Sunday, November 02, 2008
I'm sorry about the last post. Let me try to make it up to you.
It's Fat Orange Cat Studios gone global! Wang wang! (That's what Chinese dogs say)
Filed Under: Pet Photography | Travel
Friday, October 31, 2008
I've been in Beijing for 2 weeks now and if there's one thing I must name - and I can name plenty - that I will never become accustomed to even after having been here for 200 years, it's the concept of the kaidangku.
What is that you ask?
 
When I look at this I feel like I'm going to spontaneously come down with cholera.
I might be overreacting. I might not be.
Who knew exposed bottoms could cause so much internal confusion.
That's right! Toddler pants! That are unsealed! On purpose! So your potty-untrained child does not have to encumber you nor himself when nature calls! How bad can living under Communism be when you're free to wee when you please?! Which can happen at ANY SECOND without warning - like when you're walking along from behind, or maybe while you're unfortunately standing next to the same tree.
Here is another more graphic shot of the kaidangku and what it can do to your dignity and self-respect. Especially if they have been crocheted.
I was hoping that if I waited two weeks before I posted about this phenomenom that I would have somewhat positive thing to say about wearing kaidangku's:
China is greener without disposal diapers in landfills.
Chinese household saves hundreds of RMPs per month and uses money to buy LV bag (real one) for only child.
Baby's bottom in China is 300% drier than that of Western counterparts.
Has never known the horrors of diaper rash.
But one day there were children running around just outside a restaurant we were about to patronize. Each of their undersides were exposed for all to see. Baby bottoms are supposed to be cute so shoot me because I saw them and completely lost my appetite.
I was hoping too that they're not actually allowed to go in public, and if they're too young to speak, they have some secret code with their guardian so that they could be quickly taken to a facility. A real one. That has a door. Not a bush or a tree or some corner in the train station.
OH IF ONLY!
A few days ago I turned the corner and came face to face with a toddler and his seamless pants in action, doing a #2 on a grassy knoll separating the street and the busy sidewalk, while his grandmother held him aloft from behind, knees hooked over her arms.
The reaction I had was like a rocket boost and I ran and ran and ran and could have kept running home to Boston if the sidewalk wasn't so clogged with people.
The thing is, my cats don't wear pants, and yet...
Also I believe dog owners pay a hefty fine here if refuse is not picked up...so how come...?
"Having face" is something that's important to the Chinese, so this sort of practice confuses me all the more, particularly in a cosmo city like Beijing.
They say the practice is much diminished here in the city. I would think that if you invent something like the compass, and construct something like the Bird's Nest, you could patch up that hole in your pants, no sweat.
Filed Under: Travel | WTF
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I suck at bargaining! I walked into the Silk Market today, a very popular shopping area where haggling is required, knowing full well to never pay for more than 20%-30% of the asking price, and yet I ended up paying US$60 for two pairs of "True Religion" jeans when really I wanted to pay no more than US$30 for both. Either my math crumbled under all the pressure, or I fell for the "I'm not going to be able to eat tonight" fake sob story. I stink! Bargaining is not for me.
Filed Under: Travel
Monday, October 27, 2008
Everyday I'm walking and sightseeing and eating and feeling completely wiped out by 3pm, and today was no exception...except all we did was visit a yarn shop. That's it. How does that happen? This city is exhausting.
That's right, I'm cheesy and wore my Rambling Rose cardigan to a yarn shop so I could walk in and be all BOOYA look at me and my Western-made knitwear! Let's go USA! I forget the name of this shop but it's a short bus ride away from the Dongdan subway station on Line 2/Line 5, in case you're ever in town and are in immediate need of um, waxy yarn of er, vague origins and questionable fiber content. But at unbeatable prices! My mom bought 12 skeins of dk-weight wool which totaled less than US$30. I looked down at my cardigan and was all Dude, my buttons alone cost nearly that much. I was talked into a skein of cotton boucle in this rather iffy shade of magenta. The clerk said the grey-blue version that I actually wanted made me look old, hmph. But it was around US$3.00 so I shrugged my shoulders and agreed it would make a fabulous scarf. Right now though I'm looking at it, touching it, feeling it, frankly a little repulsed by it. Cotton? Really? What is up with the WAX FEEL?
Oh well, so I wasn't really on board with any of their yarns, but my main goal was to buy needles anyway. 4 circulars each at RMB 10 which at press time is around US$1.50. Works for me.
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Travel
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Yesterday my parents and I headed to the Great Wall again, this time at a pass called Mutianyu which the tourist books said would be overrun with people, but in actuality it was not. It was soooo much nicer than the first pass we visited, called Juyongguan. That one was completely overcrowded, and the walkway so narrow and so steep that I spent more time looking down at my shoes than the scenery around me. Which I couldn't make out anyway because it was so foggy. A shame.
So anyway if you're ever in Beijing and wanting to visit the Great Wall, Mutianyu is the place.
We arrived just in time for sunset. We were going on day 2 of smog-free skies (today makes day 3! Although the mountains in the distance are becoming increasingly less distinct). The air was sweet and fresh. Everyone was happy.
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Travel
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Coraline by Ysolda
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend, 5 skeins. Inadvertently made the body shorter than intended, so I came in way under with 2 whole skeins leftover.
Needle: US 5
I started Coraline sometime in June, July? Can't remember. Anyway I've been working on it off and on for the last several months. I lerve it. My first time with i-cords (GENIUS) and smocking (PRETTY). I made the body too short but I think it works pretty well regardless. It's actually not entirely finished as I have not added buttons for the front. But I decided I'd give it to my mom for her birthday which is coming up in a couple of weeks - yes the idea of gifting Coraline was a total afterthought, but the afterthought still counts right? - and she'll add the buttons herself.
Here is my mom modeling from high atop her apartment overlooking Beijing. I'm totally into shooting straight into the sun these days, though my eyes aren't too happy about it. But I love lens flare! Anyway I've been here in Beijing for almost a week now, visiting my parents who moved here from Atl. in May. The city is quite...something. Not sure what that something is. I know how I feel about the air quality though. It's quite shitty. At the risk of TMI, my snot is black. I wiped my runny nose yesterday and the result was like wiping running mascara crud off your eyes. UGH.
It rained though last night, and this morning for the first time I saw sky! Adjacent buildings! Even mountains in the distance!
The view on a normal, lung-choking day.
This is not a cloudy day. It's all smog. Nice isn't it.
The view on an abnormal, clear-sky day, after the evening's rain.
I can hear my own lungs singing, just looking at that.
Dottie is lucky she has no lungs. Here she is on site at one of the tombs for the Ming Dynasty emperors.
Yesterday we hit the Great Wall. We should have gone today because yesterday was one of those days where visibility was completely nil, not just with the smog, but with a drizzly fog as well. I'll have to go back again for a better view. Though the misty one below is kind of romantic...
More to come!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Postcards from Dottie | Travel
Thursday, August 21, 2008
I have very little knitting to talk about. I have been day and night dreaming about escaping to Europe. It is a perennial ritual I like to do. It is a little like torture.
Here are some photos from our trip last year to southern France. Who wouldn't want to live nestled at the end of a cobblestoned courtyard? You'd be crazy not to covet a little bit of this.
Ancient town of Les Arcs
How about an evening concert in an ancient amphitheater?
Ancient town of Arles
Or an afternoon at a very nice beach, with a waiter coming around with more pastis?
Ancient town of Nice
Ah me. Always wanting what I don't have.
Filed Under: Thursday is for Favorite Places | Travel
Monday, June 02, 2008
Hello. We are back from Provincetown, back to a regular schedule and a regular diet that does not include daily doses of vodka, bacon, and lobster. We spent a week there and ate out only twice for lunch and twice for dinner; the rest of the time we cooked our little tails off. In total we polished off:
- 4 packages of bacon
- 4 dozen eggs
- 5 links of salami
- 4 large blocks of cheese
- 2 boxes of sugar
There was a lot fruit and orange juice too but most of it was put into the five or so batches of sangria we made.
Both Kitty and I brought our knitting. I knit about 5 rows total and she knit 0. We are awesome.
We spotted a filmmaker at a kitchen supply store in P-town. Check him out on his wicker-basketed bike.
It's J0hn Waters! He's so OFFBEAT!
We made eye contact over a pile of cookbooks. My first thought was that it was someone dressed up as JW, since people are always playing dress up here, and because that mustache of his looked like it was crudely drawn in with a Sharpie low on ink. I guess that is on purpose.
I must put some of his movies on netflix now.
And guess who has finally resurfaced from winter hibernation?
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Travel
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Duck and I have been in Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod for the past week with our friends. It's our 3rd annual Memorial Day Week getaway to our 3rd seaside town.
We've been mostly drinking and playing Mario Kart and eating bacon. It pretty much doesn't get much better than this. Still not knitting much though. :(
Filed Under: Life | Travel
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Nestled somewhere in this jungle field is my parents' house, which they have lived in the past twenty years and for which the mortgage has been all payed off, yay! I lived here too, but for a much shorter period of time, aged 13 to 18. Only five years, but I can distinctly remember junior year of high school, with the scary senior year and the even scarier college and the Big Bad World looming, talking to my friend Michelle in the kitchen and together wondering how long, once we left home, we would be able to last on Taco Bell and Coca-Cola before dying.
Goldfinch picnic in the backyard.
In the backyard is also buried my dog Beau and my cats Pepper and Tammy, may they rest in peace.
But la. We flew the coop and did survive out in the big bad world afterall, and with finer nurishment than that of canned beans or soda thankfully, and it's been a very long time since we've referred to our houses as "my house" or "your house." It's now my parents' house, and I am just a guest.
Right now my parents' house is pretty much empty inside. It is the exact opposite of what it's like outside, with the masses of rose and azalea bushes, wisteria and camellia trees, peonies and irises bursting from every corner. There is a thick row of rose bushes growing and spilling along the brick courtyard in the front of the house that has not even yet bloomed. Once it does, watch out! It will be a bumblebee's favorite playground. My mother sent me a small stump of this same rose variety up North when we bought out first house 6 years ago, I stuck it in the ground, where it remained stunted at 6 inches tall for all that time. What went wrong? Besides the fact that clearly I have inherited both my parents' messiness but not their green thumbs? Life isn't fair, I'm doomed to not pick after myself and kill plants forever.
My mother wails everyday how much she's going to miss her garden and her backyard wildlife. It's been a long while since I've missed this home myself, but I understand how she feels.
Filed Under: Travel | Atlanta | Wednesday is for Where I Live
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Where has this month gone? Unfortunately I've been getting used to not blogging.
Dottie soaks up some Provencal sun in the medieval town of Les Arcs, southern France
It's been a real busy month or so, between the moving and the trip (planned MUCH MORE in advance than the move) and work. I've hardly knit, and I wasn't going to blog until my Sockapalooza socks arrived, so at least I'd have something to blog about...They're not here yet though, but I've been assured they're on their way.
Enjoying the flower market in Aix
In the meantime, my sock pal, Faith, has received her Twisted Flowers Socks. The whole package took a little detour before getting to its final destination: my departure date coincided with the deadline, so I decided I'd be all efficient and swing by the post office on the way to the airport. Unfortunately the post office had moved 2 blocks further down, which isn't a big deal but with 100 degree weather and a haul of luggage it might as well have been 2 miles away. So into my carry-on it went for a little joyride to Europe and back. So much for efficiency and finishing early. The funny thing is up until recently Faith was based in Germany (she's in NY for now), and when she goes back the socks in its short life will have traveled across the Atlantic three times.
