Curious Notions

Had a good weekend. I don’t have too many photos uploaded yet but the one on top is from Friday night. Will came down from Dallas and those are some of his old frat brothers.

I had a pretty joyful weekend. Here’s my weekend joy list.

• Will came to visit. We hardly got to see each other because unexpected events (my bad) but we managed a few drinks Friday and we’re grabbing yogurt on campus today before he heads back to Dallas.
• I treated Brandi (because she cooks and spoils me) to Dear John. She’s a big Nicholas Sparks fan. I have to say Channing tatum is hot!
• Dave, Brandi, and I tipped our hats off to Valentine’s day (I do this often- acknowledge love day) by watching a film screening on desire at the Blanton Museum. More on this later.
• Tried out a new dim sum place (more on this later).
• Watched the second half of the Super Bowl.
• Had homemade green chicken enchiladas while watching a comedy with Brandi and Jessica.
• I had 8 hours of sleep Saturday night. Something I hardly ever swing.

What’s on your weekend joy list?

In the spirit of relationships and Valetine’s day on the horizon, I thought I’d repost this blog entry I originally posted in June of 2007. I discussed why men should pay attention if their ladies suddenly seem to have dropped issues they were having with their relationships.

Last weekend I had dinner with 2 boys and a girl. We girls forced the boys into girly-slumber-party-like questions and conversation. We called it game of “Truth or Truth.” Poor boys. We asked them fun questions from last time they cried to weirdest place they had sex. The juvenile game soon morphed into a conversation about gender differences. One guy wondered why females have a tendency to go into this silent psychological warfare where they are grading their significant other silently, going through a “check list.” He likened it to a ticking bomb.

“Tick tick tick.. and all of a sudden they go off and do something drastic, like break up or start a blow out fight.”

The other girl and I nodded knowingly. We’ve done this ‘ticking bomb’ thing. We’re both sticking to our guns that the “ticking bomb” is a fantastic last resort. Often times we find ourselves voicing what we want over and over again. It’s not fun. It could be as small as “You don’t ever ask me how my day is” to something bigger such as, “I’m not going to wait for you to get your shit together another year, it’s already been 6 years.” Eventually, the asker gets tired of hearing her (or his) own voice so she (or he) stops asking.

Cue “Ticking Bomb” phase.

This is the point where they’re deciding on whether to fold and walk away with least amount of damage to themselves. I like calling it the silent tally. Silently counting how many times the party in question is falling short. No more reminders. No more gentle coaxing. No more arguments. So my hint to mainly the men out there. If your significant other has been nagging you about something for a long while and all of a sudden, she’s quiet. Contrary to what my male friend thought it was (“I thought she changed her wants”), you’re probably being silently monitored and about to approach a tipping point in the relationship. :) Beware of silence.

Why I will stand by it? People generally don’t change. Unless the pain of their not changing exceeds the pain of changing.. right? Why fix something that ain’t broke? So if someone doesn’t embody something you think you need in a relationship, the “ticking bomb” helps illustrates the futility of waiting for someone to change… Count the tally marks then fold and walk away with what you have.

I love Clinglish signage. I used to have a collection of photos taken around NYC Chinatown with English signs written by a presumably Asian person who doesn’t have a full grasp of the English language yet. Now, my heart goes out to people have who have to learn English as a second language. It’s a pretty tough language to learn with all its rules and tougher still, with all its exceptions to these rules. So it is with endeared amusement when I giggle at these signs that I found in a Japanese store in Houston.

Last weekend, Thomas, Kim, and Jessica and I embarked on a progressive lunch in Houston. Except for the photo of him and Jessica, photos used in this blog entry were taken by Thomas.

Progressive Series
1. First stop: Niko Nikos
2. Asia Market

Asia Market

1010 W Cavalcade St Ste D
Houston, TX 77009
(713) 863-7074
asiamarket-hou.com

Asia Market was actually Willis’s recommendation and was supposed to be our last stop of a progressive meal the previous time we did a progressive in Houston. Willis took Thomas and me there but they were closed for Thanksgiving. You can see Willis’s review of Asia Market here. He wanted us to try the pastry puffs that were stuffed with curried chicken. (Willis couldn’t join us again this round because he went to LA. Funny, Thomas came to Houston from LA and Willis went to LA from Houston.)

Our little eating group of four trekked to Asia Market after our satisfying tasting at Niko Nikos. We each had a curry pastry (priced at under 4 dollars for a box of 4) and we sat our bottoms down at the very modest Asia Market and nibbled. We even shared a Dragon Fruit drink. I’ve confirmed with my parents that I’ve never had Dragon Fruit, a tropical fruit you can find in Asia. Very seedy, that fruit.

Yes. Kim and I totally inadvertently wore the exact same outfit. Leather jacket, leather boots, jeans, and striped shirt. What?

