blatherings of an adzuki bean

In case you were wondering....

2009-01-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

I merged all 3 of my blogs into one and deleted the originals. So, all postings go here now!

Hand made cards

2008-12-25T19:46:00.001-06:00

I decided to pick up quilling as a hobby and made these cards:

Go Amaryllis Go!

2008-12-25T13:06:00.003-06:00

My dear friend Beth got me an Amaryllis bulb for the holidays and it bloomed right before Christmas. Isn't it just beautiful?

Now, most of you know that I have a black thumb. Hence, the fact that I was able to witness the progress of this plant from start to finish is a sheer miracle...and being the nerd I am I took photos of the entire process. I suppose I have no children or pets at the moment (Penelope went home to RitchN remember...) so I snapped away like a proud parent.

Here she is when she first arrived--tiny little stubby tuft of green protruding from it's bulb. Beth had picked out a lovely rustic red receptacle which matched the decor of my abode perfectly. She told me all I had to do was keep the soil moist. For good measure I played Mozart every morning as I got ready for work...

Even after one day, I noticed growth! In fact I was astounded by how quickly this thing would shoot up:

I estimate that it grew roughly an inch and a half every two days.

Rain or shine every morning before work, I'd have my blinds open, played Mozart or NPR depending on my mood, sip my coffee and enjoy looking at Ms. Amaryllis. It wasn't until a bit later that I realized I completely forgot something I learned way back in elementary school--plants travel in the direction of sunlight.

Yikes!
I rotated the pot...

...and realized I needed to be more mindful lest Ms. Amaryllis end up kinda wonky and vertically challenged. So, each morning, I'd rotate her so that the head was facing furthest away from the sun:

..and eventually she'd straighten out:

...then I overshot a little:

Tis true that there are all sorts of contraptions that can help a amaryllis plant grow straight, and Beth even provided a crafty suggestions involving knitting needles, but by God, I was adamant that my amaryllis plan would be able to manage to keep her head up and grow strong without the aid of any sort man made object. Sure, I was imposing my own value system on Ms. Amaryllis, but it was for her own good, damnit.

I sound harsh and all, but really I coaxed her gently. Kept her well watered and encouraged her. I was happy to see her progress each day when I came home from work. "Grow! Grow, like the wind," I told her. She grew and grew...

I assured her that I didn't care that she wasn't perfectly straight. I loved her the way she was, swaying sinusoidally but moving upwards nevertheless and then suddenly one Saturday morning awoke to find the start of a bloom shyly peaking through it's protective bud.

I had no idea the bloom would be red (my favorite color)! For some odd reason, I suppose because I attribute amaryllis to Christmas, I expected it to be white, so I felt giddy when I saw the bust of color coming through. More coaxing and admiring and day by day the trumpet shaped blooms came to be:

I'm in awe that this thing knows how to bloom in pairs. What an intelligent plant! Making room for all of its flowers. How civilized and well-planned it is.

Anyhow, Ms. Amaryllis and I had a good run together and I put her to rest yesterday. Still what a lovely gift to appreciate and admire during the holidays:

4am slam over coffee

2008-12-12T15:54:00.002-06:00

One of my artsy/fartsy buddies, Daniel Link is an amazing singer/songwriter. He's also a genuinely nice guy who has has been there, done that and then some...and often has uncanny insights on how the world works which he often records in his song writing. I was listening to the song "4am Slam Over Coffee" while walking in to work and was struck by the line:

I always try to give the benefit of the doubt even if the person is an asshole, because even assholes have bad days

That's a good one to nosh on. There are so many ways to interpret this song lyric! Even assholes can accidentally be nice? Even assholes are asshole? Even assholes should get a break? heh...I dunno.

***
Just got an IM from Ritch. Dude Penelope's farts it smells....bad human farts.

Poor kitten.

Am I slowly becoming the crazy cat lady?

2008-12-04T10:39:00.003-06:00

This one I am calling "Penelope." My friend Donna rescued this tiny calico kitten in a partking garage on Monday and I took her in to see how we'd get along. Although not as short as the one night stand I had with Fumiko, the black kitty, I get the sense that Penelope and I aren't in it for the long hual. We're not really clicking, if that makes any sense.

I have so many better things to post about of course---craft brunch, this super fast amaryllis plant, musings of how to dress for a technical interview, dating horror stories etc. And yet, I post a cat pic.

I may very well become the crazy cat lady.

Luxurious BLT

2008-11-29T12:21:00.003-06:00

Hot Damn. I just made myself a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich that was so good that I just had to blog about it. What about your Thanksgiving Leftovers?

Yeah, what about them?

In all seriousness the only part I really like in a Thanksgiving feast is the stuffing. Everything else is basically stuff I can get a Luby's or Jester Cafeteria. Sure, I make a bad ass Turkey-day meal (or rather Goose-day meal) but I'm not a huge fan of leftovers in general. People usually balk and go "but don't you like the convenience?" Kinda. It's just that reheated leftovers never quite taste as good the original. I can reconstitute stuff (I make a pretty good yam, pumpkin and potato cream soup with chopped turkey and french fried onions on top) but that too gets old after a while.

No, this morning I decided to make myself a luxurious BLT. Oh man, it was good. First off, I baked my bacon-- a trick I learned from a coworker, former chef, named Bruce. Just pop in a bunch of strips laid out in a single layer on a cookie dish at 325 for 20 minutes and you will get the most uniformly browned delicious bacon ever without the grease splattering and curled up weirdness. Drain on paper towels as you would normally.

For tomatoes I used some from my friend Ko-Ko's garden. Bright red. Not mealy. Super juicy! What's weird to me is that he managed to grow these indoors. I'll have to ask for more detail on how he managed such good produce in an apartment space.

The lettuce, I used arugula instead (or "Angela" as Jay accidentally called it once which I now refer to it as such around him) with some loose leaf spinach. Not quite as crunchy as the typical iceberg lettuce, but really I just don't get iceberg lettuce in general. It has no flavor, seems to consist mainly of water and I doubt there's much nutritional value to it.

Toast up some nutty whole wheat bread, slather on a thin layer of mayo on one slice and a thin layer of dijon on the other and pile on the Angela, bacon and tomatoes. Viola! The most magnificent BLT sandwich ever. It's so good, I want another one, frankly.

Cat action boarding on zoophila

2008-11-16T17:21:00.000-06:00

I slept with this cat last night. I borrowed her.

She was asking for it: rubbing herself up all against my window begging for trouble. I mean really, the audacity of her flirting like that, calling to me softly whenever I had the blinds opened a crack. She walked right into my apartment like she owned the place, never mind her collar indicates she lives down the block.

Anyhow, she wouldn't leave me alone! She's gorgeous. Brunette, green eyes...totally different from other cats I've known. Or perhaps I should say she borrowed me, nestling down into my pillow next to my head, purring away. What a sassy bitch, but let her have her way. She didn't even call me the next day after she bolted out of my aparment in a hurry to grab her next meal. The nerve!

Still, if she comes back, I *suppose* she's invited to come in.

Dinner with Peggy

2008-11-11T22:54:00.002-06:00

Just had a lovely dinner with my friend Peggy who up until recently would always introduce me to her friends as "my old Bible School teacher." Painful but true. Pegs is a good 10+ years younger than me and when I was in high school I taught Bible lessons at church to the little ones. Hard to believe isn't it? This is how I met my lovely friend.

She's always been a dancer. I still remember when she was 7, when she donned my pointe shoes for the first time. Dainty slender fingers pressed again the wall in my family's foyer and another hand outstretched but not touching mine. I was ready to grab her in case she'd topple over, but she never did. In fact she balanced quite well executing some painful bourrees clobbering in time against the tile floor. She'd dance continuously through college, easily surpassing my skill level when she turned 10 or so, eventually becoming a company level dancer.

We kept in touch when I went off to college. I kept all of her letters, mesmerized by how her penmanship would become more refined each year. School pictures with glasses, then with braces, then with a handsome boy at her side during senior prom. I still remember her mother confronting me once: "She's been checking the mailbox every day for several weeks and finally she broke down and cried." I vowed to always respond within a week.

Email replaced the letters when I was in graduate school. Advice on college vs. ballet company. What major? Where to live?

And so soon before I could even realize it, she turned 21 and we shared drinks for the first time at my place. I had not seen her in person for nearly 10 years and she towered over me, long boned and elegant. She had to stoop over to hug me and we chuckled at the height difference. When I left home, she came up to my shoulder. Me, newly single. She, a supportive friend, not a child, but a full fledged opinionated woman whose sympathetic ear I could use. Aside from a slight valley twang, which I find endearing, she's quite eloquent and hilarious to boot. We cuss like sailors around each other.

She's a strong gal emotionally. Much stronger than I ever was. I suppose watching your parents get a divorce at a young age and toggling between two households toughens your skin a bit. She danced in the Houston ballet throughout high school. She taught English abroad at the age of 19. Finished college in 4 years. Worked as a bar tender and then as a hostess at a high end restaurant. Now is a teacher in elementary school. She's partied. She's loved and lost. Broken hearts. Had her heart broken. In a lot of ways she's experienced a whole lot more than I have. What will she be like in 10 years when she's my age?

Every time I speak to her new stories unfold and I'm constantly amused by what she has to share with me. I suppose I'm getting old, and yet at the same time I'm connecting with her in a different way. She came out well, I want to tell her parents...

there is no spoon

2008-11-09T23:51:00.017-06:00

It's nearly midnight yet I've got some espresso percolating through the french press sitting on my counter while a glob of condensed milk and an entrapped spoon sits at the base of my mug waiting for its warm coffee bath to come, melt away the saccharine stickiness and turn the concoction into a fragrant cup of coffee... Except, I can't quite enjoy the coffee anymore because it reminds me too much of a tiff I had recently with my friend:

He was voicing his annoyance at how the condensed milk was dripping and smearing all over the counter. My flat response was "That's why I leave the spoon in the cup."

And with that he shoved the mugs at me and stormed off.

What I meant to say was "I usually grab a large scoop and then leave the spoon in the cup so that I don't end up trailing milk back and forth from the tub to the container..." but the truncated version was what came out of my mouth. I have a tendency to say things half way when I'm tired or lost in thought or whatever. It sounded condescending to him. It hurt his feelings and thus in return, he decided to act childish and disrespectful.

My tolerance level for this kind of shit is so incredibly low. Tis true, I did not semantically answer in a way that made any sense, but the claim that I didn't understand the situation or observe his complaint correctly (as he continually insists) is just plain wrong. Had he answered "Dude, you really didn't address my problem..." or something along those lines, I wouldn't be as pissed.

I think I'm angry because his reaction is so similar to how I would have behaved when I was in high school or maybe even the beginning of college. I still am to a degree, but when I was younger I was highly sensitive. A condescending look from a cashier or someone who would not give me the right of way on the sidewalk would upset me for hours maybe days. I'd brood over that. If someone hurt my feelings, I'd lash out, throw negativity into the atmosphere so the whole damn world would know how shitty I felt. I'd throw down a mini tantrum that did nothing but make the opposing party as miserable as I...exactly as how my friend responded.

Well, I grew out of that. Years ago. It is true that I initially came into this world more incendiary than serene. I've mellowed out so much with age and through being a wife that my ability to empathize with that sort of hurt has grown distant. At one point I would have merely felt sorry for the opposing party, let it be "their problem" and ride out the storm letting things go. However recently, I've discovered I'm actually annoyed by those spurts of irate expression.

The real conflict for me though in the above scenario is that I immediately reacted the way my x-husband used to. Chase after him, try to appease the situation, make peace, apologize...I used to hold that trait in high regard. Would emulate it often. I'd to swallow my hurt from being disrespected and appease the opposing party in order to dispel any pain. Stoic. Solid. Even keeled.

I'd normally sit back and make excuses, ascertain the cause through reflection, understand that his negative reciprocation was not unwarranted-- a culmination of past hurts, pent up frustration from me and world, his upbringing, a bad day, whatever...

Right now though, that's not me and yet that was exactly how I defaulted. And then I became immediately resentful. In fact, I am resentful which is why I'm writing this.

I don't like feeling like a door mat. I don't like being aloof and indifferent, one flavor that consists of nothing but "sweet" and "kind." There's a part of me that wishes that I didn't choose to stand on my higher ground. I wanted to smack him, hurl the french press his way and stoop to his level make him pay for the negativity he threw my way...just to be self righteous and prove some stupid little point: coddling a brat only creates more brattiness

How is that any better? Is the fact that I didn't act on how I wanted react make me any better of a person than him? Sadly, probably not.

Shrug. I give up.

Psychadelic Pony

2008-10-21T11:14:00.001-05:00

Modified from a blind contour drawing.

Indian Bride

2008-10-21T11:11:00.001-05:00

Pen and Ink drawing from art class this semester of a Bollywood Bride:

Deer

2008-10-21T11:10:00.001-05:00

Sketched this from a stuffed Deer at the TX Memorial museum during art class this semester. I like how fuzzy it looks. Sorry for the bad quality! I took this with my cell phone...

expect a lot of changes!

2008-10-12T16:23:00.002-05:00

I'm going to totally rework this blog and redesign it. It's just time to do so since I've got so much going on in my life right now...

funny quote

2008-07-01T15:29:00.004-05:00

Overheard in T's office...

Person #1: "You know the saying: If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it was meant to be."

That's pretty profound, actually. Something I've come to terms with. However, Person #2's response was:

"I don't think that applies to boomerangs."

Well, I suppose they were just talking about boomerangs, but for me the quote has a lot to do with not pushing a situation, not rushing things, valuing patience and learning to move on.

new environs

2008-06-16T23:31:00.004-05:00

My long-time love-bird buddies Belinda and Michael just smudged the heck out of my apartment the weekend. If you're not aware of what smudging is, it's the act of using burnt sage to ward off evil spirits and bad energy. For good measure they passed through the place with some smoldering sweet lemon grass as well. The outcome: an apartment that now emits the odor of a Phish concert mosh pit-- that is to say pot and sweat.

I'm not dissing them of the ritual of course, but I can't help but wonder if it's merely the smell in of itself that keeps the bad ju-ju out! I went out to do laundry and the essence of "Otto's Jacket" was just so strong that I had to step out for a bit which does make me wonder if perchance *I* am a bad spirit. Maybe I've been emulating so much negativity lately that my own spiritually attuned apartment didn't even want me around. After a good 12 hours of contemplating the possibility of this and some additional soul searching, I came home to a sweet smelling apartment (the scent of brand new bamboo floors and paint come to mind) once again. I guess I've purged whatever baggage I needed and now am ready to start my new life.

I've got a box of crystals sitting on the coffee table. Quarts and rutile, mica, purplelite, tourmaline...lots of pretty shiny things glittering at me waiting to find a home somewhere on my CD shelf. They'll serve as category markers. I spent a good bulk of Friday with another old friend sorting and categorizing 4 large boxes of my beloved music collection while sipping on Chianti and Merlot. "Is Octopus Project experimental or indie? What the fuck is Option 30??? Why do you own so much Madonna?"

And of course, there was ample conversation throughout the night, prompted by a song, an image or even a publication year from these CDs. As 3 am rolled around and the wine was now replaced with shared tobacco, our conversation turned to the existence of God and how to model Him mathematically. Of course we live in a nested set... This was when I knew for sure that I managed to reclaim an old part of me buried and lost for so long. We greeted the late night clubbers coming home as they pulled into the parking lot below. University students pretty much talk to anyone and even though my friend and I are both a decade older than the "kids" it seemed to make no difference, or perhaps we still look youthful? I dunno...

But back to my box of pretties: The amassed collection of crystals came from Belinda and Michael over the years. As a couple they go digging for quarts specimens in Arkansas and frequently bring back gorgeous pieces. Such kind gifts meaningful to me as I was a major rock hound as a kid and eventually got a gemology degree later in life.

Except for polaroid that I accidentally left in one of my CD cases and a framed series of my boots, I didn't bring any pictures with me which is quite unusual. In fact, my environs are quite stark by Cindy standards, but I like it. Without the clutter and just a few items within reach to amuse me, I find that I have this new sense of clarity and contentment even if I do feel alone at times. It just truer to who I am.

On shopping for clothing

2008-05-25T08:24:00.004-05:00

Is it me of whenever I walk into an American Apparel shop, I feel like I'm in a Feist or Bjork music video? I walk in, am instantaneously blinded by the super saturated candy colored spandex and cotton and then suddenly feel like I should jump onto the sales counter and sing my affections to the cashier who is wearing a striped T, electric blue leggings and over-sized sunglasses. I think the stark white backdrop of the store environs juxtaposed with clothing devoid of any sort of logos baring nothing but pure hues is what impacts me.

You find the "clean" look in many other stores. Take Apple for instance. Does a solitary iPod need a 4 ft. radius if display space? No of course not, but the vast expanse of space around the object makes it appear much more important. Same goes for clothing shops like C. Jane or Wish. These also tout the minimalist environs and display each item of clothing as if it were a work of art. Unlike American Apparel, however, these shops convey a sort of truncated color scheme when it comes down to the actual merchandise.

American Apparel, by contrast touts every possible hue known to man and some that may not even really register on the regular color spectrum. In addition, the retail space is jam packed with clothing. It's like a techn-icolor nightmare. The sales people sorta just blend into the pile of T's that resemble an acid trip. Crazy, I tell you.

I realize this place has been around for a while, but I've never set foot in one in all of my life. I realized yesterday that I was not amongst my kind when I caught site of myself in a full length mirror---an anomaly amongst the happy shiny trippy peeps wandering about with my black vintage Fender T, black rockabilly capris and black pumps.

I could just feel the stares. Your lack of color is oppressing me.... the sales people seem to say.

Well yeah, your overuse of color is giving me a migraine!

I kinda wish we had a camera with us because it probably would have made an amusing photo op. Needless to say we did not buy anything, but I just wanted to point out a great irony....the Lucid Dementia T-shirts we order are printed on American Apparel stock! That's what I find so amusing.

it's about time

2008-05-22T15:47:00.003-05:00

I sat down with my friend Claudia and had a deep and honest and discussion about... me. I don't mean what's happening and stuff, but rather, what's going on inside of my head, who I think I am and who I need to be.

In some ways, I think of Claudia as my older wiser self (and she sees me as the younger version of her) so it works out perfectly. I go to her for advice. She tells me what she would have done differently when she was my age. It's kinda scary, but at times it seems like she can read my mind even though we don't really keep in constant contact with one another. She's just really truly understands me and how I think. So, when I get a reality check comment from her, I take it very seriously. These two in particular:

"You need to take a break and emotionally divorce yourself from everyone but you."

