[ Friday, November 30, 2007 ]
I Made It!With huge sacrifices and a lot of pain (more than you know!) I made it through all 30 days of
! Thanks for reading my blog! Now it's time for NOBloPoMo for December! Hehehe...
yam [8:47 AM ]
[ Thursday, November 29, 2007 ]
Duh!
Have you seen those new Hyundai commercials on TV for their "Big Duh Sale"? I just think that is one of the funniest ad campaigns I've seen in a while. "Duh!" is one of my most favoritest words (besides "D'oh!")... "The pope is Catholic? Duh!" "I like to eat? Duh!" "It's almost Christmas and I'm not prepared at all yet? DUH!"
And if you go to the Hyundai website and click on the Compose "DUH" Song, they have an interactive page where you can create your own "Duh" music and record it. I was just cracking up, tapping on my keyboard "Duh, duh, duh, duuuuuh, duuuuhhhh, duh, duh!". Bahahahaha!
Yes, I'm easily amused. But also I think I'm going batty trying to come up with things to write about for
Day 29. Only 1 more day!More "DUH"
Happy HoliDUH
yam [8:47 PM ]
[ Wednesday, November 28, 2007 ]
Miscellaneous YamblingsI'm so glad that there are only two more days left of NaBloPoMo. My brain is drained. So rather than try to put together a long rambling soapbox oration, I'm just going to spew out some random thoughts, like I normally do.
- I like chocolate, but I especially love DARK chocolate. Milk chocolate is usually too sweet for me so I usually opt for the semi-sweet dark instead. Maybe I should say "bittersweet" instead? Well, I was thinking that if dark chocolate is good, EXTRA DARK chocolate must be better, right? So I bought a small bar (it's about 1/3 smaller than a regular chocolate bar) of Hershey's Extra Dark (60% Cacao) and I have to say that it tipped the scale. Wasn't sweet enough. Go figure.
- I watched every episode of DWTS this season, including last night's finale (recorded on my DVR), so I guess I should make a comment on it. I was a bit surprised the Helio won, but I was actually pulling for him (voted for him on Monday). While I think that Mel was a better dancer, I liked Helio's shiny attitude a lot and enjoyed how entertaining he was. I have to admit that I used to be a big race car fan (Formula 1, Indy cars, road racing) so that gave me a bit of a bias too. When he was doing his thank you's last night I was wondering why he didn't mention his fiance, but then today I read that they had broken off their engagement. Aww.
- Before DWTS though, I watched the Lakers game and was glad that they finally won a game after losing 3 in a row. They looked so amazing against Indiana last week, but then were less than spectacular since then. But I guess that's what we're in for this year since they're basically a very young team. I just hope that they get more consistent with the winning as the season goes on. Go Kobe!
- I'm still doing my online Christmas shopping and almost every other day there's been a box or two on the porch when I come home! But, in all of my "shopping" I've come across a couple of items that I just couldn't pass up and have also bought things for myself! Hee-hee! OK, one was needed (a couple of skillets) but one was just something that I've wanted for a while and saw a deal I couldn't pass up.
- When Matthew came home from his weekend with his cousin, he had a big scar on his forehead. He told me that he got it when a lamp hit his head. I didn't even try to find out how a lamp was even near his head, as I figure that I'll never really find out the real story. Sheesh.
- Here's another one of those crazy Japanese TV shows that someone at work sent me the link to:
Day 28yam [8:15 PM ]
[ Tuesday, November 27, 2007 ]
Sum Yam Lamb Thai NoodlesOK, for lack of any ideas for blogging today, here is another recipe that I created a few weeks ago that I'm finally posting. It's a bit of an eclectic dish, but if you're daring enough, I think you'll really enjoy it!
SUM YAM LAMB THAI NOODLES
4 lamb sirloin boneless chops (about a pound)
Marinade
1 ripe kiwi, peeled, pureed
1/2 c. soy sauce
2 T honey
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T smooth peanut butter
1 t Sriracha hot sauce
Peanut Sauce
1 scallion, chopped
1 t vegetable oil
2 T sweet chill sauce
6 oz light coconut milk
5 T crunchy peanut butter
1 T fish sauce
Noodles
8 oz pkg cooked noodles (rice or wheat)
1/4 c julienned carrots
1/2 c bean sprouts
1/4 c chopped mushrooms
2 T chopped cilantro
Slice the lamb (or, you could substitute any kind of meat) into bite-sized pieces and soak in the marinade for about an hour in the refrigerator.
While the meat is marinating, mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
Cook the noodles per package instructions and drain.
After the meat has been marinated for an hour, add a tablespoon of oil into a large hot wok or skillet and cook until brown. Add the vegetables and peanut sauce and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes until slightly tender. Add in the noodles and warm through. Serve immediately. Top with some ground peanuts, raw bean sprouts and julienned carrots. Makes 6-8 servings.
Enjoy!
Day 27yam [7:39 PM ]
[ Monday, November 26, 2007 ]
T-Day PostscriptHere's my 10 minute blog update from the long 4-day weekend
- Ate way too much food and gained about 3 pounds.
- Did not set foot into any retail store for all 4 days.
- Did spend a couple hundred dollars shopping online for Christmas.
- Didn't just buy gifts. Saw a great deal or two and pickup up a couple of things for myself!
- Got the final checks and paperwork completed for Matthew's inheritance and just waiting for the lawyer to finish up (and for his final bill... oy).
