Thursday, November 26, 2009

thankful


1. Playing outside with my mom, sister and Westies.
2. Sauteed-to-a-golden-crusty-caramelized-goodness brussels sprouts, dusted with parmesan cheese
3. Dive with me into a sea of corn gratin. droool.
4. My Thanksgiving plate - clockwise starting from the top - two slices of Honeybaked ham (we are not a turkey family... next year maybe!), a heaping of corn, a handful of brussels sprouts, mashed yams, mashed potatoes, a stuffed mushroom, and pine nuts and green beans.

Mmm. I just had some pumpkin pie and I feel warm, full and disgustingly content. I will start the work I need to do tomorrow, after some Black Friday madness... goodnight.

preparing...

Brussels sprouts! I don't think I have ever tried them, so tonight will be the first time, eeek!

Red onions, sliced thin then deep fried to top our corn gratin...

Sleepy Max snapping awake after napping in a corner in the kitchen.

Mama woke up at 4:30 am (dogs woke her up) and since she couldn't go back to bed she baked the pumpkin pie HEHE.

Bacon bits and green onions, also for the corn gratin. Mmmm...

Yams soaking in water (?) but I don't think they have that much starch to leach out anyway...

The poopies woke me up at about 6:45 this morning. We tumbled into the kitchen with mom and started preparing for tonight's feast. It was wonderful to get out of a warm couch into a warm kitchen with energetic pups running about and mom cheerfully chopping and sauteing. More photos of the feast and home later...!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

mmmm-my roots.

Yuk gae jang - shredded beef soup and the ultimate comfort food. I like the way my mom makes it - subtly spicy and a bit more sophisticated.

Dol sot bap. Rice and veggies/meat cooked in a stone pot. Hot!

I am so excited for Thanksgiving, you have no idea! Sometimes I wish we could have an all-out Korean feast like back in the day when my immediate family and I actually talked and gathered together. But nothing wrong with the good old staples - ham from Honeybaked (maybe turkey someday...), green beans, corn gratin, stuffed mushrooms, mashed potatoes... and usually that's it since our Thanksgiving gatherings are really small. The best part of Thanksgiving is cooking with my family. Sure the food is awesome but usually the time in the kitchen together, with the dogs running around our feet is really what makes this holiday so awesome.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

the calm before the storm...!


Working on last-minute assignments before Thanksgiving break while at work watching the phones, and munching on all-natural chocolate chunk cookies and sipping green tea. Desperately trying not to catch anyone's cold by periodically washing my hands with hot water and soap with spurts of antibacterial hand sanitizer in between.

Walking around campus I'm seeing lots of students waiting for their rides to leave for home and it's making me excited to go home too! Usually Thanksgiving is the most stressful time for the fall semester because I have turn-in during that time, which will be next Friday, but I'm not going to let this project kill Thanksgiving for me!

Pink's tonight with my sister, then hopefully inspiration will strike and I'll work my little tail off for Wednesday. Then, home!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

afternoon in j-town

Giant Robot exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum. We went initially to see the internment exhibition, which was heavy, so seeing cheerful art afterward was a blessing.

Exploring the gift shop. Make your own pinhole camera!

My name minus "-fuda."

I would have liked to bring home this little froggy fortune teller!

Finishing the day with a light sushi dinner.

I haven't seen Dan in two months; this afternoon we went to the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo which he had to go to for his political science class. Afterward we got some sushi and caught up and made plans for sometime soon in the future.

:)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

paper shredder


shredding unwanted files at work. it's fun, and therapeutic too!

sorry about them crappy photobooth pics

Friday, November 6, 2009

ennui/requiem

I can relate, except for me the T.V. isn't even on.

I don't care about much lately, I'm kind of numb and listless and passively floating through life and it disturbs me.

I have little to no motivation for school - I've received failing notices for two classes for poor attendance but fortunately there are easy countermeasures/ways to fix that shit. But even before I knew about those I didn't bat an eyelash at the notifications, whereas if I had gotten such notices a year or two previous I'd be freaking out. Actually who am I kidding, poor attendance wouldn't even have been an issue two years previous.

Work bores me. I go in, run a few errands, make copies, file papers, rearrange things. It's gotten to the point that I avoid actively engaging in conversation with (almost) anyone because I can't stand the thought of carrying on and pretending like I care while knowing that person doesn't really give a shit about me either/what I'm studying or what I want to do in life. I've decided to be a drone because it's simpler and better for my sanity.

I don't know what the hell is going on in studio. It interests me, kind of. I have no juice though, everything I produce is limp and lifeless and shallow and it threatens to collapse under my fragile past three years of core studio. Fuck you core studio, what did you teach me? Almost absolutely nothing. What the fuck am I doing here.

Also I am a shitty, shitty friend. Friends asked if I want to go to Vegas this weekend, I say maybe, then no. People invite me to meet them for drinks, I say no, don't have the money. One friend calls me, I think he needs someone to talk to. I answer but say I don't have time to talk, maybe later? Another asks me what I'm up to this weekend, last week. I still haven't responded. I just sent off a letter to a friend after four months of setbacks. The envelope was fat with paper, chock-full of drivel, post-adolescent musings and reflection. I hang out with the boyfriend, and he suggests fun things to do/new things to try and I feel bad when I reject them because I'm busy, or tired, or just not feeling it. I'm getting old, I feel.

The past two days I've drifted into a hazy sleep only to wake up to the horrifying sounds of Beatles on rockband. Soul-sucking. I wish I had gone to see a movie tonight but I opted not to, thinking I'd be doing some work for school instead, but I ended up doing nothing. I am a leech and a slug, parasitic on others and passive and inactive on my own end. I don't care about music, I don't care about movies, books I pick up only to put down after reading two or three pages. The only thing that really catches my eye of late is art, pure and simple, the only thing that made me feel productive was an ink drawing I made of a dog. My dreams are more vivid than real life so the only thing I treasure lately, is sleep.

Is it appropriate that I hear music drifting off the Row from Requiem For A Dream? Sounds from one of the most terrifying, harrowing films I've ever watched. It's telling me to wake up and do something instead of sitting here wasting away and whining about it.

Well, it could be worse. I'm not dying, just bored and experiencing a giant personality shift. and can't sleep.