berkeley shoebox

Paris

2011-08-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Although Paris was not on my lifetime travel list, I found myself pleasantly surprised to enjoy her charms.

From a small window, this serious fellow made us many delicious crepes over the course of our stay. My favorite being the crepe with chestnut paste. On the first day, EJ and I took buckwheat crepes (galettes de sarrasin) and sat by the River Seine.

Picadilly Line to Cockfoster

2011-08-13T16:31:00.001-07:00

There is nothing so British sounding as taking the Picadilly line to Cockfosters.

My first day in London, I promptly went to Waitrose and raided the cheese section.
Gorwydd aged Caerphilly - although advertisesd quite promisingly as tangy with lemon undertones, I'm wondering if there had not been some sort of mistake.
Cornish blue- a very reliable blue
Lincolnshire poacher -tangy and interesting

British food has much improved in the last decade. I munched on some rather fantastic almond croissants regularly, some examples better than the ones consumed in Paris. But you can still fall back on hearty pub fare with various deepfry.

Wildcrafting

2011-07-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

There is a hyper abundance of berries at the Albany bulb due to the late rains. Why let such sweet lovely things just rot to the ground when they can make their way into your pancakes and make so many people cheerful.

Bowl full of Nuts

2011-06-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hugo had microwaved a generous bowl of ginko nuts which he invited me to share. We were both chowing down contentedly agreeing on how delicious they were. Hugo casually mentions, "Your Mom says eating too many of these can be poisonous but I eat this much all the time." as he waved his hand over the bowl.

I worriedly check the internet which advises somewhere between eating only 5 to 10 maximum nuts or risk internal hemorrhaging, tonic-clonic seizures and sometimes death. I had eaten about 25. I look at Hugo quite seriously and say "You know this doesn't look good for you if I die tonight. Mom's going to be really mad." He thinks about it for a bit and says quite gruffly, "Drink water."

Wild albany fields

2011-05-15T17:07:00.001-07:00

Strange how lovely a landfill can become.

Back from South Africa

2011-04-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Back from San Diego

2010-08-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

Tsunami

2010-03-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

All part of a lovely Hawaii vacation is an early morning evacuation to higher ground. Since the waves were traveling from the unfortunate calamity of a Chilean earthquake, we had plenty of time to sleep, eat breakfast, walk on the beach one last time before having to evacuate.

I think everyone was in a curious mood- hoping for excitement but not tragedy. I decided spam musubi was the proper evacuation snack which I packed for getting away to volcano country.

Spring

2010-02-17T22:28:00.001-08:00

I munched on some green beans today and felt spring was already here. I was quite regretful I was not ready with my tomato starts- just think.

Last year in snowy Germany, I met a guy named Thomas from work who said he wanted to see cows and cars flying around in a tornado. Last week he visited Oakland so I took him around town to see if we could find something. We got a bit lost in the Muir Woods seeing mushrooms left and right.

Home Library

2010-01-07T23:29:00.000-08:00

I've been long meaning to organize my books and I guess I didn't have to write my own application after all...

Back from Germany

2009-12-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

I rounded out the year with a unexpected business trip to Germany. Although I am a pork and potatoes girl, I had a harder time with the food than expected.

Better Than Gold

2009-11-24T19:58:00.000-08:00

A really good recipe can serve you for the rest of your life bringing joy to so many people. I have a sturdy corn bread recipe and chocolate pudding recipe.

A really good story- you can share it with as many people as you want and it can take a life of it's own.

I know they are better than gold because I wish my grandmother had passed on to me some of her recipes and stories instead of lumps of gold.

Richmond Community Music Day

2009-11-15T18:47:00.001-08:00

Clees and I had an arts date at the Richmond Civic Auditorium. I had a wonderful time seeing the young musicians play their hearts out, but even better than a Dvorak symphony was having it sandwich an West African Dance Ensemble. The contrast was as delicious as a baked Alaska.

I was worried the West African polyrhythm might mess up the orchestra but when the West African dancers shook their booty, the cellists seemed quite horrified their strings might get smashed. The wild dancers and the prim orchestra member were a performing species apart.

Pizza Party

2009-11-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

Clees finally got his pizza stone, and I am the primary beneficiary!

Back from Egypt

2009-10-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

I had so many complex feelings from my trip to Egypt. One thing I have determined is that I need to cultivate my eastern mind.

Fry them Figs in Butter

2009-08-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

One good thing to come out of the financial crisis, Clees and I've created more deliciousness at home. Yesterday I baked blueberry buttermilk cornbread- crumbly and moist- it was breakfast served with maple syrup and some sausage, dessert served with boysenberry jam. For dinner we deep fried some squash blossoms filled with ricotta, and huge piles of spaghetti with achovy tomato sauce. Normally I like an anchovy gremolata with garlic, lemon zest, capers, but we had a few tomatos from Brook.

When Hudgebend Is Always Right...

2009-06-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

On a sunny day, there's nothing better than packing up the truck for Battery Townsley. Beach hiking is hungry work so I started to pack a big tubful of lemon anchovy capellini with two fat sausages. Chris came up behind me and said matter of factly- "Nobody's going to eat all that." When you've been married long enough you just nod and say "One never knows."

Of course after trudging up various hills, one happily chows down on sausage and noodle. Clees ate more than half the tub and sheepishly left the last few bites for me.

