friday. december 14, 2007
music| vampire princess miyu - track 3
it's that special time of year again to overdose on sugar! ^^ various people on the floor are getting sweets for holiday gifts from business partners (as always) and are nice enough to leave them in the pantry to share. now, everytime i go to the pantry for some hot water for my tea (which is quite often) i walk by tons of scrumptious cookies and chocolate and as i can never say no to sugar, i always end up picking something up.... not that i'm complaining but i'm going to crash so hard when the holidays are over and there are no more goodies in the pantry!
today's no exception, i go to the pantry for an after-lunch cup of tea and find this giant tin from germany filled to the brim with baked goods. yummmm ^^ apparently, the germans are really big on gingerbread (or the translation on the pkging is incorrect) because the tin is filled with at least 7 different types of gingerbread. who knew there were different types?
searching for chronos @ 1:53 pm
|sunday. december 9, 2007
music| windaria - theme
sometimes i wonder what i'm doing with my life... oh, i still like my job but, at times, it doesn't seem like enough. it doesn't help that mom keeps on ragging on me to do something else and make something of my life... and the thing is, i do agree with some of what she says. i can feel myself getting restless now that i'm more use to my current position and the titles. there's still stuff i don't know and things i do (or don't do) that show i'm still wet behind the ears but it's getting to the point where i want more to do (or is it that i'm a closet workaholic?).. and then, there's also the feeling of having reached a temporary deadend in my career path. i know what the next step is but no idea on when it would happen considering all those spots are filled and unlikely to be vacated anytime soon..
so i've been thinking of alternative paths for the future but then, nothing really comes to mind... i mean, other careers come to mind, but nothing i get excited over (or i get excited but wonder if it's just a passing fancy, like going to culinary school and owning a pastry/teashop. am i just being crazy?).. sigh.. i hate feeling lost
anyhoo, i'm really ok, just a little down tonight from an extended lecture from mater...
searching for chronos @ 10:53 pm
|monday. november 26, 2007
music| gackt - lu:na
who knew using the computer required so much work from your forearms? (actually, i think i knew but just took it all for granted ^^;)... all i can say is, sprained muscles totally suck and i'm an idiot for doing it to myself... now, the question is, how much of a masochist am i? kyudo practice is tonight. do i go, knowing i'll just stress out my arm more, or do i miss this week's practice and let my arm rest? tis a dilemma... ^^;
searching for chronos @ 3:42 pm
|sunday. november 25, 2007
naaaah... i hope people had a good thanksgiving ^^
mine was nice, if a bit exhausting. we had company over on thursday and saturday. i was cooking and, since i have this thing against serving guests leftovers, i think i in the kitchen almost nonstop from wednesday to saturday.. ^^; i mean, i like cooking so it wasn't *that* bad but, all in all, it was just waaay too much. the muscles in my right forearm hurt from overuse. how sad is that??
searching for chronos @ 5:36 pm
|monday. november 19, 2007
music| our lady peace - stealing babies
to quote a letter to the editor on an op-ed about happiness
Happiness need not be as elusive as some people claim it to be. But it remains beyond the grasp of so many because they are unwilling to see that happiness is a state of mind over matter
it's sooo true. if only more people would realize it... for starters, my parents would be nice...
searching for chronos @ 1:51 pm
|music| coldplay - yellow
winter-time observation of the day: short hair = cold, wet nape
needless to say, i'm less than pleased with this discovery.. i think a wider scarf will be my only recourse :P
searching for chronos @ 1:16 pm
|saturday. october 20, 2007
almost had a minor meltdown earlier today when the laptop wouldn't turn on! i hadn't had any problems with it lately so i'd kinda slacked up backing up files and i couldn't remember exactly when i'd last backed-up but it'd been at least a few months O.o.... turns out that the bios battery was dead so i replaced it (after *lots* of fun with a soldering iron - a total crap job but as long as it stays together....) and now it works almost fine.
i say almost fine because i think what happened screwed with some of the startup settings because now windows doesn't automatically start like before but as long as i can use it :P considering the damn thing is more than 6 yrs old and still *working,* i ain't complainin'.. but i really need to stop waffling on what i want in a new computer as i've been doing for months and months... but there *are* sooooo many choices!! meh..
searching for chronos @ 10:50 pm
|thursday. october 11, 2007
music| hellsing - hemp smoke stings the eyes
do you think pesticides and all that stuff they spray in commercial orchards can affect the taste of the fruit?.. i never really thought about it but after today's experience, i'm leaning towards a big fat 'yes' :P
i 'happened' to pass by the mini farmer's market at rockefeller center on my way to work today (i love the baked goods! ^_^) and picked up a zucchini muffin and a few honeycrisp apples. i already had a honeycrisp in the fridge at work but figured i'd just eat more apples *and* i would be supporting local agriculture. all good things, right?
anyway, i get to work, munch on the apple in the fridge as an after-muffin snack. delicious! then after lunch, around 3, i'm feeling kinda peckish so i go to the fridge, pick out an apple and bite into it (after washing, of course ^^) expecting the same yummy explosion on my tastebuds as earlier. instead, i'm unpleasantly surprised with a weird taste that i can only describe as chemically... i finished the apple because i can't waste food (think of all those starving kids in africa!!) and found that all the outer layer had that weird taste while the flesh inside was fine
that got me thinking of possible causes and the only thing i can think of is that the taste is from the pesticides and stuff that get sprayed on the apples. in the fruit world, apples have relatively thin porous skin with sorta spongy flesh so it's not too farfetched to think of the chemicals seeping into the fruit and altering the taste....
all the other honeycrisps i've had this season were organic, which is maybe why i haven't had one that tasted quite so odd til now? anyhoo, just something to keep in mind...
searching for chronos @ 4:27 pm
|monday. september 24, 2007
music| gackt - saikai
so my results from this weekend...
