Merry Fucking Christmas

with what could be one of the worst christmases of my life, i happily bid adieu to 2008. its been a hectic month and with the cash outflow being much bigger than the in-flow, i was a bit on edge anyway. hosted a big ass chrissy dinner on monday for about 12 peeps and was cooking all day the day before and prepping baked goodies a couple days in advance. the gay husband did NOT make good on his threat to help out (i was more than a little peeved with him) as he was too busy with his new boyfriend ( how do i compete with that?).

anyway, the party went well; heaps of food. yes, took photos but unable to post them due to the lack of photoshop. the menu was:
pumpkin soup
a for real roasted turkey (i actually had to order a 12 lb. butterball from "the meat guy" which was delivered frozen the day before for me to thaw out so i could cook)
mashed potatoes
green chicken enchiladas
greek salad
veggie plate
cheese plate
sushi rice (thanks mom!)

everyone got a little take home dessert bag filled with:
a mini irish cheesecake
stained class cookies
a peppermint brownie
a couple of cranberry raisin oatmeal almond crunch cookies
a candy cane
gummy bears
toffee

plus i made heaps extra so there were desserts everywhere for people to pick at. also various chocolates on several plates around the room.

it was a nice dinner but i was thoroughly exhausted. the month was wrapping up and classes were slowly coming to an end, i had finally made rent money, i was in the 8th inning when disaster struck: i got the stomach flu.

it just hit me BAM! like a ton of bricks in the middle of my dear students' nice little dinner party on christmas eve. i turned green and had to go sit in the freezing cold bathroom to catch my breath . . . twice. after the second time, i had to leave since i could barely move and i didn't want to yak all over my student's house. my exit also ended the party, which i felt terrible about. i came home and keeled over. i promptly chucked up (it would be the first of 5 bouts of barf that night). i crawled into bed and thought i was going to die. at that point, i had made up my mind to cancel my next day's lessons but as it turns out, i got up too late and had to teach. the pale face, sunken eyes, disheveled hair, and horrible outfit stunned and repulsed my morning student. i managed to keep my composure and get through the lesson. i crawled back in bed until my next lesson that evening.

although i was still feeling shitty, by the end of my second lesson, i had somehow come around and was hungry. my dear friend E came over to help me celebrate christmas by joining me for leftovers from the party and a slice of ice cream christmas cake and nutty Japanese televsion. this was not the christmas we had envisioned.

feeling much better now, though still not 100%. am looking forward to putting the last part of this year behind me . . .

as for christmas schwag, i got heaps of candy, some very cute clothes from Anthropologie, a scarf, some gloves, a few pairs of socks, a lot of hand cream (to keep from getting what the H calls "man hands". hmmm, i wonder if people are trying to tell me something), some soaps, a wine holder, and a few other goodies. thanks to everyone; i know i'm impossible to shop for cuz i don't need or want anything (well, nothing realistic anyway).

and on to 2009!

all i want for x-mas is . . . .

. . . . a retail DNA test. ever wondered what makes you, YOU? me neither. but after seeing this, i did! for the bargain price of just $4oo, you can GATTACA yourself up! woo hoo!
. . . nano solar panels. these are not your dad's bulky-ass solar panels. these are light weight, flexible, durable, and affordable! save the planet in style!


. . . . . the Aptera electric car. Accelerates quickly, has the longest battery life so far, and looks like a space ship! screw gas!


you know, just in case you were stuck on what to get me . . . .

Without the benefit of photoshop to reduce and edit my photos, i am finding that my blog is starting to look a lot like Hiroshi's . . . .

Obama may be Time's Man of the Year but this dude, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, gets my vote. He is doing what many of us WANT to do but don't have the aim to do. good for you dude!


for those of you interested in improving your aim, you can play the throw-your-shoes-at-Bush game! get a high score and see your name in the ranks!

halloween came a little later this year . . .


this could be the creepiest picture of michael jackson yet!

and finally, to get you in that holiday spirit, see the Black Dynamite trailer! He's super cool and he knows kung-fu!

ah, the joys the holidays bring . . .