"Who you were raised to be isn't necessarily who you are."

I've been on a slippery slope emotionally ever since I quit my last job and my dad died (these two things are sorta intertwined together in the back of my mind even though they have nothing to do with each other). Deaths amongst loved ones, divorces, broken friendships, trusts betrayed, financial crisis --you name it, my circle of friends have been through it all and I trudged through the ugly with them since I'm normally the rock. The stable one. The person who doesn't crack under pressure...

The good thing though is that all these events caused me to self reflect much more frequently about what all one actually *needs* to be happy in life.

Find happiness within is such a hackneyed expression but it speaks truth. I see it so obviously now, how my friends flit around exchanging one external object for another constantly looking for that one thing that truly inspires them. With Jocco he moves from country to county looking for nirvana. Jay seems to think finding "the one" will solve his problems. Miki's always changing jobs None of them are happy...on a smaller level everyone does this with material objects striving for bigger and better, faster or newer.

I suppose I go through hobbies and musical instruments searching for that one particular thing that inspires me truly. I'm still searching for that, so I guess truth be told "find happiness within" is a good statement to take to heart.

car shows and hot mamitas

2008-04-14T10:36:00.012-05:00

I don't really get car culture. Even though I'm Asian, I just don't go to car shows. I drive a pretty dinky fuel efficient Nissan Sentra and its fanciest feature is the CD player. The thing does not even have power locks and windows. I never saw any of the "2 Fast 2 Furious" movies, car terminology befuddles me, "drifting" is a term I use for tectonic science and I really can't tell the difference between a car model, a stripper and a porn star.

My brother on the other hand attends these things all the time. He used to drive an Acura Integra...the models also know him by name. Anyhow he was down here this weekend for the HIN (Hot Import Nights) Nightshift show over at the Travis Expo Center and my mother, T and I tagged along for the spectacle. We didn't even see that many spokes models, so to make up for that we took turns imitating them (just imagine either one of us in a string bikini to get the full effect, unless you want to keep your lunch down, of course):

Who encapsulates slutty car bitch better, my brother or I? Hard to say...I am a gal after all, but he's immersed in the culture and has a bigger rack than I.

Apparently the shows in Dallas are much fancier, indoors with spot lighting, DJs and fashion shows. This event was outdoors in the expo center parking lot:

In fact seeing a row of Port-a-potties behind such a beautiful vehicles was a real hoot for me:

The benefit of having an outdoor show however, was that we could view the motor sport of Drifting. It's marginally more interesting than NASCAR. I have to say that T's photo panning technique is really good though:

For the record one of those cars is a Mazda 626, which is what I drove in High School. Had I given it a sparkly purple paint job and added a spoiler to it, my dad would of had a heart attach.

And here are some of the other exotic imports we took pics of:

So yeah, I know nothing about car shows, but I still have my stereotypical blanket generalizations regarding those who showcase their supped-up vehicles based off of my 2 hour observation period:

1) If you're black you've added a bad ass stereo system to your car along with a sub woofer so powerful that it takes out all the traffic lights whenever you cruise down the road with your windows down. Hot sweet-ass girlfriend goes without saying. You probably have a video surveillance camera affixed to the back ready to capture the mother fucker who's out to steal them shiny twirling hubcaps. They're made out of platinum after all and the market value of precious metals is pretty high right now...

2) If you're Latino...your car is so low to the ground that it's got a clearance of 2 inches. You're probably trying to figure out how to get it even lower. Shocks are meaningless to you unless you can get the car to bounce to the beat of the music blaring out of your speakers. The hot chick you're dating is merely a car accessory. If she's not draped over the hood or leaning against your precious vehicle while it's parked, she's useless.

3) If you're Asian, you've got a stunted sense of color. Your car is either black, white, silver or electric blue. It doesn't matter which Honda you're vamping up as long as it has a huge ass spoiler in the back and neon lights underneath the car. Your tires cost more than your mortgage. You don't really have a hot Asian girlfriend because she's trying to run off with the white dude from the drifting tournament. That's okay though because you've got more than enough state of the art electronic gadgets in your car to make NASA blush and that GPS device you have installed in the dash board can hone in on your gal, send a mini missile out of the hood and blow the shit up out her, the racer-boy and his car with a touch of a button.

4) If you're a white-dude, you've fitted your car with an engine powerful enough to service Hoover damn, and for whatever reason, it's not good enough the doors open side ways....noooooo you've got to have them open upwards, or diagonally or something. If that's not the case, then you just own a freaking expensive European car like a Bentley or a Lamborghini and you have more tanned blonds following you around the Hugh Hefner. All of your girlfriends are tying to be HIN models, but in reality are either attending Law School or working at the local titty bar...or both.

This is me voicing my observations. My brother thinks I'm nuts:

Back to the topic of the car show models (which to me is far more interesting than cars). Apparently there are 2 classes of gals that frequent these shows and to over hear them talk smack about each other cracks the shit out of me (Like OMG, look at Sissy eating that corn dog in public. It's gonna make her sooo fat. Her cellulite looks like battles scars and what's with all of that cheap bronzing powder her ass? I guess she doesn't make enough at Sugar's to buy the real stuff. Mine's made out of gold...). It really comes down to fake tits vs. cellulite on their end, it seems, but what I speak of is the tiff between the HIN spokes models versus the local car/bikini models. It's a class difference. Apparently the spokes models are the ones selected via audition and travel with the shows. They consider themselves the read deal, make tons of money and have the glory of the seeing their air brushed bodies plastered on the walls of lonely bachelors across the country. What they seem to gloss over however, is that a good bulk of the spokes models used to be car models before they were "discovered..."

Car models:

Spokes model (and Johnny):

I dunno, can you tell a huge difference? Hot's hot right?

Even though I didn't chat directly with any of the local car models I will say they seemed a good bit more humble and "real" to me. I did however make my way to the HIN table and after getting repeatedly turned off by the snobbish bitchy attitude of most of the gals (I think I had to shell $5 just to approach one of them...can y'all think of something else that would require me to pay money to talk to a pretty gal? Mmm hmmm...yeah), I settled on the lovely Ms. Jenny Chu who not only had a brain but a very sweet demeanor. If you need to get your rocks off, go visit her website. She's hot and Asian. You can't beat the combo.

She was gracious enough to not only sign her page in the calendar and glossy 8x10 I got for my brother (I guess T's content with looking at me because he didn't ask for one), but also happily posed for a picture with Johnny.

Anyhow, I think he was pleased to get a memento from the show. I'm a cool sister. What can I say?

In reality, I think he would have been too bashful to get one for himself since mom was with us. heh.

SubNatural: Video Blogs and Lucid Dementia Show

2008-04-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

SubNatural is one of my favorite local acts in the Industrial/Goth scene and I just noticed that they've posted some video blogs on their MySpace blog featuring new music sound snippets, live footage and musings from their front man, RitchN.

If you are in the Austin area, I highly recommend seeing them. Actually, you can see them this Friday at Elysium because they're opening for Lucid Dementia's CD release party. (Man, I keep forgetting I'm in this band now...still hasn't sunk in that I'm playing this Friday...).

So um, show info:

Visit:
Lucid Dementia's Official Site
SubNatural's Myspace

somewhat melancholy rambling

2008-03-18T08:13:00.009-05:00

It feels like a fall day, oddly. Wind blustery and smelling like burn leaves. The gale force is so strong that no matter which way I turn, my hair is in my face. The sky is grey and overcast--I think we're on tornado watch and huge thunder storms are just around the corner. I'd do anything to be in a soft bed cuddled up next to something warm and comforting be it a human or kitty.

I should have worn boots with my outfit today but grabbed a pair of sandals instead. I feel especially short. I barely stand an inch above 5 feet and my normal shoes give me about 4 inches of lift so that I can somewhat compete height-wise with a standard female, but today, I'm barely 5'2'' and discovered that I can't see what all is located on the top shelf of my work cabinet. Crazy what a couple of inches would do!

On a related note, it's a huge pet peeve of mine when a person lies about their height, especially a guy, on their driver's license. I knew someone who was barely 5'9'' who claimed to be "close to 6 feet." That's a huge turn off and something so easy to disprove! Apparently a lot of men lie about their height (about as often as women lie about their age or weight) even people I would expect to not get a complex about it. I can proudly say that T is not one of these guys. He's 5'10'' and a quarter inch. He towers over some of my friends who claim to be 5'11.''

I'm pretty good a gaging height. My sneaky way of measuring is by hugging the person. For the record, when I hug T without shoes on, my arm comfortably go around his waist and easily rest on his ass while my nose hits the part here his sternum and diaphragm him. I definitely can not see over his shoulder.

Went back to ballet in a long while. I figured I'd rather be in physical pain than be down so often. The lack of dance has really gotten to me and I figured my foot pain has gone away enough that I can manage. Anyhow, it felt so wonderful to be in class again. I kept eyeing myself in the mirror thinking to myself: "Okay not too bad! Not too bad! The little tummy is kinda cute. My legs are still thin. I'm still flexible. Feet are still strong. Arms need more work, but still...not bad."

The funny thing that I did not account for, however, was the weight of my hair! It's gotten so long that the bun in the back is somewhat substantial and I discovered that I now tip backwards whenever I turn. Who would have thought of that? Theoretically, one would continually take classes so the growth of hair would be a non issue as you adjust your technique daily. It's been 6 months or so since I really took class and wow...my center of gravity totally changed!

Anyway, I slept really hard last night and had a whole slew of bad dreams. In one of them I was wading through knee deep water looking for a silver bracelet that my husband had playfully tossed into the water. As a trudged through, just below the surface, I saw two large glimmering cerulean eyes staring back at me. They belonged to a toddler with platinum colored hair and he was smiling slightly. When I reached down to grab the baby out of the water, his body disintegrated into a multitude of colorful guppies. As beautiful as the image was, I felt sad....

I know precisely where I lifted the imagery of the baby underwater from. J and I were exchanging childhood stories not too long ago and he told me of the time when his family went out swimming at a lake when he was 2. He was playing on the shore while his mother watched him. She had diverted her gaze for just a few moments and when she looked back up, her baby was gone. Screams and panic. No child could be seen along the stretch of shore. In a panic, she ran into the lake, worried now that her only son had drowned. It was then that she looked down and saw her toddler looking right back up at her through the water, two big blue eyes opened in wonderment and I imagine a smirk, holding his breath just below the surface. He's not sure if he was lying back or standing underwater, but I'm sure that's a horrific experience for a mother to go through. Anyhow, obviously that story made an impact of me, although for what reasons I do not know.

I haven't slept well for a long time and even though I slept hard last night, I think I could have used another couple more hours especially after that dream. I'm also really sore from ballet last night.

As a side note, one of the cats brought us a dead garden snake as a present. That too set the mood for an odd day.

super narcissistic post...

2008-03-14T20:05:00.007-05:00

I mean really. WTF?

I'm 30 for God's sake!

Aren't you supposed to outgrow acne?

I wasn't feeling too pretty before, but man, this is killing me!

Sniffle...

To be honest, I think I'm just trying to get over the fact that today is the anniversary of my dad's death. Musing about my sudden secondary adolescence that's hit me is probably my subconscious not wanting me to go out an enjoy the SXSW festivities going on. Sigh...sorta feeling like I'm not allowed to have fun or something. I dunno.

Oh, and today is apparently Pi day and I look like a freaking pie face. *runs screaming out of the bathroom*

You should be...(a farewell post of sorts)

2008-03-12T10:32:00.000-05:00

...at SXSW right now. If you're not, you shouldn't be wasting your time reading this blog.

You should visit this site instead:
SXSW (South by South West Festival and Conference) Austin, TX

Especially the music portion:
SXSW Music Festival

It does a lovely job with interviews, blurbs and info for all the musicians and includes downloadable MP3s for your listening pleasure. Now, if you just have to get the attendees scoop on things, Matt over at Earfarm (a blog I read religiously) is blogging away about his road trip down to SXSW and it's fantastic.

Not sure if you gentle readers can tell, but this blog has been dying ever so slowly. I didn't intend it to die a slow pathetic death, but unfortunately with the job, friends in crisis, being in my own band and shift in "real world" responsibilities, I ran up against time and energy. I think Shawn is in the same boat too as he's been unable to post as well (and yes, for the record, we like NIN's Ghosts)

The real issue though is motivation and intent. In the past few weeks I've seen an ass load of shows, but just couldn't find the will the write about them, not because they sucked or because they lacked anything to write about, but because I'm a totally different head space now. Ya know: What right do I have to critique another musician, when I as a musician have so much to work on myself?

To be honest, I think I get more joy out of reading and processing other people's opinions about music than spewing my own. At least, that's how I've been feeling for the past few months.

Because I'm on stage now sharing space with acts that I've adored over the years, collaborating with musicians I'm flat out in awe of...I'm feeling mighty quiet and humble.

That may seem strange, but that's how I feel.

This isn't exactly a farewell post because I haven't decided what to do about this blog yet. So many great opportunities have come out of this blog (heck, I wouldn't be part of Lucid Dementia if it wasn't for posting). Musicians have benefited from it in the past. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship, but right now, not exactly sustainable. I may merge it with my personal blog...not sure.

Regardless of what happens to this blog, I will always continue to support Tim Young and the Contrast Podcast team, SAS Radio and of course Matt from Ear Farm. If it weren't for these guys I wouldn't have started MP3 blogging in the first place!

You can always count on continuous ranting interspersed with my recipes over at the Blatherings of an Adzuki Bean blog.

Listen to:
"After the Curtain"- Beirut

Munchie Mondays: Saag Paneer

2008-03-10T10:38:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to cook Indian for the Book Club luncheon. Most of what I make was Indian inspired (some would call it "fusion cuisine" and others would say "bastardized"), however, I stuck to a pretty traditional recipe for Saag Paneer, which is essentially Indian Creamed spinach. What makes the dish fantastic however, are the chunks of home made cheese (the "paneer") that swim in the creamy sauce.

You can buy the cheese pre-made in blocks at any good international grocery, however making your own is pretty easy. I used this recipe from the Mahanandi blog for the paneer and as promised, it really did turn out delightful. I personally think using lime juice instead of white vinegar makes the paneer taste better, but that's my opinion. To get the consistency firmer and compacted, make it way ahead of time (say the night before). Be sure to press the cheesecloth bag between two plates and add a weight on top (like a dictionary, fat cat, or perhaps a hubby's foot press) to squeeze out excess moisture.

Use tofu and omit the heavy cream for a vegan version

I have my friend Monika to thank for teaching this dish to me back in high school as well as Avani who helped tweak the spices to make it taste more authentic. As alwaysyou can adjust the spices to taste

Saag Paneer (Palak Paneer)
feeds about 4-6

1 1/2 cups of prepared paneer
4 tbs of olive oil or ghee

1 small onion finely sliced
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 inch cube of ginger finely grated
1 tbs of garlic salt
1/2 tsp of crushed coriander seeds
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of chili poweder
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of fresh grated pepper
1 lb bag of frozen chopped spinach thawed
1 cup of heavy cream

Heat oil in a heavy skillet. Meanwhile cut paneer up into 1 inch cubes and then fry in oil until golden brown. Remove the paneer and set aside. Fry onion in hot oil until wilted and slightly caramelized. Add garlic, ginger and spices and continue to fry until fragrant. Add chopped spinach and mix thoroughly until spinach is heated through.

Carefully add the heavy cream and paneer chunks and cook on medium heat until thick and creamy (roughly 20 minutes)

Serve with Naan and/or jasmine rice.

I've had some variants that add chopped tomato to the mixture and that tastes good. Some people also like to use fresh spinach and butter milk. Anyhow, if you try this recipe please tell me how it came out for you and how you'd improve upon it.

Democratic Debate Hoo-Haa

2008-02-23T19:08:00.005-06:00

I voted in the primaries today...Obama of course. I'm not going to go into a political spiel because there are plenty of highly opinionated blogs out there that do that with much more eloquence. Instead I'm going to share with you yet another example of why I love working where I do.

Some of you may or may not know that Hillary and Obama had a face off on Thursday at the University of Texas at Austin, my alma mater and my current place of employment. Sure, it's a state job, but nothing beats the benefits---flexible hours, decent steady pay, free classes, and best of all, the cool and exciting things that happen on campus year round...lectures, concerts, festivals and other events. The debate was no exception.

Even though neither T nor I got picked from the lottery entries to watch the debate live, we still got to take in the debate excitement on campus. He took a few photos to document the hubbub.

First off, from the wee hours of the day before news crew had already congregated themselves outside of the Rec Center.

In addition, the number of "inconspicuous" black sedans cruising around campus and people who look like Scully and Mulder suddenly multiplied:

The Student Union held a debate screening party in the grand ballroom, but due to security reasons, only the first 1000 people were allowed in. Let me tell ya, this debate was hotter than a rock show! It warms the heart to see number that rival a boy band concert. Many people waited several hours to get a spot. The line kept going..

and going...

and going...

Needless to say, either T nor I got into this event, but that's okay because up the hill we got to mingle with a bunch of supporters who surrounded the building where Hillary and Obama were having their debate:

I loved these Warhol-esque ones of Obama:

In fact the bulk of the signage was impressive...backwards and forwards. :)

Not sure why T decided to take pictures from behind as well, but I figured I'd post them anyway.

By far the best sign though...

This is when I suddenly remembered that there are indeed other parties that run in the presidential race. Heh.

A couple of others:

Seeing all this restores my faith that young people are still fired up by politics.

Munchie Mondays: A Hot Cindy Toddy

2008-02-18T22:56:00.002-06:00

As you may or may not know, I'm recovering from the flu or maybe it's bronchitis...I'm not sure which. I'm also not sure if this is merely a continuation of the sore throat I had back in January. Point is, I've been sick for ages.

Lately the issue has been waking up in the middle of the night with this super dry, uber ticklish, annoying as hell cough that just kicks you in the gut. Cough hack-hack-hack-hack-hack....I have not gotten enough sleep. I *could* take some Nyquil or some other over the counter medicine, but why bother when there's an age old Scottish solution right in the pantry? If you think about it, this is not too much different from what you'd get at the drug store.

A "Toddy" is technically any sort of hot drink, but here in the States it usually refers to a hot alcoholic beverage that involves whiskey or brandy and some kind type of sweetener plus spice. This is my version.

