Statue hanging out at the Jardin exotique d'Eze, France.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

That word I never say but I'm always thinking

As much as I bandy about lots of words inappropriately, including the word "bandy", I've surprised myself with how I don't use the word "obsessed". I'm clearly in denial because I have problems with The Truth and other bothersome details of life. But today, I present to you no less than three obsessions not named Isabelle that are currently making me a difficult person to converse with these days:

1. Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George - Yes, these are books. I'll give you a minute to take that in. I'm calling this an obsession by the mere fact that I've read 9 books of this mystery series in about a month and I DON'T WANT TO STOP. This is in spite of other facts, namely that I don't find Elizabeth George to be that terrific of a writer. But she's a pretty good plotter.

2. Meme Si (What You're Made Of) by Gregory LeMarchal and Nolwenn Leroy - This is a combo platter of English and French lyrics and weirdly enough, it's the English sung by Nolwenn that has me all obsessed with this song. The reason is that this French woman has no trace of an accent with her English. It fascinates me to an atmospheric level. Her voice comforts me greatly which makes me wonder if the whole Nolwenn Effect has any merit. This was a study that some supposed scientists did on how music can balance us and Nolwenn Leroy's voice was the tops in balancing old people and children. Oh hey, I'm just kidding. I don't put any stock in "scientists".

3. Tamara Taylor - Dear Jesus God, where has this woman been all my life? She's an actress on Bones and you'd think that it'd be impossible to see anyone else with the extremely gorgeous Emily Deschanel on the screen. BUT NO. I have to go there with the Cam character. Dear Jesus God, what a voice....and other things.

Enough bandying things about. I have books and tv and one single song to listen to.

TAGS : books TV crush

 

Monday, January 18, 2010

More pointless than Twitter

Look, I'm not one to judge...no, wait, I do judge, but I'm also a hypocrite because I'm trying to use Twitter more for absolutely no reason. I just think you should know what I'm doing and you should know it often. It's not like I'm snapping photos of every damn thing in front of me and posting it on Facebook. Jesus, people. You know who you are.

Well, not until I get a smartphone, anyway. I have my beady eyes on the Nexus One (i.e., Google Phone), but damn Google and/or T-Mobile for making it impossible for Family plan customers to upgrade. There's actually a work-around that I found on the interwebs, but I don't like work-arounds very much. I like things handed to me on a silver platter.

...which brings me to my point! Just kidding, I don't have a point to this. I'm just bored because I set my laptop ac adapter on fire this morning so I can't use it to build a new website that currently top-secret but will soon be something I can't stop talking about. How exactly am I posting this pointless post, then? It's the craziest thing: I don't know.

This will be my 3rd ac adapter for the same laptop, although only the first that I've destroyed by flame. Oh yeah, I was talking about the Nexus One and how much I want it. I never got into the iPhone and I don't even use my current dumb phone all that much. But I can only charge it in the car nowadays and the battery doesn't hold its juice so I need a new one. Why not get the newest new one there is?

I actually have other superficial reasons for wanting it, including the built-in GPS app. Even though my inner compass is freaking amazing and always spot-on, it doesn't come with an updated map so this GPS unit would be handy for traveling. I've also been in the market for a small pocket camera and this would fit the bill. And that's all the reasons I have. I'll get it soon when Google comes to its senses and actually wants to sell the phone to more than a few thousand people instead of just telling themselves how great they are.

TAGS : random technology

 

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Worse than Whoopi

Football season is almost over, but before I can let it go, I'd like to air a few of my grievances with it. I know that roughly zero people who have anything to do with the NFL are reading this, but that's the not the point, is it? The point is Scott Hanson stinks.

Seriously, he is the worst host who has ever hosted anything and I'm counting Whoopi at the Oscars. For those not in the know, Hanson is the annoying presence on the NFL Network's Red Zone Channel. This channel shows all the touchdowns and game coverage commercial-free on Sundays.

Without enumerating because I'm annoyed by all these things equally, here are his most offensive traits:

• He stutters noticeably
• He uses 200 words to say "...and he scores!"
• He injects useless and uninteresting trivia which slows down the play-by-play commentary to an unnerving level
• He blinks too much
• He lies and gets facts wrong
• His suit sleeves are too short

While I would tolerate some of these characteristics in a normal, everyday person, I can do no such thing with someone who is on the air for six hours straight on a channel that would otherwise be fan freaking tastic.

Now I wasn't passive with my dislike of Hanson's hosting skills. I wrote the NFL Network a strongly-worded letter a few weeks back and I have no doubt they're considering his abysmal performance over the course of the season and hiring someone who knows when to shut up. No need to thank me for being the squeaky wheel.

Jesus I wrote some really long sentences up there. I'll try for shorter ones for the rest of this diatribe.

So what else peeves me about my favorite professional sport? A great majority of the players speak in the second person on topics that no regular person could ever relate to. It bothers me because I'm anal as hell, but also because it's a really dumb way to speak. Just say "I" instead of "you" because you're talking about you, not me. Am I right? I know I am.

