A self-centered post

A.K.A. a lazy post.

• Wish I knew which was a better nutritional option for my morning half-bagel: Cream cheese (old topping) or peanut butter (new). Both taste good. Feel more healthy after eating the peanut butter. Am sad that it contains more fat.
• An unnamed major retailer of junior clothing and accessories is going to get a big kick in the pants (figurative) from me if they don't get their act together soon.
• Facebook status update most lacking in self-awareness to date: XYZ "is off to his aunt's funeral. DO NOT TEXT ME THE LAKER SCORE!!!! if you do, I'm going to kick your ass!!! Especially you, Matt!!!"
• Not sure what I hate more: Boring/bragging/annoying/right-wing nutjob status updates, or myself for checking Facebook so often.
  

A food manifesto

There are SO many food lifestyles out there. Your vegetarians and your vegans, your flexitarians, pescatarians, lacto-ovarians, (breath), your raw foodists, macrobiots, non-red-meat eaters. And, naturally, your organic grass-fed meat eaters.

Although I've always been a proponent of eating anything and everything, my interest in a different food lifestyle has been piqued by several friends' recent conversion to veganism. So I've decided to give at least semi-vegetarianism a go. Eric has proven to be (surprisingly, after always saying he wouldn't) a willing and cheerful partner in this.

This means we prepare meals with an exciting lineup of vegetables but no meat, eat meat on special occasions like dining with the parents, and continue to enjoy sushi. Yes, it's a very flexible lifestyle.

Some observations: I've been enjoying vegetables more and not missing meat much. A nicely seared piece of salmon with a little salt and lemon gets my mouth watering the way a grilled pork chop once did. I feel healthy too, with fewer of those episodes of heaviness that can follow a meal.

I've learned some things about how I want to go about eating. Without further ado, a manifesto on food:

1. Listen to your body, not just your tastebuds.

Don't eat stuff that makes you feel bad after you eat it. For me, that means eating less meat, by considering it more as an adornment to a dish and only once in a great while as a centerpiece of a meal.

2. Enjoy food and honor it.

Whether it be a simple tomato sauce or a juicy burger, think of it as something wonderful and to be savored. It can't be healthy to think of any food as bad for you, as the enemy.

3. Keep an open mind.

If you're a vegan, try to understand the appeal of a roasted bone marrow. If you're a red-meat lover, give the subtle taste of tofu a chance.

* Vegetarians with ethical or environmental imperatives, take heart. Even though I have different reasons for eating veggie and doubt that I'll ever eschew meat entirely, just think, if everybody were to cut down their meat consumption to 1/5th of what it is now, how great the world would be.

Food journaling

My mom and I have decided to exchange daily food journals as a means of keeping track of what we eat. Every night, we exchange an e-mail recapping all the food and drink we've consumed.

We have different goals. Mine is to lose a few pounds, hers to get her cholesterol under control. Although it's only been a few days, keeping the journals has already started to have a good effect on me.

I used to steal a snack here and there without giving it much thought. But now that I have to record every bite, I haven't been snacking as much. Faced with the hassle of taking notes throughout the day or trying to recall all my snacks come evening, I find I'd rather not have the snacks after all.

Also, it's embarrassing to have someone else know just how many random string cheeses, chips, or pieces of candy I might eat on a given day.

I find I'm also less likely to grab a late-night snack after dinner (I know, I snack a lot!) like tea and a cookie, because my nightly e-mail has already been sent.

Another bonus: I like to see what other people eat. And I've always admired my mom's way of eating, which is simple and full of enjoyment.

