Daydream Believer

Oh, Davy Jones.

I used to love The Monkees. I had no idea who the Beatles were until I was in maybe middle school. I couldn't even tell you who was the real band and the, ehrm, fake. The episode of The Simpson's when Marge is made fun of for liking The Monkees made me kind of wonder why people thought they were cheesy, but people are dumb and mean about cool things all the time.

Anyway, the Monkees! They were the best.

I remember that they had a TV show after preschool and kindergarten. I couldn't really understand fashion at that point, so I guess they looked normal to me. I watched it with my dad when he got home from work. My grandma would come home from work in the city as the show was ending, and that all meant that dinner was coming up soon. Mmm . . . dinner as a kid. I guess my mom was dealing with my siblings or something. I don't remember watching The Monkees with her, but I know I watched it a ton, so she must've seen it with me at some point.

But those four guys, they sang and danced, and got into pratfalls and high jinks. They were hilarious! It was my favorite TV show besides The Elephant Show with Sharon, Lois, and Bram.

I wasn't a Davy Jones groupie as a four- and five-year-old. I liked Mike's floppy hats, and Micky too sometimes, when he didn't remind me of an ape (and kind of scared me). I don't remember Peter--just that they had four guys, so I guess he was one of them.

I have to admit, that I didn't understand why Davy got all the girls. He played the tambourine at most of their gigs! I could play the tambourine! With the help of YouTube I now see that he played or "played" a bunch of instruments, but mostly the tambourine in the very famous Monkees songs.

Anyway, Davy Jones, you daydream believer, you made me a very happy kid once upon a time. Rest in peace.

Happy Leap Day!

Last Leap day, I was living in Virginia and was at work. I remember my coworker telling me that her nanny's birthday is Leap day, and she was turning something nuts like 18. And my coworker was thrilled to tell anyone who'd listen, as if it were her own birthday.

A lot has happened in the last four years, but it's good that we've survived it all, and so many other good things are still to come. Hopefully by 2/29/2016 there's even more to marvel at all we've accomplished and be happy for.

In the meantime, there's so much work to be done! For instance, I've not seen my desk cleared of all my projects in weeks!

Ash Wednesday

Sometimes the more the ash on my forehead, the more I feel that I've been a terrible Catholic in the past year. Like it's a kind of measure. While that's not true at all, it's something to consider. I've only been to one legit mass in a year. The only other one was for a funeral.

I kind of dislike the social aspects of church. Shaking hands with strangers and interacting with a priest and all. I guess I also dislike how much I suck at my religion. (I like things I'm good at.) I barely know the responses, and I don't go to confession, and therefore no communion. The only two times I was required to go to confession, I did, and they were terrible experiences. I'm not even sure when I should go to confession. How many people my age go to confession anyway? What do they confess? I wish my family were a bit more religious so I don't have to figure this out on my own. Like a tourist with a private guide, I never really paid attention to the details in case I got lost. I used to just follow my grandma's lead. But I guess I will figure it out. Someone's gotta pray for her in the religion she believed in, right?

Things I'm doing for Lent:

1. Try to go to mass

2. Try to exercise

3. Avoid ice cream

4. Be more patient

Hopefully it'll make me a better person and better at my religion. Here goes!

Kajitsu February Dinner

Our first real meal as a wedded couple was at Kajitsu on June 28, 2009. And since we've moved back from Virginia, we've tried to make Kajitsu our regular monthly restaurant. (The entire menu changes each month, so it's an entirely worth-it endeavor.) Last year, we missed eating there the month of February. This year, because they were closed for a few weeks for vacation, we missed January. Hopefully, that'll be the only month we miss for the rest of this year.

Last night we ate at Kajitsu to kick off the year of eating there, Valentine's Day, and our 11th anniversary of being together and our 3rd anniversary of being lawfully married. Our trip to Copenhagen and Paris was like a prelude to all that stuff.

The meal was bittersweet because next month is the last month that their amazing chef will be there! Luckily, we made a reservation for March 16th right before we left. We're hoping that it moving to midtown means that it'll be much closer to us, and hopefully, the next chef will be equally if not more amazing.

Vacation!

The last time I had taken a full week off was to Hawaii in October 2010. And I had brought a short proofread along too. So maybe the last real week long vacation I had was to Spain in May 2010. That was a freakin long time ago.

I woke up this Sunday morning at 6 a.m. not to pack or try to go to Target to get the Jason Wu pieces but to finish up a 250 page proofread that was mostly boring.

We started packing a 10 a.m. We got to the airport at 3. We leave at 5:30. The terminal we're waiting in is quite nice.

Hopefully it's a good trip.

Chinese New Year 2012

We made sweet and savory tay-doys,

and we vyed with a Giants doughnut from Dunkin Donuts.

We commented on the odd things PoPo grows

or rather hangs from her trees.

We ate at a restaurant this year.

It's the first year we've eaten before 9 p.m.

and got home before 12 a.m.

for new year's.

Does the oven even work?

My PoPo only had one fork in her utensil drawer--

actually, it was in her sink because someone just used it.

She said, what's the point of having a whole drawer of utensils

if you guys just come here once a year?

(Isn't it ironic? 

Like when you have too many fi-doos 

when all you need is a fork?)

We went to a Chinese supermarket across the street.

We bought some juice boxes, tea boxes,

oyster sauce, all-purpose sauce, white-meat-making cubes,

haw flakes, and rolled-up butter cookies.

Mmm!