Take out or eat out?

Which do you prefer, eating out at a restaurant, or getting take out/delivery and eating at home? I was thinking about that randomly this morning (and I didn’t even eat any bought food today or yesterday). I really prefer to eat at a restaurant. I LOVE homecooked meals, and it’s great to eat those at home. Nice and healthy, tasty, and you can make dessert. Cheaper too. But, if you don’t have time, or have too many people with you, or don’t have food around to make, you’re gonna have to buy something. If you order it, it’s probably not going to taste as good. It might be cold, or they might not put as much effort, or it just will get jostled around on the way to the house. A lot of takeout food, like pizza, is very unhealthy. Yes, you have the comfort of your home, but I kinda like the idea of being in a restaurant with your friends and lots of other people.. Having someone wait on you. If you go to a restaurant (even non fancy ones, cuz I don’t go to fancy ones), you have that certain energy and ambiance. Plus, you can order yummy drinks (no I wasn’t talking about alcohol, tho you can get that too) that you couldn’t at home. There’s a big variety of food, and if something’s wrong, you can send it back. Restaurants are great. So yummy! Lol you can tell I love food, by all the reviews I do!

lalala

Here's what I was thinking about the other week...
I need some guys to take me on dates. Not to be a dinner whore or anything, but it’d be nice to get to go out and not have to pay (or feel in debt to your friends for spotting you). It has to be a date with a guy, cuz id never expect a girl to pay for me. That’s sexist, I know. Actually, I feel bad having guys pay for me too. It’s convention, but whoever made up that rule? Why should they have to go broke just to have a nice date or possibly meet someone? In general, I hate having people pay for me or really do any favors for me. So I really should offer to pay my half all the time on dates. But sometimes, if the guy has a lot more money than me, I figure he might as well. And sometimes, I just feel like taking advantage of the fact that im female. Like now. Cute, non-psycho guys only need apply. And girls, wait for a couple more paychecks, then let’s go.

Grand Opening

Here’s a silly thing I’ve been noticing since I got here to sf. There are an inordinate amount of restaurants and businesses with “Grand Opening” banners on them. This wouldn’t even be so weird except for the fact that I’ve been here for almost three months now, and none of these places have taken them down yet! They were there since even before I got here… Now, grand opening usually means today we’re opening. Sometimes, it can be a week. I guess you could stretch it to a month. But three? Is san Francisco trying to make everyone think that everything is all new, all the time? I even considered the fact that maybe all these places were called grand opening, or at least had that as some sort of sub-name. But no. now, if there is a place that actually is opening, I wont believe it. It’s probably been there ten years. Who knows…

Walking

I only have a half hr for lunch, do you think I want to waste it walking at negative ten miles per hour behind you in the construction walkway? I get paid for my time, do you think I want to be late because you can’t make it through the doors in under ten minutes? Ugh why can’t people walk? There is no slow contest. You don’t get a reward for inching along. It wouldn’t hurt to stand up straighter as you go either, might help your locomotion to have better posture. People are exasperating sometimes.

Fanny Pack

Yesterday I saw a woman walking around the office wearing a fanny pack. A FANNY PACK!! Wow. This lead me to wonder where some people have been… There are a number of fashions that were popular, and now aren’t, and never should have been. They include fanny packs, shoulder pads, scrunchies, and big hair. As I waited for the train home yesterday, I saw a woman with her bangs all poofed and pastered up, just like we were in the early 90s. I also sometimes see women wearing scrunchies. Those of you who watched sex in the city will remember the episode where berger put the scrunchie in his book and carrie argued that no one in the city would wear that. I agree. Every time I’ve seen anyone wearing those (apart from someone in her jimmies), she’s been from out of town. That goes for ANY city. My mother bought a new shirt and it had shoulder pads. I told her those are definitely out, and have been for yrs and yrs and yrs. Unless you are playing football, there’s no need. She questioned why they would still sell it, but I persevered, and she went home and cut them out. So there are two answers, well 3 really. One is that some people really liked those fashions, and want to keep using them. If so, you have POOR TASTE. They were bad at the time, but at least you’re excused then, because everyone else thought it was good (I had so many scrunchies as a child!). Two is that you really don’t pay attention to other people, tv, magazines, internet, any pop culture, and never noticed that people have finally acknowledged how ugly these things are. This is possible. The third is that you’re a time traveler. That’s the best excuse, and if you are, then you’re off the hook. For any of these things, there is an answer: USE YOUR BRAIN! First, look around. Do you see anyone else wearing these hideous things? No. Do you see them on tv, anywhere? If you see them in a store, note what other types of things this store has. Are they junk? And, most importantly, LOOK IN A MIRROR! Does this look good at all?? No. Even if something is at the height of fashion, and you look in the mirror and it looks stupid, don’t wear it! If something looks bad and is out of fashion, that’s even more reason not to wear it. If you have these things left over at home, have a yard sale, or better yet, donate them to charity. Get them out of the way of temptation and get something that looks good on you. Buy it from a nice store, a thrift store, whatever you want/can afford, but get something that is CUTE for you. That’s it. People decorate the world, so do your part.

Restaurant Review: Cafe Ethiopia

I’ve been wanting to try Ethiopian food for years, even though I had no idea what it would be like at all. I just love to try new things… I finally got to! My first time on Valencia st (which I didn’t get to explore fully) I found Cafe Ethiopia. My friends and I all had the combo meal, where you can choose any two meat dishes and a veggie dish (there are a few exceptions you cant choose for this) and you also get a salad and bread. There’s also a vegetarian combo meal as well, or you can just get one. The whole plate comes lined with the grey, spongy Ethiopian bread, and you use that, and your hands to eat. Yes, you can ask for a fork too. I had the chicken with tomatoes and onion, which came all cut up and was pretty good. I also had the spicy beef which was also all cut up and really yummy, the best one there. The spinach was good too, but not spectacular. Others had the other greens, which they loved. This was a really filling meal, for under $10, nice and tasty. Don’t order the peach iced tea though, it’s just a bottle of Snapple, and the Italian soda is made inconsistently so you never know how it will taste.

shoes

Two blogs in one... dedicated to shoes!