+ zucchini gratin: over did it on the cream and ended up too rich. i could feel my arteries clogging up with every bite. mostly tasty tho... grade b-
+ pumpkin cookies: a little too moist and cake-like. also a little bland but considering i made up the recipe on the spot, not bad. next time, a smidgen more sugar and maybe some salt... also, might want to let it sit outside a little longer after cooking to let the moisture in the center spread out and maybe evaporate a bit. grade b+
+ pumpkin pie: i tried a slightly different recipe than what i used before (actually, more like a weird mix of the two..) and it's different but still sooo tasty ^^ i think this just means it's impossible to mess up pumpkin pie ^^; grade a
next week, if i feel up to it, maybe another pumpkin pie.. or i suppose i could try apple pie! ^_^ i love fall baked goods. i just need to remember to go get vanilla ice cream...
searching for chronos @ 2:12 pm
|friday. september 21, 2007
last weekend was kyudo in montreal. sooo much fun. my arms were sore and i was exhausted afterwards (still am kinda) but worth it! i got to do long range a bunch of times and i think the program helped a lot
one really exciting result frm the weekend is, i ordered a yumi (that's what we call the bow). pale body, black laquer tips, and a burgandy patterned grip *^_^*
once i get it, i'll be able to practice at home in the backyard! in fact, the backyard may be big enough for actual long distance shooting ^_^ of course, the eta isn't until a month or two from now as the yumi has to be made first so i'm not sure if i'll really want to practice outside then... i'm already reluctant to leave the house and venture into the cold in the mornings and it's still only sept! i don't know how i'm going to deal with it when winter really starts ^^;
but now that it's fall, it's pumpkin pie season ^_^ wheee! today, after i got home, i got and roasted some kabochas. not the normal pumpkin pie stuff but i couldn't find any decently small sugar pumpkins at the store (only the ginormous ones for carving :P) i do like kabochas so this will be interesting.
tomorrow and sunday will be full of baking/cooking, methinks. i have pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, and a zucchini gratin lined up ^^ hopefully they turn out well.. especially the cookies. i have recipes for the pie and the gratin but i'm winging the cookies... of course, with pumpkin, sugar, and butter, i don't see how wrong i can get ^^
searching for chronos @ 10:59 pm
|wednesday. september 12, 2007
music| malice mizer - shiroi
so, i opened a cafepress store today... i was just playing around with the new pen tablet (finally!) ^^ and came up with an idea. it's kinda cute... not terribly clever... but i'm kinda curious if anyone would actually buy it so i put it online ^^ i mean, the account *is* free so why not? the one thing i didn't count on is the fact that having images on both sides raises the price a whole bunch :P i guess it's a good thing i'm not counting on the sales from this to keep me fed. hehe ^^
searching for chronos @ 10:11 pm
|tuesday. september 4, 2007
music| silent hill 3 - walking on vanity ruins
call me crazy but i just signed up for a three day progrm next week end for jyudo in canada ^^ i was originally not going to go but changed my mind at the last minute... ^^;
while i'm totally excited about this, i'm not sure how i'm going to get there. i guess i could drive but a 6 hr drive alone seems a bit much.... but flying also seems ridiculous since i'd have to find a way to make it to where it's taking place, which i think is a jesuit monastery, from the airport and that will all get really expensive (and the program is pretty pricy already. my wallet is *not* happy with this already!).. i guess i'll figure something out. still have a week and a half to do so ^^
searching for chronos @ 9:05 pm
|monday. august 27, 2007
oh yeah, updated a bunch of photos on the photo album last week. not all the comments are up but the photos are all there
searching for chronos @ 3:23 pm
|music| xxxholic - kagerou
i don't think i've felt so lousy in a long long while.. i seem to have picked up a bug last week at work (or multiple bugs for all i know since all of my co-workers seem to be sick with something different.. ergh). i felt bad last week but by friday i was feeling so much better that when a high school friend invited me on her family beach trip, i though, 'why not?'
the trip was a lot of fun but it must have been too much for me (not to mention we left at 8am and got back at midnight!) cause my body totally crashed yesterday.... after sleeping all day yesterday, i feel almost human again and made it into work today but still don't feel great ;__; bah
contributing to my misery at the moment is the slight sunburn on the back of my thighs. i guess i got distracted saturday while i was putting sun screen on and forgot to put any there. it's not particularly painful in itself but, being where it is, it's hard to avoid putting pressure on it ... that'll teach me for next time ^^;
one really cool thing i got this weekend was a wacom intuos3 pen tablet for the computer. i've been meaning to get one for forever so i'm uber-happy ^^ didn't get a chance to play with it over the weekend with all the beaching and sleeping so i'm looking forward to it this week ^^
searching for chronos @ 3:14 pm
|monday. august 20, 2007
music| jigoku shoujo - aware no kage
interesting article in new york magazine on life expectancy of new yorkers. my fav quote from it:
Indeed, the easiest way to tell a New Yorker from an out-of-towner is by walking speed: The natives blast down the sidewalk at blitzkrieg pace, and the visitors mosey along like pack mules
it's sooooooo true!! can't count the number of times i get stuck behind slowpoke out-of-towners and end up cursing them off in my head.. ^^;
searching for chronos @ 5:19 pm
|thursday. august 2, 2007
music| tsubasa - my dear feather
last night, i went to hatsuhana, a really nice japanese restaurant, with eryck, ben, nate, eve, matt (samberg) for my birthday ^_^ as it always is when we get together, the dinner was a ton of fun.
