"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world..."
Hehe. Sorry. It's just that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" has been running through my head all morning. And strangely, I'm not fighting it. In fact, I'm kind of enjoying it.
So ever hear of the "latte factor"? I once had the luxury of catching an episode of Oprah in which she discusses author David Bach's claim that you don't need a lot of time or money to make a million dollars. If you save five dollars a day, you'll be a millionaire in 41 years. And you could be a millionaire in 34 years if you save $10 a day! (His book: The Automatic Millionaire) David points out that we can find this money in what he calls our "latte factor," the money you spend everyday on things like fancy drinks and eating out. Yes, well, perhaps that's why I'm still no millionaire. I refuse to eliminate my daily guilty pleasure, the Starbucks caramel macchiatto. But seriously, if I lived in New York, perhaps I'd actually consider doing so! Just now I made a coffee run to the Starbucks across from my little brother's apartment and discovered that the price of a tall caramel macchiato in SF versus the price of the same drink in NY is $2.90 to $3.79 (tax included)! Ouch. Me so lucky me live in the Bay. Er, that's me as Cookie Monster. Sorry. Am a bit delirious as I've been up all night. Unable to contain my excitement as *somebody* is going on a trip. Say what? Say who? Say MOI! Say YAYs!!! (Dude. Poor Tiff is going to be stuck with THIS for the next two plus weeks. Sigh.)
And ooh, a couple more parting remarks (in the case that I go "kaboom"):
Jonathan: Thanks for housing me once again. And even more importantly, thanks for lending me your iPod. Your playlist is soooo good. I mean it! Can't wait to share it with the girls in Mykonos. The Parents: You two are completely unware of this blog's existence. However, in the case that I go "kaboom," Danny will probably show this to you. Love you two lots. Pams: "Everyone sucks and I hope they all get fat!" Wahaha. I meeeeess you already! Wish you were coming along for the ride. This trip won't be the same without you. Just so you know. The Manfriend: Watch the Fuzz. Spoon the dog. Lots of love, Yeti. Happy Wang: Be wary of raccoons. They're the devil reincarnate. Everyone: Hugs all around. *sniffle* It's just so hard to say good-bye. BYE.
Just finished doing some last minute e-mailing and am about to do some last minute packing. Am only bringing an international carry-on sized wheelie --which translates to "a suitcase smaller than your average carry-on"--so I'm forced to pack effciently! One thing's for certain. I've got to pack a book. It's just that I get bored easily and have a difficult time relaxing. Provided a book, perhaps the golden sandy beaches and crystalline waters of Mykonos will be
more bearable?! Wahaha. Just being sarcastic. How can Greece possibly suck? I'm so excited!!! But ooh, a fall reading list for everyone anyway. (I'm just thinking ahead as I won't be back before Labor Day.)
NF = nonfiction
F = fiction
* = a real page-turner!
Recently read (those I recall within the past 6 months):
700 Sundays by Billy Crustal (NF)
Marley & Me by John Grogan (NF) *
Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser (NF)
Winning by Jack Welch (NF)
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (NF) *
Make It Happen by Kevin Liles (NF)
Saturday by Ian McEwan (F) *
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman (NF)
Currently reading (they're going on the plane with me--along with my US Weekly):
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers *
When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein
Woo-hoo! The time has come! Well, nearly. Several hours from now, Debra "Chunky" Chow will once again be departing from the Bay Area for New York. Only this time, the final stop will *not* be within the United States. Greece, Spain, and Italy, here I come! My partner in crime: Tiffany "Horny" Hong. I'm sooooo excited! As is Tiff! Check out our itinerary:
8/23 Debs SFO to NYC
8/24 Debs & Tiff NYC to Athens
8/25 Debs & Tiff arrive in Athens
8/25-8/26 Spend day in Athens; Athens Evening Tour
8/26 Meet Ang et al to board Ferry to Mykonos
8/26-8/30 Neverending Bachelorette Party for Angie in Mykonos
8/30 Debs & Tiff board Ferry to return to Athens
8/30 Debs & Tiff depart for Barcelona
8/30-9/1 Check into Le Meridien in Barcelona
8/31 Barcelona City Tour
9/1-9/7 Check into The Marina Apt; Explore Barcelona
9/3 Cook & Taste Seminar
9/4 Chocolate Museum
9/7 Tiff departs Barcelona-NYC
9/7 Debs departs Barcelona-Pisa
9/9 Angie & Mike's wedding!!!
