Hi.

Delinquents

It's been a while since I last mentioned Flaring Nostrils. New nostril-related work to be posted following this weekend. Scout's honor!

A Little Behind

A Very Merry Birthday to my favorite Aussie, Angie.

Scrumdiddlyumptious

Caught a midnight showing of Pixar's latest masterpiece, "Ratatouille," and boy was it delicious...

Boogie Beats

Bought this compilation from retail mecca Colette while in Paris but did not break the disc's seal open until today. These tracks would make for great animation short scores. Hooray for new music!

Why?

Don't mess with Weng Weng.

How Do I Look?

Roman Holiday

Y'all don't get too jealous, but I'm heading off to Italy towards the end-July with my b-b-b-best friend! More details to come.

Not a Good Time to Have Flaring Nostrils

An oldie but a goodie. (Am referring to this sketch.) Beans has been unusually gaseous as of late. Think it may be the egg whites. Happy Monday!

And ooh. I've found myself a new guilty pleasure to watch through the summer. "Making the Band 4" on MTV. *teehee*

All-Stars

Yesterday was a gorgeous, blue-skied day in San Francisco and I spent it watching the G-G-Giants battle it out versus the Yankees. A rare display of interleague play! Representing New York were all-stars Rivera (my fav), Matsui, Jeter, Wang, Posada, Clemens, and Rodriguez. And representing San Francisco? The only fellow truly worth mentioning would be Bonds. Despite the display of mega-wattage, my beloved pinstripes were defeated in the 13th inning by the Gigantes. But no hard-feelings as I was able to drown my post-game sorrows in crazy-delicious homemade black sesame gelato at Marco Polo. Located at Taraval and 19th Ave, MP's is must-visit for die-hard gelato lovers.

Pictured: Mariano Rivera's derriere. I was only 13 rows away!

Like a Guppy

Always hungry.

Pairing-Off

First comes love,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes baby in the baby carriage.
Congrats to all my married/getting-married friends!

J'adore Packing

Unpacking? Not so much...

Craving

Cold buckwheat soba noodles

Gone Hollywood?

Beans has a certain smile/grin when he's happy, and I saw him smiling lots while in Southern California. Since returning to the Bay Area, he's been all mopey. I suppose he misses having an entourage (my aunt, uncle, and their dog, Casper), pool, and trainer (cousin, Justin)...

"Bad Thing"

While shopping in a bookstore back in Taipei, I picked up a really cute Japanese children's book about a character whose name, roughly translated, is "Bad Thing." Bad Thing doesn't like to share or play well with others, and when asked to do so, he throws a fit. Here's a scan of him throwing a fit. He makes me smile.

There's No Place Like Home

It's sooo good to be back. Drove back to San Francisco from LA this past Sunday. Picked Beans up from my aunt's place and was relieved to find that he still recognizes me! I'm a horrible Mama. Left him in the care of others for an entire month. 10% of his life! But anyhow, like I said, he still recognizes me. *Whew*

So I've got news to share. I think I know where I'll be living for the next two years in Los Angeles! Went apartment shopping on Saturday (yes the morning after I landed in LA from Taiwan) and drove around for 10 freakin' hours in search of a pet-friendly, no wait, I must be more specific, LARGE-DOG-friendly rental within the surrounding neighborhoods of UCLA. A truly frustrating experience. Anyhow, after driving around all day with little luck, I dropped off but one measley application. (I viewed 20 units, and only one was pet-friendly without weight limitations. The unit that I ultimately applied for did not specify yes/no pets, so I went ahead and filled out an app (with my neatest possible handwriting), left messages on the landlord's machine (both super-friendly and ridiculously earnest sounding), crossed my fingers (over and over) and prayed.

The effort paid off... I heard back from the landlord Sunday evening. Turns out she likes labs! Lucky me. Lucky Beans! Photos of our new place can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/debrachow/DevonAveApartment?authkey=UlmYq8c1gs8

It's a unit within a four-plex. Really charming, no?!

Atomic Bomb Mushroom Cloud

That's what my "stylist" in Taipei did to my hair! She cut me a voluminous bob and then paired it with several strange, long strands of hair... Wahahahaha. Fortunatley, with the help of a few bobby pins and rubberband, I can still slick and tie my hair back into a ponytail. *Whew* A must illustrate "do"!

Discipline

I bet Cole could pull this off. Beans, on the other hand? *Sigh*

So Long. Farewell

It's hard to say goodbye... to my 6 year-old Canon Elph, that is! That camera and I have been through some good-times, but it is now headed into retirement due to unforeseen, but positive circumstances. After watching me stand outside an electronics store eyeing and drooling over Leica's C-lux model (in black), my incredibly generous Ma decided to buy it for me. Spent the evening teaching my mom how to work the features of my old camera. Yep, she's going digital...

Japanese tv tetris game

Awesome.

Grounded

I'm finally "home" - in Taipei, that is. Flew in from Paris yesterday morning and am soooo happy to be in familiar territory. Exciting stories to follow as soon as I conquer my jet-lag *air kisses* Uber-French of me, no?