the food was fantastic too. i had the prix fix sashimi dinner and it was amazing. the expression 'melts in your mouth' doesn't get applied to fish very often, i would think(or, if it is, in a less literal sense), but there was one type of fish (i wish i knew which one!) that was soooo tender it practically dissolved in the mouth. yummmm ^_^
anyhoo, been busy busy busy lately having too much fun... i think. sometimes i'm not sure what i spend my time doing... seems i get home, and suddenly it's time to shower and sleep *shrug*..
searching for chronos @ 12:24 pm
|wednesday. august 1, 2007
music| yoroiden samurai troopers - midnight party
water buffalo yogurt is really yummy!
searching for chronos @ 10:03 am
|monday. june 25, 2007
note to self: do not leave jambajuice blends sitting in the fridge... the fruit oxidizes, turning weird colors, and it tastes awful :P
searching for chronos @ 5:26 pm
|sunday. june 17, 2007
observation: having fun is hard work.. really really hard work!
honestly, i don't know how socialites and their ilk go about partying day after day... last week about wiped me out ^^;... granted, i suppose it's different if one doesn't have to worry about waking up at 7am after a late night.. sigh, oh, to be so freeeeee. no doubt i'd get bored after a while but it'd be fun for a while ^^
aaaanyway, what did i do the last week? (this is liable to be long..)
monday night was kyudo as always ^^ it was a special work night though so it went longer than normal. work night is when we take care of equipment, making repairs and all that. this week wasn't so bad. just some letter stamping and arrow repairs.
tuesday was our attempt to go see opera in central park. our plan was to for eve to pick up kfc chicken (for some reason, we thought picnic and that lead to kfc.. *shrug*), nate and matt samberg a bottle of wine each, me some dessert and eryck.. well, just himself ^^ sadly, it started raining in the afternoon and so the opera was cancelled. since we'd all brought the stuff anyway (and were hoping the rain would stop in time for the opera to go on as planned) we met at eve's place, put some opera in the background and hung out. we did end up playing some speed scrabble at the end of the night. lots of fun (especially after the 5 of us went through 2+ some bottles of wine) and, dear god, is eryck competitive (not that i didn't know it before but just had to reiterate)
wednesday night was the annual barge bash, which, like last year, was held at a restaurant in the south street seaport. i went down with some coworkers and circulated for a bit before leaving early-ish. enjoyable but not something i wanted to spend lots and lots of time at. it's a matter of not really knowing enough people in the industry to really have too many people to talk to. :P
thursday was another unsuccessful attempt at opera in the park. when opera was cancelled on tuesday, eve thought they had said the raindate was thursday so we made plans to go again. this time we just individually brought food because the thought of kfc again was a bit offputting ^^;... the weather was wonderful and everything was going well until we got to the great lawn and found out that, contrary to our expectations, there was no make up concert that night. meh.. but since we were all already in the park, with food and bottles of wine, we staked out a spot on some lovely rocks (and they were such wonderful rocks too! comfy, out of the way, near some indoor restrooms ^^) and just sat there most of the night, you know, doing the eat, drink, and be merry thing. ^^ happily, fan got out of work not too ridiculously late and was able to join us later in the evening. after a while, it got too dark in the park (and we ran out of wine) so we moved our little gathering to a bar in the upper west and spent the rest of the night there.
