Thursday, May 28, 2009

Obsessed

GIMME GIMME GIMME
I NEED SOME MORE
GIMME GIMME GIMME
DON'T ASK WHAT FOR - BF

As much as I love trying new things, there have been some times in my life where a piqued interest or unexpected delight has lead me to descend into the twisted tunnel of obsession. In retrospect, a lot of these occurred during college, when I was practicing an involuntary style of subsistence living. Being fixated with something made food shopping easier I guess.

CEREAL remains a constant love of mine, although I've favored many flavors including Raisin Bran, Pops, Rice Krispies, Honey Bunches of Oats w/ Almonds, TJ's Frosted Mini Wheats Maple & Brown Sugar, and ginger granola from Berkeley Bowl (oh how I miss you!)



NUTELLA + PRETZELS. It all started after my roommate, Jay, brought home a huge jar of Nutella and a leftover kingsize bag of pretzels that were leftover from her club meeting. All day every day until that mega pretzel bag was gone.






DRIED CRANBERRIES, CHICKEN, CHERRY TOMATOES, FETA CHEESE, and SPINACH SALAD w/ VINERGERETTE DRESSING - something I copied from one of my roommates (Mel or Alo..I forget).

MANCHEGO CHEESE. Mel brought some home and I was hooked. It's still my favorite cheese, but I had to cut down after my optometrist showed me this super x-ray of my eyeballs and pointed out how my arteries had some cholesterol build up in them.



JACK DANIEL'S + GINGERALE. I sat next to this older man on a Jetblue flight once and this was what he ordered. I wanted to drink like him for some reason and did for a while.

GREEN TEA SOYMILK. Thanks, Maedas!







MINT ANYTHING. Because I'm having a hard time re-adapting to the socal summer heat. This means mint iced tea & mint shampoo/soap/lotion.






FINDING SONGS TO LEARN ON "UKEHUNT"



Wednesday, May 27, 2009

keiko

as many of you know i am totally in love with my dog, but i don't know if you understand how much though. my sister probablly understands because she lives with the princess Keiko so she also gets to see how totally adorable she is at all times, even while sleeping. last week there was an earth quake and i was at chase's show, i instantly text my mom asking if keiko was ok, not her or my dad, but my dog. i constantly catch myself talking to customers & co-workers about my dog. about 90% of the photos on my phone are of her & there are about 100 on my camera at this very moment. we actually have a folder on the computer called "i love keiko", here is a photo from that folder:

.
seriously how could you not be obsessed with her?!?!?!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Obseesed Childreen



When ever my brother and I needed to be put to bed or just need be occupied, only a few things would suffice. Namely Tom Cruise's best film in his entire catalogue - TOP GUN
Now, granted, this is a very very very bad movie (bad is in not good, but also you know the other "bad." Butttt it is quality. Don't believe me? see video two.but i digress) Oh yes...Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell...what a dreamboat. no
Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. yes
Loved that motorcycle scene before it gets all kinds of adult steamy where Kenny Loggins'
"Danger Zone" smash hit comes in. Well...have a look see. 

v. two

or not. you decide

Anywho, the other movie is still a very cool movie that I back 100 percent. Even now.
- THE LAND BEFORE TIME. Love this movie. I watched it almost weekly it seems and I saw it in theaters. My mom got my brother and I each a chocolate chip cookie and stuffed animal Little Foots!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!
This was no ordinary Little Foot to me. I took him EVERYWHERE--EVERYWHERE. If I could have taken him into the shower or school I would have. I made him chew gum, played stick guns, dressed him in random clothes , put scotch tape on his head and colored the tape so he would have colored hair, all kinds of shit. (wonder if top gun had any influence)
Very fun warm and fuzzy feelings for my Little Foot. I will bring him to dinner next time we go if he feels up to it. He's pretty old nowadays. 

My last one is not a movie. But just as good. I used to watch the Lakers growing up, but not so much as just the Lakers team, but one Laker in particular. Magic Johnson. "Maaygick Johhhnson" I would say whenever i saw him on tv. Too right. Crazy passes

(wish me luck on the above. long over due)


Thursday, May 21, 2009

Cinco de Mayo


Hola Amigos!

Personally, I am not a holiday-oriented person nor am I Hispanic, but since I will find any excuse to eat, drink and avoid studying, I decided to call up Erik to create a celebratory dinner for Cinco de Mayo. The menu: no-nonsense nachos, tacquitos pollo, spicy quesadillas, and homemade ginger-itas. We didn’t have time to make flan, but overall, delicious!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Obsessed!






Obsession, could there be a better topic for me to discuss? I think not. Here is the pattern that I usually follow: get obsessed with something, indulge in that obsession, form an addiction to that obsession relative to that of a crackhead with, well, crack, and then after an extended period of time, find that obsession repulsive for an unknown amount of time (months-years). Once, I was so obsessed with this computer program called Sierra Home Architect, that I would sit on the computer for like 8 hours straight and build and decorate imaginary houses. It got to the point that I would be playing in the morning before my sister left for work, still be playing when she returned home, and continue to play until I couldn't stand listening to her yell and call me a loser any longer. Finally, one day, I just had no interest what so ever in playing it anymore. I've maybe played it twice in the 3 or 4 years since that original fixation. Once, in middle school, I became obsessed with consuming cheeto puffs and chocolate milk. Literally, for a month or so that is all I wanted to eat at all times, everyday. Other obsessions over the years have included the following: James and the Giant Peach, bean and cheese burritos, dressing like I was in the 1950's, smoothies, and chewing gum (even while at swim practice), just to name a few. I decided that while these obsessions I am about to list may not be as intense as my addiction to cheeto puffs and chocolate milk, they are still memorable and worth sharing. It is human nature to categorize and group things, so I will do just that.