As we were starting up on the trail head, I said "Be careful of poison oak." Husband just said "Nah, it's way too dry for poison oak to grow here." As soon as he finished that sentence, huge huge clumps of poison oak were threatening to brush his unprotected knees. Poor guy- what can you do when you are so right all the time.

Prancing around in Jordan

2009-06-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

I had dawdled so much at el Deir that I forgot I had to meet the rest of my tour group at the end of town. My own legs too worn, I hopped on a poor mule called Michael Jackson who nearly had a heart attack to take me to the entrance of the Siq.

On my flight back from Tel Aviv connecting via Atlanta, I was trying to get settled in my aisle seat. An elderly gentleman walking down the aisle held out his hand to me saying in a slow drawl, "I like your hat." As I shook his hand, my eyes were at his waist level- I spotted his belt buckle inscribed with a giant JC. JC I thought. JC? Then I saw the secret service men trailing behind him. Jimmy Carter was on my plane. I was pleasantly flushed and starstruck for days- as you know I am a humongous huuuge fan of JC- my favorite living president. It was worth going to Haifa just for this treat.

Pleasurable Summer Reads

2009-06-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler

Moira Hodgson's "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" is chockful of delicious bits.
The composer Virgil Thomson made his coffee by straining the grounds in a sock for 75 years.

Zooing it up in San Diego

2009-05-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

Sof and I met up to help Suse move into her new digs which was across the street from her old apartment. Afterwards, we packed ourselves in Sparky for the world-class San Diego Zoo which did not disappoint. The pathways lined with mature tropical trees make walking it's vast grounds more of an adventure than the usual scene of being shuffled between misbehaving kids and tired parents.

What always surprises me is when other animals- especially males behave in a tender and romantic way. Clyde the orangutan was so gentle and loving to his lady- we were much touched.

Gone Safari

2009-04-03T00:57:00.001-07:00

After slaving 10 days in a medium security facility, I was let out for one day in South Africa. My stint at the Port Elizabeth terminal was one of the most enjoyable go-lives despite the grueling schedule. They even cooked us a barbeque right outside the offices.

A Uniquely South African Slow Meal

2009-03-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

A meal in South Africa is a more leisurely affair than an Italian is willing to endure. Dinner takes around 3 hours if you are fortunate to go somewhere with an efficient kitchen. Your waiter will refuse to let you order the main course until you've had several round of drinks. Only then they might take orders for appetizers. Try to force your way into ordering mains along with the starters and they will just shake their heads.

So when you have to work until 8 and wake up at 5 in the morning to go to terminal, it only makes sense to have a meal in. But first I had to replace my faulty phone in the room- too quiet to hear a thing and without a volume adjuster. After thirty minutes, I happily dial 17 but the woman insists on taking the order in my room. After half an hour, she comes and plunks her elbows down on my bed to take my order. And to make sure my meal is in length of the South African style, she brings my dessert in after in a third trip. I enjoyed it.

Pudding Week

2009-01-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

In preparation for partying the inauguration tomorrow, I have dutifully stirred two batches of chocolate pudding- one with cow milk and another with hazelnut milk. I will be making Obamanana pudding for Brook's party tomorrow. Just yesterday I broke through the pudding barrier- all this time I had a block in my mind about double boilers and hours of laborious stirring. Actually the magic is corn starch- I previously believed corn starch was a non-food to be strenuously avoided in life in the category of nitrites and MSG. Not so my friend. Not so.

My easy recipe from the Moosewood is just stirring 1/3 cocoa, 1/3 sugar/ 3 TB cornstarch and 2 cups milk for 10 minutes over medium heat. I found another recipe for butterscotch tapioca pudding which I am saving to treat myself for Wednesday.

Killing the Bay

2008-12-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

I was surprised that C had our linens come out so brilliantly white. "You just gotta be toxic sometimes," C said knowingly. I guess my environmental years of avoiding bleach are over.

Salamander Census

2008-12-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today I lifted a paving stone only to find a family of crickets, a slug, and a sleepy salamander cohabiting underneath. It looked quite cozy. Well- maybe the salamander is known to snack on a few crickets now and then. But I am now inspired to design the perfect salamander living quarters from all my paving stones.

Memories of Soonchun

2008-11-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

My mother told me that when she was a little girl, she used to go with her mother to the yarn store in the fall. Walls crammed with yarns of so many colors, such stores no longer exist. My grandma would pick out the yarn for the year to take to the knitters store. Back then, machine knit sweaters were more expensive than hand knit so grandma would order machine knit sweaters for the entire Cho clan.

Indian Rock Picnic

2008-11-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

Starting the day right with steak and eggs with a few capers from Aeolian Islands, Clees and I huffed and puffed up to Indian Rock. Actually Clees leisurely pedaled while I had a heart attack. A strenuous cycle is all worth it when you have a basket filled with MT TAM triple cream, last of the autumn figs, and some obligatory almonds and dried cherries. I brewed some cocoa with hazelnut milk. Berkeley living is easy living.

Academy of Sciences

2008-10-25T03:10:00.000-07:00

Miss Sof who had sadly moved away last year to join her family in O.C. came back to us for a visit. So we tripped out on watching fishes at the newly renovated Academy of Science.