friday, i got to sleep in a bit because it was my friday off but i still made it into the city around 1. i was suppose to meet up with nate and fan and eat at the german food cart but fan had a meeting scheduled at the last minute so that didn't happen. instead, i wandered the city before meeting up with eve, nate, and eryck at union sq. fan was still at work so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at otafuku (takoyaki and okonomiyaki. yummmm ^^) and then spent some time browsing the strand where we met up with fan. we then headed over to a tibetan place we had walked by earlier (food was ok but the tea with butter and salt was undrinkable. ugh). we parted ways after dinner because it was already rather late at that point (we had spent a lot of time in ths strand ^^;)
yesterday was another day spent in the city. i went in early-ish to pick up tickets for the romeo and juliet ballet with music by prokofiev next friday (yay! i'm so excited!). then did a little geo-caching in central park with fan, got sort of caught in the rain and spent the rest of the afternoon in the museum of art with fan and eryck. after the museum, we grabbed dinner at andre's hugarian cafe (btw, the meat studel and goulash are excellent as well!) and then saw a comedy show at dangerfield's
today, i really needed a day to just veg out and not do anything so i skipped out on the plans for kayaking. instead, i just spent the day lounging in bed reading. it was faaaantastic ^_^ anyhooo, this was a really long entry and it's rather late so i think i'll end it here
searching for chronos @ 13:28 pm
|sunday. june 10, 2007
soo belmont stakes yesterday. we (eve, eryck, nate, and me) were there around 10:30am (me a little later due to some unforseen circumstances involving a dentist and a lack of a map). first post wasn't until noon but we wanted to be there earlier in case the crowds were crazy. since we didn't have reserved seats, we wanted to make sure we would be able to grab decent spots on the free front benches. turns out we really didn't need to get there so early because the place didn't get really busy until much later in the day but the early arrival was good in that we had seats in the 1st row for the entire day ^^
the day started on a hight note. eryck and i got lucky on our bets on the first race and made a $4+ profit ^^ i chose the horse for his colors (orange and black all the way!) and eryck chose him for his record (and colors once i pointed it out)
our subsequent bets weren't as fortuitous and i think we all came out in the red at the end of the day... lucky for us, the minimum we could bet was a $1 ^_^ though, i did go with $2 for most of mine. with plans to stay for only 11 races, i figured i could afford it and $1 just seemed too tiny
while all the races were fun to watch, the actual belmont stakes was awsome. the place got impossibly crowded as we got closer to the stakes (the crowd was an odd mix. half preppy, half grungy.. oh, and we saw portillo and voie. both in pink polos ^^;) and when the stakes actually started, the energy in the crowd was incredible. lots of cheering and just general excitement ^^
just on a lark, we all placed superfecta (get 1st to 4th correct) bets on the stakes. with only 7 horses in the running and with, we thought, 3 of those 7 being non-contenders, we had high hopes.. ^_^ alas, one of those 'non-contenders' ended up in 2nd and none of us guessed that rags to riches would do quite so well! guess we'll all keep our day jobs... fan and i were thrilled that rags to riches won tho. it was pretty cool that we were there to see the first filly win since 1905!
afterwards, we drove into manhattan and ate bbq (yummy!). eve initially suggested chinese or sushi but, after a day at the races, those foods just didn't feel appropriate ^^;
then after dinner, we were all so exhausted, we parted ways and just went home. i must have been extremely tired cause i slept until noon...
since then, i've been baking and baking and baking linzer tarts all day. i never remember exactly how time consuming these cookies are until i'm already too far in the process :P let's just hope people like it ^_^
searching for chronos @ 12:29 pm
|saturday. june 9, 2007
went to see the belmont stakes today. it was wicked fun ^_^ but after a full day in the sun, i'm exhausted so i'll update about it all tomorrow. and maybe if i'm really really good, i'll even put some pictures up...
searching for chronos @ 11:58 pm
|thursday. june 7, 2007
so at work today i hear 2 coworkers talking...
coworker 1: so i got heartburn yesterday
coworker 2: that's great! how do you like it?
coworker 1: i really like it!
i was sooo confused until i realized they were talking about a book ^^;
searching for chronos @ 8:35 pm
|wednesday. june 6, 2007
it's been a busy few days. ever since eryck's been in the city, we (the ny folks) have been meeting up for dinner every night. it's been fun, kinda like a mini extension of reunions, but slightly rough on my sleep schedule (hm.. yup. same as reunions ^^) since i don't get home until pretty late. oh well.. i guess i can live with that ^_^
however, i am rather relieved that saturday is the next time we're getting together (belmont stakes! twill be tons of craziness and fun!) ^^; time to decompress after work has been sorely lacking and maybe i can get some errands done. i also want to try and run a little after work. i don't know why but i still feel twitchy with inactivity..
searching for chronos @ 11:46 pm
|monday. june 4, 2007
music| blood+ - this love
reunions was amaaaazing! ^^ i had so much fun. i would post photos except i was a moron and forgot my camera at home... it was kinda nice not having to think about taking pictures and also about losing the camera but now i have no fun pictures to share ;__;... i'll just have to get copies from stef and nicole of the ones they took ^^
after all the walking the last few days, i thought i'd be glad for some rest, sitting at work all day but, after sitting all morning, my legs are twitchy for some exercise... go figure :P
searching for chronos @ 11:05 am
|tuesday. may 22, 2007
music| red garden - susumu, sashite susumu
this is gross and disturbing. i don't feel safe buying ingestable substances that may possibly have had any of its ingredients come from china anymore... i thought i was being overly paranoid/cautious when i passed on buying seadweed from whole foods that came from china (i mean, it is whole foods) but after reading the article. ewww... better safe than sorry. especially since i can get seaweed with a different point of origin...
searching for chronos @ 12:34 pm
|friday. may 18, 2007
music| royksopp - she's so
wheee. the 50th annivery ed of lotr and children of hurin came ^^ they weigh a ton and i'm not sure how i'm going to take them home but i'll worry about that some other time. it's rainy and unpleasant today so i wouldn't want to take them outside anyhoo.
i also picked up some free knitting/craft books today from a coworker's stash of samples. one of them is called naughty needles and i was somewhat um...suprised... some of the projects are downright scandalous (ball gag, anyone? or if that's not really your thing, how about a nurse outfit?)..^^;... i kinda wonder who buys the book. now that i have it, i'm keeping it (cause 1, it's a book and 2, i think some of the patterns can be modified into something acceptable and rather nice) but would i go out an buy it? erm.. probably not....