A Hot Cindy Toddy

2 shots of whiskey (I've got an affection for Bulliet bourbon these days, but I think good ole Jack Daniels would do fine)
juice of half a lemon
1 tbs of honey
some boiling water to top the tumbler
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ground cardamom

Mix the lemon juice with the honey. Add alcohol. Pour boiling water on top and mix until honey is melted. Serve with spices on top (some people do this with cinnamon sticks are stirrers)

Ta da! Instant cough medicine that'll knock you out in a jiffy so you can get rest. It warms you up. Cleans out the air ways and makes you forget you're sick.

I do not recommend doing this every night when you're ill! By all means, orange juice and plenty of fluids is the way to go. However, if you're at the stage where you're pretty much recovered except for that annoying wheezing gut wrenching night time cough that come out of nowhere, consider imbibing in some good spirits.

I hate Valentine's day....

2008-02-14T15:42:00.000-06:00

I'm married and I hate Valentine's day. As sucky as it is to be single on a day that celebrates romance and love, it's just as annoying to have a corporate holiday guilting you into spending money for objects you wouldn't normally buy.

Curse this holiday! I'm celebrating by posting MP3s damnit.

"Music is Happiness"- The Octopus Project

"I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog" - The Monkees

"Future X-Girlfriend" - Voltaire

"Endless Horizon (I love Bob Mix)" - Electric Skychurch

Munchie Mondays: Asian Comfort Food (Peanut Noodles)

2008-02-11T23:10:00.000-06:00

This is really quick easy and tasty recipe that packs well for lunches. It's the ultimate in Asian comfort food and I make this disk often for friends who are over my place hanging out.

The secret ingredient is Chinese BBQ Sauce. That's what the label says and you can find this brand and its brethren at almost any Asian grocery market. I'm not sure if that is a proper translation, but I've included a pic for reference:

The other ingredient is this hot vinegar based chili sauce that is found often in Vietnamese cooking. Sammi and I call this stuff "Rooster" Sauce. Again, here's a pic for reference:

All the measurements are approximate (which is typical in Asian cooking) so you can adjust things to taste.

Asian Comfort Food (Peanut Noodles)

feeds 1 to 2 people

1 bunch of soba or buckwheat noodles

Sauce:
1/4 cup of peanut butter (chunky or smooth matters not)
1 tbs of Chinese BBQ Sauce
1 tsp of "Rooster" Hot Sauce.
1 tbs of Sesame Oil
2 tbs of Soy Sauce
2 tbs of chopped cilantro
2 tbs of chopped basil
Salt and pepper to taste

1 handful of mixed greens for garnish

Bring 6 cups of water to boil, add soba noodles and cook until tender. Meanwhile thoroughly combine sauce ingredients in bowl. When the noodles are done, dump into bowl and toss gently until noodles are well coated. Serve atop greens.

Is there anything easier than that?

Austin Music Foundation and ATX underground present...

2008-02-07T12:30:00.000-06:00

(RitchN of subNatural did the artwork, by the way)
I know it's been ages since Shawn and I have updated. Shawn's writing his dissertation which is enough excuse. Me, well, I've been busy with work and getting my chops up as the newest member of Lucid Dementia.

As you know, Sammi's been gone for a long while being glorious in her own way, working on her writing...and unfortunately repeatedly fighting colds, infections, depression and the ilk. The idea was to have her come back and visit to cover this concert, but she's not quite on the mend and won't be making it. Shawn's in Kansas, so he can't cover it.

That means the only way to get the scoop on this concert is to come see us!

We're headlining, but the rest of the bands are fantastic as well. You've heard us talk about them on here many times in the past, so please traipse on out to Elysium in Austin, TX for fantastic show for a good cause.

Visit:

Lucid Dementia:

Sub Natural:

Tungsten Coil:

G Fire

Munchie Mondays: Cindy's Citrus Berry Cheesecake

2008-02-04T16:20:00.000-06:00

Remember that night I was craving cheesecake? Well, here's it is!

Frankly, I've never baked one before, but it came out pretty good. I'm darn proud of my cheesecake, yes sirree! At first I thought it might have been too "wet" but ended up setting up nicely in the fridge after it cooled down. I'm assuming that the amount of actual cream cheese can be varied some if you want something a little lighter.

I will say that this cake was incredibly labor intensive and I doubt I'm going to make another one any time soon. However, I suppose it's worth the effort. It is kind of important to either have a cake leveler or be adept at leveling a cake with a sharp knife if you want this to look pretty. I actually didn't know cheese cake came out of the over with a "skin" but that makes perfect sense. The ones you get at a store or buy at a bakery are all prettified. With that said, you do lose a lot of cake when you do that! A friend of mine suggested dumping the scrapings into a vat of home ice cream. Not a bad idea. :)

Cindy's Citrus Berry Cheesecake

crust:
1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (plain works too)
3/4 cup chopped pecans or almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

filling:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14z) can of condensed milk
4 eggs
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
1 tsp lemon rind
1 tsp lime rind
1 tsp orange rind

topping:
1/4 c of dark chocolate chips
whipped cream (1/2 cup yielded enough for my topping)
fresh berries (I used raspberries)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

In a bowl combine cookie crumbs with sugar and melted butter. Mix thoroughly until crumbs are moistened. Dump into a 9 or 9/5 inch spring form pan and press crumbs down firmly and evenly to the bottom of the pan:

In another bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on high or medium speed until well incorporated. Pour into pan.

Place pan atop cookie sheet in case batter spills. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until cake is set. You can test this by poking the center with a toothpick.

When done, let it cool inside of the pan for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the perimeter of the pan and release cake. Cool a top a wire rack for an additional 10 minutes. Meanwhile, if you so desire, level the cake with a cake lever or sharp knife to remove crust:

Place cheesecake (lightly covered with plastic wrap) in refrigerator and let cool for at least 4 hours. I let my cool and set up overnight. The cake with become much more dense when it settles.

Prior to decorating, wash and dry berries. Melt chocolate chips in a Ziploc baggie by placing bag with chocolate in a vat of hot water. Beat heavy cream on high with a pinch of sugar and vanilla to make whipped cream (or just go to the store and buy some...doesn't matter to me).

To decorate, snip the end of the ziplock bag and draw designs on top of the cake. You can do whatever you want. You could even skip this step, but the chocolate goes well with the tanginess of the citrus and berry flavors. Some people like to do chocolate shavings instead.

Top with whipped cream and fresh berries and you're good to go! Voila!

Pretty eh? Don't forget to put this back in the fridge after serving lest you get food poisoning or fuzzy mold on your berries. That was the hard lesson I learned. T, my mom and I each only got to eat one slice before I left the thing sitting on the counter.

The Dresden Dolls: Yes, Virginia

2008-01-12T23:46:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh Brian and Amanda. They're like the Scully and Mulder of the cabaret world. Along with the amazing showmanship and theatrics, one can't help but notice the energy that comes off of deep friendship laced with sexual tension they exude on stage...it's so thick, you could cut it with a knife. That aside, I will say that even though I prefer seeing these two live, their album recordings are superb as well.

The first time I saw the Dresden Dolls was when they opened for Nine Inch Nails believe it or not. As the story goes, Trent saw the video for "Girl Anachronism" off of the Dresden Doll's self-titled first album and he was instantly hooked. Although not an obvious choice for an opening band, I will say many NINers became new fans after that tour.

Amanda Palmer is a poet and crafts lyrics with plenty of word play and appealing aethetics. A great example is the words to "My Alcoholic Friends:"

I’m counting back
the number of the steps
it took for me to get
back on the wagon of the weekend

I’ll use the autotimer to prove that
I'll get home with my imagination
if they find the body in the basement
“in the very house that she was raised in!”

I’m taking down
the number of the Times
so when we get the sign
from god I’ll be the first to call them

I’m taking back the number of the beast
cause 6 is not a pretty number
8 or 3 are definitely better
a is for the address on the letter
to my alcoholic friends

I’m trying hard
not to be ashamed
not to know the name
of who is waking up beside me
or the date, the season or the city
but at least the ceilings very pretty
and if you are holding it against me

I’ll be on my best behavior
taking shots for mother nature
once my fist is in the cupboard
love is never falling over

(1,2,3,4)

should I choose a noble occupation
if I did I’d only show up late and
sick and they would stare at me with hatred
plus my only natural talent’s wasted on my alcoholic friends
my alcoholic friends
the party never ends
my alcoholic friends

Yes, Virginia continues the same spirit as their first album with a fuller studio sound. I highly recommend it!

Listen to:
"My Alcoholic Friends"
"Backstabber"

Watch the Backstabber video.

Visit:
The Dresden Dolls official Web Site
Dresden Dolls Myspace
Buy Yes Virgina from Amazon.com

Holiday Odds and Ends pt. 2

2007-12-29T09:21:00.000-06:00

Can you believe in all the years that I have lived in Austin I had never visited the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue until this past Christmas?

Some 10 years ago my X and a bunch of friends and I stumbled up and down the grassy knoll near Town Lake (now called Lady Bird Lake) trying to find this thing. We were drunk verging on hung over and had been dancing into the wee hours of the morning hence the excursion was not a success. I think we all eventually collapsed under the bridge and tried to blend in with the transient population that night--never mind the plethora of PVC leather and velvet we wore.

In retrospect, I have no idea how we missed it because the thing is huge. My brother waned a pic with good ole Stevie (in case you're a poor soul who doesn't know who he is, Stevie Ray Vaughn, a TX boy, was one of the greatest blues guitarists who ever lived, an inspiration to many rock gods and unfortunately had his life cut short after a tragic helicopter accident after a show in 1990)so Christmas morning, the family set out to Lady Bird Lake on a mission to get the photo and because none of us were drunk (perhaps a tad greasy in the stomach from breakfast at IHOP, but certainly not drunk) we succeeded!

It was a beautiful Christmas day with blue skies, cool crisp winds and bright sun out. A lot of people were walking up and down the lake (which is really a river...too complicated to go into) with their dogs or kids. A lot of other people were paying their respects to Stevie...Apparently the statue is one of the most visited landmarks in Austin, TX next to the capitol building and the UT Tower where Charles Whitman shot down a bunch of students back in the 50's. Anyhow, mom wanted a pic with Stevie too. Here she is snuggling with him:

So of course I had to take a pic too. I asked him to make me a rock god and maybe rub off some of that stage persona onto little ole me. I also asked him if I could have a pony:

(as T just pointed out a second ago, if he made me a rock god, I could easily afford my own pony, so why bother asking for one?)

On the way back to the car, T spotted some beautiful black swans in the lake and I took it as a good omen:

**
Christmas Eve dinner was lovely. Instead of going with a fancy schmancy roasted goose or ham or turkey...I decided to go with store bought tamales this year with guacamole, rice, beans and a big salad since I wasn't in the mood to cook an elaborate meal. Mom make curry empanadas that went really well with everything. As always, Jbro helped me in the kitchen as T took photos:

My best friend Shawn was in town and joined us for dinner. Of course no get together in my household is complete without a good ole fashioned jam session after the meal. Since I bought my brother a new Vox tube amp for Christmas we just had to try it out to make sure it sounded right and all. (For the record, he's getting a stick of gum for his birthday since I spoiled him and went over budget....he's my brother. He's talented. He deserves good gear so I don't mind...)

I think Shawn had a good time:

Brown Dog enjoyed the music as well:

Momma was dancing:

Shawn's looking pretty hot here:

Family pic:

And of course one with my best friend:

***
So, we've got a New Year's party coming up and then a few more days off. Unfortunately, I've been doing contract work a good bit during the break. However, I haven't been so busy that I haven't been able to socialize. Lots of friends in town. Lots of parties. Lots of food and lots of music. Till then, enjoy images of my brother doing a lyrical jazz routine to Benny Bennassi:

Happy Holidays 2007! and the new Speakers

2007-12-25T09:23:00.000-06:00

If you're not offended....Merry Christmas!

Amazingly, it only took 2 takes to get this photo. Etouffee and Brown Dog are just so easy going!

Now onto the materialistic post. This is the big ticket item we got for ourselves this year:

New Speakers and Sub Woofer
T and I got this for ourselves because the old speakers which we inhereted from my dad died about 4 months back. Let me tell you, I about to shrivel up and die without my music. We found a pair at Fry's on sale and for holiday promo, it came with a sub-woofer. JBro, who came down for the holidays, came over and helped optimize the output (The way I had things initially set up caused the sweet spot to somehow converge near the refrigerator...not bad, for me at least, but certainly not idea for everyone else).

We discovered something amusing though. Being somewhat hasty, T and I just rant into Fry's and purchased the best thing we could afford that sounded good (in the store) without giving much though to the fact that our house is only 2000 sq feet...that is to say we bought speakers which a weee bit too powerful. Sure, across a massive electronics warehouse this is fine, but you lug those puppies into the home and we suddenly have club Chang-Fricke' going here. The columns themselves are about my height. What's even funnier though is that if you even turn up the sub-woofer a notch, the floor shakes so much it causes the CD player to skip.

Anyhow, we're fiddling with it still. For classical music it's just okay. Not enough mid range. Josh Groban and Joshua Bell sound somewhat decent although perhaps several hundred feet away up on stage. Trent sounds like he breathing down your neck while The Kings of Convenience and Abra Moore are serenading you on the couch. Benny Bennassi is rumbling inside of you. Hands down the set up is best for dance and techno music at the moment.

My brother and I spent many hours swapping out CDs and listening to much late last night. It was a lovely bonding session. I have a feeling T's ears were driving him mad but hey...they're new stereo speakers!

Nine Inch Nails: Y34RZ3R3M1X3D (Year Zero Remixed)

2007-12-08T22:56:00.000-06:00

Look, if you read this blog with any sort of consistency, you'd know that Shawn and I basically worship the ground Trent walks on. We're Nail-heads. We're in our 30's. NIN was the soundtrack of our young adult lives. NIN is just getting better and better. That's my opionion and I'm sticking to it. We're not even talking about the free downloads, Garageband files, interactive games and general connectivity to the fans here...

So instead of going on and on about how wonderful this official remix album is and type up a quasi-intellectual analysis on its virtues, just listen to the Mp3s and come to your own conclusion, 'kay? Cause really, I'm fucking tired this time of year (if I get another ABEND call from work, I'm going to shoot someone) and I'd rather just spend some quiet time listening to this album than trying to connect with the virtual world right now.

Listen to:
"My Violent Heart" (Pirate Robot Midget)
"Great Destroyer" (Mod Wheel Mood Remix)
"Another Version of the Truth" (Kronos Quartet and Enrique Gonzalez Muller)

Visit:
Nine Inch Nails Official Website
Remix Nin (cool remix site with downloadable toolset to mangle/enhance tracks by Nine Inch Nails)
Buy Year Zero Remixed at Amazon

On a slightly different note, enjoy:

cooking with...wha?

2007-11-29T12:33:00.000-06:00

Um. That's...great.

Well Shit...RIP Amanda

2007-11-24T22:29:00.000-06:00

I can't even begin to describe the multi-level suck-i-tude we're all feeling right now.

Basically my brother got into an icky hit-and-run car accident this morning. In short a red truck in the lane next to my brother's lost control and veered in front of his vehicle. After slamming the breaks to avoid hitting the guy, my brother's car hydroplaned, spun out of control on the freeway (it was raining heavily) and bonked into the truck and ricocheted off into the sunrise. The impact was so bad, car wouldn't start after that incident. Fortunately, two really kind Samaritans helped push my brother's car off the freeway and onto the shoulder.

Meanwhile, the asshole who swerved in front of my brother and caused this accident in the first place decided tear down I-35 and try to get away. WTF? What a moron! First off this is Thanksgiving weekend, so there were tons of people on I-35. Secondly, practically everyone has a cell phone so as this prick was speeding past a whole string of eyewitnesses, a bunch of which who were probably itching to go home as well, there was a lovely chorus of phone calls to 911 in rapid succession. In fact, by the time the police and ambulance reached my brother, a cop car had already caught the idiot in the truck who tried to run away.

As you can see my brother looks okay, but the car certainly doesn't.

He was struck in such a way that he whacked his head into the windshield, but aside from a mild headache, my brother appears to be physically sound. He's pissed off as hell of course. We're guessing the dude ran because had no insurance, which sucks balls, but we've got to thank God in the fullest for seat belts. It's a miracle that no one really got hurt. We're still waiting on more info...

Emotionally this has been taxing for us. I mean, we just lost out dad. To think we almost lost JBro is something too difficult to process at the moment. "Amanda" was my brother's first car and it was a generous gift from my dad. He received it his first year of college with the rationale being that since he commuted a bit he needed a reliable car. As he you can he was a very excited

Fast forward to today and Amanda is now a gnarled heap of twisted metal.

T, my mom, and I joined my brother at the wreckage yard helping him carry off his personal belongings. The freezing cold rain came out relentlessly stinging us repeatedly. That along with the grey over cast skies didn't help anyone's demeanor as we all dealt with this in our own ways. T was of course, was feeling thankful my brother was fine and joining in on cussing whenever we recounted the asshole who took off from the accident scene. My mother resorted to fretting and affectionate nagging wanting to be helpful, but really just getting into my brother's way.

I of course sulked quietly and took photos, my fingers barely able to press the shutter, it was cold out.

I focused on the damage trying to imagine how the impacts happened.

I fixated on the patches of red paint from the truck permanently fused into the surface of my brother's Acura. It had no business being there. Its brash red was adding insult to injury, flaunting itself, commanding attention like blood.

I was struck by how organic Amanda now looked post accident. Her smooth and symmetric lines were now marred by crinkles and blisters and cracks. She could not hold onto all her components. Her entrails were now exposed.

Soggy, wet and dejected we drove home in T and I's modest blue Nissan feeling tired and worn out trying to figure out the best scheme to get my brother back home to Dallas. I sat in the front with my brother's CDs balanced on my lap feeling oddly calm. I asked God to send good karma down to those who helped my brother. I sat back, feeling thankful that T and I were home when my brother called, that we had a functional car, that my brother wasn't hurt and did have insurance, that the accident happened close to home...it could have been so much worse.

Munchie Mondays: T's Birthday Banana Muffins with Peanut Butter Chocolate Icing

2007-11-23T15:24:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know this is another early Munchie Monday post as it is Friday, however, today is my Darlin Hubby's Birthday! He turns 31 today and except for the increased man-fur, looks pretty much the same as when I first met him nearly 9 years ago. He's out with my brother watching Beowulf in 3-d at the moment. Meanwhile, I've been whipping up a batch of his favorite muffins.

