I should have mentioned this earlier

Last week Steph and I headed down to L.A. for an extremely brief sojourn. We went to the 35th anniversary party for Hello Kitty. Normally a Hello Kitty party in and of itself would not usually be an impetus for a 24 hour trip to L.A. (I had an unbreakable tattoo appointment the next day) Don't get me wrong, in a girls quest to be 'cute' a little Hello Kitty goes a long way and I respect that, but I don't love spending more time in the car than in the actual destination itself. But this was different because A. Steph made some accessories for the event and B. Stephs peeps were organizing the event. These two things made it totally worth it. The party was held at Royal T in Culver City. It's apparently where a great deal of L.A. Lolita girls like to congregate for High Tea. I had no idea what to expect even though I knew it was being sponsored by Sanrio but it was also being organized by a couple of Stephs friends and to my knowledge throwing these types of events isn't their main gigs. Upon arrival we quickly discovered that this a very 'Hollywood' bright lights event. There was a line which stretched down the sidewalk. There was a news crew and b-list celebs. And of course there were plenty of peeps in flashy attire. We ended up standing in line for about an hour and a half which to me seemed ridiculous considering Steph was a participating artist. We eventually made it inside and I was astounded by all the contributing artists involved. Some notable peeps were Gary Baseman, Toki Doki, Buff Monster, Huck Gee and Steph's friend Michelle who made some headbands that looked like giant red bows. They were quite a hit. I picked one up for Steph and apparently she got lucky since it was the last one. Michelle's a cool girl and good for her. Among the other exciting things was chiefly the open bar. I very much appreciated drinking free beers. At one point Steph and all of her colorful haired girls were called out by the news crew for a little interview sesh. I ended up taking the opportunity to walk around and check out some of the paintings and some general people watching. When I met back up with Steph we ended up getting to check out the super awesome Hello Kitty Airstream trailer. Afterwards we went over to Swingers diner for some eggs with a whole crew of peeps. We got up the next morning and went to Milk, one of our new favorite L.A. spots to nosh, and grabbed some road eats before heading back to S.F. I ended up skating back to the city with minutes to spare before my tattoo appointment. Needless to say I was bit tired and worn out from all the driving, not to mention a bit hungry. the problem with that is that I think it might affect one's pain threshold because this was probably the worst I've felt ever. Holly (the tattoo artist) spent most of the evening working on of all places my armpit area which on a good day is my very least favorite of places. I endured and walked away closer to being done. Anyway, pics away!

Bistro-Mathics

Oh how I love the writings of Douglas Adams. I love listening to the old Hitchhiker's radio shows when I'm at my job. This segment is classic. It's about how the most advanced and complex mathematics in Universe is based on the interplay that happens in restaurants. The part about the non absolute values of numbers based on a table reservation is brilliant, especially if you've ever tried to make one for a large group before. It's always a clusterfuck.

Soup Nazi

I figured I'd take a moment of my time and impart some wisdom I have learned. That wisdom is good soup. I have this go-to Cambodian soup recipe I really love to make. It ends up being pretty cheap to make, although I do shop at places like Whole Foods so it's not that cheap I suppose. most importantly it is delicious!!! It is no secret that I keep that I think the flavor profiles of Southeast Asian cuisines are my favorite. Salty, sour, sweet, spicy it's all in there. This little number is a great late night dish because it's fairly quick to make. Anyway on to the goods.

Ingrdients:
1. Chicken - White, dark skin on or off it's up to you. I prefer it to be on the bone for flavor but that's me.

2. Chicken Stock - Scratch made is best but that is admittedly time consuming.

3. Galangal - It's in the ginger family, very prevalant in Southeast Asian dishes. You can use ginger as a substitute.

4. Lemongrass - lot's of it and there is no substituting for this. It's Cru-sch! I have container of it in my freezer pre-chopped. It just makes things easy.

