December 2003 Archives

Last night Wayne brought some ravioli home from Whole Foods, but we didn't have any pasta sauce. I remembered one of my favorite sauces at a restaurant in Lucca that seemed easy enough to make - "salvia e burro" - sage and butter. So I melted some butter down, threw some dried sage leaves in (fresh would have been better), and added some salt. I tossed it with the ravioli and it was amazing! Definitely should be tried at least once, it's so ridiculously easy to make. It really brought out the flavor of the porcini mushrooms in the ravioli.

I love Italian food.

I went to the List Visual Arts Center at MIT yesterday to check out Michael Joo's solo exhibition. I vaguely remembered that he had done a video piece for Creative Time's program in the Anchorage (before they stopped doing shows there for fear of terrorism) - something about it had caught my memory, and I was interested in what he's done since then.

I had mixed reactions to the show. Some of the works where he's dealing with identity and the stereotype of "Asian-ness" seem to go for the obvious and illustrative, such as the towers of salt consumed by various famous figures in Asian history. It seems to be coming from a very cold, scientific point of view - perhaps a little too thought out. It was like Joo was thinking, "I want people to react exactly this way when they see it". Which, as an artist, you can't ever assume. You can aim for something to resonate a certain way, but you can't force it - then it just seems too contrived.

Other pieces were really wonderful, inspired even - and a testament to the fact that you can successfully mix the themes of scientific inquiry and identity. The noose piece was one of them - Joo had somehow coaxed a layer of quartz crystals to grow on the noose, right at the knot. It was a striking visual piece that brought a host of emotions and evoked subtle meanings all by itself. I didn't need to read a label that explained the scientifc background behind it all.

I keep forgetting to post about my new favorite place in town, the June Bug Café. They have a great selection of tea and other goodies (coffee hasn't been my thing lately), and big tasty sandwiches. They're super-friendly and play good music. But, best of all, they have FREE wireless access. I've been going there to get out of the house during the day, and I can still do work!

Free wireless access is really where it's at. Other businesses (ahem, Starbucks) just don't get it. You encourage customers to come to your café or restaurant by offering FREE wireless service, and they will reward you by staying and buying lots of stuff - and telling all their friends to check it out. People who are savvy enough to have the equipment to actually use a wireless connection know that they're being ripped off when they're being charged, especially at $6 an hour. Think about it - there's really no overhead, you install a cable modem and a wireless router, and then pay the $50 a month for the connection. Starbucks is making a complete profit off of their wireless services.

Anyway, I'm glad that a local business is savvy enough to figure out that offering wireless service for free is a good thing, and gives them a huge edge off of behemoths like Starbucks.

At this time of the year, I can't help but feel like everything is coming to a close. Even though it's rather arbitrary that the "new" year starts on January 1st. I'm starting to reflect on what I've done over the past year, and what could possibly happen next year, and where things are headed. I haven't got as far as making any "goals". New Year's resolutions or what have you. I'm not that ambitious. ;-)

I saw this movie a couple of nights ago...basically a Japanese horror/thriller flick (the american version was called "The Ring"). It was so CREEPY. I still can't stop thinking about it and it freaks me out. Especially the scene where the scary lady crawls out of the TV...isn't it weird how creepy movies will stay with you for days, even weeks after you've seen it? Why can't I have the nice fuzzy feeling that I had at the end of "Finding Nemo" stay with me instead? No, of course not, I have to have this paranoid feeling that some creepy lady's going to crawl out of the closet or something!

So I'm currently in a period of learning things that I should have known ages ago. Practical things that everyone should have been taught to some degree because it's damned useful, but somehow wasn't deemed important in the long run. So I've been focusing on learning to drive stick, sewing with a sewing machine, and using php/mysql (ok well maybe i wasn't supposed to know that ages ago, but it's damned useful).

Last week I was proud of myself, I drove our car from the eliot school (where I was taking the sewing class) back to the house (about 8 blocks away) without stalling or freaking out. Big plus. Now the inclement weather has dampened my ability to actually practice - do i really want to drive stick on an icy pond that used to be a road? i think not. practice practice practice. once the ice melts.

now as for the sewing...damn is it useful! i can now hem all of my pants (which are always too long), fix the lining in my jacket, reattach zippers, make new clothing, and actually do an art project that i've had in mind for a long time but was never able to execute. i think everyone should learn how to sew. and there is such a nice sense of accomplishment when you've completed something.

as for the php/mysql...it's very interesting. i've been reading the manual online. now i've just got to apply it to making an automated photo gallery thingy for my web site, since i haven't found anything pre-packaged that i actually like.

practice is key!

I watched Live and Let Die this evening. Can I just say this is probably one of the worst James Bond films ever? If you don't remember, it's the one where Bond battles a bunch of voodoo/gangster types on an island akin to Haiti. I've seen most of the Bond films, and find most of them at least mildly entertaining, but this one was utterly boring.The chase scenes were boring (uh the boat chase goes on for about half an hour and NOTHING happens), the love scenes were boring, the villains were boring, the scenery was boring, even the hot chicks were boring. Not to mention that the character stereotypes were horribly awful.

And the dialogue. OK, I expect Bond movies to have cheesy dialogue. And I can appreciate that. But it was wishy-washy, to the point where it wasn't even funny, it was just...bad. Now if you want cheesy, Charlie's Angels 2 is where it's at. I watched that last night and it was surprisingly entertaining (I don't think I would ever have chosen to see it, but hey we were snowed in). Cheesy but in a good way - because it was so over the top. Who would've thought that Cameron Diaz would kick Roger Moore's ass?

argh! the big storm of the season has hit already! look at the snow on my porch. Wayne and I spent more than two hours digging out the front walk and the side road area with our neighbors. Sheesh. All I could think about was how nice it would have been to have been stuck up in Vermont. mmm. Powder.

Although it was nice being stuck inside for the weekend. In a way, large snowstorms sort of take you out of "real" time. It's like you're in another reality. People come down the street singing and yelling and doing things that they would never "normally" do.

i spent the whole week of thanksgiving at my parents' (hence the lack of posting). somehow my mother convinced me to go the gym on monday, and really i haven't worked out seriously in about a year. i felt better afterwards. for about 3 hours. then for the next 5 days my body was so sore i could barely move. and then she convinced me to go to a spin class on thanksgiving! now, not only were my arms and legs sore, but other parts that shall go unnamed were screaming in pain.

but yes somehow i enjoyed it and realized how much I missed working out. To a point. Now the question is...do i make the commitment (yet again) and join a gym? the last time i did that i wasted at least 3 months' worth of money in the end because I didn't have time to go, and (I admit it) I was getting bored. I need to find a balance between doing nothing (which is my current state, and I can't stand it either) and committing to dumping a lot of money and having to go a couple times a week. sigh. i suppose it all goes in cycles. maybe i should just go running.