The puffs were tasty. The pastry was nice and flaky and buttery and the curried chicken, flavorful.

They had a Thai restaurant in the market with entrees for very reasonable prices. I’m tempted to come back to this place and try out their kitchen menu. It’s quite tiresome trying to eat the world.

So this concludes our trip to Asia Market. Next up, Straits! Stay tuned for stop number three of our progressive lunch.

Recently, I reposted a Valentine cookie misadventure from 2007. In case you missed it and don’t want to click on the link, here’s a picture of how these cookies turned out in 2007. Broken hearted cookies of 2007 :( Aw. The irony. Well!! Brandi and I tackled these cookies again this year. They didn’t come out broken or smoking this time. Hurray. And are more tasty than I remembered! Irony might still be there, though. If you missed it, first tip of the hat to Valentine’s day this year here.

This entry is the first of a series. Here are the rest so far:
1. Niko Nikos: First stop of Progressive Lunch
2. Asia Market: Second stop of Progressive Lunch

This past weekend, Thomas, Kim, and Jessica and I embarked on a progressive lunch in Houston. Our first stop was at Niko Nikos. Photos used in this blog entry were taken by Thomas.

Niko Nikos

2520 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006

(713) 528-1308
www.nikonikos.com

Thomas alerted me that Guy from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives went to Niko Nikos, one of my favorite Greek restaurants. He had the lamb shanks and honey balls. I haven’t had either but I LOVE lamb. Thomas nominated that as one of our stops and it ended up being our first eatery. Interestingly, the first time I ever went to Niko Nikos was in 2008 with Thomas! Our whole eating group has been to Niko Nikos numerous times but the famed lamb shanks and honey balls were new for all of us.

I’m a big fan of lamb. When cooked right, the meat just falls off the bone. We watched in anticipation as Thomas easily cut away the meat with a plastic knife. We all shared the plate because Thomas and I learned from the last time we did this, it was best to watch our portions. The lamb came with a side of the potatoes I always get when I go to Nikos. Buttery, lemony, soft potatoes.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

For dessert we had the honey balls. Tasted like donut holes that are dipped in honey and dusted with powdered sugar. Delicious. The four of us had 2 balls each. ;)

All in all, I’m a little upset that I loved the lamb so much. I don’t live in Houston, my stomach lining can only stretch so much, and I already love Niko Niko’s menu so much…. to add yet ANOTHER favorite from here? Torture.

A picture of our photographer.

Video Clip of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives at Niko Nikos

I’ve been blue and I’m guessing this will be my general status quo for a while. I’m very much a type 7 kind of person so I don’t do very well sitting on my couch and feeling sorry for myself. I’m the kind of person who when faced with bad moods and heartache, I do my best to battle it with good times and reflecting on blessings. I cackle extra hard at mediocre jokes and I seek adventure. I’ve jumped out of planes and shot guns and traveled all in the spirit of avoiding pain. I’m pretty open to new experiences, but especially so when faced with adversity.

Although this is how I am, I don’t think it’s exactly healthy. I think we have to let ourselves mourn and feel what we feel now so that it’ll eventually run empty. It doesn’t mean I have to like it when my melancholy catches up to me and holds me in a lingering embrace. Actually it felt more like an unwelcomed, crushing bear hug. And that’s exactly what it did yesterday. The afterglow of my weekend in Houston wore off and I just felt extremely sad. All day. Most of the night. I’m a pretty rational person and I know bad times (and obviously good times) will pass. It’s just that I’m fucking impatient.

In the spirit of being more healthy about my coping with pain, I sat yesterday and bore the depression during work hours. Then, true to form I tried to use it as a trigger to propel me away. I completed tasks I was avoiding because I figured, hell, I’m having a bad day anyway, let’s just get this all out of the way. I cried my way through it and eventually made it to bed.

Here I am this morning. Ready to face it again. Tonight I’m meeting up an old/new group of friends and cooking something. Don’t know what yet. You know, to distract myself.

To nurse that afterglow I mentioned, I’m going to post random fun pictures from my weekend in Houston. (I have a progressive meal series to work on posting as well).

This picture makes me laugh out loud. I accidentally grabbed his butt right at the very second the picture was snapped. I thought it was his back! I did this to Jessica earlier that same day too. Oi.

What do you do when you’re feeling down?

Our friend is a grown up doctor now. He was all too happy to give us a biology lesson with the help of a sharpie and a belly…

14 more days til my favorite holiday. I had my first celebration tonight with roommate.

I bought some ready to bake Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies. I got two packages to be exact. Baked 1/2 of one tonight almost as soon as I got home from my weekend in Houston.

My roommate made a Strawberry Poke Cake. Those pink stripes were made possible by poking the cake with a fork and then pouring strawberry jello onto the cake, letting it seep and set in the refridgerator. Tasted so light and delicious!