Flat Shoes
I’m really loving the flat shoes fashion trend. I’m short, so I should like to wear heels. But I don’t like them. I guess I don’t mind high heeled boots, they’re more comfier than regular high heels, but I like to be able to walk. If you’re going everywhere in a car, that’s one thing, but when you use your own 2 legs as your transportation (or standing up on crowded subways), heels aren’t practical. I like to be cute and comfortable at the same time. That’s why it’s great now. There are heels, there always will be, but now people are wearing all sorts of flats and nice sneakers (not gym sneakers, nice street sneakers). I’m overjoyed! I cant wait to go shopping…

Boots
I’d better hurry up and write the part 2 of the shoes blog so I can post it! I really love boots. I’ve been walking around, admiring everyone’s boots (including my own) and I think they have to be the best things ever invented. Available in dressy or non dressy, you can mix them with just about anything! Dresses, skirts, any length pants or shorts… You can see the whole boots or just the tips of them. The best part is how comfy they are. Even if you have a high heeled, pointy toe boot, it’s still gonna be ten times more comfy than a shoe shoe of the same type. Maybe because it’s built to stay on the foot better? Because of the move, and because of the salt we had in Boston, which constantly destroyed my shoes, I only have six pairs of boots, which may seem like a lot to some of you and almost nothing to others. I plan on getting many, many more, since they’re so versatile and will last me for years. Boots are always in fashion, and though they get less wear in the summer, you can really wear them anytime. Hooray for boots!

Movie Review: Monster House

People have been raving and raving about monster house and I finally got to see it. It was pretty good. The animation was great, sometimes things looked real! It seemed a little long though… We did have a couple of intermissions, but the movie kept going and going… Eventually, we all fell asleep at the end. It was a good storyline, not too kiddish or too adultish. I’d say to definitely see it, but I don’t think it would be the cult classic like others have predicted.

Yelp and Bubbles

A few weeks ago, rob and I went to our first yelp elite event at bubble lounge. In case you haven’t been following my blogs, yelp.com is a website where you can become an amateur reviewer for all sorts of things like restaurants, stores, parks, services, etc. we’re both really into reviewing everything we go to; you know I love to write. Some people are picked to be yelp elite, and I was! Rob wasn’t when we went but got picked after. So, I brought him as my guest, and we went to meet the other sf yelpers. The bubble lounge is really pretty. It has stained glass windows, and lots of chairs and rooms. We had the whole thing rented out for the occasion, so I still don’t know what it’s like in real life. We both found it to be a bit intimidating and clicky. Most people already knew each other, and only sat at tables, talking to those they knew. It was hard to break into any groups to say hi, despite the fact that they made us wear nametags (yes nametags!!). We did get free food, which was good, tho sadly I’d already eaten, and free weird books. It was an interesting experience, but I’d like to have a more interactive event, so people can get to know each other. Or at least some dancing.. I’ll probably go to the next one, though – it’s good to meet different groups of people.

Movie Review: The Breakup

If you have ever had a breakup with issues, or witnessed one, you’ll find The Breakup movie VERY realistic. Here is a couple who lives together, even owns the condo, and then they break up. Watching their games, and fights, and problems is so real! Even the fact that an in shape, relatively attractive woman (tho im no fan of Jennifer Anniston) would date a fat, slobby guy, since that’s what really happened. I mostly found myself on the guy side in this movie. Really, who cares about a 12 or whatever number lemon centerpiece? Leave off the centerpiece and have more room for the food! I don’t personally like video games so so much, but whats wrong with letting him play them? And why does everything have to be immaculate all the time? Can’t dishes wait till the morning? Wouldn’t a pool table be fun in the house (or air hockey, that would be great)? Lol I am such a guy… Her family was crazy and scary. I would HATE that whole sing a long thing… She’s right too though, he should dress better, and definitely go to the gym, not only to look good but be healthy to live a long time with her. Anyway, amusing to watch and reminisce. Do go see it!!

Happy Hour

ive never gotten the concept of bars. Clubs, yes. You can go, dance, in a place that theoretically has a better soundsystem and acoustics, and more energy than being at home. And people are dancing around, so its easier to meet new people. Bars, you sit there and drink. You’re talking to the friends you came with and all you can do is talk. And drink. And spend lots of $ on the drinks. I think it’s much better to invite said friends to your house, serve them drinks that are way cheaper cuz you’ve made them yourself, and talk. And you can do something else at the same time, like play a game, so you won’t be bored. However, the rest of society does not agree with me. So I thought I should TRY to fit in a little. But I don’t want to waste a club nite on a dumb bar, so I came up with the happy hour concept. Well, of course I didn’t make it up. Lol In Boston, it was illegal to serve drinks at happy hr at a discount, although some places tried to get around that… if they had happy hr specials, it had to be $ off of the snacks. When I went to san diego yrs ago, my boyfriend was overjoyed to see the cheap happy hr DRINK specials they had everywhere. And they have them here now that I live in SF. So, in between going to the gym, which im starting up again, I’m going to try going to happy hr with my new friends. And I’ll quickly rate each of the places I’ve been, in case if you’re in this area and want to know… Here are a couple, and more to come, as I get to try them.
THE BAR – I went to happy hr here on accident when I first moved here, and it’s not part of this whole happy hour experiment, but thought I might as well write about it anyway. The Bar is the name of a bar (wow!) in the castro, but it’s pretty mixed. Probably because they have great drink specials. We got redbull and vodkas for only $3 each! And it was buy one get one free. That’s probably less than it takes to make it yourself. Comfy booths and tables, or you can stand.
DADA – This is over on 2nd street downtown, and I found it because I walked past every day to and from work. They have $3 or 4 beers (don’t drink it so not sure) and $6 house martinis (dirty martini, lime cosmo, peach and red apple) till 8 every night, and all night on Thursdays. I went on a wed and it was full, but not overcrowded. Couches along one wall, pretty small, cute art on the walls, not a place to meet people you don’t know.
to be continued...

