Random Stuff (courtesy of Mr. Nonny Nu)

If you work at Nu Nu & Nu LLP, and if you walk past my door, you will sometimes hear me laugh out loud. The reason is because I receive stuff like the photos below from Mr. Nonny Nu.




OMG, cute sloth!

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Secret Project: Girl Name

Okay, I need a girl name. Choose one from below or choose the "other" option and suggest one in a comment. The girl name has to be of a girl that I don't know. The only exception is "Carrie," but I like that one.

Poll closes Jan. 13, 2009 at 12:15 AM (PST).

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Calendars

It's time to create the calendars. I need twelve nouns. You can post one noun per comment, limit 2 nouns per person. Go.

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Chinese Idiom of the Day V

Other editions of Chinese Idiom of the Day:
Chinese Idiom of the Day I
Chinese Idiom of the Day II
Chinese Idiom of the Day III
Chinese Idiom of the Day IV

Chinese New Year is January 26. In honor of the occasion, I will be posting a Chinese idiom each day until CNY in the scrolling marquee at the top of the blog. I've done the first one (畫蛇添足) and provided the literal translation (Draw snake, add legs.). I have also provided the meaning (You are being unnecessarily extravagant and spoiling the whole thing in the process.).

Now, it's your turn--guess its meaning! (Good luck to the non-Cantonese speakers out there, mwahahahahahahahaa!!!)

P.S. There will be a "click me" link in the marquee that will bring you to this blog entry.

Sample: 畫蛇添足 (Draw snake, add legs.)
Meaning: You are being unnecessarily extravagant and spoiling the whole thing in the process. (credit: Nonny Nu)

Jan. 5: 食得鹹魚, 抵得渴 (Eat the salted fish, stand the thirst.)
Meaning: You've made your bed, now lie in it. (credit: Freelance Midget)

Jan. 5: 等你, 蛇都死 (Wait for you? Even a snake will die.)
Meaning: ...take a long time... (credit: Mr. Nonny Nu)

Jan. 5: 我食鹽多過你食米 (I eat salt more than you eat rice.)
Meaning: I have more experience than you. Or sadly, I am older than you. (credit: Q-Ma)

Jan 6: 塞錢入你袋 (Put money into your pocket.)
Meaning: Give someone advice or tip. (credit: Cl. Panic)

Jan 12: 過橋抽板 (Cross bridge, pick up and retain board)
Hint: This refers to a bridge that consists of a single board.
Meaning: To abandon or screw over someone. (credit: Q-Ma)

Jan. 15: 先斬後奏 (Execute first, and then notify the king.)
Meaning: _____

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Update on the Non

I'm sure you're wondering what the hell has happened to the rabbit, aren't you? Well, I've been wondering whether I should talk about it on the blog because you people actually know me. But, I'm secure enough in our friendship that I've decided to come out with it.

I guess I'm a bit bummed. Have been for a while. Not sure why. It's just a feeling of being lost and a failure and a fraud. A general feeling of malaise. Last night, on The History Channel, they had a thing on the Seven Deadly Sins and the one I'm committing right now is sloth, btw. Anyhow, there you have it. That's why I haven't been writing. I am normally a very optimistic person, and even when I have slumps, they usually disappear within 3-4 hours. A day, max. But, I'm just not sure why I am not shaking this.

Mr. Nonny Nu says that I should make an effort to actually make this a new year, a new beginning. I'm trying. But all that is just reminding me of how old I am and that time is marching on.

I am betting that you've all heard of Twilight (the movie) and have also heard of the Twilight series (the books). (Wow, I'm really spilling all my guts now, but that will be my New Year Resolution--to be more truthful and write more about my feelings this year on the blog.) I have a very rich imagination and the only thing I have not been able to fantasize about are married and unavailable men (I just don't feel right doing that). I'm talking about the innocuous fantasies like when Christian Bale opens the door for you or has dinner with you. Get your minds out of the gutter. The girls will know what I'm talking about.