Slow Food Nation

2008-09-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

These whimsical creatures were the most wonderful part of Slow Food Nation. I wanted to stuff this sheepish lobster under my shirt and take it home with me. Don't worry little lobster, I won't eat you.

I don't want to recount my general disappointment. Ironically a woman at the cheese line told me to hurry it up because there was only a half hour to run around before it all ends. Waiting in long long lines for very small bits of not entirely the best food I've had made me wish I should have donated money to Oxfam instead.

Pusan

2008-08-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

I sure did go to Pusan no shortage of times...

Isle of Man

2008-08-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

One of the loveliest places I've gone, I went expecting the most boring few days full of mutton and bad moustaches. I have never been so unexpected enchanted. The beauty of the island and the sleepy farms- Clees briefly had moments of seeing himself a Manx sheep farmer. I was yukking up all the modes of transport- steam train, various electric trains, horse tram, bus, taxi.

Seven Treasures from the Sea

2008-06-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

My neighbor Larry made us a most delicious dinner with the bounty from his recent gardening efforts. The menu started with house-cured anchovies and bacalao y papa, then a second appetizer course of crab cake and a calamari salad with home grown baby zukes so buttery, one wonders how a squash can taste so rich. The main course was scallops, shrimp, baby octupus, and sesame encrusted Ahi tuna. The dessert- home made oreos with mascarpone filling. I love Larry!

good bye long strands

2008-05-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

My husband's bike buddy k-dog has long soft jesus hair. He has been talking about the unthinkable recently. He said normally when he has dreams about his tresses being cut, he feels terrible. But last week- he dreamt that he felled his locks and became a handsome Irish guy. He was alright with that. It must be time.

2008-01-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

C and I started yoga classes at the Berkeley Y. Our instructor with super buns is all about bringing joy out from our hearts. The first class, she sang a Sanskrit song. Yesterday she brought a bell for ringing during our corpse pose. Even though I giggled a few, the yoga worked it's magic on me.

Very Merry X-Mas

2007-12-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

For the last two Christmases, we were over to B's for the most over the top dinner party replete with a 3 course menu- 6 beuatiful desserts. You can see from B's tree that is he one serious Christmas man. Why is a party full of gay men always so much more fun than a party full of straight men? It just always is.

apple thief in the bushes

2007-11-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Planting fruit trees in the front entry way is one of the best ways to welcome your guests. Who doesn't feel good looking at a tree full of apples. But recently I've had a spate of unsolicited visitors- bible thumpers to political activists.

Saturday Night Life Woohoo

2007-10-31T00:11:00.000-07:00

I had been listening to Two Gallants without any idea of what they looked like so I was taken aback to go to a concert given by Doogie Howser and a faceless dude. They were undeniably talent. They didn't need their opening act Blitzen Trapper with their silly 6 man band and excessive sound effects to show that just two gallants could produce powerful sound- even better live than recorded. I kept worrying Doogie Howser wasn't hydrating himself while the drummer appeared to be wisely swigging his water bottle.

Baked Kind of Weekend

2007-10-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Clees baked a beautiful apple pie to celebrate our domesticity. Of course June is the original pie queen- adding a dough heart, but Clees can bake it up too. And then Horia our neighbor came by with plateful of cookies to celebrate the end of Ramadan. I gave her handfuls of lemons.

2007-10-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

I own one pair of shorts and I put them on today to bicycle to Fourth Street to get a few chocolate bars. It's nice to have quiet moments to yourself even if only banalities shuffle through your mind.

Tarantula Hike

2007-09-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

Pete, Narda, me and C all crammed into Gaylord's hatchback to motor over to Mitchell Canyon. Them male tarantulas are out for their mating hunt. I decided against trying to touch one- it's a kind of harassment I think.

Dipping aToe in Bass Lake

2007-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hukleberry Preserve

2007-09-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Clees and I poached a few huckleberries on a warm Sunday afternoon. It's an intimate hike squeezed in by the huckleberry bushes and the bay laurels.

Afterwards, we scrounged together all the cash in our pockets to get a bowl of ice cream at ici. I felt like a kid with only five bucks and change in my sweaty hands waiting in line- regretful C and I could only share a three scoop. Even with exotic offerings like basil icecream, C wanted malted vanilla chocolate chip and chocolate hazelnut. After much negotiation, C conceded to a scoop of honey saffron, chicory, and the malted vanilla.

last saturday in July

2007-07-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

What to do when a perfectly good month is about to expire? Run to the candy store with Sof of course. Actually I was on a serious licorice fact finding mission to Miette Confiserie. I got fourteen different kinds of licorice, some on the verge of edibility with intense salty anise flavors. I am hooked. The Dutch Double Zout is a doubly salted marvel. Ms. Sof is not for licorice but I know who is!

We were noodling around and ran into the Asian Art Museum to balance out the sugar. It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience; AAM had the obligatory wall of buddhas and jade carvings but also quirky gems like the Sikh battle helmet which I am always keen to capture.

photo woes

2007-07-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

Now that Yahoo is discontinuing their photo site, I'm in a pickle since I don't want to have to pay for flickr premium. When did Yahoo go from a cool internet startup to an evil corporate has-been...

2007-07-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

I took Clees on a surprise date for these lovely cream puffs.

