The Wasteland

The "PG Explanation" of What Happened.

2010-03-15T18:51:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Haha]

Today I was very unproductive. My computer was out of commission for about 5 hours. Why?

Well, here's the PG version of the story (and an account of what I believe happened):

Christine announced that Lady Gaga was doing another concert in NYC. I was like "cool!" and went to look up information about the concert.

Suddenly a pop-up appears that says a "virus" was detected on my computer and I needed to fix it by scanning it.

Fortunately I'm smart enough to recognize malware when I see it and I immediately call IT to come fix it.

So I don't touch any of the pop-ups. Close all the programs and windows I'm in except the malware.

I look away for 2 seconds.

I look back and... VERY "unsavory images" begin to pop-up on my screen.

Me: OH SH*T.
Computer: HOORAH! UNSAVORY IMAGES!

So I began to frantically close windows. Then I log-out so nothing else will pop-up. IT comes 10 minutes later. I log-in for him... more... "unsavory images" and me saying "omg! I swear I didn't do anything!"

He tells me he can fix this in 30 minutes. I say, "ok, I'll go eat lunch and come back in 30 minutes."

I return 30 minutes later.

He's still there, but tells me to try to log-in.

I log-in. MALWARE IS STILL THERE. (SOB!)

He tells me to go find another computer to work on and he'll come get me.

I go to the other side of our office and end up chatting with someone near the elevators. Suddenly I see the IT guy carrying my CPU...

Me: Oh Sh*t.
Computer: Weeee! We're going on a trip!

IT guy explains the IT department wants him to take the computer downstairs to fix...

Unfortunately that left me computer-less for another 3 hours.

After a crazy 5 hour ordeal, my computer is back to normal and I never ever ever want to look up Lady Gaga tickets online ever again.

Posting May Stop For Awhile

2010-02-09T10:15:00.001-05:00

[Mood | Ok]

I received an email from Blogger saying they will be shutting down FTP for blogger sites. It'll take me a lot of time to move all my posts to Wordpress, so you won't see any posts for a very long time. Please go to http://explore.joannie.net where I'll take care of my blogging habits.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Mild]
[Listening | "Brighter than Sunshine" by Aqualung]

Finding New Hobbies

2010-01-25T23:58:00.004-05:00

[Mood | Listless]

I've decided that in 2010 I'd like to gain some new hobbies. Last year I experimented with:

writing (well, I'm still writing, just slowly but surely...)
photography (still love it, but need to work on my photoshop skills)
rock climbing (I went once, would like to continue)
cooking (next Food Tuesday in February!)
yoga

This year I'd like to try:

playing a (new?) instrument (I'm thinking about getting a keyboard, but would love to try something else too)
kayaking (been dying to go up in the Great Swamp)
surfing!?
sailing (I'd like to learn more about boats)

Activities I'd like to continue:

swimming (pool membership beginning May!)
rock climbing (must find a good gym for this)
writing (I started another novel again)
reading a book a month minimum (Greg says I should do a book a week... but it's too much pressure, so I'll start out easy)
yoga!
cooking
photography

I'd also like to learn more about the history of NY, go to the Opera, see a few more plays, walk through Central Park more, learn to make my own coffee (mrmmm!) and well... just about anything. Teach me something!

~Joannie~
[Weather | Cold]
[Listening | "Piano Song" by Mieko]

(One of) My Best Year(s) Ever

2009-12-29T23:28:00.002-05:00

[Mood | Sleepy]

I've had an amazing year. I know a lot of people have had a terrible 2009, but my 2009 will be amazingly memorable. The year started off ok. I was in Savannah, my dad had just moved out there for his new job, my mom came out to visit. I slept through ringing in the New Year... but I spent a lovely few days basking in warm weather before returning to the frigid north.

Kathleen visited. We froze our butts off. Obama was elected, I was elated. I may have lost some friends, but I also gained many more. I moved from the Upper East Side to Flatiron. I had a birthday MONTH...!

My parents visited. I ate a lot of BBQ. I held popular happy hours, I went to game nights. I discovered all you can eat fried chicken may sometimes *not* be a good thing.

I went to Europe (amaaaazing!) Went to Savannah again. Went to Puerto Rico. Went to Taiwan & Australia.

Closing off the year with Christmas in New York and I'm throwing a lovely New Year's Eve bash.

Anyway, it's been a wonderful year. I've met a lot of amazing people and seen a lot of amazing things (as well as eaten a lot of amazing things). I just hope that 2010 will be just as good if not better!!

~Joannie~
[Weather | Chilly]
[Listening | Nothing]

Are You Giving This Holiday Season?

2009-11-17T13:33:00.003-05:00

[Mood | Great]

Are you giving this holiday? I have a few proposals if you're considering, but haven't decided on an organization yet:

1) El Salvador - My friend, Jimbo, is currently in the Peace Corps on a 2 year stint in El Salvador, and recently (the weekend before last), the village that he had been working in was caught in tragedy. A tropical storm poured down rain which in turn caused massive landslides, which in turn destroyed most of the village (including putting Jimbo in 3 feet of mud where he was sleeping). While Jimbo was very lucky to escape safely, many people were not.

