Curious Notions

Miss South Carolina was asked a simple question. Why does she think 20 percent of Americans are unable to locate the United States on a map. Her answer was atrocious. I don’t think she completed a sentence… She ended one with “such as.” Such as what!? She threw in Iraq, Asians, South Africans in her answer about American education.. and how we should help Asians. I can’t even summarize her answer. You must see for yourself.

Brilliant Answer From Ms South Carolina – Watch more free videos

Roomie’s comment: “Can you imagine dating her? If I weren’t horny, she’d drive me crazy.”

Today Dave and I had a cooking date. We met up at my place, on a whim decided to make two kinds of fish (salmon and catfish) and just went to HEB to gather somewhat random complementary ingredients. What ensued was us taking advantage of the generous counter space at our new apartment, getting in each other’s way, stepping over the dog Roomie and I are dog sitting, and cooking a perfectly portioned meal for four people complete with walnut chocolate cookies . We cooked for ourselves and my new roomie, and his friend. I don’t think there’s names for what we made… we just… threw things together. Luckily it turned out DELICIOUS. It was my first time cooking fish. I did catfish (I’m one of the very few people I know who like catfish) and he took the salmon.

I tried to go for a blackened catfish but it wasn’t very… blackened. Turned out good though!

So I love raw salmon.. but I usually hate cooked salmon. Usually dry for me. I gobbled this one down though. I was so busy with my fish I didn’t really see what Dave did to his fish. I know he did have water in the baking dish and then wrapped the salmon with foil then placed it in the dish. He says the fish soaks in the moisture as it cooks.. and man! It WAS moist. I’m not even a fan of cooked salmon and I loved it. I wonder if he remembers what he did…

We each also made a side. He did these pretty potatoes.. and I sauteed spinach and mushrooms with basil and garlic.

We need to work on presentation… Not very pretty.

So I finally REALLY broke in the kitchen in our new apartment. I also cooked fish for the first time, had fun bonding with Dave, and had funny light conversations over dinner with the boys! Success.

I had a whooping two hours of sleep last night. If you count the babysitting I did this morning and the health booth I worked at the Women’s Expo yesterday for my full time job… I had a 7 day work week. And I worked 10-12 hours every week day this week. Needless to say, it was a long week. Last night, went out downtown and then closed down Austin Karaoke (They close at 5am.) It was 6 before I got home and crashed for two hours before waking up to do my weekly babysitting job. I’ve always been one to burn the candle at both ends, I guess. I need to actually block out time for R&R.

I love being in the presence of good friendship. Something completely heartwarming and fascinating about observing groups of truly good friends… I guess a lot of people would agree. Look at the movies and the TV shows, Friends, SATC, Now and Then, Stand By Me, etc, etc. But it’s even more awesome when it’s real.

Last night at Austin Karaoke, I snapped a low-quality camera phone picture of some good friends with lots of history, singing very wholeheartedly and passionately, Stand By Me.

New Things of The Week:
- Pho Danh – Carol took us to the best pho place I’ve ever had in Austin before. Could it really be?! On Braker and Lamar, new pho place recently opened. Austin is somewhat lacking when it comes to good pho, but Pho Danh is good pho! Wow. Plus! It’s the first Vietnamese Pho Resturant I’ve been in that has automatic flushing toilets! That’s high class for authentic Vietnamese pho. Still frame:

- Bourbon Rocks – Bradley introduced all of us to a new part of Sixth street. I’ve never gone that far down Sixth.. found ourselves at a bar called Bourbon Rocks. Upon first entering, I noticed the live entertainment stage and then did the once over the crowd and feel of the club and I thought “wow.. seedy…” Actually, we all had the first same impression.. but then a band took over the stage, and the first song we saw performed was Warren G’s Regulate! Seriously! Regulate! LIVE! Consensus after that was, damn, this is one cool place. Definitely a place I’d come back to.

I think we may take a road trip to New Orleans during Labor Day weekend. I need a snow globe from that place.

I hate that relationship status thing on facebook and myspace.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20050538,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

Austinite and Owner of the Chuggin Monkey and Dizzy Rooster is going to be the next Bachelor. Werd?