Restaurant Review: Okazu Ya

We started out to try their sister restaurant, taraval okazuya on taraval street, since we always were going by it on the t, but somehow, the taraval street gods decided no one should eat between about 2:30 and 5, and just about all restaurants over there were closed. The people told us to go here, so we did. We walked all the way over to Noriega street, and once we got there, we had to go in. Okazu Ya was nice enough looking, but it was empty. By then it was almost 5, and no one else came in till we were almost leaving (a family). There is a sushi bar, tables and booths. There is not a large selection of sushi combos. M and J split the $40 sushi roll combo, which had interesting things like spider rolls, etc, but when it came, it wasn’t THAT big for that price. The rolls were not done well, and kept falling apart, and J noted it didn’t taste too fresh. They thought it was ok, not great, and not worth it. I wanted to get a dinner, because it came with more stuff, so I chose eel, since I love eel. The miso soup was good, average miso soup. The salad was just iceberg lettuce covered in a miso dressing. The dressing was good, but iceberg lettuce is nothing. The actual meal was a large square plate, and more than half of it was filled with rice. Plain white rice, all spread over the plate. It wasn’t even great white rice; we make better at home. The other part had 2 small pieces of eel. I filled up on rice because I was hungry, but too much rice leaves your tummy feeling weird. Mine came with dessert, which was a choice of a scoop of chocolate or pineapple coconut ice cream. Chocolate is boring so I got the other even tho im not a coconut fan. It was ok, fresh. I had a bite and gave it away. Wasn’t in the mood for ice cream on a chilly day. Overall, not a great place, and a bit on the expensive side, made more expensive by the not great quality of the food. None of us would go back.

Friday Night Club Marathon

The other Friday night, I went over to my friend reminders house, and we had yummy round table pizza and drinks, with one of her friends. Then we met up with 2 more of her friends for a girls night out tour of Friday clubs. It didn’t mean to be that way… They were debating between mr. smiths and club six. I had never been to either, so I had no opinion. We chose mr. smiths, which was the start of the problem. Ten dollars to get into a bad club. The top floor was a bar and had a fair amount of people, downstairs was a bit less crowded but still good for that time of the night. This was the last club we saw that many people, and still it was mainly girls. What happened to all the guys??? The music there was SO BAD, old, icky, some from the 70s, ugh… shudder… We left pretty soon after we got there. Around the corner was club six. Club six was apparently having an event, because the line was really long, and it was $15. we didn’t want to pay that after wasting the $10 so we went across the street. Since there were all those people there, and its supposed to be open till 4, I’d try that place sometime though. Across the street was Anu. Anu was free!! It was pretty small, but had good music. Not great, but it was house, there were some words, and it had been free. It was pretty dead. We had a drink, me and Lash danced, but in the end, the deadness, and the fact that only the 2 of us like house music made us leave. If there were more people, I’d go there again. I doubt there will be more people. A few steps down was Play Bar. This was also free, but the doorman informed us that the bartender was also the DJ. There were 2 people in there, neither of them were dancing, it was completely empty. We turned around and walked right back out. We then drove over to duplex, which was still pretty close. We chose this because it is open till 3 or 4, and it was 1230 by now. I said that this had to be our last club and if we weren’t going to go here we might as well go to the castro to café where at least there are people. The doorman gave us a discount from the usual $10 to $5 so we went in. There were some people (anything would be crowded after play bar) but not too many. Hardly any guys. Small bar, playing not great music, but slow versions of some contemporary songs I actually know (nelly furtado, fergie, etc) so that was better. There was no energy in there, we all got bored, and left at 1:30. This night and the 1015 folsom night leads me to believe that 1) people hardly ever go to straight clubs 2) guys almost never ever go to straight clubs 3) straight people don’t expect enough of their clubs (such as a real dj and bartender, or even other people at the place 4) theyre gonna pay more for a crappy club. Good note – no dress codes at any of these places. Yay! Sf is great like that apparently. Given the lack of straight guys to focus my attention on, and the bit of alcohol I managed to drink, I spent the nights going oh shes cute shes cute shes cute in my head. Lol So, I do think I’ll try out that club six one day, but next I need some friends to take me on tours of the lesbian clubs. And I’ve found renewed respect for the gay clubs, where there are always PEOPLE. People dancing, drinking, talking, in nice, full clubs. Fun.

Restaurant Review: Eric's Restaurant

My friend F recommended Eric's Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant in Noe valley. I like Chinese food, but I don’t love it. I do love dim sum, kind of dislike take out type, and regular is just fine. This was a regular food type place. I had Eric’s spicy eggplant dish, which has chicken and shrimp. I didn’t used to like shrimp, but I do now. There was a lot of shrimp in the dish, and they were nice and plump, but hardly any chicken. The eggplant ( I LOVE eggplant) was really good, but there was too much sauce, and by the end of the meal, everything was a bit drowned in the thick sauce. F and R got the spicy chicken dishes, which they liked, and J got the mango chicken dish, which he thought was good, but not great. Overall, this was one of the best Chinese food places I’ve been to in a long while. Nothing was friedy, the service was good, and the décor was nice. I’d probably go someplace else before I went to Chinese, but if I were, I’d go here.

