F&F week

F&F Goals of the Week: Forbidden Trail and Fondue!

52 weeks in a year; I wonder if I can assign a fun theme to each week.  Last week was Pestilence & President.  The week before...CNY & Courtship?  Should be fun to draw a visual calendar at the end of the year.

Anyway, Forbidden Trail!  Love the name and the story isn't bad either.  Edgar Allen Poe described it: "Now the Wissahiccon is of so remarkable a loveliness that, were it flowing in England, it would be the theme of every bard, and the common topic of every tongue..."

I saw a few deer, some horses, and plenty of people seeking quiet and solace from the city.  At one part of the creek, I was only three meters away from another man before I noticed him.  He was so still and blended with the scenery, even though he was wearing colorful clothing.

The hot sausage I got from a food truck at the end was lovely too.  Just the right amount of spice.  Ahhh.

Now on to the next challenge of the week!  Fondue~! (say it with a french chef's voice.)

For the menu so far, I've come up with:

Chocolate Pot: Apple, grape, banana, pineapple, marshmallow, cream puff and cheesecake

Cheese Pot: Apple, grape, sourdough bread, cocktail sausage, broccoli, mini potatoes, and mushrooms

Oil Pot (Bourguignonne, hon hon hon!) : Beef (tenderloin, sirloin), lamb, chicken, prawn

Sauces: Mushroom, mustard, black pepper, curry, ginger plum, teriyaki

Oh, and I should probably have two types of wine and side dishes (one salad, one starch) to go with this.  Hmm.

The second challenge seems infinitely harder...

Everything can be simplified

Many changes in life recently, but I'm still digesting/processing everything.

However, on a completely unrelated but unbelievably terrific note,  I can't wait for these Lord of the Rings LEGO sets!  Now I want D&D LEGO.  I guess the Warcraft Mega Bloks will have to do.

The Fade

I need to be okay with old age.

Awhile back, I couldn't stop imagining people growing older.  I'm not terribly good at spatial visualization, but exaggerating/aging a person's looks is, surprisingly, my forte.  Skin sagged, ballooned.  Wrinkles appeared, deepened.

This hearkens back to my first acknowledgement of death.  At the time, I couldn't come to terms with the permanence of another world.

Now, I'm struggling with the multitude of time lines surrounding me.  They still appear and disappear suddenly from my life, but now I can see and imagine the fading.

I want to shake them and ask: "Do you not see?"

But then, maybe they do see.  And there's nothing to be done.

And it's okay.

Today's image borrowed from The Bouletcorp: Darkness

二月

This is going to start out like one of the survivor logs.

Day 9: Still sick.  The cough has gotten worse.  Violent, chest-wracking.  Uninterrupted sleep feels like a life time ago.

I looked out the window today and saw rays of sunshine.  Everything outside looked a little overexposed.  Like the way a patient sees the world.

End melodramatic tone.

The Tiny Towers incident is still leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.  Zynga presented on campus last quarter and I was very nearly swindled.  Glu games followed suit.  Tiny Towers comes free, so I bought $10 in-game transactions today and spent the afternoon in solidarity.

THQ (Toy Head-Quarters, great name) has always done good work regarding the Warhammer, UFC, and Darksider series.  Sad to see them falling.

Pacquiao/Mayweather fight on hold again.  If if this was a manga series, they would both be teleported to a random plane of nothingness and forced to duke it out.  For now, that random plane is called Fight Night Champion (video game.)

Always end on a bright note.  I'm going to eat donuts made from a robot tomorrow.

DT35

One keyboard to rule them all,
One keyboard to find them
One keyboard to bring them all
and on the ladder pwn them.

Week of CNY!

The beginning of each quarter is always a juggling act on a roller coaster.  Add CNY to the mix?  Then it's juggling + roller coaster - seat belts.  My body finally broke down and now I'm trying to recover before my trip to NY.  Oh, but I should have more pictures after this week.  There's a parade in Chinatown this Sunday and lots of eating will occur.

Aother New Year's Resolution.  Make New Year's Resolutions AFTER CNY!

Oscars!

The Oscars are just around the corner, and much like any "connoisseur" event, it's much better if you do your hw.  So before February 26th, I would love to see the following films.  This doesn't include the entire list of nominees, but these are the ones that interest me most.  I have about 30 days to take on these 8 movies that interest me the most, so roughly 2 pieces a week shouldn't be that rough.  And here are the nominees, in no particular order:

Hugo: Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.

People in my major will NOT stop talking about this!  Scorsese's first film in 12 years not starring Leonardo DiCaprio; James Cameron openly praised this as the best use of 3D, even trumping his own films; and ELEVEN Oscar nominations.  Not only does the movie seem to inspire conversation, people seem to want to research the original book and time period.  Should be a good one.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.


Gary Oldman.  Gary Oldman.  Gary Oldman.  He has NEVER won an Oscar before.  WHAT?  Since I first watched him in Leon: The Professional, I have never been disappointed by his performance.  And he's had A LOT.  Sure, it's going to be tough to win the leading actor category, but man would it be sweet.  Oh, and the plot sounds perfect for him.


The Tree of Life: The story centers around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence. 


The plot sounds simple enough, but Brad Pitt and Sean Penn are two actors I can just watch.  Even if they have the smallest roles, they're strong examples of undeniable screen presence.  Plus, my twitter was aflame about this and I really should've caught this on the plane.


The Ides of March: An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.


During this year of elections (Taiwan just had one), this movie should be incredibly relevant and get us in the mood for the end of the year.  Also, Clooney's accolades just doesn't slow down.  His trophy room must take an awful lot of time to clean by now.


The Descendants: A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.


Another Clooney movie!  This trailer actually caught my eye with subtle acting that doesn't permeate comedies/soaps enough.  Alexander Payne (director of Sideways, About Schmidt) usually nails this perfectly.  Also, set in Hawaii.  I need to see some sunshine/beaches in my life right now.


War Horse: Young Albert enlists to service in WWI after his beloved horse, Joey, is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on.


Spielberg!  Unbelievably, his first film to be edited digitally!  He also does war/drama films like no other, so this should be an enjoyable one.


The Artist: Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

Along with Hugo, this movie has suddenly taken the Oscar race by storm.  10 noms and by gods, it's a silent film!  I don't even know how my viewing experience of this will be, but I'm ever so curious.


The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom: Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan's recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.

Tears will be shed.  But when I'm mentally prepared, I do enjoy movies that celebrate human tenacity.  Aftershock was my last disaster movie and there was not a pair of dry eyes in the theater.  Let's see what happens this time.