I will be seeing needles and pins in my sleep tonight, I just know it, but it’s worth it!  I am the proud owner of:

And:

Yes, party people, those would be two new Laura-made shorts, ready for sun and rum in Tobago.  I worked at them yesterday for a couple of hours, then today from 2 until 11.  Why, pray tell, did it take me that long?  Because girlfriend has an innate ability to complicate matters by trying to add pockets (that she can’t do) and waistbands (that she hates doing) to the simplest of patterns (which requires neither).  At least I had great trash TV to keep me company, and may I add that for every half hour of The Hills and Jersey Shore that I watched/listened to while sewing, I lowered the hem of the shorts by half an inch.  There is nothing like seeing the vapid, drunk and underdressed to make you embrace the winsome possibilities of thigh cover.

Other than the sewing bonanza–which is HUGE;  I don’t remember the last time I sat down and finished an entire item in one day–I got up to some swimming (30 nonstop laps, I own you), a bit of vegetable shopping chez the veggie man on the highway, and some cooking to boot.  I woke up late-ish for my morning swim and gulped down a tiny amount of Raisin Bran and vanilla soymilk pre-swim while waiting for the heavy downpour to end, then made the wackiest omelet I have ever made: just in time for a late, post-swim brunch:

That would be a South Indian omelet (chili, garlic, green onion, cumin, coriander, and turmeric to turn my frying pan yellow) with tomatoes and toast, all soon to be liberally doused with a coconut-lime chutney (which was much greener in the recipe book).  I’ve decided that the chutney is now my best friend and I plan on taking it everywhere I go–it was that good, and big-ups to the almighty Nigella (Lawson) for the recipe, which came from her Nigella Bites, aka the book that keeps on giving.

I dragged myself away from my own personal sewing sweatshop when the stitching started to get a bit hairy (the damn pockets that were not to be) for long enough to cook dinner, which was the Puerto Rican lasagna that I mentioned in last Sunday’s post:

I cut the plantain in long strips before frying it with a bit of oil, then layered it with some tomato-based vegetarian pretend-meat sauce, and topped it off with an egg  (and cheddar on Mr. Laura’s side).  I baked it in the temperamental oven for 45 minutes, did not burn it, and basically inhaled it as soon as it came out, hence the snapshot of the casserole dish with two pieces missing already–people, my hunger waits for no camera.  We had it with a very simple lettuce and tomato salad (with mustardy vinaigrette):

This dish is famous in my household for being one of the first times that my sister (let’s call her A) gave the family a peek into the funny drama princess that she would be (if you’re reading, B, you know I mean this in the sweetest possible way).

Back in the days of North Carolina livin’, plantains and black beans were hard to come by, so lucky was the Puerto Rican that could get her hands on either.  Well, my mother did, somehow, and set about making this dish.  That night, she was watching a friend’s daughter, a notoriously picky eater who did not leave the house without a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli.  So Mamalicious cooks, and cooks, and cooks some more, and out comes this delightful dish, plus some rice and Cuban black beans.  We’re all thrilled because my mom is quite a formidable cook, and girlfriend loves plantain.

We all sit at the table and start to eat.  However, there’s no outpouring of praise forthcoming, how very odd!  Gradually, after a couple of bites,  I notice that we are all chewing very deliberately, and not looking at each other–in that way that you don’t look at each other but end up looking, afraid of bursting into inappropriate laughter.  My dad eats and starts to talk to fill the empty space and says nothing of the meal but we all know what’s wrong:  the beans are undercooked, the rice has gone mushy, and the plantains were just plain off.  The friend’s daughter watches us, content in her luck at having brought her own ravioli.  More uncomfortable silence.

And then, out of nowhere, up pipes little A, her nose scrunched in disgust:  “Mom, it needs salt.”  Had my mom been the kind that swatted her children with a wooden spoon, little A would have been swatted thoroughly.

And that was the last time my mom made this.

So every time I make it, I’m surprised that it turns out so well.  And I make sure I always add salt.

____________________

The weekly accounting of my chefly virtues (sticking to menu, devising menu, etc) will have to wait for tomorrow, but since I’m feeling guilty at not doing it today, you may well find some bonus recipes in the Chomping Shop.  Trust me, I may be tired tonight, but I won’t leave you hanging.