I thought I had other things that got stuck up my butt, but I'm not feeling it right now. This coming weekend is the last football-mania weekend until September. There are only 2 conference championship games next weekend compared to the 4 divisional games this weekend. I'm not ready to find things to do with my sudden free time on Sundays, but I'll have no choice, I guess. That's why I pay for the NFL Network year-round. So I don't have to really let go.

TAGS : football TV

 

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Warm me up as much as you can

Isabelle's latest album was released back on November 24 and I'm just getting around to pimping it here because ummm I kinda forgot. I didn't forget to buy it or listen to it, but I forgot to form a real opinion about it. Of course, surprising no one, I automatically like anything Isabelle sings because her voice is incredible to my really well-shaped ears. So I guess this will be less of a review and more of a summary of the album.

First of all, the album title isn't false advertising. Almost all of the songs sound like she's singing in a winter wonderland. The music evokes the feeling of needing something hot to drink. I'm not sure if that's the reaction Isabelle was shooting for, but this damn album is making me want some Swiss Miss like never before. That last sentence wasn't meant to have innuendo, but well, there you go.

All but one song is a remake of famous French songs. Not growing up French (dammit it all to hell) I have no association to them so I can only take them on face value. And that value is fair to middling for me. The songs are slow and sleepy and some aren't all that catchy. But the saving grace is...wait for it....her voice. What? You thought I was going to surprise you? Not gonna happen. Isabelle's voice is low, smooth and calming. It's less crackly than normal, but it works well for these types of songs.

The one original song written for her is golden! It's already one of my favorites in her entire catalog and it only makes me wish the rest of the album were original songs, too. I think her stable of songwriters know her well and it's too bad they weren't utilized this time.

In the end, though, I'm happy to have a new Isabelle cd even if it doesn't have any photos of her which is ridiculous. I was estatic with Amazon Canada for having it delivered to me one day after the release even though I only paid for the 4-7 day shipping option. Anyway, she's going to put out another new album next year which will have photos. And that's all I really care about.

TAGS : Isabelle music

 

Monday, November 30, 2009

And that's why you don't try to burn yourself

I have a two part story that may be the greatest thing you hear all day or this hour so you don't want to miss this.

Part One: As expected, I had my weekly injury in the kitchen last Wednesday. It's a burn about two inches long on my right forearm. I've been making myself jumpy the past few days because I think there's something alive on my arm (like a bug). This was really good for my heart while working in the creepy attic over the weekend. Let's just say I know how to have a good time.

Part Two: I drove home today in my usual way: singing along with Isabelle, using my turn signals 300 feet before turning and generally being a courteous, exceptionally gifted driver. Normal and all until I noticed a stick bug staring at me from the dashboard! I stopped singing (can't multi-task) and kept an eye on the bug until it started to crawl towards me. Then I screamed, picked up my messenger bag and threw it at the bug. The bug got pushed to the other end of the dashboard and then started to turn slowly towards me again. Seriously, it had it out for me. I was frozen...until it FLEW at my head. I flailed my arms, lowered the passenger window, screamed again and possibly drove the car into other lanes. It's all a blur.

Well, after that I lowered some other windows. Did I mention that it was raining? It was raining. I kept my eyes on the road and didn't even want to know if it actually flew out of the car or if the damn bug landed somewhere on me. I could only see something on my right forearm that was either the bug...or my burn mark.

I drove the last two miles home in an awkward state and as soon as I pulled into the driveway, I jumped out of the car and did a hysterical dance to make sure the bug wasn't on me. I'm almost positive one neighbor was watching, but thankfully the rain kept the others from being too nosey. Then I checked the car and found it under my car seat.

My story temporarily ends with a Raid can in one hand and a little bit of common sense in my brain telling me that spraying poison in my car will just make me sick and maybe not the bug. Well, we'll see...

TAGS : random Yen

 

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The music in you

I like music a lot. I don't like a lot of different music, but what I like, I like a lot a lot. When it comes to music, most people say they listen to anything which is a load of crap if you ask me. And I know you're asking me or else you wouldn't be visiting my site. I was about to start some ranting on those kind of people, but I need to focus (for once) and tell you about what I use to listen to my narrow, narrow range of music which consists of about 4 cds and a cassette tape.

First I need to admit that I'm no audiophile. I probably lean closer on the scale to having tone deafness than having super-sensitive ears. I mean, my ears are perfectly shaped and everything. There's no doubt about that. But the outer shape has little to do with the inner shape, I guess.

But my whole thing, I think, is less about hearing music than feeling it. I mean literally, although not really in the bass thumping way that's most obvious. I like being immersed and concentrating only on one song at a time. I love feeling the texture and emotion of songs. All this is probably accomplished best through headphones.