A sample of our food journal exchanges:

Mine:

5-inch piece of baguette, with thin scrape of butter
1 small piece Jarslberg cheese
1 soft-boiled egg
6 baby carrots
Black tea

Bento box -

Rice, Asian greens, 1 small chicken thigh,

1 small piece salmon, Tofu skin/mushroom/carrot stir fry

Grapes and blueberries

1 small can V8

4 slices mango

2 slices baguette with hummus

Ramen with spinach, bok choy, green onions

Poached egg

Pickled cucumbers, fried gluten, chili oil bamboo

1/2 glass red wine

6 slices mango

My mom's:

1/2 pink grapefruit

4 slices of french bread, toasted

1 hard-boiled egg

black tea

6 pieces of sushi roll ( from Costco)

leftover bento food

black tea

1 apple

1 cup of cranberry juice

5 pork & shrimp dumplings

1/2 bowl of rice in tomato and tofu soup

2 squids

1 piece of chicken

fried bean sprout

tomato & cucumber salade in vinaigrette

1 shortbread cookie

strawberries

Kanpachi sushi in Gardena

Omakase! Served by the soft-spoken Kiro-san, a sushi chef who is an old friend of Jen and her family.

1) Hirame (halibut) and Tai (red snapper)
2) Toro (fatty tuna) and Maguro Tataki (marinated seared tuna)
3) Hotate (scallop), Mirugai (giant clam), and Awabi (abalone)
4) Uni (sea urchin roe)
5) Aji (Spanish mackerel) and Kanpachi (amberjack)
6) Ama Ebi (sweet shrimp) and Tako (raw octopus)
7) Tamago (omelet)

Interspersed between the sushi courses were a miso soup with the tasty head of the shrimp (from #6) and a delicate steamed egg custard.

Was very interested in the progression of the omakase, starting with the lighter-tasting types of white fish to red fish, then to crisp bivalves, back again to fish, this time of the stronger, oily varieties, and climaxing in glorious shellfish. Tamago a sweet ending.

Tasty bits I got after the omakase was finished, out of greed:

• Saba (mackerel), which this chef makes extra luscious through smoking
• Tako (octopus), miraculously tender, cut into chunks, and served with a dipping salt

Many thanks to Jen for introducing me to this wonderful restaurant, and for helping to reconstruct the menu we had last week. And for throwing in all the Japanese names for the sushi, which I am still trying to learn.

1,000 calories in little bites

Eaten at a leisurely pace, over the course of 3 hours, not thinking it was much food at all --

• 1 whole milk yogurt: 230 calories
• 1 chunk of crusty bread: 140 calories
• 3 slices salami: 100 calories
• olive oil & balsamic vinegar
• 1 glass red wine: 120 calories
• 1 artichoke: 65 calories
• vinaigrette, to dip: 130 calories
• 1 more glass red wine: 120 calories

Total count: 1035 calories

Hmph. I might as well have gone for an In-N-Out cheeseburger (480 calories) and fries (400 calories).

Sunday, Sunday

The cat has been in the same spot by the window all morning, even though it is a cloudy day. Maybe the UV rays do something for her.

I am having a great Sunday, mostly because there is not much to do. Only:

1) Write a birthday card
2) Nose around on Facebook
3) Run some old bills through a paper shredder
4) Clip recipes out of old food magazines and arrange them in this order.

• Soups, like balsamic-tomato soup and cold zucchini-and-cucumber soup.
• Light starter-type things like fried eggs on asparagus, bruschetta with fava beans, grilled bitter greens salad
• Comfort foods like lobster macaroni and shepherd's pie
• Elaborate seafood and meats, like steamed mussels with sausages and fennel and roast pork loin with Italian salsa verde, which is different from Mexican salsa

Notice that there are no desserts on this list. I just can't get excited about making desserts.

A good day

Various observations on Obama's Inauguration Day

1. A really busy day at work, but from the snatches of news reports I caught on NPR while in the car and from websites, it sounds like the nation is touched. Nay, the world. I could say the same about myself.

2. The most important part of Obama's speech:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

3. You know you are overwhelmed at work when you update your to-do list and two of the action items are to get through two other, different checklists.

4. We have finally made a hire! And we are excited about her. On her plate: (1) Learn the products, (2) Learn the customers, and (3) Restore Laura's faith in the American worker.

Top 10 mistakes to avoid when applying for a job

DO NOT:

# 10 - Use cute abbreviations as though you were firing off a text message to a friend, as in "Pls see the attached resume and letter. Thx."

