shit?

WELL IT’S NOT.  It has terrorists and bombs and people dying and it just is way too serious for its title.  I was pretty mad about the false advertising.

Anyway, I’ve been getting slammed at work left and right.  So odd to be this busy on a gorgeous wonderful day!  I slept at 1:30 am and yet, woke up happy and continued to be happy throughout the morning.  I even made the earlier bus (I’ve been catching the bus that makes me 2 minutes late for work every morning for the past week… booooooo….) and went promptly to sleep in my seat, not even waking when someone sat next to me!  How awesome is that? 

I’m in a great mood, and I think I know why…

Look!!!  I actually bothered with a halfway decent bento that isn’t just 2 items in each box.    So I figured out.  It’s a vicious cycle.  Go to sleep late, wake up groggy and don’t bother with making a decent bento, feel worse throughout the day knowing lunch is pretty crappy… So today I’m actually feeling good, so I think that’s really why.  Fascinating! 

My dinner last night – miso soup with mushrooms.  Damn tasty if you ask me.  It kept me full until about midnight… had I gone to sleep before that, I’d have been fine… oh well.    Can’t win them all!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Guilty, slightly off kilter pleasure: hot chocolate and cheese crunchies (cheez doodles or cheetos, whatever I can get my hands on).  I don’t know, it just comforts me in a way that sometimes, other combinations can’t.  (Did I mention this is for breakfast?)

Walking to the bus this morning, saw an empty coke bag on the floor.  Interesting.  I used to wonder/postulate that the kids in my high school didn’t do drugs (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH… little did I know) because they’re too darn expensive.  Coke is a designer drug, right?  How much must it cost?  Imagine my surprise when I found out that “20-bag” doesn’t just refer to weed!  The more you know… (although I don’t know how high that’ll get a regular user.)

Such random thoughts. 

Why does NY1 keep LYING to me about the weather?  Yesterday: “Rainy all day” and today “Bright and sunny, warm all day”.  Yesterday I wore my g’damn rain boots and felt like an idiot, and today I’m wearing a skirt and short sleeved shirt and am COLD.  Annoying, annoying.

Last night, the weather here was warm, thick, suffocatingly humid.  I thought, “Someone flicked a switch and here we are, end of May, suddenly summer… just like that.”  I’m not sure what to make of today, I’ll have to go outside during lunch to see if it really is summer, but if it is… how do you like that for NYC season transition? 

Random thoughts, random thoughts.

I need to go grocery shopping.  However, I did manage to make dinner for myself last night, and create something for bento today.  (The chicken didn’t defrost in time, so no go on that for bento.)

Yummy.  Love those Taiwanese XO frozen dumplings.

Yummy!  What a lovely looking lunch, the first in a long while.

Anyways, I’m off to attempt to work. 

Ciao ciao!

Dang, I got taken care of this weekend.  It’s an unusual feeling for the caretaker to feel taken care of, y’know?  I have a bunch of really funny pictures but instead of putting them here, I’m just going to put them on Facebook.  Neener neener neener. 

Ooh… but then I won’t have much to talk about.

Well, baby booked and planned a trip for the two of us (swoon!) to Ocean City, MD.  So we went.  Unfortunately I was so tired, that by the time we arrived the first night, I took a nap and didn’t wake up until the next morning.  Oops.  I guess I wasted a day, but oh well, that “nap” was necessary and added to my enjoyment the next day.

Hmm… going through my pictures, I don’t feel like sharing any on Xanga.  Oh well. 

But we both got terrific sunburns, his much worse than mine (despite the fact that we’re both equally Irish! Hah!), though right now it hurts to be wearing clothes.   

We ate tons of fun food, middle America cuisine (ie, places I can’t find in NYC, not for lack of trying: Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, Dairy Queen… yum yum!), and played mini-golf… it turns out I’m lefty…  saw some crazy religious people… saw a couple of fun things… well, yeah.  Had a great time and hit up a bunch of middle America stores too.  I love middle America for a few reasons… not first of all because of the food

Okok I’m going to run now, but here’s a pic of my lunch.

(I didn’t get home until 10:30 last night, so excuse the boringness.)

Have a nice Tuesday!

I was leaving the cafeteria before, and three people were coming in – not together, just at the same time – all in a row.  So I couldn’t get out and I was off to one side trying to wait until they passed even though no one was moving over to give me room, and I thought, “MOVE!” loudly and rudely in my head.