It's a miracle I didn't lose them. I brought my Drunken Bees with me - very nicely did they keep my toes toasty on the plane - and now I have no idea where they are. :-(
Maybe they escaped and are hiding here with all the other drunken bees.
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Sockapalooza | Travel
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Ah, if only these were truly finished. I used an eye of the partridge heel instead of following the pattern for the first sock, then decided while knitting the second sock that I should have just used the pattern as written afterall (much prettier), and also while I was at it with all the inconsistent knitting, I went ahead and made the foot longer. If I were to keep these myself I would consider these done and call it a day, but I don't think my Sockapoolza pal would appreciate my mismatched/lazy aesthetics...
Duck and I are still here in Rhode Island until this evening. Kitty and her crew left yesterday. Man I just hate to be the last to leave.
Newport, RI
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower | Travel
Friday, February 09, 2007
Remember this? While briefly living in Santa Fe, New Mexico this past fall, Duck and I had brunch at the ChocolateMaven one Sunday morning to find there a small crew and one Ms. Italian HotPants filming a segment for her new upcoming show.
Well the show is finally running, and the Santa Fe episode -featuring YOURS TRULY - will be on. TONIGHT. OK, so "featuring" might be an slight exaggeration, but if my mug is on TV for longer than 1 second, than it's good enough for me!
The scene where she walks in the restaurant for the "first" time and does her "Oh wooow!" (don't know if she will, but she everything seems to excite her), keep in mind that she filmed that two dozen times, while a small mob of hungry, cold patrons huddling outside in the parking lot. When I watch these kinds of shows I always think the scenes totally seamless and not at all choreographed.
I'm the Asian girl wearing the grey sweater. You'll see the backside of Duck's very metrosexual white shirt with small flowers all over it. If you blink you'll probably miss us. So don't blink!
So if you're in the US and you have the F00DNetwork, the show is on tonight at 9:30pm. I'll be missing it as we're heading off to NYC for the weekend in just a few. So watch and report back!
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Santa Fe
Monday, November 06, 2006
Dry terrain of northern New Mexico, headed to Colorado.
Corn fields of Nebraska. Or was that Iowa?
Country cookin' at the Cracker Barrel somewhere in Indiana. It's everyone's first time at the CB, ow! We have chicken 'n dumplings, mac 'n cheese, collard greens, corn muffins and a Reuben sammich.
Snow in Ohio. Boooooo. Hate you snow, hisssssss.
Sunset in upstate New York. Not quite as IMPRESSIVE as sunsets that have been seen in other STATES, but. It will do. It will have to do.
And finally at home, making new friends, sharing a snack.
Aaaaah yes. It's nice to be home, cooking in your own kitchen, eating from your own bowls, watching your own tv while lounging on your own couch, and especially sleeping in your own bed, snuggly pinned down on either side by two purring cats who may or may not have noticed you were gone but seem happy to be near you anyway.
So why the tears? Why? The tears?
I feel like we've been in a time warp and Santa Fe has just been a lovely, warm, adobe-colored dream. When we left, summer was still in full swing. Now suddenly the green things outside are dead and this house is doing that thing where it can't retain any heat and I have to wear my parka indoors. Is it that time of year already?
Yes, we're back home, and our adventure has officially ended! *Sob*
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Travel | Santa Fe
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Goodbye to Santa Fe...
Knitting in the Plaza
Goodbye to the beautiful terrain...
Tent Rocks. I call these formations "Queen's Court"
Goodbye to the delicious green chiles...
Goodbye to the stunning sunsets...
I'll miss you guys the most.
So until we find the road to Santa Fe again...goodbye!
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe
Monday, October 30, 2006
Last night the car decided it wasn't leaving Santa Fe.
What a horrible sound metal makes when it is dragging on asphalt. Shudder. At least it happened as we were pulling into the parking lot at 15 mph, and not say, as we are hurtling on the freeway at 70 mph come tomorrow. If this gets fixed by then.
Look at that rusted underbelly. The last several months the car has been doing baaaadly. We're hoping to milk another two years out of it. The good thing about being back in Boston is that we won't have to drive anymore. Hang in there buddy!
Here's a much prettier, rust-free photo.
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe
Sunday, October 29, 2006
FRIDAY NIGHT
Margaritas, chile rellenos and sopaipillas at Maria's
Dottie takes a swig of her first margarita...
...and doesn't quite make it to her sleeping bag...
"Uuuuuhh..."
SATURDAY
Sight-seeing and shopping around Santa Fe Plaza...
Left: Vintage Route 66 that runs through the Plaza.
Middle: Jewelry vendors in front of the Palace of the Governors. I did all my Christmas shopping here!
Right: Dottie models a pair of hammered silver earrings
...then green chile hamburgers - again! - at Bobcat Bite for a late lunch.
Bring your knitting, no matter the time of day, the wait is loooong
A woman sat next to me in the booth at Bobcat and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. I know it's on the menu, and this is America and all, but I'm going to make a wild assumption and say it's there mainly for the kiddies who come in. With their highly carnivorous parents. Then...
WOMAN: I'd like a side of potato salad with that as well. Oh wait, does that have meat in it?
WAITRESS: [...] Uh. No. I'm sorry, but. Who puts meat in their potato salad??
WOMAN: Oh I know! I'm a vegetarian, just had to be sure!
WAITRESS, and ME: ?!
SUNDAY
Breakfast at Cafe Pasqual's, downtown Santa Fe
ME: Two eggs on corn tortilla, topped with fresh peas, fresh tomato salsa, feta cheese, black beans, green chile, and side of fried bananas.
DUCK: Chorizo burrito
Like Bobcat Bite, Cafe Pasqual's came at the recommendation of Scout. Thank you for making us as dependant on green chiles as ever! We'd passed by this place many times before but somehow I forgot about it. Thank goodness she brought it up last week when we were at her house, because this place is FAN.TAStic. A little on the $$ side, but totally worth it. There have a been a lot of great places that did not come up during my food research, whether it be in travel books or online, and Pasqual's is one of them. Strange. I'll have to revise my list of Best Restaurants. We're thinking of going back for dinner tonight to make up for our ignorance.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, or right after I finish this post
Laundry, cleaning, and packing.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Check out the yarn and WIPs and FOs I've accumulated since being here.
Most of them are from the usual online orders, a few are gifts, a few skeins are from the wool festival in Taos, and a couple skeins are from Needle's Eye here in Santa Fe. Those would be the bright blue and orange skeins at top right, colors of the sky and of the adobe walls, to remind me of our time here.
:-( Sniff sniff. But on the very bright side, The Boys await our return. OK not anxiously, but we can pretend.
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Travel | Santa Fe
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Bleh.
Yet another mismatched pair, using Socks That Rocks. But these socks ain't so rockin'. The manly Poma using size 3 needles turned out much too big, so I decided to try out the stretchy Cable Twist Sock. Now it looks too small. Duck tried both socks and assured the fit was fine for both. Silly man, how is that possible? Meh. I'm not so happy with either at the moment.
And that's all the exciting knitting news I have.
Let's talk food again instead.
Pizza from Uppercrust Pizza, topped with Canandian bacon and duh, green chile.
There are only 5 days left in Santa Fe. 5 days to stuff our faces silly with as much green chile and sopaipillas as possible. Because we sure as hell aren't going to be able to find anything like New Mexican cuisine back home.
Here are our favorite restaurants in SF and our favorite dishes:
Maria's, for their spicy red chile salsa, steak and chile rellenos plate, and of course, their knock-you-out margaritas.
Guadalupe Cafe, for their ancho chiles stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts and smothered with more cheese and more chiles, their sangrias, and most of all, their sopaipillas. I've had sops in half a dozen places are so, and they're not all made the same! Some are too hollow, some are stale, some too crunchy. GC makes theirs with the perfect blend of doughiness and hollowness and crispness. I'm going to miss you guys the most!
Bobcat Bite, for their mouth-watering 10oz hand-ground-on-the-premesis-that-day hamburgers, topped with cheese and green chile of course! We were there for lunch yesterday and yet another small camera crew was on hand, filming back in the kitchen.
Green Chile Burger from Bobcat Bite. And a little grilled chile on the side. HOT!
The Chocolate Maven, for their chile hot chocolate, their desserts, their breakfasts, their sandwiches...
Mu Du Noodles, for their delicious pan-Asian menu, and for when you need a break from another chile-smothered burrito/enchilada/burger.
I'm not ready for a break from the green chile just yet though. Sigh. I'm going to miss those little spicy suckers.
Filed Under: Socks | Travel | Santa Fe
Sunday, October 22, 2006
I love our little Cultural Weekends here in New Mexico. I mean yes, the whole point of CW's has been to experience and see things we've never before, and yet somehow every weekend the new things we experience and see have consistently FAR EXCEEDED our expectations. We're like, ?!!?!!! From little things like the dancing poodle and the sopaipillas to big things like the bat flight, meeting online friends and the chance run-in with tarantulas, every little New Mexican adventures have just been incredible.
This weekend so far has been no exception, even as we stick to Santa Fe. For Sunday brunch we finally went to the famed Chocolate Maven after visiting there several times after work for their spicy chile hot chocolate. We were afraid the wait would be long at this popular joint, but the largish group of people milling around outside wasn't because the place was packed, but because the Food Network was inside filming a segment near the front door. Everyone approaching was asked to wait until they finished.
Giada filming a segment at the Chocolate Maven for her new show, coming in 2007.
Ever watch Everyd@y Italian? I've only seen it a couple of times myself. I'm not sure if it's one of the popular shows on the FoodNetwork but I do know that the host of the show is such a HOTTIE. Icy green eyes, an Audrey Hepburn nose, and rows and rows of perfect teeth. I'm in love! And she was really nice. They were shooting her going through the front door for the "first time," and after about the 20th entrance she yelled nicely to the director, "Can we let these people come in and eat now??"
The waiters and pastry chefs, the manager and owner of the place were all giggly about having the Food Network show up (apparently it was very last minute. The network called Friday to say they were going to be there today to tape), and everyone was excited at the prospect of being on camera.
By pure luck Duck and I got seated at a table near her's, where they would film her ordering hot chocolate and eating homemade granola. The owner said to me, "You might be on camera, will that be OK?" and I was like YEAH HUH!!
It was so interesting to watch the filming process. They had a little discussion as to how the waiter would suggest to her the Mayan Chile Hot Chocolate when she ordered a regular hot chocolate, which would make a nice segue into what a chile hot chocolate was and at the same time, show that that was the bistro's signature drink. She wanted to keep the waiter's explanation of it simple and quick.
"Just say something like, 'It has a lot of spices and comes with a kick', otherwise my audience will just tune out." EEENteresting.
She had a little sip of the hot chocolate (licked her lips afterwards and kept drinking more after the camera stopped rolling), and then a bowl of granola topped with fruit, and after shooting her commentary on that a couple of times, they had the waiters bring around a new mug of hot chocolate and a new bowl of granola for their close-up glamour shots.
Duck and I were sitting sort of behind her table. There were a couple of shots where they had the waiter sweep in from behind me (to serve her the hot chocolate and then the granola) so that with any luck, my frontside and Duck's backside will be on TV!!!! Duck's right earlobe is gonna be famous!
And yes I did manage to appreciate what I was eating in between bites of ogling Giada's movie-star profile. I had Cottage Cakes (pancakes made from less flour and more cottage cheese, and lemon rinds) and Duck had a sandwich consisting of ham, green apples and gruyere. Holy crap it was good. And then to top it all off, at one point Giada -- yes we're on a first-name basis -- turned around, we locked eyes, I grinned, she flashed a gorgeous toothy smile and winked.