searching for chronos @ 2:33 pm
|thursday. may 3, 2007
so lately, i've been back to my (almost) a book a day habit and i realize why i never did anything when i was in high school. there's just not enough hours in a day to read a book and do anything else... no internet, no knitting, no tv... oh well ^^ it's all good cause it means i've found new books i want to read! for a while i wasn't feeling the love (as one might say) from any new books and was just sort of re-reading stuff and one can only do so much of that before it gets old... anyway, here are some the new stuff i've picked up
+ accidental goddess, an - ok, total total fluffy scifi romance but it was fun ^^
+ never have your dog stuffed - it's been out a while but i just managed to get a copy of it. quick and interesting
+ three bags full - i just started it and it's great! it's a sheep mystery (as in a bunch of sheep solve a mystery. hehe)
i also broke down and purchased the leather bound 50th collector's edition of lotr and the deluxe edition of the new tolkien book, children of hurin (apparently the 'new' book is really really good.. if a bit depressing and dark). in the past, i would have told myself to wait and get it later once i had more of a disposable income but now, knowing exactly how reprint decisions are made on these type of books (ie, do not reprint upon pain of death!), i realize i need to snatch up copies before the initial printings run out ^^;
anyhoo, time to get back to my fuzzy detectives ^^
searching for chronos @ 8:39 pm
|friday. april 27, 2007
the fda is considering a proposal to modify the standards for chocolate so manufacturers can use vegetable fats other than cacao butter in chocolate.... that's soo wrong! the unique melting point of cacao butter is what makes chocolate melt in your mouth once you ingest it! the smooth, velvety taste.. they can't change that!! there's a campaign to have people send comments to the fda and i just hope it works (go comment!). i'm never buying another thing of chocolate manufactured for sale in the u.s. if those standards change (well... unless i know for sure what's in it).... i want my cacao fat!
searching for chronos @ 10:36 am
|monday. april 9, 2007
music| garbage - silence is golden
for having gone to sleep at 5:30 am last night, i'm remarkably awake. it's such an odd thing to happen that i just had to remark on it. of course, this probably means the exhaustion will hit me tomorrow and i'll be dead on my feet but, for now, i'll enjoy this state and worry about tomorrow.. wel.. tomorrow ^^
you ask what i was doing awake at such wee hours of the morn'? while i dearly wish to regale you with tales of excitement (or even just a story.. even a dull one) all i can say is i'm not sure... yes, yes, i must confess that i flittered away those precious nighttime hours doing little random things that at the time seemed quite important (like clothes drawer cleaning and music organizing and reading and.. umm other things ^^;) but, in the light of day, could really have waited until tonight, tomorrow, or even next weekend ^^;... oh well, we all know i'm silly ^^
the rest of the weekend was rather sedate. just did some baking (rosemary and thyme bread on saturday and chocolate almond macaroons on sunday. both super yummy!)
i did buy a lovely spring green shearling coat on friday. to be honest, i'm not sure when and where i would wear it since it's more of a fashion item but it was such a bargain (and i so fell in love with it) that i had to get it ^^ .. did you say something? self-control? .. hmm. pshaw ^_^ i'm sure i'll figure somewhere to wear it to! ^^
searching for chronos @ 3:08 pm
|thursday. april 5, 2007
i can't believe tomorrow is friday. this week really flew by... not that i'm complaining ^^
last weekend was great! i took last friday off and it just happened that there was a 3 day kyudo program with my dojo so i was doing kyudo from 9am-5pm for 3 whole days ^_^ the instructor was fantastic (don is wonderful ^^) and i think i got a whole lot out of the program.
what's really exciting is my kake (glove) finally came and it fits perfectly! definitely worth the 2 month wait ^^ the only off putting thing is the new leather smell. i'm glad in a way because it proves the quality but it's so strong my hand smells like leather for a while even after i wash my hands so i feel like i have stuff on my hands (and if you know me, you know why that bothers me!).. ick
now, all i need is my dogi (top) and a yumi (bow) to have all the necessary equipment for practice .. well, and a target and a few other minor things but whatever ^^
as for this weekend, i think i'm going to do a little garden clean up but nothing crazy like last year! i'm done with trying to be fancy. the stupid weather killed off most of what i planted, even those that were suppose to be hardy :P and um.. maybe i'll do some baking too. and if i get really really ambitious, a room clean up might be in the works too but we'll see ^^
searching for chronos @ 9:50 pm
|thursday. march 22, 2007
my boss at work has the most amazing timing when it comes to vacations or maybe it's people see his out of office and suddenly think of all these things they can do to make my life difficult :P... cause everytime he's off on vacation all sorts of crazy stuff starts happening. doesn't matter how quiet work has been for weeks before he goes. nooo, as soon as he leaves, poof, work materializes... it's happened often enough that one of my co-workers commented that maybe my boss should go off on vacation more often because we seem to get more order then... bah... aaanyway, i'm just a little frazzled from work
on a happier note, the boss is back monday so i can dump all the work on him again. mwahahahaha ^^.. hehe
stef will be here this weekend and i'm so excited ^^ she's not here long (boo) but at least i get to see her for a bit. i'm not sure what we want to do. i guess dinner and hang out somewhere?