Four years ago when I didn't have as many cds as I do now, I found a set of speakers that could make me feel my 12 songs almost as well as headphones. They're the Logitech Z-2300 and they're fantastic. Booming bass, sharp highs and full-body mids, I fell in love with this 2.1 set until their one flaw was exposed two years ago. Unlike most other speakers, these are fully wired. One of the wires crapped out. I tried to splice them with crimpers with the help of my brother, but it didn't work and I put them away and got weirdly sad.

But this ridiculously boring story has a happy ending! This past week, I went crazy and bought a soldering iron and I gave it one more George Michael try. After two splicing and soldering attempts, success! My awesome speakers are back in business. I love these things and I recommend them to anyone who gives a flying flip about how really great music can sound. I realize that lots of people don't give any flip and to them I say, "Good. Your crappy music doesn't deserve to sound better, anyway."

TAGS : music

 

Friday, October 02, 2009

Mmm L.A. proved too much for the man

In my experience as an adult, I've visited places by thinking about it for a few days, planning for a few months and then going on the trip. Boom. Done. I've been fortunate that nothing has really held me back, including funds, vacation time or having any sense of responsibility. Just kidding. I don't have any real funds except for my lucrative weekend juggling act. 

The one place that has eluded me for the past 20 years (this includes non-adulthood for all those keeping track of my age) has been the glamorously, famous, shallow city of Los Angeles. Ever since my teenage years when I dreamt of going to college in L.A. or running away there and opening a donut slash snack shoppe (notice my fun way of spelling 'shop'), I've had great illusions of what the city looked like, how it felt, how it sounded, and how easily I could zip from Malibu to Inglewood and all points in between on the many splendid highways. 

I can now report that all these illusions were shattered. But in a fun, not-punched-in-the-gut way! Before I get to all that I experienced out there (my god, how long can I keep up this rambling? DON'T CHALLENGE ME!), I need to address the burning question: Why L.A.? Well, I'm not going to answer that. You like me being a mystery, you know it. Next: Why did it take me 20 years to visit? It's not like it's Antarctica or the island of Mauritius. I might have made that name up. Anyway, WHYYYY? I have no good reason. I have a bad one: I blame it on France. She and Canada kept getting in the way. Honestly, though, I think I didn't really want to go back to those teenage years and remember why I wanted to escape. So I never considered going to L.A. since I've become an adult.

But I finally did get out there based on a number of circumstances that no one (not even me) cares about at the moment. And what did I do?

• Stayed downtown with friends so we hit a few bars, including The Must and Wurstkuche that had a great local feeling. Friends have a rooftop pool area in their loft which is where the above skyline photo was taken.
• Grand Central Market - tasty tacos and pupusas.
• Hollywood Walk of Fame - Found Celine! And lots of other famous people's stars, including Gene Roddenberry, Leonard Nimoy, and Kermit the Frog.
• Grauman's Chinese Theatre and other historic theaters on Hollywood Blvd - Grauman's is where many movies premiere with the red carpet.
• Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills - as over-the-top ridiculous as it's purported to be. There were valet parking for stores, for crying out loud.
• Sunset Strip - lots of famous locales on this road, including The Viper Room and Chateau Marmont.
  
• Amoeba Records - largest used cd store in the country. It was amazing how huge the French section was. Yes, I'm that predictable.
  
• Hollywood Forever Cemetery - many old famous stars are buried here.
• Paramount Studios - rode around the entire lot on a cart and saw some stars. Walked through the set of Monk and sat in the studio audience for a little bit of a Nickelodeon show.
• Venice Beach - also known as Muscle Beach, there are crazies and medical marijuana stores on the boardwalk.
• Santa Monica Pier - ferris wheel and roller coaster that no one was riding.
• J Paul Getty Museum - huge, beautiful museum complex filled with art overlooking the city
• Mulholland Drive - where James Dean died; it has great views of the metro area and the houses built into the hillside are amazing.
• L.A. and Long Beach ports - so many ships and crates and crate-movers and the Queen Mary docked and used as a hotel.
• Cole's - one of two places in L.A. that claims to have invented the french dip sandwich. Did you know french dip was invented in L.A.? Me, neither! It was good and tasty.
• Watts Towers - highlight of the trip. See:

These are just three of the seven towers that Simon Rodia built by hand. Two of them are almost 100 feet high. He dedicated all his spare time when he wasn't working on this project over the course of 33 years. I'm not a big fan of folk art, but this is inspiring, amazing and crazy. The tour guide was a wonderful gentleman named Mr. Powell who grew up in the area and was so passionate about art and the history of the area. Watts is in the South Central L.A., a.ka. The Hood. This artwork is huge and should be everyone's tourist itinerary, even if you don't like art or history. You like crazy, right? This is crazy, but in a wow! wow! wow! way.

And that's pretty much how I felt about L.A. It lived up to my high expectations, just not what I expected. I know that doesn't make sense, but consider the source. Ok, so the traffic is as bad as they say it is. Holy moly, how is there rush hour no matter what time of day it is? But that won't stop me from going back. I did get to ride the subway and while it's not extensive, it suffices for going to the touristy places. Next time, though, maybe a whole day at the beach, lots more tacos from taco trucks and Watts Tower again.