Missing Bun

2007-07-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Clees and I had gone to Ranch 99 to buy some last minute shrimp and crab. As is the case after every weight lifting class, I was itching for a treat. While waiting in line, Clees encouraged me to go over to Sheng Kee and get me a pineapple bun. In my hand I only had three crumbled dollars plus change. He said sheepishly, "I'm dying for a boba milk coffee." Since he said he planned to work all night, I went straight past the bakery to the teahouse him a boba treat. I love my husband and how else to show this loving when you only have enough cash for one thing.

Anyhow Clees is off to Albany Bowl to hang out with the bros. Where is my bun!

Clees is a breakfast genius.

2007-06-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Even when Clees is in the doghouse, I am always all smiles when he fries up some prosciutto with a fresh laid egg. My all time favorite is his sourdough French toast. Since Clees has been away in New York for a week, I've been eking by with random fruit. But a lazy Saturday morning deserves more than that. I dipped some stale Acme sourdough round slices in a egg and milk batter and voila. The egg creates a barrier to steam the bread inside and becomes soft and chewy again. Uhhaha, I've got one of Clees's secrets.

Hun-fifty Situps

2007-05-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

After three sorry accidents to both knees, I vowed only to exercise my upper body during weight lifting class. For whatever reason, something got into my head to do a hundred sit-ups but I ended up doing 150. When C told Dustin about it, he got all riled up, looked at his belly and vowed to eat only one slice pizza for lunch. When we motored over to Gioa for lunch, D broke down and went for two slices. I say eat more exercise more.

Gay for Wallace Stevens

2007-04-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Clees kept making fun of me all week, saying how I am "gay for poetry" every five years. It's true. A poem can carry you above the clouds all day long if you are that kind of guy and I am that kind of guy. You can read a thousand poems and not feel anything, but you only need just one poem to hit you over the head.

I almost have Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird memorized. Clees who is not gay for poetry keeps refusing an impromptu recital. I feel just like Grover going about asking, "Did anyone order a poem. A poem about blackbirds?"

national poetry month

2007-04-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

In celebration of National Poetry Month, I've put below my favorite.

Ode to Socks by Pablo Neruda
Maru Mori brought me
a pair
of socks
that she knit with her
shepherd's hands.

Two socks as soft
as rabbit fur.

I thrust my feet
inside them
as if they were
two
little boxes
knit
from threads
of sunset
and sheepskin.

My feet were
two woolen
fish
in those outrageous socks,
two gangly,
sea blue sharks
impaled
on a golden thread,
two giant blackbirds,
two cannons:

thus
were my feet
honored
by
those
heavenly
socks.

They were
so beautiful
I found my feet
unlovable
for the very first time,
like two crusty old
firemen, firemen
unworthy
of that embroidered
fire,
those incandescent
socks.

Nevertheless
I fought
the sharp temptation
to put them away
the way schoolboys
put
fireflies in a bottle,
the way scholars
hoard
holy writ.

I fought
the mad urge
to lock them
in a golden
cage
and feed them birdseed
and morsels of pink melon
every day.

Like jungle
explorers
who deliver a young deer
of the rarest species
to the roasting spit
then wolf it down
in shame,
I stretched
my feet forward
and pulled on
those
gorgeous
socks,
and over them
my shoes.

So this is
the moral of my ode:
beauty is beauty
twice over
and good things are doubly
good
when you're talking
about
a pair of wool
socks
in the dead of winter.

The Freer Jami

2007-04-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

In a rare reprieve from Auntie Diaper Duty, Hugo took me to see a few pages of the Haft Awrang at the Freer Gallery. After days of enforced Elmo and Baby Einstein, I almost cried seeing these exquisitely painted folios.

Anyway I got all inspired to start the wikipedia entry on Haft Awrang and upload a bunch of carefully cropped closeups to the wikimedia.

Lifting Up

2007-01-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

Clees and I are happily enrolled in a low key weight lifting class at Albany High School on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The dude in charge of the weightroom, Darryl is straight out of SouthPark. With his tight tight curls and sunglasses glued on to his head, he showed us all the Nautilus machines on the first day. I'd never seen someone do a benchpress with sunglasses which didn't wiggle once on in the 120 pounds he heaved up.

D goes around and saying "Are you feeling it? Yeah." I guess you're suppose to be feeling it when you are pumping properly. One night he was too sleepy and too tired to lift. He kept taking off and putting back his sunglasses repeating, "I'm just not feeling it, I'm just not feeling it."

Happy New Year Everybody

2007-01-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

Every year I stumble with too many ambitious plans so last year I resolved just to enjoy myself. Indeed I remember many happy times last year as I just followed the Hugo protocol- mostly sitting back and letting delicious foods come to you. I should try a little harder this year and so I came up with

1. Eat more pie. (Already ahead on this one as Steve gave me his pecan chocolate pie, and I'm making oyster pie for dinner.)
2. Use more lotion.
3. Make more people laugh. Uga uga.

The Big One

2006-12-31T15:14:00.000-08:00

New Year Party Spread

Twenty people squeezed into our tiny home.

Holiday Granola

2006-12-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'm making everyone a special holiday edition with pumpkin seeds and cranberries; mostly so friends can ease off the holiday sugar. Truly there is no more cozier aorma than carmelizing maple and coconut . When ever I bake granola these days, I sneak in a few small sweet potatoes to roast slowly.

