Pancakes!!!

Last weekend, we made a brunch-tastic feast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It was so yummy and fun that Scott couldn't contain himself (hence the photo). We've been borrowing my friend's electric grill which is so very wonderful (and if he's reading this, I swear we're going to give it back). You can make anything on it, like brunch items and we even used it for our yaki BBQ and made okonameyaki and yaki soba. Fantastic.


I also made some special pancake shapes as I reminisced about making pancakes with my Oba-chan (granny) as a kid. I remember we used Bisquik (sp?) and mixed up the batter with one of those things you crank by hand, you know? It would squeak while it mixed the eggs and flour together. Oba-chan would always make me an extra special pancake shaped like Mickey Mouse. So I made one of those for myself and an odd, slightly phallic shaped, er, manly one for Scott. Pancakes rule!

And the Oscar goes to...

... the special features DVD of Hellboy II!

Rant of the day

Scott was super psyched to go out and buy the DVD to Hellboy II because we'd missed seeing it while in Japan. They were advertising it and really pumping it up on TV all week so we couldn't wait to check it out.

The commercial kept saying it was a 3 disc set so we were like, cool, it must have tons of special features and commentary. Well, the third disc is some lame copy that you can copy onto your computer or some crap that we'll never use. Ugh, so that was the first thing. Second, the movie totally sucks. Like, it's really bad. We were watching it and every few minutes would say aloud, "Is this for real??" or "Seriously?" or in unison, "This is sooo lame." I'm not an obsessive Hellboy fan so I was trying to sustain disbelief, but Scott is into the comics and was pretty pissed. (Ok, now we sound like total geeks).

Anywho, we moved onto the special features DVD which kicks ass! It makes the movie seem 10 times cooler and almost makes you like the movie or at least appreciate all the work that went into it. Scott is going to give the movie another chance, but I think I'm over it. It's just funny how these days the special features DVD can be way better than the actual movie. And it's expected that every new movie that's released on DVD will come with an awesome special features DVD. Maybe it will change the face of the Oscars.

Also, what is up with this HDDVD and HD radio crap? Do we really need things to be soooo clear, like beyond 20/20? I'm nearsighted so I don't even see things that sharp in real life. And don't get me even started on HD radio. I don't even know what that means. How clear can you hear things when most people's hearing is all messed up from listening with their earbuds all day? Ok, taking a breath now... whewwwww...

Welcome to Arth

So I may have failed to mention that I just started working part time. I decided since most companies are in a hiring freeze, it's best to just go out and start working. I found perhaps the most random job I could ever even imagine... Japanese hat shop salesgirl. The shop is in Soho (the perfect location for impulse shoppers and tourists) and it's called Arth. I'm told the name Arth comes from the combo of the words "art" and hat", but for me, it has been the endless butt of jokes. In fact, I started my cover letter to the co. with "Hello people of Arth". Unfortunately, the humor was lost on my Japanese manager. Still, he was impressed with my resume and what I mentioned in the letter so now I'm officially an Arthling. Ok, I'll stop... for now.

The hats are all classy and well-made (most are handmade), lots are from famous hat companies like Stetson and Borsalino (maker of fedoras), some from local NYC designers, and some from the Japanese companies that own Arth and other stores. I have never learned so much about hats in so little time. It's so much fun to learn and I also get to practice speaking Japanese with my co-workers and the occasional Japanese customer. My co-workers also want to learn English so we've been teaching each other slang and funny sayings you couldn't get from a dictionary. I was also pleasantly surprised at how happy hats can make people. Men especially tend to hold their heads a little higher when they walk out of the shop with a new hat on. Who knew hats could help with self confidence?

Car trips and relationships

Random thought of the day...

What is it about the confines of a car that insights arguments? Is it the claustrophobic space of a car? Should humans not be confined to such small spaces for such long periods of time? Is it the controlling nature of humans to not be capable of someone else taking the wheel? As a survivor of many a road trip, I will say this, if you can get through a road trip, or even just a car trip to the market, with your significant other (or family member) still intact that is true love, man.

We did it! Yes we can!

I can hardly believe it, but the election is over! Scott and I did our civic duty early yesterday morning. Since he works early, we went in together as soon as the polls opened at 6am. We thought there wouldn't be many people there that early, but the lines were already pretty long. It's a good thing we went early because I heard some people had to wait 3 hours just to get in the booth. It felt great to finally click our votes in and then just hope for the best... and the best came true!

It's surreal to think we're a part of history, but it's really exciting to know that we are evolving as a people and a country and I just hope for the best from this. I "whoo hoo-ed" when the results finally came in and stayed up for our new President's first official speech. I totally teared up and was so impressed with the humility of his speech and his honest words. Yes we can!!!

The marathon is almost over

Yesterday, I watched my good friend Caitlin (in the sunglasses and purple top on the left) gallantly run her first marathon, the annual NYC marathon (more pics). It was so exciting watching out for a friend during the race and cheering her on, much more exciting than when I watched P. Diddy, who barely finished, pass by my house during the marathon a few years back. I also couldn't help but yell "Gambare!" out to all the runners from Japan, especially this one older man who at 3 miles to go had to stop and was bent over for a bit. When he got back running and passed me, I yelled out to him and he seemed surprised to hear someone yelling in Japanese but then gave me a big smile and nod and picked up his heels.

Caitlin was amazing! She was smiling and after over 20 miles, didn't look fazed at all. I'm so proud of you Caitlin!




After the race, I walked around and since I was in the neighborhood, got a famous dog (they're $1.50 now) at Gray's Papaya. They had a big shout-out for Obama on their window and on the train home, a guy in front of me had a baseball cap on that said "Obama for President" with the American flag surrounding the letters. I guess the real race finishes tomorrow. I'm excited and I just hope everyone is just as excited for the one I think represents the future of America.