I just won't wait another 20 years.

I was lazy and instead of doing a trip website, I just put up photos here. Don't feel compelled to click on it. 

Las Vegas was the second half of this trip, but since it was my seventh time, I don't have much to say about it, except:

• Hitting a 4-of-a-kind in video poker makes me feel like I have a superpower. Which I do, it's just not that.
• Hanging out with friends from ATL was a blast, especially when Tecate and cosmos are involved.
  
• Red Rock Canyon State Park was beautiful, but for sheer spectacular-ness, I would recommend Valley of Fire over it, even though it's one hour away. Red Rock is only 20 minutes away.
• Downtown Vegas is as classy as ever. Fruity dragonberry drinks that come in a football shaped container was genius.
• Football watching at the Hilton during NFL season is the best thing ever invented, not counting Isabelle Boulay. Me betting and winning almost every game makes my head huger than normal.
  

Speaking of Isabelle (how'd that happen?), she has a new album out next month so prepare for more of my weird, off-putting comments about her soon. Woo, can't wait.

TAGS : Los Angeles Las Vegas travel

 

Friday, September 18, 2009

Practicing for Vegas

In preparation and practice for some very legal sports gaming action next weekend in the holy mecca of Elvis, buffets and betting (Vegas), I'm going to try my hand at picking this week's NFL matchups. Below are the lines from some highly questionable online betting site. I've bolded the team who I think will cover/beat the spread, not win the game. If I do awesome, I'll check back here on Monday. If I don't (unthinkable!), I'll be extraordinarily busy on that day.

The first team listed is the favorite, the second team is the underdog and the last number is the line. My picks are bolded.

TAGS : football games

 

Friday, September 11, 2009

35,000 of anything can't be good

That right there is my Dragon*Con souvenir. It's a bunny for those who are stuff-animal-challenged. Every year, there's a sing-a-long to the Buffy musical episode ("Once More With Feeling") in the vein of Rocky Horror. During the Anya freak-out over bunnies, the stage cast tossed out bunnies and one seemed to bounce off my head and into my hands. No, seriously, I dove for the free bunny and snatched it out of the sticky fingers of a little baby. No mercy.

Sooooo....Anyway, the con started out with the wait in the registration line that I won't be telling you about. If you ever consider going to this con, I don't want to discourage you by describing in detail what you have to go through to get into geek heaven. And you would absolutely be turned off and not think it's worth it.

It was worth it to wake up early and get in line to see the comedy duo of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Two other Star Trek captains were there, too - Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew - and they were wonderful to see. I also saw John Schneider and Catherine Bach (Bo and Daisy Duke), but I wish Tom Wopat would've joined in on the fun.

The most enjoyable moments were some panels aimed at kids (and me, by default) which included a light saber school and a pair of Australian skeptics handing out Tim Tams to everyone but me. What are Tim Tams and how do I get some?

Dragon*Con had about 35,000 attendees this year spread out over four hotels. Every year, I think I'm done with it because the mass of humanity wears me out. But once the guest list starts getting put together, I know I'll be asking my brother, "Do you want to go to Dragon*Con? Huh? Huh?"

TAGS : DragonCon TV

 

Friday, August 28, 2009

It's a process

I've been MIA for several weeks now and of the two of you who've noticed, probably only one of you is happy that I'm back. I'm okay with that.

You see, since that great American holiday called Fourth o' July, we've been on a house-hunting adventure. If we made it into a movie, it'd be a blockbuster summer hit, not a boring artsy winter Oscar contender. For one, Cylinda and I speak really weirdly to each other and the lack of good dialogue is absolutely necessary for a blowed up action flick.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that this is a process. I know you know I wasn't really, but I'm ignoring you and my feeble non-functioning brain right now. Buying a house, writing a blog post: all processes that deserve my full attention. I have never been capable of multi-tasking. Honestly, I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time. I tried when I played sports in high school, but I choked a lot....a lot.

So we're about to come to the end of the house adventure with a closing that's about to happen very soon unless I just jinxed it by talking about it. I have extremely bad luck like that.

I did want to mention that I had lots of things to share over the past month and a half, but I reached dizzying levels of laziness that all I can do right now is list them:

• the sauna that is my office because of leaking anti-freeze
• fantasy football
• HGTV
• leftover surprise recipes
• Dragon*Con
• listening to my ipod songs (reluctantly)

Sadly (or happily), the time to discuss most of these topics has passed. Dragon*Con is coming up over Labor Day weekend, so you don't get to get out of me geeking out. HGTV is still in the mix since we're watching that damn channel non-stop in hopes of oozing some design knowledge through the tv screen. No hope for me, but Cylinda's inner gay man is stepping out.

I'll be back when I'm a homeowner.