Gym Again

After all this time, Ive finally gotten to join the gym again. I chose 24 hr fitness, not because it’s great or anything, but gyms are more expensive in the city and it’s all I can afford. Plus it’s convenient. My first day back was Monday. I spent an HOUR consultation to sign up. 24 guy was asking me really dumb questions. Plus, he tried to get me to have a personal trainer. I told him I don’t like having people standing over me when I work out. So he went in to his boss for a LONG time and came out and said guess what I got you a special! You take a personal trainer, and we’ll make sure it’s a woman, and give you $5 off a month! Where on earth did he get the idea that I was afraid of a guy? I’d rather have a guy personal trainer if I was gonna have one. I told him so, and then said it was pretty dumb that if I got more services I’d pay less but if I had less services they were going to make me pay more. He confirmed this, so I said well I guess im paying more.. So it’s about $54 a month just to be here. Ugh. Plus, he spelled my name wrong at first so we had to do the forms twice. When I finally got to work out though, I was so happy. I did arms that day and was impressed with myself that I wasn’t as weak as I thought. I felt really really good after my work out. Tuesday I did legs, and realized uh-oh, I really am in bad shape. That was kinda disheartening, but oh well, I’ll just keep at it till I get to where I was when I left off. So I’ve had three days of gym so far and already my appetite has increased so much and I feel a lot better. A lot of that is probably mental, but just knowing that im healthier makes me happier. I’m gonna start drinking more water, which is good for you, and then when I’m hydrated, and have the time and $ (soon soon soon I hope) im gonna try bikram yoga. That’s the hot yoga. 90 minute sessions and you sweat tons but it’s supposed to be so good for your skin, posture, toning, everything. 900 calories a session im gonna have to bring a snack with me to have enough energy to get home! Im very excited though. If any of you reader people have any experiences with bikram, let me know. I wish it wasn’t so expensive, im gonna be spending so much on my health but I guess its worth it. Now where will I find the time?? After Halloween I guess….

Restaurant Review: Island Cafe

I’ve always gone past this Island Cafe and wanted to try it. After all, I like pineapples… So, the other day, my friend R went there and we got it to go. I had no idea what Hawaiian food was like, but nothing like what I saw… Almost everything was deep fried. Almost everything included SPAM. SPAM!!! EWWWW! Plus, half the things were smothered in brown gravy. So, you’d see something like: 2 burgers, deep fried, with a side of spam, and all covered in our delicious brown gravy. That is so so so unappetizing… She had gotten a veggie burger from there before, so I settled on that. It was ok, not my favorite veggie burger, and it had too many mushrooms, but if you like them a lot, that’s a good thing. The fries were boring. It all gave me a tummy ache. I won’t go there again. Well, maybe for the 24 hr breakfast. But I doubt it.

Large?

To start out, it’s definitely not my intention to offend anyone. Lol when people say that, you know they might… This train of thought started with yelp.com, the reviewer site that I always write (free) reviews for. It’s very fun, and growing, so they decided to make a yelp store, with branding merchandise. Pretty normal thought that tons of other business have thought of before. They started out with 3 main items for sale – a t shirt, a tank top, and women’s boy shorts. I thought this was great, and bought a pair of “make me yelp” undies (theyre in the mail, gonna be SO CUTE). So here I am, thinking oh great! And suddenly all these people start complaining. One is a kind of valid point. Out of the three things you can buy, yes, only one is for guys, and girls can wear the tshirt too. But when you have 3 items, its easy to outnumber one gender over the other. And I’m sure they’re working on more guys stuff. The other main objection is that to show off the products, they have a gallery with hot models in their 20s or early 30s wearing the yelp gear. These aren’t just any models, they’re actual yelp members, which I think is appropriate. Immediately people start complaining. AAH why are they young? Why are they good looking? Yelp is for everyone! Why yes, that’s true, but they did a survey and the larger demographic of people are in their 20s and 30s. Then we have the girls ‘why don’t they show girls wearing those panties with cellulite and big buts? Yelp has sold out!’ Because they want to make the clothes LOOK GOOD! It’s not as if they got fake models, they are real people who use the site. And fine, it’s your prerogative if you want to look like you do, or maybe you don’t want to but cant look cute, or young, or in shape. But really, do you think anyone’s gonna buy products that come on ugly people? Fat people is another thing. Lots of cute, fat people. But they don’t go around modeling underwear, or if they do, they are the fat people who are attractive! They would model something that looks GOOD on them. The whole point of modeling is to make something look its best. To show off its product. Plus sized models, regular sized models, extra skinny sized models, they all need to make the product in question look good. There is no possible way to show how this would look on every single type of person. Someone will always get left out. There’s always something to complain about. Using actual people is not too high of a goal to attain. I am well aware that currently there are more overweight people than healthy weight people. And there are certainly more over and underweight people than healthy weight people. I’m not saying starve yourself, that’s just as bad. You don’t see skeleton people modeling these yelp things either. So just because there’s a majority, does that make it right? Yah there’s so many overweight people, does that make it healthy? And if they all jumped off a bridge, would you? Why are the overweight, the badly dressed, the ungroomed, trying to make everyone like them? Why are they always against anyone who works out regularly and eats a normal, healthy diet? It’s just like the women who don’t shave. They get mad at those of us who do. Although that’s not even really the same, as shaving or not doesn’t affect your health. Anyway, quit complaining, enjoy the pictures, buy a pair of panties or a shirt, or don’t . But don’t protest against everything that looks good. Ugh.

Restaurant Review: Arado Japanese Restaurant

I really enjoyed this place. I’ve been getting a bit bored with strictly sushi, so this place was good for me. Arado Japanese is a Korean influenced Japanese place, and given that we were in Koreatown, it seemed appropriate. For free appetizers, they give everyone a bunch of dishes filled with things like jalepenos, pickles, and fish cakes. The fish cakes were YUMMY! We got there a few minutes after the lunch specials ended, but they let us have them anyway, without any problem. I had the special that had some sushi, pan seared salmon, salad, a Korean beef thing, rice, and miso soup. All of that for about $7. J and Jn had sushi platters which were gigantic, and came with different sushis, plus tempuras. R had a lunch special with tempura, sushi rolls, and something else, and N had a lunch special with the salmon, chicken (beware – this had nuts on it) and sushi. The service was wonderful! They answered questions, refilled water and tea, refilled the apps, split the bill, and even gave us free pineapple yogurt drinks afterwards! I came away SO STUFFED from such a yummy dinner! So, I would give this five stars out of five, but in the interest of representing people who don’t like to write: My friend J disagreed with me. He loved the service, no one could fault that. But, he thought there wasn’t enough selection on the menu. They didn’t have many sushi rolls, and no a la carte sushi menu. He is a sushi fiend, and had only one real option that was only sushi. He found the pieces he did have to be boring. I do agree with all of that, and my sushi was the kind without the rice, and was a bit boring (I wanted eel!). But I think that that wasn’t the main focus of the restaurant, it was supposed to be a more integrated experience. So, try it out for yourself and see.

