today i made japanese curry.

so what if it's pre-made in a packet that i just have to heat up in boiling water? it was quite tasty - and as a twist, we put it on udon noodles instead of rice. in the words of rachel ray, yumm-o! maybe one day i'll make real curry from scratch (whether japanese, indian or thai.. mm, they all sound good right now).

oh also, i became an aunt for the third time today - my oldest brother and his wife just had their third baby! doesn't really count as a "new" for "first" but thought i'd share anyway. welcome to the world baby leila!

today i learned "petrichor".

the word came up at dinner tonight and it's the word for that post-rain smell - who knew there was a word for it? from wikipedia:

from Greek petros "stone" + ichor "the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology") is the name of the scent of rain on dry earth.

although, the word was created specifically for a scent that involves oil from plants and dry earth - so i doubt it's truly the smell most of us know from living in cities and suburbs. perhaps a new word should be created for that - cementichor? asphaltichor? hmm...

today i saw an education.

it's about a sixteen-year-old english girl who meets an older man and is seducted by the life he introduces to her. it's a very beautiful movie - i loved it.

today i learned about some new york eats.

dan is in long island for thanksgiving and a cousin's wedding, but will be in manhattan tomorrow for a hockey game at madison square garden. he asked me to look up some nearby places him and the fam could go eat at beforehand. so, i started by looking at eaterNY's eater38, and used google and yelp from there. in the end, i sent him 3 places: co. (a pizza place), txikito (a basque tapas place) and rickshaw dumpling bar (a dumpling place). 3 different styles of cuisine, 3 different price points, all very interesting. now i'm just jealous i don't get to go.

today i had a durian pastry.

so, i've never had durian before, and i try to avoid it because they reek pretty badly. i know some people love them, but most dislike them. today at dim sum, my parents ordered a durian dessert - a sort of cannoli-type with durian filling. it didn't smell at all (i guess that only happens when the fruit is first broken open) so i tried a bite, and i did not like it. i mean, it didn't really taste like much, but the consistency was thick, gooey, sticky and really not to my liking. kind of like peanut butter gone wrong. but hey, i tried it.

today i saw an out-of-control child.

while dinnering by the front window facade of california roll factory tonight, a woman walked by with her eight-to-ten-year-old child who went into hysterics in front of the restaurant, screaming, crying, tantruming on the ground, and even grabbing at the outside chairs and tables. it was insane, and this woman could not get control of her child (not that she was trying that hard, and was throwing a bit of a tantrum herself).

as disrupting as it was for us with only a pane of glass separating us from the craziness, i felt really bad for two guys that were sitting outside.. the ones whose table and chairs she was grabbing at and sitting in.. she even grabbed at their chopsticks and food. this went on for nearly twenty minutes!

and while i obviously don't know the whole story and shouldn't judge, i just don't understand how it could escalate to that point. boundaries and discipline, people. boundaries and discipline!! did i mention the woman was walking the child on one of those monkey backpack leashes?

today i ate at barbrix.

barbrix is a relatively new resto + wine bar in silverlake that i've been meaning to try for awhile, and we finally had the opportunity tonight! we had two bottles of a very tasty austrian red, and many small plates - all very delicious. and, of course, i took lots of pictures.

today i saw my photo on eaterLA!

eaterLA used one of my anisette photos from this past weekend in one of their posts today! it's the first time they've used one of the photos i've thrown in their flickr group. funnily, the credit originally read jenniferjpants instead of jenniferjpan (i emailed them to correct it..). i wonder if pants is the noun or the verb?

today i saw a christmas carol.

motion capture has come a long way since that final fantasy movie back in 2001. and beowulf was pretty good, but not quite there. today i saw zemeckis's a christmas carol, and for the first time ever, it's spot-on. at least for the main character anyway - all other characters are at about beowulf's level. the movie itself is pretty dark and even scary at points. definitely worth seeing.

today i used a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

my brother found and gave me the lens a couple weeks ago, but today was really my first time using it. i took it to dinner at anisette with us - and it was perfect for the low-lighting food shots i was taking. here are a few:

 

today i watched miyazaki's porco rosso.

we found the dvd a few weeks for five bucks at a blockbuster that's going out of business, and finally got around to watching it. and while they never explain why the main character was turned into a pig, or what happens to him in the end (not surprising from miyazaki) it was a very beautiful and funny movie.

today i saw baseball stadium panoramic collages.

in the front lobby of the building i work in, they've been showing several employees photographic series. the new one that went on display today is a bunch of panoramic collages of baseball stadiums. there were many of dodger stadium, but also included wrigley field, yankee stadium, shea stadium, petco park, citi field and fenway park. they're pretty amazing.

today i had really bad mochi.

i love mochi. looooove. and mochi ice cream is a staple. today we picked up the usual box of mikawaya red bean mochi ice cream at the supermarket. however, today it was bad. really bad. instead of the mochi being its usual chewy / gluten-y texture (or 'Q', as we taiwanese say), it was dry and crumbly and flaky and paper-y. my guess is freezer burn, but regardless of the reason, it was just plain gross.