TAGS : random Yen

 

Friday, July 17, 2009

Why people are low on my list

I want to think that I'm not a touchy person, but that'd be a really enormous lie. (I like lying so that's not a problem for me.) I can take anything out of context and be really, really grumpy about it. But then I can get really happy the next second. There might be a word for this. I don't know, something like bi-polar or clinically...anyway, not my point.

My point is I hate people. Not you...probably. It's their (not your) fault that I get hysterical over nothing. For example, yesterday in the space of 5 minutes, two people talked to me. The nerve! I know, right. Seriously, this is what happened. I was waiting alone in a room for another person to show up. These two people passed by and stuck their heads into the room just to say this to me:

First person
Person: Oh so he's got <mumble> <mumble>
Me: I'm sorry, I didn't hear...
Person: He's got room service now, huh? <snicker>
Me: Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. (In my head: you asshole)
Person: That's ok. (and walks away)

Second person
Person: Are you Stacy?
Me: No, my name's Yen.
Person: You're not Stacy?
I look at her blankly. (In my head: Idiot)
Person: You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? She works in <another office>. You look just like her.
I actually do know who's talking about now and I look nothing like her.
Me: Oh.

Taken separately, these two offhand dialogues could be seen (by me) as just a really bad joke and a moment of mistaken identity. But since they happened within 5 minutes of each other, I'm going to get all riled up and declare it racism. For real, here's my logic.

I don't talk about my race (ever) because I never think about it. But these two winners made me think about it. The first person said something inappropriate in a professional setting to a stranger. I honestly don't know what was meant by it, but I don't think it would have been said to any man or any white woman. The second person confused two people on the basis that we're of the same ethnic race. Honestly, we share no other feature in common. It reminds me of a newspaper article a few years ago about a lost black child and some woman said, "All black babies look alike." No, lady, if you would open your eyes and actually look at them, they don't.

So, in conclusion: Stop talking to me.

TAGS : Yen rant

 

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Patriotism okay today; only for fanatics tomorrow

Happy Independence Day! Marietta (excuse me, May-retta) was decked out a day early because they love this great freedom-loving free country of ours so much.









So it occured to me after I put up these photos that three of them have nothing to do with the holiday. I'd draw in some flags, but I trust that your freaking amazing imagination will do that for me and also, I'm incredibly lazy.

TAGS : Atlanta photos

 

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Trying to be serious makes me itchy

I don't like saying "goodbye" to anything ever and I imagine I'm not alone. Most people probably don't, but it's necessary. The normal course of life is a series of goodbyes to people, places, pets, etc. I should be used to it since I'm a mostly normal person who's gone through a mostly normal life. No wisecracking, now, I'm trying to be serious and I have something abnormally serious to share today.

You see, I haven't really talked about my job on here unless I'm carelessly throwing around the word "horrific". Then I somehow link them together. But I need to take a moment today to not use the H word and to say goodbye not to my job, but the entire agency that I've worked for for the past six years. Horrifically (shoot, I can't help it) boring details, aside, I'm not really leaving my job, but the agency is leaving me; it's dissolving and being reborn tomorrow as three separate agencies. Here's more info if you want to know what's the what: http://bit.ly/17h67J

I'm being transitioned into one of those agencies and while my duties remain the same, I do have to let go of some work that I've kinda grown attached to over the years. This includes about a dozen websites that I have to say goodbye to. It's not easy, mostly because these websites have no mouths and can't talk so I'm not sure how they're feeling. They could be happy that I'm going to stop poking and prodding them with my meddlesome ways.

I pretty sure I'm sad about leaving them in the care of others (or, in some cases, no one). In spite of my grumble grumbles about everything that my job entails (that I don't share here), the websites themselves never got on my nerves. It's amazing, because that's really easy to do.

So, anyway, thanks for all the years of staring at each other from opposite sides of the monitor. I'm going to have to look away now.

TAGS : Yen

 

Monday, June 29, 2009

San Francisco some more

We spent about two days in San Francisco and saw a good bit, although there's definitely stuff that we'll have to catch next time. Here's a quick rundown for my own sake because I'm liable to forget in my old age:

• Chinatown - our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and ordered too much dim sum
• Golden Gate Park - ginormous park
• Healthy Spirits - the first in a series of alcohol-related reasons why Cylinda may need help
  
• Lombard Street - crookedest street in the country or world or something like that
• Hyde Street Seafood - had the cioppino (local dish) which was great, but I'll stick to my New England clam chowder
• Toronado Pub - small bar with awesome beer list; found an imperial porter that goes straight to the top of my favorite stouty beers ever
• Union Square - awesome if you like shopping; ehhhh if you don't
  
• Momi Toby's Revolution Cafe - Cylinda's uncle used to own this cafe
• Paulette Macarons - the Frenchy staff let me speak French to them
• 21st Amendment Brewery - in the shadows of AT&T Park where the SF Giants play, this brewery served up some good beers, including a watermelon beer.
• Alcatraz - took a ferry out to the island and toured the prison
• Pier 39 - the lazy ass sea lions live the dream life on Fisherman's Wharf
• City Beer - this beer store had a good selection of bottles but also had a few on tap; we know the apocalypse has arrived if this was ever possible in Georgia
• Golden Gate Bridge - beautiful, like it was intended

Here's a video of the lazy sea lions:

TAGS : travel video

 

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Did I go to France again?