Later, gators….

C is BACK.

she’s a friend i dearly miss and genuinely love, but at the same time her personality is always so striking that being around her – i always feel as if i’m slowly turning into a small dot, insignificant.

she drowns me out.

but she’s awesome and she’s back so i’ll say,

that’s what matters most in the end!

——-

once, this particular friend had asked:

Why do you never get angry with me? I hear you talk about the others, but it’s like you never have anything bad to say about me. Are you afraid, saying it straight out to me?

i don’t have a lot of friends.

okay, that’s a lie. i do, mostly girlfriends, but i do.

it’s just that the ones that matter are a smaller number, as per the usual case.

i mean that unlike most other people i know whose friends are in the masses, mine’s really a pretty decent number.

you know what?

sometimes i am angry or annoyed with you. most times i tell it to you straight out. other times i held back. sometimes i want to ask something that seems so important to me, but i know is so “what’s the big deal?” to you. but you’ve put my with my crap – good and bad, not just the bad – so much that honestly, i feel somewhat indebted to you. i made a mistake with one friend last time, and i’m trying not repeat my immature antics. you’re one friend that i will always try to be The Bigger Person with because yeah, although we are mutually there for each other – in terms of this friendship, your weighing scale is still probably heavier than mine.

so even right now, i’m holding back this not-so-nice feeling.

instead i’ll smile and say,

i’m here for ya!

——-

Housing paid: USD2 875.

as in… RM10 000.

I DON’T KNOW MAN, CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO ERASE THIS GUILT?!

yeah my parents are still working retirees with okay-okay fees, but they’re also pushing 60.

60 as in senior citizen status.

someone call social welfare department and report me for abuse, leeching off crazy amounts of money just to live a so-called The Dream!

——-

lately i get this nervous rush, this question i secretly try to swallow back:

is engineering really what i am cut out for?

because honestly, in my heart, my passion has always been writing stuff.

it’s always been things like editing, writing articles, language business and that thirst for the latest news.

i’m not saying i’m cut out as a reporter or journalist whathaveyous just cos i supposedly have the right talents, but… it’s passion, you know?

that’s something – in this family at least – that runs so deep you can’t go wrong with it.

environmental is also close to my heart – but i dare admit, it’s a close second.

lately i wonder how much in denial had i been, when i pushed these options away and opted so strongly for environmental?

.

but there’s also this other voice, the consoling one, that’s trying to remind me that I’ve gotten this far completely by His grace, so this does mean something.

that maybe it’s true that this is meant for me.

“You’ve made it this far Jan, He gave all these to you. It’ll be okay.”

Ayah, i hope you’re 100% right about that.

mostly, it’s cos i need you to be.

i can’t afford to lose, this time around.

——-

this time around, i’ve promised myself a few things:

• i’ll cut the crap about trying so hard to be other people, the mass …whatever that just isn’t me. really.
• i won’t try to hide or whatever, the fact that i’m Muslim – there are certain restrictions yes, but they’re ones i can manage; i’ve to be brave about this, i want to and will be.
• i won’t give in to loneliness – i’ll try my hardest.
• i wish to be N all the way – even if this means letting out some weird traits of mine.

this time around, i won’t try to hide who i am.

at least, i’m damn well going to do my best to live up to these promises.

now that’s a promise.

I was going through some CDs/DVDs of backed up material and came across this transcription of a conversation I had with my sister, and it amused me because it’s quite characteristic of how we converse.

Me:  You should get one of the dwarf ones they had.  It was a pound smaller than a Mini Rex, and it was cuter.
Rah Rah:  Was it a short-hair or a long-hair?
Me:  I don’t know.  It was fluffy.
Rah Rah:  Well, was it fluffy because it was big or was it fluffy because it was small and it had a lot of hair sticking out?
Me:  I don’t know!  It was fluffy.
Rah Rah:  Well, was the extra poof from hair when you were holding it or was it the body itself?
Me:  It was in a cage.  How am I supposed to know?
Rah Rah:  Well, you’re not really giving me anything to go on here.  Fluffy is so vague.
Me:  Ok.  It was cute & it looked CUDDLY.
Rah Rah:  I just don’t know what that means!
Me:  We’ve been here before.  I know, because I recognize that tree.  And you know what?  THE TREE IS FLUFFY.

i withdrew from college today, officially;

can’t say i’m upset – i’m scared about what’s coming, but i’m glad to leave this.

wrote a bunch of Thank You cards, only gave away 5;

am i the only one who’s flippin’ and being emo about leaving?

