May 19

My best friend and I started a daily writing exercise about 6 weeks ago. I got the idea from a book I read on writing about food. We compiled an ongoing numbered list of stuff. Stuff could include people, objects, ideas. At the beginning of each week, we draw a random number and then Monday through Friday, we spend a few minutes a day writing about the corresponding prompt. So far we’ve spent a week on carrots, goldfish, names, roaches, broken watch, and this week we drew motorcycle.

We’ve started writing projects together before but I think we appreciate this one the most. For a few weeks after our first prompt, I couldn’t suppress a secret smile every time I came across a carrot. Before writing about carrots a week, I never really gave them much thought. It also has unearthed and helped me record some memories; I never realized how many vivid roach memories I had! I thought I’d share a memory of mine that was my Day 1 contribution this week. It’s about my oldest brother whom I haven’t seen in over ten years. Word on the street, and by word on the street I mean Google search engine, tells me he’s currently in San Francisco. I am not divulging why I chose not to call but suffice it to say, not only have we not seen each other, but we haven’t spoken in over ten years too.

My oldest brother had a motorcycle. I don’t remember what it looked like. I was too young to go investigate on my own. We lived in an apartment so it’s not like my parents would let me roam the parking lot freely. But I always knew that he had one. I vaguely remember sometimes watching him tend to it from the balcony.

I only have a handful of memories of my oldest brother and I treasure each one. I think namely because I have so few and it’s my way of reinforcing in my mind that I have older siblings (all absent).

I think he’s the very first person I think of when I think motorcycle and the first person I knew personally with a bike.

I remember he came home one day (I wasn’t even in school yet) and I was sitting on the floor of our living room playing. It was just us two and he had this smile on his face. Gleeful. Like he just obtained something fantastic and was dying to share with someone. Since I was the only one around, I was that person for him. He asked me if I wanted to see something. Did he describe it as gross? cool? I wish I could remember.

He then turned so I had a direct view of his profile. I can’t remember which side, I want to say his left side. He pulled down his pants all the way to his ankles to show me his leg. Stunned, I saw the biggest scab of my life! He had fallen while riding his motorcycle and skinned his entire leg. Hip to ankle. Red, scabbed, purple, tender, bloody. And he was giggling with delight. I remember feeling dumbfounded, why was he so happy?

That’s all I have of this memory.

It still is the biggest strawberry I’ve seen.

Mar 10

There’s something really comforting and cozy about sitting on a couch even by yourself and enjoying a movie. Perhaps under a blanket or while mindlessly munching on popcorn as you vicariously get taken to another world by way of cinema. Particularly when things are tough, watching a movie can quiet and dull all sorts of mind chatter and heartache. I remember after a particularly bad break up several years ago, I kept a movie log (surprise, surprise, I log everything) and my movie count for an entire summer ran over EIGHTY movies. Kym accompanied me once that summer to Blockbuster and to my utter embarrassment, the Blockbuster dude told her to take me out.

All that said, what about going to the movies by yourself? I’ve been doing this for years and cannot remember the first movie I saw by myself. Sporadically, I have opened up about this solo activity of mine and am often reacted to with shock and or involuntary pity and always with curiosity. “Don’t you feel like a loser?” gets asked often. My answer is no. I have only one stipulation I place on myself out of insecurity and that is to avoid Friday and Saturday nights. Those are the only times I feel self-conscious. Otherwise, it feels very indulgent. I even break out date night outfits to make it more of a treat. So there you have it, I’m a proponent for going out to the movies solo every once in a while.


Some advantages of going to the movies on your own

  • Feels just like you’re watching a movie in your living room but with a much, much bigger screen.
  • No awkward reach overs to share popcorn. It’s all yours!
  • If you avoid Friday and Saturday evenings, a movie theatre provides a very quiet haven to just sit and be before your movie starts.
  • You don’t have to have a date to wear a date outfit. (I wore my sparkly headband last night.)


Question: Have you been to the movies by yourself? If so, what have you seen?

P.S. Saw An Education last night. A WONDERFUL film. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Feb 4
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.

Feb 3

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?

Jan 23
I sketched today.
icon1 Linda | icon2 art, love, memory | icon4 01 23rd, 2010| icon33 Comments »


Drawn without training, a no 2. pencil and Crayola colored penciles.