today i learned how to surface fur.

i've been doing a little bit of surfacing at work for the past month - just an asset here and there. it's been great because it's helped me better understand the workflow of my artists and how their shader networks are set up. plus, it's also just fun for me. today, my supervisor taught me how to use fur to put a bit of fuzz on some fabric. very exciting.

today i saw awesome necklaces.

during some post-dinner shopping, i stumbled upon quite the collection of unique silver necklace charms - including a camera, a lego, a retainer (full-sized!) and a few robots. i was so enamored that i bought the camera one - just to add to my "camera" collection!

today i went on a group bike ride.

we did a group bike ride on the beach path from santa monica down to manhattan beach pier this morning, then grabbed lunch at the farmers market on main street back in santa monica. the ride was just about 30 miles roundtrip and amazing - hopefully it becomes a regular ride and we can increase the distance each time.

today i had drinks at the huntley.

a few coworkers and their significant others reserved a cabana at the huntley hotel's penthouse in santa monica and we stopped by late to grab drinks with them. it's an 18th floor view of the city, and it was fun to watch the antics of others.

today i saw skid row.

between dinner at the gorbals in the alexandria hotel and the artbox exhibition at BOXeight gallery, i drove through skid row. just rows of tents. i'd heard of it before, but had never seen it. in-freaking-sane.

[ photo courtesy of : nytimes ]

today i learned about eponyms.

while listening to NPR on the drive to work this morning, they did a segment on john marciano and his new book Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words. here's an excerpt from the book:

As a word, eponymous is a bit anonymous itself. Its moment in the sun came with the release of REM's album Eponymous, a subtle dig at musicians who name records after themselves, such as Peter Gabriel, whose first four albums are all entitled Peter Gabriel. In short, an eponym is anything that's ever been named after anybody. The title of an autobiography, the name of a legal fi rm, Mercedes-Benz, Washington State—anything.


But eponymy doesn't necessarily involve the conscious act of naming. An eponym can also be a word that explodes into the language because of who a person is or what he or she did, often to that person's dismay.

some example eponyms from what i heard this morning: silhouette, frisbee, leotard, galvanize, tantalize.

today i had an enchilada.

it might sound strange, but i've never had an enchilada before. they just never looked appetizing - plus i'm not the biggest fan of mexican food unless 1) there's seafood involved - in which case i love it - or 2) it's fused with some asian flavors (a la kogi). tonight, however, we went to el cholo for dinner and enchiladas are their specialty - and luckily for me, they had a crabmeat enchilada and that's what i had. it was really quite good and light. i also had a bite of a traditional chicken enchilada, which was tasty, but nowhere near as tasty as the crab - but i'm biased i guess.

today i saw dug's special mission.

pixar's up came out on DVD today - we rewatched the movie (so good!), as well as partly cloudy, the short that was shown beforehand in the theatres. the dvd also had a new short about dug the dog and the "special mission" he was on before he met carl and russell. turns out it's his birthday!

today i learned about yakuza.

jake adelstein was on NPR's fresh air, talking about his book tokyo vice. in the short segment i was listening to, he spoke about the yakuza, "members of tradional organized crime syndicates in japan." it was absolutely fascinating, and now i want to read the book!

today i saw a felt credit card sign.

this was seen at a funky little shop in silverlake. it's pretty awesome!

today i experienced bloodletting.

i went to a new chiropractor today with my mom - he's unique in the sense that he combines and has a license for both western and chinese practices. anyway, he mentioned (and this is the chinese medicine line of thinking) that i have bad blood circulation / stagnant blood and that some bloodletting where my pain is worst can help. basically he pricks my lower back with a tiny needle then uses a suction cup to suck some of the blood out. FUNKY.

today i saw live radio.

NPR / chicago public radio's Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me! was at the pasadena civic auditorium. we managed to get tickets because dan's friend eva works for the show and reserved us a pair. it was quite hilarious - with special guest george takei of star trek fame - and had a very interesting format. i'm a bit inspired to start listening to NPR..

today i realized i like peas & carrots.

there were peas and carrots served at lunch today, and while eating them, i remembered that about two years ago, i still detested them. and now i eat them without thinking twice about it - and even incorporate them into my cooking sometimes. my palate continues to grow.. maybe beans are next? bleh.

[ photo courtesy of : blue lady studios ] 

today i saw the yankees become world champs!

so while it is sad that the dodgers were eliminated in the league championship against the phillies, it is so gratifying to have the yankees crush them and win the world series tonight.

today i saw the indie scene.

my buddy deron wade started the independent scene as "an opportunity for artists and musicians who aren't interested in waiting for the approval of bookers, managers, agents, or labels to perform." tonight they had an acoustic showcase at the spitfire grill in santa monica featuring lilly carrico, deron wade and bobkat. it was quite small in attendance (five of us outside of the performers) but the music was good.

today i saw the silver lake art crawl poster.

it's happening this weekend! plus the poster is super cute.
now i want to make a sock monkey..

check it out at www.silverlakeartcrawl.com

today i saw a lion stuck in a tree.

perhaps someone lost it while trick-or-treating.