Sixth of 2008 (Mostly Old news)

This is very delinquent. I had it all planned since last week, but then got distracted. However, I just received a new digital camera so hopefully I will learn how to use it soon and post with more alacrity.

This one will be short and sweet

See

On President's Day (see, it's been a while) I finally saw the Best-Picture Winner No Country For Old Men. I loved it. The story is straightforward, and not that much different than any typical thriller. But the Coen Brothers elevate it to art with their skill and sensibilities. Performances are great, cinematography amazing (surprised it didn't win for that, too) and the script is tight and metaphoric in all the right places. Some thought the ending was dissatisfying, but I enjoyed its subtlety.



The following Sunday my family gathered in our living room to watch the 80th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by the great John Stuart. I wasn't as emotionally invested in the awards this year (most years I'm psycho about it) because I just didn't get around to seeing many of the films nominated and then that led to a general sense of apathy. I really had fun watching them, though, and the run time was not exruciating this year! In fact, it might have been more enjoyable to watch them with people since I didn't need to hear every single acceptance speech. I still followed along, but fared horribly in my predictions. My sister Lisa won, but that meant nothing in terms of remuneration. We did send her home with a piece of lasagne.

Eat

There is a new Hawaiian barbeque/plate lunch place on the odd corner of 12th and Boren called Northshore Hawaiian Barbeque. We checked it out recently for lunch. The space is deceptively large, with a full back area that could easily house a bar if they decide to get a liquor license.



I had the huli huli chicken plate lunch, which of course comes with two scoops of white rice and a scoop of mac salad. The mac salad needed salt, but I was fairly satisfied with the chicken (more than I could eat, portions are generous). They also offer breakfast and a few desserts, such as haupia. It's a casual place, but there is table service. Drink offerings are limited to coffee, tea, sodas and Hawaiian Sun "juice" (ie, corn syrup that tastes vaguely tropical, but delicious all the same!).

Drink

I'm on a cleanse right now, in preparation for my physical next week. But I have recently indulged in two new cocktails!

On Valentine's Day I tried the Pele's Revenge at Luau: passion fruit juice, white rum, lemon-lime and amaretto. Shaken and served up, like a martini. Delcious, but sweet. I had one and then switched back to the original Mai Tai (which Laua does the best job of in town).

Then last weekend I had a mango-ginger margarita at The Islander. It's not quite margarita weather for me yet, but it was damn refreshing and not too heavy on the mango. It still had the lime-tang you want from the famous thirst-quencher.

Read

I finished the autobiography of Queen Lili'uokalani (and subsequently purchased a DVD documentary on her life and watched it). She was an incredible woman, so much integrity and dedication and so remarkably full of hope even in her darkest hours. Some of her musings on America were a bit depressing in light of what has happened since the late 1800s. She believed strongly in America, and viewed the illegal imperialistic overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy as an enemy of just a small fraction of selfish businessman. Sadly, the two became one in the same.


I am currently reading Access: Introduction to Travel and Tourism by Marc Mancini. I've been harboring the notion of breaking into that industry for some time, and this seemed like a good first step to see if it's something I ought to pursue further. The book is workbook-style, with questions and activities after each chapter. I like this, as it forces me to comprehend and not skim over things and if I'm reading something on the bus with distractions, I have the motivation to go back and re-read to find the answers. I wish more books had this feature. It helps fight the lazy bug!

Remember

Remember the Smurfs? I do! I collected them, idolized them and watched the cartoon religiously. And now, thanks to my loving fiance, I can re-live my childhood with the first season on DVD.



I already have tomorrow morning planned out: honeycombs and milk being delivered by Safeway tonight. Next I'll have to get the little guys out of storage for a photo shoot. They are making a comeback, you know! The big screen feature comes out soon.

Worry

Still a little worried about the physical, but my week of good health has helped ebb the anxiety.



Ralph Nader running for President should make everyone worry!

Also, beware of twin porn actors because they might steal your stuff!

Fifth of 2008

See

Last night was the WORLD LEADER PRETEND party, the 32nd cacophonous adventure thrown by Guerrilla Masquerade Party. I went as Abe Lincoln, Dan went as the Pope and our friend Spencer went as Fidel Castro. Other costumes included a Mary Todd, another Abe (with gun shot wound!), a prime minister of Israel, another Fidel, another Abe, and the Dahli Lahma.

The party took place at Sunset Bowl, which sadly will soon shut its doors and be razed to make room for condominiums. In the meantime, though, business is booming! The bar was jam-packed and the wait for a lane was in the 3-drink range.



Also, my camera officially bit the dust last night.

Eat

Last weekend we returned to doing something we often did in our younger days, which is go out for breakfast! We happened to be up very early on a Saturday so this definitely did not qualify as brunch.

Already having tried Beacon Hill's Baja Bistro, we headed south to our favorite neighborhood that's not technically ours, Columbia City. I sure wish Beacon Hill had half the restaurant variety as C-town, but I musn't be selfish and the drive isn't too bad.