but before that, tomorrow, i'm going to a rock concert at arlene's grocery. never heard of the place before but that's not surprising since the amount of things i know about non-classical music in the city could fill a thimble and have room left over for.. a thumb? having never been to a real one (the ones at school don't count) i'm not entirely sure what to expect. i'm going cause a guy at kyudo is playing there with his band and i said i'd go show support (and i'm kinda curious) hopefully it's interesting ^^ i just wish it wasn't so late at night. not that i've lost my propensity for staying up but with the last train out of nyc at 1:30am, i need to drive in if i want to stay late and parking can get expensive ^^;
searching for chronos @ 8:53 pm
|monday. march 19, 2007
music| 300 - come and get them
if you've never tried ben & jerry's new vermonty python, i might have to insist that you push away from the desk, stand-up, walk out the door to the nearest b&j carrying grocery store and pick one up. it's faaaantastic ^^ i mean, really, the flavors in it are coffee, chocolate and more chocolate. how can you go wrong? ^_^ hehe
anyway, i'm going to be learning a new form in kyudo today! it's a formal form and looks like it has a bizillion steps to it but i'm still looking forward to it ^^ i just hope it doesn't confuse me and end up messing up what i do in the simple form ^^;...
searching for chronos @ 5:02 pm
|saturday. march 17, 2007
i spent part of the morning clearing the driveway of snow and now my whole body aches... ick.. at least i got a good, if unusual, workout. other than that, i haven't done very much today. i should have taken a nap cause i feel kinda feverish from the morning but i ended up reading. in fact, i may have stressed my body out even more with that cause, while trying to pick which book to read, i got distracted and spent about an hour sitting on the cold floor in front of the bookshelves. i picked a book out, started reading, became engrossed in the story and just sat down (don't tell me this has never happened to you before) ^^; silly me
one thing i didn't mention yesterday (i forgot. it was late) was i bought a kimono before i headed over to eve's b-day dinner! it's a lovely pine/kelp(?) green and is sooo soft ^^ i bought it for kyudo (which is kinda funny since i don't even have the usual practice uniform yet... ^^;) but it's so nice i could wear it out.. you know if i ever had a need to wear a kimono to an event.. ^^;... a stray thought that floated into my head while i was trying the kimono on was 'this would make a lovely lounging robe' cause it's soft, loose, comfy, warm, and have i mentioned soft? but it's a little too nice to justify using it as a mere lounging robe. it was a little pricy considering what i'm buying it for but i justified the money i spent with the thought that i can always hang it on the wall as art when i'm not wearing it ^^, which, something tells me, will be more often than not
searching for chronos @ 13:10 pm
|so i was in the city late today for eve's b-day dinner. i thought about staying for the afterparty but decided not to with the weather being awful and all and, boooy, am i glad i didn't stay!
i got on the 11:15 train but due to some mechanical failure or whatnot, the train stopped for 15-20 mins between 125th and fordham... not so fun but the really not so fun part started after i got off the train. our cars couldn't get out of the driveway because of all the snow so i was to take the taxi. when i get to the taxi station, there's a huuuge line. not only because of others being in a similar situation to mine but also because there were fewer taxies running as a few were stuck in the snow and were thus out of commission.
i arrived at the taxi station at 12:15. i didn't get into a taxi until after 1. i was really afraid i was going to have to walk home from the station! the roads were in such poor condition that the taxi company was starting to send drivers home as we sat there in the office and i think i got in the very last taxi of the night O.o not that the walk isn't do-able but it would have taken me at least and hour and a half with the snow and, as i wasn't dressed quite warmly enough, it would have been miserable.
the ride home wasn't so much fun either. the car was sliding all over the place on the snow/ice and i was terrified we were going to crash. kudos to the driver. he was totally cool with all the crazy stuff the car tires were doing. i would have been freaking out.. ugh
nyway, i think it's time to call it a night. we need to take the jetta into the shop early in the morning (stupid brother of mine got in an accident) and i'm going to need all my energy to clear the snow tomorrow. i am not looking forward to that...
searching for chronos @ 2:06 am
|monday. march 12, 2007
it's almost spring! ^^ the weather today was gorgeous. warm enough to walk around without a coat. it made me so happy! while i do like winter and snow, it's not as fun as it use to be when, for most of the week, all you see when you're outside is cold, grey and dark.
anyway, this past weekend, i saw '300' with fan and nate. while it was visually fantastic, the story was probably as intellectually stimulating as... well.. watching paint dry and the dialogue was so impossibly heavy-handed i ended up laughing during parts where i'm pretty sure i wasn't suppose to. but i have to say it was enjoyable and i'm glad i saw it. i rather wish they'd do a special release compiling just the battle scenes ^_^ all the fun and none of the fillers
one thought that kept on popping up in my mind while watching the movie was how i wish lotr was visually more like '300.' i think that would have been totally spectacular ^^
searching for chronos @ 13:22 pm
|thursday. march 8, 2007
i'm somewhat amazed at the nascent levels of motivation i've had this week. my closet is (mostly) organized, i can see actually see my desk at work, i'm almost done with the first sleeve on julie's sweater, and i've been moving 1-2 cds worth of music on to my mp3 player every night for the last few days! i just hope it lasts ^^
searching for chronos @ 9:28 pm
|wednesday. march 7, 2007
so it's hard to believe john is engaged O.o i feel like it's far too early to leave the shores of bachelor(rette)hood and plunge into the jungles of matrimony... maybe i'm just commitementphobic :P
anyway, work has been rather annoying lately. there's nothing quite so irritating as running the 4-5 reports i'm in charge of. while i can usually stand running them (i mean, most of them are only once a month so it's not that bad) but these last few days, i've been working to modify the macro for one of the reports because the base data file has some additional info on it and i'm starting to really dislike looking at that particular report
as if that wasn't bad enough, i got another stupid report added to my workload. when i first got it, i though, 'how bad can it be?' well.. it's pretty bad. first off, the complete instructions on how to run this new report weren't complete at all. it mentioned files without giving file directories. brilliant. how the hell am i suppose to find those files?? anyway, that got resolved. now i find that there are errors in the data and it seems no one has any clue where the data i'm using comes from (even the people who create the files) argh!...
