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

happy birthday my brother from another mother

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

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

Nothing like kids to put your world in perspective.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: po-po sirens and Got to Hide Your Hate Away- Beatles

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

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: This American Life (how apropos, the show is about “How to Talk Kids”)

Tofu Fest 07 was bigger than ever. Some past years were lil better because of they had a big kids crafts area, live music, and more shaded rest areas. And it was HOT and I have sandal tan lines to prove it. Still the masses came which meant snaking lines for everything. Never stood in line so long for tofu. Had a kid in one hand most of the time and a tofu in the other so no pics of the grub. Best dishes were the tofu-hambug from Tokyo Table and tofu cheesecake from House Foods. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have any stuffed tofu mascot toys…you know for the kids.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Smoker Detector-Rilo Kiley

Attached Files:

• Tofu Festival 07

Tip of the Day: When you don’t have dau xanh, Icy Hot or Vicks VapoRub works just as well (maybe better since it’s easier to apply) to cao gio.

[Nov. 12th, 2002|08:39 pm]

[	mood	|	full	]
[	music	|	la ley-el duelo (unplugged)	]

the last place i thought i would have a talk about happiness is from my accounting professor. following a zillion slides of gasb and fasb he abruptly stops and asks if we were happy. he said he can tell a lot about people’s perception on happiness if you ask what kind of dream car they had. we went around the class and i heard a lot of wishes for benzs, audis, etc etc. when my turn came, i didn’t know exactly why i said our first family car. it was a dull white ’76 Ford Maverick that rocked like a boat over pot holes. i liked how the blue vinyl smelled and even how it stuck to us on summer days (hehe still remember those tight, unnaturally colored shorts that made you look like urkel). The piece de resistance was a statuette of the virgin mary super glued at the middle of the dashboard her back faded by years of sun but her face remained serene and welcoming.

i got real nostalgic and couldn’t concentrate on accounting afterwards. i remember a game i made up that i played with my brother in the car. while we were in the back seat i would pretend that he was invisible and look for him, by tickling him and pretend to not hear his laughter. hey we didn’t have toys, so a little imagination went a long way.

i miss my sisters. i am still completely amazed how one minute my baby sister is crawling around and bam the next minute she is walking (like a lil drunkard but a cute one). i laughed till i hurt when i saw her dancing to those paris by night videos.

woo hoo looking forward to doing nothing with the family on turkey day!!!
damn this schoolwork….evil, pure evil.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: The Night Starts Here – Stars

Cailuong isn’t cailuong without powdered nose bridges and eye-liner…

Soundtrack of Mi Vida:Two-Ryan Adams

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