If you'd like to help, Jimbo is setting up bank accounts to get donations, but also, if you need an organization with 501(c)(3) status, he recommenede: http://www.aidelsalvador.org/

2) Winter Wishes - My company does a holiday program where disadvantaged local children send in letters (to Santa) and request gifts that they would like to receive (that their parents are unable to afford). If you're interested in reading/responding/buying some gifts, please let me know. I'll be picking up the letters on Nov 19th.

~Joannie~

[Weather | Chilly]

[Listening | "Folding Chair" by Regina Spektor]

Book Obsession

2009-10-09T12:05:00.002-04:00

Mood| Happy

I think I have a problem.

I love to buy books.

Probably more than I love to actually read them.

It's a very expensive problem.

Yesterday I actually went into the Strand to take a close look at all the offerings. I've been inside before, but briefly and I didn't get to explore as much as I'd like. Now? I'm obsessed. Previously my favorite bookstore had been Book-Off. A worthy opponent to Strand, but Book-Off is strictly used books. While Strand actually has low-priced new books. Yesterday I was excited to find After the Quake for $5.95 and When We Were Orphans also for $5.95. I'm tempted to go back and also get Remains of the Day since it was only $4.95.

Anyway, back to my book obsession. I've run out of room in my bookshelves to hold the books, so I need to find better solutions. Any ideas on how I should store my books? I'm thinking of installing some bookshelves all over the apartment. Above my entryway from kitchen to living room and maybe above my window in my bedroom.

If you have any book suggestions, please do let me know. I really want to read more and I'd like some good suggestions.

~Joannie~

[Weather | Chilly]

[Listening | "What Goes Around, Comes Around" By JT]

A Quick Note On October

2009-10-01T17:01:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Thoughtful]

I love it when a fresh month begins. So it's October now and I'll be spending half of it in Taiwan & Australia.

The moment I flip my calendar to a new month, I feel a sense of relief, like one down, only so and so to go before it's a fresh year. Ever since I turned 24 (in May), I've been having the best year of my life. Not only do I have amazing new (and old!) friends, new things to enjoy in New York, but also I've taken many fabulous trips through Europe, Puerto Rico and soon Taiwan and Australia. 4 continents in 1 year, who would've thought?

October marks many things for me, a segue into the holiday season, beautiful fall weather, and another month when I remember lost friends.

S.B.D. would've been 24 this year, and every year in April and in October I take time out to ponder the things that have happened in my life. Especially the people and things that I should appreciate (more!) and make sure that I keep in touch with the things that are important in life.

I'm hoping that I'm keeping on track with the pact I try to renew with myself every year; that every year I try to become a better person. To appreciate the little things and treat the people and things around me well. We only have one life to live, and we should NEVER take anything for granted. Especially relationships with the people we love. In the past 6 years, I have lost good friends, whether forever or for the moment, I'm also glad that I've also repaired friendships, made new friends and am looking forward to more people to cherish.

My very good friend, Amy, will be visiting me next week and I'm so excited to be able to hang out with great people like her. I hope that many of my new friends in NYC will get a chance to meet her, she is truly a remarkable person. She just returned from a trip to Burkina Faso [Video of Amy interviewing one of the kids in BF in French] to help the underprivileged, especially since Burkina Faso is one of the poorest nations in the world. Soon she'll be in Guatemala to work with more underprivileged people. I definitely applaud her for her drive and passion to do better in this world.

As for myself, I've been writing up new goals for myself, whether it be career, education, volunteering, learning new things.

Another month means more opportunity! HAPPY OCTOBER EVERYONE!

~Joannie~

[Weather | Gloomy]

[Listening | "Forever" by Chris Brown]

Been on Hiatus

2009-09-06T20:46:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Full]

Been on hiatus for awhile. A lot of fun things going on... returned from my trip to Europe (read explore.joannie.net for details). In a little more than 2 weeks I'll be going to Puerto Rico. In about a month and a half I'll be going to Taiwan. Then in about 3 months I'll be off to Savannah again. I guess I'll be on the road a lot, but I welcome the travel. If I don't do this traveling now, who knows when I'll ever get the chance again? Who knows when I'll get tied down and unable to travel.

New job role has started, working hard just to keep things under control. Trying to clean my apartment and clean up my finances (mainly because... as you can see... with all the traveling, I'm going broke...). Also, I'm maid of honour for Stacy's wedding.

Things are great. I'll write more once I come up with some inspiration. Explore will probably be my main blog for now.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Chilly]
[Listening | Nothing]

Away to Europe

2009-07-29T11:51:00.004-04:00

[Mood | Happy]

Hello everyone! I'll be in Europe starting tomorrow until the 8th. You can read about my adventures at:

http://explore.joannie.net for updated.

See you on the flip side!