# 9 - Send your resume from an unusual e-mail address, like bigmoerocks@yahoo or lovezthempinups@aol.

# 8 - Write your entire cover letter and resume in ALL CAPS.

# 7 - Make your cover letter one long 300-word paragraph. That is a lot of paragraph.

# 6 - Attach a photo of yourself. e.g. A glamour shot, or a photo "taken last night" in your apartment.

# 5 - Write in your introductory e-mail, before anyone has offered you a job, that you expect to receive X amount in salary, plus medical coverage, plus car-related expenses.

# 4 - Submit a resume that has zero relevance to the job opening, with no cover letter explaining how anything you've done is in any way relevant.

# 3 - Make really standout spelling errors, like

• "Goo morning!"
• "My salry expetation is no less than $40K."
  

# 2 - Attach two resumes that list totally different companies you've "worked" for. Over the exact same time frame.

# 1 - Be weird. By writing, for example, that you are like Kobe Bryant except that your MVP stands for "Multi-Talented, Victorious, and Persistent."

Favorite cheeses at Trader Joe's

1. Bavarian Beer Cheese
2. Italian Truffle Cheese
3. Jarlsberg
4. Saint-Andre

Just wanted to share these four cheeses because they bring me no end of enjoyment, either as part of a light supper (crusty bread, cheese, salami, olive oil, a salad, and a glass of wine) or with breakfast. The first three are hard cheeses. The fourth is a soft rind cheese that is pretty strong, but more flavorful than stinky. It's perfect. This morning, I put some of the beer cheese in my scrambled eggs.... mmm.

A deep funk

I am in a deep funk.

1. Employees only do what they are told. So instead of figuring out what I should be doing, I have to figure out what 4 people should be doing. Being that it is our slow season, that responsibility often leaves me stressed and frustrated.

2. I have in mind a new Internet retail initiative to get rid of some excess stock. (Lord knows we have excess stock.) I got the idea from one of our customers who inherited 2,000 kids' sailor hats and decided to put them up on Amazon. She sells 12 of the hats a day. That means in half a year her stock could be gone! But I am getting hung up on the logistics of it all. It's complicated.

3. I have not exercised regularly since I don't know when. This is adding to my unhappiness, because the toxins or whatever are not getting released. Also, I am getting fat.

I don't blog enough

My reasons:

1) The stuff on my mind lately is not appropriate to blog about. Like personnel issues at our company. Especially on a blog with my name on it.

2) Blogging is a creative activity. And I don't do anything creative on a regular basis anymore. That includes reading. Not that reading is especially creative, unless you consider as creative the act of having new thoughts and feelings. The only things I do regularly now are go to work, make breakfasts and dinners, clean my apartment, and groom the cat.

Nevertheless, a short blog entry follows:

Yoga and beach volleyball yesterday have left me tired and sore today. But I feel good and happy to be alive.

Lulu is back at home after 2 weeks at the vet. She is recovering from leg surgery. My dad calls her the "iron dog" because she now has metal in her leg and pelvic joint. I'm going home this afternoon to see the dog and submit to the weekly family BBQ.

A difficult week ... for my mom

Tuesday
- 5.4 Chino Hills earthquake

Wednesday
- Mom's college friend is in town from Taiwan, but her visit is gloomy due to family problems
- Lulu, who is more Mom's dog than anyone's, escapes from the backyard. Takes off down the street in search of avocados fallen from our neighbors' trees, and is hit and dragged by a driver who leaves the scene.

Thursday
- Vet is unsure whether Lulu can be saved; extent of nerve damage in her legs unknown

Friday
- Mom gets a flat tire on freeway on-ramp
- Still no decision from the vet; but Lulu wags her tail during Mom's visit

A new post

1. The sushi chefs at Hide do not do omakase, as it turned out the other day. So we consoled ourselves by trying out the sweet shrimp. They serve you the sushi first, glistening pink flesh that is crisp-tender when you bite down (in the manner of very fresh shellfish - not green beans!). Then the head, delicately fried, on a separate plate.

