That would be my dad walking my sister down the aisle at her wedding last month. And that creepy person off the to side, taking photos while trying desperately not to sink into the soft, squishy mud while wearing high heels ... that would be me.
We took over 1600 pictures ... of those probably 1000 were mine (Adam took this one). I've promised to have the final edits done by tomorrow so cds can be passed out to family and friends on Thanksgiving. Also, I've given myself a deadline of December 5 to have the album ordered. So maybe after all that I will finally post some on here. But for now, I have an all-nighter ahead of me.
April 2006 I happened to catch the episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain visits Osaka. Perhaps you recall me mentioning it. I'm actually a pretty big fan of the show in general, but the Osaka episode is still one of my favorites. So, this show was my first introduction to takoyaki. Takoyaki are basically little dumplings full of octopus and green onion and other goodness, smothered in bonito flakes and a sweet brown sauce and sometimes Japanese mayonnaise (not the same thing as that jar of Hellmans in your fridge). When I saw them, I knew that I had to have them. Unfortunately for me, the takoyaki craze has apparently not yet swept this nation, as I spent the next two years fruitlessly searching for them. Even my beloved Kitcho in Tallahassee didn't make them.
September(?) 2007 Adam and I broke down one day and ordered a special takoyaki pan online. It's basically a little cast-iron griddle with round wells for batter. Adam and I did a little recipe research and created what we thought might be a passable batter. We dutifully cooked and cleaned and chopped dozens of little octopi. Rob happened to be at our house that day, and I believe the process may have scarred him for life. So we made our own little takoyaki. They were ... ok. I knew there was more to them, something we were missing.
May 2008 Adam and I are in New York City. Kuidaore is the name of the game. Enter Menchenko-Tei. It was already on our list of food stops because it was (1) cheap, (2) well reviewed on Midtown Lunch, and (3) highly recommended by Adam's coworker in their Midtown office. When we walked in, it was really late at night. Honestly, I was surprised they were even open. I was devestatingly tired, and still full from our last meal. (We may have eaten dinner four times that night. Maybe. Who can resist Grey's Papaya, a random vegan restaurant in the East Village, an awesome gyro cart, and ramen when they all happen to be presented to you within the span of a few hours? Not us, apparently. Although we split meals each time, so it was like four half meals. But still. It was all about kuidaore.) And lo and behold, but they make takoyaki. I may have squealed out loud. And they were good. Not exactly what I had expected. Much softer and lighter than the ones I had made, but good. I do regret that I was so extremely full already when they arrived, because I don't think I enjoyed them at their full potential. But I wasn't going to be deterred.
June 2008 The search continues for takoyaki in Florida with no success.
November 2008 Adam and I make our regular trip to Ha Tien, a little Vietnamese grocery store nearby. We may go there too often, because the owner recognizes us every time and seems to know our preferences, and he always has suggestions for new stuff for us to try based on what we usually buy. He's awesome. Anyway, I'm at the back of the store, looking through the door of the freezer case at gyoza and shumai, trying to remember if I have any left at home. And then, I see this:
It's freaking frozen takoyaki, just sitting there waiting for me. This is new. These weren't here before. Oh, bless you, Vietnamese store man! I grabbed two bags and practically sprinted toward the cash register. We went straight home and broke out the takoyaki pan to give them that crispy, golden-brown outside. I'd been looking for these things for two and a half years, and now I'd found them. And they were good. Now, I know they were pre-made and flown halfway across the world and pumped full of preservatives and a million other things that should have made me dislike them. But they were so good. I generally prefer to make something homemade rather then buy it ready-made, and now that I know what they're supposed to be like, I will probably make them from scratch again. But for the moment, I am fully reveling in the knowledge that in my freezer is a bag with a little antropomorphized octopus on the front, waiting just for me.
Now, watch this video. It is awesome. Seriously. Adam says this is his new favorite series. I am inclined to concur.
I've totally overextended myself. We all knew I wasn't going to post anything last weekend, right? Anyway, here is a quick wrap-up of my life as of late.
First, photos. I have many, many, MANY photos to work through. We recently got a new computer, and in the process of converting from Windows to Mac, my organization system for them has become slightly less ... well, organized. It needs work. Work which I will not get a chance to even begin until November probably. So just a heads up.
Adam finished his thesis. I'm really proud of him. The rewrite started by literally cutting the whole thing up into pieces and storyboarding it on the wall in our hallway. I have a picture of that ... somewhere. Also, he just took the LSAT and is getting ready to start applying to law schools. Did I mention I'm really proud of him? Adam is awesome.
