The husband is a great baker man…he makes amazing galettes, cakes, cookies, and more. But he hasn’t had much experience with your yeast-induced rising-type delectables. This morning he, once again, attempted the creation of vegan caramel rolls. I awaited the results with bated breath…and was rewarded with a gooey, sticky mass of sweetness (though I could have done without the raisins). The rest of the weekend has been equally exciting. Spent my Friday night at the DMV with the new owner of my former vehicle. When I returned home from that adventure I’d been planning to wash dishes and make BBQ Tofu, but the husband beat me to the punch (yay!) on both counts. Saturday the little man and I skipped morning cartoons in favor of running around the backyard. After which we headed to brunch at Seward Cafe with our favorite Iowan-via-Canada. Brunch was my consolation prize for not being able to attend the Geek Prom with the cool kids. I’m waiting for recaps, but I guess the attendees are still recuperating. In other news, the little man was all hopped up and extra hyper yesterday. In the afternoon we stopped by a friend’s house, but I’ll bet she’s regretting having invited us. The boy was so out of control (in more ways than I care to recap) that we had to leave before long. His consolation prize was going back to our backyard. He’s been thrilled, as have I, to find neighbor kids his age to scamper about with. Yesterday afternoon saw escapades involving the Sea Lords line of water squirters, in the shape of seahorses, sharks, dolphins and fish. Good clean fun for a busy, hot day.
p.s. Often the best foods look the worst when photographed. I swear to you, this weekend’s brunches were quite yummy.
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Things were going too smoothly with this car sale. I knew something had to give. And it did. The buyer is set to come over this morning. We need to go to my credit union (which, it turns out, the buyer is also a member of), as I still have a bit to pay off on my loan before I can sell the car. I wanted to be prepared, to make sure that all the paperwork is in order, so I gave the credit union a jingle at 8am…when they were supposed to be open for the day. Instead I heard a hastily recorded greeting that was straight out of some bad sitcom. Turns out the location nearest my home is experiencing a power outage (don’t big businesses have backup generators and such?) and, as they are the headquarters, all branch offices are affected. You have got to be kidding me. The one and only day of the year that I really need them to be open…and they are down for the count. And who knows for how long. And the poor buyer? In his car, braving rush hour traffic, on the way here from the other side of the Twin Cities. Guess I should have gotten his cell phone number.
Update: It all worked out. Almost. The credit union was up and running by the time my buyer arrived. Afterwards we headed to the DMV for the title transfer, but it would have been at least a two hour wait…and we each had our young sons with us. We’ll try again tomorrow, sans sons.
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What a Wednesday. I accomplished more in one day than I often do in a whole week, and I don’t think it was just the caffeine. Highlights: taking the little man to visit my Dad at his workplace (which would be at the SPPD’s new HQ) first thing in the morning. Taking the little man, and my VW Golf, to the Downtowner Car Wash for their deluxe interior/exterior cleaning. The real highlight there…while we were waiting the shoe shine man offered the little man an exterior cleaning. Apparently he makes this offer to a lot of little ones, but they’re usually too shy to accept. Not my kid. Now his tennis shoes look brand new again. The lowlight…I was too busy being amused to capture the moment with my camera. Doh. Afterwards we headed home, where I listed the Golf on CarSoup. The ad elicited nearly a dozen inquiries in less than twelve hours. Sadly they were inquiries that I didn’t have time to deal with immediately (yes, CarSoup had me swamped). After work I had a meeting regarding freelance web work, and it’s a project I’m very excited about (more on that to come). When I finally returned home, again, I did speak with one very persistent fellow…who rushed over for a test drive. Looks like I’ll be selling the car in the morning, which is a relief but makes me sorta sad. But we really don’t need two cars…and we really do need to reduce our monthly expenses. I wrapped up the day with the brand new episode of Angel that I had, thankfully, remembered to tape. The lowlight: I was distracted throughout by one of my cats playing cat and mouse with, well, a mouse. Eww. Enjoy these photos from the past week, in no particular order.
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I’m always in a mad rush before leaving for work. Today I hastily grabbed a rubbermaid container that I thought was clean, and placed one of the husband’s delicious double chocolate chip cookies in it. But when I opened the container at work I first noticed the rank smell…then the residue. I have no idea what had previously occupied the container, but the foul substance (think ectoplasm a la Ghostbusters) it left behind had saturated the cookie, rendering it inedible…and really really nasty. I could have cried. Thankfully my apple was unharmed (though a poor substitute). Sigh.