- Slept in every day and had a really hard time waking up today to go back to work.
- Realized that there's only 4 weeks until Christmas!
- Only 4 more days of NaBloPoMo!
Day 26yam [10:04 PM ] GlobalIncident
This is quite interesting, but really sad that we even need this kind of information - GlobalIncidentMap.com.
yam [3:22 PM ]
[ Sunday, November 25, 2007 ]
I didn't take any photos this time, so here are some ribs
from a previous BBQ (along with some sausages)
Blackened Blueberry Barbecue Baby Back Ribs
As requested here's my recipe for the blueberry ribs. And as always, I preface this by saying that I don't measure, so these amounts are all estimates and you may need to adjust them to your own tastes.
3 racks pork baby back ribs (approx 8 lbs)
1 Tbl liquid smoke
2 Tbl kosher salt
1 large onion, sliced
BBQ sauce
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 dry white wine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark corn syrup or honey
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
water
Place the whole rib racks into a large roasting pan and cover with water and set on double burner stove. Add the liquid smoke, salt and onion to the water and boil for about an hour until the meat almost comes off the bone (but don't overdo it!). Skim off the foamy residue.
While the meat is cooking, make the sauce. Into a saucepan, add the blueberries, soy sauce, wine, brown sugar, corn syrup, ginger and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the blueberries are soft. Carefully pour the mixture into a blender and mix until smooth. Now pour the sauce through a strainer to remove all of the pulp. Pour the sauce back into the saucepan and bring to a boil again. Add in a roux (cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water) and boil for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens, and then take off the stove to cool. (You can make the sauce the night before).
When the meat is done, coat the ribs with the sauce and put on a hot BBQ grill. (If you have a smoke box on your BBQ grill, add some wood chips for more smoky flavor!) Baste the ribs with the sauce every 5 minutes and turn frequently until the sauce has a nice dark, slightly blackened color (about 1/2 an hour). Slice up the racks into individual ribs and coat with the remaining sauce, then cover with foil to let the sauce soak into the cut meat surfaces, and to let the moisture go back into the meat while it cools slightly.
I've always gotten good comments on my ribs. Hope you enjoy it!
Day 25P.S. Last night I just stayed home and puttered around the house and on my computer. Eh, I guess I'm just getting old.
yam [3:19 PM ]
[ Saturday, November 24, 2007 ]
Beautiful Day - For Most
It's very rare that I have the time to have a nice relaxing morning to just enjoy the day, but since little boy is away from home, we went out to a very nice, lazy breakfast down near the beach this morning. And the weather is fantastic for a late November day, with clear skies and warm temps (upper 70's).
After breakfast we took a nice leisurely stroll down the beach alongside a bunch of other people who were also enjoying the great weather. Unfortunately, as you can see in this photo, the hills above Malibu are burning again. We get these nice warm days from the Santa Ana winds, but they get those dry gusty winds that are prone to exacerbate brush fires started by a tiny spark or some nutjob pyromaniac.
I'm still trying to decide what to do for the rest of my "single" weekend. Any suggestions?
Day 24yam [1:25 PM ]
[ Friday, November 23, 2007 ]
Eating AftermathAs expected, yesterday feeding frenzy was just that; way more food than anyone could possibly eat. There were about 40 guests and probably enough food for a hundred. There was the obligatory turkey and trimmings, but every kind of meat, pasta, salad, fruit, bread, dessert, etc. that you could think of there to munch on all afternoon/evening. My ribs and sunomono seemed to disappear quite well and got lots of compliments (although, maybe some was just being nice to the new kid on the block). I'll put together the recipe for both later on this weekend. Got to meet several of L's extended family and it was a very nice time!
Black Friday
Nope, I didn't partake in the BF madness. I did do some late night online shopping last night and found a few decent deals from the comfort of my sofa. Instead of going shopping today, what did we end up doing? We went out to eat at Red Lobster, of course! Oy. We met up with the in-laws since we didn't see them for Thanksgiving this year, and I dropped off little boy with them for the rest of the weekend. So, I'm a single dude for a couple of days. How did I spend the first part of my free time today? I took a nap. :-)
Day 23yam [4:27 PM ]
[ Thursday, November 22, 2007 ]
Happy Thanksgiving!I was hoping to come up with a long dissertation on the things that I'm thankful for this year, but I'm finding myself with a lack of creativity and time today. To be brief, I'm thankful for my son (who gives me a life), that love is back into my life, to my family that is dwindling in numbers, to my friends who have supported me through good and bad times, and for God always watching over us. So, I just want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Day 22yam [11:42 AM ]
[ Wednesday, November 21, 2007 ]
Turkey TransitionThis Thanksgiving will be the first time in more than 10 years that I'm not preparing the entire feast! While a part of me is feeling a little bit deprived, the overall feeling is one of relief. I truly have enjoyed the annual ritual of brining and cooking my turkey, trying to come up with new and exciting side dishes every year and of course, the dessert. But this year we're spending Turkey day with my future in-laws, and they normally have an enormous potluck feast for about 40-50 people, with traditional and non-traditional foods. I'm really looking forward to it! Naturally, I'm not going empty-handed to this culinary blowout! I'm making my blueberry-blackened barbecued baby back ribs (say THAT five times fast) and a cucumber sunomono (Japanese salad). I went to Costco last night and got that big pack of three whole baby backs for just $2.99 a pound! If I get time, I'll post the recipe for the BBQ here when I get a chance.