9/11 Debs departs Pisa-Milan
9/11 Debs transfers Milan-Atlanta
9/11 Debs transfers Atlanta-SFO
9/11 Debs home by evening
Yes, yes... there will be many fun-filled moments on this long (much-deserved!) vacation. I guarantee it! Though I won't be posting while away, I'll have an arsenal of stories and sketches to share with y'all upon my return. That said, have a great rest of the summer. Peace!
This drawing is not one of my own, but I wish it were! Cut this out of an issue of "Non-No" (a Japanese fashion magazine) winter 2005. Wish I knew the artist behind the adorable graphic. Anyhow, enjoy!
Last night, accompanied by Russell Peters fans Wino, Will, and Jim, I went to catch Wild 94.9's Comedy Jam 2006. Over 20,000 people were in attendance, and their presence was made obvious as Will attempted to get us in and out of the event parking lot alive. (Talk about a scary crowd. Everyone there was huuuuge!) But parking nightmares aside, the evening was so much fun! I laughed so hard, I "pulled a Winona"! (Note: To "pull a Winona" is to laugh to the point that you start to cry.) A Shoreline Amphitheater virgin, I had no idea that the event was to take place outdoors... Dressed in a thin white eyelet tunic--so not what one is supposed to wear to a Comedy Jam hosted by Bay Area's Party station--I was freezing. Luckily, deep-fried, blubber-inducing foods were made readily available. Winona and I feasted on the straight-out-of-the-fryer Gordon Biersch garlic fries. Talk about yummy! But enough about the over-priced refreshments, and back to show. Lisa Lampanelli's act aside (the woman's act was more crude than it was funny), the line-up was fantastic! But my hands-down favorite was Carlos Mencia. My stomach hurt the entire time he was on-stage. It hurt because I was laughing too hard. Will definitely be back in 2007!
Meet BoomBoom. He's a wannabe DJ (like the archived octopus, Boogie). Because BoomBoom's got a blockhead, sporting off-the-rack headphones isn't so easy. This explains the above-pictured expression of frustration.
Found a stack of drawings from last year. This was how I'd originally envisioned "Drumstick"... Footwear aside--the original Drumstick wore Cons, but the new Drumstick wears Vans (check archives to compare)--what do you think? Is fatter better? And what are your thoughts on the differently-sized eyes?
"Nearly 1 in 5 Chinese overweight or obese" according to a study by the British Medical Journal-the results brought to my attention via MSNBC news services. In explaining the increase in the number of chubby Chinese, various theories are brought to light--changes to the traditional diet, increased use of motor vehicles, cultural equation of fat to prosperity, etc. The article is alarming (as it intended to be), however, not enough to stop me from doing what I'm about to do... which is... profess my love for carb-loaded Chinese breakfasts! Woke up this morning to a feast of feel-good eats. Had one fried egg with soy sauce, a helping of "rou-song" (ground fried price) sandwiched within a large "man-tou" (steamed bun) and then topped off the meal with a delightfully chewy "tsong yeo bing" (scallion pancake). Why eat Wheaties when you can have this?! Voice in head: "Nearly 1 in 5 Chinese overweight or obese." Rrright.
Summer may not be over yet, but it's never too early to start prepping for Christmas. Presents for others. Presents for yourself. One for you, one for me. Yes, well, I know what I want for Christmas 2006. I want THIS: www.lilorbits.net Hahahahaha. No. Seriously. How cool would it be to own a donut robot?! I can see it now. On my tombstone: "Death by Donuts" Sigh.