5. Kaffir Lime Leaves - They are tasty and much required. I keep them in my freezer.

6. Thai Basil - It's way dfferent than common basil. Don't try to substitute for it. If you can't find it then skip it.

7. Fish Sauce - Um, it's a must and it's delicious. Easy to find.

8. Rice - Jasmine is the usual here.

9. Cilantro - Super common, but if you can find Saw Grass then go for it!

10. lemon and/ or lime juice -

11. Garlic - as much as you want

12. Shallot - Easy.

13. Green Onions - Easy.

14. Fermented Shrimp paste - It's not for the faint of heart it's stinky and delicious. You have to venture into Asian markets for this. If you don't have it no worries.

15. You can extra things if you want like Chinese long beans, bok choy, cabbage, mushrooms. You can make a vegetarian version as well just sub vege stock and straw mushrooms.

16. Black pepper or Sichuan pepper - Sichuan is around if you look for it. It's awesome because it makes your mouth go numb.

17. Thai chilies - birds eye or you can use serrano or jalapeno if you like.

Now we come to the cooking part:

Step 1: Chicken stock, water (cuts the salt a bit), fish sauce, shrimp paste, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, rice, black pepper. Bring to a boil.

Step 2. Now add chicken and shallot and anything from ingredient 15. Oh yeah, reduce to a simmer. It's pretty much ready when the chicken and the rice are done.

Step 3. I'll bet you're asking what about all that other shit you told me to buy. My answer is "I'm just getting to that!" In a serving bowl, add chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, lemon and/or lime juice (fresh squezzed yo!), Chopped kaffir lime leaves, chopped Thai basil leaves, chopped chili peppers.

Step 4. Ladel hot soup over the fresh ingredients in the bowl and give it a little mix and you're in business. Khmer style.

I think that pretty much covers it. You'll notice I don't give quantities because I don't cook savory dishes that way. You should always build your flavors to taste. Don't let me dictate how much fish sauce is too little or too much for you. Obviously you can always add more of something but it's pretty hard to take it away.

I added a pic. But it's not mine. I forgot to take one but I wanted to at least give a pretty good representation of the finished dish.

Bon Apple Tits.

Wow sold!

As it turns out just as we get back from Houston my Squid gets sold to someone, in Houston of all places. Awesome! But I will totally miss the Squid. I have a deer left to embellish and I'll have to get on that quick.

7th Grade

7th grade was an awesome time for me. The Awkward kid.

I'm a dude. I have an Etsy page. Deal with it.

I just posted a new little project to Etsy. It's a Squid.


UPDATE: I just sold the Squid.

Some things

Last Saturday Steph and I met up with a couple of our vegan friends in Oakland. They wanted to take us to Souley Vegan near Jack London square. The very idea of soul fod made vegan is so ridiculous. So ridiculous it just might work. We ordered a mélange of soul food staples, veganized. Ok firstly, some of the basic ingredients to really good soul food dishes are butter, lard, and bacon so already we're running into some issues with this idea. Anyway steph and I ordered gluttonous amounts of food because we had to try as much as we could. We ended up with corn bread, collard greens, lentils, chicken fried tofu, BBQ tofu, mac n cheese-like sauce, and French fries and I chased it with a cayenne lemonade. Phew! It was a bit sad having to wait like 45 minutes to get our food. Oh well it was Actually good. I dont normally consider vegan food to be super yummy but I hold to a basic tenet that highly seasoned and deep fried foods will always be delicious and this place was putting on a clinic in this regard. I'll for Shiz go back, with vegans.

On Monday night my buddy alex and I went to see fever ray. It was a bit of an odyssey. One thing I am a complete failure at is prepurchasing tickets for concerts. I fail at this because I am terrible at judging whether a show will sell out or not. In this case I figured I'd just stroll up to the door and buy tickets. Oops! It was well sold out. But as luck would have it we were able to buy scalper tickets. The show was just epic! The lighting scheme was amazing. They used some very low lit Victorian era lamps and some lasers. You really couldn't see the band except for their silhouettes. Also, bonus, no encore. I hate encores. I just hate them.

I just got a sweet haircut.











Wherever you go, there you are

Spice Odyssey: Exploring the Burning Tongues of Saturn.: I approve this message

Spice Odyssey: Exploring the Burning Tongues of Saturn.: I approve this message