~Joannie~
[Weather | Dreary]
[Listening | Nothing]

Things I Love and Despise [D�cor]...

2009-07-14T10:47:00.005-04:00

[Mood | Tired]

If there's one thing that I love, it's good d�cor. The problem is, I have no sense of personal style, rather I am more for knowing style and having a keen sense of knowledge of others' styles, but when it comes to myself, I have little personal taste. Ridiculous, I know.

Although, there are certain things I do love and vehemently dislike, and this is my list.

a) I LOVE pocket doors & sliding doors. If there's something I would love to have in the cute little house that I'll one day own, it's having sliding pocket doors everywhere. Even just sliding doors. I'm not sure if it's the novelty, or the "Asian-ness" but there's something so quaint (not to mention space-saving!) as a pocket-door.

b) I DESPISE parquet flooring. I think it's disgusting and I hope that I never have it in my house/apartment ever again. I lived with parquet flooring for a year and a half in my first NYC apartment and I just don't understand why anyone would purchase it. It looks awful and there's no benefit to how ... cheap it looks. I won't even put up a picture because it's so gross to me.

c) I LOVE white. Just... only if it didn't get dirty so easily. Don't get me wrong, I love colour too. I would love to have a white couch with really colourful throw pillows, or lovely white carpet. Unfortunately due to the age of my apartment + the amount of dirt I track in from NY streets, white is very much out of the question.

d) I DESPISE small kitchens. Not that I have a small kitchen or anything, but kitchens are meant to have enough countertop space because cooking generally takes up a lot of room. Furthermore... WTF to those people who use kitchens as closets. I understand that there are those out there who don't know how to cook, but c'mon... using your kitchen as a closet? That is just sad.

e) I LOVE outdoor spaces. If I had outdoor space, I would spend my mornings on it drinking a cup of coffee, eating my breakfast and enjoying the newspaper. I wish I had a balcony (or rooftop OR garden OR deck). Maybe my next place.

There's a lot more, but I just wanted to express my anger at parquet flooring and love for sliding doors. :)

~Joannie~
[Weather | Nice]
[Listening | Nothing]

The Case of the Elusive June

2009-07-06T10:23:00.003-04:00

[Mood | Exhausted]

It's been weeks since I last wrote. June has come and gone and so has July 4th! June was an exhausting month. SE (September Estimate - our budgeting season) was a little overwhelming, as my boss and I had to do the same amount of work that about 8-10 people used to do with only 2 people on staff. Only a tiny bit frustrating. The good thing is I didn't have to pull full weeks of 12 hour + shifts until the last week of estimate. Now I just have to get all the numbers into our computer system and I'll be done.

What else? Well I haven't been doing much these past few weeks except read, prepare for my Europe trip, eat... surf the internet. You know how it is when you want to get away from work but you don't really have anything planned. Oh! I've also held a few happy hours, which reminds me that it's time for another one soon.

Anyway, it seems that these days my to-do list is getting longer and longer. I guess I'll put some of the things down here for me to remember...

Things that I'm trying to work on:
-Moo's Wedding Look-Book
-Europe Trip

Things that I should be working on that I haven't gotten to:
-Book 1
-Scrapbook
-Recipe Book
-Sincerely Skwerl (w/ WuKat)
-De-Smarmify (w/ Joanlie)

Bleh.

More updates to come. Since I pay for this domain, I need to use it!

~Joannie~
[Weather | Sunny]
[Listening | Nothing]

The Rest of May, Beginning of June...

2009-06-14T11:17:00.004-04:00

[Mood | Excellent]

It's already a lazy Sunday. Laying in bed uploading pictures, blogging about my adventures and listening to music.

The last time I wrote was the middle of May... well my birthday came and went. Thanks to everyone that came to the dinner, you guys totally rock. Some other stuff happened, but it's done and I'm over it, so I won't mention it here. I'm just glad that, for me, I have a strange ability to move-on from things that seem to cause me a lot of problems!

Now I've met a whole new group of friends - we have those that I've met at Five Points Variety Hour. Joanlie has been doing performances all over the city, and one of them includes this variety hour. It's in Chinatown and it's run by some really cool people. The show itself has its high points and low points, but overall it's not too shabby. Joanlie was the featured artist a little while back, and we had a pretty packed room.

Albert, the host, invited us out to a game night which we decided to show up to after serenading Ian through webcam. We met a lot of really cool people through that, and now the rest is history!

My parents showed up randomly during Memorial Day Weekend (I forgot about that). I got a new mattress. I bought a white noise machine to help me sleep (which is AMAZING btw).

I've held impromptu parties, threw my first happy hour (which was VERY successful when 15+ people showed up)... We went to Loreley Biergarten. At first it was Kent, Ivan and myself, then slowly others showed up. First Greg, then Will & Wini, then Joanlie, then Mike and so on. It was a great time because we left VERY late.