I’d like to formally explore drawing “rules” and techniques one day. You can tell I’m very untrained. Proportions are off. Look at her boots. Sigh, so many things to explore in this life and not enough time.

My dad drew. I remember as a child, I snooped through his letters and paperwork, wishing I knew how to read Vietnamese. I wanted to read the letters he used to write to my maternal grandfather. I liked the stationary and running my fingers over the ridges of imprinted words. (I also like running my fingers over the ridges of completed jigsaw puzzles.) While snooping one day, I found some drawings he drew while in a reeducation camp in Vietnam. They were drawn on pieces of cardboard and they were BEAUTIFUL. I think that’s painfully romantic. Drawing pictures of your wife while imprisioned. I can imagine him admiring his drawings with deep longing every night before bed. I should write myself a reminder to ask him if he’s tucked these drawings anywhere…

Dec 31

In comparison to 2008, 2009 was awful! The one thing I can think of that 2009 had over 2008 was that I read more than double the books I read in 2008. I’m anticipating the fresh feel of a new year that is 2010. In the meantime, here’s a review of how my year has gone with heavier emphasis on my blessings verses my misfortunes.

Note: All links open in a new window.

January 2009


Celebrating New Year’s with the boyfriend

February 2009


Alan and I at the Killer’s Concert

March 2009


Rodeo, Austin, TX

April 2009


Selina’s Birthday

May


Celebrating Sae’s law school graduation

June 2009


Cindy and me at Grand Lux Cafe in Houston

July


Brandi and me on Fourth of July

August

  • The first two weeks of August, I tried to squeeze in as much time as I can with Alan because he was about to leave for Korea for up to 4.5 months.
  • Starting, August 16, I started counting days Alan was gone.
  • Kim came to visit the weekend of the 22nd and we saw Wicked.
  • I saw 500 Days of Summer three times this month, in theatre, of course. This is the first movie I’ve done that.
  • Jon visited from NYC.
  • I got a part-time, part-time (yes you read that right) job, thanks to Brittany dropping a good word for me.


Alan’s last night out with friends before going to Korea.

September

October

November


Having hot chocolate at Ren Fest.

December


After party in the car.

I’m a blessed girl. Instinctively, I’d tell you my 2009 was pretty awful but when I write it all out like this and focused on the good rather than the bad, I can see now I’m still quite lucky. Farewell, 2009.

Tell me how your year went. Or better yet, if you have a year in review entry, I’d love to read yours.

Dec 23

1906 Guadalupe St
Austin, TX 78705

(512) 482-9880

One thing I’m enjoying as I’m acclimating to my new job at UT is relearning the campus and rediscovering old beloved haunts. One such place is Tapioca House, affectionately or lazily? dubbed “Tap House” as heard from most of my college friends and acquaintances. I’m delighted that they’re still open! It’s been over 4 years since I’ve had their food and over two years since I had their pearl drinks (kind of, I went to the Houston location over 2 years ago).

Tapioca House is first and foremost, a bubble tea/pearl drink place. It’s been 2 doors down from another longstanding pearl drink place called Coco’s. Now these recent years past, I go to Coco’s the North location to get my bubble tea because I could not be bothered to drive to campus. But before I graduated, Tapioca House was many a college student’s preference over Coco’s for some very obvious reasons.

1. Tap House has punch cards allowing you to earn a free drink after every 10 punches or so.

2. Coco’s and Tap House both served a handful of Taiwanese food. Both very good. What gave Tap House the edge with college students is the meal combos! You can get your bubble tea drink and for an additional two or three dollars, you get an authentic Taiwanese meal! Very economical for the broke college student.

So I was walking around the deserted campus on Monday and was going to try a new banh mi restaurant called “Bite Mi” (get it?) but much to my dismay, like a handful of eateries, Bite Mi is closed for the holidays. I guess with all the students gone for the holidays, some restaurants don’t find it worthwhile to stay open. It was no bother as I just walked a few doors over and I was reunited with Tap House!

I ordered one of my rotating usuals, a coconut milk tea. I made it a lunch combo and ordered their curried chicken. Now Tap House is all about product and doesn’t care too much for packaging. Decor is absent, design (if you can call it design) is only practical. You don’t come here for frills. One said frills is plates! Everything comes out in your own takeout box, regardless of whether you eat in or out.