Some thoughts on our recent trip to (not France) the Bay Area, CA where we escaped from Alcatraz, drove around golf courses for 17 miles, bought beer in wine-land Napa Valley and stormed a castle on an Enchanted Hill:

Macarons
Seriously, I know it wasn't Paris, but it was confusing with all the patisseries selling macarons. I only visited one because my family wasn't dying to take a tour of 7 cookie shops. I don't know what's wrong with them. Actually, maybe I... nevermind. I got a dozen macarons from Paulette Macarons and they were good. Not Pierre Herme good, but gooder than anything I've had in Atlanta, which isn't saying much. That doesn't sound like a very nice compliment. Lemme try again: They were awesome.

Pommeau
This is an apple apertif that is a blend of calvados and cider and it is unbelievable. It's available absolutely nowhere in this country or so I thought...until I found two different bottles of this magic elixir in a package store in Santa Rosa, CA. I only bought one because of all the...

Beer
Cylinda bought and consumed so much beer, my family was impressed. And they're not easily awed. Just kidding. They think driving in the rain is a feat of magic. But anyway, we checked two boxes of beer onto the plane and shoved a few more bottles in our luggage for good measure. We could open a small craft beer shop if Cylinda would quit drinking all the merchandise. Our Napa Valley day trip was beer-filled, as well, sacrilegious as that may be. We did visit Sterling Vineyards which has a self-guided tour after taking a boring skylift up the hill. It was very pretty and didn't cost as much as some other places. We got 5 tastings and I liked the one so much, I drank four glasses in a row (from everyone elses' glasses that weren't finished) and I paid for it with a pounding headache.

Oh yeah, the beer... Toronado Pub in San Francisco lived up to its hype. I had a Black Diamond Imperial Porter that's only available on tap out in CA so I'm sitting here crying tears over not being able to drink its chocolately goodness for a long time.

Hearst Castle
I now have a shirt that says "Hearst" on it and that's all I've ever really wanted in life...unless I can get a shirt with Patty holding up the bank on it. That would rock... or be offensive. Either or... So the mansion and its guest houses and pools are all beyond ridiculous in its ornateness and the setting on the hill high above the Pacific Ocean is perfect. After getting tickets, we had to take a 15 minute shuttle bus up to the house. They don't let you loiter around the property ever because after the tour, we were bussed back down immediately. There are a few different tours to take which we'll do sometime in the future when we can spend a night in San Simeon, CA.

All in all, it was a great trip. I can't believe it's taken me this long to tour the area since my family's lived in San Jose for years now. There's more stuff to see so I guess I'll visit them again next year. I guess...

TAGS : Patty Hearst food travel

 

Sunday, June 14, 2009

This isn't even South Georgia

Maybe it's just me, but having a cookout at an abandoned gas station doesn't sound like a good time. I don't have a broad sense of fun, though. I'm difficult, I know.

For real, though, why would anyone picnic in a parking lot, much less one that might have gasoline fumes and remnants laying about? And there's not just one grill, but two, plus coolers and other trays of food. This was a major shindig about to happen, but we didn't stick around for the impending explosion.

TAGS : Atlanta blowedup

 

Saturday, June 06, 2009

And now to talk about something different: me

I swear this is the last post about me for the next week, but I need to inform everyone and their mothers that I stopped being lazy for about an hour this morning and added back all the tags to my old blog posts. Aren't I amazing? Wow. Now you can find everything about Celine with one click. That's pretty much what I live for, honestly: Bringing the world closer and quicker to Celine.

I'm actually kinda tired of talking about myself which I didn't think was possible. Just kidding! It's actually not, but I was trying to be humble. It makes me feel weird and uncomfortable.

TAGS : Yen

 

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Google me

No, seriously, don't. There's a mess of Yens and Tangs out there in every combination. It'll just make you dizzy. There's one search result that's kinda cool, though: the town of Yen-Tang in Vietnam. Hillary Clinton visited there a few years ago and maybe that's why I feel some cosmic connection with her and voted for her more times than technically possible. Don't ask me what that means. You don't want to be implicated.

So what I really mean to say is Google + me. Yes, we're becoming one. I didn't see it coming and that's probably how they planned it, but it's happening. I use tons of their apps for work and personal use, including Gmail, Analytics, Docs, Maps, etc. But I've been resisting Chrome (browser) for a while now because I didn't want to depend on Google for everything in my life. Well, they've broken me because I'm using and I like it, but I also hate it for making me like it. It's true, I'm a complex, complex person.

Chrome is recommended for weak-ass netbooks of which I have one. It's just faster and each tab is isolated from the others so when something gets frozen, you can just close the tab and not the entire browser. Genius. Damn genius.