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I hope the little man learned his lesson today: never freak out with a loaded toothbrush in hand. You see, I was brushing my teeth, as I often do. The little man decided it was time to brush his as well. Excellent. Good dental hygiene is highly valued in this household (well, by me at any rate). But he wanted to be the one to apply the toothpaste to his brush. Naturally I want him to be able to do more things for himself, but I know his limits. I’ve learned the hard way that he squeezes the Tom’s WAY too hard, sending half the tube oozing over the bristles and on to the floor. Sure, practice makes perfect…but I can’t afford to let him practice this task that much. So I reached over and put the paste to brush for him. This elicited a class A hissyfit, which led to the little man’s outfit (top and bottom) being soiled in sticky silly strawberry. And also got me to thinking…maybe this guy is on to something (or on something) with his ABC’s & LSD theory. Should we be concerned? The little man’s artwork has been noticably more whacked out lately (see the middle image, with the person on the right hurling all over the person on the left).
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One of the aforementioned Daves recently returned from Taiwan, where he visited with his in-laws without his lovely wife (he was actually there on business). He came home with some most excellent gifts (the little man preferred the Astro Boy Figurine Set over the tea, but I appreciate both) and an interesting idea. He’s considering moving to Taiwan temporarily, with the wife, to save money. The cost of living is much lower there, tasty vegan food is plentiful, and it would be an excellent experience. He made an offhand remark about our little trio joining them…but the idea seems to have caught on in our household, for a number of reasons. In no particular order:
1: The job market still sucks here. To make ends meet the husband is enduring a soul-crushing work schedule (he operates in two major modes: working or sleeping, and two minor: cooking or eating). In Taiwan there is a high demand for native English speakers to teach. We could likely line up decent-paying jobs before moving there.
2: The husband could put those Mandarin classes to good use.
3: Toy-shopping trips to Japan.
4: We could finally start saving money. Though not so much if I take too many toy-shopping trips to Japan.
5: Just imagine the content I could be post here (oooh, the photos). I’d be like Hong Kong’s Big White Guy. Except I’d be in Taiwan. And I’m little. And half-Lebanese. And a girl. Yeah.
6: I could make good on the threat to leave the country if the chimp is re-elected (though I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that that won’t come to pass).
7: We could hire a real estate management company to rent out our house while we’re away (talk about your absentee landlords)…which would mean much cleaning and repairing of said house beforehand, and storing our stuff. But it would be a great opportunity to clear out a lot of the clutter and make a fresh start upon our return. And we could, perhaps, finally refinish the hardwood floors upstairs.
This is an option we are seriously considering, but there are a thousand and one details to be worked out. House stuff, health insurance, work visas, the little man’s education. He would attend either the American School in Taipei, or possibly the British one…but I have concerns, as he is currently enrolled in a special education program. I wouldn’t want him to be thrown into a situation where he’d be struggling to keep up. More research must be done. We would also need to convince Huey-Ling. She’s the Taiwanese native, but the least enthusiastic of our entourage. Not because she doesn’t like living in Taiwan…but because the job market in her field is more competitive there. So this all leaves us with one big maybe, but the most exciting maybe that’s come my way in ages.
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Last night I was able to step out…with a couple of the Daves, and the one and only Huey-Ling. It was a packed house at the Riverview, and the film was an enjoyable one. Beat Takeshi was at his oddball best, and the geisha storyline was melancholy and moving, but balanced by moments of wacky fun. And throughout I noticed that one of the actors, Tadanobu Asano, looked more than hot…he looked familiar. I’ve seen several of his films, most notably the Sogo Ishii directed Electric Dragon 80,000 v…at last year’s New York - Tokyo film fest. Also appearing in Zatoichi, though briefly and uncredited, was Seizo Fukumoto…said to have died at least 20,000 agonizing deaths on screen over his career. See all this and more when Zatoichi hits theaters in June.