HEE HEE HEE PRETTY LADY WINK AT ME!
After they finished filming the eating part, they were going to have Giada get up from her table with the camera following her out of the room. Which meant that I was going to be in the shot again heh heh!
But just at that moment when she swept behind me, I uncontrollably decided to PICK MY NOSE. They did another take, and again I pathologically HAD to touch my nose. And so naturally the camera man decided he didn't want to follow her out the room. She would get up, and instead of following, he would train the camera up and just focus on the pastry chefs working in the adjacent room (you can sort of see the work area behind the glass wall behind where Giada's sitting).
They did that take a couple of times and then the director decided she should wave at the pastry guys as she got up, and they would wave back. Good idea. Except the two pastry chefs were like, actually busy making stuff and couldn't really pay 100% attention to what was going on in the next room. They couldn't get that shot. At least not linearly. She would wave, but then only one of the chefs would see and wave back. Or she would wave, and this time the OTHER chef would wave. Or she would wave, and both of them would ignore her. Ha ha!
So they had to shoot them waving in a separate shot, after she was long gone. They waved to the director, but someone in the editing room will make it look as if they were waving to her.
After our meal, we were at the counter paying for some desserts for dinner at Scout's tonight (the adventures never end!). They were shooting Giada's entrance into Chocolate Maven*again* but before the camera rolled, the camera man leaned over to us and said "Thank you for putting up with us, we really appreciate it." Are you kidding?! It was the most awesome Sunday morning we've ever had!
So this new show is called something like Weekend Getaways with Giada. They're filming a few more restaurants in Santa Fe, and then will head to NYC, Honolulu, Chicago, Cabo, in that order. Not exactly geographically logical, but it seems like fun. Who wouldn't like to travel and eat for a living??
The show doesn't air until sometime in January 2007, so STAY TUNED!
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe
Monday, October 16, 2006
New Mexico is not so much the Land of Enchantment as it is the Land of Making My Eyeballs Explode.
Check it out. That is not a sunset, but a sunrise, from this Saturday morning. It just makes me want to weep. I was up early enough for once, and though it's the first sunrise I've seen here, I am sure it is the most magnificent sunrise ever. And that was just outside our door. Thank you for doing this just for me! We were already running a little late to Scout's, but there was no way I could get in the car without taking a million pictures of this flaming cloud here first. Sigh.
HOW AM I EVER GOING TO LEAVE HERE?!
When I think of the "process" by which we chose to come to New Mexico, I have to laugh. Because I mean there was no process. There was no thoughtfulness, very little knowledge, just a hunch. Two months ago when this little adventure wasn't even a twinkle in our eyes, we were sitting at a bar in Martha's Vineyard talking to this lovely older couple from Phoenix, when suddenly I asked them, "Have you ever been to Santa Fe?"
Why did I ask them this? Because they were from the Southwest? Up until that second, I never gave Santa Fe any thought. Ever. But there we were, and had we not met this friendly couple, who talked up Santa Fe, encouraged us to go, to explore, now, we wouldn't have come. Certainly not as quickly as we did. We would have diddle-daddled and talked about the possiblity of coming, endlessly, until I gave birth to triplets and the possibility died.
I wish I exchanged business cards with them, because I'd be sending them a basketful of puppies right now as our thanks. You guys were right. So right. We went, we ate, we saw, and it was amazing.
Anyway, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. We're still here, there's still more to see. And definitely more to eat.
So Saturday we were on our way to Albuquerque for Breakfast and Balloons at Scout's. It was pretty, puffy cloudy in Santa Fe, but the clouds became thicker and less friendly as we approached ABQ. We saw only two balloons in the sky from the highway, already one hour after ascension was supposed to take place, so I kept my fingers crossed that there would be more to see. By the time we parked at her house, more balloons started to take flight, luckily, but that photo above was the best shot I could get.
Hmph, I guess we'll have to come back next year!
Scout 'n me.
Thank you for having us over!
What a gracious, hospitable host Scout and her lovely family are, to invite us to their place and feed us breakfast burritos and coffee so early in the morning. If there's one thing I've learned on this trip, it's that there certainly are wonderful, truly good people in this world. And also -- it's never too early for green chile! Especially when it is smothering a heaping pile of hashbrowns! Hashbrowns and chile! Just when I thought we'd had all the "chile + x" equations out there.
GODDAMN I'm going to miss green chile.
I nearly kidnapped Scout's little Supergirl. She showed me around every inch of her room, her soccer team pictures (SO CUTE!) and introduced me to her fish which I was informed as "almost dead." I choked back a laugh. Didn't want to appear insensitive. But HAHA! Cutie. Pah. Tutie.
And her son? So well-mannered and charming as to apologize to me for the "mess of the bathroom" after I emerged from it. Ha ha, what mess? Scout I was so close to eating your children you have no idea!!
To top it all off, she gave me a skein of Socks That Rock. I was JUST perusing about it on the web too. I've already started making socks from it:
Scout had to get to work that morning so we just followed her to Village Wools, and hung out there for a little bit before we parted ways. (For now. We want to get together again, if only so Duck and I can bring a whole keg of beer and a kitten to make up for showing up at her house empty-handed on Saturday. Bad bad!).
It was really our first time in Albuquerque since coming to NM so Duck and I decided to hang out there a little longer. We drove to nearby Petroglyphs National Mnmt. I don't know what was wrong with us, but we found the volcanic rocks so near a metropolitan city more interesting than the drawing ON the rocks themselves.
After a few petroglyph sightings (which were not easy to come by) we were like, NEXT!
So then this revealed itself:
"Look, but do not touch. It took me like hours to do my hair this morning."
We saw not one, but TWO tarantulas while on our walks along the trail. That is exactly two more tarantulas than I've ever seen, in the wild, in my life. This second one Duck nearly stepped on. I was walking behind him when suddenly that black bristly thing came crawling out of a hole in the trail with Duck just to the left of it, and my breath became all jagged and raspy. Duck was like What WHAT WHAT?! But I couldn't speak. I was all, Huuuuhhhh aaahh eeahha uhhhh.
Luckily Duck took a couple of steps in the opposite direction before I finally found my voice. And then got close enough to take a picture. Duck was already headed for the hills. Which is funny because usually at home, I'm the one who screams when she sees a teeny tiny spider and he's the one who has to remove them. I guess this one was just too big and hairy for his liking.
It's true, it isn't natural when a spider has hair long enough to brush. But I was fascinated with it. It's not everyday that you're just taking a walk and hi! Tarantulas!
Ah yes. In case you haven't figured it out, New Mexico rocks.
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe
Friday, October 13, 2006
It will be a miracle if I can one day manage to finish socks back-to-back for a matching pair, instead of jumping from one sock yarn to another.
Ripple Weave socks, one in blue Wildfoote and one in plummy Sundara Yarn. I think I know which I like better between the two...
But what about these?
Poma vs Ripple in the World Series of Sock
Ripple and Pomatomus are very similar in design. Both have accentuated patterns from the raised bumps of the twisted ribbed stitches, both are yummy squishy to wear.
But if I had to choose, I'd say Pomatomus wins feet down (ha ha. sorry. ok bye). I've finally had a chance to wear my little rose Poma's since finishing them this summer, and when I do I can't stop staring at my own feet. I can barely walk. My gnarly, Smeagol feet are gooorgeous in these things!
I do like the way the ribbing continues all the way through the toe on the Ripple sock. I'll have to replicate that in my next pair of Poma's.
New additions in el yarn stashio:
Two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn from the littleknits.com sale. I can tell already that these babies are a home run. The yarn is soft, is wonderfully beady like Koigu and Sundara Yarn, except that it is oh so plump! So succulent! So US3 or US4 dpns!
So about to have another mismatched pair of socks in no time!
A new segment of Cultural Weekend is about to commence, once again. The weeks here are just flying by, so fast that before we know it the car will be packed and we'll be installed back East again. I've already convinced Duck that we need to stay in Santa Fe for an extra week. It wasn't hard sweet-talking him into another week of green chiles and carne adovada, but for whatever reason Duck was convinced we'd only want to be here for 6 weeks. Nuh uh! I haven't nearly had my fill of sopaipillas, chile hot chocolate, Tent Rocks, and of course the stunning, spectacular sunsets.
Since being here, blue and orange has become my favorite color combination.
So for this Cultural Weekend, we'll be experiencing some more fun and new things. First, we will get to see a lot of hot air balloons flying about in the sky over Albuquerque. I have only seen one balloon in the air at any given time, and even so that one was tethered to the ground.
Second, WE WILL BE GOING TO STRANGER'S HOUSE FOR BREAKFAST! This is a huge deal, being the jittery bug-eyed hermits that we are, so all-caps was necessary. Also I'm excited.
We haven't even stepped into her house and already she's all "Would you like another breakfast burrito?" and "One or two sugars with that coffee?" and "Stay as long as you'd like!" Scout is so super friendly I am in awe. It also highlights the fact that I'm super not. I mean I AM friendly. I mean I have POTENTIAL to be friendly,given enough sleep. And tequila shots. I know, too many parameters. So to be so naturally effervescent! To actively seek out people to befriend, while sober! That is something.
Let the weekend begin! Ooooo and happy Friday the 13th! Of October!
Filed Under: Socks | Ripple Weave | Travel | Santa Fe | Yarn Stash
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Plummy Ripple Weave sock in different lighting.
Left: taken outside Carlsbad Caverns
Right: Taken at the Bat Flight amphitheatre at dusk
Check out the plummy goodness. I'm making fast progress with this
Ripple Weave sock, mainly because I can't put the yarn down. I'm at the
toe right now, it will be finished today and I'll have a complete pair
of non-matching Ripples, hooray.
Here is some small progress on the Capelet Sweater:
I don't know why the stitches look so uneven between rows, as if
there were a couple of rows of twisted stitches thrown in. Maybe I had
gotten so used to doing ktbl's from knitting the socks? Boo.
But here are my initial impressions on Rowan's Tapestry: it feels
disconcertingly like human hair. Hair that's been shampooed and
conditioned with Finesse for that shiny, silky soft touch-me bounce. I
mean it's NICE. It's just a little too alive or something creepy. But
it's nice.
For this here Capelet Sweater I am following the instructions loosely. Even after all my number crunching,
the numbers on all the charts and illos still don't add up. There
is definitely one typo and perhaps a few more but can't verify if this
is so. All I know is that it's confusing. I mean if the Japanese
readers themselves can't make heads or tails, what hope does one have I
ask you? But whatever the construction isn't exactly rocket science, so
I think I can wing it.
***
We had a fantastic weekend. We drove all up and down New Mexico.
First stop of course was up an hour north to Taos for the wool
festival, on Saturday. Can I say I wasn't exactly into it? I will say
it quietly: I wasn't into the wool festival! Don't be mad!
I think if I were a spinner I would have found all the stalls of raw
wool much more interesting. Most everything was very raw and very
scratchy. However I did go gaga at the Brooks Farms Yarn's booth, with its rainbow colors of beautiful wools. It was by far the most popular booth. The two skeins I bought is their Primero Yarn in 100% kid mohair.
After Taos we came back to Santa Fe, packed a small bag and headed
south to Carlsbad - 4 to 5 hours drive - with an overnight stop in
Roswell. I thought we could take in some alien sights in the morning
but there wasn't much aliens to see unfortunately so we continued on to
Carlsbad Caverns, and made it there in time for our guided tour.