We have a lot of changes coming up in our lives and this will be one of the first of the big ones. This will be the first time meeting a bunch of new people who I will be a part of their family, so it should be very interesting. My family is relatively small (and has shrunk considerably over the last couple of years with so many of the old-timers passing away, including my mom) and not very close, so this will be very different for us. I've been trying to talk about these changes with Matthew and explain them to him, although I know that he's having some problems trying to take them all in. I just have to keep on talking to him about it an hope that it doesn't bother him too much.
Day 21yam [9:57 AM ]
[ Tuesday, November 20, 2007 ]
7 Weird/Random Things MemeI don't know if I should thank her or shout "Damn you!" (whilst shaking my fist in the air) to Cynematic for tagging me to list 7 weird/random things about myself. Granted, I have been running out of ideas of things to write about for NaBloPoMo, so that's a good thing, but trying to come up with that many weird/random things about me is gonna be tough (since I'm so "normal" and not random... hehehe). OK, First things, first. Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
OK, you asked for it. Drum roll please.....
1.When I was a child (under 10?) I used to get sick to my stomach when going out to dinner with my parents. I would get so upset that many times I'd get nauseas and barf in the restaurant's bathroom. For the life of me, I have no idea why I would get so nervous. Now I live to eat (rather than eat to live).
2.As a kid I had a weird quirk. A few times when nature called in the middle of the night, I was afraid to go into the bathroom (which was just on the other side of the wall from my room) to pee, so I did my duty behind the bed thinking that no one would ever know. Years later my mom found a weird smell on the floor of my room behind the bathroom and thought that it was a leaky pipe. Little did she know the real reason behind it.
3. I once dated a woman that I met online, who had the same last name as me and had the exact same birthday as me, day, month and year. We even swapped driver's licenses to verify that we indeed had the same birthday. Fortunately we found out that we were born at different hospitals, so that reduced the chances that we were long lost twins. Wouldn't that have been bizarre had we hit it off and got married? We didn't have much else in common, though.
4. My first car was a 1968 Chevy II Nova, inline six-cylinder with a "three-on-the-tree" manual transmission (the gear shifter was mounted on the steering column) that I bought from my grandmother after my grandfather passed away, for $400. That car was pretty gutless, but it took me to and from high school and me and my friends around town. I eventually cut a hole in the floor, reworked the transmission linkage and installed a Hurst shifter to make that car a "3-on-the-floor". It was weird because in order to put it in reverse, you had to move the shifter to the left and forward (which is normally 1st gear). It made for some interesting times at the repair shop.
5. The one and only time that I've been to Japan (the Motherland), I went to visit my late wife's uncle (who is Chinese). I don't have any known family members there since both sets of my grandparents came to the US at the turn of the century. The oddest thing was that he converted his Chinese name to a Japanese one and is one of the most famous and revered "Go" players in the country. He had to really think about how to speak Mandarin (since he regularly spoke Nihongo) when G conversed with him. Fortunately for me, he also spoke pretty fluent English.
6. I've never done drugs or smoked a cigarette in my entire life, believe it or not. I was the quintessential "goody-goody" when growing up. Several of my friends did the experimentation and did the "cool" thing, but I never did. Fortunately, they never pressured me to do it, and none of them ever got into any "serious" trouble after that. Even though it was tough back then, now I'm so proud that I never fell into that scene.
7.On my old "about" page (which I still haven't resurrected) I mentioned that I'm a really "regular" guy, as in having regular bowel movements, 3 to 4 times a day. Every day. With "regularity".
How was that? Weird enough or random enough for ya? OK, now it's my turn to tag other folk to take the same challenge:
Juvin
Hal
Mikazuko
Champuru
Jenni
Joe
Gamera
Tag, your turn!
Day 20yam [12:59 PM ]
[ Monday, November 19, 2007 ]
Noodles
OK, I'm starting to feel as if I'm running out of ideas to blog about with still 11 days left of NaBloPoMo. Tonight in SoCal it's a cold damp night (cold for us being upper 50's) so thoughts of noodles for dinner crossing my mind. So I'm sitting here in our neighborhood Pho restaurant waiting for Matthew to finish his piano class, blogging on my phone.
For most Asians that I know of, having a hot bowl of noodle soup for dinner on a cold night is comfort food. Vietnamese is pho, Japanese is ramen or udon, and Chinese is any number of different kinds of noodle soup. I think there must be some kind of oral satisfaction with slurping up those long strands of starchy goodness, in a savory, salty, meaty, fishy or veggie flavored broth. I know that there are loads of other noodle dishes out there, but I'm mainly thinking about noodle soup (no, not the American style chicken noodle soup which is mostly soup with very little noodles in it.)
Day 19yam [8:03 PM ]
[ Sunday, November 18, 2007 ]
Team Building
Today the basketball team got together for a late, end-of-season party. We went to a park over in Manhattan Beach where the boys got to run around like a bunch of wild dogs. We had temps in the upper 80's last week but today it was barely 60 out in the park and we never saw the sun, so it was mighty chilly out there.
We had the standard park fare of pizza, fried chicken, rice (with spam), chips, (I made a) Chinese chicken salad, and several desserts. The boys ran around and played football all afternoon and probably would have stayed out there all day until we made them leave. It was really nice to see them get along so well and have fun, away from the basketball court.
