shokufeh is…home

Maybe this will be of interest only to those that knew and loved him, but Papa was in one of my dreams last night. He was dressed in very hip fashion, including a wide pink and grommeted belt. And the dude had a skateboard.

We were at the mall, walking around, when he walked off around the corner. I followed him, and panicked when I saw where he was going – down a ramp that hugged the building. On his skateboard. I was sure he was going to crash, and started yelling to the young guys (also with skateboards) at a turn below to help my grandfather. But Papa just sailed past them, turned the corner, and continued down the ramp. Toward the bottom, he did a u-turn and even skated over some kids practicing on a little ramp.

Even in my dream state, I was amused by this.

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I know I gushed about Garden State after I first saw it a few months ago. What I didn’t tell you is that when it came out on DVD this month, I rushed to the store and bought it, and proceeded to watch it twice in one day. And then, the next weekend, when a friend came over, asked if he’d seen it – “No? Well you should.” Three times in a week.

Garden State was also the topic of conversation several times, with different people, this weekend. Meisa finally watched it and, of course, loved it. What’s interesting to me is that she brought up the scene that resonated with me as being absolutely perfect – when Sam tapdances for Large in front of the huge fireplace, with “Fair” by Remy Zero playing on the soundtrack.

Another topic I’ve brought up before, but don’t get tired of pondering – how similar My Cousin and I are, even though we grew up many miles, and six years in age, apart. Like the sister I never had.

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I had the misfortune of hitting upon option four:
walk the couple of blocks to the YWCA ( home to my gym and pottery studio), decide I’m too tired to actually change my clothes and exercise, sit on the bench and read a magazine, go down to the pottery studio and get a few things, be picked up by Sam.

It was the absolutely laziest option, bereft of the exercise of walking home or jumping on a machine. But, I was tired. So tired that I almost wasn’t able to get up and go to In Good Company. But I mustered the energy and for that I am thankful. Both Sam and I really liked it.

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End of the work week, what to do? Go to the gym? The pottery studio? Home for a nap?

Ten Thirteen (where does the time go) years ago, Friday nights meant the weightroom, crunches, and vigorously cleaning the bathroom (I was down with the Comet in the bathtub). A couple of years later, it meant a relaxing run through the deserted business district. (I know, what was I thinking?)

I seem to have lost that discipline, because I could swear my couch is calling my name. I hope the gym pipes up. It wouldn’t even need to speak that loudly to overpower the couch, since it’s a few blocks away and the couch is a mile further. We shall see.

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On my way home from LSA tonight (Thursday), I stopped at the ‘Bucks at Barnes & Noble. I sold it to Sam as getting some caffeine for the late night I’m going to have preparing stuff for work. But really, I wanted to try the Matcha Latte, which is not sold at the stand alone ‘Bucks (3 of them) near my office.

Walking in to B&N, I spotted a familar person in the magazine section. This time, it was Daniel Dae Kim. Hanging out incognito – white tshirt, loose jeans, slippers (flip-flops) – but there’s no hiding a hottie. I guess it makes sense that when a show with such a large cast is taping on the island, you’re bound to run into some of the actors. It’s just funny to me that I’ve seen two of them in the past two weeks.

Oh, and the Matcha Latte is tasty. Though I’m embarassed to say I was high maintenance girl and had a second one made for me after I realized that I’d received a regular one rather than the non-fat I’d requested. It’s not a weight thing – my ears get clogged when I drink regular cow’s milk. I felt compelled to share that last tidbit with the counterperson (and the customer who was in line – she thought it was funny).

As an aside, Stef rules Google when it comes to Matcha Lattes.

Okay, time to get cracking.

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I used to be Amazon’s biggest cheerleader. A few months ago, if you’d brought up the mighty giant, I would have gushed about their great prices and speedy delivery. Free delivery! To Hawaii! And faster that other companies ship stuff, even though you’re paying them an extra $20, even though you’re serviced by the same USPS. You order, and poof!, it’s here within a few days….

But that’s the old Shokufeh. And the old Amazon.

Was there a change in guard and I’m just unaware? On November 20, I ordered some gifts for our nieces. Plenty of time to get here before our flight out on the night of December 2. But, they let me down. I had to go buy the same books on December 1, since my order hadn’t yet arrived. I could be mistaken, but I think that even when we got back from Orlando on December 6, the package still wasn’t here. We had to wait until the next day. The frustrating thing was checking the tracking and seeing it sit in LA for a week. What’s between here and LA? Just a five hour flight! You can’t tell me they drove it here instead. Even a ship takes only 4 days.

Okay, so last week, I ordered something for Sam’s birthday. Seeing that I was screwed over by free shipping last time, I paid for shipping, hoping that it would get here by yesterday. Nope. It departed a shipping facility in “US” on January 14. Since it started in Nevada on the 12th, it didn’t have that far to go. What’s going on?!

Two of my favorite systems – Amazon and the USPS – letting me down. If you throw in the airlines, who may be part of the issue, that’s three of my favorite systems. Knocked off their pedestals.

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I’ve decided to start referring to this family of blogs, to which I’m so lucky to belong, the famlay(-c). Famlay for short, especially when speaking.

Unrelated: there’s something funny about seeing a guy sitting on a bench, feet comfortably pulled up, kind of dozing off, with a open can of something called “Full Throttle” next to him.
Maybe it takes a while to kick in?

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Lying in bed this morning, I couldn’t help but wish that I’d studied something else, so that my contribution to the world could be a quiet garbage truck.

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I’m feeling uncomfortable. Physically and psychologically. And what else should one do in such a situation but share it with any and all? I’ve already written about the color of my pee, so why not this?

As alluded to last week, I’ve started weekly electrolysis. Today, I’m having my left thigh done. So I went and slathered my leg with numbing cream, wrapped it in cling wrap, and donned exercise shorts. When I walk around the office, I’m paranoid that people can hear me rustling under my clothes. (Reminds me of once when I wore a sanitary pad and spent the evening dragging my feet on the floor in hopes that if my male roommate heard the rustling that I heard, he would think it was my feet.) And then be bold enough to ask about it. At which point I’ll be forced to explain that I’m the hairiest person in the office. So that’s the psychological discomfort.

The physical discomfort stems from having wrapped my leg a tad too tightly. I tried to loosen it, but have you ever tried to loosen plastic wrap? So you know how that went.

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Dear Shokufeh,

I just thought a reminder might be in order: input usually has a direct correlation with output. Even Especially when beets are involved. So don’t panic on your next visit to the facilities.

love,
shokufeh

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