I'm throwing my next happy hour this week on Wednesday. Thursday Joanlie is performing. I don't know what I have Friday. Saturday is Tom's surprise party (which he knows about) and Sunday is a puppy shower. OH NO! I have to get a puppy gift :)

This week was relatively packed. I had a lot of work to do, and I got my intern. I watched Yo-Yo Ma on PBS since it was too wet to go see it live. Also checked ou the LeSportSac sample sale, which was awful (because I couldn't find the bag I wanted!). Then there was Tova's happy hour, game night. Friday was quiet, played with Ellie, had dinner with Lisa, Ning, and Christine. Then out to the rooftop with Joanlie, Will and Albert.

So much name dropping... I should make a chart.

230 Fifth was REALLY nice!!! I had a good time just chatting with people, chilling and chatting. The music was nice and quiet. I don't know if I'd go there to meet people, but in small groups it's ok. Last night I went to Pranna. It was much too loud for my taste. The downstairs area was much more quiet and much better to hang out and just chat.

Oh I forgot, I went to the Big Apple BBQ! I've been waiting for it all year and it's finally here! YAY! Had a delicious time and I hope to go back for dinner. :)

Looks like I've had a busy month.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Rainy]
[Listening | "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse]

Halfway Through My Birthday Month

2009-05-17T20:23:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Tired]

This month has been pretty crazy. A lot of things have happened. Things I don't want to bring up or remember, things I do want to discuss and remember forever. It's been a crazy rollercoaster and thank you for joining me for the ride.

Anyway, thanks to everyone that came out for my party at PS450. Despite the less than expected turn-out, everyone that I wanted to be there (that were in town) showed up. Thanks guys! I had an awesome time. Thanks Ran and Reva for the champagne in my fridge. Thanks Cat for the Strawberry Fields. Thanks Christine for the fondue! It was awesome! Thanks John for showing up early and letting me have tons of your mojito. Thanks Joanlie for being my rock and keeping me sane throughout the whole event (hahaha, outside of PS450... especially). Thanks Eugene and Derek for their antics with the whiskey bottle.

As for karaoke, I always love Eugene belting his heart out, but Joanlie and Ran are divas. They know what they want to sing and they know how to sing it!!! Great job guys, sorry for cutting off one of your songs Ran!! Next time we'll know how to work the machine.

Overall, awesome night. Sad that it's over, but glad that I still have my actual birthday to look forward to!!!

~Joannie~

Dearest Roo...

2009-05-14T13:44:00.006-04:00

[Mood | Happy]

To Dearest Roo,

I have crammed in more things with you in the past 7 days than I have done in the past 2 years in NYC. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, ate pupa, stayed out until dawn, rowed boats in Central Park, went to the top of the Empire State Building, met random people and had dinner with them and also I spent some time with the floor last night.

It's been an amazing week. I have been happy, sad, hyper, (slightly) drunk, thrilled, horrified, full (very full), and just all around thankful for awesome friends!!

Let's see, we'll start with our first day. Our lovely meal at Clinton St. Baking Company where we had pancake and various other delicious foods. We even had room for a cupcake from Sugar Sweet Sunshine! Then we went shopping in SoHo. Our night ended with me buying a ton of stuff from Trader Joe's and then we came back and made food in my apartment to prep for my housewarming. The night ended going across the street to Metro Cafe (which happens to be owned by Asians...) and then back to my apartment.

Day 2 was my housewarming party. You can refer to my previous entry. The night ended with you [Roo] passing out on the couch, only to wake up hours later. We ended up going to Times Square and walked around 5th Avenue. Then we decided to go to Pegu Club with Kelly and Co. I ended up accidentally locking myself out of my apartment, but thank goodness for Thomas and his ability to get into the office and get my spares. That saved the day! We went to Pegu Club and basically closed down the place -- when we left, we were basically the last people there. We decided to go to ktown to eat, but Bonchon (Mad for Chicken) was actually already closed. So we ended up at some hole in the wall Korean restaurant that had fishing nets all over the place. We ended up ordering... PUPA... See the picture on the right for a truly disgusting image of the food we ate. I mean seriously, they were little bugs and I ate a few. Now, if they were good, I would say they're good, but no, they were not good. We also had fish cakes and mussels... it wasn't fresh at all and not very tasty. I am never going back there...

Day 3 we went to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was my first time and it was a gorgeous (but slightly chilly day). We ended up waiting in line at Grimaldi's. Afterwards we went to the park between the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge then took the train back. We were pretty exhausted, so we just crashed on my couch and relaxed.

On Day 4 I took a half day and we went to Shake Shack for lunch and then off to Central Park where we ended up renting a row boat! I hadn't rowed a boat in a really long time, so it took a little bit to get used to it, but after awhile it was super fun. The pond is actually quite large. so you can get far in the rowboat. We saw some turtles and decided to take a few pictures next to them. There was also a really strange bird that just stood there with it's wings spread straight out. Maybe trying to attract a mate? Who knows. Afterwards we went to Bloomingdales and walked around that area. I was still pretty full from dinner, and I really can't remember what we did afterwards.