…and parents are following, from 26th all the way to January 6;

there’s probably going to be some major tears on both days.

——–

Searchin’ For My Polestar / Tentai Kansoku

is still still still still

THE BEST JDRAMA EVERRRRR.

ahhhh i really miss the old Jdramas.

…because I signed up for a 5K Freezer Run the Sunday after I arrive home for Christmas!

Is it crazy to sign up for a run in a city that is well-known for heavy, unpredictable snowfall in December?  Yes’m.  Is it insane to sign up for a race called a Freezer Run if you are used to running in 90 F heat?  Um, yep.  But I have signed up, it’ is non-refundable, and I am so excited to sneak in an unexpected race in my hometown that I’m singing Christmas songs to myself–for a part-time Grinch like me, that’s saying something.

This race is going to be a blast for so many reasons.  First of all, I get to compel all of my nearest and dearest to come and cheer for me.  In my previous two races, my only cheerleaders/entourage have been the Husband (for the first race) and the friends I ran with (for the second race; Huzzy B had a work thing he couldn’t get out of, sadly).  Furthermore, neither of these two races had much in the way of crowd support, because Trinidadians do not come out to support and cheer at these events.  In fact, there wasn’t even much fellow feeling and camaraderie among runners, especially at the second race.  I am definitely looking forward to the atmosphere of a small race in wacky circumstances and to getting pumped for the run with all the other (freezing) runners.

I’m also psyched because I think I am a mere begging email away from convincing one of my sisters to run with me!  (Yes you, you know who you are, just sign up already!)  This Foxylicious ran cross-country in high school, and rumor has it girlfriend has some stamina from time spent at the gym,  so I think she’s good to go.  It would be an amazing feeling to run next to my baby sister–and to show the youngster what these legs can do, even if they are twelve years older than hers….

Another reason why I can barely sit still for excitement is that the race flyer and promo materials state that “holiday attire is strongly encouraged.”  I may be a Grinch sometimes, but I don’t pass up an opportunity to dress up, much less if it can involve a brand-new running skirt.  So I gave the running outfit some long hard thought during a long videoconference meeting this morning earlier today, and present you with the draft getup for my Freezer 5K, assuming that the temperature is around 30 F:

• Grey running tights/leggings (I ordered them and haven’t seen them yet)
• Black running skirt (to be purchased once I reach Shopping Land, probably at Target Boutique)
• Green moisture-wicking tank (same thing–ordered by mail, waiting in a box for me at home)
• Long-sleeve t-shirt (I depend on kind sisters to let me borrow one from them, otherwise I’m buying)
• Hoodie/zip-up (preferably fleece?  Either borrowed from a sister or bought, in which case I want a red or green one, duh)
• And of course socks, running shoes, etc

And, for the fun stuff:

• Santa hat (I would have loved antlers instead, but I would not trust it to stay)
• Tinsel sewn on to the hem of the skirt
• Jingle bell belt
• Some sort of holly or fake poinsettia for two ponytails/two braids

I’m excited for all of it, though slightly nervous that the jingle bell sound will drive me crazy for my 3.1 miles.  Do you have any suggestions for rocking the Cute Elf Look while running? Or about how to dress for a cold-weather race?

_______________________

I committed one of the Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging today:  I left my camera at work.  It’s safely hidden in my desk, but still….  not good.  So I am sorry to say that there will be no outfit picture or food pictures tonight.  I’ll show you today’s blouse another day, I promise.  As for the food du jour, it was all repeats and leftovers anyway (banana oatmeal–with coconut this time–for breakfast, salad with falafel and tahini dressing for lunch, and leftover Middle Eastern rice and lentils with tomato/green pepper/cucumber salad).