Kains Ave. Xmas Cookies

2006-12-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Kains Ave. Xmas Cookies

Every year I receive lovely batches of buttery goodness from neighbors all around.

2006 pre party party

2006-12-24T13:11:00.000-08:00

2007 pre party table

Just to get eased into throwing parties, Clees and I stretch out our party muscles with a small pre big party party.

Berkeley Baked

2006-12-12T23:30:00.000-08:00

Across the street in the bachelor house lives a neighbor who I call "Never Not Stoned Dave". Clees's friend Ben goes to the bachelor house every Sunday to watch football with Dave's roommate Todd. Ben and Todd are so busy playing Fantasy Football simultaneously on their laptops during the games that they make Dave get their lunch from Picante. Dave vented to Clees in reality show style, "There is something so morally wrong with this. Man, I don't even like football. If I wasn't getting a free lunch out of this...."

Todd is trying to apply for graduate school and last week he had trouble finding one of his applications. Apparently Dave had torn out a corner to roll one.

Binch time

2006-12-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

Cookies that crack you up. How does it taste? Well, binching...

Blushing

2006-12-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

Lemony beer

2006-12-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

No self respecting beer drinker would even put lips to this girly brew but it's all good by me - all honey notes and half lemon soda. When you're a beer philistine, you can enjoy lightweights without any shame.

C and I finally made it over to Pyramid Alehouse to try some apricot weizen on tap. We shared a single pint and had good feelings all around. I won't need to go back for another few years as it's the most Houston or mid-west establishment you can experience in Berkeley. Nonetheless the apricot- strong to the nose and palate was a pleasant surprise.

Sandwiches You Will Like

2006-11-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

Friday night there's nothing more perfect than a ninety minute PBS documentary about meaty sandwiches dripping au jus. The footage is wonderfully quirky. Only a few minutes in, you hear an alien computer voice praises tripe sandwiches. It's some dude with a tracheotomy. Sandwich makers discourse quite fondly about their creations just like a family member, "beef on weck", "muffalettas". Tomorrow I am going to make my mini-"Elvis", peanut butter,banana, bacon beauty grilled with tablespoons of butter.

Pleasure of Waiting

2006-11-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

Even when the nights are chilly and the summer stone fruits long gone, autumn is not without it's bounty of jewels. Chestnuts and persimmons, pomegranates and bright skinned citrus. But truly autumn is not autumn until I spoon my first ripened persimmon, a pulpy pleasure which cannot be rushed.

These orange beauties sit rock hard making you doubt if they're ever going to give it up. I don't like to bring them home already ripened; I want to wait together, the fruit and me. You have long days and hard days when you snap at your dog or your husband. Too many of them pass and voila the persimmons yield to your thumb.

Great grandma Cho who use to eat her apples scraped with a spoon was particularly fond of these as is Hugo who still has most of his teeth.

Proud to be a Californian

2006-11-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

Today I finally had cause to jump up and down just like I practiced last month after watching Deal or No Deal commerical. The Californian women(Nancy and Diane and Barbara B) did us proud, voters did me proud. It was one of the few elections where I felt individual voting counted. No amount of Republican fund raising money was going to sucker anybody. Actually tobacco millions did bust Prop 86 .

3 Day Leftover Soup

2006-11-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

What's nice about cooking for yourself is you can do things that would cause your husband to protest and take arms. So when Clees left on Thursday morning, I promptly started a pot of garlic, potato, quinoa soup. To cap it off, I threw in my left over chile verde pork burrito. Hehehe. To add fresh flavor, chives and handful of nasturtium leaves go in at the last minute. It was fantastic. Add to that, I didn't have to share with anybody.

For Thursday dinner, I added a tired but still serviceable red cabbage, left over spare ribs and sausage from my Thai grill Wednesday dinner from Jimmy Bean, more shallots. The flavor profile gets deeper by the meal. Serve with handfuls of arugula, nasturtiums and chives, and you have one happy girl.

Since Saturday lunch I sadly finished of my friend the soup, I had to come up with a new zinger. I started making apricot lentil soup trying to follow a recipe. While I was stirring I could not resist my creative self. I threw in chopped walnuts, then green tomatoes and the good part of a worm eaten Sierra Beauty. Served with lemon juice and dollop of yogurt, my head and belly puff up with pride. I guess Clees can deflate me when he returns.

2006-10-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

Sof and I giggled through Shortbus on Saturday. I wanted more story and less dangly parts, but it's wholesome fun in the end.

While I was at Sof's place to cook up some ddukboki and try out her new bleeding red velvet couch for girly chat, C was having man friend time with his Berkeley gents. One of his buddies hit a rough patch with his woman who left him with their child for a lesbian lover from L.A. who's moving here to start an artisanal bakery. So Bay Area. So Bay Area.

Down for the Count

2006-10-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Once I was visiting my parents long ago and had to ask my mom for some Tylenol. She looked at me funny and said "We don't have that kind of thing in this house." Indeed the Kim family pharmacy contained only giant vats of vaseline and jumbo 3 packs of Pepto Bismol. She added finally to the effect of "I didn't know you were the kind of person who took that sort of thing."