I gave each of the boys (minus 2 who missed the party) their "report card" on the season, telling them where they did well and what areas need improvement, trying to be positive with all of them. The families were nice enough to give me a gift card at Sport Chalet for coaching the boys again. I guess the team is still fairly happy with my coaching at this point, so I'm just gonna keep giving it my best effort. ...Winter season starts in 2 weeks!
Day 18yam [8:47 PM ]
[ Saturday, November 17, 2007 ]
Lakers!
Last night I was lucky enough to have a couple of Lakers' vs. Detroit Pistons tix fall into my lap, so right after work I picked up Matthew from school and we drove up to downtown to the Staples Center. We got there pretty early (about 40 mins before the game) so it was a pretty easy entry. I parked next door at the Convention Center (I was concerned that it might be really crowded since the Auto Show just started too) and we strolled right in. These LA crowds are famous for showing up late and tonight was no exception.
Matthew wanted McDonalds, so we stopped and got food at the Mickey D's stand at Staples before getting to our seats. Whew, $18.25 for a Quarterpounder, Chicken sandwich, one fries and two drinks! Eh, the tickets were free, so I guess it's not bad. Unfortunately, Matthew knocked over his drink under his seat before he even got to drink it, so he was grumpy for at least half the game. And as he was complaining about it to me, I wasn't sympathetic to him at all saying, "What do you want me to do about it? That was your drink and your responsibility to take care of it. I'm not buying another one." I'm such a meanie!
The Lakers payed well in most of the first half. leading by as much 10 points, but giving up all except for 2 points by half. Kobe only scored 4 points, so only Lamar Odom kept the Lakers in the game. In the third quarter, the Lakers went stone cold, shooting 20%!
But in the fourth quarter Jordan Farmar came in and turned up the defense and turned up the energy and they ended up blowing the Pistons out at the end of the game. And, since we won and kept them under a hundred points (103-91), everyone got free tacos from Jack-in-the-Box! Woo! Overall, it was fun to go to a Lakers game (hadn't been to one in years) on a Friday night!
Day 17yam [9:53 AM ]
[ Friday, November 16, 2007 ]
This are Stoopid StuffsThings that I think are stupid:
- Britney, O.J., LiLo, Barry, Paris, etc., etc.
- Endless war in Iraq
- People who don't know the difference between "your" and "you're".
- Santa Clauses that can't say "Ho, Ho, Ho!" (Well, at least this was taken back)
- Prejudice
- Sen. Larry Craig
- Cavemen
- Insurance companies
- Me, thinking this was a good blog entry!
Day 16yam [2:22 PM ]
[ Thursday, November 15, 2007 ]
More WiredIn response to cynematic's question on the Wired.com home, the quality of that house wasn't bad. But I have my doubts about how comfortable that place will be in the hot summer months and cold winter days since the walls seem rather thin and there is so much glass. Also, it seemed rather "cold" (as in "austere") since there were no window coverings, carpeting, etc. And this is definitely not a home for people who cook much because there's just not enough storage space for food, pots and pans, kitchen appliances. Of course, I look at it from a cook's perspective.
And I read an interesting article on that hydrogen-powered Beemer that complained that not only is that 12 cylinder car not very efficient (has incredible power, though!), but that it takes more energy to produce the hydrogen than just running on gas! Unfortunately, it was running on gasoline at the time because the hydrogen tank was almost empty and they have to drive up to Oxnard to fill up since that's the closest hydrogen filling station! Another thing that I didn't realize is that Hydrogen is so volatile, that the tank is not sealed and has to continuously release pressure through a relief valve. So if you don't drive it regularly, it could all escape before you drive it (not to mention that you can't park anywhere near an open flame, but it does have sensors inside where if the concentration gets too high inside of the car, the windows roll down automagically).
Foodie Folly
We've been watching The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network these past few weeks, where they had a competition with 8 famous chefs to be the next "Iron" Chef on the aptly named TV show. They threw all sorts of difficult culinary challenges at them and it came down to two finalists this past Sunday night. So, we came up with a bet, and that whoever picked the winner (Chef John Besh or ("the bald guy") Chef Michael Symon) would get to receive a 3 course meal cooked by the other person with their choice of "secret ingredient" (the same idea that they present to each week's chef contestants on the regular show). It was a very close competition but in the end, Chef Symon won and so did I! And my secret ingredient is.... Crab!
Mmmm, can't wait!
Day 15 Half way there!yam [9:35 AM ]
[ Wednesday, November 14, 2007 ]
Too Much Technology?The other day when we were watching the news in the morning, getting ready for our day, they had a news piece asking if we had too much technology in our lives. To which Matthew replied, "How can you have too much technology?" That was a hard one for me to answer.
For anyone who knows me, I'm pretty much an electronics geek. I don't think I'm overboard with the gadgets (I know a few people who have way more electronic gizmos than me) but I definitely have my share. I have a very moderate wide screen entertainment center at home, a couple of dated (more than 5 years old) home computers, a two year old Treo 700 smartphone, and a couple of dated digital cameras (also, about 5+ years old). When I bought most of these items, they were cutting edge technology at the time, but they are now "old". It's amazing how quickly technology moves forward.
So, lately I've been on the market to replace most of these (except for the entertainment center). I've even started getting an interest in my first Ipod (can you believe that?), since I've digitized most of my CD collection recently. Of course, I was drooling at all of the technology in that Wired.com home we checked out over the weekend.
Maybe Santa will be good to me this Christmas!
Day 14yam [7:27 PM ]
[ Tuesday, November 13, 2007 ]
Wired
OK, here's my photo album from the Wired.com modern home that we visited on Sunday.
