random updates

1. made passionate love to the ocean last wknd w/ 3 surf sessions, including two pre-work weekday surf sessions. intense. so intense my left shoulder is still totally fucked up. so i'm getting back in touch w/ my girl shiva. namaste. took the time to obsessively remove every last piece of wax from the board. spent lots of time obsessing brancusi-style. this wknd's waves are looking weak, so i'm deciding i will go hiking instead. maybe hang w/ shiva some more.

2. that story below about the rabbits and ducks was an exercise in which the object was to learn how to "cut." so i was supposed to write three paragraphs beginning with those sentences and then write the "real" story based on the third paragraph. this exercise backfired though b/c everyone either wrote fables or experimental creation stories.

3. last weekend, i had awesome hangs w/ 8 separate groups of friends. it was amazing. friday morning surf sesh w/ b-hale, friday evening happy hour w/ work peeps, saturday morning baby sesh w/ chaitness + fam, lunch w/ chelsea, afternoon sparks hang w/ bim, evening gallery/dinner/drinks hang w/ art posse, museum crawl w/ stevie p, and sandwich hang w/ z. not to mention a second hang w/ chelsea for pinkberry. i fell asleep at 8:00 PM on sunday. i was tired. photos, one day.

my friends have a blog

where they post photos of their baby doing stuff like this:

a three paragraph story

once upon a time the rabbits had guns. their arms were too short to throw spears very far and they couldn't pull back a bow and arrow very far either. so they made guns, and everyone was happy. guns made it so much easier for the rabbits to kill the ducks. the rabbits never knew how good duck tasted before they had guns, and now it seemed as if carrots were inedible unless sauteed in duck fat.

and then one day, the unthinkable happened. a rabbit turned his gun on another rabbit and shot him dead. this was the first time a rabbit gun had been used to shoot anything other than a duck. a rabbit war erupted, littering the forest floor with dead rabbit bodies. the ducks quacked with delight swooping down at night when the fighting would cease, and carrying back the rabbit corpses to the lake for rabbit stew.

and finally the rabbits saw the error of their ways and called a truce. they held a gun drive and every last firearm was brought in to never be fired again. their population bounced back in a few months. however now the ducks had discovered a taste for rabbits, but had no means to kill them. one duck found the cache of guns and showed it to the other ducks, but none could get their wings to pull the trigger.

eff yes

on a whim bought a bag of swedish fish at the grocery store.

they are so awesome.

according wikipedia, the red version have a flavor unique to the candy.

it's true. it's neither strawberry, cherry, or raspberry. it just tasted red.

my life = writing + surfing

my apt = total shithole.

losing a battle

with cheese and water crackers.

tom still sings like crap

blink 182. live clip from a secret show pre-summer tour. avoid at all costs.

weekender

so many babies, so little time.

so bdk killer and j@robdog's baby this wknd.

HELLO PRECIOUS!



so happy. so active. so cute.

she let me hold her and didn't cry.

chick phone

my phone crapped out on me, so i bought a new one.

i've been getting shit on a lot by coworkers for having the phone of a 13-year old girl.

can't fight it.



just love it.

the stoke

1. i love driving back home from the beach in the morning on the freeway on a summer day, with all the inlanders heading out. the temperature climbs about 10 degrees. it's palpable. stoked.

2. it's warm enough to wear boardshorts at venice and places south.

3. hot chicks in bikinis surfing. i don't know why hot chicks don't surf in the winter, but they are out in full force right now.

4. as for this hat thing, i found two better alternatives

(a) the seersucker hat! (to yes, wear w/ a seersucker suit w/ an ascot).



i get it. it could be a total disaster. and i think that i'd have to be mos def or something to pull it off for everyone. otherwise, it's a joke. and only 1/2 the populace will like it.