When did I ever become a pain reliever popping weenie. Bay Area living makes you soft. This weekend I had to ingest more than a handful to keep my head from exploding. The stuff works.

Research Date at Devil's Teeth

2006-10-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

Kim's in the News

2006-10-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Recently, the Monday San Francisco Chronicle front page was dominated by Kims. The first Kim who had been there since Friday was freed sex slave YouMi Kim. Her photos took up the bulk of the page squeezing out Kim Jong Il to a narrow margin. I guess a young nubile body sells more than the threat of blowing up Japan.

Today, Harry Kim, mayor of Hawaii, was cited in the news for the Big Island earthquake.

No results were found

2006-10-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today I was trying hard to think of a phrase to describe polar bear's black tongue and resorted to the Thesaurus on Microsoft Word for "black" which suspiciously came up empty. White and yellow had no shortage of synonyms.

2006-10-05T22:56:00.000-07:00

Clees made an official complaint that he was tired of being everybody, nobody and somebody. If you live with one other person and if you make statements like
-Nobody made dinner. Nobody did laundry.
-Somebody left the eggs out.
-Everybody brush teeth.

Well. It usually is Clees.

World's Most Brilliant Poppy Seed Cake

2006-10-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

I had one of the rare mind blowing food moments.

Last of the Summer Plums

2006-09-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

It always makes me a little sad to taste the last of the summer stone fruit.

Skinned Knee Chronicles

2006-09-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

Day before my first class (2 Mondays ago), Clees smiles widely and says he's got the perfect back-to-school present. He brought home a junked razor scooter found in the bushes near the autobody shop. He welded a new steering column restoring it to functional use. Monday night we take turns zipping around our block. It's fun.

On Tuesday, I wake up special early to start the day right. I take my scooter and head for the Bart. What did my feet ever to do to me to deserve such punishment. 2 blocks past my house I enter scooter hell. City of Berkeley, you really gotta pave for the public good. The road is so crazy in some patches forcing me to walk or lift the scooter which in turn causes the base to swing about whacking my ankles- evenly on each side in case there's any question of favoritism. I sweat profusely, pedestrians zip me by. Insult to injury, some boys titter as I scoot by. After work, I opt for walking to my first day of night class.

On Wednesday, I chance my scooter on a down hill ride returning home from the Bart. I worry as I fall asleep that night about getting Parkinson's disease from shaky cheap scooters.

Week after Wednesday, Clees has recast the wheel bearings and gave it a new set of softer green wheels. It's a thousand times better. I zip around as fast as I can on my block until I'm thrown. I eat concrete and rip my knee.

Thursday night, my pajama pant has stuck on to my knee. I defer doing anything hoping the problem will resolve itself while I sleep.

Friday morning, the pant is still stuck to the bloody crust on my knee. C offers to yank it. I refuse. Instead I get up and jog around the house. Problem solved. Thank god I wore polar fleece instead of fibrous cotton.

Friday afternoon I've had enough of working from home all day. I put on short shorts and zip around recklessly around the block. It feels good letting my knees get some fresh air.

Monday, Clees meets me at the Bart station with my scooter. I go too fast down hill and fly off again. I recover and fall again but my left knee is saved.

Next Monday it rains.

Anniversary Grill

2006-09-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

Yup. Something feels official once you own a standalone grill. This baby got recalled last year for bursting into flames. Cheap valves from China.

Foggy Mendo Weekend

2006-09-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

Gorilla Biscuits Night Out

2006-08-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have been given an unusual Friday night to myself as Clees has gone to kick it one last time in the mosh pit. I told him not to wear his crocs and get stomped on. He was agonizing over wearing his eBay bought "Rise and Shine" chicken and egg shirt seen mostly on fifty year old moms. At last he decided he would wear his "Be the Reds" soccer fan shirt. There's no point in trying to be hardcore if you are the chicken man of Berkeley.

Heirloom Tomatos= Tomatos with Orifices

2006-08-15T23:32:00.000-07:00

Those crevices are just too big to be considered mere bellybuttons. The beauties on the left are Black Krim a Russian variety. Despite the frankensutures, these fruits burst with that special Black Sea flavor. Plant kingdom is not the only place we relish such crinolous folds although Shar Pei's are not bred for the eating.

Poetry's a bit like beef jerky.

2006-08-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

I found a tribute book of poetry to Frost on my last library round. I'm not too keen on his New England woods and rhymes, so I don't know why I bothered reading through a book full of lesser poets inspired by poems I don't even like. However I found this one gem by Susan Firer, "Mrs.Post''s 6th-Hour English Class" where her classmate Debbie confounds the class explaining why taking the road not taken has made all the difference:

"It's clear
if the speaker of the poem had traveled
the more traveled road, he would
have ended up at the milkman's. Since
he did not need milk that day.
he took the road less traveled."

I love mayonnaise

2006-07-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

...and what's better than a fresh new jar of mayo for dinner. It was C who put his artistic talent to such good use; who doesn't love a man always trying to making you smile.

As per usual, we were facing bleak prospects for dinner. I generously told C he could have my leftover lunch tilapia and I will make do with what ever crumbs I can find on the floor. While squirting ketchup on a hot dog bun we had gotten for free at Brook and Victor's barbeque last Saturday C bragged, "You are going to be amazed how good my sandwich is going to be".