Having attempted in the past and been too late to beat the enormous crowd, we took advantage of our early rise and got a table at Geraldine's Counter.

I knew the place was owned by persons who also owned another Seattle establishment, and the whole time I was convinced it was Coastal Kitchen. Silly me. My co-worker corrected me that the sister restaurant is El Greco on Broadway.

Confusion aside, the meal was delicious and the coffee pretty darn good (they serve Vita). I had a savory scramble, chocked full of sausage, mozzarella, peppers, hashbrowns and onions. The side dish of bread can be either a homemade biscuit, muffin or a slice of toast from the Columbia City Bakery across the street. The sourdough was top notch. Service was fast and friendly. It's a busy place, not a lot of privacy and can get loud. But it's breakfast. They also seem to have an extensive lunch and dinner menu.

Clearly, we enjoyed it.



Drink

The embodiment of Abe Lincoln actually began on Tuesday with "Fours Bars and Seven Years Ago." From the GMP website:

It's become an underground tradition for some well known Seattle artists to celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln by growing beards, dressing in top hats and suits, and spending February 12th roaming the city having drinks and turning heads.

This year, ol' Abe is turning 199 years old, and in honor of that momentous occasion, we've all been invited to join the fun!


Dan took on the Lincoln garb while I tagged along in street clothes to join in the revelry as much as possible on a school night. First stop was the Hideout on First Hill, which is a cozy and artsy nest with happy bartenders who make mean French 75s.



I fully attribute my struggle against daily life on Wednesday to those two little darlings.

We made it to the second stop, the War Room for "Lesbian Hip Hop Night." Yeah, I don't know either. But we had one more drink (and hated ourselves the next morning for it) and enjoyed the gawks and John Wilkes Booth jokes. The turnout was great and there were plenty of women sporting the Abe beard - very impressive!



Read


I am almost finished with Hawai'i's Story by Hawai'i's Queen, a 400-page recount of the fall of the monarchy by the last reigning sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She is careful to stick to the facts, but her impressions ultimately prevail and they are most justified in this moving, sometimes shocking memoir of the final years and days leading up to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy by the "Provisional Government" of the US.



I look forward to finishing it and will reveal more then. There are several appendices, which describe the different geneologies of the royal families and some newspaper articles from the time of the Queen's forced abdication from the throne.

I started taking a distance learning course two weeks ago, through the Kamehameha school system. The title of the course is He Inoa 'Ala and it asks us to consider the origins of our names, the names in our families, the very act of naming. Primarily, the material covers name (inoa) traditions in Hawaiian culture. However, the benefit of this knowledge can be applied anywhere as we all deal with names on some level every single day.

The course is divided into three sections, each to take approximately one week. We go at our own pace, and after each section are asked to reflect upon what we've learned about in the discussion boards. So far we have a very eager group! I was a bit intimidated at first, not being a Native and having a pretty ordinary name. Everyone is so kind, though, and yes so filled with "aloha" that I have not held back in posting my impressions and finding parallel applications to the issues raised in my own experiences on the Mainland.

Excited to delve into the final week's material starting tomorrow! We have to do homework for this lesson with our families. Project!

Remember

February 8th was my nephew Blake's 8th birthday - man, that seems really old. We celebrated the following night and our gift to him was the EyeClops. It is sort of like a magnifying glass you hook up to your television to look at objects more closely on the screen. It's pretty neat, and I think my nephew will really enjoy it.

My sister might have to endure him dragging bugs into the house, though!



Worry

I have a genuine worry this week. I made a doctor's appointment for March 4th - the dreaded physical exam that seems to be somewhat controversial. Some doctors feel it is a waste of time/money and one shouldn't bother coming in unless they are at risk or exhibiting symptoms of an illness.

Well, last time I was in for one was about four years ago and the doc said every 3-4 years until you're 40. I guess that's the magic age for yearly check-ups. Can't wait! I hate doctor visits, even though I'm pretty sure I'm perfectly healthy. My mind goes to crazy places.

So, on March 5th I will hopefully have put this worry to rest for another 3-4 years!

Fourth of 2008

Read

Lost is back in all its Darwinian glory, and I have never been more captivated! The first two episodes have been marvelously crafted, with equal parts suspense, mystery and a little bit of the old "What the *#!*?" that we Lost-o-philes crave in our own masochistic ways.



I am sad, though, that because of the writer's strike we may only see 8 of the 16 episodes, but hopefully next season they will do 24 to make up. It's definitely on a path to the end, and I would hate to see the original plan compromised by fewer episodes. I am very intrigued by the "freighters" and the "Oceanic Six." We know Jack, Kate and Hurley survive, but who are the other three? And do Ben, Juliette and Desmond count or are they survivors (or not) of another kind since they were already on the island?

I would not be surprised if English/Philosophy professors had students write papers on this show. It's full of literary references, and has endless possibilities for theses.