Okay, back to the story. So, Midge and I went to see Twilight in early December. I had low hopes for it, thinking that it was a teeny bopper flick, which it was. But, the story itself was so interesting, that I bought the book that night and finished it the next day. I then finished the entire series in the next week (three additional books).

Alright, don't laugh, but I'm gonna let you in a ridiculous secret. I am not waiting for some vampire to bite my neck. What is troubling me is that I can't even imagine myself in that storyline because those characters are so dang young. I mean, I feel completely ridiculous. Wow, that has never happened to me before, not being able to put myself in a storyline, no matter how removed from reality it is. And because of what? Age. I'm 33.5, and absolutely nothing exciting has ever happened to me. No hostage situation, no bank robbery, no nothing. I can't even say it's going to go downhill from here because there is no lower score on the Excitement Scale than the one my life has right now. And, no, I'm not talking about my life at this point. I'm talking about my entire life.

Kill me now.

On a lighter note, I am starting a new project and will be running some polls throughout the next several months to ask for your opinions on the project's direction. Your input will be greatly appreciated.

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Munchos

These are my all time favorite chips. Yes, siree bob! Unfortunately, my usual local distributor (Walgreens) has stopped stocking it so I have to find another way to take care of my fix. I even checked out 7-11 but they have stopped carrying it, too!

Oh, my dear little Munchos, where have you gone?? I miss your salty, oily, crunchity goodness...

*cries to the heavens*

Anywho, in searching for a pic of Munchos, I discovered that I am not alone, and that Munchos has quite a fan following! It even has its own Wikipedia entry. Look at those Yahoo! hits! Apparently, they are from the 70's. I knew I loved that decade!! Too bad most of my life during the 70s was spent in Vietnam and a refugee camp in Malaysia where they didn't have Munchos. And, the part that was spent in the US was during a time when chips were a luxury. I remember 3-fish picking me up from school when I was small and walking home with me. She'd buy me a small bag of chips (not Munchos--I didn't discover Munchos until 1995) and I'd have to suck on the chips instead of bite on them (to make them last longer). Oh! Wah Toh used to drive me to school when I was younger in the morning and she'd buy me a single McDonalds hashbrown and I'd nibble on it slowly. Fun times!!

Okay, back to Munchos. So, I didn't have the pleasure of personally meeting Munchos until 1995. I remember the day. I was driving from Cal-Poly, Pomona to North Hollywood to see Mr. Nonny Nu (this was before we got married). It was quite a long drive, nearly 40 miles, so I decided to stop at an Arco AmPm foodmart to get something to chomp on while I drove. I had seen that shiny, orange bag before, but I never bought it because, well, it looked not appetizing. But, I thought I'd just give it a try. So, I bought a bag of Munchos and a bag of BBQ Ruffles as back up. When I wrapped around my lips around that first Muncho, OMG, it was pure food ecstasy. I could feel the salt and oil seeping into my blood stream. Yes, it's that salty and oily. I've been hooked ever since. Did I also eat the Ruffles? Yes, I did, but that's beside the point.

OMG, those bastards at Frito-Lay... I just looked up Munchos on their site and the nearest place that carries them is 42 miles away. Grrrrrrrr...


Hang on. I have to mourn for a moment.

...Hold, please...

Okay. It's okay. I might be able to get them on Amazon!! And, yes, I'm getting the box of 64.

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OMG, VH1, really? REALLY??

If you haven't noticed already, I think that Charm School is a pretty neat program. It combines the trashiness of reality TV with self-improvement. The premise is: take a group of trashy girls from previous TV dating shows and try to teach them some manners. The thing that is different about this show compared to most other reality shows is that the winner should have improved themselves more than the other contestants. It's a show about improvement. (So is Celebrity Fit Club, which I also love.)

