Piggy Party

The front of the card


Inside the card. Excuse the lame hand-writing and terrible pun.

Happy birthday, Katherine! I know you love pigs!

Trader Joe's

There's this huge scaffolding in front of Trader Joe's on 14th Street.

It makes such a bright and cheery place look like an ominous store that will sell you drugs. Really, what was once a huge sidewalk is now really scary-looking and narrow. Made me second guess my trip there; but I'm glad I still went in, otherwise I wouldn't have bought this AMAZING EDAMAME HUMMUS and a box of cherries! Now I just can't wait for them to bring on the peaches and nectarines.

(You notice that as I'm frantically studying vocab for my GRE I can still use words like "scary-looking"?)

So I'm sitting here watching "Three Times" by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, a Taiwanese film-maker. The movie is broken up into 3 different parts:

Part One: 1966 -- "A Time For Love": Two young people fall in love at first sight at a traditional pool hall in Kaoshiong (where my mom grew up, and she told me, "ah, and that's what we did! we played pool!").

Part Two: 1911 -- "A Time for Freedom": Basically, we have classic Taiwan trying to free themselves from Japanese powers. And, we see the classic Chinese male hair-do of a ponytail and half-shaved head.

Part Three: 2005 -- "A Time for Youth": I don't like this part because the girl is crazy and her male counterpart just doesn't know how to deal.

After Part Two is over, I'm going to skip out for coffee and to study.

Part One and Part Two are definitely worth watching, if not for the precious love story in the first part, then it's for the hidden history of Taiwan no one really knows about in the second.

Bye Nana's Treats

Because of the economic monster that's struck, this morning I had to help my company move out of our office space.

le sigh.

Of course, since my life is often lived in accordance to cinematic ideologies, it was pouring this morning and our tiny team was suddenly displaced. But what's worse than being displaced is knowing that I would be far from Nana.

Not my Nana (typically I wouldn't have called my Nana-like figure "Nana" anyway), but Nana who created Nana's Treats just across the street from our office. Sure, their medium coffee was 75 cents more expensive than La Petite Abeille right next door, but you're always willing to pay that price for a little hole in the wall (or in this case basement in the sidewalk).

Often I've frequented Nana's in the afternoon and chatted up with Mark. Mark: the middle aged man who was working to help his sister (AKA "Nana"!).

Mark was really nice to me, and since the summer started and I'd go almost daily, he'd give me treats. Not just any treats: free treats.

He and I, well, we became friends, I'd say. Friends in the type that when I came in, he'd say, "Hey!" and we'd chat about life. I'd get my coffee and then he'd say, "Here, take this bag of bagels" or "How about a cookie, or two, or four?"

Aww, Mark...aw shucks. You make me blush. I'm not even hungry, but I'll eat them anyway.

Sure it was awkward sometimes when other people were shoved in this small square of a space, but, I still went. I paid those extra 75 cents (and in exchange I oftentimes was given a large instead of a medium), and I achieved a New York dream: I went somewhere often enough that the people who work there expect, adore, love, and greet me happily.

This is something you (I) dream of achieving!

Well, then we were displaced and I couldn't even tell him about it. Because I didn't know we were leaving until the morning we left. What pains me is that on Wednesday I said to him, "I'll be here tomorrow!" and he said "looking forward to it."

UGH! The agony. You can't imagine the agony I feel.

The relationship I had so carefully cultivated through the past year has suddenly crumbled right before my eyes. My heart can barely take it (even though my stomach is probably thanking me).

Here's looking at you, Nana...the best I've ever had.


(image via powerbooktrance)

The NYC Eater

On Sunday I was a huge pig. I had the most quintessential NYC day, but at the same time, I ate more than I had in the past month. Let's break it down:

10 AM Peanut Butter and Banana Open-Faced Sandwich on Whole Wheat bread.

12:30 PM Headed to The Big Apple BBQ. Despite my efforts to not eat anything, I ate a Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of beans.

2:00 PM Down to the West Village to drop off artwork. Received 4 cupcakes from Sweet Revenge, where my friend is a baker. Didn't eat them (yet).

3:15 PM Met a friend to go to the Lower East Side. Went to Doughnut Plant and indulged in a Carrot Cake Doughnut and a Tres Leche Doughnut. May have died in Heaven.

4:30-5:00 PM Back up to 14th Street/1st Ave where my friend suggested we eat Artichoke Pizza (AKA the most delicious pizza in all of New York City). Huge slice. I devoured it as my stomach tried to reject everything I had eaten. Could not finish crusts, which is sad since i love crusts.

7:00 PM Prepared my lunch for today. Salad. Why? Because I can't handle myself.

Go ahead. Take an NYC food tour. Be sure to call me up when you do, though.