Random..

its weird how when im just doing nothing all the weird random thoughts that come to my head. last week i was at an interview and i was waiting for the second person to come in to talk to me, but there had been some sort of emergency so i had to wait half hr doing absolutely nothing. i just start thinking the weirdest things when my mind is left to wander, which is probably why im always usually doing something, or a few somethings. altho it still wanders then... anyway, this was an art place, so i was looking at the art brochures they have there. there's nothing to read on them really, just pictures of the art. i was sitting there just taking in the beauty of the art, these old antiques, and getting excited about the possibility that i would get to work with things like this. get to see them, touch them, the same things that people who died hundreds or thousands of years ago got to touch, see and create. its pretty amazing if you think about it. very noble thoughts. im not an intellectual though. and i was just going to get my period, which means i get excited easily. so, from the higher smart excitment of history and art, i was sitting there desperately wanting sex. lol so funny. now friends have told me this happens to them all the time, and they are guys, so this is one of the few times im happy to be a girl, because i tend to get very horny randomly for no reason. its not like i wanted to have sex with a ancient asian art pot. right when im going to get my period is when i want guys the most. usually im not too big on that but i think its the body's way of trying to get you pregnant or something. i just start feeling totally empty inside and need a penis to fill it up. weird. so there i was, waiting for the next guy to come in and interview me, desperately wanting some nice, rough, sex, and thinking this is funny i should write a blog. so i composed whole blogs in my head, which since i didnt have a computer around, i forgot mostly. this is all thats left. the fact that since i dont hook up with people all that much, people think i have no libido at all, which is so totally untrue. and the fact that weird things like sitting looking at art can make you want sex so much. its not like i was working out (which can make me so horny its hard to walk home). alas, i didnt get the job that i was literally lusting after. oh well. i'll apply there again when there's another opening.

September Books

an unquiet grave - pj parrish - this is apparently a book right in the middle of a series, and based on this, i'd reccomend the series. the main guy is a private detective who is looking into the past of a mental hospital for his foster dad. the end is kind of shocking, but not in a scary way. i was pleasantly surprised at this book, go read it.

the kite runner - khaled hosseini - here is a smart book that reads like a for fun book. the main character grew up in afghanistan, right before all the trouble started, and he narrates his childhood, then coming to the US. you get right into the book, and i kept checking to make sure it wasn't a true story. of course i had known that it wasnt always horrible over there, but this reminded me... especially when the dad was yelling at his daughter for not going to school to become a doctor. that is not what we expect to hear. when the guy goes back to his country years after he escaped, we see the country ruined, as it is now, and it's very sad. definitely read this book, it has quality content as well as an engaging writing style.

having it & eating it - sabine durrant - this is sort of like a desperate housewives book. the main character could have lived on wisteria lane... if you liked the show, read the book. although i was dissapointed in the main girl at the end, it was a quick read, and very entertaining.

life of pi - yann martel - there's me, trying to read the ny times bestsellers again... i guess this is about a boy who gets stuck floating in the middle of the ocean with a tiger, but i never got that far. it was SO BORING! if you like smart books, read it, but here you see the difference, the kite runner book was smart, but well written, this one is smart but written so that you have to work and prove it in order to have read it. ick.

carrie pilby- caren lissner - this is about a girl who was so so smart that she skipped three grades in school and by 19 she's done with college, but so messed up in the head that she cant even function to work. i liked this book a lot. i could identify with her being smart and not relating to all the other people (not that im a genius like her) and the fact that she could put her life together after being so so bad makes me happy for all of us who arent as bad, that we can do it too. fun, funny, and a great fast read.

cruddy: an illustrated novel - lynda barry - there are pictures in this book! graphic novel-esque drawings i loved that... only no its not a graphic novel. but still. this is about a girl who is relating her messed up adventure with her dad and her family, it's full of drugs, alcohol, killing, the works, and the first part was when she was only 11. basically when she says her life was cruddy, it was. this is not a book for a happy person. but i liked it.

Everyone else’s girl – megan crane – the main character’s name is Meredith. Spelled different than mine (Merredith) but still! I love books with my name!! chick lit book, but entertaining, a nice fast read. All about this woman who thinks shes nice but finds out she never was.

The hours - michael cunningham– I never saw the movie because I always thought it would be better to read the book. I read the book cuz they made such a big deal outa the movie (yes books can be on my reading list for a LONG TIME!). this was boring. Maybe if I had read mrs Dalloway by Virginia woolf, the book that ties it all together, it would have been more interesting. I got through the whole thing and there wasn’t much point. Except for the fact that all the women wanted to sleep with other women. Yes, im aware that there were more weighty, important points but I guess I have sex on the mind.

