w a n d e r l u s t » Friends and Family

Post It or Lose It

Jeff Nguyen — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:27:15 +0000

Been a clumsy few weeks and killed my ex-hd with all my pics. More reason to post pics of my beautiful life more often.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Rich Girls Poor Girls- Everybody Else

Be Kind and Rewind

Jeff Nguyen — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:09:31 +0000

Had a recent chance to recharge my batteries by catching up with old friends. Just saying those words, “old friends” rolls in my mouth like a good barolo and warms my empty stomach. Below is a compendious recap:

Work: Don’t you feel like you are sometimes the head-half of this donkey costume of a company?

Women: “Were they beautiful? We were all beautiful. We were in our twenties.”Steve Martin

Marriage: Elope.

Economy: Unemployment up, wages down, cost of living up but that little dinosaur still makes me smile like a geeky kid.

Friends: I love them. I am gonna make them pancakes.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: 17-Kings of Leon

David Done Did It Again

Jeff Nguyen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:17:41 +0000

happy birthday my brother from another mother

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Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Everyone-The B&W Years

Shake it, now wait, waaait…

Jeff Nguyen — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:19:08 +0000

[polaroid=16,550,550]

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Polly Come Home-Robert Plant and Allison Krause

2008 (I am on the Lunar calendar)

Jeff Nguyen — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:30:22 +0000

Friends and Family – check and check
Meaning – ~~check~~
Random Thoughts – check^6.022 141 79 x 10²³ mol^-1
Wanderings – . . . – - – . . .

Things seem to be in order.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Penalty-Beirut

Thanksgiving Potluck:25+ Guests, 20 Hens, 2 Babies, and 1 Sore Back

Jeff Nguyen — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:34:34 +0000

Finally threw a dinner party at the new pad for friends and family. We rented mesas and sillas from the local market had an intimate candle-lit dinner in our courtyard (haha, sorry was trying to hold a serious face) with the people we love.

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I ain’t big on the turkey so roasted up cornish hens with cinnamon, cumin, and quince. Quince is a fragrant and super tart apple-pear like fruit that is shaped like a tennis ball. Roasted it gives off umeboshi like flavoring. My first time using the fruit and found that it paired well with the spices and just needed a little sugar for balance. Wok cooked up a cream of sweet yam soup that had a good cinnamon kick to add the extra warmth needed for dining al fresco on a brisk fall night. It tasted even better the next day. Friends brought the wonderful carbs and greens which included potato balls (Khanh), candied yams with strawberries(Nina), seafood linguine(Ernie), chinese chick salad (Stee & Kim), waldorf salad(Jordan), turkey and cran stuffing(David), mash tators(Stee and Julie), and veggie apps (G and Minh). The booze of the night was Beaujolais noveau from Dupond and Duboeuf–both light and tasty to quaff as you gorge.

I am glad that I have times like these to combat the Grinch in me. Consumerism during the holidays it takes on a whole new nadir and has been straight bumming me out lately. The downside of economic knowledge and maybe knowledge of institutions in general, is the more you learn the more you see that the world is a machine trying to exploit you—damn all that Yunnus and NPR killing all the Xmas magic. So this holiday season do what Reverend Billy says, “Buy less, and give more.”

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Terrapin(Mr.Scruff Remix)-Bonobo

Rasta Rugrats

Jeff Nguyen — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:04:31 +0000

Uncle’s gift to the kiddies.

Yes D, love and affection is a competition. The reigning “Cool Uncle” 2 years running.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Walked Out this Morning-Neon Heights

Tomorrow is Not Promised.

Jeff Nguyen — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:28:38 +0000

Hug’em, kiss’em, and tell ‘em you love ‘em today.

To Be Good, Be Good to Each Other

Jeff Nguyen — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:59:33 +0000

I threw a BB-Q luncheon for my new team at work this week. For me, it’s a simple thing. I like to cook and I like to cook for people I like. And what better way to bond with your team than food, lazy talk, and sunshine. They haven’t had a staff social function in almost three years! It’s difficult to understand how management can be oblivious to the drag in the office morale. You spend more time during the week with the people at work than you do your family and friends so you need time to relate, commiserate, celebrate. Like a colleague of mind said at the BB-Q, “All work and no fun, is no fun.”

“Staff meal was first about the fundamentals of cooking and how to work with by-products, using scraps to make something tasty, eye-appealing, and satisfying. But the message underlying that was “Can you be passionate about cooking at this level?” Staff meal. Only the staff sees it. If you can make great food for these people, create that habit, have that drive, that sincerity, and keep that with you and take it to another level in the staff meal, then someday you’ll be a great chef. Maybe.”-T.Keller, French Laundry

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: How Can I Tell You – Cat Stevens

The Summer of Loving Begins

Jeff Nguyen — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:28:10 +0000

No better way to kick off the summer than with a backyard BB-Q birthday party. Surprisingly everyone showed up on time instead of Asian time which made food menu execution little difficult. I have never been a big fan of those egomaniacal chef shows (respect and admire the chefs themselves just not the shows) but I can see why they throw tantrums when things don’t go exactly to plan, or more precisely to vision. Well, I didn’t lose my cool and start berating people and their moms and instead quaffed my wine and took the queue of 40 people at my grill as a compliment. In the end I knew the party was a success when the birthday boy is piss drunk and running laps up and down my street. Cheers!

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Believe Me Pretty Mama – Nick Drake