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I’ve been forcing my out-of-shape self to take the path of most resistance…the big green stairs that scale the cliff face in our neighborhood. For weeks I’d been skirting around them…favoring a winding, curving path to reach my destination instead. Not now. Obviously the descent, on the walk to work, is a much easier thing. The walk home finds me a little more tired, and defeated, than the walk there. At the end of the day mounting those monstrous stairs seems like a daunting and impractical thing to do. But I’m getting used to it. I’ve even grown used to panting when I reach the top. But not gasping for fresh air. Tonight I smelled burning leaves on my way up. After walking through a thick cloud of smoke at the top I smell like burning leaves. And now I’m in the mood to eat some damned smores. Too bad vegan marshallows are $5 a bag.
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Another weekend is upon us, and it’s going to be a busy one. Replete with crappy weather. That should help, actually. I’ll be more inclined to stay in to catch up on mundane minutiae…like cleaning and bills. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to take a break to see something from the International Film Fest. The classic blind swordsman series, Zatoichi, has been remade by Beat Takeshi. His update is showing Saturday night at the perfect venue…the Riverview Theater. If I miss it, though, it seems that Miramax has it slated for a wider release in June. Another selection of note, The Tesseract, screens next Thursday and Friday. Based on a book by Alex Garland (author of The Beach and 28 Days Later):
What might happen if you transported the heady demimonde of Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Hotel to contemporary flashy and trashy Bangkok? You might get something that resembles this visually atmospheric film, based on Alex Garland’s novel of the same name. A motley crew of tenants inhabits a rundown hotel in a gritty part of Bangkok, a city whose economy breeds a virulent capitalism based on crime, drugs, prostitution and an army of abandoned and abused children. Sean (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), a drug runner for the local mafia, is holed up when he finds himself drawn too deeply into a corrupt business; Saskia Reeves plays a British psychologist overcome by grief at the loss of her child; a Thai hit woman, wounded and on the lam after trying to retrieve a stash of dope, hides out; the hotel bellhop ransacks guests’ rooms stealing stuff he can sell on the streets. The lives of these marginal figures intersect in this forgotten space. But they also begin to invade and rearrange cause and effect, scrambling time as the same scene is repeated from varying points of view. Resembling a grittier version of The Matrix, the film features a visual style and musical score (by James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins) that underlines the hip permeability of time in this city steeped in Buddhist tradition and reeling from capitalist exploitation. An arresting, bizarre vision, the film builds a gothic, noir vision of alienation and connection that calls reality into question. Oxide Pang was born in Hong Kong and moved to Bangkok in 1992. With his twin brother, Danny, he has co-directed the high-octane horror film The Eye and the kinetic anti-travelogue Bangkok Dangerous.
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This week has been kicking my ass, and it’s not nearly over yet. That being the case, I neglected the PSAs I’d been meaning to post. To beat myself up a little more about it, I’ll post them now (yes, I am a recovering Catholic).
past: Yesterday my old pals brought a guest lecturer, Tom Regan, to the U of M. He gave a talk on the topic Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights. Apparently 200 or so people showed up, despite my failure to post about it in advance…and the more serious challenge of yesterday’s gorgeous weather. Folks must have heard there would be free vegan vittles. Evergreen catered, and the husband provided two of his decadent chocolate almond midnight cakes.
present (sort of): I guess I missed the mark here as well. Chuck sent me a blog action alert this morning…regarding a campaign for a one day phone blitz, calling on Governor Pawlenty to settle the bus strike asap. That day would have been today. Action. Inaction. Action.
future: Starfire also wrote me this morning, to remind me of the impending Geek Prom. I’ve long dreamed of attending, but this year the outlook is not so good. Still, I wholeheartedly endorse the event. As does Chuck, who will be attending in the capacity of “celebrity guest judge”. Fancy. More info:
Geek Prom is a somewhat formal party for adult misfits, which takes place annually in Duluth, Minnesota. This year’s Geek Prom will occur on April 17 at the Great Lakes Aquarium, where geeks will celebrate their clumsy social skills, useless talents and unrelenting desire to spaz out on the dance floor. Every variety of misfit will be on hand, including nerds, dill-weeds, spazzes, dorks, doofuses, dweebs, Einsteins, pizza faces, brainiacs, space cadets, mathletes, meteorologists, gamers, Trekkies, disc jockeys, zeros, gaywads, hobbyists, greenies, rejects, weaklings, technosexuals, career masturbators, bloggers, cloggers and all other corn-doggers age 21 or older.
Be there or be (less) square.
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