I know Google's taking over the world, one app at a time. I know I'm helping and I should care before us humans become a Googlized application ourselves, but honestly, it's probably too late. Just sit back and let Google run your life. See how well it's running mine? And don't you want to be just like me?

I thought so...

TAGS : technology Yen

 

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Landslide will bring it down

Yes, Stevie Nicks, I'm getting older, too... I like to spend my birthdays on Jekyll Island, one of Georgia's Golden Isles. I'd say it's the best isle, but I don't want to get into this argument again because I never win. Everyone luuuuvs St. Simon's. That's fine. Stay away from Jekyll because the less people are there, the happier I am.

Although it's been a few years since we've been there, everything looked the same. That really means that there's still nothing to do and not many good places to eat. We went inland for dinner one night and ate at possibly the best restaurant in all of south GA. It's called Cargo Portside Grill in Brunswick. Other than that, we saved our eating skills for Savannah. We had Cylinda's favorite cheesesteak in the whole wide world at Bernies on River St. We ate at Lady and Sons, which is Paula Deen's restaurant. She really tried to kill us with butter, but I still seem to like her. There was an adjacent store with her face on everything...on things her face probably shouldn't be on. It was awesome.

We went on a haunted pub crawl which wasn't much of either. It wasn't expensive so I guess it was almost worth what we paid, but in the future, I don't think we'll be combining stories of spirits with the liquid spirits.

We took a damn lot of photos. If you're on Facebook with me, check it out. If not, well, you need to be nicer to me and then we'll talk about friending each other.

There were lots of sitting time, too. We sat on the beach on Jekyll and sat on benches in the squares of Savannah. Here's a video of us in Reynolds Square listening to a wonderful dixieland jazz band playing for a wedding.

TAGS : travel Yen video

 

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Greatest hits

My aforementioned hard work in recovering my old blog posts didn't include the labor of adding back the tags to the posts. I'll be honest, I'm lazy as hell. So... you'll just have to read them all over again to find the gems. Get going, there's tons of crap to go through.

Oh alright, I'll link to a few of my favorites. They touch on the topics I make fun of the most:

Myself: Elevator luck (July 2006)
Other people: Things to keep to yourself (April 2007)
Georgia: History lesson (August 2006)
Isabelle: I'm buying whatever she's selling (October 2007)

TAGS : Yen

 

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Like putting lipstick on a pig

Welcome to my 324th version of my site. It looks a little, slightly, ok, not really that different. I can assure you that it's just as boring, only now, there's more boringness for you. Yes, I'm thoughtful like that, I know.

You see, I put my nose to the grindstone and recovered all my previous blog posts. It was a pain and some of them may not look right or the links might not work anymore, but the important thing is that the text and content is still brilliant after all this time. I mean, wow. There's some really, really good stuff amidst tons of Isabelle Boulay photos. She is, of course, even gooder stuff.

I'm also going to try to post photographs on a regular basis that my ego tells me are awesome and life-changing. For me AND you. See, I'm thinking about you always...except for the times that I'm thinking about me. That actually happens a lot. Oh, for you, too?

Thanks for stopping by. It may not be worth your while today, but someday... no, maybe not even then.

TAGS : Yen

 

Friday, May 01, 2009

Thumbed my nose at cops; surprisingly not in jail

So...if you've spent five minutes in my glorious presence, you'll know that I'm a shifty character: not quite criminal, but something petty thuggish about me. It's cause I'm always trying to lie or steal something. I'm lying right now and seriously stealing valuable minutes of your life. You're never gonna get them back.

So...as I drove home this evening after a gimme-a-neck-any-neck-to-strangle-stupid-swine-flu day, I got cut off by a obnoxious SUV. I shook my fist and glared. A minute later at a red light, a cop pulled up beside me to my left. The sidewalk was to my right; SUV in front.

The light turned green and we all started to move, but the cop stayed right beside me (instead of zooming ahead cause he had lots of room) until the SUV tried to shift lanes in front of the cop. Then sweet justice, baby: the cop turned on his lights and the SUV moved back in front of me and stopped. The cop stopped. I had nowhere to go cause I thought I was boxed in. I threw my hands up in the air and said, "What the hell" towards the cop. For real, I need someone to teach me how to not swear at the po-po. But he didn't want to pull me over, too. He just motioned to the space front of him and I drove off. Eat it, obnoxious SUV.

THEN... the ATL PD were doing a fund drive collecting money at a traffic light. They had police cars with the lights flashing so that everyone had to slow down. Most were tossing money into their buckets. I know they were trying to reach as many people to donate and that more cars are on the road during afternoon rush hour than other times of the day, but seriously. It's RUSH HOUR on a FRIDAY and they were making it worse. I don't reward people who don't think. I mean, I reward myself all the time, but no one else.