Once a month, ladies experience a chemical imbalance before our time-of-the-month that leaves us feeling sad, angry, and unattractive. Some find themselves crying while watching AT&T commercials and/or reruns of Oprah. Others find themselves craving chocolate, chocolate, and uh, more chocolate. And me? I growl--I actually go "grr"--for absolutely no reason. Every month, my innocent manfriend is left to deal with a five-foot terror (me) and is forced to walk on eggshells for several days in order to avoid encountering an explosion from moi. Ouch. Yes, PMS sucks. And not just for the ladies but the gentlemen as well. But what can be done? Perhaps us ladies should try channeling the sadness and anger towards something "good" the next time we feel like exploding for an invalid reason. The above-pictured is an example of something good that came out of my attempt to channel my discomfort and moodiness elsewhere. Meet Blubber. The whale is a "he," but the misery on his face was inspired by the misery felt by all us "shes" during the days prior to our you-know-whats.
A classic chocolate bar! Yep. The alma mater is now selling candy-bars. Shweet. Friend bought the above-pictured bar for me after combing the bookstore for college tees. As I was handed the treat, I was instructed not to eat it. Look, but don't touch. Knowing that I would ultimately do so, I took a picture of it while it was still wrapped and intact in order to preserve its image, at very least, for forever and ever. In my defense, the bar was starting to melt. Not wanting the chocolate to go to waste, I ate it. Wasn't too bad. Your average milk-chocolate bar. Not quite as good as a Hershey's but slightly better than those put out by Whitman. Okay. I better go. Blogging about fatty-sweets during work-hours probably isn't a good idea.
Slightly embarrassing to admit, but Ashford & Simpson's "Solid" has been running through my mind all morning. Definitely not the coolest song to be turned on by, but grrrrrr, the voices won't go away. Hmm. Since misery likes company, here, suffer with me!!! Hehe.
Solid (Oh)
Solid as a rock
And nothing's changed it (Ooh)
The thrill is still hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot...
The name is Pam.
A good friend sent me the following video clip:
http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/46395/So_Happy_Together.html
It was supposed to make me smile. Instead it made me cry.
I like the part with the "bababa"s.
Sorry the link doesn't actually work. You might have to do a little cutting and pasting. Not very computer savvy.
I could not have picked a more perfect weekend to visit New York. The weather this past weekend was gorgeous! Friends were quick to point out that such weather was misleading and even deceiving since only a weekend ago, New Yorkers were melting and dying due to a nasty heat wave. Choosing to block out the reality that the weather in Manhattan year-round is generally awful, I chose to spend this past weekend dreaming of what-could-have-been had I never moved away. I’ll always “heart” New York. In spite of the crappy weather.
The Bang-Chung wedding. Dave and Eliza’s ceremony was held at St. Paul’s Chapel. Most memorable: angry 4 year-old ring bearer frowned his entire way down the aisle, awkward unsolicited marriage counseling from pastor Lawrence Kim, and finally, Eliza dabbing her tears and Dave’s as they exchanged their vows. Short but sweet, the ceremony ended with the bridal party exiting the chapel as a pianist pounded out U2’s “One.” Charming!
Mmm-mmm good. It’s hard to go wrong in New York when it comes to food. Despite the brevity of my stay, I found time to dine at a few of my favorites. Few of the places I’m about to mention would make the must-eat lists of professional foodies, but this amateur hoover doesn’t care. Simple foods served in non-fussy environments make me happy. Couple of recommendations: Serafina (lobster salad, thin-crust pizza, crème brulee), Isabella’s (brunch there is always good), Magnolia Bakery (classic vanilla cupcakes, banana pudding, red velvet cake), Crif Dog’s (BLT dog), and The Coffee Shop (bok choy salad and fries). And had I had enough time? Nobu (everything, please), Lenny’s Bagels (ali-baba bagel w/ cream cheese), and Kee’s Chocolates (green tea, hazelnut praline, black sesame). Whew. What a mouthful.
