Monday Blues

or pinks, reds, and yellows. For a Monday picker-upper, check out the sexy lighting on this muffin:

I didn't realize my lens was foggy.
Bran muffin and a small chai latte from Cafe Milano.. sexy, indeed.

I think it's time

to buy holiday kitsch.

A nice week

it was. With the exception of my sickly body, it consisted of interesting happenings and yummy foods. My weeks are generally planned around whatever is in my Almighty Organizer. I've switched brands from year to year, but I think I've finally settled on the Moleskine 18-month weekly notebook. [A great holiday gift for any meticulous and/or neurotic friend ;)]This poor thing has had to deal with bottled water, rain water, fish sauce, and gunfire.. okay, not gunfire. This week had appreciably more stuff written for it- mostly just motivational "Get Better!" notes.

For breakfast this morning, Mike, Tina, and I decided to go to Filippo's on College/Ashby to pay the best waiter in the world (hah!) a visit.

teehee
"It looked like a grizzly bear was giving me a light show."
He also makes a good cup o' coffee and warm chocolate.
I forgot to take a photo of this before digging in! It's Filippo's French toast, which they reserve for their weekend brunch.
Sweetened ricotta + strawberries + perfectly textured french toast = tummy love.
Tina thought it was so good, she ate the napkin, too.

Midlake! ahhh

For my feeling-under-the-weather lunch on Tuesday, I decided to have San Francisco Soup Company's Smokey Split Pea with a side salad. Pretty, no? The split pea soup wasn't very smokey, and I still can't grasp why most split pea soups are so thick.. They should be called "pastes", "purees", or maybe "glues". But they just won't sound as yummy...

The cilantro was the best part of this little lunch! The garden salad came with a balsamic dressing, but I hardly use dressing because I like eating salads (and many other things) with my hands. [A habit I refuse to shake!]
Here's a picture of my office space! Okay, my table's a bit messy, but I like how I can decorate the walls with more fun, but still work- related, things. I share the room with CSHC's Policy Director, who generally deals with my food crumbs and funny sounds for a good portion of her workweek.
If you draw your attention to the cork board, what on earth is that yellow blob in the upper right corner?
None other than an enthusiastic pikachu! It's work-related, I swear.

"Because WE ARE your friends

YOU'LL never be alone again." ::blush:: Such fun times..

Today, I tried Peet's Pumpkin Spice Latte. Their version definitely isn't as sweet as Starbucks's. Theirs has more of a bold spiced flavor, whereas Starbucks's has a reliable sweetness that you can't go wrong with. While I was sipping the latte and walking to the BART station, I got some whipped milk on my upper lip. I then noticed that I wasn't alone..

Foam beard! No? Just me?
I laughed so much in the station- the women sitting by me must have been so perplexed.
Handy mug fashioning the latte.

It's a posty kind of day

Another one from Jose Garcia Villa. I let out a "Wow.." after reading it.
--

When, I, was, no, bigger, than, a, huge,
Star, in, my, self, I, began, to, write,
My,
Theology,
Of, rose, and,

Tiger: till, I, burned, with, their,
Pure, and, Rage. Then, was, I, Wrath-
Ful,
And, most,
Gentle: most,

Dark, and, yet, most, Lit: in, me, an,
Eye, there, grew: springing, Vision,
Its,
Gold, and,
Its, wars. Then,

I, knew, the, Lord, was, not, my, Creator!
- Not, He, the, Unbegotten - but, I, saw,
The,
Creator,
Was, I - and,

I, began, to, Die, and, I, began, to, Grow.

We won't stop just yet

Damn you, Prop 8. If you were a part of the opposition, you'll probably be interested in signing this.

And courtesy of patrickmoberg.com through my home slice, Paul.
Of all the things I've read and seen, this one brought me to tears. Light-hearted reality with a smattering of jest is sometimes the best way to pull at the heartstrings [See: my reaction to The Royal Tenenbaums].

The Long Haul

Still sick. Gots a paper. Nevertheless, the weather is shaping up to be sunny with a cheery breeze. For an Angeleno (or as some like to say "Los Angelesian"..?), 60 degrees isn't the easiest temperature to get through. But the holidays are approaching, and I'll get through anything!

Spot the kat! And check out this awesome bodhi tree!

(Pleeease, correct me if I'm wrong!)

Excruciatingly warm weather in this shot.... not your average holiday climate. This is from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Temple name once I remember. o.o

Improvise!

Hershey's carries its famous milk chocolate bar with almonds, which I thoroughly enjoy (although, sometimes I feel like they skimp on the almonds). But, I only have their original milk chocolate bar. So how do I improvise? Well, a little mouth-mixing of pieces of the milk chocolate and Whole Foods almonds makes a winning attempt. [Kinda like peppermint schnapps and chocolate syrup... only... not as inebriating... with some chewing involved]Look at this fancy Vietnamese sammich! It's from Highlands Coffee in Hanoi, Vietnam's premier coffee chain (coffee chain + Vietnam = major ?) This one was about $2.50 with fries.

These two guys were from a street vendor in Nha Trang. The price? A whopping 60 cents for two!

Yummm
[International Travel Care, my Lonely Planet, and my waist pouch- travel essentials at that point]

Now, don't ask me which one was better..

Okay, go ahead and ask.

I would have to say the Nha Trang banh mi were better. They were more accessible and filled with all sorts of yummies that the Highlands version didn't have. Plus, Highlands caters to tourists; ergo, their sammiches don't have all the more questionable - yet tasty - ingredients that other vendors have.

I hungie!

Branded memories

Yesterday was a turbulent day. Oakland and Berkeley were a little chilly. I had a few gonna-puke-soon moments in the office and while in line for Cheeseboard (feta, roma tomatoes, onions). Oh, and the ELECTION!

Memory 1:

I was walking out of the Preservation Park complex just when the sun had set. I had my cell phone strapped to my ear; I was giving a mouthful to my brother.
"Kamille, are you sure you voted 'no' on Prop 4?"
"Yes. I was just kidding earlier."
"Are you sure?!?!"
After this back-and-forth exchange for another five minutes...
"He won Pennsylvania."
"What?! No way! Are you sure?"
"Yeah, they just reported that he did."
"I can't believe he won Pennsylvania!"
At that very instant, a man walking next to me on 12th Street and MLK, who had overheard this, asked, "Who won Pennsylvania?"
"Obama!"
"HELL YEAH! It's in the bag now!"
We were about two more elated screams away from just hugging each other at the intersection.

Memory 2:

Mike and I consumed our four slices of Cheeseboard pizza in front of the TV. Red, blue, red, blue! I was still sickly (still am!), so Mike brought out our comforter, and I pleasantly situated myself on the couch. A good ten minutes later, I saw Alex through our door window.
"I couldn't watch the election alone!"
His arrival... Mike's interest... everything made me feel so proud of our age group, our civic-mindedness, and our refusal of apathy.
We both plopped ourselves down on the couch, chatted about recent and upcoming events and literally, within the five seconds we turned away from the TV to talk about Oracle, "Barack Obama Elected 44th President of the United States" runs on the television. I checked my watch. "7:59?" I thought out loud. "Come on NBC, gotta be that slanted?!" But no, no mistakes. He won. A beautiful silence invaded the living room.

Memory 3:

I pulled myself out of bed this morning so I could attend my Philippine diaspora literature class. I hadn't heard any news on Prop 8. I arrived to an empty class, but a couple of students arrived minutes later.
"Hey, have any of you guys heard the latest on Prop 8?"
"Uh, it passed."
"What?! *bleep*!"
"We can't win everything."

Ain't that the truth.

Again... 2008 has been the year.