This season, the headmaster is Sharon Osbourne, who I LOVE LOVE LOVE!! She is the daughter of Ozzy Osbourne's ex-manager, and she actually got into quite an argument with her dad when she fell in love with Ozzy and married him. Her dad naturally stopped managing Ozzy, and Sharon took the reigns. Well, the rest is history. I think of her as a very astute woman who is able to see through "women's wiles." (You know that she has handled a few groupies in her time.) So, when they announced that Sharon Osbourne would be the headmaster, I was head over heels because I thought that these girls wouldn't be able to pull anything over her eyes.

But, the most recent episode has started me wondering. There is a troublemaker on the show by the name of Lacey. She gets into others' personal space, and when they react by pushing her off of them, she accuses them of hitting her. She does this to various people, but her main target is a girl named Dallas. On Rock of Love, Dallas was kicked off the show because she pushed Lacey very hard, causing Lacey to bump her head on a kitchen counter. But, this was only because Lacey was on her like white on rice (see, e.g., photo above). Well, on the most recent episode of Charm School, Lacey pulled the same thing, except she actually splashed a drink on Dallas. Through it all, Dallas kept her cool and did not initiate any physical contact with Lacey.

Unfortunately, Lacey and Dallas were shortly after paired as a team to create a PSA. Dallas was understandably upset, after being recently assaulted and battered by Lacey. It was no wonder that she gave less than 100% to their project. At elimination, Sharon Osbourne completely disregarded all testimony (not just from Dallas) of Lacey's behavior, and instead kicked off Dallas based solely upon her failure to give 100%.

Now, the rules do not require the headmaster to eliminate a contestant based solely upon the contestant's performance on the weekly project, which seems to be what Sharon did. So, I'm now really disappointed that Sharon bought in to Lacey's BS. But, did she? Or, was Lacey kept on for ratings?

(OMG, I can't believe I just blogged about this. But, it's too late now. I wrote the whole thing already and I'm going to post it.)

So, what do you guys think?? I think I'm going to be crushed if Sharon Osbourne gets duped by this chick.

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Happy Belated Birthday to Green Thumb McGillicutty!!!!

"Dearest" Green Thumb,

We at Nu, Nu, & Nu, LLP were engulfed in charting work this weekend and I just completely forgot to flip the calendar and missed your birthday. Please accept my "most heart-felt" "apologies!" I am also "very sorry" that you cannot partake in the charting "festivities" since you are on "maternity leave." But, oh, well, maybe next time, right? To make up for my lateness, I have used four exclamation points instead of the usual two in the title of this blog post. Plus, please help yourself to the TWO chart cakes below!

"Love,"
nn

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New Commenting Procedures

Whoa! I just noticed that the commenting process has changed since a week ago. They have the textbox right there for you to write in your comment! I've updated the instructions up top accordingly.

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Chinese Swan Lake

Wow! You guys have to watch this (courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. 3-Fish! It's the Chinese Circus doing their rendition of Swan Lake. They should have used this chick in the Olympics instead of the infants. I bet it really hurt when she stood on that one guy's skull. I know this because whenever Skillet or Kash stand on me with their little pointy feet, all of their weight is supported on four points and it's like having someone stab you with a dowel. Can you imagine how much pressure she's putting on that guy's head?? Ouch. Of course, only the Chinese would come up with something so artful, incredible, and ridiculous at the same time. Hey, I wonder how it will look if I stand on one toe on the top of your head? Let's try it!

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The Joy of Eating Porridge

When you are sick, do you eat chicken noodle soup? If you do, you are most likely not Chinese. Chinese people eat porridge when they are sick. This is our "comfort food." I'm not sure what Western porridge is made of, but Chinese porridge is just rice and water. You simmer one part rice to about five parts water and end up with this:

Tsohk = Porridge = Yum!