I figured after the movie, T and Jbro will probably want something nice to munch on anyway.

I can't take full credit for the recipe as it is derived from a banana muffin recipe in Betty Crocker's Cookbook, which incidentally was a gift T's Mom gave him ages ago right before he was to head off to college. The intention was to give him a simple guide to cooking to encourage him to acquire good eating habits as a bachelor--ya know, to not consider Ramen, potato chips and peanut butter straight from jar as a full meal. I'm not sure how much use the book he received because by the time we got married (which was some 6 years later after he acquired the text) the spiral bound volume was still pristine. ..however, *I* got a lot of use out of it. The recipes in there work as a perfect base to add/change/tweak into your own dishes which is what I've done here.

The muffins from this book are obscenely easy to make.

T's Birthday Banana Muffins with Peanut Butter Chocolate Icing
makes 12

3 mashed ripe bananas
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla or maple extract
1/3 cup of light brown sugar
3 tbs of vegetable oil
2 cups of Bisquick
1/2 cup of pecans (plus extra for garnish)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Icing
(you will have leftovers)

2 cups of dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup of whipping cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line muffin tin with muffin paper or grease lightly with shortening (I suggest muffin cups because these muffins are light and fall apart easily).

Whisk bananas, eggs, oil, vanilla extract and brown sugar in a bowl. Gently fold Bisquick flour and pecans into wet mixture until just moistened. Do not overmix. Otherwise, you'll get a heavy batter. Spoon mixture evenly amongst the 12 muffin compartments.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing.
Place chocolate chips and peanut butter in a sturdy bowl (glass or ceramic is best as it conducts heat). Heat whipping cream over stove while whisking to aerate the cream. When steamy got (but not boiling) pour over chocolate chips and peanut butter. Continue to beat mixture with whisk until chocolate is melted and everything is well incorporated. It'll be the consistency of a thick pudding.

When muffins are done, remove from pan and cool on a wire wrack.

Spoon icing over the tops and garnish with pecans (or sprinkles, or coconut flakes...or nothing at all). Ta da! Done!

Munchie Mondays: Borscht Soup Cindy Style

2007-11-19T10:24:00.001-06:00

I swear this is a really yummy soup, especially in colder weather. Unfortunately, it's just a pain in the tush to photograph.

My version is definitely an adulterated version of the traditional eastern European dish, but still is a borscht, I assure you. Be sure to use fresh beets. The canned stuff just doesn't cut it because this soup is all about the beets and cabbage. If you hate sauerkraut, feel free to omit and use more red cabbage instead, however the sauerkraut gives the dish a nice tangy flavor that goes well with the sweetness of the beets. You can also made this vegetarian by completely omitting the bacon and using vegetable broth. I sometimes make a heartier version by adding potato.

Fresh dill is also a must for this to taste right.

Like with most soups, exact measurements are not that important.

Borscht Soup Cindy Style
feeds a lot of people (8-10...maybe more)

1 lb of bacon
1 small red onion finely diced
6-8 small-medium fresh beets peeled and sliced
1 small head of red cabbage shredded and rinsed (about 4 to 6 cups)
2 cups of sauerkraut
4 cups of beef broth
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of sour cream (plus extra for garnish)
1/4 cup of fresh dill (plus extra for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and reserved about 1 tbs of oil. Place oil in the bottom of a huge ass pot and heat. Fry onion until transparent (if you were to use potato too, this would be the time to fry the potatoes). Add liquids, veggies and bacon. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer halfway covered for about 30 minutes or until beets are soft and cabbage is wilted. The soup will take on a gorgeous fuchsia color pretty quickly.

Turn off heat and then mix in the sour cream and dill until dissolved. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, fresh dill and fresh cracked pepper. There you go! A nice hearty soup for the winter months.

Some words I just can't ever say right

2007-11-11T19:47:00.000-06:00

With the luxury of a blog, I am shielded from showcasing one of my most embarassing attributes: My lack of eloquence.

Not only do I trip over words as I speak, but I suffer from a mild lisp and momentary lapses of honest-to-goodness anomia. In fact, often the word that comes out of my mouth is either completely opposite to what I intend on saying or it is something that is abstractly related. For instance, just a few moments ago, I asked T if he could hand me the blanket sitting on the couch. Except that I said "Pillow?" He of course handed me the blanket and went "a-noooo-meeeee-ahhhhh!"

Part of it may have to do with the fact that I speak a pidgin language with my mother. She's not a native speaker of English so much of the vocabulary I share with her is simplified or broken down to abstract parts. My favorite example is the word for nipples. "Nipples" in our pidgin language is "booby dots."

As you can imagine my various speech anomalies gives my husband, the linguist, hours and hours of joy as he analyzes what I say. In addition to the above, there are several words that I can't seem to say right no matter how many times I am corrected and they are the following....

Gewustraminer: next to Riesling, it's my favorite wine.

Correct pronunciation: ge-wurst-tra-meee-ner
Cindy pronunciation: ge-wusrt-tra-ga-meee-ner

Phlegm: we all know what that is. The unfortunate things is that I somehow internalized way back when that the written word was something different from what you would normally call a loogie.

Correct pronunciation: flem
Cindy pronunciation: fel-gium

Mausoleum: otherwise known as a big fancy tomb. I was not corrected on how to say this word until I was 25!

Correct pronunciation: mau-so-le-um
Cindy pronunciation: ma-laaaah-zeeee-um

pusillanimous it means cowardly

Correct pronunciation: pyoo-suh-lan-uh-muh-sss
Cindy pronunciation: pyooo-suh-mah-lan-ih-mus

There a few more, but I can't quite remember them off the top of my head. Anyway, I often wonder with how much I butcher my own native language...what calamities do I cause when I speak a foreign language? As I get older I've learned some of the words I use when communicating in Mandarin or Taiwanese are just flat out wrong or don't exist, but because my family knows what I'm talking about and my tone conveys plenty of meaning, so I never get corrected.

I suppose this is how new words are created.

Mary and Josh's Gothic Wedding

2007-11-07T11:47:00.000-06:00

Can you tell these two have known each other since 10th grade? That's seventeen years.

So, as you can imagine we are all incredibly happy when the two of them finally tied the knot. Some of us flat out forgot that they weren't already married!

T and I took turns with the camera capturing the images of the splendid day. Every wedding is unique and each is beautiful in its own way. I feel like its been ages since I've gone to a gothic one (we are, after all, getting older) so what a splendid surprise it was to see Mary and Josh embrace their younger days with their ceremony at the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens in Austin, TX.

The groom in his glorious guy-liner:

Cassandra was the master of ceremony:

Guests waiting.

That's Kate and her man, Joel on the right:

My dapper hubby and dear friend Lisa:

Lisa bringing Juliet to Lee, her husband. I love how the child stands out as a red spot amongst a sea of black:

Mary walking in with her dad:

Exchange of vows (Josh said at one point "I also promise to buy you a lot of pretty things..."):

Ring Exchange:

The Kiss:

And a big hug...

From many people...

Mary and Josh picked an Indian restaurant to cater the food. That was just divine!

Cake cutting:

Cake eating:

Cake flinging:

More pics...

Milo:

Milo with his parents "Special Blue" Jennifer and Kevin:

Ross (Juliet's dad) giving me a celebratory kiss:

Troy and me:

Juliet:

Juliet with her mom, Cassandra as Lisa looks on in the background:

Juliet with her dad, Ross:

Lisa with Juliet:

Lee with Juliet:

A very festive Stacy:

Rothko and Matt:

Angie's hair:

Jason and Sarah:

Kitsune and Syd:

Kitsune and me:

Shannon and Xian with their son Devin:

Darlin Hubby:

Ross trying to entertain Juliet:

A bunch of us decorating the car:

Happily ever after...if they've been together for 17 years already, I think they're probably going to stay together for a bit more longer.

Beth

2007-11-03T11:08:00.001-05:00

Very pensive image of my dear friend Beth. I shot this outdoors as we were having lunch al fresco.

Opium War Era Empress at the Sluggo! Ball

2007-10-29T22:21:00.000-05:00

That's what I went as to the Emo's Sluggo! Benefit Ball on Friday. Travis took this photo at my favorite restaurant Koriente:

I ended up making an opium pipe out of a bamboo flute and a small perfume bottle that I got from my very wholesome and spiritual sound friend Lisa...which is why i felt funny using it. However, it came out perfectly convincing. The idea was the look like the drugged out Empress Wan from The Last Emperor. My coworker, George, suggested a Mogwai doll (in reference to the opium addict from Gremlins) and that was pure genius in my opinion.

I love how the Asian men in the background really add to the ambiance.

As the night progressed, I accumulated another "prop." Sheldon handed me a wad of cash for the merch booth, which T and I were working that night.

So, I called it "drug money."

BTW, the green room at Emos is actually green. Some rock star of days gone by decided to write this lovely phrase on the wall:

Speaking of Sheldon (the lead for Lucid Dementia) this is what he and Byron (guitarist) look like prior to makeup:

This is after the transformation:

Neat eh?

I took a lot of photos that night of the various bands. Here are a few of my faves...

Holly from Lucid Dementia:

Another great one of Byron:

SA Creeper:

Sky from Hipnautica:

Nik (bassist for Lucid Dementia):

Another one of Sheldon:

Luci with Holly and Byron:

The only photo I have of the drummer, AzilX is with the whole band. She's the 3rd one from the right:

Let's not forget some of the costumes as well. By far the best had to be the aging roller derby gal:

I love this on of T with Sky, from Hipnautica

The amazing thing though was that T won for "Most Demented!" It did not cross out minds how tasteless it would be for him to show up as a bloody surgeon to a benefit ball which was set up to raise money for Nick West's (founder of Sluggo!) medical bills. Yikes! Still, I'm proud of the darlin hubby. He beat out a bunch of elaborate costumes:

The prize was a bonafide copy of Sluggo! Magazine:

The makeup gal went as a Poppel. Remember those? The guys she's with is one of the tabla drummers for Hipnautica.

Dirty old ladies:

Even though it's blurry, I really like this one of Sheldon walking around before the show started:

Anyway, a BUNCH of photos and some of the best concert pics I've done in a while:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cchang_adzukientropy/sets/72157602768695383/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cchang_adzukientropy/sets/72157602769051503/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cchang_adzukientropy/sets/72157602766503190/

Paul McCartney - memory almost full

2007-10-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

Paul McCartney, where oh where does he get his hair dye these days?

Paul McCartney's latest album Memory Almost Full (MAF) has really impressed me. Aside from his Beatles work, I've always been a big fan of the Wings album Band on the Run. Now, I didn't really expect MAF to come anywhere near Band on the Run. In fact, I didn't really know what to expect, but Sir Paul has proven that he's still "got it."

It's hard to pick a favorite track from this album. Some of the songs, like "Gratitude" and "Nod Your Head" feel like late-Beatles songs. A few others, "See Your Sunshine," "House of Wax," and "Only Mama Knows," for example, would have fit nicely on the Band on the Run album.

Although tracks like "Dance Tonight" seem frivolous with their delightfully inane lyrics, MAF is actually pretty introspective and melancholy. On the second to the last song "The End of the End," Paul talks about how he's going to die soon and seems to be quite literally planning his own funeral. Thankfully, Paul doesn't leave us hanging there looking for a box of Kleenex. He wisely put the fun little ditty "Nod Your Head" as the final song to lift our spirits back up.

Here's the video for "Dance Tonight," where Natalie Portman stars as a dancing ghost.

Oh, Happy Halloween, again.

Buy Memory Almost Full at amazon.com
Visit:
Paul McCartney's YouTube channel
Website for Memory Almost Full
Paul McCartney's myspace

Listen to:
House Of Wax
Nod Your Head

Sluggo! Ball @ Emos Austin on Friday October 26th

2007-10-25T20:54:00.000-05:00

If you're in Austin, please be there if you can. Not only will there be a fantastic myriad of musicians in the line up (including the infamous goth puppet metal band Lucid Dementia) but the show is for a great cause. With my father's recent death from cancer and the lingering battles I'm still fighting with MD Anderson and the insurance companies, this benefit hits home with me.

Nick West, founder of the innovative Austin fanzine Sluggo! is undergoing treatment for prostrate cancer. He's currently in Germany subjecting himself to the best treatments possible...and as you can imagine accruing a ridiculous amount of debt (damn you, US Health Care!). The show tomorrow night at Emo's will be to help raise money for this amazing visionary who has been devoted to the Austin music scene since the late 70's.

I'll be working the Lucid Dementia merch booth, so come by and say hi. Costumes are highly encouraged (including prizes) and the music will be fantastic. Doors open at 9:00pm and cover is $10.

Visit:
The Sluggo! Ball Site
Nick West's Blog
Emo's Austin
Lucid Dementia
Sally Norvell and Paul Wallfisch
Hipnautica

Benny Benassi: Hypnotica

2007-10-23T20:06:00.000-05:00

Bring on the smut, I say.

He's sexy, trashy, trance-y ...and just plain addictive. I have no idea why, but I can't put this album down. One whole calendar year and the album Hypnotica by DJ Benny Benassi has been on high rotation non stop. According to my itunes ranker and Pandora, my favorite song is "Satisfaction." The throbbing beats are repetitive, the lyrics odd at best and robotic vocals are kind of creepy, and yet, I can't get enough of it.

Who's to say that house music is supposed to be profound anyway? When you think about it, this stuff is supposed to be played at high volumes in a crowded dance club: loud pounding beats even a rhythmless white boy can follow, sweaty bodies bumping into each other, friends screaming into each other's ears trying to carry on vapid conversation, and tons of alcohol pouring to and fro. This is the perfect album for that. You have to give kudos to his videos too which are just as over the top. *I* get turned on by power tools now...and I'm a girl!

Listen to:
"I love My Sex"
"No Matter What You Do"

Watch:
"Satisfaction" (smutty 2nd version)

"Satisfaction" (original version)

"No Matter What You Do" (one of my most favorite music videos of all time)

Visit:
DJ Benny Benassi's Official Website
Benny Benassi's Myspace
Buy Hypnotica at Amazon

Rasputina: On Perilous World

2007-10-22T18:44:00.000-05:00

The first time I experienced Rasputina was in college back when they were touring with Marilyn Manson in the late 90's. Back then I would have classified the inscrutable cello playing Victorian garb clad ladies as industrial rock even though that title didn't quite fit. They were definitely dark, mysterious and oh-so-talented. Fast forward to only a few months ago at Austin's Parish night club where I saw them perform live again after several years and I say they were more folk rock, comprised of 2 cello players and a drummer, clad in...Cowboy vs. Indians garb???? But, still just as talented and wildly dynamic.

(As a total side note, a bunch of us could not figure out what the object in Melora's updo was exactly...taper candle, large crochet hook or worn feather? Anyone know?)

Point is, Rasputina is incredibly difficult to classify but always a joy to listen to.

On Perilous World marks the 6th full length album from this group and thematically it loosely follows world events. In the words of Melora Creager, the lead:

"I wrote the songs featured on Oh Perilous World over the last two years when I realized that current world events were more bizarre than anything I could scrounge up from the distant past," she says. "I obsessively read daily news on the Internet and copied words, phrases and whole stories that especially intrigued me and compiled a vast notebook of this material."

Intriguing lyrics aside, you'll find this album full of interesting harmonies, "rant" singing, ample use of recorder, cowbell and other odd instruments along with the expected cello and drums. Over the years Melora's voice has become more solid and sweet sounding and it really contrasts well with some of the not-so-uplifting subjects she sings about.

If you're one of those people out there who dig Apocolytica or sit around worshiping the likes of Nigel Kennedy, Mark Woods or Vanessa Mae...it's time to branch out a bit and experience some Rasputina.

Listen to:
"Cage "In a Cave"
"The Question of Time"

Visit:
Rasputina's Official Website
Rasputina's Myspace
Rasputina's Wiki Entry
Buy Oh Perilous World from Amazon

Munchie Mondays: Pumpkin Sage Alfredo Sauce

2007-10-22T11:40:00.000-05:00

A cold front actually blew in Texas last night. It's a frigid 58 degrees now! (*note the sarcasm*) Still, 58 degrees feels mighty nice after weeks of temperatures in the 90's. It's freaking October. It's supposed to be Fall, so frankly I'm glad fall is finally here.

And course that means it is pumpkin time!

Instead of posting something sweet, I decided to go the savory route this week with my version of a pumpkin sage Alfredo sauce that goes well with pasta, atop poultry or even over Eggs Benedict.

Sage goes really well with pumpkin and chicken. Not surprisingly chicken goes well with pumpkin too.... I will admit I don't cook with sage much because, it's uh...well, weird looking. Spongy and pungent. Silvery. It's kinda like the arrogant cousin of rosemary or something, but I digress. If you can't find fresh sage, dried sage works just fine as well.

Pasta with Pumpkin Sage Alfredo Sauce
feeds 2 to 3

3 cups of prepared pasta

1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds toasted

1/2 cup of heavy cream or half and half
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs of butter
1 tbs of fresh chopped sage (or 1 tsp of dried sage)
2 cloves garlic crushed
pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

shaved Parmesan or feta for garnish

While pasta is cooking, toast shelled pumpkin seeds in a pan until brown and aromatic. You'll actually hear them pop and crackle as they toast.

In a heavy pan add cream, garlic, pumpkin puree, and butter. Whisk over medium heat until butter is melted and there are no pumpkin lumps. Turn off heat and add sage, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange pasta on plate. Pour sauce on top. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Also goes really well with grilled chicken or bacon crumbles. I'm sure slivered almonds would work for the nuts as well. Yummy!

Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me

2007-10-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

So I've been listening to the new Marilyn Manson album, "Eat Me, Drink me" (EMDM) for some time now. While it's not a nutrition-themed album like I thought, it does represent a different direction, and very good one at that. As Manson said in an interview I read somewhere (which I can't seem to find for some reason), EMDM is a personal, introspective album about the heartbreaks and issues Manson's recently faced and dealt with. All of the songs were written by Brian Warner (a.k.a 'Marilyn Manson') and Tim Skold (a.k.a. 'that guy from KMFDM'). I read an interview (I don't remember where) in which Manson said that the songs, musically, were pretty much developed from unfinished music Tim Skold was working on.