Weekend in LA

Wow that was probably the longest ive spent in a car in years. Five of us went to LA for the weekend for Nikoh and Rob’s birthdays. We left Friday at 7pm (a little late because of traffic) and didn’t arrive till 2am. Lots of dumb car games and a couple pit stops to pass the time… (John knows a lot of names of random people we’ve never even heard of).. It was a bit too late to do much; even the liquor stores were closed. So, we ended up just driving around a bit, and then eating (always gotta eat!). We woke up nice and early the next day, and after a continental breakfast, we started out. We learned how to use the LA metro system ($3 pass covers the whole day!) and went over to Hollywood. I’d been to LA two times before – the first time was late at nite when I was in Pasadena for work, but I just ate dinner and everything was closed. The second time was when I was in San Diego for work, and we just walked in Hollywood for an hr or so, ate at California pizza kitchen and left. That was when everything was closing too. So, I was glad to see LA again, for longer. Only Rob had been there before. We saw the touristy things – the stars, the hands, the sign. It’s kinda boring just looking at stuff like that. But I got a picture of elmo.. J At night I went to the fonda theatre for dj Alexander and junior sanchez. It was so so dead. Not as dead as starkillers but not much busier… There were a lot of girls, about 1/3 which is a lot for an aferhrs thing. Unfortunately I got a migrane and had to leave early at quarter of four. L Sunday was basically spent eating and packing, then the long long long drive back. Overall, LA is dirtier and uglier and more sprawled out than SF… The weather was nice, but not more than a few degrees above what it was in SF the same days. I think there’s more to do here, and it’s cuter. It’s great though cuz I got to be homesick for my new home for the first time. YAY! And that was my trip to LA.

Restaurant Review: French Quarter Marketplace

We ate at French Quarter Marketplace right before we left LA. It was kinda a random pick, we saw it because the place we were trying to go next door was closed. There is a nice porch, where we ate, and then you can eat inside, which has a patio section or regular section. Don’t eat inside! There is horrible, horrible elevator music loudly playing it would annoy me so much if I’d been in there. I could barely stand it when I was in the bathroom! There are also a bunch of stores inside as well. The food all looked very good. It’s been a while since I’ve had such Americanized food (that’s not from a diner) and I enjoyed it. My friend N and I both had the pasta with goat cheese, pinenuts, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach, which was a little heavier than I thought it would be, but still good. J and R had the blackened chicken pasta, and Jn had the soup and cobb salad combo. All meals come with a choice of salad or soup, and then bread or muffin. I had been craving a salad, so I was happy, and my friends enjoyed their French onion and crab soups as well. And even the garlic toast was good. They had breakfast all day, which I was tempted to get, as well as some good looking meat dishes or salads. I had a hard time choosing… The bad thing was that it was Sunday brunch time, and super-busy… There wasn’t enough staff. One waiter and one bus boy for our whole large section didn’t cut it, and we had to wait forever for our meals, for drinks, for the check, and for them to process our cards. Really good though, especially if you’re local.

yay im so glad

I’m so glad that I did make this move. I was waiting for the muni the other day and thinking how if I were back in boston, I’d be still there doing the same exact thing, going to the same exact office, cube, etc… I was so stuck in a rut and I’m so happy I had this chance to get out and took it. I’m slowly becoming more of a san Francisco girl, learning about the city, feeling more at home, and even have this job to get a paycheck. It’s great to know I wont have to be evicted. There’s still a lot to accomplish – find a more steady job, lots of decorating, make more friends, find more places to hang out, start dating more… but I’m on a path at least instead of snoozing on the side. I’m really proud of myself, and of my roomies, for us making it this far!

Restaurant Review: Pho Western

We arrived in LA at 2am, and by 3:30am we were hungry… If you can’t drink and you can’t go out, might as well eat! There are tons of all you can eat places in Koreatown near our hotel, so we chose one at random. Pho Western is in a shopping center type area, and you definitely don’t go there for the atmosphere. You can eat in or out, but the in was totally open so it was like eating out. This is a place to go if you want to eat, but not a place to impress anyone. The menus are even taped to the walls. There isn’t a whole lot of selection, 2 fried rice dishes, one combo plate, and then about six soups. I had the soup with beef, and my beef was really tender and tasty. I liked all the little noodles, and the sprouts. N and R had the soup with chicken, which they liked too, and J had the soup with fishballs, tripe, beef, fish, etc. The bowls were GIGANTIC! Each was about $6 or $7 but none of us could finish the broth. I finished the veggies, noodles and meat though! So go, if you want nothing fancy, but something to fill you up.

second week

Ok, so as I'm writing this, it was two weeks ago today that I started this job now. I’ve gotten used to it… I can write a lot of yelp reviews, and blogs (tho I cant post them at work). I’ve gotten pretty good at filing and have the hang of most things. And I got my first real check, though it’s smaller than I hoped. The smaller your check is in sf, the more taxes they take. Therefore, even though I make more than other people I know, because the check comes every week instead of 2 weeks, it comes out less, because of more taxes out. But somehow I still make as much as I did in boston, when I technically was supposed to have been paid more then.. Oh well. Still, a few more checks like this, and I might actually have some money to spend…

Club papi

I went out last minute to club papi the other Saturday night. This is another monthly event, only there wasn’t a special dj this time, just crystal waters singing. She didn’t look at all what I thought she’d look like, really short hair, kinda dumpy, wearing jeans. Poor thing hasn’t done a new song in yrs and is living off of her past couple successes by making the club circuit. I liked the club a lot though. The main room is huge, and has a mix of latin dance, house, and top 40ish. There is another room for r&b, and then a salsa room upstairs. I stuck to the main room the whole night. It was $20, but you get a free cd and it’s until 4am, so you get a good value. I had lots of fun, and will definitely go back next month when paulina rubio is there, as long as I can get a ride, because it’s in the middle of a bunch of warehouses in nowhere, and doesn’t seem to be bus accessible.

castro street fair

Yes, yet another fair in san Francisco! The castro street fair is, predictably, on castro street, then extends to a couple of other ones surrounding. It was mostly a bunch of booths selling food, crafts, etc, the usual things like free juice samples… By the time we made it there, it was lateish, as usual, and we went to hang out at friend’s house, who lives off castro. I got to play with his chubby little peanut butter loving dog. We did go explore the fair a tiny bit, but never got to see it all before it closed. There were two sections with djs playing and people dancing, but I never even found one and didn’t get to go over to the other. Oh well, there’s always next year. After a thai dinner, we took a nap at the house, then went to badlands for a half hr or so, which was of course really bad. Plus it was a work night and it had been a busy weekend. So I went home early and watched my Americas next top model show. Yay for another fun day to end another fun weekend.