Hot.. and in our own backyard. For shame. Had we known he was looking, I’m sure a lot of my girl friends would chat him up over drinks from his own damn bar. Mmmmm. Sometimes I like to leer and gawk at men :)

I have a set of people in my life with whomI feel the bond is strong enough to withstand a lot of years, a lot of distance, and a lot of life’s changes. Lifers are supposed to be for life. Well “suppose to” is the operative phrase. The fact that everyone is flawed in their own way compounded with the fact that everyone has different expectations of their friends makes for a few conditionals where Lifers lose their rank. They get demoted from Lifers to … acquaintances? Or from Lifers to “People you should be wary of?” Or Lifers to Slimers (also known as F*ckers). The conflict I’m struggling with is, what’s the point in confronting an Ex-Lifer once they fall? I don’t really care to get the last say because once they’re gone, everything you say is wasted breath.

For a while there I just cut out everyone once they cross some sort of line with me. It was a very haphazard way of living and I’ve learned that. I get it. People are not kitchen applicances you can just pitch once they start malfunctioning. Fine, whatever, I get it. Practicing that is a little difficult for me because I’m one who hates to waste time. What’s the point of investing time and energy to a Fallen Lifer? It’s all you can do not to remember how they’ve wronged you and thus they should not be trusted and therefore watch what you say around them. It’s consuming to constantly try to forgive them because why cultivate any sort of friendship (even superficial friendships) if you resent them for their trespasses? What’s the point? Networking? Never know when you need them so don’t burn the bridge? That’s what I get when proponents lecture me on my burning bridges… “you should never burn a bridge…” They usually appeal to utility. However, sometimes there’s nothing on the other side of that bridge you’d want so why not cut ties? Save yourself from pretenses.

So a Lifer of mine recently, unbeknownst to her, lost her rank with me. I’m trying to exercise this supposedly more mature way of dealing with it. The “you shouldn’t burn a bridge” philosophy so just play nice approach is a hard one for me to exercise. I’m prideful. I hold grudges. I’m deathly afraid of making the same mistakes twice. (Translation: I don’t want to trust you again.) I hate wasting time. I never sleep and I fill my time with things I love to do… playing nice is not something I love to do. I’m usually drained and exhausted from lack of sleep and therefore don’t even have the energy to conjure up feigned interest in boring life occurrences that do not belong to me or someone I care for immensely.

In short, I don’t get this don’t burn bridges, try to play nice crap.

Paramount Theatre
Two Thursdays ago, Mary Ellen and I went to see a double feature at the
Paramount Theatre . I’ve been meaning to visit this historical theatre since almost exactly two years ago. I finally remembered the Summer Classic Series they do every year. Mary Ellen and I watched What’s New Pussycat? and How to Steal a Million. I fell in love with the theatre as soon as I walked in. It was as if we walked into a different era.. made me feel old time sophiscated. Unfortunately they don’t allow photos inside the Paramount. Check out the website for a few glimpses. Loved it. As for the movies? What’s New Pussycat? is Woody Allen’s first screenplay. I find myself a big fan of Allen’s work (Annie Hall, What’s New Pussycat?, Match Point) which troubles me since… well the whole molest his step adopted daughter and marrying her later thing kind of makes me cringe. I’m conflicted! He’s just so damn witty, that nasty perv. How to Steal a Million was fairly amusing.. I crushed on the young Peter O’toole in How to Steal a Million but his eyebrows freaked me out in What’s New Pussycat?

Guerro’s
Two Sundays ago, had lunch with Kim, Chris, Willis, Thomas, and Mary Ellen at Guerro’s. Kim’s idea.. new place for everyone. Located on South Congress.. trendy little mexican place. Like Polvos, you get your own salsa at the salas bar. I had a Santa Fe Enchillada. It was the first time I had an enchilada with a fried egg on top. Interesting, no? I’d go back to this place if I find myself on South Congress browsing the shops around brunch time.