Yet, EMDM sounds like a Marilyn Manson album rather than a KMFDM album (thank God!) and oh yes, it does kick ass! It has my stamp of approval. It's hard to pick a favorite track on an album this good, but the songs that seem stick with me the most are "The Red Carpet Grave" and "You and Me and the Devil Makes Three."

Sorry for the lateness, and short nature of this review, by the way. I've been very busy.

Oh, Happy Halloween!

Listen to:
"You and Me and the Devil Makes Three"
"The Red Carpet Grave"

Visit:
Marilyn Manson's website (scary!)
Marilyn Manson's myspace (listen to some tracks here!)
Buy Eat Me Drink Me at amazon dot com

the carnage...THE CARNAGE!

2007-10-21T09:11:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago, T and I came home from work and just felt that something was amiss. Maybe it was how dead silent the house was. Perhaps it was dust filled air particles breezing by...or maybe it was because we were not met with out usual entourage of furry feline friends by the entrance way.

With out hearts already aflutter, we paced the premises and then suddenly came across this:

I started screaming bloody murder at the top of my lungs:

"Oh my God. OH MY GOD! Dear God nooooooooo!"

T came running in and gasped. At that very moment we both swore that Hippo, our other beloved ragdoll cat...

...had just exploded.

I started sobbing hysterically (keep in mind, logic had not quite kicked in yet as I did not notice there wasn't any blood or guts in the vicinity). "Who could do this to her?"

It didn't help that the demonic mother and daughter duo of Etouffee and Brown Dog decided to enter the crime scene and and start chomping on Hippo fluff:

Just then, I caught site of this sitting on the floor of the adjacent study:

This was when T and I started to laugh uncontrollably because we realized the "Hippo Carnage" was nothing more than a shredded up fox tail the we had purchased at a Renaissance Fair years ago for T's Pan costume (photo left). All that was left intact was the very tip.

The tail certainly was Hippo colored and flufy like her, but fortunately it was not her. We went into the study and found out beloved cat, safe and sound, all body parts intact...and grouchy as usual (she's not too fond of the kitten).

Meanwhile, Etouffee and Brown dog took turns gnawing at the fur and having a grand ole time.

Another C and T family mystery solved.

Till then, we'll be vacuuming and cleaning out air filters in earnest.

On potty privacy

2007-10-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

There's someone who either works in or near the Student Services Building who is pee shy. Now, I understand going to the bathroom is a private thing, but ya know it is possible to take things a bit far. I have yet to meet said person, but from the various clues, I can deduce that this individual comes into work roughly around 9:30am and leaves sometime before 7:00pm when the cleaning people come in. This person also treats each bathroom stall equally (regardless of whether or not the lock works) because her evidence is equally distributed amongst all of them. Furthermore, this individual must have joined this section of campus somewhere between August and September of this year because the phenomenon I will soon describe did not manifest itself until then. I suspect it is a staff member and not a student. Regardless, this person is incredibly persistent in ensuring her bathroom privacy.

How does she do it?

Well, every single stall has a long strip of toilet paper meticulously tucked into the seam where the door hinges against the stall frame. Sure, I understand that the gap in the door is large enough to peer into. I mean, it would be disconcerting if you were off doing your business and you looked up and accidentally locked eyes with another lady who was looking for an empty stall, but seriously, no one ever peers in for *that* long. A quick glance from the outside is enough to tell if a stall is occupied.

I'm not saying that there aren't any peeping Tomasitas, but has anyone met one lately in the bathroom (we're going to refrain from discussing about Larry Craig. He's a guy anyway...)? And if there was one lurking, I don't think the flimsy waving piece of toilet paper ribbon is going to do much good. Besides, if they can see you, you can see them too.

Then there's of course the single women's bathroom by the Registrar's office with the frosted glass door. Who the hell came up with *that* idea? If you're out in the all waiting for your transcript or whatever, you easily make out the shape of whoever is sitting there. Heck in some circumstances, you can practically read what the headline says on the Daily Texan.

Ask Sarah. She's had people freaking press their faces up against the window asking "is anyone in there??"

Well yeah, dumb fuck...why else would the door be locked?

Most often the people needing to use that bathroom in particular are visiting moms to the University who are waiting around for the next campus tour to start (the Registrar's office bathroom is next to the Central Information booth in the Main Building) Perhaps it's the Texas heat or the anticipation of their kids going off to college, but more often than not, the proud momma will often miss the massive sign hanging out the door that says "Single Occupancy. Women's Restroom Next Door." It also has a huge arrow that points right in case you get the door mixed up with the elevator.

Anyhow there have been times where Sarah has almost had a heart attack midstream when a mother who really has to go starts banging on the door, rattling the door handle and yelling "why is this door locked???"

I say if you're gonna feel self conscious going to the bathroom anywhere on campus, that's the place. The university ought to tap into Ms. Toilet Ribbon's talents to help make that facility more private. She could plaster the frosted glass in duct tape and have a field day!

I suppose it is admirable that this individual felt the need to fashion her toilet paper ribbon on every stall so consistently and diligently at the Student Services Building for the past few weeks, because we are all at least a little pee or poo-shy. Maybe she ought to sit back and contemplate how hard it is on men. I mean they have urinals and freaking community troths to pee in. One tries to be polite by staring straight ahead, but peripheral vision is gonna let your pee buddy in on a some sights, I'm sure. This is way worse than the itty bitty crack in the door.

Maybe once she gets over this self consciousness, she could stop with the toilet paper ribbons and train herself to smile and wave at anyone who accidentally peeks through. That'll really keep people from looking in!

windows and clinginess

2007-10-08T11:31:00.001-05:00

First off, a cute picture of Avani courtesy of Amy:

Like with Jay, I tend to get Avani withdrawal if I don't see the dear friend regularly. Jay's across campus. Avani is just downstairs but due to her massive workload and insane amount of meetings, I actually see her less. Maybe it's because these two are some of the most altruistic and introspective individuals I've ever known or perhaps it's simply because conversation threads are always interesting and fulfilling with either (not to mention frequently identical in content when you compare them...kinda scary) or maybe it's just because they both let me steal their food regularly and give great hugs...whatever the case, it occurred to me that I'm in a foul mood in part because I am sorely missing both of them a the moment which is so ridiculous because right now I'm located only a few blocks from either.

At the moment, in between writing a few lines of code, I am of course blogging. I'm situated at the Alumni center's coffee shop sitting in one of the window seats facing South. The surroundings are lush and green and from here with the canopy of trees it's difficult to tell that football stadium is only 50 feet away. There's Snow Patrol blaring on the radio. This to anyone familiar with the topics of this blog is also known as "Jay Repellent" as he hates this band yet ironically, all the lyrics read like his life.

I have no idea what Avani thinks of Snow Patrol, but a small part of me is unabashedly imagining her walking down the tree lined path that I see out this window. I can imagine her trotting along at a fast pace with her long legs sporting sensible shoes and tousling her thick and dark well-conditioned hair to get the bangs out of her face. She'll probably be mildly flustered after her long assessment meeting and needing some sort of refreshment, so she'll bound through the doors and order a small coffee with her strong and completely perfect diction shocking the baristas momentarily with the rich timbre of her voice. As she waits for the order to ring up, she'll quickly return the barrage of text messages her various friends have sent her. Perhaps a head scratch and then an adjustment of the glasses at this point. People will notice how smartly dressed she is in her pressed shirt and slacks and more than a few will admire her athletic 5'8'' frame. Then after getting her coffee cup, she will most likely notice me here as she adds her cream and sugar. She'll squeal "Cindy Bear" and would immediately come over. We'd catch up, have a great and wonderful conversation about spirituality or the complexities of human nature and I'd feel energized again able to concentrate because I know somewhere in this world there is someone who is truly interesting yet accessible to me...course I won't complain if Jay walks down this path too.

In contrast to Avani, he'd amble along in his ratty green shoes, quintessential green polo shirt and well worn blue jeans, most likely puffing a hand rolled cigarette and completely oblivious of the people who walk by. No one will notice his cerulean eyes because he's always looking down or far away. He won't care that he's incredibly late to his meeting that's going on at the moment. What difference would another 15 minutes make? If it's not tied back, he'll probably be messing with his hair as well, flipping the elbow length golden colored locks badly in need of a trim over his shoulder as he hastily checks his text messages that he never returns with his scuffed up phone. He'll probably open the door and let whoever was behind him in first. He'll say hi to all the baristas behind the counter in his friendly voice that bares the slight north Texas accent he's never quite lost despite living in Austin for the past 7 years. After ordering his espresso, he'll check his text messages again all while rolling his eyes at the music playing over the loud speaker (remember, he hates Snow Patrol...). In order to ignore Snow Patrol's crooning, he'll chat with the gal behind the counter who so obviously has a crush on him and then he'll scrutinize the foam in his cup assessing the size of the steamed milk bubbles (he used to be a barista too). In all likelihood his back will be facing me as he adds a slight amount of cream (no sugar) to his drink and then he'll carry the cup outside and bask in the Texas sun. As he rolls up yet another cigarette this would be the point where he'd look through the window and see the familiar buddy typing up the vacuous details. If our eyes meet he'll give a sheepish grin and a chuckle. He'll hold up his finger signaling "1 more minute" as he hastily inhales his tobacco smoke, then after putting out the embers and carefully disposing the end, gather his things and walk through the door face stone cold and voice without expression announcing "Hey dude" or "Cinders!" depending on his mood. After a quick squeeze of the shoulders the conversation would go on pretty much identically as what Avani and I would have done...

Course this is all speculation. And in reality, Avani's booked all day and Jay, seeing that it's only 12:30pm is probably still asleep. If I think about it hard enough, I bet I'd have to call out their names to notice me because they both tend to have their head in the clouds and walk around oblivious to their surroundings.

So, here I am alone at the coffee shop needing to do my contract work but wanting instead to sit down with a friend to have a long meaningful conversation. I miss that. A LOT. A good portion of college was spent in coffee shops just talking and sharing a discussion. My biggest pet peeve is when someone derails a conversation and points it to whatever they and they alone want to talk about. One to one or group situations, it doesn't seem to matter. Air time gets sucked up into their bubble and no one's opinion really counts because they like the sound of their voice so much. You'd be surprised how many people are this way. I tend to shut down in these situations. Fine. Let them have the soapbox. If I speak or don't speak, it makes no difference...

People around me are engrossed in their laptops or cell phones. All I hear are complaints about homework and exams, office gossip and other vapid stuff... and it's draining. I think I need to change locations and go to the library or something.

I can't help but wonder what would happen if the two of them crossed paths and struck up a conversation on their own at that coffee shop. Where would it take them? Where would they leave off at? Would they find each other fascinating or incredibly boring since their convictions are so similar? Would they irritate each other because their mannerisms are so different? Who knows?

Tributes to Albert Einstein...80's synth pop?

2007-10-06T13:26:00.000-05:00

Hi.

I love Albert Einstein. I also like 80's synth pop. However, the two should not be mixed together!

I think the following videos speak for themselves.

The first one is "Einstein a go-go" by Landscape.

The next one is "Albert Einstein (Everything Is Relative)" by Silicon Dream. Why is this clown holding a giant pencil?

By the way, Einstein won the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect, not for E = mc².

These are the only two I could find. If you know of any other 80s synthpop songs with big references to Albert Einstein, feel free to point them out.

*edit* CindyAdzuki here. I failed Shawn's request unfortunately as I wasn't able to find more Einstein influenced 80's synth pop, but I did find some other cool Einstein related tunes! Goes to show that Einstein and synthpop really ought not to be mixed...

Listen to:
"Einstein"by Riskey
"Obi Rocked" by Electric Einstein Studio

Visit:
Landscape's Wiki Entry
Silicon Dream's Wiki Entry

stinky cat

2007-10-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

I've discovered that my kitten's hygiene leaves much to be desired. She's kind of a stinky cat overall and always has been since birth. Not offensively stinky, but in general cats don't smell like anything. Brown Dog, on the other hand, often smells like sour milk. Yuck. It has to do with her super coarse hair to an extent, but I think she's just not used to grooming herself yet. She's cute as hell, but I'm not too excited about her aroma. Sure, Momma kitty Etouffee cleans her up often and that remedies the issue. However, Brown Dog really needs to teach her herself how to take a bath.

Imagine if you will me blissfully working on web layout stuff for my contract job with my itty bitty lap top happily sipping mimosas when a cute fluffy animal decides to crawl into my lap and fall asleep. Wonderful isn't it? Should be, except that I started smelling the sickly sweet scent of residual kitty litter mixed with fair whiffs of...poo. What to do? The kitten was sleeping oh so soundly but I had to fix the olfactory discomfort. Otherwise, coding would be quite uncomfortable.

Anyway, just keep in mind I had about 1/2 bottle of champagne when I thought of this:

After thoroughly wiping her feet and butt off with a wet paper towel, I scoured the internet for information on non-toxic household items and natural air fresheners and came to the conclusion that cinnamon is non-toxic to cats. In retrospect I probably shouldn't have used my uber-expensive "saigon" cinnamon, but oh well, Brown Dog is kind of the princess around here. I ended up rubbing her damp paws with this stuff and then sprinkling the rest of the bottle all over her.

She smells great now. In fact, the whole house smells great and I'm sure T will kill me when he finds out what I did. She is sneezing a bit at the moment, but seems fine otherwise. All in all I do think this was a good solution because she is now sulking in a corner grooming herself in earnest while momma cat looks utterly confused.

So, if you have a stinky cat, douse them in cinnamon. It works.

19.96 blue sapphire ring

2007-09-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

Ever wondered what close to 20 cts in sapphire looks like?

You could use this thing as a paper weight! It's a 19.96 ct. blue cushion cut sapphire in a platinum Tiffany and Co. setting surrounded by 4.6 cts of colorless diamonds. Looking into the stone is absolutely mesmerizing and for a mere 90k, this puppy can be yours.

It's a bit big.

On the more reasonable scale is this lovely purple sapphire surrounded by Old European Cut diamonds in 18kt gold.

More goodies to share in the next few months. Til then, visit Cyrus's website. Better yet, visit him in person! He's very cool, easy to work with and is the most knowledgeable and laid back jeweler/gemologists I have ever known. Here he is giving my demantoid garnet a good inspection:

Munchie Mondays: Cindy's Spinach Salad

2007-09-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

As Claudia once pointed out, I put pecans into everything and it's true. Pecans grow natively around here and I have pleasant memories from childhood picking up the mature nuts that had fallen off of the bare trees around our house during the fall. I give kudos to my mom for coming up with an activity to keep her kids quiet as cracking these fruits and harvesting the meat was quite a challenge for my brother and I as it required some manual dexterity and concentration.

Another thing I attribute to Fall are tree ripe apples from Ithaca, NY (where I met my hubby.) I spent a short amount of time up there while in graduate school and I still recall being able to buy all sorts of these fragrant beauties by the bucket full on road side stands. The apples I'd seen were smallish, about the size of a lemon but packed with tons of flavor and crunch. You really don't see apples down here like those.

Anyway, as this is technically the first day of Fall, we might as well celebrate by making a salad featuring these fall fruits!

Cindy's Spinach Salad
feeds 2

3/4 cup of shelled pecans
1 tbs of butter
3/4 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of dried tart cherries, cranberries or raisins
1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese
2-3 artichoke hearts roughly chopped
1 small apple (Pink Lady is my favorite)
4 cups of baby spinach
oil and vinegar, salt and pepper for dressing

What makes this salad is the candided pecans. Don't get to bent out of shape with "hard ball" "soft ball" stages with this candy mixture. The longer you cook it, the more hard caramel like it'll be. The shorter time, the more it'll be like a praline. They both tasted good...You just don't want to over cook the mixture!

Melt butter and sugar in a heavy skillet over medium heat.

Beat vigorously until fluffy and almost frothy seeming. The butter and sugar should be well incorporated. This is when I add the pecans. Again, stir vigorously until the pecans are well coated.

Dump pecan candies onto wax paper to cool being careful to try to separate the pieces as much as you can. Please don't touch the caramel with your bare hands as you're doing this. As the pecans are cooling, slice apple into thin wedges or cube and arrange salad ingredients between two plates.

Dress with candied pecans, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and you're good to go! You'll probably have more candied pecans than you care to use, but that's okay. Just wrap them up with the waxed paper once cooled and stick in the refrigerator. They'll keep for a couple of weeks.

Don't eat at Kismet

2007-09-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

More of a warning for the local Austinites, but I got full blown food poisoning roughly 8 hours ago. Kismet is that Gyro place on 24th and Guadalupe. I *thought* I was enjoying the hummus and tabouleh....

Bad hummus => Food poisoning => projectile vomiting.

I stopped mid sentence while speaking to a co worker to go throw up.
I threw up 3 times between leaving the office and getting into T's car where he was waiting for me.
I threw up once in the car. :(
T is a very loving husband.

Looks like I'm going to be eating Saltines and Gatorade for a while...

I'm so tired of being sick. First the nasal congestion and sore throat thing, the funky complexion issue and now this. Blargh. I guess to be fair I haven't really been super sick since my Flu back in January, so I can't complain, but sheesh, I don't normally throw up. 5 times in one day (plus those 2 times after after my over indulgence at my B-day party) I'm starting to wonder if my sphincter muscle has given out or something.

I couldn't even lie down straight because the pain in my abdomen was so sharp. Currently my back is killing me due to all the heaving. My poor friend Renuka had morning sickness for all 9 months of her pregnancy and I couldn't help but wonder if she felt this way. And of course, whenever I have horrible abdominal pain, I think about my dad and the last few days of his life which were probably horrific pain wise. He had constant vomiting due to his liver squishing his stomach. And my cat Molly. She had chronic hair balls and would puke daily. Not fun.

I'm going back to bed.

Dressing Room Thanks

2007-09-17T00:23:00.001-05:00

Heh.

Nine Inch Nails: The Day the World Went Away (Oh Trent...how we all adore you)

2007-09-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

Nine Inch Nails - live at the Hordern Pavilion in Australia on September 16, 2007.

Trent Reznor:
"Last time I was here, I was doing a lot of complaining about the ridiculous prices of CDs down here. And that story got picked up and got carried all around the world and now my record label all around the world hates me, because I yelled at them, I called them out for being greedy fucking assholes. I didn't get a chance to check, has the price come down at all? I see a no, a no, a no... Has anyone seen the price come down? Okay, well, you know what that means - STEAL IT. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'. Because one way or another these motherfuckers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that that's not right."