Only I said it out loud and the person closest to me started, shocked, and looked at me like “WTF”.  HAHAHAHA.  I didn’t even realize I said it out loud until they looked at me like that.  Oh well.

And just now, I smelled milk/dairy so I went to sniff the cream cheese on my bagel to see if it smells BAD, and accidentally moved too fast or something- there was a disconnect between intention and action- and let’s just say, cream cheese got up my nose.  -_-*

Learned a lot last night about wine and how we drink it… very interesting.  I met Maximillian Riedel! 

I had a bunch of stuff to say but now I’ve forgotten it all so oh well.  Here’s a photo for you.  This is what I saw as I walked up to my building this morning.

The bagpiper on the right was doing the normal bagpipe song (I have no idea what song it was- the one that starts off neee… neee… and then the drumming breaks out; whenever I hear a bagpipe, it’s doing that) and then broke out into a song that I instinctively recognized.  I even knew the words, and later on, in the elevator, I thought, “Why the hell do I know the words to this song?  Isn’t it a military theme song or something?”

From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli
We will fight for right and freedom

(That’s from memory; I just Google’d it and got this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marines’_Hymn.  My memory isn’t that great, I guess, and it’s the Marines’ Hymn.  Hmm.  Interesting.) 

My dinner last night, before I went to consume 4 glasses of wine for a PR press event.  Hehe.  I love being press.  I also scored, as the goodie bag, this: http://www.amazon.com/Riedel-Vinum-Extreme-4-Piece-Tasting/dp/B00005NJEW/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1211551443&sr=8-4 - this would make a nice gift, if it weren’t so damn expensive, I know a few people I would love to gift this to.  (Not my set, a brand new one.)

Before drinking.

Alright everyone, HAVE A FANTASTIC LONG HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!  Be safe

me~

That song creeps me the fuck out.  But oh well, it’s a good song, probably one of the few (or only) Pearl Jam songs I know the lyrics to.  Or even know. 

Anyway.  The people at work are annoying me.  To no end.  They complain about being fat and shit and then eat monster egg/cheese/bacon (or sausage) bagel sandwiches for breakfast.  And get ice cream, chocolate, snacks during the afternoon.  Look I don’t give a shit how fat you are (or aren’t), I really don’t, but I don’t want to fucking hear you complain about if you don’t take steps to fix it. 

That’s one of my biggest issues with people in general.  Complaining to me is fine because I complain all the damn time, but please do not complain consistently about the same issue and either take no steps to fix it, or worse… continue doing the things that you know will ensure it will never change.

Example 1: “I hate my job.  I’m underpaid, undervalued, it sucks, and no one cares.”  REPEATEDLY.  Over the course of YEARS.
Solution: Hunt for a new job.  Speak up at work and ask for a raise so that you’re not underpaid.  Bring documentation to support that request.  Perhaps even tell them you have another job offer.  Whatever.  UPDATE YOUR GODDAMN RESUME.

Example 2: “Ugh, I’m so fat, I am disgusting, I am a slob.”
Annoying as all get out: my response:
“Oh… do you want to work out together?  I could use a running buddy.”
“Running?! No… I hate running.”
“It’s the fastest way for me to lose weight/fat.  Well, how about this, it’s a lot easier to cut out calorie drinks from your diet.  So either drink water or diet drinks.  I would suggest cutting out soda altogether.”
“But I looove soda/coffee with lots of sugar and cream/whatever!!!”
“Um.  Okay.  How about just take a walk after you’re done eating lunch every day?  Even a short 10 minute walk will help.”
“Nooo, I can’t do that, I [insert really lame reason].”
What I really want to say at this point: “WHY DON’T YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP AND ACCEPT THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A FUCKING FAT ASS THEN?”
What I actually say: “Okay.” and then I walk away.

Seriously?  How many times a week do I have conversations along these lines?  Thankfully, none of these people are my friend, because I would not hold back and tell them to shut the fuck up already.  I know I could fix some of my weight-woes, but I do try hard to do so, and I don’t complain about my weight every day.  Actually, I can’t remember the last time I complained about it – I do mention it in passing occasionally but I never whine about being fat and then shove more chocolate in my face.  Ugh.

Oops, I’ve had this open again since 10 am.  Aiyah. 

Anyway, here’s a picture for you guys.