This place is very, very cool. My bad blurry photos doesn't do the
place justice. I deliberately tried not to include people in the shots,
but now I wish I had, just to give the place a sense of scale. The
caves and the decorations in them are just immense.
After several hours in the cave, we hung out back on land to wait for dusk, and the start of the Bat Flight, where the resident bats swarm out of the cave for their nightly insect feeding.
Oh you Bat Flight how I will never ever forget you! It is by far the COOLEST thing I have ever seen in my life.
You sit in this small amphitheatre constructed at the mouth of this cave
where the bats dwell, a ranger gives a pre-flight talk about bats,
first about bats in general - they are not evil blood-suckers, they are
not mice, they are not birds, etc - and then about these bats here in
particular. Mexican free-tail bats. From Mexico. And some other bats
from Brazil. Or something.
I was looking forward to this part of the lecture; I wanted to know
their history with this cave. Our ranger was about to go into all the
details when she turned and suddenly lowered her voice and whispered,
"Everyone shhhhh....they're coming..." and I swear all the hairs on my
arms and neck stood up on end.
Not my picture! Taken from the NPS site, I give them FULL CREDIT!
A couple of bats fluttered out, then within seconds it was a small
swarm, then it was a whirring CYCLONE of bats swirling around the
mouth of the cave for like, one or two rotations before they shot off
into the horizon. The sun was setting, the clouds were red, and this
was the backdrop for the black, roiling stream of bats flying far into
the distance. It was the most amazing and beautiful thing I've seen in
my life. And the more bats that flew out, the longer and dense this
stream grew, the faker it looked, like CGI rendering of locusts from a
documentary of the biblical plague on the History Channel or
something.
We sat there for 40 minutes, or as long as there was enough light to
see, and in that time the bats continued to swarm out of the cave
unabated. In fact the tornado seemed to get bigger and bigger each
minute. The exodus can last as long as 2 hours before the cave
completely empties. Can you imagine?? How many bats were in
there, that's what I wanted to know! The website says there are half a
million bats living in the cave, but I'd say it was much much more than
that. Bajillions! How much surface area do they cover when they're
hanging upside down in their cave? Imagine that scene?!
It's too bad we were not allowed to take photos. They banned cameras
this year, fearing "interference" with the bats' "echolocation."
Waaaah. Poor bats. I wanted to take a photo, many photos, SO
BADLY. I thought maybe I could turn off the flash and take a shot
surreptitiously from under my arm, but there was a second ranger there
playing the role of BADASSED BAT BOUNCER who stood with her sunglasses
on and shoulders and jaws squared at various points around the
amphitheatre, watching us. She was scary. So I didn't dare.
But you can see pretty cool pictures of the bat flight here.
Filed Under: Socks | Ripple Weave | Travel | Santa Fe
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Foliage near Taos
Me, at the Taos Wool Festival
Take-home goods: Two 500 yard-skeins of mohair from Brooks Farm
And now we're off on a mini-road trip to Carlsbad Caverns in southern NM, to visit the bats. All the bats! Hi bats!
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe | Yarn Stash
Saturday, September 30, 2006
I am soo drunk! and I only had 1.6 margaritas! margities! wahtevr ythey're called! duck got the most horrible haircut at hit sbabrsher shop the other day, his har is all fuc'ed up but the old geezer who cut his hair recommended this place to eat and so we went there tnoight, after hiking though the Tent Rocks aragain, and oh my! are we wasted or what. this place is called Maria's, it is right near our apt but we never noticed it before. the place was packed. we had a marguerita while we were waiting tofroa table and then another whith dinner and that was enough more than enough. they have like 100000 different kinds of margaritas, the most expensive was like $45. as much as i would like to thik myself as refined and highbrow and whatnot, i think m $6 drink was perfectly fine. there is now wahy i can discern the $40 differenc ein tequila. i mean all tequlia is gorss right?! it's tequila helo?!
and the 6 dollars must be worht it nbecause i can harldy type! i am so dozzy!
i had steak and rellenos for dinner. that is cooked cow meat and fried chile. it was delicious. delicoius. the best place off the Plaza of santa fe. I LOVE YOU SANTA FE.
i have to go now and sleep and/or puke. love you all byeeee
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Left: Rowan Tapestry for the Japanese Cape Sweater. Ordered from yarn.com. I'm back into neutrals again. The color is "Country" with bands of the softest greens and browns. Beautiful.
Middle: Brown Sheep's Wildfoote sock yarn. Purchased from a yarn store in Taos this past weekend. It had teeny tiny selection, but this is the first time I've heard or seen this sock yarn. Two different colored yarn plied together. Cheap too! 200+ yards of superwash wool and nylon for just over $6. I couldn't resist. Like the name too. So old English. I'm going to name my next cat or child Wildfoote. Whichever comes first.
Right: Trekking XXL also from yarn.com. I ordered this before I came upon the Wildefoot. They look kind of similar, but there are more colors in Trekking, and it's softer. I've never worked with it before so I'm curious. It's destined to become a pair of man socks.
The pottery mug: It's Duck's handsome new coffee mug, handmade and handpainted at Rainbow Gate. We found this beautiful store over the weekend and my mom went beserk. She looooves pottery. Turns out, I do too. We were there for over an hour and she bought a very nice dinner set for six in all the colors of the rainbow. Duck picked out the goose mug, I picked out a few things as gifts, but nothing for myself because I couldn't make up my mind, mesmerized into indecision by all the different combinations of colors and paintings. There were a few mugs with cats on them, you'd think that would be a no-brainer, but I am more into REAL cats than I am into painted cats or cat whatever knick-knacks. Just so you know.
ANYway...
Ripple Weave Socks and Correction
Tell me the truth. Can you discern the ripple pattern in this sock?
I've used the Wildefoot for the Ripple Weave sock from Fall 06 Vogue Knitting. It might be a bad choice. :(
By the way, there's an error in the chart, which I haven't seen a correction for on the website yet. The 3rd row should look like this:
Capelet Sweater, or A Lot of Number Crunching That May Not Interest You
Thanks to Japanese reader Izumi for helping me to further make heads or tails of the Cape Sweater pattern. It is the total antithesis of Debbie Bliss patterns which are all words and no charts. This is all charts and even though I can pick out the basic words, the numbers still don't add up...
The top image are instructions for decreases the cape portion, worked bottom-up. According to Izumi, 31~1 for example means, "On row 31, decreases 1 stitch once."
But there are 4 numbers total. Bear with me here as I think while I type:
31 ~ 1 ~ 10 ~ 1
First number (31) indicates row, second number (1) indicates stitch, fourth number (1) indicates how many times. What I don't know is what the third number (10) is for. Is it stitch position? If so...
The chart below is the charted version (I believe) of the decrease instructions. Green portion is for my particular pattern. If 10 means 10th position, on the chart it looks like you do a decrease after knitting 16 stitches. And then there is a little note that I think says you repeat the *k16, dec* pattern 9 times.
The numbers aren't adding up.
OH WAIT!!!!!!!! Epiphany as I'm typing this! The numbers do add up! That 3rd number tell you how many times to repeat the decrease. You are really repeating that decrease on Row 31 10 times in all! The chart illustrates the first K16, dec. Then another K16, dec and that is where it says to repeat that 9 times. So 10 in all. OK so that is what the 10 means.
YES? Hmm I'm still not 100% sure....Like if the 2nd number tells you how many stitches to decrease, and 3rd number tells you how many times to do it, what's the point of the 4th number now?
And, why does the second dec. instruction say
24 ~ 1 ~ 11 ~ 1
while on the chart the second repeat row begins on Row 55?
But 79 rows in all MINUS 55 = 24. So 24 on the chart means 24th from the top? But 31 doesn't mean 31st from the top...Whut.
And what's with the multiple dec instructions for Row 8? (Or is that 8th row from the top?) (ERGH)
Heh, are you even following me at this point?
OH WAIT ANOTHER EPIPHANY! The math also works out this way: 31 + 24 = 55. The first number is the number of rows to work AFTER THE LAST ROW YOU DECREASED. So after row 31, work 23 more rows straight, then decrease on the next (24th) row. Or in other words, decrease on row 55 as illustrated in the chart.
YES!
Dang. I'm spent. Too many ways to write the same thing. Might have been easier for me to ignore the words and just follow the chart.
Just like it's better for you to ignore the words here and just stick to the photos. That's what I would've done anyway.
I LOVE NEW MEXICO
OK I lied about keeping this entry to knitting. Just look at these bizarre rock formations.
We took my parents to the Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks. It was an AWESOME surprise, and is now my favorite U.S. park. Better than Bandelier (which is just next to it), better than Zion, and possibly better even than the Grand Canyon!? Maybe it's apples and oranges. I say that only because Tent Rocks is accessible, small, but still incredible. And not overrun with other tourists.
I've never seen such rock formations. It is ODD. We were able to hike into it, at some points the foot trail was no wider than your foot, rock walls soared and closed in all around you, it was intimate and breathtaking. It takes a lot of effort to actually go into and especially to hike the Grand Canyon. With the Tent Rocks, you drive a few miles from the city and BAM you're right into the thick of it. We're going to make this regular, after-work hike.
Man. I can tell it's going to be hard to leave when the time comes. I'm working on convincing Duck we need to stay an extra week than he thinks we do.
Filed Under: Japanese knits | Socks | Ripple Weave | Travel | Santa Fe
Friday, September 22, 2006
That is Duck's tiny little head in the foreground,
with the menacing, roiling clouds threatening
to engulf him completely.
Taken this evening from atop Fort Marcy Park.
Thanks to blogless reader Josie for recommending this spot!
My parents are coming tomorrow, yay!
Filed Under: Travel | Santa Fe
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Entrance fee to Bandelier = one skein of Koigu
Entrance fee to Pecos = half of skein of Sundara Yarn
You better be enjoying all this culture.
It's costing me a sock and a half.
***
Sterling silver and turquoise bracelet handmade by local artisan =
one skein of Yarntini + one skein Habu Silk Mohair
Lovely souvenir from Santa Fe...or more sock yarn?
***
Two fat burritos from the Santa Fe Baking Co. = one skein of Kidsilk Haze
That's one tasty bargain!
But then, KSH lasts longer...
***
Drinks, dinner and dessert for two at Mu Du Noodles = 10 (!!) skeins of Silk Garden from WEBS
I ordered the Vietnamese cod,
but I'm eating a pretty sweater.
Yes. These days, everything is in terms of yarn.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Travel | Santa Fe
Monday, September 18, 2006
Duck models knit-wear for the first time! And does a lovely job.
 
The sock is Lichen Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.
I followed the pattern as written but went up to size 3
needles for a more man-sized fit. The yarn is Regia
6 ply in "Crazy Midnight." I do not have enough of this yarn to make
the second pair because I was stupid and thought that one skein was
enough to make a pair of man-sized. Booo! Does anyone out there have
this yarn in this colorway? I don't even need a full skein, just half,
just half!
Veronica sent me this Japanese knitting book as part of her Freebie Friday. See!
I have my eyes on the sweater pictured on the right, without the
wrist-warmers. It's an intriguing capelet/sweater hybrid, and I likes
it. I'm thinking of using Rowan's new Tapestry,
but first I need to figure out what the yarn and gauge specifications
are for this sweater. Are there any Japanese readers out there who
could help me out?
And has anyone had a chance to use Tapestry? If so, what are your thoughts?
***
We just had Cultural Weekend this past weekend. On Cultural Weekend
you visit museums, visit national parks, visit pueblos, eat new
cuisine, and burn to a flaky crisp! This weekend there was not a single
cloud in the sky, and the sun was all ARRRRR! and my skin was all
SSSSSsizzle!