Dhaba (The Organic Drink/Pastry shop connected to Toy Joy)

Mary Ellen and I wandered in after browsing Toy Joy 2 weeks ago. I love the Austiny atmosphere in Dhaba.. Lots of Formica in vibrant colors and their cupcakes are cutesy and organic all at the same time. Place smells of sweet spices. Mary Ellen and I both got the Almond, Coconut, Banana smoothie. Delicious.

Four Seasons
Before last week, I’ve peed at a Four Seasons (Boston); I’ve eaten at a Four Seasons (Austin); now I’ve stayed at a Four Seasons (Atlanta). Since this line of hotel is such a household name, I thought I’d document this as a new thing of the week. I’ve stayed at nice hotels before (Ritz, various spa hotels, etc) but never had I such friendly service. I stopped a Four Seasons staff member to ask directions to where I could get change and the guy, mid-carrying a huge easel, set it down, got my bills, and ran to get my change.. mid-hallway. How amazing is that? I also locked myself out of my room and a housekeeping staff member managed to get me back in without my having to go to the front desk. Also, they turned over my room twice… and when they turn over the room they also take the time to FOLD YOUR CLOTHES! Including your UNDERWEAR! Admittedly I was a bit creeped out that someone touched my thong and folded it neatly over my skirt and placed it deliberately on the bed. Is that weird? Am I too sheltered?

Georgia Aquarium

So I’ve already been here last year but this time around I managed to squeeze in a couple of new things. I touched a horseshoe crab.. but the most amazing thing I did was eat dinner in front of Beluga Whales. The sponser that sponsered the meeting I went to in Atlanta last week rented out a gallery in the Aquarium and after the aquarium closed to the public, we were served a quiet dinner infront of the playful Belugas. Now, before I spent more than 10 minutes infront of a Beluga tank, I always thought they were serene, majestic animals. After spending a couple of hours with them, I learned they’re quite playful! They would nuzzle against the glass and perform for us. A few female collegues made kissing nosies at them through the glass and to everyone’s delight, they made kissing noises back! Very cute and very sweet… Again, after SeaWorld a few weekends ago and now this, I’m 100 percent certain, I want a pet whale.

Oh, I also saw a whale poo. In case you’re curious, it looks like a black cloud.

Coke Cake

Did you know you can bake with CocaCola? I didn’t know, but what’s a better place to have Coke Chocolate cake than in Atlanta, Georgia? One of the desserts served at one of our meals at the Four Seasons was Coke Cake… you can actually taste the coke! (Brandi, you should look into this in your next cake endeavor.) *

Fufu’s Cafe

I was in Houston this past weekend. Thomas, Cindy, Jason, Julie, and Chris and I met up at Fufu’s Cafe, our purpose being to eat soup dumplings. I’ve only had soup dumplings once in my life and it was at Joe Shanghai’s in NYC. I actually still have a photo of those dumplings on my computer…

Unforunately, at noon they had ran out of soup dumplings… RAN OUT! So we quickly coped and ordered beef noodle soups, fried dumplings, and Chinese breadsticks with Soy milk instead. I’ve never had those breadsticks with soy milk before. Apparently, it’s a traditional snack. Cindy took a snap of our feast…

Juice Box

Finally hit up Juice Box in Houston. Delicious fresh juice blends.. I had the strawberry juice. Cindy and Jason had mango.. Next time I’m dong the mango. Chris ordered a shaved ice with mangos, red beans, and ice cream. Nice place. Ran into a couple of college classmates.

Fung’s Kitchen

Went here yesterday for dim sum before I went back up to Austin. New for me… Good dim sum :) Happening place. Parking’s somewhat bitchy. Austin needs a good dim sum place, damnit.

Ahhhh. This entry was exhausting. I think I’m done.

* Before I peace out, a plug for Brandi. She took up cake decorating as a hobby. Amazing cake she baked for my birthday :) Joke was that she killed three Care Bears to make it.

The short end of it is I’ve been very busy and have lots to share. Internet is finally being installed at the new apartment next Tuesday. I had the best birthday I’ve ever had :) Thanks to the great people in my life.. I swear… great people! Mary Ellen flew down for a super long weekend for the birthday. Tuesday, I flew out to Atlanta for work. I got back last night. Tomorrow going to Houston for the weekend and when I get back… expect updates.