2. Dealing with employees may be the hardest part of running a business. Do you give up on a person because he or she is not measuring up 20% of the time? What about the really good 80%?

* Addendum, 08/17/08. Yes, you do give up on that person. And you learn from the experience and move on.

Sushi night

I'd been shunning salmon sushi for various reasons interesting only to me.* But on Wednesday, we ordered some, for a change. It was streaked with fat and delicious.

A note on the sushi chefs at Hide. I like the funny middle-aged chef who stands in the middle spot the best of the three. He teases customers good-naturedly and always looks like he is enjoying his work. Which either means he is a happy man, or he is a good actor. Regardless, if we ever order omakase, I would want this chef to be our man.

Ambition for next time: Monkfish liver.

*Ha, I almost forgot the purpose of this blog. So, the reasons I had not been ordering salmon sushi were (1) it's so commonplace, (2) I eat cooked or smoked salmon all the time, (3) it's one of those "safe" fish that a lot of sushi beginners eat, so less cool-seeming, (4) I have a slightly OCD acquaintance who is into sushi and told me he eats nothing but a big plate of salmon sushi every time, (5) raw salmon can have a slightly overpowering taste sometimes, and feel a little too rich on the tongue. But now all these things don't matter anymore -- salmon is delicious again!

Revolving Sushi

Another sushi excursion, this time not at Hide Sushi but at Daichan Kaiten Sushi, one of these sushi bars with the conveyor belt. We only got a few of the dishes off the belt, and ordered the rest from the chef, who sat us right in front of him. This night was about gobbling up lots of types of sushi for pretty cheap.

Consumed:

Frothy mugs of Kirin
Ono (explained as "white tuna")
Inari (adorable, miniature stuffed tofu skins)
Hamachi (middling)
Uni (good, but so small they were almost circles instead of ovals)
Unagi (perfect soft, flaky flesh and crisp exterior)
Salmon skin roll (fine)
Scallop Dynamite (filled with mostly other things besides scallops, and tiny bay scallops at that.)
Tako (unimpressive octopus, sliced too thin)
Edamame (warm, salty)
Spicy Scallop Roll (the bay scallops, tasty and overflowing, redeem themselves here)
Seared Tuna (ordered it, then regretted the "seared" part when the chef picked up a glistening red hunk of tuna. But then tasted it. Spectacular.)
Banana Tempura (smashed flat, then fried. Drizzled with chocolate sauce and on the house, the best kind.)

The ono was pure white and clean-tasting. But I'm not sure what type of fish it was, exactly. Searching on the Net didn't help. I learned that white tuna is usually called shiro maguro, and is white albacore tuna, or sometimes a fish called escolar. That Hawaiians eat a fish called ono, "after the Native word for 'delicious,'" (Wikipedia) but this fish is known elsewhere as wahoo. And that black marlin also sometimes poses as white tuna on sushi menus. V. confusing.

Sushi Night

Went again to Hide Sushi with Eric last night. It was packed, so we could not land the sushi bar and were instead seated at a table. Both agreed that the quality of the food is not the same when you are not at the sushi bar, where the chef is either (a) compelled by your nearness to give you the best cuts, or (b) close enough to see you really love sushi and are not a chump who will swallow his best cuts without tasting. So it may be better to hold out for the sushi bar, however hungry you are.

Sushi consumed (in no particular order, since it arrived at the table all at once):
Maguro (Tuna)
Hamachi (Yellowtail)
Uni (Sea Urchin)
Unagi (Eel)
Scallop Special (Sushi topped with chunks of scallop and flying fish roe, in a pink sauce)
Saba (Mackerel)
Red Snapper with salt and lemon (The flesh is scored, maybe to allow the seasonings to penetrate)
Tamago (Egg)

Also:
Clam and scallop dynamite (Baked in a small dish with flying fish roe, mushrooms, mayo, and finished with a squeeze of lemon.)