I had prosciutto, fig, pecorino sandwich on some cheap leftover lunch bread but I think his sandwich tasted lip smacking better.

Day at Limantour

2006-07-23T00:44:00.000-07:00

All month I had been thirsty for the sea so C and I finally hopped in the truck for some Point Reyes beach action. Even if the Lebanese are being bombed out, and Indonesians are distraught over another tsunami, Northern Californians are living it up enjoying the globally warmed beaches. Everywhere I go laughter and play.

BFF-TLF

2006-07-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

While I was visiting Big J over July 4th, she promised home cooked country style meals. I have gotten such promises before only to be sadly sent home after salty meals at Hugo's favorite joints. Then Big J would call me about the fantastic tender ribs or apricot glazed pork chops she had cooked for someone else other than me. I wish I had me some of them phone recordings. This time she made good on her word cooking up tasty restaurant quality meals day after day sweatin' by her Viking. I never forget that somebody makes me pork sausages for breakfast, this is true love.

2006-07-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

Yukking it up on the Tea Boards

It was bound to happen. I've joined a tea tasting party with an on-line pu-erh community. You can go on and on about pu-erh minutiae that none of your friends are willing to put up with and groups of people read and respond with obsessive enthusiasm.

Actually I am so outdone by the other posters that I mostly hang back. People upload the most intimate photos of a tea session, even with the saturated leaves laid out. They called it tea p0rn or pr0n. It's a genteel group, we are all serious tea drinkers after all.

2006-07-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ms. Sof says there is a cute handsome boy at work that makes her smile all day. Eventhough nothing good can come of dating a man in his early twenties, she's just happy to have someone hot to look at from time to time. I'm a bit jealous. Wouldn't be great to have such an easy drug.

Once I worked at a chip design company with two female engineers on the entire floor. The hardware engineers were the most gossipy bunch I've met. They would ask me who I thought was the most handsome engineer in the company. Being hard pressed, I thought an unlikely joke and responded "Constantin". Constantin was the Russian architect who must have been 2.5x my age at the time. I wasn't really into older men back then. One of the Chinese engineers seriously nodded his head and replied, "Yes that is a different kind of handsome."

2006-07-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Why Zizou? Why?

I feel sad for Zidane and all those who wanted him to win and make good for French racial harmony. Viciously headbutting a taunting Matterazzi in front of a billion people. I hope this doesn't cause a new outbreak of racial riots.

Some of the gloating Italian players took their shorts off after their victory run around the pitch. Who wants to see sweaty tidy whities under that Azzurri uniform. Just yuk.

So the World Cup ends for me in a unsettling way with no joy for the winners. I just have a small taste of their bitterness of defeat as I find myself sighing and shaking my head.

Heros and Goats

2006-07-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

While walking up a Tilden path, a unicylist tumbled over a rock and fell off his saddle. Then another, and yet another. I missed all three chances to take an entertaining photo. There is nothing more dorky than mountain unicycling at first glace but I really wanted to hop on one.

C kept insisting how this path was of more State Park quality. I just kept getting that regional park feeling.

2006-07-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

Eliot Title Character

Most days I do a cross world puzzle on the BART ride home. Half done, C picks it up and finishes it with relish mumbling something about how I got a corner all wrong. 14 across on his second puzzle was "Eliot Title Character", 8 letters. I confidently shouted "PRUFROCK. That's totally PRUFROCK" to which C wouldn't budge. He finally put it down and then told me I was all wrong. ADAMBEDE I shouted again. He told me I'd better be right this time.

2006-06-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

Sponsored Links

I noticed when I was doing a few google searches that e-bay has everything I'm looking for.

Bad Art
Whatever you're looking for
you can get it on eBay.
www.eBay.com

Rude People
Looking for Rude People?
Find exactly what you want today.
www.eBay.com

2006-06-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

World Cup Blues

We are pitifully ejected jointly by the Swiss who rightly kicked our ass and French who broke down the Togolese and scored two. The Taeguk Warriors played badly, running madly about the field with no purpose. Those Swiss had a tight barrior even the French had not breached.

I was so frustrated all day so I finished two cross world puzzles and baked a cherry rhubarb crumble.

2006-06-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Instead of sensibly getting more sleep or working on my magnum opus, I shuffle to bed very late catching up on all things World Cup. There's been no shortage of drama. Not just Ronaldo flakiness, the Togo team threatening boycott, the French underperforming, and the Italians fouling and elbowing McBride's pretty nose(only 3 stitches), but a truly atrocious Peter Crouch hair pulling incident last week. Trinidad and Tobago really truly were done wrong by the British when the two meter asparagus yanked Sancho's dreadlocks to score a desperate dubious goal 82nd minutes in to the game. As the referee didn't see it so the goal is allowed to stand. Sancho continues to have the worst time ever as he scored against his own team for Paraguay even though he totally tied his dreads neatly with a rubber band for the next game. Poor guy.

Taeguk Warriors still do the Red Devils proud. Clees and I wore our "Be the Reds" shirts for the France vs South Korea game. I don't think C is true Red Devil as he put on his shirt only at the 80th minute and was tut tutting the lost French goal.