We drove to nearby Bandelier National Monument on Saturday.
Cliff-dwelling Indians used to live here, all high up in the rocks.
We were able to shimmy up a series of ladders, up 140 feet, to see
where and how these people lived. I didn't really shimmy up though,
because that implies speediness. It was scary, even though these
national park-sanctioned ladders were made of sturdy logs/branches and
tied/nailed securely against the rocks and I dared not to look down.
Back in the day they probably made ladders out of twigs and
twine and just propped them casually against the wall, and
went up and down on them all day long carrying boiling water
and elk horns and other sharp objects. Is it any wonder that they're
extinct.*
One thing is for sure, if I were them I would not have
survived long. I would not have been able to climb the ladders fast
enough to escape the grasp of a hungry cougar, and I would not
have climbed down the ladders fast enough to escape any errant fires
running rampant from the kivas. I would be doomed.
* Heh I kid around. I speak callously and ignorantly only
to express my own irrational fears of climbing ladders. Along a sheer
rock cliff. On a windy day.
The views in Bandelier were really spectacular, and even though I
was a big chicken when it came to climbing the ladders, it was
definitely a really cool hands-on experience. And did I mention the
views were amazing?
So imagine my confusion and anger when back at the visitor center, I read these consecutive entries in the park guestbook:
"We paid $12 to get in, and were charged another $1 for the guide. Robbery?"
and underneath that
"Not worth $12."
WOW! WTF? What were these people expecting, a laser light show? Mr. Toad's Wild Ride? Bon Jovi?
The following are most definitely not worth $12:
1. Renaissance fairs
2. an evening showing of Hope Floats
3. any John Tesh CD
all which these hags have probably paid for.
And by the way, the entrance fee was per car, not per person.
Whoever wrote those entries were older women (flowery, cursive
handwriting as proof), were probably friends, probably came in the same
SUV, probably with their husbands, so really they paid $3 each.
So nonsensical. I mean this is nature! Beautiful,
soaring cathedral cliffs millions of years in the making, ancient
carvings and dwellings you were actually allowed to climb into, the
great outdoors! Trails were clearly marked, facilities were clean,
guidebooks were informative!
And there was this squirrel that looked like a baby werewolf, all
chubby and black with a white underbelly and tufted ears and claws and
the bushiest whitest tail you've ever seen! I'd pay another $12 just to
see that squirrel again!
Duck wrote his own entry underneath theirs. He called them idiots. No he called them idiots. Out loud, under his breath, he called them much worse.
Anyway. Don't listen to those old bats. Bandelier rocks, and is 120% worth it.
On Sunday we visited the Pecos Pueblo. I have no pictures to post of
that visit because I am too anxious to talk about this instead:
Hello, I am Sopaipilla! Eat me! I am delicious!
Taken at Guadalupe Cafe.
We've been here twice already and so far it's my favorite place.
I was wondering why at each New Mexican restaurant we've been to,
every table had a squeeze bottle of honey, next to the usual salt and
pepper shakers. It's for the sopaipilla that comes as a side with your main dish.
SOPAIPILLA! My new best friend, if you are so inclined to eat your
best friend. If you've been to any American state fairs, it is
like the unassuming but delicious fried dough. If you've been
to New Orleans,
it is like the beignet. It is very much like the beignet actually, in
that it is crispy on the outside, chewy and doughy along the edge, and
hollow on the inside. However the sopaipilla is lighter, fluffier, and
is eaten with generous drizzles of honey instead of confectioner's
sugar. I LOVE IT! I could eat them all! And it nicely cools
your palate after a spicy plate of enchiladas.
In fact, I will be eating them all again, tonight. Can't wait.
Filed Under: Japanese knits | Socks | Travel | Santa Fe
Thursday, September 14, 2006
This is where I knit...
...and this is what I'm knitting.
Man-sized ankle socks! Manklets! But these aren't for Duck (sorry Duck, you lose again!). These will be a Christmas gift for some other manly member of the family. I'm doing real good with the early Christmas gifting, people.
So the yarn is Regia 6-ply and it is horribly, horribly itchy and raw on the fingers. Love the striping, but officially hate the handling. The last time I knit with this stuff was back in April, and in between then and now my hands have come in contact with bunny-soft Sundara Yarns, Koigus and Yartinis, that I don't think I want to knit with this new wool ever again.
***
Santa Fe continues to be sunny and delicious to eat. Despite Duck's bumpy bullfrog of a cold sore brought on by the green chile (I'm looking at his lip right now and it's in that lovely in-between stage of bubbling and scabbing over, like someone back-kicked him in the face and then rubbed Crisco all over the wound. Hi Duck don't hate me! I'm just being honest!), we have not shirked away from eating more, oh no.
Look at this. Death in a Ziploc Bag. We purchased these roasted chiles at the Farmer's Market near the apartment. Whole Foods sells them too, albeit for exorbitant rates. We made a dinner with chicken and diced chiles - accompanied with generous helpings of cheese and sour cream - and for lunch today I chopped one chile and tossed it into the pasta sauce. Hot but manageable and very very delicious.
Last night after work we biked into the Plaza to catch the sunset at a rooftop bar. We took sidestreets through residential neighborhoods and were in the Plaza in less than 5 minutes.
We probably could have made it there in less time if
1) we hadn't gotten a little lost. Roads here are very Bostonian in that many end unexpectedly in dead ends or curve around back again
2) we weren't already out of breath in the first 30 seconds. This air still takes some getting used to, but the upside is that by the time we get back home I'm actually going to be in shape. For the first time in my pathetic, slothy life!
Here I am at the Bell Tower Bar at the top of the La Fonda Inn, having a drink and reading the NYTimes while we wait for the sun to set. The light changes were fast, dramatic and beautiful.
Afterwards we had dinner al fresco at The Pink Adobe. It was a little pricier than what we were expecting, and almost left but I'm glad we didn't because hawow!
I ordered:
Crawfish Enchiladas
Two blue corn tortillas filled with crawfish tail meat and goat cheese, topped with green chile crawfish bisque.
I scraped every last bit off the plate, and if you know me, I never do that. I always get completely, cannot-possibly-eat-another-bite full right before the last bite.
And if you know me, you also know that I hardly say no to crawfish or goat cheese. Put them together and it's guaranteed. I've just never had them together, and it would never occur to me to eat have them together.
French meets Cajun meets Southwest meets my mouth. It was 100% delicious.
Filed Under: Socks | Travel | Santa Fe
Monday, September 11, 2006
The sky is blue, the walls are orange, and the green chiles are hot hot HOT. We've been here 2 full days and so far the sun and the spicy cuisine have kicked our butts. Loving it here so far!
I just mailed the yarn to the contest winners, who were:
#1: Diane the blogless of the Seattle area
#2: Jen of JenLa
#3: Alexandra of artisokka.com
#4: Erika of redshirtknitting.com
Hooray! More updates to come. Lunch is a-callin'...
Filed Under: Contest | Travel | Santa Fe
Saturday, September 09, 2006
This is Day 3 of about 10 to 11 hours of driving per
day. It hasn't been so bad, but then again, I haven't sat behind the
wheel once. And this allowed me to finish reading my book, and to
finish Clapotis. Ha.
We've gone through Mass., New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Only four more hours of
driving until we reach Santa Fe. I guess if we pushed it we could have
gone all the way and made it there late tonight, but. We are pooped.
And we are in need of something crispy, something
crunchy, preferably raw, preferably green, food. After 3 days of
Arby's, Waffle House, various truck stops and the like, we both
screamed like little children at Sea World when we saw a
billboard for the Olive Garden off route 40 here in Amarillo Texas. I
mean, not to bash the place, but does anyone really physically CRAVE a
meal at the OLIVE GARDEN unless they have been under extreme
conditions? I don't even want the pasta. Just salad. Saaaalaaaad.
Anyway here are just a couple of pics from our journey.
 
St. Louis and a Texas field
Filed Under: Life | Travel
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Pattern: Boston Red Socks aka Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Cashmerino Baby in red; brandless merino yarn in cream
Needles: US2 dpns
If I had waited to resume these socks once the Red Sox went on a winning streak, they would never have been completed. Despite the fact the team has fallen apart, we still have a winner in the Red Socks! I modified the pattern by casting on 48 instead of 60 stitches. The fit is perfect, the toes are pointy, and the horseshoe heel is cushiony.
***
SO. Thank you all for participating in the contest! I enjoyed discovering new blogs, and seeing what cities you had to guess. Some of them I definitely considered, particularly Santa Barbara, CA, as well as Savannah and Charleston. We've been to both Savannah and Charleston on short visits, so perhaps someday we can make it a little longer.
I decided to have a grand prize winner and 2nd, 3rd, 4th place winners and send off all the yarn. Why be stingy? The sun is out, the air is clean, and tomorrow we're headed off to...(drum rooooolllllll)....
SANTA FE!
Capital of the state of New Mexico, and second oldest city in the United States (who knew! I didn't). Sunny 300 days out of the year, hot in summer, snow in winter, 7000 feet above sea level, for a capital city it has only a municipal airport, cluttered with lots of art galleries and best of all, GREAT FOOD. How many different ways can you have green or red chili? I'm about to find out!
I'm sorry if this contest was too United States-centric, but I did receive a few entries from out of town, like ESTONIA, who were able to guess correctly. I mean up here in what, the "liberal", "Ivy-League educated" Northeast we had friends and family who had no idea where Santa Fe was.
California? Texas? Mexico?
My favorite response was from a certain someone who said: "Oh wow Santa Fe, that sounds great! So you aren't worried about the hurricanes?"
Um. No?
This was how I picked the winners. Names of those who commented or emailed with the correct city was written on a small piece of paper. There were lots of paper, you guys are so smart. With Bunny Bunnitons presiding, all pieces were gathered in a small box, shaken, and then thrown into the air. Whichever Bunny swiped at first would be considered "picked."
The only flaw in this method was the assumption that the cat would give a shit about flying pieces of paper enough to participate. Alas he was not quite so hands-on as I hoped he would be.
Whatever, looking instead of swiping was good enough. I have the four winners!
I'll let you know who they are once I get a response from them. (Most of them happen to be blogless!)
We're just about packed and ready to go. One last thing to do will be to take the boys to their favorite aunt's house in the next town over. I will miss them, but there's no way we could take them. The ten minute drive to Auntie's house is just short enough not to kill them. They're going to be in good good hands.
Thanks again for participating, and see ya'll in Santa Fe!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Contest | Socks | Red Sox | Travel
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
So many cities, so little time...
Ever vacation somewhere, whether it be for one day or for one week, and for whatever reasons be it the beauty, the food, the culture, the lifestyle, you wonder what it would be like to live there, if only for a little while, in order to really experience life there beyond that of a passing tourist?
I do. All the time. Everywhere I go, whether it be a town 30 miles away, or a town an ocean away, I never want to go home. I covet and fixate on some small aspect there enough to want to live it. The salt-water ponds in Martha's Vineyard, the bicycle paths in Amsterdam, the wrought-iron fences in Charleston, the cassoulet in Paris, SoHo in New York City, the Spanish moss in Savannah, foxgloves and delphiniums in England, the shaved ice and black sesame dumplings in Taipei...Just for a moment! to be a lucky resident and have all these lovely things all the time, instead of for the too-short moments as a salivating tourist looking in.