True to my memories, the boxed meals still come with a side of sauteed bean sprouts and a soy sauce braised egg (We have these in Vietnamese cuisine too). Yum. As you can see, I like to douse most of my food with anything red and spicy. It was good and tasted like decent basic curry. I think I most enjoy just all the memories that were triggered from eating here. It was a quiet and peaceful lunch. I sat by the window and watched the very few people still on campus walk by.

Dec 18

Yesterday. I was being trained at my new job in the biology building on campus. It kind of feels weird to be in that building as a staff member and not as a student. Mid-training, I hear a loud, hearty, and lingering laugh from one of the ladies I’ll be working with a lot. She excused the interruption and explained that we haven’t had a Botany Department in over ten years and yet they just received a package addressed to the Chair of Botany Department. Here’s a paraphrase of the note she read to us.

Years ago, I worked in your department
and thoroughly enjoyed my job and the
people I worked with. Upon leaving my job,
I stole a stapler. I am now trying to
live more honestly and wanted to right
this wrong. Enclosed is a brand new
stapler.

I really am tickled that he carried this stapler on his conscience for over ten years. I’m also touched that he took the time and paid the 8 dollar shipping to right it. It got me thinking of some wrongs I could right from my distant past.

The first wrong that came to mind is stealing candy from my parents. I should buy my mom and dad a whole bunch of banana flavored Now and Laters. My parents used to sell these to mostly children for 10 cents a little pack of 4 Now and Laters (pictured above). I stole a few of the banana ones sometimes several times a day and I’d bring them to school and share them with my friends and my crush and first puppy love, Austin Bates. I started doing this in the first grade and didn’t stop til maybe middle school. Maybe I’ll be able to find a bunch of banana ones before Christmas and this could be part of their Christmas gifts.

What’s one wrong you want to atone for and how would you do it?

Dec 10

If you haven’t an idea what I’m talking about, read these entries first:

1. Sneak Peak/Introduction
2. First stop: Kolache Factory

For our second stop for progressive lunch (third for me if you want to count the lunch I had with mom), Willis drove us to Antones, the original one. I used to LOVE Antones (3 locations in Houston) in high school. They’re famous for their po boys. I alternated between the tuna po boy and the original po boy. Dad often would get them for me while in high school and I often met up with friends junior and senior year of high school at Antones. It’s been years since I’ve had their sandwiches but man, it was one happy reunion. The three of us split one tuna po boy and one Original Po Boy (ham, salami, Provolone, chow chow, mayonnaise & dill Pickles). This rekindled my old flame and now I have another place to haunt when I go back to Houston.

Well I’m really past my bed time. Here are photos!

I think he’s trying to show us what’s inside…

Photos in this entry were taken by Thomas.

Dec 2

1115 E 11th St
Austin, TX 78702

(512) 542-9542
http://www.bluedahliabistro.com/

I love the holidays because it tends to bring old faraway friends back home. On my way drive back to Austin from Houston, feeling incredibly full from Hugo’s reunion with Kim, I get a text message from my Solemate, Kym. She’s going to be in Austin for just a few hours, will I be free? Kym, Dave and I were INSEPARABLE summer of 2005. That was when our friendship budded and it was a fast friendship. Everyday during summer session, the three of us would look at each other after class and ask, “What are we doing today?” Giggling manically while scheming. So Sunday, literally 30 minutes after my 3 hour drive, Kym and I managed to pull Dave away from the library doing work to have a proper reunion.

Dave took us to Blue Dahlia, his favorite affordable romantic date place. A French restaurant especially picked to honor Kym’s Parisian roots.

Dave hadn’t had dinner yet so he ordered the egg salad. It came with capers which he picked off and Kym and I picked up. Kym already had dinner and as I said, I was full from Hugo’s, so we opted to order two desserts to share. (It’s a wonder I still fit in my clothes! I haven’t even showed you all of what I’ve eaten over the weekend!) We order bread pudding and the triple chocolate mousse.

I thoroughly enjoyed it all. Especially the desserts. I’d come back here next time I want to have a cozy place to nibble desserts and chat. I think we turned heads with all the giggling we did. Enjoy the photos.


Dessert Menu!


I’d order the bread pudding again!


Triple Chocolate Mousse


Egg Salad


Did I tell you the three of us actually have a motto?


I stole this picture from Kym’s facebook.

P.S. I started my new job today! They take 3:00 coffee breaks together. How cute is that?

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