Hooray for yummy lunch choices!

I recently had a “How do I clean this…?” conundrum.  Actually, I had two.  And the more important one is still eating a hole in my heart.  So maybe I should address that first.

Umm… you know that really expensive handbag I caved in and bought a month or so ago?  I don’t even need to hear how stupid I was, I know it was stupid, but put it this way, some food got on it.  Not wet food, but worse: oily food.  I know the bag is treated with something so it doesn’t stain and most dirt should just wipe away, but there’s an oil splotch.  I dabbed at it, and nothing, and then I used a bit of hot water on a paper towel and dabbed at it more, and still nothing.  It’s really annoying the doodie out of me not just because it’s ugly, it’s dirty, but because I’m genuinely concerned how food-oil will attract bugs and other items that may like to eat my bag.  So.  Any thoughts?

***I emailed the manufacturer and am waiting to hear back from them, but so far, no response.  Boo. 

Ok, but the one that Mommy wins it for is the DIRTY TUB CONUNDRUM.  I’ve been living in my apartment for about 2 months now, just a little bit more, and the bottom of my tub would NOT get clean.  I don’t understand it because I know I didn’t scrub the tub in our old apartment that often (if ever) but then again, that wasn’t my job.  I just know that this never happened.  And it was annoying the CRAP out of me.  I sprayed it with Scrubbing Bubbles, rinsed/wiped/whatever, and the next day it just felt… slippery.  I hesitate to use the word “slimy” because that implies a viscosity, a thickness that wasn’t there, it was just slippey.  And not “wet tile/ceramic” slippery (I have rubbery grippy ducks and frogs on the bottom of my tub, anyway, and the bottom of the tub is textured to prevent slips/falls)… just… I don’t know. 

Anyway, I asked around to everyone I know “How do you clean your tub?” and everyone had varying answers.  Mom had the best answer for a lazy person: “I use Clorox spray once a week, spray around the whole tub, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse it away.  Do it once a week so it’ll always be this easy, if you let it go, it’ll be too hard/stuck on and you’ll need to scrub it instead of just letting it sit.”

So last night I used it and my entire problem solved like that *snaps fingers*. 

Mommy wins it!

Now, if only she knew anything about leather cleaning…

Sigh.

Shake it off, shake it off… Slipped into a bit of self pity but yet not, there for a lil bit… Fact is, I made the choices I did that make my life the way it is.  Busy,busy,busy, was my choice… so stop fucking whining and get over it.  Yea I’m tired.  Yea it sucks.  But yea life goes on… people do it.  Some people do a shit lot more than I do and don’t complain (I don’t know how or why… complaining relieves so much pressure…).  So stfu and move on, move on.

Besides… it’s all taking steps to reach the goals I set for myself.  I knew it would be hard once I put the ball in motion, I knew it would be time consuming and aggravating, so… why am I all down about it?  It’ll get there… we know it will.

I was invited by a friend to go to a panel discussion on Asian Americans in media.  I have extremely idealistic views and didn’t agree with much of what I heard.  One woman was so angry and bitter that she made me cringe every time she spoke.  She was extremely aggressive and outspoken – kudos to her, I guess, for that – but the anger and bitterness really came through and just, wow.  I guess I see being AA through rose-tinted glasses; I’ve always seen it as the best of both worlds, picking and choosing what I wanted to embrace and what I wanted to kind of ignore/avoid. 

I’m an assimilationist… I’d rather be viewed as a person rather than an Asian American.  I am waiting for the day when other Americans will look at me and not see an Asian who is possibly not American… but will just see a person.  Sigh.  Being Asian defines only a portion of who I am…

It’s too early for me to be properly forming the thoughts around that, and I’m sure people will comment on it, but… whatever.  I don’t feel like explaining.  Bah.

Yum, another easy-peasy bento.

Off to sleep under my desk

and kisses to DW… if you win both today… special surprise for you when you get home LOL… actually I bet I could find his address… how creepy would it be to start sending him presents?  HAHAHAHA or the collection of photos I’ve been taking while he’s at bat… *shakes head*  I’m a lunatic.

Yeah so before this past week or so, how many Americans do you think could even point to Myanmar on a map?

Yeah?

How many do you think knew how to pronounce it?

Uh huh?

And how many, pray tell, do you think even knew there was a country called Myanmar/Burma?

… yeah.