Well, for the past couple of years or so, we have been trying immerse ourselves elsewhere. To Taipei, the seat of my Large Family. However this move was largely contingent on my own parents moving there, and we were all ready to go within the year, my parents were THIS CLOSE to putting the house on the market (hence my extended visit to Atlanta in May to say farewell), when they abruptly changed their minds. That shouldn't stop us from going, but it has. It just feels weird to go without them.
Also have I mentioned that I'm kind of Chinese illiterate? When I'm there I feel this need to mention this to every waitstaff at every restaurant so they don't wonder at my illiteracy because I can speak but am pointing at only the pictures in the menu. If I just outright say, HELLO I CAN'T READ! then the air is cleared and everyone feels better. Or I do. Maybe they feel sorry for me. Anyway.
So we're not moving to Taipei now (but someday still!), and I was left feeling very unsatisfactory. We must go somewhere, and we must go there now.
You see, our time as a carefree, childless couple is running out (no I am not presently with child, but I am getting older, and Duck is older still. How long can one put this off?). Not only are we right now blessed with no dependants, we have jobs that allow us to work anywhere, thanks to the awesome glory that is the Internet. And having graduated during the dotcom era.
So if we can work anywhere, why don't we just...work from anywhere? Immediately? If we dilly dally diddle dawdle any longer, we will fall into complacency, we will have a whole troupe of howling monkey babies, the flexibility will disappear, and we will be full of regrets.
We tossed around the idea of living Amsterdam for a year. It's the perfect little big city. I researched on the web, got advice from Jeannine, went to Martha's Vineyard and talked about it to strangers at the roofdeck bar, all of them egging us on. We wondered aloud what a pain it is to figure out what to do with our house for a year. Sell? Rent? Nothing...? We can't afford Nothing...
But while talking to these people from different parts of the country, a totally different-but-manageable-while-still-fun plan emerged. We would not relocate for an entire year or more, but maybe just for a couple of MONTHS. So no worries about our house. And instead of thinking of the rest of the world, I started thinking about the good ole U.S. of A. I mean, it's a big big place! There is so much of our fair country that I have not seen.
And so! Out of the air I fixated on this certain U.S. city which I have never been to but have heard nice things about. What I heard and from whom, I don't even recall, which makes the whole thing even funnier. I just had this romanticized idea that it was...nice. I put it to this couple we met at MV, who was from a surrounding area. They confirmed that this city was indeed very nice. We came home and researched some more, bought some books, asked other people. All had positive, even effusive things to say. I went on craigslist for housing, emailed about a certain place, got a prompt answer, negotiated, questioned, emailed some more, and guess what! We have keys! Keys to a loft in this certain U.S. city which we will be leaving for in a week, for TWO MONTHS! Two weeks from initial conception to roll out! Yeeeeaaaah!
Now, we will still be working, lest you think we are independently weathly and can afford to lounge around for two whole months. If we were independently wealthy believe me I would not be telling you about it, because I'd be too busy doing what really wealthy people do, which is to not keep a blog. About knitting.
But what we do have is a wealth of flexibility, at the moment, and I am determined, VERY DETERMINED, to use it to its full advantage. So I call this a business trip. A working vacation. Long enough to get much more than just a feel for the city, but short enough not to feel completely uprooted.
OK, so where are we going? Well I'm not telling you. Yet. I'm going to hold a contest and have you guess. For prizes! I was going to post the contest right after announcing our plans, but I have just written a really boring novel so now I will post details about the contest and the prizes in a separate post. Stay tuned...
Filed Under: Life | Travel
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Yes. I took a picture of a bed. But it is a GREAT bed.
Just got back from spending 24 hours in NYC. There was to be a client-and-team meet and greet this morning but due to the client not being a very nice person with whom we could work effectively, the whole contract was abruptly scraped and the meeting cancelled.
But I couldn't cancel the train tickets and hotel room I had already booked, so rather than let them go to waste, I went to NYC anyway, if only to sleep in that heavenly bed. Yummmmmmmmyyyy. I could die in that bed. It is really like sleeping on a cloud. Or on the plush bosom of a gigantic, warm hen.
I set my alarm earlier than I needed to this morning, just so I could wake up and have the pleasure of remembering where I was sleeping, and could afford to stay in it a little longer by turning over and sinking my face into a new part of the pillow, and nestle back down into the soft sheets, so cool and plump and airy. Mmmmmm, so decadent. If I could dream up a perfect, most decadent scenario it would be to get a pedi/manicure on that bed, then be served kobe steak on that bed, to be followed with warm apple crisp on that bed, then knit thick cashmere socks on that bed, a glass of warm shiraz and a cat within reach, and a roaring fire in front while all the windows are open and a crisp fall breeze blows though.
I love that bed.
I had drinks and dinner last night with Kitty and her boyfriend. That was another nice reason to go too, heh. We had drinks at Pegu (yummy Whiskey Smash, which is their version of the mint julep) and dinner at Public, both in SoHo.
Thank you all for your comments regarding our "legal issue." But hopefully with the help of the deputy sheriff, it will continue to be a non-issue. I'm going to send him a basket of doughnuts!
Filed Under: Travel | NYC
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
How did it become August already? I hate August. I've been out of school for a hundred years now but everytime August rolls around, I get that pang of Back to School anxiety and imagine the weather is cooling enough to start worrying about the onset of winter. Even though right now it's about 99F degrees and winter wouldn't be so bad. Did I mention the AC unit in the house has broken?
We had a really good, social weekend. We basically ate and drank the entire time, neither which are really good for keeping cool. After we spent an afternoon at a friend's BBQ, my college friend Raj in Providence invited us down to help him with a shellfish situation. He calls up and goes, "Mike [another college friend] overnighted me a dozen crabs! From Baltimore! I can't eat all these by myself! Help!"
I don't think it is an everyday occurance that one guy sends another guy 12 crabs just cuz. It is the sweetest thing ever. And really quirky which I like.
After that bbq of hotdogs and pulled pork and cupcakes (filled with peanut butter!) in the smothering heat, the LAST THING I wanted to eat were crabs. But I couldn't say no. Because those crustaceans were sent with love.
His place wasn't air conditioned either. By the time we were done eating, his apartment reeked of an oceanside landfill and our faces had melted into our shoes. Seagulls uulated overhead over all the crab guts and broken shells. Oh the humanity. We were sweaty and the salty shellfish smell just stuck to our every salty pore.
But oh they were tasty. All heavy and meaty and sweet and delicious. Those crabs were once full of life, you could tell.
We cooled down afterwards by going to WaterFire. And by "cooled down" I mean "remained uncomfortably warm." Everyone should visit the phenomenon that is WaterFire. It's a funny thing. Someone decided to light the narrow little rivers with a string of pyres, play some world music over the loudspeakers, serve some lemon slush, maybe some wine, and foosh! it's the best thing since sliced bread. They've got a couple of gondolas going on, and masked "nymphs" rowing up and down tossing flowers into the crowd. WaterFire is every weekend in the summer and you'll be surprised the number of people who show up just to watch fire burn.
I guess it's the equivalent of lighting a ton of candles around your bathtub. No one argues that a candlelit bath is romantic. It is. So when you imagine WaterFire, picture a placid river instead of a warm tub, crackling bonfires instead of flickering candles, and bam you've got uber, SUPER-SIZED romance, no? More romance than you can handle so that you invite all the neighbors to join in.
Providence is really pretty. There's the quaint, colonial backdrop of the RISD campus and College Hill on one side, and the quaint metropolis on the other. I never used to think much of the place when I went to school here.
But all it took was a good exfoliant - the kind with microbeads - a little makeup and some pearls and suddenly she's got all this grown up sophistication that I hardly know who she is anymore. So proud and wistful at the same time...
I wish knitting would keep me entertained these days, but as it turns out I haven't knitted a stitch in a whole week. My mom called yesterday, and asked if I wanted her sewing machine, as she is upgrading. A sign perhaps?
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Providence
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Did you know Benjamin Franklin is one of our nation's Founding Fathers?
Of course you did, but if you were somehow able to get away from that fact in school, Philly is here to remind you. Over and over.
But I bet you didn't know that he invented the glass harmonica? (I didn't know such a thing even existed)
And, the urinary CATHETER? (Shudder)
Me, I'm just happy to be able to knit a sock toe-up and cuff-down, and here he is being all nation-founding and glass-blowing and musical and medical and electrical within the same week. Show-off.
But clearly Philly loves him. For he is everywhere.
I like Philly. It is so diverse and informative, and their City Hall looks like the Hotel de Ville in Paris. It doesn't compare to Boston's City Hall, the ugliness of which is so obvious to anyone with vision that babies throw up when they see it.
Left: Philly's City Hall
Right: Boston's Eyesore
Here is but a small snippet of what I did and saw last week.
1. Newly minted treasonists all hot and stuffy on this July 4th. Yes on July 4th 2006, Chrusty (my high school BFF (not real name)) and I did July 4th appropriate activities like visiting Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, drinking ale, and listening to Lionel Richie and Fantasia perform live before the fireworks. It was fun! I love freedom!
2. Elfreth's Alley, the oldest residential street in America. I compare this to Acorn Street in Boston's Beacon Hill. I did a lot of comparisons and analogies between Philly and Boston. Like, "Isn't it interesting that Ben Franklin was born in Boston but died in Philly, and now I live in Boston and you live in Philly?" etc. etc.
Chrusty and I then did a lot of Philly vs. Atlanta and Boston vs. Atlanta comparisons. After points were made on both sides, the conclusion was always "Yeah Atlanta blows, can't believe we grew up there" and we'd give each other self-satisfied props for living in such cute cities now.
3. The Liberty Bell. There are some funny shots of Chrusty and me taking self-portraits in front of the bell, and no matter how we positioned ourselves, each time our heads got perfectly in the way as to obscure the bell completely. I think we spent more time trying to take pictures, laughing at the results, taking more pictures, laughing some more, than we actually did admiring the bell.
It's got a huge crack in it anyway.
4. Assembly Room in Independence Hall. Some really important stuff happened here.
5. The Big Colon on display in the Mütter Museum, which showcases shelves upon shelves of medical "anomolies," or possibly "X-Men." In the case of The Big Colon, I would say "big" is a bit of an understatement. Colossal doesn't even do it justice. You could see this thing from space. It is horrifying.
You might think that this giant colon belonged to a proportionally giant man, so maybe life for this dude wasn't so bad, but instead it belonged to a wretched average-sized, skinny man who could never find a proper-fitting leotard. His colon just kept growing and growing...I sort of wish that had happened to my chest. When he finally expired, doctors extricated 40 (that's forty) lbs of poo from his colon. Luckily, that part was not available for display.
There were many equally if not more horrifying things on display at this museum, like babies in jars in various stages of malformation and mutation. My favorite (not an appropriate word, but can't think of one) anamoly is of a skeleton belonging to this poor chap who had a mutation that caused bone to grow in places of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. BONE. In place of MUSCLE. And you could SEE it.
If you visit this museum, bring a friend. And maybe a sick bag.
Other things I learned in Philadelphia:
- It is large.
- There are a lot of abandoned rowhouses/buildings in what I would consider prime real estate location, like near all the points of interest in the Old City. I don't get it.
- But they understand mojitos. Chrusty took me to this Cuban restaurant where they make their mojitos with pressed sugarcane.
- They understand mussels. Chrusty took me to a Belgian pub. We had a pot of plump juicy mussels in this Dijon, garlicky, lemony broth. Mmmm.
- They understand gelato. Chrusty took me here and I got the Lime and Cilantro sorbet. You are either in the camp that believes cilantro tastes like soap, or that it doesn't, and prior to this gelato I believed cilantro tastes good with everything. My hypothesis is now fact! And YAY! They have an online store!