It's bland, sure, but that's the beauty of it. Now, porridge can be prepared with all sorts of stuff in it, like beef, seafood (teng tsai, which means "little boat"), roast duck with thousand year old egg*, anything you want! But, when little Chinese children (hereinafter, "Chinettes") are sick, their parents cook "white porridge" (bak tsohk) for them. That's just plain porridge with nothing in it. Okay, they'll add a little salt to give it some flavor. Okay, okay, you beat it out of me. They might add a little bit of ground beef and chopped onions, too. If the Chinettes are good.

Anyhow, that's what I like to eat when I'm sick. But, I like to eat tsohk even when I'm not sick! Surprised? Well, I like to eat bak tsohk when there are good accompaniments to be had. Now, look at what I packed for my lunch tomorrow to go with the bak tsohk that I bought for only $1 today:

Bamboo shoots with chili oil
Gluten with peanuts
咖哩齋鮑魚 trans: Curry Cha'i Pow Yu, a.k.a. Braised Gluten (Seitan Tidbits)**
四川辣腐乳 trans: Szechuan Brand Fermented Bean Curd (chunk) in Dressing with Chili***

But, here's the piece de resistance: Wah Toh's Homemade Fried Silver Fish. I received this in the mail last week, along with two Ding Dong towels. I wanted to open that thing up and eat the whole jar. But, no, I showed some self restraint and made preparations. I visited the newly opened Chinese market**** and bought all that stuff listed above just so that I could have some accompaniments for this little slice of heaven. So, add a humungous apple from 3-fish, and I am all set for tomorrow!


*Okay, if you want the skinny on the thousand year old egg, then read this. Look at how beautiful it is! Yeah, the whites (that have now turned a transparent coffee color) has the texture of Jell-o, and the yolk has a creamy texture and tastes like fermented salt. Don't knock it till you try it.

**Good grief. Isn't that the most useless translation you've ever seen? Here's the real poop: It's fake abalone in curry sauce.

***HAHHAHAHAHAA!!! OMG, okay, whenever I buy this stuff, I only look at the Chinese. I never really looked at the English translation until now, and you know what? I never thought of the liquid inside the jar as a "dressing!" Not sure why, but that is just hilarious to me! I actually had some trouble trying to open that jar (I had to heat the lid and tap it and really add some elbow grease). But, I didn't ask Mr. Nonny Nu to help me open it because he would completely freak out if he saw what it was. Yeah, that's why I thought I'd just keep it to myself. *crinkles nose* *nods*

****Look what you can do with some instant noodles, romaine lettuce, Chinese beef balls, and a microwave at work. I got so many of my childhood favorites!

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One Year Later

I love you so much, Sushi. It just breaks my heart to remember all of the wonderful times we had together, and all the times you comforted me when I couldn't rely on anybody. But you were there, and you were always there for me. You are a special kitty, and I don't think I'll ever find a kitty like you.

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Oh, noes!

Well, it finally happened, folks. Dolly got a small ding on the driver's door. It wasn't me! Someone did it to her. It's not too bad, though. It's really a very small dent that you can only see if the light strikes her just right and your line of vision has to be almost parallel with the surface of the door to see it. But, still...

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Oh, gross!!

Remember when we last talked about restroom stalls? Freelance Midget recently sent me an article about them. It's SOOOOO GROSS!!! Here it is. Apparently, my favorite "near last" stall at the office isn't so great since it's used more often than the first stall. But, that first stall is just too "exposed" for my tastes. I mean, nobody can see me in there, but still. It's the first one! I just can't do it. I just can't!

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Is it so wrong?

Okay, folks, I have a confession to make. I have very little experience dancing. In fact, I would categorize myself in the "don't know how to dance" category. Sure, I have my little "moves" that I do around the house, but it's not really something that people should be exposed to. But, ever since I got the Richard Simmons DVDs, I think I've really improved! I am now proficient at the Cha Cha. I can do the stir and the rumble. I am okay at doing the X's. So, here's the question I have for you: Is it so wrong to learn to dance from Richard Simmons?? I think I look pretty good.

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