TAGS : Atlanta

 

Saturday, April 18, 2009

This is what I call "hope"

I can't believe this is for real, but at the same time, I CAN believe it. I mean, I have to because it's the only thing I can hold onto as tangible evidence that chicken potato chips may one day be sold (and eaten) in the US.

Now, I'm not even going to speculate why this study costs $495 and why there are others on amazon that cost almost $800. But I'm taking it as a sign that they're serious, which is the absolutely correct demeanor to have when discussing chicken potato chips. It could also be that the authors are pulling a fast one, but I'd like to think that they wouldn't toy with my emotions like that.

I've heard that Canada does sell them and I'm not surprised. That land is forward-thinking and bows down to nobody...except that Queen of theirs, Liz. She probably gets to munch on chicken potato chips when she's home in England. Whatta lucky lady.

TAGS : food

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Yes, please cry for me, Argentina

Lady, I know how you feel.

The building in the background (to the left) is my office. It's the ugliest building in downtown Atlanta. Every time I see it, I make like this statue chick by turning my back to it and shedding tears of sorrow. Yes, my job is that horrific. No, I'm not being dramatic at all.

This was taken in Oakland Cemetery, the oldest in the city. The rest of the photos from this day turned out even boring-er than this one, but at least I had a little made-up story to go along with it. The fakey sepia tone and gaussian blurring aren't here for laughs. It's humorlessly covering up how bad my exposure was.

TAGS : Atlanta

 

Friday, April 10, 2009

Annecy & Lyon

I spent a week by myself in Annecy and Lyon, France. Short trip report: Annecy = charming; Lyon = huge. See the entire trip report, complete with videos, photos, and most importantly, me. You wouldn't want to miss the part about me.

Annecy at dusk.

Lake Annecy

Chimneys of Lyon

TAGS : travel France

 

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Real french food

I've just returned from my third trip to France (aka the motherland) and for the third time, I didn't look forward to eating all the traditional french cuisine in restaurants. I was in Lyon this time, known as the gastronomic capital of the country. But did I go looking for a bouchon to eat in? Oh no, that would be sensical. When I'm in France, I head for Monoprix or Franprix and I buy processed food that I can't get in the US.


A dinner of roasted chicken potato chips and a bottle of cider blows my mind.


A late night snack of cider and Tresor chocolate hazelnut cereal after a dramatic Isabelle Boulay concert? C'est parfait.

Tresor cereal is really all I need to survive if France would ever let me live within her borders. It's got the all-important hazelnut food group that's essential to nothing, but embodies deliciousness itself. Combined with milk, it gets even dreamier. It's extremely unfair that Kellogg's doesn't think Americans would like Nutella-stuffed pockets of joy for breakfast. I guess I could try recreating this cereal with Cap'n Crunch and a jar of Nutella, but it'll probably be weird and I don't want to disrepect the Cap'n.

TAGS : travel food

 

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Eavesdropping with my great ears

Overheard from the characters of downtown ATL as I was walking back to my car yesterday afternoon:

A guy talking to himself with confidence: The police will wake me up.

A guy reciting slam poetry: And if the woman don't fit the shape of the cone...

Two students
Girl #1: Would you marry him?
Girl #2: Well, if I fell in love over the phone and didn't know he was in a wheelchair...

I know I say odd things, too, but I try not to say them loudly and publicly.

TAGS : Atlanta

 

Sunday, March 15, 2009

My spare time

As is probably apparent, my latest thing is photography. I've always liked taking pictures or at least, telling Cylinda to take a picture of this or that. I'm very good at telling her what to do. But now that I've got my own grown-up camera, I've decided I don't want to shoot the normal things people want to see. Oh no, I want to take photos of household products in a sterile, completely fake environment. So, I built a lightbox.



It's made from a cardboard box, drawing paper and masking tape and it's ghetto-fabulous. There are some shop clamp lamps and some blinding light bulbs to light the thing. The cat isn't part of the lightbox (yet). It's working out okay so far, but I'm probably going to get one more lamp so that I can truly blind myself for good. I'd post some photos, but you see, they're boring as hell. It's actually for microstock photography and if you know what that is, then I'm sorry because it's a strange bug to be bitten by.

TAGS : photos cats

 

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sloss Furnaces

We spent four hours at the Sloss Furnaces yesterday in Birmingham, AL. That may be kind of weird, but since it's a National Historic Landmark, we had a reason. Hey, I didn't say it was a good reason.

The furnaces are basically what built Birmingham. When it closed, the city stopped all construction, too, and got stuck in the 1950s. That's not true, but if you've ever been there, it seems like did.

It was actually an immensely interesting place to take photographs. I'm just learning the technical skills needed to properly use a dslr and this was a great place to practice. I royally messed up my exposures for the shots that included the sky so here are some non-sky shots that don't deflate my ego.

TAGS : travel photos

 

Friday, February 27, 2009

Playing with new camera

Zekey's the best kind of model there is: Free.

TAGS : cats photos

 

© 2009 Yen M Tang. Take whatever you want as long as your ass likes being sued.