Day 13yam [9:48 PM ]
[ Monday, November 12, 2007 ]
Weekend UpdateI had a pretty busy weekend that included some interesting activities and, of course, lots of good food!
Eatz
I'm going to back up a bit to Friday afternoon when I went to Hawaiian BBQ Festival in Long Beach for lunch. I ordered the "Poki" bowl (the haole-fied spelling of poké). OMG! For $6.95 they must have given me a pound of fresh tuna, seasoned with seasame oil, onions and spices, on top of a green salad on top of a huge take-out box of hot steamed rice. I couldn't even come close to finishing it all. Definitely a good deal if you're really hungry.
Saturday night I was free since Matthew spent the night at his cousin's house, so we went to McCormick & Schmick's for dinner. We had a gift certificate and I got a $25 discount by making an online reservation (it was the last night of the special deal) and we splurged for a really nice meal. I started with the mixed greens with Feta cheese and candied walnuts, and the entree was the Sea Scallops on a bed of spinach and crispy potato cake, with a rich hollandaise-like sauce on the plate. Wow, that was good! We saved room for dessert and had the Creme Brulee and the three-layer chocolate pudding cake. Yummy!
On Sunday we were out in LA so we stopped at Titos Tacos for an early dinner! I almost lost my appetite when we were walking down the street to the crosswalk to go back to our car with our food, when this Asian girl leaned out of a nice BMW and puked into the gutter while the car stopped to make the turn at the light! Ewww!
Music
You've probably already seen it, but on Saturday afternoon, Matthew had his annual piano recital at the music school. He almost made it through his performance but had one pause where he almost made a mistake, but hung in there and finished. Right after I stood up to videotape his performance from the aisle, some kid raced in to take my seat, so you can see the camera move away from Matthew for a second. Fortunately their parents made them move. His aunt and cousin came down to watch him, and then took him back to their place for the weekend, since the school was closed for Veterans Day (and I had to work today).
Sports and Technology
On Saturday afternoon we drove up to LA and we went to the Wired.com LivingHome in Brentwood. I saw an article about it on Juvin.com and we thought it would be a really neat and different way to spend an afternoon. It was a bit pricey ($35 per person), but I was able to find a discount code for $5 off on the web, and it also includes a subscription to Wired magazine, so it wasn't too bad. I took a lot of photos, but I'll have to post those tomorrow. The $4 million house was built in 2-1/2 days, from mostly recycled materials, includes a lot of high-tech features and designer furniture. It's only open for a short time to the public before someone actually moves into it. It had a lot of neat features, such as retina recognition door lock, solar cells, and computer-controlled everything. We parked at the ritzy Luxe hotel in Bel-Air and took a shuttle up into the hills of Brentwood. On the return trip, we got a ride in a Hydrogen powered BMW 760i worth half a million dollars (they've only made a 100 and are all out on loan, some to celebs such as Jay Leno). Whew, what an awesomely luxurious ride that was! For the most part, the house was a cool showpiece, but I don't know how practical the layout and technology was, except for the computer control system. Some day, I'd like to have that part, at least.
Thanks to all of the Veterans for their service to our country, on this Veterans Day!
Day 12 yam [4:42 PM ]
[ Sunday, November 11, 2007 ]
Matthew's Piano RecitalHere is Matthew playing "Musette" in his annual piano recital yesterday. He did pretty well! Except for a tiny pause in the middle, and some kid trying to steal my seat while I stood up to shoot the video, everything turned out really good!
Day 11 yam [9:00 AM ]
[ Saturday, November 10, 2007 ]
Asian FoodI recently got a request from my friend Larry to help out a friend who is moving from the right coast to the left coast. His friend is of Asian descent and asked about places where he could get Asian food out in the L.A. area. I quickly threw together some suggestions and links. If you have any others, I'd appreciate your thoughts!
JAPANESE MARKETS
Mitsuwa
Nijiya Market
Marukai
CHINESE MARKETS
99 Ranch Market (big chain, all over SoCal)
KOREAN MARKETS
California Market
MarketWorld (Han Nam chain)
ASIAN "Centers" (Concentrations of ethnic Asian folk)
JAPANESE
Little Tokyo
Gardena
West LA
CHINESE
Monterey Park (aka Little Taipei, largest gathering of Chinese in the area, also includes Alhambra, San Gabriel and surrounding cities)
Chinatown (old, rather small, kind of rundown)
KOREAN
Koreatown
Gardena
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many areas with Asian ethnics foods. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I hope this helps!
Day 10 yam [1:54 PM ]
[ Friday, November 09, 2007 ]
Blogging on BloggingThis is probably not a new topic by any means, but was on my mind when trying to figure out what to write today. Participating in this NaBloPoMo exercise has actually been good for me. I've been very erratic at posting, leaning heavily towards the not-blogging-at-all side due mostly to apathy. Although, now that I think of it, I think it's more due to a "flabby" brain. Just like my flabby body, I needed to get up and stretch my cranial "muscles" to reactivate those millions of sleeping brain cells. Now I just need to get my "real" flabby muscles going!
This past week of forced writing/thinking has gotten me to think about a lot of things that I've been putting off because I was just too lazy to put my mind to them. My mind has already been cluttered with everything from work, to Matthew's school life, future married life, determining our future housing options, cleaning up the house, finishing up little home repairs, and on and on. But I think this recent awakening has gotten me to get moving more on several of these thoughts and many others that I've needed to put some energy into.