Day 5 we went to eat at Cafe Habana and then shopped around SoHo again. Then we made our way up to the Empire State Building. We were lucky that there was no line. The view from the top is really nice, but really pricey actually. $18 for just floor 86 and then another $15 for floor 102. You [Roo] kept hearing random German everywhere. Apparently there were a lot of Germans at the Empire State Building that day... discussing cream... and whipped cream... random.

After that we went to the Yelp party for the month. Met some really cool people, including some new friends we went to dinner with. Seemed really chill and interesting. We ended up at Jeollado, which I had never heard of until that day. It was pretty good, and very empty. We were the only patrons.

I had a full day on Wednesday, but after work we went to Almond to meet up with Lisa, Tom, Ning and Lisa's co-worker. I will never take a Patron shot without eating ever again. I went back to my apartment to get my phone and I ended up laying on my floor because I just couldn't pick myself up. I love spending time on my floor... I swear. Never Patron. Never again.

Thursday was your [Roo's] last day. We didn't get to do much. We ate at Roberto and then went to Magnolia. I'm glad you got to do almost everything you wanted to do and I hope that you come back soon!!!

Miss you and your crazy antics!

~Joannie~
[Weather | Chilly]
[Listening | "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario]

Thank You For An Excellent Housewarming

2009-05-10T22:38:00.004-04:00

[Mood | Happy]

On Saturday I had an excellent housewarming. Everyone (except Drew -- boo on you Drew!) showed up and saw my new apartment!

Roo and I started making all the food on Friday night -- Baked French Toast -- Ham and Cheese Casserole -- Triple Berry Trifle -- Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies. Going to share some of the recipes here.

The Baked French Toast (recipe) looked really good, but I actually didn't try any at all! I have no idea how it tasted. There was a lot left, so I'm really sorry if it didn't taste as good as it looked. The berries were my idea, it was supposed to have a praline topping, but unfortunately I decided not to make it (particularly because pralines are kind of expensive and not good up in the north -- gotta get those southern pralines from Georgia).

The next thing I made was the Ham and Cheese Casserole (recipe). Essentially I used pancetta instead of ham and the cheese was just mixed Italian cheese. I wanted to use gruyere, but in the end, gruyere was a little too expensive so I stucked with packaged shredded cheese. There was a little too much thyme, I would cut out a few teaspoons next time.

Roo helped me make the Triple Berry Trifle. Now this is a secret Martha Cook Building recipe so I can't release it to the public (jk, just email me if you want it). It turned out great despite some of the problems we had along the way (not enough milk in the pudding - which we corrected - and really syrupy fruit - which we drained). Anything with pound cake, pudding, fruit and whipped cream is always delicious. I should make miniature versions the next time so that we'll have individual portions. Although, my trifle dish is coming in handy more often than I thought it would. (Woo! A solid investment!)

The last thing I made on Friday night was the Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies (recipe). The recipe itself called for toffee chips as well, but we decided to forgo the toffee chips because Roo and I both don't like toffee. These cookies were AMAZING! Roo can attest to how yummy they were because she practically ate a dozen of them.

Overall everything was really easy to make. The next day just called for stuffing it all in the oven and by the time people arrived all the food was ready. I also had bagels and lox, and Christine helped by making me a lovely strawberry feta and spinach salad (THANK YOU SO MUCH CHRISTINE!!!) Jon brought me two pineapples and Thomas brought two canteloupes. Lisa and Tom brought a bottle of red wine and Ning a bottle of white wine. Kelly bought me some lovely lilac/hydrangea hybrid flower. (I could almost swear these are lilacs, but Kelly told me they were hydrangeas, I have no idea anymore). Joanlie brought me some really pretty spider mums (chrysanthemums). At this point we had ran out of vases, so we were on our way to using wine bottles as vases. I think I need to buy a few more vases because of how much I love fresh cut flowers in the apartment. They just make me so happy...!!! I had a potted set of lilies in the apartment, but they had peaked awhile back and were already losing their petals so they weren't looking so great. I was glad to get some fresher flowers into the apartment. Greg brought me some more lilies which I had to empty out even more wine bottles (yeah... we were drinking a lot.. I mean...) to hold all the flowers. I love really do love lilies, but I just wish they'd last longer before they peak. I think I'll have to get a window box.

Now I have tons of flowers in my window enjoying the sun and so that people in the street can... enjoy them as well! I think I'm going to buy cut flowers every week just to "beautify" my apartment (and for my general happiness).

Overall it was an awesome day. It completely pooped Lindsay out (she passed out on my couch holding my hippo for 2 hours), but even after that we managed to go out (in which we did not return home until 6am...) Yes, after the housewarming I went out and didn't return home until the sun was up. I haven't done that in ages.

Anyway, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR AN AWESOME HOUSEWARMING! My new home is very very "warm" now and I love it! Thanks and please visit any time!!

~Joannie~
[Weather | Nice]
[Listening | "Every Breath You Take" by The Police]

Yes, I do particularly enjoy eating...

