it's the acoustic guitar

I know this is already OLD news for many out there, but I can't resist. I am a sucker for collaborative musical efforts featuring simple acoustic guitar accompaniment and filmed in black and white. And when was the last time anyone heard from Ashley Banks of Belair?

Oh America, America!

how not to serve shaved ice

I was so excited about serving shaved ice for G's going away girl's night.

The husband braved the snows, 'severe weather alert' and all, to bring back green tea ice cream and condensed milk for the toppings. No mochi to be found alas. I cooked the red beans, packed it all up and headed to the West Side.

Lessons learned:

1) Don't stick the just-shaved-ice
(in this case, crushed-in-a-blender ice) back in the freezer for long

2) Don't forget to sweeten the red beans! (gaahhh!!)

3) Don't bother calling 7-Eleven asking if you can buy plain slush, they will not understand

Chinese Food Revival

Chinese food needs some major PR.

Some visionary Chinese-food loving entrepreneur needs to do something brilliant, IMMEDIATLY so that never again, will the words "Panda" or "Wok" or "sweet and sour chicken" be the first ones that come to mind when the average person thinks of Chinese food.

I love Chinese food. I love Cantonese food especially, but also the dumplings and noodles and Peking Duck of Northern China, fiery Sichuan and, after I had my fair share of xiao long baos and crab tofu and "baat bow faan"--I think Shanghainese food is alright too.

It's grievous to me that while other Asian cuisines conquer new markets and dominate the culinary terrain, or at least enjoy an aura of ever-increasing trendiness--Chinese restaurants are largely associated with the harried grunting of: 'You wan Chai-neese menu or English menu?" Not to mention, the awful service, opaque fishtanks full of dying fish, and nightmarish bathrooms.

I know I'm over-generalizing. There are some really great places, classic and forward-looking, in TORONTO and Vancouver...I know Ming Tsai's got Blue Ginger and all...but the overall landscape is sad, sad, sad. Maybe getting people to watch at least the first 10 minutes of "Eat Drink Man Woman" would help.

(PS. It would be fascinating to trace the history of Chinese restaurants and cooks in North America, and compare that to their Japanese and Korean counterparts...that'll probably explain something.)

experiment

Since intro psych class, I've harbored the suspicion that anything bizarre I see is all just an elaborate experiment.

Lent is upon us again

What I've heard so far, from friends who are choosing to observe:

-cigarettes
-fast food
-job hunting
-gum

And of course, the perennial favorite: desserts.

DH is giving up sports media, though playing sports and playing Wii sports is ok. Yes, this means no March Madness.
As for me, this is kinda kooky I know, but I'm giving up FASHION.

This means:
-NO obsessive poring over the super-sized March edition of Vogue and British Vogue
-no other fashion magazines, fashion blogs, fashion websites
-no purchasing of clothes or accessories
-no jumping immediately to the Thursday or Sunday Style sections of the NYT
-avoiding semi-envious once-overs of super-stylish folks around town

And I'm going to try very hard to rotate through a set of simple outfits.

Why am I doing this?

Our pastor TK says to detect your idols ask:

-what do you most easily spend money on? (Clothes, it's scary how I rationalize)
-what does your mind turn to when you're idle? (What to wear, when to wear it)
-what, if you had it taken away, would really be unbearably painful? (Not clothes or fashion *exactly*, but I worry quite a lot when I check in any suitcase filled with my favorite clothes at the airport)
-what kind of comments from people, make you feel inordinately gleeful or miserable? (I'm too thrilled by appreciation for what I'm wearing, and truth be told, a little too disappointed if no one says anything)

I think working near the garment district, living in Manhattan, and sheer vanity have led me to love pretty clothes a little too much. And I derive too much satisfaction from a well-dressed day. I know it's ridiculous and incongruous perhaps, for someone who professes to care about justice and poverty and orphans in Uganda. But there it is. We'll see what becomes of this.

Beauty and Truth

"Whereas “The Godfather” is cited by many as the cinema’s finest depiction of a hardening of the human heart, “The Lives of Others” may well be one of the cinema’s finest depictions of the softening of the human heart."

--random Netflix Reviewer

"The greatness of The Lives of Others lies in showing us that the totalitarian mind is more vulnerable than we think, and that a single moment of beauty can pierce through decades of ideological brainwashing."

-Santiago Ramos, firstthings.com

I highly recommend watching this. Go watch it and let's talk.