Did that make any sense to you? I guess all that matters is that it made sense to me, right?
Day 9 yam [11:26 AM ]
[ Thursday, November 08, 2007 ]
ComprehensionFrom Merriam-Webster:
Pronunciation: \?käm-pri-?hen(t)-sh?n, -pr?-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin comprehension-, comprehensio, from comprehendere to understand, comprise
Date: 15th century
1 a: the act or action of grasping with the intellect : understanding b: knowledge gained by comprehending c: the capacity for understanding fully
"mysteries that are beyond our comprehension"? Boy, ain't that the truth when it comes to trying to teach my son how to comprehend what he's reading/learning. How is it that today I can scan over a newspaper or magazine article and in just a minute or two I can glean the overall idea of the story? I know it wasn't always like that. Somehow I have to figure out how I got to this point today and teach that to Matthew. Both he and I have been struggling with this lately. He's now in the 5th grade and the reading and writing assignments are getting more difficult than they used to be. In the 3rd and 4th grades the assignment would be for him to read a page about some particular topic and pull out the important points from the story. That usually just meant repeating the exact words directly from the article for the most part. But now he must understand what he's read and summarize the overall point of the story in his own words. That's very tough for him for a few reasons.
First of all, he's always had difficulty talking and describing situations that he's been in. For example, here's what used to be our typical convo when I picked him up from school:
B: "How was your day?"
M: "Good."
B: "That's it?"
M: "Yeah."
B: "What did you do in school?"
M: "Math. Science. PE."
So, now we've progressed a tiny bit to this..
B: "How was your day?"
M: "Good. We did Math and we had to do a review of section 3 and 4 of chapter 6 and did we did science of tribes and stuff and took a test but almost everyone failed it except for one kid who's name is Josh who got 100%".
B: "You didn't tell anything about math that means anything to me! What kind of math?"
M: "Oh. We did decimals again."
B: "And why did everyone do so poorly on the test? Maybe because nobody studied, like you? Well, maybe but Josh is kinda weird."
Any ways, back to my point. He has trouble putting his thoughts into words when describing some story or event.
Second, he's too literal. He's very good in math and has always liked it because with numbers it's very black & white. There's no abstract thinking (at least not yet) in doing arithmetic problems with just numbers. But he does have issues with those questions that start out with "Explain why blah, blah, blah" or he has to convert the words into math problems ("Carol has 9 square yards of fabric and needs to make napkins that are 2/5ths of a square yard each. How many napkins can she make from the fabric?").
When he asks me the definition of a word I usually tell him to look it up in the dictionary first, but he is still confused because he only thinks about the exact words that are written down, not what the real meaning is. For instance, last night he was to define several math terms including "Least Common Denominator (LCD)". He got hung up on the word "common" and couldn't tell me what that meant. But he was able to finally describe what an LCD is, with a lot of coaching from me. But right away, he couldn't describe what "Common Denominator" means. Didn't we just go over almost the same thing?
And last, which is similar being too literal, is that he has a bad habit of skimming through the words without really knowing what he's just read. He knows the strict definition of a lot of words, but doesn't understand them in context. I used to read to him every night before he could read, and then I used to listen to him read out loud when he started reading, but I usually fell asleep while he was speaking! (I know, bad parent!). It was suggested that we read aloud together and stop occasionally to see that he understands what was just read. Oy, that means some hard work for both of us! But I think it makes good sense.
Boy, am I on a roll for Day 8 of
? Ideas are flowing now, but who knows if I can make it last through the month, especially with the long holiday weekend coming up.yam [10:36 AM ]
[ Wednesday, November 07, 2007 ]
Who Called?I got a call from an 866 number on my cell phone today, but didn't answer it and let it go to voicemail since I never answer tool free numbers. They never left a voicemail so I googled the number and it sent me to this site (www.whocalled.us) where they said it was from Sprint. Here is where people comment on unknown callers and they show many of the phone numbers of the (mostly telemarketers) and who they probably are. Nifty site!
yam [3:19 PM ] If You're Gonna Die, Don't Leave Any Money To Kids
...in the state of California ...except for your own children, of course. If you've been following my blog for a while you've probably read my bitching and moaning about the problems I've had trying to get some inheritance money for my son as a result of my aunt's death. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful that my Aunt Elsie was thoughtful enough to include Matthew in on her life insurance benefits, and would rather have her around instead of her money, but it has been a very costly nightmare for me. This has been going on for months and is still not done, but I can finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Let me try to summarize this.
My aunt passed away in February of this year. I was notified by her financial planner (who was recommended to her by my parents, and recently quit, changed businesses and moved to Texas) who still had responsibility over her assets. She had several insurance policies from various companies, of various types of plans and named several family members (10 total) as beneficiaries including Matthew on most of them. In the state of California, the money can't go directly to him since he's a minor. And this is where it all gets really muddy.
Some of the insurance companies just had me fill out a few forms and in a couple of weeks, sent out a check or set up a special bank account. Easy. Some companies require that you send have to send in an "official" copy of the death certificate. Fortunately, the financial planner ordered a bunch of copies and sent them out to everyone. But since I'm not an immediate family member (spouse, sibling, child) or legal person in charge of her monies, I wasn't able to get any more. Not a big deal since copies were OK for a couple of the insurance companies.