Things that Suck and Things that Rock

Sucks: your hard drive dies. all your data is lost. all your programs are gone. you can't work. you can't blog. you can't do ANYTHING cuz you suddenly realize that your whole life revolves around your damn computer. even people who barely touch a computer say to you, "didn't you back your stuff up?"

Rocks: computer gets a new HD free under the apple care warranty. you sister uses her shady computer contacts to try to extract your data. hope returns.

Sucks: grandma is really sick again.

Rocks: grandpa isn't bringing home much trash since his back went out. at least no more human heads.

Sucks: flagrantly open racism/sexism/discrimination. (When did this become OK again? and why is it everywhere?) hunting for bushmeat. anything to do with the Hills or anyone on or associated with that show (it's not even ON in japan! let it go dudes). paris hilton. john mayer.

Rocks: youtube. love it, love it, love it! faves so far:
the Bouncy Balls from Sony (NOT CGI! its amazing)
the Paint Bombs from Sony (also NOT CGI)
Indian Thriller
Papa Lazarou from League of Gentlemen


Remember kids, be quiet in the library!

What i'm reading now . . .

this article had me in stitches:

JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME KICKS HIS OWN ASS!!

anonymous anger:

#@*!!! Anonymous anger rampant on Internet

just finished Kite Runner and cried my eyes out reading it (which seriously hasn't happened in a long time). i definitely recommend it; it's a fantastic book.

i'm currently reading Wild Swans about 3 generations of women in China. the bulk of it is about communist China. scary shit in there!

and just the other day, i saw this on the news:

Cosmetic surgery addict injected cooking oil into her own face

now THAT is fuckt.

Day trip to Kawagoe

needed a change of scenery so i put my lazy bum on a trip up to Kawagoe, or Little Edo as they like to call it.

First stop was Kita-In Temple:



put your money in, gong the bell, clap twice, and pray:


stone lanterns leading up to the graves of some (probably) very important folks (i really gotta improve my japanese!):



the 500 stone buddhas. i didn't realize you had to PAY to get in. there was no one at the gate and there was no place to put your money. i just thought it was free. oops.




this guy looked freaky!



my favorite one: the nose picking buddha:




a smaller temple on the same grounds:


there was this big chrysanthamum/mum festival thing going on. i clicked a few photos of the ones i thought were very cool looking:




they don't have to be all fancy. i like regular flowers too:



a very short walk from Kita-In temple is Naritan Betsu-In temple:



on to main street! the architechture of old school tokyo is still in tact here:


the symbol of Kawagoe: Toki no Kane (the bello tower):


a quick look at Hikawa shrine. i love these lanterns:



Stay out of the damn water!

ah, but it looks so peaceful!



kawagoe is all about the bright purple sweet potato. check out these yummy steamed buns!


that is one big purple potato:


kashiya yokocho (or candy/snack alley):


i love these bobbley head things! this one was my favorite:



hope the bench doesn't break!


i love the architecture!


and now for something completely different, a walk down Taisho Roman street:


a long exhausting walk but a good day out of the hustle and bustle of tokyo. i was sad to see that a lot of the little japanesey shops that sold paper goods and toys and other old school stuff have out there have closed. the bad economy is taking its toll . . .

Halloween!

the day was quite busy! i cooked a lot the day before and held a class. here are some of my students decorating paper mache pumpkins after some gumbo lunch and a lot of snacky foods . . .


Yokies made an apple crumble pie! here it is pre-oven:


and baked golden goodness after! i love my new tart pan:


the "candy bar":


and the dessert bar at night:


yep, that's a tower of fudgey pumpkin brownies:


the bevy/wine bar:


veggie plate:


and my gumbo. i think it turned out very good this year:


chris AKA astro boy (i think he just likes to be naked):


scary movies and lots of food:


pikachu dusty:



neil shows us his freaky finger trick over dessert:

dusty taps into his inner pikachu:



good times!