So, where were we ( Read more... )

The humidity here is ridiculous. Reminds me of Japan. You walk out of the door and your glasses fog up, that's how bad it is ( Read more... )

So, I've been semi-away from the internets for the past four days. His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama was in town. He gave some teachings for the first three days and a public talk on Sunday ( Read more... )

So, last night I checked out Justine Larbalestier's Liar out of the library. I curled up on the couch and happily got to page 34, only to discover that someone ripped out pages 35-36. Upon closer examination, I discovered someone did the same for pages 82-83 and 137-138. Sigh. It's a young adult book about some high school students. Was it some ill ( Read more... )

As we already know, yesterday was a sad, sad day for the Canadian hockey team. Also, it is very odd when people in the same household cheer for the opposing teams.

On Saturday, I made a soup that I now call 'essence of the Buddha' soup. Get enlightened instantly just by smelling it, guaranteed. The recipe is here. It's pretty good if you can get the ( Read more... )

Lots of delicious Japanese food this weekend. On Friday night, I finally satisfied my insane craving for oden. I had to satisfy it by myself, since my husband thinks oden is just alien body parts in broth and should not be eaten. He had some miso mackerel with rice, as I recall.

On Saturday, after eating leftover rice in the form of onigiri (by the ( Read more... )

They finally replaced the refrigerator in our office. Last time I checked, it was up to 68 degrees (Fahrenheit, something like 18 degrees for all of you not in Amerika). This is the second time they had to replace our refrigerator. Of course, they bought the exact same one. Wouldn't you pick a different model, knowing that the two previous ( Read more... )

The weather is really strange. It's cool in the shade, hot in the sun. I don't know how to dress anymore -- you never know when you might have to put on a jacket or strip down to a t-shirt ( Read more... )

I am back from the purple-yellow-green city. Our trip was amazing. Now, when is my flight back? where are my beignets and my charbroiled oysters?

I can’t really say that New Orleans is a nice city after spending five days in the French Quarter. It’s like forming an opinion about Moscow after seeing just the Kremlin. So I’ll just say that the ( Read more... )

I made vinegret for dinner tonight. No, I did not misspell 'vinaigrette' and we didn't just eat some vinegar and olive oil. Vinegret is an awesome Russian salad. You take some beets, carrots, potatoes, a bit of onion, pickles, and canned peas, chop it all into small cubes and voila! you have a salad. There are proportions involved in this, but I  ( Read more... )