one big bright spot is, i might be relieved of one of my weekly reports by next week! since it's really a sales report, i think it's about time someone in sales takes it over but it's all thanks to one of my coworkers. if i can really get rid of it, i'll be so happy i just might have to bake him cookies or something ^^
searching for chronos @ 10:25 pm
|tuesday. february 27, 2007
times like tonight make me acutely aware of my surfeit of hobbies... i mean, i suppose it's not quite as unforunate as not being able to amuse oneself but it really is a case of too much of a good thing
like tonight, i wanted to 1) read a book, 2) work on julie's sweater (i knoooow, i'm a bad for not having finished it yet!! but it's hard to motivate myself without a set deadline ^^; .. not to mention, i'm at the sleeves and they're a pain to do so i keep putting it off), 3) clean my closet, 4) organize music files, and 5) update photos online
out of those five, i only managed to get to one and it's already far too late to really do anything else on the list. while it's tempting to just stay up longer, sleep beckons so sweetly.... of course, on a more pragmatic note, i'll also kick myself in the morning when i have to wake up at 7.. ick
searching for chronos @ 12:51 pm
|tuesday. february 20, 2007
this weekend was one of more activity filled ones i've had recently. saturday, i vegged at home but sunday, i headed into the city for lunch at a chinese place called shangai mong in k-town with the ny princeton gang. really tasty ^^. afterwords, ben and i headed down to chinatown to see if anything was going on for the chinese new year. sadly, we got there too late and most of the celebration was over.
later for dinner, i went to a turducken party that a high school friend was throwing. while it was tasty, the turducken didn't quite live up to the hype. i was afraid that the meat would to be disgustingly greasy since whole duck has a lot of fat on it and the duck is stuck inside the turkey but, maybe one skins and de-fat the duck before stuffing it in the turkey (how do you totally de-bone a bird anyway?), but the meat bordered on being too dry.
then yesterday, i spent oodles and oodles of hours making 3 different types of truffles: dark, earl grey, and cassis. they were originally intended for the new years party at kyudo but i misjudged the time it would take and was only able to finish the earl grey ones. they looked really ugly but people seemed to like ^^ of course, once i got back from kyudo, i had to finish the rest of the truffles so i didn't end up going to sleep until quite late ^^;
speaking of, i think it's about time for me to catch up on the sleep i didn't get yesterday night ^_^
searching for chronos @ 9:39 pm
|some coworkers are talking about going out to a japanese restaurant after work and i want to cringe everytime i hear them pronounce sake as saki... if it was meant to be pronounced as saki, it would be spelled with an i!.. *shudder*...
searching for chronos @ 3:28 pm
|bah! they really need to stop dumping reports on me. i already have 5 of the stupid things and now they want me to do another? i wouldn't mind as much if all the reports were actually for my department but noooo, i have stuff for 2 other departments in my list too. grrr...
searching for chronos @ 10:46 am
|friday. february 16, 2007
music| michel-richard delalande - les folies de cardenio: le mariage de l\'hymen et de l\'amour
gez... it's been awfully boring today. normally, even on a slow day i get few tens of emails. today, i received a total of 13 emails. where is everyone?
searching for chronos @ 4:36 pm
|yay for the three day weekend coming up ^^ a lot of people must already be off for the long weekend because it's been extremly quiet this morning. not that i'm complaining, mind you. i did put the time to good use in looking up some stuff i've been curious about, chocolate and whiskey being just a few
i've been on a chocolate kick recently. yes, i know. i'm already a chocoholic so aren't i always on a chocolate kick? but i digress.... so i've been on a chocolate kick, meaning i've been really into making things with chocolate. it first started with making hot chocolate with solid chocolate, sugar and milk. it took me a couple tried before making it just right-ish. i still don't have the perfect ration of sugar and unsweetened chocolate.. it would probably help if i actually measured stuff out, ne?... but it's likable but still slightly off from what i'd looking for. i think part of my problem may be the chocolate i use (scharffenberger). reading up on it, it's manufactured to have a uniquely fruity taste and that might be the problem. i picked up chocolate from other chocolatiers yesterday so we'll see ^^
next, i moved on to brownies. i wanted to get something like the brownies lulu makes and modified a recipe in the martha stewert baking hand book (not a big fan of martha but the recipes really are good) and got something closer but still not there... baking is hard man...
