back in the fold

i played disc for the first time in 2 months on sunday. conclusions: i have lost a gear, which is ok, b/c i'll get it back. the time off was just what i needed--it totally up'd the joy factor.

we had a league game yesterday. there was a new guy on our team (paul). people were so ridiculous to him. its like no one thinks about how their words can affect him. AND, its not like the ppl saying these things are not liabilities themselves. some samples (paraphrased):

• upon his first attempt at joining the field, after sitting for about 8 points: "oh paul, are you sure you should play this point? i mean, we're on offense, which means its important that we catch and throw. maybe you should come on for a d point instead?" translation: you can't catch, you can't throw! it's HARD, this frisbee game that you're trying to pick up.
• i dragged him on the field anyways. and then "ok, paul, just remember to do this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this. oh, and if you could just stand to the very left side of the field, that'd be great." translation: don't get in our way! this game is hard!
• "ohhhh, i see you don't have cleats on. it's pretty slippery out there, you want to be careful." wtf! why don't you just castrate the guy and be done with it?

anyways. i can't wait till next i disc. woot!

happy mooncake day!

(technically, it's midautumn festival, but i think all holidays should follow in t-day's footsteps and answer to their signature foods)

i just scored two mooncakes (that's 4 egg yolks), 1 chocolate bar, and 1 asian pear, plus a boatload of sympathy. hurrah!

from about mid september to post new years, a trading floor is a food lovers paradise. brokers from all over send baskets of chocolate, mooncakes, fruit, fruitcakes, toffees, cookies, teas, hams, you get the idea. unfortunately, as a structurer (i.e. not a client of a broker), none of these baskets are directed at me. so, i scrounge what i can.

holy who cares batman! i actually just wanted to gloat about my food getting prowess. queenie had these two leftover mooncakes, and she couldn't get rid of them (they're really sweet, and everyone but EVERYONE here is on a diet). to get me to take them, she had to throw in the chocolate bar and the asian pear (moohaha). check out my poker face, i played that situation like your mother. plus, according to her, its bad luck to have them past today (b/c if you don't eat the mooncake on time, you don't find out about the invading hordes in time, duh!*) .

*we (as in my people, the chinese) celebrate this holiday b/c a long time ago, some other people were going to attack them. our spies found out about this attack, but couldn't communicate it except by means of mooncake (and memory and muchness), so they (the spies) baked a msg into the mooncakes and distributed it to the people.** it's like, if paul revere were a baker and not given to riding so many horses.

**good thing the spies didn't give the mooncakes to my grandmother (not that she's actually THAT old), b/c she's the type that would save the cakes and give them to someone as a regift when they were properly aged (read: hard as a moonrock, har har).

KRON NO LONGER!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)

pepper maxima

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)

bananas foster (isn't this more like a porn name?)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)

lhua (if by fly you meant fob, you'd be spot on)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

chocolate cheetah (another pornish name)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)

jie beijing (now this one is detective)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)

huali (aaaaaannnnd fob)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)

The Yellow Water (ha! beware you catholic schoolboys)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)

deben yuting (FOB!)

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)

old spice snickers (WHAT?! this one should've been easy!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )

jenny james (my mom doesn't have a middle name, so i'm using both of their US pseudonyms. never trust ppl with first name last names--they're snitches).

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)

Smith Schenectedy (i've always wanted that last name. "and now, to smith schenectedy for your weather forecast.")

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)

Thanksgiving Daisy (i bet they were angling for christmas, or maybe pussy counts as a season(ing) now?)

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + "ie" or "y")

peach pantsy (i'd have curly orange hair and a large diaper)

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)

pizza joshua (now i'm a detective in the witness protection program)

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)

The Ultimate Wind Tour (sounds like there'll be lots of oboes in MY band. who doesn't like ducks?)

Thanks to Death Wore a Feathered Mullet for the workday entertainment.

rubbernecking

we went to a NIN concert last night, and this morning i couldn't do a headstand for the life of me. the venue was standing room only, with only say 200 ppl, so we got really close to the stage. in a normal NIN concert, i'd probably be more timid, but in this land, fear is inversely scaled by the size of its people-->into the mosh pit i go! i got punched in the throat by a 12 year old boy-->out of the mosh pit i go! i realized i'm a square when someone threw the drumsticks into the crowd...all i could think was, "but someone could lose an eye". Doesn't anyone remember the sole casulaty of the sox riots? shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.

a weekend in review

last weekend was just about perfect. saturday consisted of lots of napping, interrupted only by the switching of locations between couch and bed.

we watched bourne ultimatum in the afternoon. it has got to be one of the best feel-good, stick it to the man movies, but it incorporates no smiling (julia stiles cracks the only smile of the entire film in the last scene). i've decided that jason bourne is the american james bond. very fitting, considering he's taken bond's rebellious streak that much further.

dinner followed at crystal jade. we're trying to branch out from our normal xiaolongbao, ma po tofu, kungpao chicken choices, so we got kungpao chicken, kongxin cai, fried rice, and xiaolong bao. hey, the classics are classics for a reason. AND for once in my life, i ordered just the right volume of food! very proud (i did feel a bit restricted in choices).

sunday, we woke up early to wakeboard with albert. new trick of the session: switching from normal to goofy. i'm not so good at it--maybe 1/3 success rate, but jon is a pro. i tried to jump goofy too, but i kept twisting in mid air to try to put my left foot forward. my hands very naturally go towards my left hip, and then half way, i'd remember to keep my hands at my right hip, but it'd be too late and i'd land kinda horizontal halfwayinbetween->fall fall fall.

since wakeboarding is at deep water bay, we usually go to stanley for breakfast afterwards. i finally found a stanley restaurant i like. it's the italian looking one with checkered tableclothes. i had banana pancakes with cheddar cheese scrambled eggs, and then i ate jon's hash browns and toast. mmmm...thusly fed, we felt adequately prepared for the hike from stanley to happy valley (our preferred mode of transport). we managed to do it in 1.5 hours, which is pretty frickin fast for me (average time is around 2hrs). my calves are still sore. on the other side (of the mountains), we taxi's home, showered, and half heartedly watched prime (on hbo)--what's with uma thurman making these random chick flicks? isn't she like 40? why is she suddenly expanding her repertoire to include the crappy genres? maybe its some kind of midlife crisis that allows her to kiss cute 20 somethings. inevitably, we fell asleep, waking up at around 9pm to venture towards dinner (unremarkable, crappy canto food). lovely lovely.