Turning to the big screen, or I guess the intended big screen, I have now finished the trifecta of 2007 pregnancy comedies: Knocked Up, Juno (which I recently gushed about) and most recently via netflix, Waitress.



Keri Russell sheds the Felicity image in this dramedy about a down-and-out wife/waitress stuck in a loveless marriage with a belligerent husband (played by the always-good Jeremy Sisto). When faced with pregnancy, Russell's character is anything but glowing. She curses the baby constantly, in many of her interior monologues where she concocts new pie recipes (her one true passion).

Much comedy and small-town antics ensue and the ending is as sweet as any pie our beloved Waitress would have us eat. However, to add some bitter to that sweet, the filmmaker, Adrienne Shelley, was murdered in her office in New York. Her death preceded the announced that what would be her final film had been accepted to Sundance.

Eat

Last weekend we met our friend Carey for lunch at Teapot Vegetarian House on 15th Avenue, Capitol Hill. Carey has become vegan so it was a natural choice. All the food on the menu is made with meat substitutes, though the dishes are what you'd find in a typical Chinese or Thai restaurant.

My favorite is the almond fried tofu.



Delicously fried and golden with that rich almond sauce...I always eat too much of it! I washed it down with a Thai iced tea. Dan ordered the Bounty of the Sea, which I can never get into for some reason.



It's not that I don't like seafood, but something about it is just too slimy for me or something.

Anyway, it's a good option for dining with vegans, vegetarians or if you're just in the mood for some good food minus the animals. There is something pretty amazing about almond fried chicken, though, I have to admit....

Drink

While at the Wallingford QFC a few weeks ago, I came across this wine. It comes from Chile and has an interesting backstory.



From foodrereference.com: Chilean winemakers were ignorant of its existence until 1994 when French ampelographer Jean Michel Bourisignot discovered it amongst Cabernet blocks. The grape was brought over from France in 1850 along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot cuttings, and got mixed up with its more famous brethren.
Today Chile is the foremost and largest producer of Carmenere from phylloxera –free stock. Chile’s warm climate, long growing season, and fertile soils are ideal for this unique grape. In the 150 years plus of its replanting, Carmenere adapted its new home and yields wines that are particularly rewarding.

Since then I've purchased it for two different occasions and it's really growing on me. It's very smooth, but with a slight spicy kick - a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg maybe if you want to get all Sideways about it. Great for these cold winter months, indeed!

Read

I recently finished two more books about Hawai'i (surprise!).

The first was a small guidebook about the very small island of Lana'i, called, appropriately The Pocket Guide to Lana'i.



Lana'i has changed dramatically, perhaps more so than any other island, in the past 100 years. At one time the island was responsible for growing 90% of the world's supply of Pineapple. In fact, it was known as the "Pineapple Island" and owned largely by the Dole corporation.

Later, though, the pineapple industry headed to Asia where it could make a bigger profit and another company, doing business as the Lana'i Company bought the island. It is now roughly 90% privately owned and has been transformed into the "Enticing Island" -- which alludes to its private, remote and luxurious aspects. There are two world-class resorts with equally renowned golf courses, but aside from that development has been slow. The island's population stands at around 3,000 residents, and it is difficult to book a room in any of the three hotels (a third, Hotel Lana'i is more of a quaint lodge, with only ten rooms).

I also read Family Traditions in Hawai'i, which I picked up at the Hawai'i General Store on my last visit to Wallingford.



It is written by a UW graduate, and goes into detail about the various cultural practices amongst the diverse population on the islands: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Tongan, Samoan, Korean, Loation, and of course Hawaiian.

It was a nice glimpse into how different families celebrate holidays, weddings, funerals, and birthdays. With Chinese (or Lunar) New Year beginning yesterday, it was especially relevant to learn about the customs involved with that special time of year. One is lisse, the giving of money in red envelopes. The firecrackers are to scare away the evil spirits and often meals on New Year's day are vegetarian, with the idea being that no animal should be killed on the holiday.

Remember

They say there are only five bowling alleys left in Seattle, but one of them is right down the street from our house! A few weeks ago, along with our friend Ruth, we ventured down 22nd Avenue to Imperial Lanes.



It seems to be owned by a corporation of some sort, which might explain the freakishly good customer service. Talk about attentive! We were served pizza and beers lane side, and never had to bowl empty-handed. The beers kept coming all night long, and we ended up bowling a third game unexpectedly because at around 9:30 all the lights go down, the music goes way up and the lanes light up like a christmas tree. It's pretty neat. I'll be back for their happy hour. They have "bowls of mai tai" on the menu. Enough said.



Worry

No need to worry about our lovely feline. The Vet saw him and said he was as healthy as can be, albeit a tad overweight and perhaps some early signs of gingivitis. He got booster shots and was such a good boy through the whole thing. In the waiting area, he barely made a peep, even in a room full of sick dogs and cats.

He seems to really enjoy our new bedding, too. It's a Valentine's Day gift for Dan and me, but Caesar thinks otherwise.