- How to grill a pizza. Chrusty and I cooked dinner one night and she taught me how to make pizza dough and then grill it. I've made it twice now since I've been home.
- Chrusty is all grown up. Chrusty's one of those friends who you may not see or even hear from on a regular basis but when you do, it's as if you saw her yesterday. We've changed so little since high school that we're able to make each other laugh with the same antics, and yet we've changed so much that most of the usual or not-so-usual insecurities of high school have evaporated -- and now therefore, Chrusty is all fine with engaging in PDAs with her new boyfriend that I had to shield my eyes in case they caught fire from the blush that was rising from my cheeks. Chrusty, kissing a boy! In front of me! And other people! It's a big deal.
Now I wish Chrusty good luck and good research when she leaves for Africa next month. If I don't see you in a year, congrats on your doctorate! And see you at your wedding!
P.S. I did buy yarn while in Philly. It is for socks. Big surprise there.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Philly
Thursday, June 01, 2006
We're back from Maine, tanned, relaxed, and full of shellfish. It's amazing how a trip - no matter if it is a mere hour's worth of driving - tricks your brain into thinking you're far away from home, and so how cleaner the air, how bluer the Atlantic, how colder the beer, how tastier the food, so that you must order one lobster at every single meal and not feel even slightly guilty for the indulgence. Vacations put this weird happy smog in your head that makes you think you're full of cash and enough digestive juices to break down the bite after biteful of sweet lobster flesh. I mean lobsters can be had just as easily in Boston, but only on vacation would I ever consider having it for THREE MEALS IN A ROW. It seemed like such a good idea. But though you might not feel that twinge of irresponsibility, your colon will. Your poor, twisted colon will.
I could go down this road further but I think I'll just stop right there.
We totally lucked out on the weather this weekend. You never know what you might get at the end of May in New England, even if summer is technically only a few weeks away. It was supposed to rain on Saturday, the day we set out, but luckily weathermen are idiots and I bet my cats could forecast the weather just as well by reading the patterns they make in their litterbox. After Kitty and Tomcat arrived in Boston, we hustled to Ogunquit and made it there in just over an hour. We checked into the "resort" (really a timeshare of condos) that turned out to be thoughtfully stocked with a huge lobster pot in the kitchen, and was only a 1 minute walk to the action. We walked down the driveway way and across the street, and before we knew it we were looking at ocean.
Later that night we had our dinner out Arrows. FaaAAAaancy. It was dark by the time we got there, otherwise I'd be showing you pictures of me trying to eat the wisteria that were blooming deliciously over the entrance of the farm-house-turned-restaurant. We had a table overlooking the large backyard garden and even in the dark I could make out the bushels of lilacs lining the yard. Wisteria and lilacs drive me WILD. Frothing-at-the-mouth kind of wild. I missed lilac season in Boston when I was down South, but Maine is just far up north enough to be 2 weeks behind schedule, so there were lots of lilacs still in bloom.
The food at Arrows was easily the most expensive I've ever had, anywhere in the world, and logically you would then think it was the best food I've ever had anywhere. It was great food, but I can't say if, considering the price, it was the BEST I've ever had. If you were to graph the price of an entree against its tastiness, I think at the $26 mark, the line on the graph would just plateau. After $26, you could put one more ingredient or one million more ingredients into the entree, and it would probably be just as tasty as if you hadn't at all. Know what I mean? And the starting price for each entree were way over $26...
This was my dish:
Soy lacquered Tai (snapper-like fish) with Thai eggplant, baby bamboo in a grilled shiitake mushroom sauce with a hot and sour lobster broth and daikon dumplings. Accompanying the broth was a quarter-sized dollop of sambal which the waitress told me was made from "like, 50 different spices." The dish was delicious but I'd bet that 3/4 of the price was in that small bowl of broth and that tiny plop of sambal, not the fish.
It is however the little accents like that that I end up remembering most about a dish. Duck and I had dinner once at No.9 Park in Boston two years ago (very highbrow), and the ONLY thing I remember about our entire meal was this shot of tarragon frappe that accompanied my dessert. It was strange and amazing and I can still taste it. The lobster broth and sambal were small but wonderful, so I'll probably be thinking about them long after the main fish.
Sunday was a glooooorious sunny day. A perfect day for long, ankle twisting walks along the rocky beach, a yummy lunch of lobster roll and rum punch by the ocean, then a Booze Cruise along the coast with more rum punch. While we were waiting for our cruise to begin we found out that President Bush the Senior had lunch at the restaurant across the one where we were and we probably just missed seeing him by a few minutes.
The boat ride was nice until I started to feel queasy with 1 hour and 28 minutes to go. The cruise was 1 1/2 hour long.
By this time we had long abandoned our plans of cooking lobsters ourselves. Really, who wants to cook while on vacation? So we didn't. More lobsters for dinner at another oceanside restaurant. Kitty and Tomcat had theirs baked and stuffed, I had mine boiled over a bed of steamers and mussels - and to start with, a really thick and hearty bowl of clam chowder - and Duck was the odd bird out with his bowl of scallops swimming in this bacon and bleu cheese sauce. Oh. My. By the end of this meal we were all clutching our sides crying. Why Lobster why can I not say No to you?
Lobster Four Ways: in a roll, boiled with drawn butter, bisected and stuffed with breadcrumbs and more lobster, as beer
We ended the night with a game of Trivial Pursuit. Boys vs Girls. Obviously the girls won, decidedly. Look at our huge brains, enhanced by lobster tail.
Monday morning Duck made French toast for breakfast. We were all crazed for something uncooked and crunchy. Nonetheless, after Kitty and Tomcat had to leave to catch their train back home, I got another hankering for a lobster roll. After this last indulgence did I finally learned my lesson. That night Duck and I went to the grocery store, bought two ears of corn, boiled them and ate them plain. We couldn't even handle a pat of butter. For dessert, grapefruit. So nice on the digestive system!
The Bush Compound in Kennebunkport
Duck and I stayed for a couple more days. We took a drive to nearby Kennebunkport and without meaning to, meandered by the Bush Compound. It's huge and sprawling and stands on its own peninsula. The Texas flag waves from out front, right next to the Saudi flag. Ha ha.
I took a couple of pictures from across the water and when I got back into the car, Duck told me that while we were snapping photos and idling around, each of us were in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle. Do you think?! I said. SO COOL. I suppose that makes sense - but for an ex-President? Oh so ex-President but father of very unpopular, could-really-do-without-him, current President. Yes it does seem plausible. I suppose instead of pulling out a camera I could have pulled out a missile launcher from my purse. Luckily for me I left it at the hotel. I wonder what I look like through a scope?
Perkins Cove at night
Knitting content coming...some day!
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Ogunquit
Thursday, May 25, 2006
 Is it the weekend yet? So close we're so close! For Memorial Day Weekend we're going to Ogunquit ME, and my sweet Kitty and her boyfriend will be joining us from NYC.
Do you know how huge this is? Do you know how many vacations Kitty and I have planned together over the years that ultimately never happened? How many tears I've wept? And do you know how many times it was her fault? (All of them.) I should really start calling her Kitty McFlakesters.
I had put money down that she would back out of this trip (like she did with our most recently defunct plans for Napa Valley this past spring), but to my amazement she has done the complete opposite and already purchased train tickets to Boston. But that's not even the best part! The best part is she put together a Powerpoint presentation of things we'll do. Powerpoint! There were all sorts of matrices and grids and charts. Clearly the girl needs more free time on her hands like I need more sock yarn.
To kick things off, we're having dinner at Arrows the first night. The 2001 issue of Gourmet mag rates it #25 on its list of best restaurants in America. La! But after that we'll be cooking in - the place we're staying has a full kitchen - trying some things we've never cooked before...
Kitty: We will COOK like little MONKEYS.
Me: Maybe I'll bring a big big pot in case. To put live LOBSTERS in.
Kitty: I've never cooked a lobster Cat. I'm scared.
Me: Neither have I!! So we need to look up how before we go. Mm...I may not be able to do it. So cruel. My mom boiled live crabs while I was home and it was sad. Delicious, but sad.
Kitty: I was at the fish store last sunday and there was a girl who worked there who was laughing about a lobster that she poked in the back of the head the way you're supposed to to kill it and it kept MOVING for like HALF an HOUR. She was like, Ha ha ha what a crazy lobster.
Me: Maybe we'll just do clams.
Kitty: Mussels and shimp and clams.
Me: If we can't cook the lobsters though, I'm having trouble picturing the guys being able to. We're all wussies.
Kitty: I think Tomcat would do it. I'll ask him.
Me: I picture us dropping the lobsters and screaming.
Kitty: And them grabbing our faces with their claws (bring the OLD BAY). Latching onto our arms and lips.
Me: ooo la this is going to be GREAT.
Kitty: By the way I can't eat really big shrimp.
Me: Hahah what?
Kitty: Because they're too BUG like.
Me: Hahaha WTF.
Kitty: The BIG ONES.
Me: You're an idiot.
Kitty: You bite into their BIG BUGGY flesh.
Me: BUGGY FLESH you are so stupid.
Please don't rain.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Ogunquit
Sunday, May 07, 2006
We're having a jolly time here in the South. After a weekend with the parents, Duck and I headed to Savannah for a couple of days, then to Jekyll Island, then to Okefenokee Swamp, and then we got tired of driving around and headed back to Atlanta a few days early. I meant to update here more regularly but am trying to make headway in my very neglected photo album. So far I've only pics up of our trip to Jekyll - take a peek.
This past Friday for Cinqo de Mayo we headed with my high school peeps to some bar in Buckhead for some Mexican food, but all they were serving were drinks. Margaritas all night + no food all night = Tim puking out the car window on the way home. Ha ha ha! This is funny really only to me because in all the years of partying, I have never ever once seen him lose equilibrium even slightly, while he has seen me more than I would like to admit. And always with a gleeful, self-satisfied glint in his eyes. So yes I was rather enjoying myself watching him sick out the front seat, even though the mess came back and splattered my side of the window. I have pictures of this too but you probably don't want to see it.
Happy Cinqo de Mayo!
The night ended with a late late dinner at Waffle House, a greasy sort of joint that you'd only voluntarily step foot in if you were 1) a truck driver, 2) really stoned, 3) really drunk. Hashbrowns smothered in cheese at 1 in the morning never tasted so good.
Ah yes, we are all in - or approaching - our 30's. The fun never ends.
There has been some knitting. Some. Mostly the only person getting any quality play time with yarn is the cat. Mouse loves to play with yarn. And rabbits too. She brought one home the other day, much to my mother's displeasure. She's really sprightly for a middle-aged cat.
"Did you know I crochet too? Claws make for great hooks. As do incisors."
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Atlanta
Monday, May 01, 2006
Our first two days in Atl has so far predominately featured marine life, both the living...
Scenes from the GA Aquarium: School of sting rays, a leafy sea dragon from outerspace, and a whale shark (a fellow Taiwanese!)
...and the not so much...
Cajun-boiled blue crab, salad with mango dressing, linguini with little neck clams and basil, and strawberry shortcake (my contribution, along with the mojitos)
I will eat anything and everything my mom cooks up and ask for thirds. She's probably an odd bird in the world of Asian mothers in that she does not cook very much Chinese cuisine. I have however commissioned her to make five-spice beef noodle soup. But then also her signature chocolate profiteroles for dessert ;)
Tomorrow we're off to Savannah!
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Atlanta
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Despite the fact I hated to turn 1000, I had the BEST freaking birthday ever in NYC. I love you NYC! Thank you MTA for not striking until the morning we left!