2009-04-28T12:06:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Hungry]

Yes, I do particularly enjoy eating. Although you can say I'm not particularly picky. I know what tastes good and what tastes bad, don't get me wrong, I think my taste buds are pretty refined. I am willing to try (most) things at least once.

For me, food has always been an adventure and Taiwan is my adventure heaven.

I come from a long line of family members who are well-trained home cooks. My grandmother being excellent at traditional dishes -- Taiwanese, Chinese & Japanese. Plus ,y mother, a one-time chef (at a ... country club...) who learned from my grandmother, is probably one of the best (Chinese/Taiwanese recipe) home cooks I know. It's always been a struggle for me to match their excellence. Mainly because I probably inherited any cooking skills from my father's side (aka none). Then again, my father's side has several restaurant owners.

Where does that leave me?

Yes, I do particularly enjoy eating. I think I'll probably be more of an eater than a cooking maven. I do want to learn, but patience in not my virtue. The new kitchen will be a great way to test my skills and we'll see where it takes me.

My thoughts are a little jumbled mainly because I'm starving right now. (Please feed me soon!) I can't wait to start off on my culinary adventures and I'll try to post as many recipes etc here. Hope this doesn't overrun my twitter.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Sunny]
[Listening | Nothing]

Marking 6 Years

2009-04-25T01:32:00.003-04:00

[Mood | Tired]

The day is here. This month I've thought a great deal about SBD. Probably more than I have in the past 2 anniversaries. I don't know why this year was any different. I was in New York last year as well, but somehow this year I found myself counting down to this date. Maybe it was because my moving day coincided with the date. Maybe it was because I found myself talking to old friends that reminded me of the past?

I'm not sure.

Today marks the 6 year anniversary of Serge's passing. I think my appreciation for everything in life has greatly improved since last year. I am grateful for all the wonderful people in my life, grateful for my luck in my awesome job, grateful for my amazing parents and grateful to be healthy and happy in the greatest city in the world.

Thank you Serge. When I think of you, I think about how much more appreciate the little things in life.

(I'd also like to take the time to apologize to any of my friends for any awkward/strange behavior... I just get into a rut in April)

~Joannie~
[Weather | Lovely]
[Listening | "Colourblind" by Counting Crows]

Fixation (among other things)

2009-04-20T09:38:00.003-04:00

[Mood | Calm]

Do you ever get fixated on something and you just can't get that thing out of your head? I think this definitely happens to women more than men, but it's just bothering you and dragging you down during the day? (Oh and maybe even night?)

I think lately I've been more easily fixated on things than I would like. Moving is my #1 thing I'm fixated on. I'm obsessed with thinking about floorplans, decor, details. I keep mulling over everything in my head and it's driving me over the edge.

The second thing is figuring out if I'm ever going to finish my first novel. It comes and goes, but I'm always thinking about it on a sidebar. Lately more-so. I have about 4 projects in the works. I'm hoping to get a netbook soon so that it'll be easier to type up over writing in a notebook.

Finally, it's the whole New York single life scene. In the past few months I have gone from being in a sea of single friends to one of the only few left in the boat. Ian says he would take the crazy single NYers on any time because there aren't many quirky people in Detroit... but seriously? I'd rather take the consistency of Detroit over the madness that is NY any day (at least dating wise). There are no rules here, everything and anything goes, and no matter how much I try to make sure that my emotional quotient stays constant, it seems like something new is happening or is ok or is endured.

It's probably not very clear what I mean, but it's not really meant to be very clear. New York is filled with madness and it takes a lot of strength and willpower to ensure that the madness doesn't enter your own life or change who you are (for the worse at least).

If you plan on moving to NY, you better be an emotionally strongwilled person, or else, it may be the end of your former self.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Rainy]
[Listening | Nothing]

I really like... sonnets!?

2009-04-15T09:39:00.005-04:00

[Mood | Tired]

I have a love affair with sonnets. I know, completely weird. What's even weirder is... I hate (ok, don't like) poetry.

In high school one of my favorite classes was Shakespeare. (I know, I'm a dork). The only reason I probably enjoyed this class so much was because a) I had an awesome teacher; b) it was an easy A and c) I had some really cool friends in the class.

About a 1/3 of the class was devoted to Shakespearean Sonnets. I hope everyone knows "generally" what a sonnet is, but I'll put the description here anyway.

According to Wikipedia:

The sonnet is one of the poetic forms that can be found in lyric poetry from Europe. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song". By the thirteenth century, it had come to signify a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure.

So in my Shakespeare class, I had to analyze Sonnet 14:

Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck;
And yet methinks I have astronomy,
But not to tell of good or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality;
Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,
Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,
Or say with princes if it shall go well,
By oft predict that I in heaven find:
But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive,
And, constant stars, in them I read such art
As truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself to store thou wouldst convert;
Or else of thee this I prognosticate:
Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.