But the problem comes in when I sent in the paperwork for Matthew and it was returned from two of the insurance companies saying that I needed to show proof of guardianship in California. WTF? Being his father isn't enough? And it's not like his parents are divorced (mom is deceased) and might fight over the money. But I'd guess that's a common thing in the Golden state. So, after doing some research, I found out that the whole process has to go through the court system. Bah. There would be no way that I would have time to investigate or process the necessary paperwork so I had to hire a lawyer.
I found a somewhat competent lawyer through my work who specializes in family law and he was able to negotiate with the insurance companies that we would only have to set up a blocked bank account that no one can access (including me) until M is 18, when he can get to it. But that still needed to go through the legal system. Back in September I went downtown to the LA County courthouse with the lawyer, waited for a couple of hours and had to stand up in front of the judge and filed a petition to set up the blocked account. There were a couple of issues that came up (I thought it should have been easy!), but eventually it went through, with some extra work (and more of MY money) from the lawyer. Throughout most of this, the lawyer kept telling me that this or that wasn't clearly defined or wasn't working the way it was supposed to. Even the people at the bank weren't familiar with this whole process. For example, the one insurance company (which had three policies) that was demanding the proof of guardianship, sent me one check (in Matthew's name) from one of the policies, without any of the necessary paperwork. Sheesh.
Over the last couple of days, we're getting closer to a conclusion, although it's still been a pain. The lawyer had requested that the payments be sent to him, but one insurance company sent the checks directly to the bank. I had to go in to the bank on Saturday to find out if they got the money, even though they didn't yet have the court order. Fortunately the money (from two policies at one insurance company) was deposited into the account that I had set up, although it wasn't yet blocked. Tuesday I had to take off work early to visit the lawyer and get more paperwork. Three tax forms that needed a bank signature guarantee to send to the remaining insurance company, and three forms to be filled out from the bank to show proof of deposit for the courts were what I got. Yesterday I had to take off from work yet again to go to the bank, get the paperwork filled out and then drop them off at the lawyer's office. Today was supposed to be a hearing on my petition, but because the processing has taken so long, the lawyer filed for an extension of two weeks.
Hopefully, after almost nine months of red tape, several thousand dollars in legal fees, in a couple of weeks all of the monies will be paid out (and no one else in the family is getting paid from these policies until this is all settled) and this thing put to bed by Thanksgiving.
Rest in peace, Auntie.
Day 7 yam [12:34 PM ]
[ Tuesday, November 06, 2007 ]
Haircut 100Does anyone remember the group Haircut 100 (Love, love, love plus one!)? Sorry, I digress. This diatribe is about how I hate getting my hair cut. Yeah, I'm really stretching for ideas if I'm writing about my hair.
Yesterday I got my hair cut. Have I ever told you that I haven't liked getting my haircut since I was a young kid? For some reason I only see it as a necessary evil. Is it because I'm so un-vane (can I make up a word like that?)? Or is it because I just don't like someone messing with my hair ("Yo! Don't touch the hair, man!"). I don't mind someone giving me a full body massage with my completely nekkid body, but if someone fusses with my hair, it bothers me (except for those intimate moments with my s.o....wink!).
I can remember how I hated it when my mom or dad would take me to the barber shop and it would freak me out. Of course in those days the barber shop WAS pretty scary, with that funny smell of hair tonic, talcum powder and burnt electric clippers. And there were always a bunch of crotchety old guys sitting in the chairs with sheets over them, and the barbers in their white shirts looking like interns at a mental facility. Traumatic for an impressionable little kid like I was. I remember that I once even talked my mom into cutting my hair so that I wouldn't have to go to the barber shop. (((Shudder))) It didn't turn out so well, so I never asked her again after that.
Now days the traditional barber shop is pretty much gone, replaced with hair salons. They are much more friendly looking, stylish, and most of all the servicers are women or not-so-masculine men. I really wished that you could get a haircut like in those old Jetsons cartoons where they lower a dome-like device over your head, push a button which determined your hairstyle, and "Voila!" in 5 seconds your hair was done!
Maybe I'm just too cheap to spend the money on my hair which is just going to grow out again in a month. I spend more money on M's hair at a "fancy" salon than I do for my own hair. I usually just go to one of those chain haircut places and get whatever discount I can. My hair isn't that tough to cut (except for that area near my temples that stick out like bristles if not cut properly). I have the typically, over-straight Asian hair, that has gotten straighter now that there's more gray, but it's not as coarse as most. It's relatively soft, so it's easy to take care of.
Hmm, what was the point of this blog entry? See what happens when I force myself to write. Whew, it might be a long month of writing about nothing...
Day 6 yam [9:39 AM ]
[ Monday, November 05, 2007 ]
KIDS ON MARRIAGEOK, this is a cheap way to make a blog entry for today, but I thought it was pretty funny! Hopefully I'll have a chance to write a "real" entry up later today...
KIDS ON MARRIAGE (Answers by kids age 8-10)
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHOM TO MARRY?
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you
like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she
should keep the chips and dip coming.
* Alan, age 10
No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to
marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out
later who you're stuck with.
* Kirsten, age 10
WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER
by then.
* Camille, age 10
HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling
at the same kids.
* Derrick, age 8
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
* Lori, age 8
WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to
know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen
long enough.
* Lynnette, age 8
On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that
usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
* Martin, age 10
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich.
* Pam, age 7
The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess
with that.
* Curt, age 9
The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should
marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
* Howard, age 8
WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the
newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead
columns.