When not stuffing my face, I managed to spend quality-time with Tiff, Jen, Bruce and Jonathan (much time spent laughing at other people...we're all going to hell), browse both the Annex Flea Market in Chelsea as well as the 77th and Columbus Ave. Flea Market (picked up some lovely letterpressed stationery from one Richard Meneely), check out a couple of galleries in the Meatpacking District (www.hpgrpgallery.com), and of course, shop the latest wares at Barney’s (my mothership). As I darted about the city, I kept thinking how cool it would be to have a Sartorialist sighting when in town, but no luck. Maybe next time.
Back in the Bay and glad to be…
P.S. Sketches to be posted.
It's Sunday night and I am reporting to y'all from the comfort of Jonathan's air-conditioned pad in Chelsea. Ahhh. Handicapped by the Magnolia cupcake I'm cupping with my left hand--my second baby cake of the day--I continue to make my attempt to type the following blog entry with (1) only my right hand, and (2) a distracted mind. Mmm... cupcake. Hello, delicious.
On second thought, I think I will wait until I return home to San Francisco to report on all that was accomplished during this trip back east. So much to share, yet so few fingers to type with. Uh-oh. I just tainted my remaining working fingers with buttercream frosting. Hopeless.
Been MIA for the past few days. My sincerest apologies! Thing is, I've taken up cupcake baking as of late (yum) and have been spending all my evenings testing various cake and icing recipes. Photos of my sugar-frosted babies will be shared as soon as I locate my camera dongle. Tee-hee. I like uttering the word "dongle". Pervy.
Flying to New York today despite reports of terrorist plots floating about. No worries here. I have faith! But if I should pass... I made the manfriend promise that he would help fulfill a life-goal of mine (one that I have yet to fulfill). The goal being to adopt a puppy! And in honor of me, the pup would be named "Kaboom"...
An inside joke I share with my mom. Gluttony runs in the family.
Meet Duncan. He's a baby owl with an addiction to doughnuts. He'll do pretty much anything for a cinnamon-sugar covered ring. Yes, anything.
The average cupcake harbors 300 calories per cake. To think that something so cute and compact is capable of imposing such harm and malice saddens me immensely.
I've been a Lion. Was one back in college. Go Columbia! I've been a Tiger. Was one back in high-school. Go TAS!But I've never been a Bear... The fall 2007 online application for the UC Berkeley's Haas MBA program is out and this beast is ready to take a second shot at impressing the admissions committee. It's been two years since I last faced the folks at Cal. I was waitlisted and ultimately rejected. *sniffles* But to their credit, the 25 year-old version of me simply wasn't ready. This second time around, things are going to be different. Older, wiser, and hungrier, I *will* become a Bear. Go Berkeley!P.S. During college, my bff sent me a greeting card with the illustration of a chubby farmer and a UFO. The single-panel comic had the farmer shouting, "Take me, Take me!" Meanwhile, the alien in the UFO was shown responding, "No. You're Ugly!" Card cracked me up so much, I bought two more to send out myself. Anyhow, the text in the above doodle came directly from the aforementioned card. Would love to give credit to the comic behind that panel, but I don't have his/her name...
It's been nearly a year since the formation of Peephole Inc. (business to be operated under the name of "Peephole Workshop") with my bff, Pam. Still trying to come up with a likeable font and/or logo...
Unfinished design for the back of breast cancer research fundraiser tee. Will be working towards the final product over the weekend. Event title, sponsor logo, mascots, and color to be added. Go, go, go...
I realize that half the point of keeping a sketch blog is to motivate myself to draw daily; however, yesterday, I just really needed a break! So instead of the usual meal of sandwich/Whole Foods take-out/homemade fried-race after work, I grabbed dinner with some gal pals at Fuki-Sushi in Palo Alto. Good times! As usual, there was crying at the dinner table. But these were tears of joy (from laughing too hard)--not of sorrow...Anyhow, I thought I'd mention Fuki's only because today's posting is kind of sushi-related. This octopus with a boo-boo was painted for a friend of mine following an evening spent watching my all-time favorite episode of the popular "Iron Chef". Octopus was the theme ingredient that evening, and boy, was this episode exciting (almost as exciting as it was disturbing). Live octopi (unsure if that's the correct plural form for octopus) squirmed for their lives as chefs whacked the creatures into submission with cleavers! My friend and I sat in front of the television screaming in horror... but neither of us changed the channel. Go figure.Anyhow, I painted this for her as a housewarming gift roughly two years ago. Enjoy!