Yeah, Shakespearean English can be such a hassle to read and analyze, but there are really great translations and analysis all over the web. What would I have done without the internet? I really find lyrical poetry really soothing and I have attempted to write my own sonnets (which I found yesterday, which is why this topic came up).

I wrote one sonnet and I have an original version and a slightly (very slightly) edited version. I've posted them here:

Version 1:

My heart aches with the simple thought of you,
As I give you all the love that I find.
It makes me wonder if you love me too,
When you wander through my troubled dark mind.
My heart skips a beat when I hear your voice,
My light heart flutters when you are close by.
If you had to choose, when given a choice,
Would you want to be with me, tell me why.
If tomorrow I leave or go away,
Will you remember the times that we shared,
Or will you forget with each passing day,
And let it all go like you never cared.
My short time seems so full when my heart pounds,
My life seems so whole when you are around.

Version 2:

My heart aches with the simple thought of you,
When you wander through my dark troubled mind.
It makes me wonder if you love me too,
As the rays of the sun make my heart blind.
My heart skips a beat when I hear your voice,
The birds sing a song as you come close by.
If you had to choose, when given a choice,
Would you want to be with me, tell me why.
If tomorrow I leave or go away,
Will you remember the times that we shared,
Or will you forget with each passing day,
Along with this love that I have left undeclared?
My short time seems so full when my heart pounds,
My life seems so whole when you are around.

Version 2 was slightly edited because I wrote it for a S.B.D. and left it on the corner of Ridge & Powell.

Anyway, sonnets. For some reason I was reading my old blog entries and I stumbled upon these sonnets again and thought it'd be interesting to bring the topic back up now that I seem to be writing a lot of blog entries again.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Chilly]
[Listening | Nothing]

The Case of Golden Bridge Restaurant

2009-04-14T11:11:00.003-04:00

[Mood | Hungry]

I am not an anarchist. I am not a hippie. I am not a grassroots movement type of girl. Yet somehow, I have protested in front of grocery stores, dim-sum restaurants and buffet restaurants due to unfair labour practices.

Frankly, I have no idea why I've gotten myself into those situations.

It really starts back in high school. Young, impressionable, naive and looking forward to "changing the world" one day I raced forward with this eagerness to just DO things that I felt were righteous.

I had a lot of friends who, to this day, do a lot of amazing work for grassroots movements that involve civil rights, cultural development, and in general, just bettering communities. They're in an essence, community organizers. Without these people, communities would crumble and I have such a great respect for them and what they do... but it's not me.

These were the people that sparked my interest in civil rights and community building. It's how I got myself into those situations. I'm still often surprised on the fact that I went out there to do these things.

In California, I protested outside of an Asian supermarket (I can't remember which one, this was about 4 years ago) because they were mistreating their workers and paying them too little. We held signs, marched outside of the market, yelled into bullhorns, chanted. All of that normal stuff you see with protests.

Did it work? I still don't know, I've never gotten an update on their progress. I don't see them closing down a successful business (completely packed parking lot) and the workers (mainly immigrants) were probably expendable in that situation.

What brings me to this topic is that I was recently thinking about the Golden Bridge Restaurant in Chinatown. If you walked by only a mere 3 years ago, you would've found me in front of that restaurant, in the freezing cold, yelling about unfavourable labour practices. Everyday for a week we'd go and protest outside of the restaurant for an hour and trying to prevent patrons for entering. If you asked me, we should've done it during dim-sum time.

The restaurant is owned by an, apparently, large corporation that owns several other restaurants. They underpay their workers, demand long hours without overtime or breaks, no benefits. Fire workers unexpectantly without any notice. The mistreatment of these workers is pretty atrotious and makes me thankful for everything I have.

These days, I know that there's always two sides to a story, some more "right" than others, but you can't believe that you can change people as easily as putting them out of business or yelling at their storefront. I generally agree that businesses with poor labour practices should be shut down. No matter if a person is a citizen or not a citizen of the US, they ARE human beings and DESERVE basic human rights (like being treated like an actual human being -- not slave workers!)

Yeah, I'm not an anarchist, hippie, or grassroots kind of girl, but with my history, you'd be surprised.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Cool]
[Listening | "4 In The Morning" by Gwen Stefani]

Tulip Season! (And Other Flowers...!)

2009-04-13T09:13:00.003-04:00

[Mood | Happy]

I always get excited for Spring because it's FLOWER SEASON! May is the best because of the tulips. In Michigan, we head out to the tulip festival in Holland, Michigan (I know... cliche that Holland, Michigan has tulips just like Holland, Netherlands).

Besides the absurd number of tulips they have at this farm every year, they also have... buffalo!? This year, I won't be able to make the trip out there, but at least my bestie back home, Stacy, will be able to go! It's really a fun trip... if you like flowers.

