Comforting things

Now that the weather has gotten cold and dreary, I'd thought I'd talk about some things in my life that I find comforting.

• Szechuan beef noodle soup. With tendons, homemade noodles, and lots of hot sauce. There is a restaurant near my house that serves "comfort food", and I don't know what is meant by "comfort food", but I do know that this is comfort food to me. I could be beaten senseless by the Sunset Asian mafia (heaven forbid) and if you put a steaming hot bowl of noodles in front of me, I would immediately regain consciousness, wipe myself off, and dig in.
• Listening to the Kill Bill soundtrack on repeat. If you don't find the Kill Bill soundtrack to be comforting, then perhaps you haven't listened to it as many times as I have.
• Pizzacato
• This song.
• Steamed pork bun. Many Saturdays you will find me walking down Irving eating a fresh-out-of-the-steamer steamed pork bun.

Halloween: The Prequel

On Saturday I went to a pumpkin-carving potluck -- fun. I had never carved a pumpkin before. I made a pumpkin with big anime eyes, sticking its tongue out (which some interpreted to be a paralyzed lip). I liked Gloria's pumpkin better, so I took hers home with me. We gave up on watching Versus, which I still want to see, and put on Beetlejuice in the background. I decided that I'm going to be Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice for Halloween.

On Sunday I made masks with my roommate's Yale friends. It was so much fun! The first step was to lie down and have our partner cover our face with strips. It was so peaceful, lying there in the grass with my eyes closed, enjoying the lovely stretch of weather we've been having lately, having cool moist strips applied to my face. After this layer hardened, we filled it with plaster, removed the plaster mold, covered any features we wanted to accentuate with clay, and covered the plaster/clay ensemble with torn-up bits of paper bags. The paper bag layer will be the actual mask. We paint our masks on Tuesday. The best part about making a Winona Ryder mask: I don't have to give myself bangs.

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered

No, that's not how I feel about a guy... that's my new song of the moment. I heard it listening to the 40's station on XM. Lately, when I feel I've had my fill of alternative rock, electronica, and other late 20th century music, I kick it back to the 40's where I hear the soothing sounds of Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, and Glenn Miller. And they play fun little sound bites that are supposed to sound like news broadcasts from the time. Did you know the first VW rolled off the assembly line on Oct 22, 1936, and that Volkswagon literally means "people's car"?

So this morning I heard the first couple lines of a song and thought "Isn't this sweet, another innocent love song". And then... well, I'll let the lyrics speak for themselves.

Puzzles galore

Saturday was a day of puzzles.

First I did a treasure hunt in San Francisco. The theme of the treasure hunt was one of my favorite children's books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was fun because unlike the IAP Mystery Hunt, the clues were actually doable. At the same time, my team wasn't overly competitive. Highlights included going to the cable car museum, going inside the Hyatt for the first time, riding the glass elevator in the Hyatt (just like Charlie!), and drinking a nice cool Gatorade after hiking up the hills of Marina.

Then I finished reading Da Vinci Code. Coincidentally, it was about a treasure hunt... quite similar to the one I did, except that it was thousands of years in the making, people's lives were at stake, and the outcome of the hunt could change the world as we know it. It was also a mystery/suspense thriller, a primer on art/religion history and symbolism, and also it explained some interesting word etymologies. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in any of the above.

Shirt #3

I found myself one Saturday afternoon with the following: a BR shirt slightly too big for me, a desire to have a top to go with my black skirt, a hair thingie, and a pair of scissors.

A strategically placed hair thingie and several snips later...

Dirty dancing

Yesterday I went to another salsa class at the Sunset Academy of Dance. While waiting for the class to start, I got to peek in on the intermediate (or advanced?) teenage hip hop class. Soo many talented young people. Out of nowhere, I hear a strange high-pitched noise. Did I unwittingly walk into a Justin Timberlake concert? Was I hearing rollercoaster screams from a newly constructed amusement park in the Sunset? It turns out that that noise was the girls of the class cheering for the guys, who were demoing their part. After which the teacher said "Now ladies, see how much energy the guys put into it? I want the same out of you. Do I have to ask them to show you again?", followed by the guy's part again, followed by more screaming. And, there were little kids in the dance too. Kawai! Too bad Gloria's class isn't performing.

Hmm, this makes me want to see another hip hop dance competition.

O mother where art thou

My mother left California yesterday. She had been here for a month, staying mostly at Popo's (my grandmother) place. Some highlights from her visit:

• I made her dreams come true (well... at least her hair dreams for me) by getting a haircut. As we were waiting for the salon to open, we started chatting with another Asian woman. My mom and this women talked about how they want their daughters to have certain haircuts. I was reminded of the time that my mom mailed me a magazine cutout of a haircut she wanted me to get. Lo and behold, this Asian woman pulls out an envelope labeled "HAIR", filled with magazine cutout suggestions for her daughter. Maybe I should start preparing my own envelope.
  
• There is a Mexican restaurant near Popo's house. My mom was thinking of going there, and she was thinking of getting either a burrito or an encilada. She didn't know what an enchilada was, so she called me at work to ask me.
  
• My mother, Popo, Monica and I went to the Asian Art Museum. Both my mother and I were totally enamoured with the Jade exhibit.
  
• My mom says all my shirts look the same -- basically solid-colored V-necks. So one day I wear a lacy shirt with flowers (the one that I got with Christina). I walked in the door and talked to my mom for about five minutes before she pointed out a large gaping hole underneath my left armpit. So much for trying to look different.
  
• Me, my mother, Uncle Calvin, Auntie Cathie, and Popo went to a Taiwanese dim sum restaurant for lunch one day, where we had stinky tofu, peanut noodles, shaved ice, and other Taiwanese goodies. Me, my mom, and Auntie Cathie were happily scarfing down all this food while Uncle Calvin looked like he couldn't wait to get out of there. I found out that because my mom and Auntie Cathie moved to Taiwan when they were younger, they grew up eating Taiwanese foods, whereas my uncle moved when he was in junior high and never got used to the local cuisine.