happy birthday crashy!

after a tough start to the year, i went back to cali for my annual february trip. i made it just in time for Crash's birthday! riyoko and cory made a verrrry yummy dinner for the pups as well as the peeps.

resident dog expert clara helps riyoko in the kitchen:

enjoying wenyee's scrumptious cheesecake:



time for food coma!


lola, burn and joe chill out with auntie clara:

Chinese Spam

usually i just throw this shit away. but the title was too good:

Part Time Job & Help Eradicating The Native Ninja's

what followed was a hilarious version of wat has become known as the Nigerian scam. i wonder how many people actually fall for this shit. read on for a good laugh (i swear i haven't changed a word of this):

UNGYAN HAOLONG AGRO ALLIED PLASTICS & MOULD CO. LTD
JINGQI ROAD WEST INDUSTRY ZONE HUNGYAN CHINA 31802

Forgive me for intruding on your personal space and microwaving your hamster, especially as we have never met before. Please be aware that I do not want to offer this position to the native ninja's that are running amok in your country.

We are exporters based in China. We export Agro Allied and plastic raw materials into Europe, America and the rest of the world. Our company, Hungyan Haolong Agro Plastic Smoldering Company Limited was established in 1999, and we come in peace you cowardly bastards!

We are interested in employing your service, to work for us as our foreign payments receiving officer, who can receive payments on our behalf for products we supply to our clients in Europe, America and Britain and all over the world.

It does not matter whether you are already in a full or partial employment because this is risk free and it is a part time position that could become permanent, which will be based on your performance rating over time. This will be characterised by transparency and honesty. The more transparent you are the better!

Having a functional bank account is an essential pre-requisite to receive payments on our behalf and is also an added advantage. Subject to your satisfaction with this proposal, you will be made our foreign payments receiving officer in your region.

If you decide to work for us, please forward the following details to our

contact person:

First Name:
Last Name:
Country:
City:
Tel No:
Email:
Sex:
Bank Name:
Bank Account Number:
Bank Routing Number:

Your Business Experience:


REGARDS FROM

Jin Lung
Allied And plastic Limited.



well, my friend Jin, i AM a native ninja and i DO NOT appreciate you microwaving my hamster so i shall have to decline your invitation to join your business venture. i guess i will have to stick with my day job . . . .

Mom Studies English

mom is picking up some interesting english. sometimes we talk in english a bit when grandpa is around and she doesn't want him to know what we're saying (grandpa often pretends to be sleeping or at least not listening but he's quite a tricky old fart). in reference to the latter, i taught her the ever useful phrase "pain in the ass." after which i found out that my sister had taught her what a "muffin top" was.

ah, the miracles of education . . .

Buh Bye 2008, Hello 2009!

while it wasn't all bad, i am happy to have this year behind me. a time for fresh starts and new adventures!

i try to look at things in a balance: i lost someone important last year but i got someone back that i thought i'd previously lost. some friends turned out to be less than stalwart, while the tried and true friendships remained so, even strengthened, cemented in helping each other through the crap times. old dear friends moved away, but i got to add a korean foodie to my urban family. i come away from the year of the rat with this one truth: things are often NOT what they seem to be.

so, new years resolutions? not really, cuz i often find that i don't live up to my own expectations, but perhaps just one: treat each day as a fresh start; don't carry the baggage from the previous day over into the next if it can be helped. i rant ALOT. maybe it's time for a different approach.

Happy New Year Everybody!

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!