Adonis again

The other Saturday I went to club nv for Adonis with dj Alexander again. We stayed till 5:30am or so. The music was so good! I liked it the first time I went, but the music got kinda trancey come 230ish. This time it was great the whole way through! It was a little like just listening to the ipod, same songs, same mixes, but a lot of them I hadn’t heard in a while, and afterall, they are on the ipod because theyre good songs, so yay. I definitely plan on going again for October (3rd sat of every month).

Why i'm bored of guys

I’ve figured out why ive gotten so bored of guys. Most of the guys I ever find are just not guyish enough for me. Can’t straight guys be at least as guyish as a gay guy? Cuz they’re not. I don’t want a guy that is girlier than I am, and I’m pretty girly I think. But guys are guys, why wont they be one? I like the whole concept of metrosexuals. I think guys should take care of themselves to look nice. So yes, put on lotion, use face wash and body wash, you can wax and trim and even do mani/pedis. But don’t put on so many smelly potions that you stink like a flower. Don’t wear makeup unless you’re a clown or on stage. Don’t wear flowered and pastel girly clothes. Well, I mean, do all that if that’s what you feel you should. But don’t try to date me. I want a guy, not someone who’s going to excuse himself to go to the ‘little girl’s room’ (even little boys room is not appropriate). I don’t want to snuggle and cuddle and be overly affectionate and talk about our feelings right off the bat. Don’t be a Neanderthal, don’t insist the woman’s place is in the kitchen, etc, or be stuck to the sports game, but be a little forceful. Be a bit rough and hard in bed, don’t always go down, and definitely don’t only go down. No ‘vanilla’ sex, as my friend calls it. If I could find a hot, guyish guy, who deserves to be the guy, I ‘d be with him. Since I can’t find such a person, I’ve gotten really bored. If all guys are gonna be so girly, I’d rather have a cute girl. So real, cute guys, give me a call, but girls - anyone my girliness or a little bit girlier, you have your chance now.

Restaurant Review: Canton Dim Sum

Since we got ready too late to go to the dim sum place we’ve been trying to try, we ended up at canton. This is on the top ten list of dim sum places, and near my work, so I had seen it and thought we should give it a try. The people were very friendly, and eager to help. We got seated immediately when we arrived at 2 (dim sum closes there at 3) and they came over with carts right away. There are only 2 carts, which they keep refilling with food, and you can also order anything you want from the dim sum menu. I think tom kiang is a lot better, but this is a bit cheaper. It came out to $15ish a person. The potstickers were a bit mushy, so you might want to skip them, and I didn’t like the bacon wrap thing (then again, I don’t like bacon), but everything else was very tasty. I do recommend trying canton.

Movie Review: United 93

It was September 10th and I was feeling patriotic, so I watched united 93. this movie doesn’t deviate from what really did happen, which is good, but at the same time that’s it s downfall. It was so slow moving, and I knew I should watch the whole thing. I wanted to watch the whole thing out of respect for the people. But I couldn’t. sorry.

Casual Fridays

I wonder about the whole concept of casual Fridays. Who decided that Fridays would be the ones to be casual and why? I understand that it’s almost the weekend, but it’s not yet… And, why should people have to be non casual the other days? Maybe if you’re seeing customers or clients, but if you sit in a cubicle all day and see no one, shouldn’t you be able to wear whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t offend anyone? Too many office outfits are really ugly but technically in the dress code. I think the dress code should be dress so you look nice. And that’s it.

Starkillers and Dragon

I had been excited to see starkillers for weeks. I love their song can you and discoteka too! They’re contracted under *69 records, which is owned by peter rauhoffer and does offer nissim, maya, Suzanne palmer… all some of my favorites. So when starkillers and erik kupper were coming, and to a straight club no less, I was really happy. There were fliers all over the street near my work, and it had been advertised, and then advance tickets weren’t selling, so I thought it would be packed. We were running late, as usual, and had to pass the club to go to the atm. I could hear discoteka and was chomping at the bit to get in. we got back and were searched, paid $20, and finally stepped inside. And it was empty! There were no more than 20 people, and no one was dancing. One girl half-heartedly tried to dance and get her friend to come onto the floor but she wouldn’t. a really queeny guy was dancing with a fan by the seats. And that’s it. The music was very good, but how can you stay in a club with no people? I think what happened is that since the djs are produced by a gay dj they are considered gay music. So the straight people thought they wouldn’t like the music. Then the gay people didn’t go because its at a straight club and they hate straight clubs. So no one went.
Jesse and I went to join nikoh at Dragon down the street. Dragon is at club 8 and it’s an asian gay club. That was only $5 and open till 3, so very good value. I was pleasantly surprised at the club, especially after wasting $20 for NO REASON at folsom 1015 a few minutes earlier. The downstairs had afterhoursy, good house music playing. Upstairs, there was r&b. The event photographer from folsom 1015 was there at dragon and I chatted with him for a few minutes, learning that if we had paid $20 more at the other club, we could have gotten into a private party, which is where everyone who was there was. What a rip off. I liked the space but I don’t know if I’d go back to folsom 1015. why cant there ever be any good straight clubs? Aaah! Anyways, dragon was fun. The bathroom was overflowed and gross but otherwise, very good. We danced till the end, and I would definitely go back.

Restaurant Review: Sushi Suki

We were originally looking for another sushi place but couldn’t find it. Since we were running late getting to the folsom fair, we just went to sushi suki. It was ok. Not good, not bad, just ok. There wasn’t too much variety, I got some sort of combo meal. The combo meal wasted 4 pieces of just cucumber wrapped in rice, and then another piece of gross fried rice thingie that was supposed to be dessert. The miso soup was good and the actual sushi pieces were ok. Go there if you have to, but try someplace else first.