(b) the truly traditional match for seersucker, the boater hat:



this thing is all class. it's fucking amazing. only problem--it's $130 (seersucker hat $20). which i think i would go for, if i were say...in my 50's, bald, had a yacht, lived in hilton head, and got dressed up alot for daytime outings.

with that said, i think i'm probably not going to get a hat at all. that boater hat has ruined everything.

too much?

i'm invited to a wedding at a winery at the end of august.

the invite says "hats encouraged."

i'm going seersucker.

you are supposed to wear a straw hat with seersucker.

is this too much??



i think i could do this:



but the problem is they only have it in small, and as you know, i got a big fat asian head.

they have this in my size:



but it's not quite straw, it's a woven yarn.

OK!! so i found the hat not in my size but in my size. it's "natural" color, but i think that i don't need a white hat. i think i should get the middle one. yes??

high on life

1. on the metro daily, i stand w/ legs a little bit wider than shoulder width apart and act like i'm surfing for balance.

2. been spending time at night writing things.

3. how cute is this?



4. this is how to get kicked out of the met sculpture garden:

in love with the world, life.

since march. since my trip to costa rica.

everything fits like teeth on a zipper.

found a folder in a box i'm going through (my outlook for this wknd says "heavy duty house cleaning MUST HAPPEN."). labelled "EMAILS/EMO." it's got a bunch of stuff from the year after i graduated from college.

amongst other things is a single sheet of paper with a quote from a stephen malkmus interview post-pavement breakup, pre-solo debut build up. i still find it inspiring and poignant.

"i'd like to be a mix of sun ra, brian wilson, muddy waters and AC/DC. i'd like everyone to think i'm like all those things in one. i want them to think that radiohead isn't as good as me. that would be great."--stephen malkmus.

the amazing thing about that quote is that it's probably true for everyone, just swap in/out people that you want to be and better than. famous, non-famous, whatever. it's a slice of his vulnerable humanity on display.

are you guys still there? anyone barf?

start the fucking boycott

went to the oakley sunglasses website to look at sunglasses and found something disturbing.

good effort here, guys, but it's still fucking racist.

asian people: fat faces, no nose bridge. solution? "asian-fit" glasses.

there are so many levels to this, i'm having a hard time wrapping my big fat asian head around it.

while i'm at it, here's this:

NSFW, b/c there's cursing. also, skip forward to two minutes, that's what i want you to watch.

liveblogging: HIStory

at the request of a friend, i'm liveblogging HIStory. the mania, the hysteria, the LAness of it all: the MJ memorial service.

9:00 -- boss called a snow day! traffic getting to work and police presence is too crazy. has asked that i work remotely. i think i will. but just not from my house. later!

8:51 -- the answer is YES! cbs2 reports this is a way bigger deal than princess diana and elvis.

8:35 -- jL wonders if judging from the time of their death, was MJ the most worldwide beloved person ever?

8:30 -- reports that there are more police for today than there were for the '84 olympics. all cops were told they can't take vacation today. here's what sigalert says about traffic:



8:29 -- only cbs2 is running commercial free.

8:25 -- newscaster just said that people who got tickets for the memorial, "literally, won the lottery."

8:21 -- eating kasha w/ butter, bacon, and peas.


8:18 -- all major networks doing coverage. chopper coverage of: staples center, the jackson family home in encino, and the forest lawn cemetary.



8:07 -- hum of choppers in the air. yesterday news reports from LAX. interviews of people flying in to mourn their hero. estimates that 700,000 will be descending on the city.

this guy flew in from brazil just to be here. he won a ticket to the service.



part of an awesome slideshow on latimes.com here

rachel getting married

i had to stop this movie 3X b/c it was just so brutal to watch. cringe factor to the maxx.

in royal tenenbaums the fmaily was fucked up, but you went along w/ it and it never made you feel that uncomfortable b/c they were all so smug and cute about their problems right when they were about to get uncomfortable.

this shizz just went to uncomfortable and stayed there.

love anne hathaway.

favorite MJ video, album BAD

dudes!

i work 6 blocks from staples center. shit is gonna be insane tomorrow. i can't wait.

it was kind of impossible getting on the subway when the lakers parade was happening. this is going to be so ridiculous.

my recipe for fried chicken

the first time i made fried chicken it was for the fourth of july in 2003. since then i made it every july 4th, and then starting when i moved to LA, i made it for my birthday every year.

shza recently asked for my recipe so here's all my chicken knowledge published on the internet for posterity:

here's the very long email i sent him:

so for the chicken, i've made it so long, i don't even have a real
recipe, i just eyeball everything.