Douglas Sued Again

2006-06-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

C's dealer is again in the news. Sued over money he didn't pay up to an artist. I'd better get in line. Doug is laughing his way to the courts as the claimant is suing for breach of oral contract. I should be mad but I'm just relieved he isn't being investigated for tax fraud or some other illegal doings.

Educational Day at the Joo.

2006-06-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

For strictly investigative research purposes, I ask Sof to join me at the San Francisco Zoo. I am eating beans and rice to save up for visiting polar bears in their native northern lands. In the meanwhile, I want to study the local area population first. You will see in the photo album the polar bears were only a sad footnote to an otherwise fun visit.

Opossum R.I.P.

2006-06-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Our front porch had a bit of Amityville gross fly action which prompted me to demand C conduct an investigation. Sadly another dead opossum crawled into our side yard to die. It must be my evil neighbor using rat bait again.

C complained mightily and put on latex gloves and his respirator mumbling "Always Clees, always Clees". It's true he had to remove the last dead opossum. With his 3 trashbags and shovel, he solved this problem just as handily. I reminded him of the "No dead animal inside the house" policy told him not to bring the offending bag through the house just in case he was too lazy to unlock the side yard and come through the house. One never knows. Anyway when I went back into the house, I saw him with a trashbag trying to look suspicious. Of course he just grabbed the trash from the kitchen to get a rise out of me.

I could have paid these other guys in Florida who do wild life removal. Dead animal duty I feel is husbandly duty.

2006-06-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

I read giant squid have been observed to attack baby grey whales and sperm whales. Instead of working these tidbits into my magnum opus, I am again back to surfing the web for pu-erh knowledge(mostly unsubstantiated gossip) until my eyes bug out everynight. I am a functional addict so noone can say nuthing about this.

Why do I choose to give up my free time to such an obscure object of desire.

2006-05-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

May blooms have come late but easy this year due to the surfeit of rain. One of C's friend's just returned from Afghanistan as he has a book contract to write about extraordinary rendition and contract prisons in Afghanistan. He was busy interviewing mullahs and warlords while suffering the world's worst diarreah. He also like me has to go back to work on Tuesday.

D, another high school friend of ours is in Dharamsala teaching video editing to Tibetan monks. I was gulping down his thoughtful blog instead of working on my polar bear story. I'm in a plotline pickle for the orcas attacking the polar bear riding the grey whales. Should someone lose an eye for a flipper or a paw.

2006-05-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yucatan- my one serious snorkel vacation for the year. Even though many of the reefs were bombed out by hurricane activity, the Yucatan held strange and wonderous cenote cave snorkeling, Mayan ruins, and no shortage of misbehaving Europeans. Click on.

Boar Bacon

2006-05-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sigh, to think I lived so long on this earth without trying Wild Boar Bacon. But then it's always good to have new things to discover at every age. These strips of boar are marvelously nutty. While C had the sad duty of attending Grandpa Kopczewski's funeral in Cleveland, he went to a meat shop and thought only of me when he ran in to this slab of boar fat. That is true love.

*You can go to iheartbacon.com more a more technical analysis on the official BRS- Bacon Rating System.

2006-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Punished at Williamsburg...

In a nostalgic impulse, C and I go down to Williamsburg to get a whiff of the old college time memories. In truth, I love spoon bread and there is no where better to be served this soft warm cloud of corn meal than colonial Williamsburg.

2006-03-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

Crab's Claw

Out of my third big shipment from Yunnan Sourcing hid an unsuspecting gem. I've been enjoying some high quality teas here and there but nothing yet a revelation. This Crab's Claw attractively labeled the "Parasitic tea living on the thousands year old tea-tree in Menghai" brewed a cup so surprisingly refreshing, I was utterly frustrated to find almost no web gleanings on this tea. I brewed the tea lightly for fear of being overwhelmed by the reputed medicinal sour taste. I had chosen this tea for C's old man cough and thought I would tuck away this beeng until next winter's first cold. This puppy tastes little of a young sheng puerh. I can only liken the sensation to drinking from the most refreshing cool mountain stream one finds when hiking up to the remote monastaries in Korea. Koreans call such water "YakSu" and I am certain when Sof tries her first cup, she will undoubtedly bubble out "Wauooo. Yaksu, yaksu da."

To think a few leaves can transform ordinary Berkeley tap water into memory and longing. This tea has a dimension which cannot be pinned down to any flavor but of being soothed. I was afraid to drink this a second time, but now I brew myself a late night cup from leaves which should have been tired from being brewed all day long by C and I am happy. Sipping and closing my eyes.

2006-03-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

Too much tea imbibed. Too few words recorded.

I called Suse on Sunday. Hadn't talked to the girl in ages as although we had talked about going to the Ozarks in May after she defends. I was going to make both of us some pioneer dresses to go to Laura Ingalls Wilder's farm. But time and plans are slipping away. We are both sharing the same behavioral mishap. Despite the pressure to button up her Ph.D., she finds herself surfing ebay for the most perfect and cheap oriental rug. This is not why she's postponed her defense she maintains. It's for lack of youthful energy. Despite pressure for all sorts of things, taxes, work, and against extreme fatigue, I find myself spending all my free night hours surfing for pu-erh knowledge which is vexingly difficult to come by. Such behavior must be pushing some sort of reward center otherwise our rat brains wouldn't lap it up.