As my friend Jeff put it:
"This may be one of the greatest things I've ever heard an artist say from a stage."

I have to agree.

*edit* Heh, a friend of mine asked me to make this post more deep and thoughtful....what are we complaining about my short posts now? Sheesh.

What the heck could I say that I haven't already about Trent and his connection with his fans? Ya know, the recording industry is manned by business people for the most part and the artists themselves are so far removed from the promoters and the same ilk that I can sorta understand how intentions can be so different. Still don't make it right though. It makes perfect sense that they can only think in terms of dollars amounts and chart ratings. They are after all, business people. Trent, on the other hand is an artist. You get the sense he'd be a Burning Man gazing in the Fibric Xyrex cube smoking pot with the homies (okay probably not smoking pot, but you get my drift) if he had the time. He know that real art is a communal experience. Something that holds greater meaning if you can talk about it, share, find a connection with one another with. So, although he uses the word 'steal' I think he know that connotation is 'share.'

Listen to:
"The Day the World Went Away"

Somewhat related note, this video is going to give me nightmares for a long while (backstage in Sydney):

Visit:
Nine Inch Nails
The Nine Inch Nails Hotline

obligatory kitten post

2007-09-16T19:21:00.000-05:00

Brown Dog is currently the same size and shape as my ceramic Piggy (Kitty) Bank:

She's also one heck of a jumper. My little cousin Eric got a workout getting her to dance in front of the camera.

The look on my little cousin Eric's face is hilarious. I think he knew midflight that Brown Dog was probably going to run into the China cabinet:

And that concludes our kitten update for the weekend. :)

Munchie Mondays: Cindy's Cashew Banana Bread

2007-09-15T15:57:00.000-05:00

I know. It's not Monday. But hey, I've got the munchies and actually managed to go grocery shopping a couple of hours ago, so it's all good in the Cindy Household.

JBro's here, so that means we eat well. :) I was going to hold off until Monday to post this recipe, but it came out so good that I just had to share now. It's lovely Sunday brunch fare to me and the cashew butter makes the bread extra dense.

Be sure to use super ripe bananas. Just throw them into the freezer skin and all when they're about to turn and then defrost overnight when you plan on using them. You barely even need to peel them. They bananas just sort fall out of the skins...ewwww I know, but they, they taste great baked!

Cindy's Cashew Banana Bread:

1 stick of butter (softened = 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup of cashew butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp maple extract
3 mushy bananas
2 eggs
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup of coarsely chopped cashews

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8 baking dish.

Cream butters and sugar in large bowl. Beat in eggs. Mix in mashed banana and maple extract. Gently stir in flour, salt and baking soda until just moistened. Mix in chopped nuts. Spread into baking dish and bake for roughly 45 mintues at 350 degrees or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. The top of the bread should dome up slightly and be golden brown in color.

Goes great with chocolate syrup or honey and butter. It's great with a big smathering of Nutella as well. You can definitely substitute peanut butter and peanuts for the cashew parts, but I like the subtle sweetness of cashews! Be sure to store in plastic wrap or an air tight container in the fridge otherwise it'll dry out (due to the whole wheat flour).

Nine Inch Nails: The Limitless Potential

2007-09-11T15:42:00.000-05:00

As someone said so simply on a related Digg article "Trent Reznor is just about the only person in the music industry that gets it."

It may or may not be news to you that Mr. Reznor released Garage Band files to several songs over the past years encouraging fans to fiddle and play with them. Frankly, I haven't known any other artist who has done such a thing (I could be wrong) but the important thing is that this really tapped into the creative juices of not only the NIN community but artists as a whole. Even *I* was inspired and started playing around with audio software and making music. Take a peek a the Open Source Resistance site that sprung out of the Year Zero online alternate reality game and you'll see these works of self expression displayed.

The Limitless Potential is merely another manifestation of the Art is Resistance movement that sprung out of the collective. Fansite, Painful Convictions hosted a remix contest where judges picked the top 21 tracks out of more than 200 songs that were submitted. The final product displays a phenomenal array of talent and innovative remixes to songs from Year Zero and With Teeth by fellow NIN fans.

Trent does get his fans. Not only does this compilation whet our pallets for the anticipated remix album but helps tide us over so we don't go for years...waiting...and resorting to talking about mundane things like, you know, Trent's hair or that Red Robe pic.

Listen to:
"Capital G (Streetlab Remix)" by Streetlab
"Me I'm Not (Withdrawl Remix)" by Dirty Scarab

Visit:
Official Nine Inch Nails Website
The Nine Inch Nails Hotline
Painful Convictions
Listen and download The Limitless Potential
Open Source Resistance

Ballet Austin's Butler Center Grand Opening

2007-09-10T15:52:00.001-05:00

T took a lot of amazing photos during the Ballet Austin Butler Center Grand Opening Festivities. The Butler Center is a community school devoted to dance education and the grand opening featured open classes all day yesterday as well as ongoing demonstrations. I took the hula and adult ballet and watched the pre-professional ballet, tap, jazz, Broadway fit and swing classes.

My whole body hurts now.

A lot.

Even my wrists hurt....and Hula dancing as soft and graceful as it is, is one hell of a work out, let me tell you!

So here are some pics we took. I especially like Darlin' Hubby's. He's a great photographer!

This is my favorite photo he snapped of the instructor and his reflection:

Cute one of my momma peeking into a classroom:

Cindy stretching:

Notice how crowded the studios were!

You can see people of all ages took that day:

The little red head is in my class at the Austin Conservatory where I study:

Kids hula dancing. Sooo cute:

This guy, who basically took every dance class offered was a hoot. I loved watching him. So exuberant and happy. Well coordinated and gosh darn cute.

The instructor for the Broadway jazz and tap classes really reminded me of Nathan Lang:

It's a shame that neither T nor I got a photo of the Hula teacher. She was drop dead gorgeous and super charming. In fact she introduced herself and shook hands with each of us before class started.

All in all, the building is really cool with multiple studios, a full theater and learning library. This allows them to have a much broader schedule with a vast variety of classes including some on Saturday. and I look forward to taking classes there in the future.

divine dinner

2007-09-05T21:19:00.001-05:00

Ooh yum.

I'm relaxing right now with a glass of Birthday Riesling #2 (this one is slightly drier that the first one) and a plate of broken pieces dark chocolate, blue cheese crumbles, dried tart cherries, freshly shelled pecans and a sliced up Farmer's Market organic Braeburn apple.

I'm in heaven noshing on all of this. Unfortunately the bottom half of me ain't feeling as divine.

I'm soaking my feet in a tub of ice water right now and it's so cold my calves have cramped up. Ballet class was a bit rough for me today and my summer injury to my left foot has caused me constantly to strain the muscles in the arch and ball area leading to chronic inflammation. Not fun. However, seeing the kittens try to drink from the bucket is funny (as gross as it is).

more kitten cuteness

2007-09-05T00:09:00.000-05:00

When the world seems horrible, kittens remind you of the softer fluffier cuter side of life.

Like mother...

Like son...

"I'm obfuscating!"

Checking out the doll house:

Every now and then, still trying to nurse:

Etouffee with Brown Dog (formerly known as Yngwie):

Polynya: Polynya

2007-09-04T13:12:00.000-05:00

I was excited to receive my Polynya album in the mail today. With the gamut of industrial bands I've been listening to and reviewing lately (at this point I might as well have a sticker affixed to my forehead that says "Metropolis Records Whore" ) having a nice record that snuggles comfortably in the wide family of alt/indie rock is a welcome change of pace. Luke, who does guitars and "twinkles" for the group was kind enough to provide the disk for review and I must say it was a worthwhile listen.

The first band that popped into my mind as a comparison was the Czech Republic's Miou-Miou as they share a lot of similar traits: toe tapping rhythms and sweet vocals enhanced by interesting guitar work. If Miou-Miou is too obscure of a reference then Moonbabies or Mazzy Star might serve as a good comparison as well. If you like their sound, then I think you'd really enjoy Polynya. With its friendly keyboard, guitar and bass composition, these guys produce good-mood tunes that could easily cater to a myriad of musical tastes. Perfect "hang out" music, in my opinion. The added plinky-sounding electronic elements (which I'm assuming are the "twinkles") apparent on each track provide just enough support to keep the songs interesting without overwhelming the overall sound which feels very acoustic at times, interestingly. In fact, the thing that struck me the most about this album is the engineering---it doesn't exhibit the tinny over-processed frequencies that many new albums seem to possess these days and this is a good thing!

CD packaging is clean and simple with handwritten font and interesting cover art that resembles primary pigment watercolor splotches. There aren't separate liner notes containing lyrics, but its not a huge issue since vocalists Amelia and Andrea are easy to understand.

Listen to:
"Without a Trace"
"Where am I?"

Watch (live version of "Sweatshop"):

Visit:
Polynya's Official Website
Polynya's Myspace

Munchie Mondays: Spiral Pasta with Spinach and Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce

2007-09-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

This dish is a staple in the Cindy household and I've cooked it for the majority of my friends at one point or another. It's easy, super rich, filling and quick to make. You can add any sort of vegetable you want really. Artichoke hearts, yellow squash, basil, asparagus, fresh tomato and thinly sliced carrots all work well with this sauce.

Spiral Pasta with Spinach and Sun dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
feeds roughly 2

Two servings of pasta (spiral or shell shapes are best as they hold more sauce)

4 cups of baby spinach
1/3 cup of finely chopped sun dried tomato
1/4 cup of butter
3/4 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of pecans
1/4 of feta

salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, stick butter and cream in a heavy pan. On low heat, whisk the melting butter and cream so that it is thoroughly mixed. You're essentially making an Alfredo sauce (and feel free to adjust cream and butter proportions according to your tastes). However, before adding parmesan, add the baby spinach and sun dried tomato and stir gently until the spinach is wilted.

Once spinach is wilted, turn off heat and immediately add the grated cheese. Stir until well incorporated. The sauce should start to thicken as the cheese melts into the cream and butter mixture.

Divided cooked pasta onto two plates and top with sauce mixture. Garnish with pecans and feta. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Viola! You're done.

Not a good day

2007-08-30T13:21:00.000-05:00

I just opened an already open bag of pecans from the bottom end and spilled all the contents onto my lap...and the floor. Sigh.

Ya know. It's just one of those days.

On a somewhat related note, I keep drawing these two cards:

Which oddly in combination means an end to bad and destructive habits. If that means I'll stop re-opening bags of pecans upside down, that'll be a good start.

I think Sammi says the Tower cards freaks her out whenever she sees it in people's readings because it basically means shit hits the fan, death, destruction and all, but I'm actually rather fond of the Tower card since I tend to rebuild myself into something better whenever I have a meltdown.

No More Adzuki Bean Pods

2007-08-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

I'm discontinuing the sister podcast site: Adzuki Bean Stash Podcast

It was a really tough decision, but I've had too many screwy paid provider issues over the past months with disappearing files, horrible user support, funds getting drained and the biggest issue: unstable hosting. Free solutions haven't worked out too well due to file size and lack of bandwidth. On top of that, with the new job I just haven't been able to devote as much time to producing the episodes.

However, this blog stays. :)

Shawn and I will continue to write about and review CDs and DVDs. Sammi will continue with her Austin area concert reviews. I'm also thinking of adding a "Themed Mix CD" feature post here to keep the theme notion from the podcast blog alive.

So... the music won't stop.

To all the listeners and subscribers to the Adzuki Bean Stash Podcast show, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. There are a lot of great podcasts out there, so it means a lot to me that so many of you took interest in that little corner of the internet world.

Gorowski: Simulators Can

2007-08-29T12:55:00.000-05:00

Gorowski delivers groovin trippy beats in his newest release Simulators Can off of WM Recordings, one of my favorite internet labels featuring predominantly experimental music.

This album in particular features adulterated world beat, funk and reggae influenced vocals. It doesn't lean as heavily on found sounds like his prior release I don't believe you but still maintains an experimental feel. You can download the entire album from the WM recording site.

If you happen to be in the London, England, you can check him out in person at the Vibe Bar where he throws tunage onto the dance floor once a month. According to his Myspace, the next show will be September 8th.

Listen to:
"Krishnaji's request"
"Polish Dream" (and no...we're not taking about RitchN here)

Visit:
DJ Gorowski's Myspace
DJ Gorowski's Profile on WM Recordings

Pointe shoes

2007-08-28T22:47:00.001-05:00

Self portrait of sorts.

CHANT CD Release - That Which Divides...

2007-08-28T14:54:00.000-05:00

... sure brought together a hell of a lot of people. I made it out (how could I not, Bradley's one of the most incredibly warm and endearing folks I've met in a long time) and it was so, so great. Unlike the last CD release we had hit up at Elysium, this time the sound guy had been around for a while, the club was open on time, and really my only gripe was how HOT it was in there - that's what I get for being a good old fashioned overlayered goth. I think the highlight of the pre-show for me was getting Dimitri from Tungsten Coil to roll his beer bottle across my back, oh man, that was heaven.

I've been waiting very impatiently for this CD release, honestly, ever since I first heard B play months and months ago and his Beginnings CD wasn't enough. I wanted "This Secret". I wanted it bad. And it wasn't on the CD I had, dagnabbit! The first time we saw him, he'd played it, and I immediately loved it, the feel of the song, the way it swells and grows and then breaks, Bradley with one arm in the air, "LOVE THIS PACT BETWEEN US" - even before I was able to make out all the lyrics (not always easy at live shows with no libretto, doncha know), I was in love with this song. Then the second time I saw him play it, Ritch from subNatural got up and sang it with him. Better and better!! I loved this, and the song was made even better by this amazing bond the two fellows have. They absolutely ooze this wonderful, warm camaraderie. It's infectious, and you just want to squeeze the two of them together in a big bear hug. Well, I do at least. At the release party, though, they topped it - the whole band (sN) got up and played the song together with Bradley, so I got Chant AND I got to see the guys from subNatural on my favoritest song. How's THAT for sweetness? I didn't care that I still hadn't figured out what the name of the song was, I just knew I was in happy fan heaven 'cause I got my favorite song with not one, not two, but a whole passel of mad sexy, talented musicians up there playing. I'm really curious how he's gonna top that NEXT time I see him play the song.

All in all, while I fell in love with Chant performances for the stage full of drums, I stay in love for the performance itself. Bradley is an incredible showman, he works the stage, he works the audience, he's accessible, warm, intense, and technically brilliant. And, lucky you, he's touring! So check out his dates, and if he's anywhere reasonable to get to, get yer butt to his show. I am *serious*. Just dress light, 'cause you'll undoubtedly find yourself dancing yourself breathless. And be sure you catch up with him after the show, he's an absolute darling if you get a chance to say hi.

Upcoming Shows:
Aug 31 - City Lights Bar (McAllen, Texas)
Sep 1 - Chapa’s (Brownsville, Texas)
Sep 20 - The Elysium (Austin, Texas)
Sep 21 - Rock Bottom Lounge (San Antonio, Texas)
Sep 22 - Lucky Devil's Bar (El Paso, Texas)
Sep 23 - Atomic Cantina (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Sep 25 - Mad Studio 111 (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Sep 26 - Soul Invictus (Phoenix, Arizona)
Sep 27 - meets, greets, radio, and more!
(Los Angeles, California)
Sep 28 - Hot Monkey Love Cafe (San Diego, California)
Sep 29 - Bar Sinister (Hollywood, California)
Oct 26 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Oct 27 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Oct 28 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Visit:
Chant's Myspace
Chant's Official Website
Purchase That Which Divides from CD Baby

Cyrus Shennum

2007-08-28T12:59:00.001-05:00

I keep getting inquires about Cyrus Shennum who owns his own jewelry store (specializing in custom designs) in Austin, TX. I took the photo of him above back in February in his studio. Unfortunately, I don't think the store website is up in production yet, but I can show you some close up pictures of the ring he was able to fabricate for me from sketches I made:

You can read the original post here:
Blog post about Cyrus Shennum

I'm planning on getting a tsavorite or demantoid garnet cushion and designing a ring with that stone in mind. I'll post sketches as they come up. I pretty much know that Cyrus has the means to do the best job possible and I couldn't possibly think of anyone else who I'd ask to take on the task.

Unsigned Artist Competition

2007-08-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's RitchN's birthday today, so make him happy and go vote for his band, SubNatural:

If that ain't your cup of tea, then vote for John Pointer:

They're both incredibly fantastic performers but completely different. If you visit the voting site, you may be quite surprised at the list of people who aren't signed yet. Plenty of great Austin artist, but Ritch and John are my top 2 pics and I'm gently suggesting that you vote for one of them.

Vote: Unsigned Artist Competition

Visit:
The Recording Conservatory of Austin
Stinson Studios
SubNatural's official Website
John Pointer's official Website

speaking of pretty boys with headphones...what 27 looks like

2007-08-28T07:57:00.001-05:00

Good god, Ritch...you can trap a fly with those eye lashes of yours!

Or, as Darlin Hubby pointed out, he could make a convincing bearded lady. I've always thought that Ritch has incredibly doll-like features. I think it's the exaggerated and super expressive mouth as well as his huge eyes. Sheesh, he's prettier than I am in this pic.

Life is so cruel. Course, today is Ritch's birthday, so I'll quit whining.

BTW, for those of you in Austin, his band SubNatural is competing in the finals at Austin's Battle of the Bands competition this Sunday at the club Red 7. I have a feeling that they're gonna win.

New kitten video!

2007-08-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

For some reason they look enormous on the video, but really they're not that big.

Crystal Drop Earrings

2007-08-26T23:50:00.001-05:00

A co-worker put in an order for 9 pairs of earrings last week for each of her bridesmaids. They're all the same style but all slightly different in bead color and findings. I used Swarovski crystals, Czech glass beads and stone beads for these. When I was done and lined them all up, I really thought they looked like candy!

NIN concert videos

2007-08-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

A couple of a fantastic concert videos from the current NIN European tour have been posted up on You Tube lately by the NIN crew, so I figured I'd stick them here as well for your viewing enjoyment.

Is it me or does the lighting design look like old-school Kraftwerk?

Visit:
Nine Inch Nails official website
The NIN Hotline

icons and Shawn

2007-08-25T22:16:00.000-05:00

Shawn looks like a cross between Kurt Cobain and Ville Valo here:

Hot goth or bar fight survivor? Not enough sleep or rocking guy-liner? Not sure, but it's a bad ass pic.