CHICKEN

people like chicken breast b/c white and low fat, but no flavor and
dry. chefs prefer thighs b/c dark, juicier, taste more like chicken.
i generally cook thighs. drumsticks are oddly shaped. wings too,
they are small as well.

bone-in v. boneless. i think i'm going to start experimenting w/
boneless. i haven't really done much w/ it before. it will
definitely cut down on the cooking time. one of the main problems w/
frying chicken is that it takes longest to cook the meat nearest the
bone.

BRINING IN BUTTERMILK

brine w/ normal brining ratios (salt). the buttermilk is acidic and
will breakdown the meat and make it really moist. you can throw in
whatever spices you want w/ the brine. one quart carton is good for
one tray of thighs (16 pieces or so in the big trays). also, i
usually crush at least half a head of garlic and throw it in.
sometimes tabasco. or srirachi. or maple syrup. or honey. whatever
you want.

i brine overnight, at least 12 hours. jon and vinnie of two dudes one
pan / animal restuarant say at least 2 days, and 3 days for bone-in
chicken. i just got that book, and i'm definitely going to try that
next time.

[ed note: i did an experimental asian fried chicken brined overnight
in soy sauce/water, garlic, ginger, scallions, and sugar. dredged
in panko]

SPICES

here are spices that you can add to the buttermilk brine and to the
flour you dredge the chicken in. i usually do both. i freestyle w/
whatever i feel like. any combo.

paprika
ground mustard
cumin
black pepper
cayenne
onion powder
chili powder

stuff i've seen in other recipes include: basil, thyme, rosemary,
marjoram, curry powder, cinnamon, clove/allspice

personally, never used them. but could see how they might make it
taste good. for the dried herbs, i'd put them through a grinder /
mortar b/c i'd be afraid if the pieces were too big, they would burn
in the oil.

FLOUR

i think there's a general one cup of flour to 2 tbsp of spices. i
usually just drop the spices in the flour and whisk it. alton brown
recommends mixing up the spices separate and keeping them in an
airtight container in your freezer for whenever you need to spice up
some chicken. i always throw in a good dose of black pepper and salt
in the flour as well. baking powder can be added to supposedly make
the skin crispier. (about 1/2 tsp / one cup flour).

FRYING

you have to make sure that the chicken is out of the fridge for at
least an hour. esp. w/ bone-in chicken b/c that shit is going to be
cold on the inside, esp. near the bone. if you have a rack so that
the chicken can drip off that buttermilk, do that too. it'll warm up
faster as well. (i just throw mine on a really big plate). dredge in
the flour right before you throw it in the oil.

people like cast iron for this. w/ splatter guard. i also like my 6
qt le creuset, b/c it's got high sides and there's less splashing.

oil -- i usually throw some bacon fat in there. i usually use
something with a high smoke point: grapeseed oil or peanut oil (people
have allergies to that). safflower oil too.

if you have a candy thermometer, you should use it. it makes a huge
difference. try to keep the oil at 350-375 at all times. skin side
down first, about ten minutes a side. (you will only get 3-4 pieces
in per cast iron skillet, that's why i have two skillets and the le
creuset all going for parties).

BAKING (optional)

if i'm in a rush, i throw it in the oven at 250 after each side gets a
nice crust. this speeds up the cooking time. i also like doing this
anyways, even at 10 minutes a side (at 200), b/c it drips some of the
oil out the chicken and i'm really paranoid that there will be bloody
veins near the bone. when you have thighs, this is not a worry, if
you have breast, then this is a really bad idea b/c it will get really
dry. that's the story. if i had boneless chicken, i would not do
baking at all.

if you are bringing this somewhere that's not your house, carry in a
paper bag. (also it's good to put on old grocery bags to suck out
oil). if you stick it in something that is airtight, it will get
soggy. that's why KFC comes in a bucket.