Becky and David are getting married in two and a half weeks. I'm so happy and excited for them, but I'd forgotten how exhausting the whole wedding process is. Craziness! I threw Becky and Halloween-themed bridal shower last weekend, which was pretty fun. I tried to go for a whole glam-goth Moriticia Addams thing, but I'm most proud of the invitations I made for it. Just trust me, they were awesome. Also, I found out that the process of paper crafting silhouettes is really quite time consuming.
Work is crazy. I applied for a more interesting and higher paying position in another department (I didn't get it, for the record), and because my company requires full transparency in the application process I informed my supervisor that I had applied. She them informed me that my performance review was the next day. Great timing, that. Actually, considering the circumstance, the review went fairly well. Then, I was approached by yet a third department, who wanted to let me know that they will have an opening soon and hope I will apply. The only problem is that I'm not sure about the long-term stability of that position ... as in, I think it may no longer after a few months. I know layoffs are imminent in my department, but I actually think I just might scrape by through that. Is it worth the risk to apply for this other job? It's more money, but what if I'm out of a job in a few months? But then, I'm not entirely in the clear with that little display of loyalty I put on there ... so I'm really not sure what to do from here. Suggestions welcome.
Ok, so this post is really long already. It's only about 1% of what's been consuming my time and energy lately, but I'll have to pick this back up another time. The debate is on, and I really want to watch it.
I've had two requests in three days to revive my blog. Apparently people read it. I told my sister that I was tired of writing the same entry over and over again about how I'm really busy with work which I kind of hate and how I want to be doing things I like more and blah blah blah angst. But she said half the fun is that I manage to somehow say it differently each time. So I guess that's almost as good as saying something interesting, right? So look for something more here later this weekend.
Until then, take a peek at Art Squeeze and try to guess what I did last night. So glad we're back in season.
I got in to work an hour and a half early today to get a jump on the mountain of work I knew I had ahead of me, only to find my inbox absolutely empty when I arrived. I really should have just stayed in bed. I'll still have a mountain of work, it will just arrive later this morning. Boo. But here I am with a few free minutes, so it's blog time. Sadly, I don't have a lot of interesting news to share. Adam has been out of town since last week, and I'm very glad he's flying back tonight, because I'm kind of tired of eating dinner alone.
Although, on Saturday, I had dinner with Becky and David, which was nice. They had stopped by in the afternoon to look at the proofs I had made for their wedding invitations, and we ended up doing a quick photo shoot around the neighborhood. It worked out really well, and they seemed to be having fun with it. I wanted to edit the photos yesterday, but didn't have a chance to devote any time to it. They should be done by next weekend, and I'll post a few. Also downloaded from the CF card were the few shots I took in New York in April, and some from dinner at Eric and Erin's house. I need to go through those, as well as everything I've shot over the past few months that I haven't looked at since I moved them off of the camera. Sigh. Can I get a few more hours added to my day, please?
As I've been typing, my new email notification has popped up a few times, so I think I have some work to do. A tout a l'heure.
Red Bull Flugtag downtown. Incomprehensibly crowded. Unbearably hot. 1000% (yes) humidity. Next time, view from a boat.
Dinner at Mr. Dunderbach's. Tiny, crazy, quaint, little place that I CANNOT BELIEVE my husband has waited TEN YEARS to tell me about. Ordered a dish I could not pronounce. It fed me for three meals for less than ten bucks. Intimidatingly large beer selection. Going back soon.
TAPSCON at the Biltmore. SHUT UP. Yeah, I like Ghost Hunters, so what? First time at a real, genuine geek fest. Overpriced admission. Overpriced everything. Got autographs of all the TAPS people from TV, but I don't really know why. Guess I needed an explaination for why I stood in line for 10 minutes just to say hi. Wandered the hotel. Chatted with Dustin Pari in the lobby.
Batman movie. Awesome. Go see it right now. Heath Ledger stole the show, but Maggie Gyllenhal put up a good fight for it. Kind of want to see it again.
Part geek, part yuppie, part hipster, part wanna-be Martha Stewart. All twenty- something involved in a long-term search for self. Starbucks junkie, high-end chocolate snob, low-end ethnic food snob. Minimalist and packrat.
Bad photographer who aspires to be a good photographer. Desperate to move to New York City.