A glimpse into the ongoings of my life via my sketchpad. Yes, that's me enjoying a lunch of Whole-Foods rotisserie chicken. The drumstick was much smaller in person. Hmm. I'm looking pretty barbaric. Manic. Deranged. Hehe. Sadly, this is an accurate reflection of who I am and what I'm about. Meeeeeeat!
Thought I'd give y'all a glance of the real "doodles" as opposed to finished drawings I have in my sketchbook. This parachuting chicken appears pretty frequently in my sketches. I think it's because he's incredibly easy to draw. One step up from a stick-figure.
Drumstick needed a friend so I drew him one. Introducing "Boogie"... (I'd originally wanted to bestow this name upon my future puppy but had a change in heart--about the name, not the puppy!)
One... two... three... four-five-sixseveneight. NOoooOooOoOooOoOo! So uh, hello. Don't mind me. Just counting down the days left before I leave the Bay Area for New York. I realize I won't be leaving for another week (grr), but I feel a need to celebrate anyway. YAAAAAAAY! It's been a while since I've been back, and despite reports of heatwaves killing poor, air-conditionerless city-goers, I'm looking forward to my stay. A couple of to-dos during my brief trip:1) Hang out with the little brother (if he's so willing to hang out with his dorky, less-cool, older sister)2) Dine out with my usual posse composed of Horny-Hong, Jen-Yen, and Dusti-Chao3) Attend the wedding of my Vegas-loving friend, Dave to the lovely Eliza back on Columbia campus4) Have a cupcake with milk at Magnolia5) Shop up a storm at the 27th Street Annex Flea Market6) Drool over shoes at Bergdorf's7) And ooh, if there's still time, check out the latest exhibitions at the Noguchi Museum in Long Island I can't wait! But I've gotta. Back to work...
Hello. I've been asked to blog a photo of myself for all the world to see, but I'm not going to do so as (1) I'm shy-- yeah, not really; but (2) this is a sketch blog! But in hopes of satisfying the very few number of people who are aware of my online existence, I'm posting a self-portrait I did following a trip to Paris two years ago. A good friend of mine and I had stayed at a centrally-located place called "Hotel de la Tamise" and I had likened the hotel's elevator to a Batcave feature. Upon our arrival, the concierge pointed us towards what looked like a fireplace and told us that this fireplace was actually a teeny-tiny elevator! (It could fit two people, one duffel, and nothing more.) As we rode the elevator up to the 4th floor (we were staying on the 5th, but for some odd reason, the teeny-tiny elevator did not work beyond the 4th floor), I felt like Batgirl...traveling through a secret passageway within the Batcave. (But ooh, FYI, my favorite super hero is not Batman/Batgirl/Bat-whatever. I'm a Peter Parker fan. Go Spidey!)
Although a relative newbie to the world of blogging, I have long been sitting along the sidelines absorbing and appreciating what others have written and/or drawn. Of the many blogs that friends have pointed me towards over the years, Drawn! (www.drawn.ca) has been the most inspiring. Links to notable works and sites are posted and shared daily. And well, seeing the work of "real" (as in professional) artists drives me to work harder towards becoming "real" myself...
Bernadette handed out Drumsticks (pre-scooped and wrapped ice-cream cones) at work today! Was such a pleasant surprise. Drew this triple-scooper in honor of the occasion.
Addicted to Gummyvites (vitamins in the form of cute, strangely-tasty gummie bears). Bought a new jar from Costco and have been consuming way more vites than recommended. Hehe.
"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world..." 