So is this one:

I've been wanting to switch out our user photos on the Adzuki Bean Stash Mp3 blog for some time and these were images he took with his iBook a while ago. Following his lead I then took a series of web cam stills with my own iBook:

I must say though, Shawn looks a heck of a lot better than me in headphones. Instead of looking like cool and legit recording artist, I look like a kid with a MacBook recording shit in the bathroom (which is precisely what I am). You'll have to traipse on over to the blog itself to see which pic I chose.

But enough of me. I'm devoting the rest of this post to one of my closest and oldest friends who happened to turn 31 a couple of days ago.

There he is to the left in his glorious graduate school pic. For whatever reason the Old Navy T cracks me up. It's just so not him. Unfortunately, you can't see his dark blue eyes in the photo, but look at the lovely nose of his... people pay money for a nose like that. Anyhow, I digress...

It's a misconception that I met Shawn back in grad school. We actually knew each other during undergraduate studies where both of us were math majors at the University of Texas at Austin and shared a Topology class together back 1998. What made the class special was that it was taught Moore-Method style where us hopefuls were given a handful of axioms and then with minimum guidance from the professor would be expected to solve theorems from scratch on the board each lecture. One of the best classes ever and to this day I probably retained the most from Topology I.

It functioned on the whole "learning through trauma" principle where one tends to remember things they've struggled through. Moore Methodology totally feeds on the stereotypical insecurities of die-hard mathematicians and their need to outsmart one another which in of itself creates maintainable trauma due to the competitive nature of the classroom. Hrm, I'm getting a bit philosophical here, so compare it to getting stripped naked in front of your classmates and made to do the chicken dance, but with the odd sense of euphoria injected at the end of your bought with humiliation...I suppose if you're kinky there's no difference between the two situations, but you get the point. Anyway, with the way class was structured, math talent and general intelligence levels were blatantly apparent and the very first thing that I noticed about Shawn was that he was definitely one of the sharpest students in the class. Nothing could phase him. He could prove these problems in his sleep.

From there, I can't quite remember how or why we stuck together for so long. I'm sure mix tapes had something to do with it as well as the common obsession for all things Nine Inch Nails and Trent related (Nine Inch Nails problem sets were a common theme in our math handouts when we were TAs. I also still have the Trent Reznor sack puppet Shawn made me). Maybe it was because I thought his "Bruce the Shark" videos were cool. We shared a love of music, visual arts, macabre, of course mathematics and let's not forget that both of us always seemed to be chronically depressed all the time.

I can tell you that the more I got to know him, the more I came to understand the term polymath.

Over the years we have given each other a gazillion reasons not to ever speak to each other again and managed long stretches of time where we both truly utterly hated one another, and yet our camaraderie has always managed to mend itself and become something that's much more profound and loyal than most of my other friendships with people. We're super blunt with one another. We've exchanged nights where we've cried for the other person. We divulge secrets and insecurities that no one else is privy to. However, we've never slept together, never "gone out" or dated because we both realize that we're too similar for any romantic path to ever work out. Crossing the carnal bound destroys the beauty of this unconditional devotion we share, but realistically the real reason is that we'd drive each other mad and probably murder each other or commit joint suicide.

With all that said, if you ask either one of us, "Do you love each other?" the answer is a completely effortless "yes."

So, happy birthday, Mr. Soon-to-be Dr. Shawn Westmoreland. Oh yeah, and please work on that "Fire Exit" demo because it's fucking long overdue, damnit!

what 30 looks like

2007-08-25T17:36:00.001-05:00

I have nothing deep to say about these pictures. I just think I came out looking kinda nice.

Side point:
My mom wants me to photo shop out the moles. She's really offended by those blemishes apparently.

This morning we went shopping with her and she reached over to wipe something off of my face...thing is, that something was a mole. I have several small ones that have popped up over the years and my mother was just mortified.

"Why do you have all these dot-dot-dots?" (while poking my nose and cheeks with her nails)

Heh. Sammi has witnessed first hand how my mom pokes and prods me. The time she came down with me to Sugar Land, mom grabbed fist fulls of Cindy-chub and contemplated the size of my upper arms. "You're so chunky!" she said.

Sammi was utterly appalled. "I can't believe I'm seeing this," she said.

I sorta shrugged it off since it is sort of endearing the way my mom fusses over me. At least, that's how I feel now. However, during adolescence, her ongoing commentaries on how I looked grated on my nerves, as you can imagine. I inhereted my cylindrical body type from my dad's side of the family and I think she had a hard time understanding why I didn't have the tiny 22 inch waist, itty-bitty thighs, perky ass and tits like what she and her sisters possessed. To put things into perspective, she's my height by weighed 88lbs before she was pregnant...and ate like a horse. That too, I inhereted.

As for the pic, mom's comment was "You look pretty...but definitely not young."

It's funny, I think of "not young" as a compliment!

Happy Birthday Shawn!

2007-08-24T07:57:00.000-05:00

My best friend. My partner in crime. My tragic self. My smarter self.

If only I had 1/100th of your talent, I'd be a lucky gal.
If only I had 1/100th of your compassion, I'd be a better person.

So on your birthday, as shitty and stressful life may seem right now, just remember you make the world a better place for a lot of us simply because you exist.

I love you man, I really do. Even though you're a basket case sometimes, I totally get you and damnit, you've got great taste in music.

Listen to:
"Happy Birthday" - Teeth
"Happy Birthday" -The Birthday Massacre
"Horror of Birthday/Drive-Thru Marriage" - Happy Crayon

Hope 31 is a better year for you and finish your doctorate ASAP so I can call you Dr. Westmoreland!

Visit:
Das Mobius' Garage Band Profile

Chant: That Which Divides (cd review)

2007-08-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

There's talent and then there's talent. Know what I mean? Couple that with a strong work ethic, a natural tendency towards perfection and undeniable passion and you've got Bradley Bills aka Chant.

That Which Divides is a narrative on the various facets of human nature that drive us apart--violence, greed, depression and denial. There's also a over aching theme of love and relationships throughout the album. For instance, the song "The Line" illustrates the cruel reality of how a singular action can break people up despite a solid history:

We met as one - in truth and in love
We twist and we turn we grow - and we learn to be as one
and answer to no one
But then fate - in hate - turns you on me
Drew a line in the sand and things just go as planned for you, but as for me...
You crossed the line with me this time-you crossed the line.

All his songs have an undeniable tribal and industrial feel due to the orchestration, but there are elements of jazz such as in "Sate" and beautiful world elements are found in the track "Wake up." The brassy and gritty quality of his voice complements the brutality of the percussion and digital elements while usage of piano and guitar adds an extra mature dimension to his songs. I've said this before, but I have a hard time finding another musician to compare him to.

I will emphasize that Chant is something that needs to be seen and experienced live, but the album does capture his sonic energy to an extent. You have to remember that Bradley is, at the core, a fucking good percussionist. What makes his music so unique is the performance aspect: seeing him running around beating on his myriad of drums (just seeing the crew set up all the kits and stations is impressive), splashing the audience with water, not holding back and yelling at the sound booth guy if the levels aren't right, switching out drum sticks without dropping a beat whenever one breaks, etc... "Point and Click" is a great song on the album causing one to want to dance or the very least drive really fast when you're listening to it in the car, but hearing it live it makes you want to jump up and down, hit stuff and throw things at people. My only complaint about the album is that the levels for his live drumming isn't loud enough in spots, but that's just my opinion.

The CD packaging is pretty sweet. I picked up one of limited edition formats (1 of only 100.) with a hand forged metal cover containing printed artwork and lyrics on high quality card stock. It's designed beautifully. I love the diagram of the gun parts and how the lyrics to the song "The Secret" are printed backwards. The font is also easy to read which is a plus. The regular version of the CD offers liner notes in PDF format on the disc itself.

Liner notes are always important to me and from them you get the sense that Mr. Bills is a deep and kindhearted soul who ponders the state of humanity and doesn't take life and its many gift for granted. He gushes words of appreciation to those who helped him along the way. He divulges his concept behind the album. Amongst the pages, there are pictures of Bradley and I found the one of him sitting in regular clothes on the floor, clipboard on his lap scratching out lyrics especially poignant. As RitchN from SubNatural announced during the CD release party last week at Elysium (which also happened to be Bradley's birthday): "This is the hardest working man I have ever met."

So true. The man matches the packaging as well when you meet him in person. You realize that not only is he a good artist, he's a good husband, a good son, a good friend and a good person. For someone as diligent and talented as Bradley Bills (check out his my space profile to see the impressive list of musicians he has worked with) you just KNOW that good things will come. He's already touring that path right now.

Listen to:

"Point And Click"
Wake Up
"Sate"

Upcoming Shows:
Aug 31 - City Lights Bar (McAllen, Texas)
Sep 1 - Chapa’s (Brownsville, Texas)
Sep 20 - The Elysium (Austin, Texas)
Sep 21 - Rock Bottom Lounge (San Antonio, Texas)
Sep 22 - Lucky Devil's Bar (El Paso, Texas)
Sep 23 - Atomic Cantina (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Sep 25 - Mad Studio 111 (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Sep 26 - Soul Invictus (Phoenix, Arizona)
Sep 27 - meets, greets, radio, and more!
(Los Angeles, California)
Sep 28 - Hot Monkey Love Cafe (San Diego, California)
Sep 29 - Bar Sinister (Hollywood, California)
Oct 26 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Oct 27 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Oct 28 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Visit:
Chant's Myspace
"Chant's Official Website"
Purchase That Which Divides from CD Baby

sleepless in Austin

2007-08-20T00:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it's past midnight and although I realize it isn't *that* late, I can tell already there's no way I'm going to be able to fall asleep easily. Even though I'm physically tired, my brain is not doing a good job at shutting off. Normally I can will myself to drift off. I am after all a huge fan of napping/sleeping/dozing/lying comatose. This hobby I place second only to eating. Speaking of which I'm hungry again.

Currently my mind is thinking of the "Evil Pink Sugar Cookies." The local grocery store, HEB, carries these things in 10 pack clam shell containers and they precisely look like this spinkles and all:

There's something about the mouth feel that makes these things delectable. They're super soft and in reality, have absolutely not substance. In fact, you get maybe a 2 second high off of these things because there's not any chewing involved. And yet, the delicate flavor (they're actually not too sweet) and inviting aroma of butter makes you want to eat another one...and another...and thus a new form of crack is born.

I offered one to my mom today who tagged along with us for grocery shopping. To my horror, she wiped off the icing before eating the cookie:

"The color scare me," she said.

Indeed, there are very few edible things in nature that come in that shade of pink. I asked her if she liked it.

"Like what?"

The cookie.

"Oh, I forgot I ate it. I bet it's fattening."

See? Not even my mother, who I inhereted my gluttony from, could even remember she tasted such a thing.

T thinks they're vile and in a lot of ways they are because aside from flour, sugar and egg, I can't quite figure out what other ingredients are. Caranuba wax. Why would you need that? They're also 90 calories each. Still, they taste darn good to me.

***
My brain is also abuzz because there's been so much going on lately. As you know, my mom moved up here into our home and then a couple of days later found an apartment in the neighborhood, so it seems like all we've been doing lately is moving boxes, packing and unpacking.

My brother came down Saturday morning to help mom move (again) and I only got to spend about 10 hours with him. My friend Mark had already planned to introduce me to his friend Dave who works over at Guitar Resurrection (a fantastic locally owned shop specializing in vintage guitars and amps) because he was looking for a theremin player for his band. That conversation went fairly well above all the ripping and roaring from the sound room next door as Mark was hammering out power chords over the Bogner Amp (3 grand...sheesh, amps are expensive) he's been eyeing for some time. I ended up buying a guitar slide for my brother, oohing and ahhing the various accessories in the store, musing over various guitar picks all shades of the rainbow and then settled on some heavier gauge ones simply because I liked the color. I'm really not a guitarist, but I do appreciate the accouterments. Mark kept mentioning he always feels like a kid in a candy store whenever he visits and I don't blame him...

I have mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. If you're a single woman and you really want to find a guy, just walk into a guitar store. It would help if you knew music, especially if you can play guitar (because your hotness factor will shoot through the roof) and bonus points if you can keep up in conversation about types and feature of guitars, but just knowing an instrument helps. If you don't you can always be the one asking for lessons---believe me, they staff will want to teach you. I have yet to meet a chick who actually worked at a guitar shop. For whatever reason, even though I know there are a lot of gals who play guitar, you'll find mostly men, roughly in their early to mid 20's in various manners of dress (yet all slightly dishelved even if the outfit consists of a suit) hanging out on a Saturday afternoon there. It's like Fry's electronic store but with less geeks or Home Depot with less dads.

Anyway, after the music store excursion, Mom, T, JBRo and I watched Beth perform works by Hayden and Beethoven with the Austin Choral Consort at St. Matthew's Episcopal church. Mark was there too since his vocal coach is Barry Scott Williams, the choral conductor. That was a lovely affair and would have been a nice way to end the night except that mom really wanted a television and the only place open that late was Walmart.

I hate Walmart. Not even just the corporate aspect of it, but the layout, the chaos, the shitty products and the people! This is where my classism and judgemental side rears its ugly head. Arrrgh! People, just because it's Walmart doesn't mean you suddenly need to look the part of trailer trash. A tube top should never be worn on anyone over 150 lbs. If we can see your ass crack when you're not even bending over, the skirt is too darn short. Wear deodorant....I mean, I don't see these types of people on a day to day basis in the city. I only see them in Walmarts. Makes no sense. Do they live there?

Not only were we at Walmart, it happened to be during tax free weekend, so the lines were enormous. Here we were at 11:00pm fighting to grab the HD flat screen TV for mom amongst wailing kids, screaming parents and a whole mess of weirdos who were there just because they had nothing better to do. We just sat next to a timpani and 200 piece choir for the past 2 hours and the night before T and I were at a rock concert, so the sounds of whiny kids really got on our nerves.

Nevertheless, we got mom a TV.

***

It's about 1 am now and I'm starting to crave hot sauce and chips. I'm thinking if I stay up longer I'm eventually going to want a steak dinner. Better go to bed now. Long work day ahead....

Nutcracker

2007-08-17T08:15:00.001-05:00

Can you believe auditions for Austin Conservatory/Austin City Ballet's "Nutcracker" is this freaking Saturday? I already dislike the bulk of the music (sorry Tchaikovsky...nothing against you in particular) but imagine if you had to hear it ever Saturday from now until December? I'd be ready to poke someone's eyes out.

Why don't you shove that sugar plum up your ass eh? EH?

If I did audition, I suspect I'd end up being one of them Snow Fairies.

Sure, we'd look pretty and all in our white and silver tutus gracefully fluttering around. What no one bothers to tell are the various items people have used as "snow" for those scenes and the hazards associated with them:

Shredded Paper
Sure, it's economical and all, but a freaking hazard when you step in it especially doing a bunch of turns en masse. Besides, I'd distracted if I looked down and saw a corner of my 2005 tax return in the pile. Speaking of pile, the tendency is to sweep up the stuff and reuse it, so by the time you're doing the last set of performances, you may end up getting showered with bobby pins, hook and eye clasps, hair, paper clips, etc. Ouch.

Instant Mashed Potato Flakes
Surprisingly common since it is not a bio hazard, but let me tell ya, Mr. Nutcracker sweats. A lot. Same with the mice. They usually wear hot and heavy head gear for costumes and well, what do you expect? So, although it's not as dangerous as the above option, it's really nasty when you've got to dance in goop and a pain to clean up.

Soap Flakes
This certainly looks and flutters like snow, but when you get this shit in your eyes it stings. STINGS LIKE A MOTHER FUCKER. Also, along with Mr. Sweaty Nutcracker, this too is a hazard on stage. I do not suggest this option.

Plastic Flakes
Apparently the Houston Ballet uses this stuff. It's economical but bad for the environment. Probably carcinogenic too. The benefit is that you can reuse this stuff year after year....and the the snow drifts start to look like winter in Moscow all grey and dreary.

On a somewhat related note, I've always appreciated modern choreographer Mark Morris's interpretation of "Nutcracker." He calls his production "The Hard Nut" and in the snow scenes, the snow flakes are cast with males and females all wearing too short tutus and soft serve ice cream caps:

Anyway, this is all to say, I probably won't audition this weekend. I think I'm gonna help mom unpack some more and then hang out with my friend Mark and geek out on music for a while.

momma's

2007-08-16T15:19:00.000-05:00

I have a cute mom (and grandma):

Cuteness runs in our family. No sexy bombshells to speak of but I think it's easier to grow old and stay cute than grow old and stay hot, so there you go.

It's an ongoing joke that darlin hubby is most useful for getting the cookie jar down from the highest shelf for me. After telling my podcasting buddy Tim that mom was moving in since my father passed away, his response was:

Yes, I remember you saying about your dad. It must be comforting for your mum to be able to come and live with you guys. Now I guess T has to reach the cookies for both of you?

Indeed.

Before we've even had time to even begin wondering what it would be like to have her here in our own home...she found an apartment. It's walking distance from our home, features an attached garage and is incredibly nice inside. Crazy fast, eh?

The ultimate CD exchange Experience

2007-08-14T12:30:00.000-05:00

World wide, baby. World wide! I'm really struck by how the contributors decided to take photos of themselves with the CDs they received. Some pretty interesting compositions I must say. Darlin Hubby took my pic in the car. he was so excited to see the package that he brought it with him when he picked me up from the boss stop. I got mine all the way from the UK!

If you ever wondered what some of us wacky pod casters look like, well, today is your lucky day. Here's who's who:

____________________________________________________

Ross from Just gimme indie rock
who got his CD from FiL from Pogoagogo

____________________________________________________

SAS Radio
who got his CD from Cindy from Adzuki Bean Stash

____________________________________________________

Colin from And before the first kiss
who got his CD from Marcy from Lost in your inbox

____________________________________________________

Crash from Pretending life is like a song
who got his CD from Natalie from Mini-obs

____________________________________________________

Tim from The face of today
who got his CD from ZB from So the wind …

____________________________________________________

Chip from Atomic Ned
who got his CD from Jim from Quick before it melts

____________________________________________________

Liz from The Roaring Machine
who got her CD from SAS Radio

____________________________________________________

Coxon from To die by your side
who didn’t get his CD from Chip from Atomic Ned

____________________________________________________

Cindy from Adzuki Bean Stash
who got her CD from Tim from The face of today

____________________________________________________

Jim from Quick before it melts
who got his CD from Crash from Pretending life is like a song

____________________________________________________

ZB from So the wind …
who got his CD from Colin from And before the first kiss

____________________________________________________

Natalie from Mini-obs
who got her CD from Coxon from To die by your side

____________________________________________________

Marcy from Lost in your inbox
who got her CD from Ross from Just gimme indie rock

____________________________________________________

FiL from Pogoagogo
who got his CD from Liz from The Roaring Machine

____________________________________________________

Visit:
Contrast Podcast #72: CD Swap

I stole Tim's html for this post. Ross from Just Gimme Indie Rock came up with the awesome idea.