Eats: Champagne Mangoes


Tunes: Jonathan Richman, The Halo Benders (past obsession revisited), Lou Reed- Take a Walk on the Wild Side



Reads: Ready Made magazine



Movies/ TV: Taken(movie), Investigation Discovery Channel (both obsessions probably related to another lifelong obsession- my intense fear of getting chased/kidnapped/tortured/etc.)



Miscellaneous: All things Field Notes Brand (I love making list for everything)


Geoffrey from Ace of Cakes


and of course, my dog Keiko.

Monday, May 18, 2009

picnic perfect

Vivian's recipe for the perfecto picnic:

1 - nice park with a breathtaking view to remind you how small you are in this great big world:



1 - pear and brie panini


1 - Blue Moon Belgian White

1 - cup of Scoops or Bi-Rite ice cream for dessert


1 - friendly pup

1 - lazytunes mix




Saturday, May 16, 2009

Lemon Perrier



Our nice din-din night out will be here soon, but foist!!

Camping!

The battery went kiputz in the van. You get none it said. Its all I got, blast...

tender anf pillow





Sunday, May 10, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMqYz1axXkc

Could This Be The Perfect Picnic?

It's 10 am on a saturday and you wake up with one goal on your mind; enjoy the day! There's no work today, no homework, no nothing, just one obligation...you! You jump out of bed, get ready and dash out the door.

Its about 11 am and I decide to go to long beach and hangout. On the drive over I decide to stop by fingerprints on 2nd st. and pick up a record. As I walk into fingerprints, I notice a band setting up, right as I find a spot where to stand they begin to play. The band plays for about 30 min's and every second of it just makes my day that much better. After they finish, I end up buying their new record and walk out happy as a clam.

As I get back into my car, I drive down a couple of streets and end up parking near a little park on a hill, that overlooks the beach. As I get out of my car, I just so happen to see a little hole in the wall pizza shop, so I walk in. I get my pizza to go, walk back to my car, get my ipod, blanket, and new record and decide to have a picnic at the park. I find a spot in between a guy sleeping and girl playing with her chihuahua dotson. I start playing some modest mouse, begin to eat my mushroom artichoke pizza, and open up the new record. After im done eating, I end up just sitting there, staring out at the ocean, enjoying that complimentary breeze.


- Gia Gia


The Chihuahua Dotson does exist!
Does this remind you of Nikki and Molly?

Friday, May 8, 2009

Birthday Grubbin'

23 is like a no man's land of maturity. I learned a lot about myself this past year and look forward to the next.

Now time for pictures of my B-Day food. I know, very exciting!

Birthday cake from work.


Birthday creme brulee, mushroom thing, pesto pizza, and sweet potato fries from The Crosby in downtown Santa Ana.






Birthday pizookie.


_Vivian

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Absolut Machines

Maybe it's the fact that I just came back from camping that I feel the impulse to make a technology post but here goes...

Absolut makes fancy flavored vodkas. One time I had a cocktail that was made with Absolut Peppar (which is supposed to taste like green bell, chili and jalepeƱo peppers), but didn't care for it so much. Anyways, I'm not an alcoholic -- in case you were wondering why I'm writing about vodka on a Sunday night -- I just randomly fell upon this rad project Absolut did last year called "Absolut Machines". Below is an excerpt from the project's press release and some video.


For the ABSOLUT MACHINES, Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman have created the “ABSOLUT QUARTET”, an automated multi-instrumental orchestral machine, which does not look like anything you have ever seen before. It is a large-scale electromechanical sculpture consisting of three instruments and thousands of parts, working together to create one piece of music. The main timbre is a marimba played by balls shot from a robotic cannon. Other components include a series of wineglasses played by little robotic fingers and an array of robotic percussive instruments.

“ABSOLUT has collaborated with great artists such as Andy Warhol, Tom Ford and Louise Bourgeois. ABSOLUT has the tradition of the past masters as well as the vision to do something new. Of course we were excited when they asked us if we wanted to be part of a project exploring artificial creativity”, says Dan Paluska.

Teenage Engineering has constructed the “ABSOLUT CHOIR”, a multi-channel robotic choir, made up by 22 singing characters of various shapes and sizes. It is an architectural installation with an advanced framework of speech synthesizers and artificial intelligence software at the back end.







Stay tuned for culinary adventures from camp.

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Perfect Picnic

It’s time to roll out the picnic blanket, put on your wayfarers, and kick off your shoes. Summer is here and its time to celebrate in style that only the Dinette Set can.

The setting is Echo Park, sitting in the shade underneath a large tree and overlooking the lake's gushing foutain. The musical accompaniment is a personalized playlist of Beirut, Little Joy, Au Revoir Simone, Electrelene, Arcade Fire, Beat Happening, Pete Doherty, and Blur. Serene and tranquil music for a relaxing afternoon.

To start, a cheese plate with brie, manchego, goat cheese, and blue cheese, figs, raw almonds, and an assortment of olives (preferably kalamata and green olives stuffed with lemon).
Then we would move on to petite sandwiches of baby arugula, sliced pears, prosciutto, apricot jam, and goat cheese in between slices of French baguette.
Accompanying the food would be either a chilled bottle of pinot grigio or fresh ginger-limenade.
For desert, moist vanilla lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Bon Appetite!