leafing through

We’re down to the last days of the “O” decade. O-nine. I started my career during this decade. 5 jobs and an internship. The economy soared, the economy tanked, the economy tanked, the economy tanked.

I finished my formal education during this decade too. Yes, I’m still in debt for it but the connections with the people there are priceless.

This decade, I grew 1 more vertical inch. My most formative 10 years indeed.

We went from VHS to DVD/VCD to Blu-Ray to streaming. I think I still have a functioning VHR machine. All my Disney movies are on VHS. Bippity boppity boo!

In 2009 I:

FuShing, New Fortune, Tabard Inn, Arirang, FuShing – in that order from Thursday night to Sunday night. This past weekend was all food, all the time. And at each meal, I was the last one standing. As everyone set their chopsticks down, it was me, taking that just one more bite that would push me over the edge from ridiculously full to rolling-on-the-floor-clutching-my-belly full.

I just realized after all that dining, I didn’t take any photos of the food. Maybe that’s better though. I can’t look at it for a while. Next weekend, I’m sticking to a glass of water and crust of bread.

What a conundrum I’m in right now, sitting here at work. It’s freezing cold outside but I’m craving crunchy pretzals. So just now, I grabbed my coat and wallet, headed for the elevators, went to the bathroom instead, and then came back to my seat. Still craving pretzals. Should I go out and brave the cold (10 minute walk) or should I skip the pretzals? Augh! How badly do I want them?
Update 12-30: Too cold. Wimped out.

Saturday, we went to Mansion on O street which is a historically preserved hotel that’s comprised of 5 or 6 rowhouses downtown. There are rooms with secret doors and beautiful bathrooms and themed rooms (like 60s era diner, hunting lodge log cabin, or Victorian era suites) to explore. Everything there is available for purchase except for the guitars signed by the musicians that have stayed there.
One particular room called the Lennon room had a framed letter from John himself.

It reads:

Dear Laundry ,

Mrs. Yoko Ono Lennon does not, will not, has not dyed her hair.

She does not sweat (most Orientals do not sweat like us).

What is your excuse for turning my brand new white shirt yellow?

John Lennon

Here’s one of there more over-the-top bathrooms. It’s a tub, big enough to swim in, in a bathroom larger than my bedroom that looks more like a liquor bar. I can’t believe in all the time I’ve been here, it’s never really been advertised enough that I had even heard of it. Definitely worth seeing!

After, we ate at Tabard Inn which was a few blocks away. I don’t like head cheese. At least not the kind they served there. The creme brulee was rich and flavorful though.

I got a new computer! It’s so fast! My last desktop was six years old and the speed difference was so stark the first time I tried transferring photos from my SD card to the computer, my jaw dropped. I was ready to walk away and go do other stuff but the transfer happened in a second or two.

Ok so the setup isn’t exactly OSHA compliant or ergonomically acceptable for the long haul but I’ll get the desk soon. In the meantime, I’m sitting on the floor craning my head to blog. I don’t care right now though, it’s so unbelievably fast!!

At 6:30 this morning, the court’s inclement weather recording said they were closed “today” which I wasn’t sure meant today or yesterday. I decided to go to work since it was on the way to court anyway. Midway to work, when I called the court’s hotline again, they said they were operating normal hours. The previous recording must’ve been from yesterday. After an hour at work, I arrive at the courthouse at 9AM to see a police car pulling up directing traffic away and a swarm of people across the street. Some disgruntled ex-employee there had called in a bomb threat. After waiting for about a half an hour, they announce that it’s going to be 2 hours so I walk to the nearby library, find the most comfy chair I can, whip out my book to read 2 or 3 sentences and then promptly fall asleep. When I overhear the guy next to me talk to his friend about the court, my ears perk up and I ask him how much longer he thinks it’ll be. He says probably another hour. He turns out to be one of the judges there. About 15 minutes later, he leaves and another 15 minutes later, he comes back to tell me the courthouse has reopened. Coincidences of coincidences, on my way out I run into my college buddy and her new baby! The nanny takes her son to the library and she goes with me to grab a coffee before I go in for jury duty.

Not long after I get there they call for the jurors. I just got my coffee! I chug as much as I can, preparing myself for a long session but right after we pile in, the judge dismisses us because of a hiccup with a witness. He issued a continuance where they have to reschedule the trial and pick a new jury during that time. So I completed my jury duty without much effort and head back to meet my friend and her son and nanny for lunch.

No work today.  No jury duty either – courts closed due to inclement weather.  It’s 10:30 AM and I’ve had chili and cornbread for breakfast and now I’m working on a pear.  Boredom-eating for sure.

I’ve played with the chinchillas for a while now too and finally got some pictures of Gina that aren’t behind bars.  Aside from her curly tail, she (the one one the right) looks remarkably like her brother (the one on the left).

“Let me outta here!” – Gina

You’re tellin’ me!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Chili is just the right food for this kinda’ weather. And this time, instead of making cornbread out of the Jiffy box, I tried it from scratch.

• 2 cups of corn meal
• 1 cup of wheat flour
• 1 tsp each of salt, baking soda, and baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 can of creamed corn
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup of oil
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 or more Jalapenos

Mix the dry ingredients first.  Then add the wet ingredients save for the pat of butter.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Heat up a cast iron skillet over the stove melting the pat of butter all around it.  While the skillet is hot pour in the batter.  Put the whole thing in the oven and bake it for 25 minutes.  The edges come out crispy.  It was so easy I won’t be making cornbread out of the box anymore.  Man just writing this makes me wanna have another piece.

It’s been snowing since 9 last night. We’re supposed to accumulate up to a foot of snow in some areas so I’m staying in, watching the chinchillas. Gina’s a lot more timid although she’s starting to come around slowly but Marco’s really getting more comfortable leaving his box and wandering about aaand leaving little presents everywhere.

This past Tuesday, I had an airhead moment and completely forgot I had jury duty. It wasn’t until the court lady called me asking me why I missed it, that it dawned on me. The first time I’m called up for jury duty ever and I blow it off. Thankfully, they forgave me and rescheduled me for today. So you can probably guess where this is going when I say that my initial thought was, 200 folks here, what are the odds? Given only one case was looking for 12 jurors today. Given there were over 60 jurors participating in the voir dire. Next week, I won’t be going to the office.
I think a big part of it was it’s the holiday season. The first thing they did was ask the group of 200 people to let them know if they already had travel plans for the holiday. Knowing this trial is going to take place Christmas week and more than likely New Years’ week, they anticipated a big group being unable to be in town throughout the entire trial. Immediately, a line formed up. The other part was the circumstances of the trial was relatable to many people. I live in a bubble. What can I say?