* Craig, age 9
Day 5 yam [9:25 AM ]
[ Sunday, November 04, 2007 ]
Domesticated ManYup, that's me. Granted, I've been a single parent for about 7 years now, and have had to be both mom and dad, but even before that I was mostly a homebody. Take this weekend for example. Saturday morning I made breakfast (cantaloupe, spam & eggs with rice, for Matthew... I had cantaloupe with Special K cereal and soy milk). I had to go to the bank to take care of some business, stop at the post office to mail thank you notes from Matthew and I, make a run to the music store for a piano book for Matthew and stopped at Mitsuwa market. For dinner I whipped up a panko-breaded black cod filet, with garlic mashed potatoes and corn. Mmm!
Today felt weird with the time change and lack of a basketball game, so we basically stayed around home doing more domestic stuff. I started the day with a late breakfast of fresh mango, fried mashed potatoes with eggs (for Matthew) and a small egg and cheese burrito for me. We did our weekly grocery shopping, I tested out my new string trimmer (woo-hoo!) on the yard, mowed the back lawn, did my fall pruning of the trees and bushes (ha!, I really don't plan on this job, but it sounded good, didn't it?), made dinner (sun-dried tomato chicken sausages on whole wheat buns with all the toppings, and a cucumber and baby clam sunomono (Japanese salad)), and ironed a dozen of my shirts while watching the Lakers game (they've looked REALLY good in the last two games). I even got Matthew into it by getting him to make our dessert of a pumpkin cobbler (almost) by himself!
Day 4 yam [6:57 PM ]
[ Saturday, November 03, 2007 ]
Hoops!Our basketball season is done for the fall, but yesterday I acquired a bunch of photos from one of our games this season. I had to manually download each one individually from the web, so it's taken me all night to collect them. Here are a couple of choice pics of Matthew and the team from September.
Hustle, Matthew!
Digging In!
More Hustle
Listening to Coach Brian
Coach Randy
Here's Matthew going in for a lay-up!
Whew, I barely got this blog entry in for day 3 of
yam [11:25 PM ]
[ Friday, November 02, 2007 ]
ThankfulEvery once in a while something happens that makes me remember how thankful I am. Today I found out that I guy I worked with very briefly, died suddenly yesterday. Greg was probably about my age, maybe even a bit younger. He set up a database for us at work and I would contact him every now and then for occasional modifications as needed. Even though I didn't know him very well it really shocked me and made me realize how short our time on this earth really is. Of course I've had my share of tragedies, losing my first wife and mother, but you kind of push those things to the back of your mind for every day thinking. Greg was a pretty good guy, although the one thing I really remembered about him was that he was a very intense person, to the point of always seeming stressed. So, I'll try to remember to chill more.
L.A. Sports
The last few days in the media around L.A. has been crazy. Most of it is about the Kobe trade/no trade craziness. I really don't want to see him leave the Lakers, because he really is the best player in the league, in terms of pure talent. But he definitely hasn't figured out how to take his game to the next lever where he makes his teammates better. It sounds like every trade rumor is probably going to fall through because in order for the Lakers to get any value back from trading him, the other team would have to give up a lot of good players, which in turn Kobe had the power to veto because then he'd be going to a team with no talent left. So, basically, he's screwed until he gets his head straight.
And the other big local new was the signing of former Yankees coach, Joe Torre, by the Dodgers. Basically The former Dodgers manage, Grady Little was pushed out for doing a mediocre job to make way for Torre when he got nudged out of New York. I think it's a good acquisition for the Dodgers because he's a really good coach and respectable guy. But I'm just wondering if he might be a bit overqualified for the job since we have such a young team which will have few veterans at the start of next season. It's almost like, would the Lakers pay big bucks to hire Phil Jackson today to manage the Lakers today, if he wasn't already on the team?
Day 2 yam [11:54 AM ]
[ Thursday, November 01, 2007 ]
Day 1! Today is the first day of National Blog Posting Month where I will attempt to blog every day for the Month of November. I actually did it last year, although it wasn't a part of the organized effort, so I should be able to do it again this year.
Halloween Pizzas!
Halloweentime
Last night we did our annual Trick-or-Treat walk through the neighborhood and were joined again by Matthew's yearly "date". We started the night with my Halloween pizzas before going out into the night. Matthew reprised last year's character of Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch).
A Witch, and Stitch! < ------ > Some had BIG decorations!
This year there seemed to be much more energy in the neighborhood as there were much more decorations and kids walking around. A couple of houses did a lot and one had the whole compliment of decorations including a strobe light, fog machine, spiderwebs and a ghoul raising from the dead after the kids walked past! I was surprised that both kids didn't seemed phased at all by it, although there were a couple of young girls who freaked out when they saw it and didn't want to have any part of it!
I even got into the Halloween spirit too!
This year we went to a lot more houses in the same amount of time since the kids don't seem to dwell as much on what they got, as opposed to just going on to the next house! So, they both had a pretty good haul of goodies!
Checking out the night's take!
Feh
Yes, once again I've been watching the entire season of DWTS and Tuesday night I was shocked that Sabrina got sent home. I'm not going to dwell on it, but there seems to be something fishy about that.
Oh, and we also watched the Lakers lose their home opener against the Rockets on TV and were bummed that the Lakers played poorly after the first quarter, but somehow were able to come back to tie with a few seconds left but still end up losing in the last few seconds. Argh, it's going to be a long season and these daily stories about Kobe being traded are getting really old.
yam [12:02 AM ]