Contrast Podcast CD Swap

2007-08-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

Whooo hooo! the CD swap episode is up. Ever wondered what some of the contributors to Contrast Podcast look like? what they listen to? What they think other pod casters should listen to? Well, then...

Visit:
Contrast Podcast #72: CD Swap

I stole Tim's html for this post. Ross from Just Gimme Indie Rock came up with the awesome idea.
____________________________________________________

Ross from Just gimme indie rock
who got his CD from FiL from Pogoagogo

Munchie Mondays: Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

2007-08-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

So simple and so yummy. There are so many variations on this salad that I feel silly posting this recipe, but eating it brought so much joy to my taste buds, I just had to post! Right about now tomatoes should be growing out the wazoo. I used market roma tomatoes here, but any good tomato will do. If you don't have any sun dried tomatoes on hand (like today, for me), do without, but the fresh basil is necessary for this fragrant and simple salad. Along side rustic bread and some soup, you've got a complete meal. Be flexible with the ingredient amounts. As long as you have equal parts of cheese and fresh tomato, you're good to go.

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad
Serves 2

2 small tomatoes or 1 large tomato sliced
10-12 medallion slices of fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup of chopped sun dried tomato (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

dressing:
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs of red wine vinegar
1 tsp of dried parsely
1 garlic clove crushed

Arrange fresh tomato slices and cheese slices on two plates. Top with basil and sun dried tomato. Mix dressing ingredients thoroughly and then drizzle on top of salad. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Simple eh?

Goodbye old house

2007-08-12T21:19:00.000-05:00

T and I visited 2919 Cane Field Drive in Sugar Land, TX for the last time today. On the way back home we drove up HW71 with a van packed with the last remnants of my mom's "necessary" possessions--pots and pans clanging, boxes of photos a beloved plant or two. But, we didn't have the most important item along: Mom.

She'll come up a couple of more days later after the closing date, but there's essentially nothing left in that childhood home of mine to warrant ever going back. It's cleaned out. All the memoirs and useful items taken out. Mom seems eager to leave as well. The homemade curtains left in the kitchen have very little sentimental value. It's just sweeping and cleaning rooms now. All the personal affects that would spurn any sort of memory, good or bad, are simply gone at this point.

It was near the corner of Planter's and Cane Field that the 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath red brick abode sat amongst other nearly identical houses in the boring and snotty master planned community we lived in. I can't complain although my first few years living in Sugar Land were pure hell for me. I just didn't fit in with the affluent blue blooded ass holes in my school with their designer clothing and selfish ways. Still, I look back at the sacrifices my parents made to move there to ensure my brother and I got the best education possible. My high school education at WP Clement was especially robust (how many high schools offer Differential Equations and American Sign Language, for instance) and full of opportunities only the well off could experience. For this, I'm grateful.

We put in the pool a couple of years after we moved in. This I never understood since as you know, I hate swimming. So does my mom. My brother, I'm not sure. My dad, however, would do laps every now and then, but had no concept of water chemistry, so he'd throw in fistfuls of powdered chlorine without much thought causing the pool water to be so chemically infused that your eyes would turn red just by thinking about wanting to swim. My dad also made some bizarre attempts at landscaping throughout our stay. There's a massive rose bush growing in the middle of the side lot. Just there. With a rubber plant next to it. Tell me how that makes any sense?

I still recall the two allergy inducing live oaks out front as mere twigs...now they're full fledged trees. The house served as the residence for my mom and dad for the past 21 years. My brother mainly grew up in that neighborhood. I think we moved there when I was 10. It's the house I moved out of to go to college. It's the house my dad died in this past March.

So, without any reservations, the last Chang resident of 2919 Cane Field Drive will be driving up HW 71 with a small suitcase of clothing and my dad's ashes in the front passenger seat...on her way to her new home and her the beginning of her new life to Austin, TX. I know mom's excited and so are we.

So trendy it hurts

2007-08-08T08:49:00.000-05:00

I had this moment of mortification this morning as I was sashaying down San Jacinto st. in my Mossimo T, trendy capri jeans, gypsy hip belt and knee high boots. My ipod ear buds blared Shiny Toy Guns and I serenaded the 7am construction workers by belting out the words to "You are the One" as my dangle earrings swayed in tempo with each resolute step. It was when I shifted my messenger bag containing Scooter the microscopic laptop while responding to a text message chime (all while delicately balancing my double shot mocha) I stopped dead in my tracks and had this awful epiphany:

I reek of yuppie right about now.

Secondary thought:
Aren't I too old to enjoy Shiny Toy Guns?

The only saving grace was that my coffee drink was from a local shop.

Contrast Podcast #71: Significant Others Pick Songs About Us

2007-08-08T07:55:00.000-05:00

Another great episode is up on Tim Young's Contrast Podcast show...Darlin Hubby and I are on it together. This one just oozes with sweetness, let me tell ya and for the first time, we get to hear what the new Mrs. Tim Young (aka Agnès) sounds like (she has a really cool accent, BTW). Brian, from The Rant came up with the nifty theme, so be sure to thank him. I think my personal fave is FiL and Mrs. FiL's introduction...

Visit:
Contrast Podcast 71: "Significant Others Pick Songs About Us"

Plenty of fantastic tracks and happy introductions to check out and enjoy!

As mentioned earlier Tim got married to the lovely Agnes this past weekend and Colin, over at the Face of Today posted our well wishes (thanks to Crash Calloway over at Pretending Life is Like a Song for compiling the sound snippets)

Listen to:
Well wishes to Tim and Agnes from the Contrast Podcast team
Tim's squishy response to us

Assemblage 23:Meta

2007-08-05T08:52:00.000-05:00

I will admit to being loyal to most anything that comes out of Metropolis Records (I have confessed after all to having gone through a gothy streak back in the day) but Assemblage 23's album Meta is an especially good one. Normally, I consider CD purchase a success when I like at least half of the songs. It's rare for me to like every single track, but this is the case with 2007's Meta which has been on high rotation ever since it came in the mail.

This music is more on the palatable side of industrial with incredibly danceable tracks. Even the down tempo ballads such as "Damaged" will get you grooving. Tom Shear, who is the sole member of Assemblage 23, manages to splice his hypnotic and clean vocals into the electronic compositions and effortlessly showcases his poignant lyricism. If you like groups such as VNV Nation, CTRL, and Front Line Assembly, you'll love Assemblage 23.

Listen to:
"Decades (V2)"
"Damaged"

Visit:
Assemblage 23 Official Website
Assemblage 23's MySpace
Purchase Meta from Metropolis Records

Garbage: Garbage

2007-08-05T08:19:00.000-05:00

Look what I found!

Since my dad passed away recently, my mom has decided to move out of the house I grew up in. That's 21 years that she's lived in that house. Weekends lately have been spent cleaning, flensing and reminiscing. The last visit turned up this lovely jewel, Garbage's first album (self titled), sitting beneath a pile of discarded homecoming mums in my closet.

1995 was when this one came out. Back then I was still in marching band, musing over whether or not I should retake my SATs and writing scholarship essays. This was back when Shirley Manson was still a redhead (side note, I had no idea the gal was teased in school for her looks. I've always thought that she was really hot...and she's aged incredibly well, I must say.)

Anyhow, this album has aged well too. It's definitely alt rock/pop yet doesn't sound dated at all. Had I heard this album today, I would have still purchased it due to the catchy tunes and clever lyrics. I would dare say that this'll be placed in my "classic" pile...

Listen to:
"Queer"
"Stupid Girl"

Visit:
Garbage's Official Website
Garbage's MySpace
Garbage Wiki Entry
Purchase Garbage from Amazon

(photo courtesy of very cool)

Hand Holding Flowers

2007-08-03T20:15:00.001-05:00

Another piece I found in an old portfolio when cleaning out my closet back home:

Cheshire Cat

2007-08-03T20:09:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the wonky angle...currently framed and hung up in the craft room.

champion dog paddler of the world

2007-08-01T22:39:00.000-05:00

(current beverage: Lambic. It's from Belgium not Germany *gasp*)

I hate water. I really do. I don't mean I hate drinking it or bathing (I rather enjoy soaking in a tub), but I'm just not a huge fan of beaches, so-called lakes that are really rivers, natural springs, pools, water parks, hot tubs etc. I don't even like running around on the lawn with the sprinklers on (unless it's specifically to get my husband excited about lawn work but with fire ants even that can be unpleasant...).

With that said, I am incredibly good at dog paddling.

This probably has to do with how I learned how to swim. When I was 3, my dad just grabbed me out of my mother's arms and tossed me into the Parkland community pool. "To make her tough," he said. Yeah, I learned how to swim pretty quickly...I was also traumatized.

There's also this distinct memory of the time where my family took a day trip to Galveston (the most butt ugliest beach in the world complete with oil slicks and dead jelly fish) on the Gulf Coast. I managed to slip and fall into the murky water and just as I was attempting to come up, a wave washed over the top of my head making it impossible for me to breech. My dad fortunately was near by and pulled me out by my hair and even though I was under water for no more than a few seconds, the feeling of utter terror when I realized I had run out of air and would not be able to surface on my own was terrifying. I think I was 7 or 8 when that happened and I had an almost identical experience during the summer between jr. high and high school at a water park hanging out with my then best friend Jocelyn. Good thing she was a trained life guard.

Anyway, combined with one too many ear infections and a couple of unpleasant kiddo pranks, all of this culminated into me becoming a person who cannot stand putting her head under water.

Today's adventure consisted of hanging out at Barton Springs which apparently reopened for the first time after our long rain season. It's definitely nice, a "crown jewel" of Austin, lovely to look at, yada yada...I just never felt the great need to get into it.

I don't like the sun either.

Let's not forget to add insult to injury when we remember that I also am not particularly stunning in a bathing suit. As we plodded past perfect asses, perky tits, hard tanned bodies and ripped abs to find our patch of rock to put our things on, I was reminded of this repeatedly. Austin is a college town, after all (do large breast float, out of curiosity?). While it's impossible to look hot in this shapeless body of my mine (no ass, no tits, no hips, no waist), I was able to aim for disgustingly cute traipsing around in this ruffly bikini number featuring purple and white gingham print while donning pigtails.

So just imagine, if you will, what I looked like "swimming" after we all managed to inch our way into the frigid 68 degree water. Bill and Anna exchanged curious looks when suddenly T announced with great gusto:

"Cindy Chang! Champion dog paddler of the world!"

For flourish I paddled in a tight circle with my nose in the air while my pigtails dragged in the water behind me like long doggy ears. This trick I am quite proud of. The response was mixed. Anna started laughing like there was no tomorrow. Bill, on the other hand, went: "What's wrong with her????"

My husband explained to his father that that was just how I swam. I loved the touch of pride he had in his voice as he explained this. The first time T saw for himself that I did indeed dog paddle in the pool, he cracked up for a long while and also thought it was the most comical and adorable thing in the world...

"She really needs swimming lessons," Bill offered. He then kept giving me swimming tips.

I explained that I did in fact know how to swim (I was in swim camp in elem school but ear infections put an end to it). I just hated putting my head underwater. I never gave my father-in-law the complicated diatribe I outlined in the beginning of the post so he was now convinced that the real reason I wouldn't put my head underwater was because I didn't want to get my hair wet. Anna countered that I wasn't a vain gal as she floated lazily by on her back soaking in the sun. After a bit, she hollered, "Just leave her alone Bill..."

"You don't think it's cute?" T later asked as I triumphantly padded between the two of them at the astounding rate of 1 ft. per hour.

"No, it's just wrong..."

Anyway, why bother to learn how to swim better when I can be the champion dog paddler of the world?

in laws and coping

2007-07-31T19:30:00.000-05:00

I just drank a whole bottle of Riesling in a 15 minute time span. German Riesling, mind you. My inlaws would approve, but I guzzled it down because they're driving me bonkers. They're driving T bonkers too.

I just made hot sauce with 3 habenero peppers, 2 roasted chipotle peppers, 2 serrano peppers and other hot sauce related stuff. Bill, my FIL, likes really hot sauce. He told me if I were to cook for him, I need to make the hottest sauce possible. I know I made it hot because his face turned red when he tasted it and he was sweating bullets but his comment to me was "Oh. It's okay. I can sort of feel the burn." He hasn't eaten any more. My poor husband and step-mother-in-law are drinking lots of water because they thought his comment meant that it wasn't really *that* hot.

I know how to make really hot sauce.

Anyhow, I insisted that I made the batch just for him. Bill pushed the bowl towards me and went "Well, why don't you have some since you think it's that good?"

To spite him I took a huge scoop with my chip and chomped on it in front of him. I think the raised eye brows indicated that he was impressed. I think my hubby is mortified. I'm disappointed in myself for feeling the need to one-up Bill, but oh well.

The fortunate thing is that I can take heat well and if you don't let the substance near the tip of your tongue you're okay. But, here I am typing away, hiding in a sense with a rumbling tummy from consuming a sauce made out of pure hot peppers. My way of calming all of this down is by guzzling tons of this supposedly "super dry" Riesling that Jay got me for my Bday. "Cause you're a sour puss. It's as dry as you are..."

The Riesling is super sweet, BTW.

It's actually really good with a multidimensional bouquet and smooth fruity flavor. A touch of muscat and pineapple I detect...I ain't sharing more than I already have (Anna and Bill each got a sip.) Anyway, either Jay messed up when he purchased it or he really meant to say I was fruit baket. Maybe he thinks I'm sweet.

Or, in my quasi tipsy state, I'm just over analyzing things. Oh well, I don't care. The magic German Riesling takes heat away immediately. If Bill wants a competition with hot sauce, bring in on Babe!

Oy. I'm a mess. Gotta go finish preparing dinner...

Before the in-laws get here

2007-07-29T11:48:00.000-05:00

So my father in law and T's step mom are coming in this afternoon. T's sweeping. I cleaned the toilets and put things away, but just can't seem to keep my hands off of the new little-itty-bitty lap top. That's what the pics are about.

I have no idea what we're gonna do when Bill and Anna get here. T's mom is really laid back. Vacationing with her kids means doing regular day to day things with them--grocery shopping, watching TV, hanging out at home and reading, listening to music.

T's dad, on the other hand wants to go Polka dancing. Where are we gonna go polka dancing????

For the record, I've gone polka dancing with my father-in-law three times. Yes, three times I've been pelted with god awful German um-pah music swirling in circles trying to keep my head straight and attempting to stay charming after copious amounts of beer. Bill's a sweet drunk and all, but we can't go polka dancing and hang out at pubs every night!

Bill is really similar to my dad. Highly intelligent, but a bit aloof. He never really opened up to his children as they grew up. Ask my husband what his father likes to eat, the response is: "I dunno....Food?"

After all these years, I do know that Bill like homemade blue cheese dressing (which T's momma sent me the recipe for when she heard they were coming down to visit), Manhattans with no ice (that's whiskey with a touch of vermouth), real butter and anything German. I guess cause he is German and so is Anna, but surely you'd think they'd maybe like to try out a Thai restaurant or something (T's shaking his head no right about now).

Sigh.

I think we're gonna go to Fredricksburg for a day trip and then head out to Schlitterbahn water park in New Bruanfels if it isn't raining too much, check out the Wurst Band one night at Scholz Bier Garten...maybe sing "Deutchland Ist" around a campfire while we're at it.

Ich muß Deutsches jetzt sprechen. Die würde die höfliche Sache sein, zum zu tun. Möglicherweise essen sie fajitas. Sie ist nicht deutsch, aber es ist gutes Tex Mex cuisine.

Scheiße.

kitten update

2007-07-26T08:50:00.000-05:00

They're starting to use the litter box all on their own now. Although still drinking Momma's milk, her solid food is of interest and they also know how to drink from a water bowl. We still can't quite figure out what color the white one is going to end up. Her faint grey splotches now sport stripes and although color pointed, she does have one mitted paw. I'm guess Yngwie is going to be a diluted calico.

Etouffee moved them to behind the stereo which is an okay location I guess. They don't seem to mind Benny Benassi or 16Volt, but absolutely cannot stand Charlotte Church. Good for them.

We've got wheat berries all over the house (what one uses for kitten kitty litter since they tend to ingest everything). They were dive bombing into the litter box a couple of days ago just for fun.

Personality wise, I like the grey kitten, Capo, the most. She's very mellow like her momma and inherited a lot of Ragdoll breed traits even though she doesn't look like one. Her eyes are a neat sage green color:

Same with her brother's:

Capo's size comparison with Momma (and grandma):

Dancing Goths

2007-07-25T16:41:00.001-05:00

Giant Blackberry

2007-07-24T20:59:00.000-05:00

I get treated really well over at my contract office, I must say. Today was kinda weird. They told me to just walk in on their staff meeting to pick up my new machine. In fact, I was waiting in the front office and the gal just gleefully told me to go into their conference area insisting that they were expecting me...and well, I walked in on a meeting. Heh. Karen, the financial lead asked me to join. Um, Okay... Tea and crumpets? Sure, why not?

Granted, I'm still family, but all I had to do was show up with bright red friction burned shoulders once and whine about the 16lbs lap top a couple of times and suddenly, the thoughtful initial luggage rack order was immediately replaced with a very thoughtful beautiful little itty bitty teeny weeny two pound 11 inch monitor Sony VAIO laptop. A Cindy sized laptop! I just didn't expect to get it within days of them noticing the old machine was a wee bit heavy for me to lug around.

It's so tiny, it's cute. Either that or one can think of it as an enormous blackberry with more computing power. It's got this index finger swiper thinggie too...unfortunately this model doesn't have a web cam. If it did, I'd stream some of the more bizarre and comical meetings I have at the UTLC for entertainment's sake.

Jocco Crawford

2007-07-24T10:41:00.001-05:00

Taken in my home a while back...