last night, i made truffles coated in powdered cocoa. surprisingly easy, if a bit messy. i meant to bring them into work to share with people but i woke up late and forgot to grab them out of the fridge.. silly me ^^;.. i did want feedback on how they were. it's impossible to get any sort of constructive reviews on taste from the family. mother eschews anything sweet and sunny has indiscriminate tastebuds
one thing i've noticed in my short experimentation with chocolate thus far is that i've become most intolerant of milk chocolate. i might have taken one too many nibbles of the bittersweet chocolate i've been using but milk chocolate has become far too sweet for my palate...
searching for chronos @ 12:46 pm
|thursday. february 15, 2007
music| joaquín rodrigo - fantasia para un gentilhombre, for guitar & orch
the power converter for my mp3 player just died on me... i didn't think things like that broke. when's the last time you heard of the plug portion of an electronic item break? i'm just glad creative still sells parts for my ancient zen. it may be ancient but it still works well so i'd rather not get a new one. granted, ipods are really so very much prettier (and lighter... i could knock someone out with the zen!) but i don't like some of the restrictions that come with it. a pity...
searching for chronos @ 3:56 pm
|wednesday. february 14, 2007
wheeee ^^ it's the first proper snowstorm of the winter of 06-07! i'm sooo happy. now it really feels like winter... too bad there ain't nothin like a snow day from work ^^;
searching for chronos @ 9:42 am
|tuesday. february 13, 2007
music| robert schumann - romances for oboe and piano, op 94
it's unpleasant enough when one is sick but it really sucks when one isn't sick enough to justify missing work to one's self but sick enough that one feels like something the cat dragged in...
i'm suppose to go to a concert at carnegie hall tonight.. hopefully the tylenol works well enough that i don't end up being one of those really annoying noisy/sick people at concerts
searching for chronos @ 1:37 pm
|saturday. february 10, 2007
i have quite a headache from today so i feel like i should get to sleep early. while the day wasn't awful, things just didn't work out throughout the day....
like, this morning, i headed to the vw service center at 8am so i could get that out of the way. when i made the appointment, i was told it would take only an hour and a half but somehow i didn't end up leaving the place until noon (argh!)
that delay totally made me late for lunch with fan and ben :P not great considering i had to leave before 3 and we were going to a korean chicken place (unidentified flying chicken, 71-22 roosevelt ave) in queens and that was going to take a lot longer to get to
anyway, once we got there, we found out that the same nytimes review that had gotten us interested in the place had gotten a whole passel of other people interested as well. i had hoped that going on a saturday afternoon, we would avoid a crowd but, alas, it was not to be... as a result, it took about an hour to get our food. the chicken was good... too bad i only had time to chow down two drumsticks before i had to run out to get sunny to a college interview...
of course, what i didn't realize was how busy a section of the fdr is on the weekends so in the end mom had to cancel her appointment and drive him... bah... so because i feel awful about what happened, i volunteered to drive him to the city tomorrow. ack. maybe i can take a nap in the car while i wait...
btw, the pear lab is shutting down! while the only thing i know about it is what i've heard from others, it seems like a shame that it's going away
searching for chronos @ 9:48 pm
|thursday. february 8, 2007
so i didn't go to sleep an hour ago like i said i would.. oh well ^^;...
question, what do you think sounds better?
* i heart yarn
* project knit-away
* mission: knit-able
searching for chronos @ 12:18 pm
|finally got motivated to update the blog design (as you undoubtedly noticed)... actually, m*a*s*h* wasn't on, i didn't feel like knitting, and since i'm not going into work tomorrow i decided i might as well update ^^; i've been neglecting it for quite a while and i was really getting tired of the pinkness... i suppose this one isn't too different in terms of hue but it's not all blush pink!
anyway, tvland started airing m*a*s*h* again recently and i've been watching it almost religiously. i love alan alda ^^ and the show is great stuff. i just wish they'd play more episodes a day tho if they did, i'd be getting even less sleep than i do now and that would suck... i mean, i'm already tired all the time ^^;
hm.. perhaps i should go to sleep now.. ^^
searching for chronos @ 11:23 pm
|wheee. i'm off tomorrow. i'm thinking nice loooooong nap in the morning ^_^ then, on saturday, fan and i are venturing into queens for some korean style fried chicken. yummm ^^ should be a fun weekend
searching for chronos @ 4:57 pm
|tuesday. february 6, 2007
music| shingetsutan tsukihime - justice
is it bad of me to feel like smacking someone over the head and tell them to stop whining and suck it up?? i feel like they're complaining about something everytime i see them and everything is a big issue that we have to have meetings about and go over several times.. argh! i get it that they don't like the current process and i'm fine if they want to fix it and make it better but stop whining about it!
otherwise, nothing too exciting going on in my life. just weekly monday night kyudo practice and occasional get togethers with the ny princeton contingent ^^
last saturday, we went to a ny phil concert where they played ravel's 'le tombeau de couperin', musorgsky's 'pictures at an exhibition', and esa-pekka salonen's 'piano concerto'. the salonen piece was a world premiere so that was pretty cool but i wasn't such a huge fan of the piece. it was ok but not one that i'd run to the store to buy a cd of if it were available. next week, there's a sibelius/beethoven concert at carnegie! i'm excited ^_^ i love both composers
i did buy a yugake (glove for the right hand) for kyudo a few days ago! ^_^ unfortunately, it's custom made so i won't be getting it for another 2 months. i hope it fits properly when i get it. it would suck to have waited that long only to find out they messed up ^^;
searching for chronos @ 1:12 pm
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