Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thanksgiving Goodness

Who's the master baker? Huh, punk? Who?

Actually you're right, its my mama, but I'm trying my best to follow in her footsteps.

I'm perpetually in charge of the desserts when it comes to the Lu Family, as (no offense Asian people) generally Asians are not so good with the desserts. Their idea of "sweet" leaves much to be desired. I'm happy I didn't grow up with the demented idea that red bean is a freaking dessert. dCommies.

I made a chocolate cranberry tart and the classic pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving dinner. The tart recipe came from a fancy cooking magazine and taxed my skills, but in the end I prevailed. Truman's uncle Peter, the snobbiest person I know, told me I could go into business selling the tarts. That's a huge compliment coming from him.

Pumpkin pie is pumpkin pie. I follow the directions on the pumpkin label like anyone else. I did make my own crust, though. Some day I will learn to make the edges pretty.


I also tried a new twist on stuffing. I made traditional Leslie Kromke recipe bread stuffing, but put it into (well-greased) cupcake tins to bake. They didn't hold together in the muffin shape as much as I would have liked. I'll work on it for next time.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Guilty Pleasures

These are true guilty pleasures. I'm frankly embarrassed that I feel joyous and happy in the presence of any of these things. But I do. In fact, I'm hoping to go home, crank up "Muscle of Love," watch Ben Stiller with blackface in a coal mine, and eat some deep fried tacos.


I love me some 70s rock. I'm sure its because I grew up listening to it in my Dad's garage, but whatever.

Alice Cooper is the epitome of 70s rock, and his Greatest Hits album has been playing in my car for the good part of a month. So much teenage angst and good ol' fashion rocking.

And of course, when I was little and I listened to the song "No More Mr. Nice Guy," featuring the line "I went to church incognito," I totally thought "Cognito" was a place where he went to church. True story.




Zoolander is possibly the best of the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson collaborations. But the winner of best character in Zoolander goes to Will Ferrell.



Ferrell kills it as Mugatu, a combination of Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli, and any other flamboyant designer you can imagine. In one pivotal scene, Mugatu's assistant brings him a latte with too much foam. In a fit of rage, he spits up/spills the latte on his assistant screaming "Are you not aware I get farty and bloated from a foamy latte???"

It's magical.




Growing up in the east, the only thing I knew about Jack in the Box was a nefarious connection with e-coli poisoning when I was a kid.


Wow I'm sure glad I got to know more about Jack in the Crack.


The 99 cent monster tacos are the best thing ever. See, they're even in the main advertising attraction on JITC's signage.

Highly recommended.









Perhaps the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures is gossip blogs.

The worst of those blogs is that of Perez Hilton aka Mario Lavanderia.

He's disgusting. He's disturbing. He drags people out of the closet kicking and screaming and dyes his hair blue. He's hilarious and almost always gets the first scoop.

It's the first website I check in the morning at work. Such a welcome, and frequent, relief from work.


Guilty Pleasure Honorable Mentions:

Hall & Oates

Spaceballs

Elizabeth Peters mysteries

Even worse fake tacos: Taco Bell

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Comments Please?


I re-started this blog awhile ago, and some of you have texted me or called me to say that you've checked it out, but NO ONE POSTS COMMENTS!

I just received my very first comment yesterday. I was ecstatic, even though it was from a totally random person (thanks Robage!).

Honestly, this is very disappointing. I'm fragile. I need lots of affirmation.

So, I figure if ANYTHING will provoke you people to comment, its the gay Klingon with a purse and stuffed animal picture that I've posted to the right.

Please?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Jury Duty

I have to admit, it really wasn't bad. It wasn't even really boring. I'm sure it was a fate worse than death to many of the other jurors, but it really gave me a good opportunity to understand what you have to do as an attorney to convince the jury of your position.

The most important thing I learned, and the most disheartening thing as an attorney, is that the jurors don't give a flying crap about the law. Overall, the consensus amongst the other jurors was to do what was "right," which in this case was to return possession of an apartment to a landlord who hadn't been paid in two years. No matter how much I argued that the landlord did not do what it had to under the law, it fell upon deaf ears. In the end I was the sole dissenting juror.

On the bright side, defense counsel can hopefully get the verdict overturned post-trial precisely because jurors did not follow the law. Thank god for that rule. But in the future, I will remember that more than proving your case, all you really have to do is give the jury one good reason to vote for you.

Sorry for the little legal digression, this has been killing me since I finished jury duty last week. Definitely a memorable experience.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Jury, Jury

When it rains it pours.

I just finished my first jury trial (not as exciting as you think, I was "second chair," which means I organized alot of documents and did alot of box moving), and now I'm on my first jury.

The trial I acted as an attorney on was, in reality, more awesome than I made it sound above. I didn't do all of the arguing and questioning (although I did question one witness), but I did get to see how it was done with a great example as trial counsel.

While it's alot less work, it's much more boring to be a juror. So I'm planning on using my time to just learn more about the whole process, since I'm not so involved in this trial that I can't watch and learn.

The downside is that with all of these trials I'm learning what it's really like to be an attorney, and it sucks. :)