Voting is f*#!@'d up

On voting. It's f***ed up because:

1) Voting instructions are cluttered and nearly incomprehensible

2) You are a nonpartisan voter, and you sign up to vote in the Democratic primary (because what else really matters, right now?). But what you get in the mail is a sample ballot with only the local initiatives that you don't care about -- no presidential primary information at all.

3) You realize you never received the information booklet that explains the local initiatives -- so basically if the gov't had its way, you would be voting only on the items you don't care about, and you would be voting blind on those too.

Epilogue: I outsmarted THE MAN. I borrowed a Democrat's sample ballot, I voted for Obama*, and I read about the local initiatives and voted on most of those too. So, HA!

*I like Hillary too. In fact, I was impressed with her (finally!) after her debate with Obama here in Los Angeles on the 31st. He fumbled a lot and spoke generally, and she talked like someone who has thought through the issues carefully and thoroughly. However, if she is going to win the nomination, which it looks like she might, I want her and other Dems to see the support Obama was able to gather, because I think they could do well as a joint ticket.

Sushi night

Hurray! This is the first installment of my to-be regular sushi report. Wednesday nights, every other week, at Hide (said Hee-day) Sushi on Sawtelle Blvd, in the middle of "Little Tokyo West" here on the Westside of Los Angeles. The goal is a deeper understanding of sushi, how to eat it, how to order it, and to get to know a great local sushi bar and the 3 sushi chefs who man it.

Sushi consumed, in this order:
Maguro (Tuna)
Hamachi (Yellowtail)
Unagi (Eel)
Mirugai (Giant clam)
Saba (Mackerel)
Ikura (Salmon roe)
Tamago (Egg)
Vegetable Roll (Avocado, cucumber, radish sprouts, gobo)
Uni (Sea Urchin)

Ambition for next time: Red snapper sushi with lemon and salt, and what looked like a piece of shiso leaf between the snapper and rice. The couple next to us, who appeared to be regulars, were having it and it looked good.

Warm and fuzzy thoughts

Okay, in the time that it just took Blogger to unfreeze and reload, the warmth and fuzziness has already dissipated somewhat. But I'm going to try to recapture it.

My ideal life:

• Home is a cabin somewhere pure and isolated, but only an hour's drive away from a big city
• A job writing and designing greeting and holiday cards
• A nice husband and health for him, me, and all my family and friends
  
• Kids, but also solitude
• A fast Internet connection and a good kitchen
  
• An organic garden with vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers
• Nice neighbors who can watch my house when I'm traveling overseas
• An energy-efficient private jet to bring friends over for dinner parties

Okay, that last wish probably won't happen. But everything else might be doable in this lifetime, no?

Flush with coupons*

I currently have, in my possession -- and a good thing too since I am setting up a new household in Palms and needing things like a new toilet seat, bath rug, under-cabinet light strip, bedskirt, small pieces of furniture and other exciting items -- no less than the following 7 very useful coupons:

Two 20%-off-one-item for Linens-N-Things
One $5-off-$15-purchase for Bed, Bath & Beyond
One 20%-off-one-item for Bed, Bath & Beyond
One 15%-off-purchase for Home Depot
One $25-off-$250-purchase for IKEA
One 25%-off Friends-&-Family pass for Cost Plus/World Market

That last one I just received from Randi via e-mail, and it pushed me over the edge: I had to let the world know about my ridiculously great stash of coupons. (I do this not to brag, but to appease the gods of good fortune, so they know I appreciate what they do for me.)

I am collecting these kinds of coupons like a hungry squirrel storing up nuts for the winter. I have looked through my neighbors' discarded junk mail. Don't pity me; these things are as good as cash! I pity you if you are one of those chumps who wanders into Bed, Bath & Beyond without a big blue 20%-off coupon in your hot little hands.

*On a side note, I considered the alternate title "Awash in coupons" for this blog entry. I ended up liking the sound of "flush with" better than "awash in," plus it's less pretentious-sounding. But I confess I had to google the phrase to make sure I had it right, and that it wasn't actually "flush in" or something. Google, thank you for helping me keep my idioms straight.