One week

So, a week ago, I was just starting this job, with my nose running like a faucet, getting trained. A week later, here I am, getting up enough courage to start writing my blogs on word and then emailing them to myself. I have to, because I have no time to copy them from paper like I meant to.
After I got out of college, I had flirted with the idea of becoming a lawyer. I even took the LSATs but when I found that I only did good, but not great, I abandoned the idea. After all, I hate school, and I’m quiet so I probably wouldn’t end up very far – it seems cutthroat. I did think it might be interesting to work in a lawyer’s office still. I interviewed at one lawyer’s office here in SF (although I didn’t get the position) and now that I’m working in one, I realize I wouldn’t like a lawyer environment after all. There is nothing wrong with them, and the people are nice and all, but you have to document every little thing. So much paper used, so many hard copies, so much filing. Everything has to be here in case someone challenges something later on. I like a more relaxed way of thinking, and more new. The good thing about temping then, is that I get to see what I DON’T want to do and where I DON’T want to work. No lawyers and no admin assistants. I guess I’ll keep temping for a bit… I want a job I’m going to enjoy. And something I’ll be good at… hmm…

Movie Review: Thank you for not smoking

So many people are addicted to cigarettes (though I never was when I smoked) and the tobacco people are so powerful, cigarettes will never go away. Thank you for not smoking was based on fact, with the alcohol and gun commissions. I don’t know if the main guy actually existed though. He was in charge of being the public talker for tobacco and he did really well. In a way, I agree with him – everyone knows theyre bad for you, so people should take responsibility. No one’s shoving it in your mouth.
This was a dark comedy and it seemed super long, though it wasn’t. Very slow at times but ok overall. I did manage to get through the whole thing, but I had to talk and make a snack.

Folsom Street Fair

The folsom street fair is a big leather festival here in san Francisco that happens once a year. They close down the streets and have booths and spankings and such. There’s also a section for dancing, which we didn’t get to do. Next year I’d like to get there a lot earlier. Jesse and I dressed up, and everyone else just wore regular clothes, and we set off, hoping to be shocked. It was very fun, but not as scandalous as I thought it would be. There were some naked people, but no more than the love fest the day before. There were lots of interesting outfits, and lots of oldish looking people. It was pretty crowded. I saw some oral and a guy standing around masturbating and came right there but nothing really weird. My friend tameka saw a guy pee in another’s mouth, but I wasn’t around.
It’s really interesting that sf has these types of festivals. I feel like that wouldn’t happen in Boston (well it doesn’t, but even if someone suggested it) and that’s what I like about this place. Next year I plan to get there earlier and have an even better outfit. People her elove to dress up so much, I’m having a hard time thinking what I’ll wear for Halloween…

Movie Review: Hard Candy

I’d seen a preview for hard candy a long time ago and wanted to see it, so I was happy it came out on dvd. A 12ish year old girl meets a guy online and ends up going to his house. It sounds like it should be on primetime live only she turns the tables and tortures him. No, im not giving anything away – that’s all in the trailer. The concept is good, but I think the actual movie could have been better. But you should still see it.

Love Fest 2006

The love parade is a big circuit party type event held every year in Germany. So, so many people go and I’m sure it’s really great. Last year’s parade’s anthem was offer nissim/maya’s perfect love, which just goes to show that it’s just the US that separates out music… Anyways they always commissioned smaller parades around the world, including san Francisco, but this year they didn’t, so they had to change the name here to Love Fest.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so I didn’t dress up or anything but next year I will. We got there miraculously in time for the start of the parade. People were dressed up like Halloween! Lots of bunnies, a giraffe, pirates, and lots of hippy clothes. In addition to all these outrageous out fits, lots of naked fat guys and people in general of all ages and sizes wearing much too little for their own good. Apparently, it’s not against the law to be naked in sf because there were naked guys walking down the street the night before, not even at a festival. The best part of the event was watching everyone. They were so crazy, even a girl walking down the street fingering another girl…
The floats consisted of people in tiny/weird outfits dancing to djs playing music. People on stilts, and etc walked in between. The parade ended at the civic center, where the floats set up shop, and people could dance in front, or pay money for the privilege to drink icky beer. The music was typical of what I call straight boring… no words, just whatever. We enjoyed watching more crazy people (they even sold pot brownies in the open, people in sf are such potheads, its weird they don’t arrest them). The one best music area was drum and bass. The crowd was the biggest there. We went over and it was good for a couple of minutes then we felt like we were waiting for a song to start that never did, so we left.
Overall, not as big as I expected, or as fun, but that’s probably because it’s not my kind of music. Next year I’ll definitely dress up.

Restaurant Review: Bombay Indian Restaurant

Last night we tried to go shopping, but ended up hungry instead, so we stopped into the Bombay Indian restaurant. I’ve walked past that place tons of times so it was good to finally go in. when we got there around quarter of six, we were the only customers, but an hour later when we left, a couple of people had come in. the best thing about this place is the special, which seems to always be in effect. If you buy one vegetarian dish, you get the second free, as long as you spend $25 at the table. The veggie dishes range from $8-9, so that’s a great deal! You do have to then get some rice or naan or something but still.. I got the saag paneer, because I felt like something familiar. It was good. My friend got the mushroom cauliflower dish which was tasty as well (but I liked mine better). My other friend got one of the two combo dishes. I love when places have those, you get a little of a bunch of stuff. it was the best tasting, though was a bit more expensive, around $15ish I believe. The worst thing about the restaurant was the language barrier. Our waitress didn’t speak english very well so when my friend asked if anything in the combo had nuts, she said no. The rice came strewn with cashews, which he is allergic to (me too, actually). Good thing I had ordered plain rice instead of the pilaf that came with that meal. The mango lassis were good, and the dessert of those fried balls in syrup tasted like alcohol, but not in a good way. Then again, I’ve never liked that dessert. This is a decent place, good if you’re on a budget, but I’m still going to be on the lookout for a better Indian restaurant.