Sunday:
Got into town after the easiest 3.5 hour drive.
Drinks at Pegu (holy crap yum and holy crap it's expensive) with college friends, then walked over for dinner at 24 Prince, a new joint that opened a few months ago specializing in "comfort food" with a "twist." The place was packed. For the price and location the food was great.
For old times sake, Nick reunited me with a flaming shot of Sambuca at the end of the meal. As freshmen in college we used to drink Sambuca like water. Like thick, viscous, licorice water. WHY? Because it was there. We have never had it since. It is still as disgusting as ever.
Monday:
Happy birthday to meeeee.
First stop, Kinokuniya, across from the Rockefeller. The tree looked pretty sad, people. All branches all wilted and cold. Sadly I didn't find any knitting books of interest. I did come away with a book of 1000 stitches and patterns, so not all was lost.
Then we walked across the street to the Top of the Rock. We decided this visit to the city would include cheesy touristy activities. It was a lovely view from the top.
Afterwards, we walked a few blocks to the Buttercup Bake Shop, spinoff of the Magnolia Bakery, and had ourselves a few cupcakes.
And then, the highlight of the entire bloody weekend, a surprise stop at Tiffany & Co.! Little blue box, be mine! Look at me, I'm Holly Golightly, tra la la la la la!
We were there for a whole of 10 minutes. It was the most fun 10 minutes I've ever had. Ever.
5 minutes was spent navigating the huge crowd. Another 2 minutes it took locating my object of desire (which has been imprinted in my mind's eye for the last four years at least), then 10 seconds allotted for thoughtful consideration of whether or not I really needed the object once found (yes), and then the remaining 2 min 50 seconds to purchase and patiently watch it boxed (oh that eggshell blue!) and ribboned (red for Christmas!).
Afterwards we skipped out the door and down 5th Ave and I was as high as a kite.
Then we had a fantastic French dinner at Gascogne, with my new bling settled around my neck. The cassoulet was mmmmmm. After a few bites, your lips are coated with a film of fat that gets thicker and thicker with each bite.
Everything was perfect.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | NYC
Monday, May 30, 2005
I could have spent 5 hours in Vegas and seen all I needed to see. Vegas is not the place to go to if you don't care two flips about gambling. Sounds obvious. I was hoping the people watching and the hotel hoping would be enough. And my god was it HOT. I know I was looking forward to the heat, but an entire week of triple-digit highs was hard to keep up with. If you didn't sweat outdoors, you did as soon as you entered an air-conditioned casino - but at that point it was more like you were condensing rapidly. You know it's out of control when the meteorologist calls a high of 99F a "cool down."
"O" was amazing as expected. So was the brunch buffet at the new Wynn. They had congee, and Thai lychees.
 
Left: South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Right: Red sand at Zion.
The best part was the drive to the Grand Canyon and Zion. I didn't plan well for this trip at all, so we didn't have time for hikes, which would have been perfect because the temps there were a good 20 degrees cooler. We drove from Vegas to the South Rim, stopping at Hoover Dam along the way, quick detour along Route 66, and made it to the Canyon in time for sunset.
Zion in fact was a last minute "detour" - I hadn't realized how close it was. Instead of driving back to Vegas we drove East around the GC, through Navajo Country, through the Painted Desert, and into Utah. It was a beautiful drive. Had I planned this through we would have spent less time in Vegas and more time at the national parks.
Duck had a mild case of food poisoning from a suspect hamburger at a restaurant in the Canyon and puked on the side of the highway in Utah. First time that stretch of dry dry desert had seen any precipitation in weeks.
As far as knitting goes, I brought with me the other Adrienne V project, and did a few inches. Lots of cables and yo's to keep things interesting. Pics later. As far as Dianne goes, I will have her finished TODAY, fingers crossed.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Las Vegas
Saturday, May 21, 2005
We're off to Vegas today for a week, where it's going to be hovering over 100 degrees the entire time. I. Can't. Wait. I say this now as we're mired in yet another crappy week of fall-like weather up here. 50 degrees at the end of May, I'm so sick of it! I can't wait to complain about the heat, sweat like a pig, eat ice cream all day, slather on sunblock, wear shorts. Anyway we have no day-to-day plans in Vegas aside from seeing O at the Bellagio aw yeeeahhh and a side trip to the Grand Canyon.
Haven't been knitting much. Some high school buddies were in town so I've been entertaining. The back of Dianne is nearly finished but I have yet to make it to the armhole. I just can't seem to get there, and I'm on the 5th and last skein.
So see you next week!
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Las Vegas
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Every day is a packed blur that I can't even remember what I did this morning aside from having a very hard time pulling myself out of bed. This trip has been the first time that I/we haven't tagged along with my mother here and there like illiterate ducklings. We're still illiterate but can finally find our way around unsupervised, and at least have some sense of direction --I asked Mom once whether grandma's house or auntie's house is eastern Taipei, western, southern...? and she had utterly no idea. She can't find her way out of a paper bag, even the same paper bag she's lived in for 30 years.
The funeral was yesterday. My uncle, the new patriarch of the family, delivered a lovely speech after Mass that we were all in tears. After the burial the entire family had lunch together at a nearby restaurant. About 50 of us in somber black attire streamed in on a wedding banquet being held at the same time. I'm sure they loved that.
It turned out that knitting store I visited the other day with the hideous prices was Filatura di Crosa. Just so you know.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Taipei
Thursday, April 14, 2005
While I continue to make minimal progress on the Apricot Jacket (henceforth AJ), I am making huge progress on the eating.
Last night my cousin Paul took us out for a Japanese bbq dinner. We cooked thin strips of sirloin, pork, fish, clams, vegetables on small grills perched atop a ceramic pot of coals. By far the most expensive meal we've had here, but who cares because we didn't pay, heh. Oh on the way there we walked by Chiang Kai Chek's great-grandson walking his dog. Ooo the closest I've ever gotten to a dictator sighting!
Advertisement: Getting around Taipei is a breeze with mass transit. This "easycard" transit pass is one of several issued with my uncle's name printed on the front. He's apparently famous around here. I saw him on the news the other day, after having just seen him in his pj's.
Today after buying our usual pastries from the shop next door, we headed to, um, Starbucks to eat them over coffee. I know, I know. This city is littered with all sorts of cafes fitted into every nook and cranny imaginable and we picked Starbucks. The problem was that the nook and cranny cafes we've visited were serving up exotic coffees doused with weird syrup or powdered milk (??) or ten feet of foam that there was no coffee flavor to be had. Apparently it's too little to ask for a simple cup of no-frills coffee, because everytime I do I'm barraged with 20 Questions - do you want froth, do you want bubbles, we can add chocolate syrup, do you want sprinkles, only $5 extra for blah blah blah and flah flah flah...Gah!
I also decided to refuse patronizing coffee shops with blatant Starbucks-rip-off logos. And man are there plenty of those. It drives me absolutely crazy. This city comes up with the most creative concoctions of eats like shaved ice drenched in cream and fruit, or topioca balls swimming in tea, or meat sausage nestled in another sausage of rice, and they can't for the LIFE of them come up with their own damn marketing campaign.
Today we went with my cousins to Danshui, a small harbor I guess with a boardwalk of various street food. We spent the whole afternoon eating this and that. Then we came back to the city and had shaved ice, and picked up a couple of scallion pancakes on the way home.
Duck with green-tea flavored gelatinous goo sprinkled with sesame, and (can't see it well here) cannibalistic Chinese sausage within a rice sausage.
Strawberry and mango shaved ice.
Thanks Blossom for the yarn shop tip - what color line is the MRT stop on? Hopefully I'll find the time between the eating and the family stuff to make the trip. I left the States in such a hurry that I didn't even bring appropriate funeral attire. Truthfully I just don't have anything appropriate. Why is everything sleeveless? And suddenly so frilly and so colorful? No doubt my Grandfather would frown in disapproval.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Taipei
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Errrrgh! I want to throttle the instructions for the Apricot Jacket. I don't know what's up, but this is the fourth Rebecca pattern I've followed and having by far the most trouble with it. The textual instructions are pretty much useless. I should instead carry the back piece with me and use that as a visual guide - the front is really just the back in two parts - but it's too bulky carrying that all over the city. I've started and restarted the pattern for the front panel so many times that the yarn has started to become frayed.
Also the finishing instructions say to sew "front bands" together and to the neck edge. Uh, what bands...?
My mom and I visited a yarn store yesterday, giving ourselves plenty of time to browse/buy before a dinner engagement later in the evening. It turned out we browsed for all of 2 minutes. The prices ranged from $700 NT to $2000 NT ($20 to $60 USD) per ball. I think we must have asked the owner about one hundred times if the prices was per unit or per bag. FOURTY DOLLARS FOR A SINGLE BALL OF WOOL. They were mostly Anny Blatts and Bouton d'Or and other French imports. What's the big hooha? I don't get how anybody, no matter how irresponsible with money, could stand paying $400 to knit a plain ole wool sweater.
So yesterday Duck and I spent part of the day at Taipei 101. I wanted to go up on the observatory deck but it's been cloudy and foggy and unseasonably cold. We spent the morning eating pastries til we turned green, then walked around, then had lunch, then had dessert. For dinner we ate sushi again (an obscene amount that I think I'm actually scared of sushi now), then spent some time with my grandmother playing mah-jong.
We're staying with my cousin at what I like to call the Kennedy Compound: Uncle and Aunt #1 along with my cousin Paul and wife live on floor 2. Other cousin Francis and wife with 2 kids live on floor 3. Grandmother and Uncle #2 live on floor 6. We're staying with Francis. The kids (aged 1 and 3) stare at Duck like he's from outer space. Yaya, the eldest, won't call him when she sees him, but she apparently talks about Uncle Duck all the time when we're out. She's warming up though. Today she was willing to get close enough to take a picture with Uncle Duck!
I appreciate the kind comments left in the previous post! Til next time...
Filed Under: Life | Rebecca 27 | Apricot Jacket | Travel | Taipei
Monday, April 11, 2005
Here's what I got going on with the Apricot Jacket. I gotta say, the instructions for this are really confusing. Glad I didn't start off with this as my first sweater project. I would've given up on knitting altogether.
Bunny feet on Jacket
I'm knitting this on size 6/4.25mm needles to obtain a much smaller gauge. I like 'em tight. I've also shortened the length 4 cm and plan on doing the same for the sleeves.
So I am here unexpectedly again in Taipei. When the Pope passed away last Saturday, he took my grandfather with him, mercifully ending years and years of suffering a slow and painful death. None of us can be too sad about him finally being at peace. It was so hard for me to see him so broken and bed-ridden and tied with a mess of feeding tubes and whatever else. He spent over 10 years like that, never speaking and wholly unable to do anything on his own, but breathe, sleep, and blink. Several times he was on the brink, and each time he was pulled back in.
Duck and I set up a living will a couple of years ago to ensure we'd never have our low threshold of pain tested in such a way. If either of us so much as develops a chronic rash, that's it dude. You have my leave to pull the plug.
I love Taipei but need to stop coming here for the purpose of mourning. Fourth time in as many years, third time since Jan 2004. However it's always great seeing family again, and of course it's great to do ALL THE EATING.
So we're here about a week. Brought the Apricot Jacket but doubt I'll find any time to knit. Also I left some knitting materials on the plane - a small bag of crochet hooks, stitch markers, a beloved tape measure and grrrrrr.
Filed Under: Life | Rebecca 27 | Apricot Jacket | Travel | Taipei
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