My favorite flower experience by far has always been to go see plum blossoms. Although it seems that the beloved national flower of Japan, cherry blossoms, are much more well known in popular culture, I much prefer the national flower of Taiwan! I have to say though, I have a love-hate relationship with the plum blossom because of how it was chosen as the national flower. Although it's a beautiful flower and should be revered more because of it's significance (beauty and longevity), it's roots like with the KMT. I'm not going to get into that, because it all boils down to, it is a flower despite it's history with Taiwan.

I love the smell of magnolias. The ???(Yulan Flower) is often found being sold on roadsides to cars in Taiwan. This is probably my favorite smell in all of Taiwan (besides food, of course). One of my favorite stories from the Taipei Times is about an elderly couple that sells these flowers. Despite the story being sad, it always reminds me to shell out the small amount of money to buy some of these flowers if I ever see them selling them on the side of the road.

This year I'm excited because I'm moving close to the Union Square Green Market which sells a lot of fresh flowers. Despite allergies, I love to have plants and fresh flowers (oh and animals) around. So I'll be suffering through, but enjoying the spring and summer months.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Nice]
[Listening | Nothing]

The Heaviest Heart

2009-04-12T00:08:00.003-04:00

[Mood | Tired]

My heart is always heaviest in April. It's this month when I think about all the relationships I have forged (and not forged) in the past few years and what they mean to me.

Do you ever wish for something with all your heart?

I do. All the time. Only, I'm unlucky. I have been told that I could write a book about the amount of bad luck that has befallen me.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a bad person and I'm being punished for it. I really hope not. I like being happy and optimistic about life, but even the best of optimists have to stop and wonder why bad luck always shows up at the most opportune moments.

I cannot say that I'm completely cursed. I have a great job, a lot of great friends, supportive family and all of the stuff that should make me satisfied with life.

Yet, there's still that one hole.

Hopefully I'll be able to fill it soon. I'm optimistic about that.

It's just April when my heart is the heaviest.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Chilly]
[Listening | "Tiny Dancer" by Ben Folds]

HS Conference 2005...The Memories

2009-04-08T23:35:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Ha]

I just got invited to a friend's graduation party from med school. I haven't seen this friend in such a long time and I will always remember my sophomore year's high school conference. Mike (the grad) was a liaison to a student group, I was a co-chair with this guy named Peter. I will always remember sleeping only 1 hour the night before the conference and showing up in a t-shirt and jeans while Peter showed up in a full SUIT and then Mike... oh poor Mike who slept through about 100 frantic phone calls from us and knocking on his door for about 2 hours until we found him completely passed out. He showed up in this completely white linen outfit.

What an odd trio we were, but despite all the tears and heartache, I will always remember just how hilarious we looked in totally mismatching outfits.

Yep, I will also remember how sophomore year was probably the most awkward year of my college career. If only I could undo some of the things that happened... but what doesn't kill me, only makes me stronger right??

~Joannie~
[Weather | Nice]
[Listening | Nothing]

The Last Day Michigan Was Called "Home"

2009-04-05T09:41:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Tired]

Today is the last day that I can call Michigan home. After 16 years of great times and bad times, my parents are officially leaving Michigan to go to Georgia. Friday my parents packed up everything in the house. I felt my heart ache because I was so attached to that house. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I loved living in Michigan, despite the bitter winters and dying economy.

The good thing is that my cousins bought a place in Michigan, so I'll always have a place to stay (well and my friend's places), but it still feels like the closing of a part III to my Michigan story. First being my home (elementary-high school), then being my home while I was away at college, even if I was still in the same state, then finally the closing of the chapter while I lived in New York.

I'm glad my parents have moved on (and South Carolina/Savannah is such a great place). I'm excited to visit them, but my life is now semi-permanently in NYC now.

Goodbye Old House.

~Joannie~
[Weather | Sunny]
[Listening | "Such Great Heights" by the Postal Service]

Three Things That Never Fail To Make Me Happy

2009-04-02T11:54:00.002-04:00

[Mood | Happy]

I can be easily pleased. Little things make me happy or in a good mood. Although I have my crazy moments (ha to all my friends who have to live with those) and I have my bad days (I'm sorry everyone!) I tend to be in a good mood most of the time.

There are three things that never fail in making me happy:

1) A bright day with brilliant blue skies. This one's easy on why it makes me happy. Good weather always makes me happy, maybe it's growing up in the suburbs and a good day meant playing outside?

2) A smile from a stranger when you least expect it. I have a tendency to smile at people a lot. Creepy or not? Who cares, smiling is contagious. Whenever I walk to work, I love it when random people on the street take the time to smile because it's a great day (I usually only walk when it's nice out). Or even when the doormen are outside and saying "Good Morning" or "Hello." I used to walk by the Plaza a lot, and the doormen would always great me every morning and for some reason, it always put me in a good mood!!

3) Good food and good conversation with good friends. I'm sure this one's easy as to why it puts me in a good mood. Good food already gets me to a pretty good mood, but top it off with friends to share it with and a good conversation, I'm golden.

What things never fail to put you in a good mood?

~Joannie~
[Weather | Lovely]
[Listening | Nothing]