Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Like-mindedness is overrated...

Otherwise, dB, we would not be friends. For me, dispositions are meant to compliment, fit together like puzzle pieces--alike and different at the same time.

But more importantly, for me, is a sense of what I can only describe as feeling at home. And who can really measure the warm embrace, the ease of a favorite t-shirt, or the smell of fresh baked bread?

I've temporarily given in to a purchased fried chicken (Chicago's own delicious and at the same time stomach-curling, Harolds). But there will be a great effort soon. Planning dinner parties, garden exploits, and even more sewing.

Also I have a bunny to show you.

More on that when I get the camera-computer-clicky thing together.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Homophrosyne

What does it even mean - like-mindedness? Does it mean to have similar dreams, lifestyles, personalities, values?

I get such different answers. My mom thinks common language and culture are vital. Others emphasize religion: "I would have married him/her, but I would have had to marry God too." Yet when I see my married friends A & R with such contrasting personalities, culture, and religions, I can feel the homophrosyne. I wonder if I exuded that foursome years ago. I need perspective.

On a tangent, while lB perfects her Thomas Keller fried chicken, I'm working on mastering fried yuca as a side for pabellón. Last Sunday I selected my personal best yuca root, and the resulting fries were quite delicious. Learning to cook by trial-and-error sure takes forever...but imitating the Keller's Hispanic analogue Ferran Adià is unfathomable!

My take on homophronsyne drawn a couple years ago:

Neurd socks

Aside from chocolate, I bought knee high socks while lB was in town. That Saturday night while she was out with friends, I started embroidering my socks with some nerd love. Or more accurately, neurd love - the best neuro + nerd fusion there is. TED talks provided an appropriate ambiance. Adora Svitak moved me with her gravitas and eloquence surpassing mine many fold.

Anyhow, back to socks - I finished them the following day:



They're part of my "neurd" collection. Recall that I crafted a previously blogged tunic top.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Fried Chicken

Crispy, greasy, flavorful fried chicken has been on my mind for over two weeks. I think I need to have it be sated. And reading this and this did not help. I want Thomas Keller's fried chicken (and Ad Hoc At Home). Bad.

Also should I buy that mini-food processor I've been eyeing? Pesto making is really the only thing I want it for. But isn't that enough?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Scissor lust


Why don't I let the boys use mine? Well, I do right now because I own lots of various cheap scissors. Their number and single use designation make their cheapness tolerable and keep me from going crazy when they're used to hack stuff.

But someday I'll want to invest in the separating kitchen blades, Gingher dressmaker shears, Tweezerman's for fine papercutting and those beauties. Stupid huh?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

lB's visit = Cal + chocolate + crafting!

lB was in town this weekend, just in time for an East Bay favorite "holiday" - Cal Day!

We donned Cal colored clothes that we crafted - lB had sewn herself a cheerful yellow dress back in Chicago, and I wore a Berkeley bioengineering t-shirt I designed a while back:


After a swim through the sea of blue and gold, we made it to Prof. Pieter Abbeel's Robot Learning Lab, where one of his students demonstrated their autonomous helicopter. I took a quick video. Click on the photo below for the youtube link:


That afternoon we went shopping in Union Square mostly for chocolate. It's become my habit to buy El Rey chocolate at Bristol Farms in Westfield Shopping Centre, but they no longer carry that. =( I will probably need to switch to Chuao.

We essentially went chocolatier-hopping all afternoon. We tried some dark chocolate from Charles Chocolates, which opened a couple months ago in Westfield. I may return there to try their tea infused truffles. I bought some unique flavors elsewhere: Vosges's dark chocolate with bacon and sea salt, Bristol Farms' homemade chocolate-dipped bacon, Godiva's mango truffle, a jasmine tea infused chocolate at CocoaBella, and Oriol Balaguer's olive oil chocolate at CocoaBella.

From left to right: Vosges' bacon chocolate (excellent), Godiva's mango truffle (way too sweet, mango too jam-like), Bristol Farms' chocolate bacon (good, not great)


On left jasmine tea chocolate (ok, too sweet), on right Oriol Balaguer's olive oil chocolate (excellent! muy bien!)

Oriol Balaguer's olive oil piece was divine! I need to visit his store the next time I'm in Spain - missed it last time, because August is vacation month in Spain.


Saturday, April 17, 2010

What I did today

1. Bunny's roommate's grandmother was here this morning. Cutest old Taiwanese lady ever.

2. Cal day--an event I NEVER attended as a student but I had fun at the two labs we stopped in on. How to control flying insects and how to program a computer to program itself to fly a helicopter. Makes me wish I studied my sciences harder.

3. Eating and shopping downtown. Bought the most expensive bra I've ever owned--not fancy, but fitting and functional--am I growing up? And more excitingly chocolate. We stopped in pretty much every chocolate shop we saw and I had my first piece of Oriol Balaguer (olive oil flavored=absolutely amazing).

4. Dinner with old friends in which food was the topic, event and object of our dreams. Not to mention the sort of hilarious sight of the civilian safety group in fantastically cheezy military-gay ware.

Perfection.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Feelin' Old

Tired, sitting in a coffee shop whittling away some time in my old college town, being recognized by someone who's face doesn't ring a bell for me... ugh.

But listening to the all to precocious young'uns around me (yes, I was most certainly like them in the not too distant past) I've learned that Pavement is having a reunion tour. How did they know that before me?