I am sure that the reason I forgot the camera at work was my most excellent lunchtime swim today (there are no lockers at the pool, so I leave my valuables at my desk, and today I just put it back after my lunch pic).  It was my first swim in almost two weeks–since the knee injury–and the water was cool, the sun was shining, and my breathing was RIGHT.  I was complimented by a friend I ran into at the pool, who said it was hard to believe that I was swimming with a board in March, seeing how I swim now.  It reminded me how I tend to take the swimming for granted sometimes and how far I’ve come from the days that I couldn’t do four front-crawls in a row without gasping and freaking out. Compared to that, my usual swim nowadays is 28 lap–thirty laps, I’m gonna wail on you in a few weeks– and I’m getting to where I don’t need to take breaks in between these laps.  Hmmmm, might a mini-triathlon be in the cards for me next year?

A girl can dream.

But enough of that–I need to give my undivided attention to Law and Order: SVU before Detective Stabler punches anyone and I miss it.  Enjoy your first day of December!

the truth is, i’m scared.

i’m really really scared.

the fact that it’s the 1st of December is flippin’ me out – i’ve always been one for familiarity;

everything new and different – from afar – seem great, you know what i mean?

but as they approach, as dreams turn into reality – the sinking feeling comes.

it’s asking me to look it in the eyes.

fear.

.

my plane ticket arrangement is also confirmed -

KL > Amsterdam > Detroit > Philadelphia.

Roughly hmm, 25 hours worth of flying?

I WILL BE SO FAR FROM HOME.

.

i don’t know if i’m ready, right now i just keep feeling so frikkin’ scared.

engineering, can i do it?

all these money invested for me, can i accomplish what i must?

(we’re talkin’ numbers  that end with what seem like infinite zeros to me, and that’s only the cost of the initial 3 months’ worth)

independence, to get out – why did i seek for this so badly all the while?

.

it’s a bit too expensive for Mum and Dad, if they were to take the same agency as what i’ve been arranged for, so Mum will probably go through her usual one.

we’ll head to the same destination, but we might not get the same flights.

ahh, this independence. is this it?

i. am. so. scared.

.

but flip the coin and there’s always another side.

another that’s asking me to look it in the eyes.

truth is, even if it’s not now -

will i ever be ready?

Derek: Is she in the dark twisted place?

Mer: Yes, she’s in the dark twisted place.

Yang: I don’t like the married happy you

Marie tycker inte om att frysa, det sätter sig på humöret och förstärker hemlängtan hon fick igår när hon pratade med systrar, mamma och syskonbarn.

Mitt söndagsmys:

La-Familia

Dupa cum stiti, ieri 29 noiembrie Albumul Vacanta in Mexic a fost lansat.

In album ii puteti asculta pe Sisu, alaturi de Puya, Cabron, Cedry2k, Tony batranu, Nimeni altul si altii.

Download Album click

Hier soir, je me trouvais dans un “party” ou plutôt un rassemblement de filles de la famille (j’ai tellement une grosse famille, on était 4!). Une des membres de ma famille est tout fraichement séparée de son mari des dernières années et l’occasion était propice à boire du vino, à bitcher et se faire du tarot.

Ce que j’aime, c’est à quel point des situations comme celles-là amènent des prétextes de sortir notre kit de la parfaite petite diseuse de bonnaventure. Une vraie soirée de sacoches, quoi! Un changement de vie aussi drastique apporte plein de nouvelles possibilités et c’est tellement l’fun de voir ce que l’avenir.

Tant qu’à avoir sorti tout cet attirail là, je me suis dis que j’allais en profiter moi aussi. Pose quelques questions au pendule et évidemment, je veux savoir ce que l’avenir réserve à mon couple. Alors là on me dit que je dois d’abord demander au pendule si mon chum accepte qu’on pose une question le concernant. Moi, je voyais pas tellement le rapport; il était à ce moment là dans un autre party à l’autre bout de la ville, probablement accoté sur un cadre de porte à jaser de statistiques de la LNH, je voyais pas trop en quoi, avec un pendule, j’arriverais à lui demander à lui s’il voulait que je pose une question à son sujet. Je suggère alors que ça risque d’être moins compliqué de lui lâcher un coup de fil pour lui demander et ma tante m’explique que non, c’est à son âme, son énergie que nous devons poser la question. Euh….Ok. 

On lui demande s’il accepte, pis il veut pas le sacripant!! Je me mets à être fru contre lui alors que le pauvre sait même pas ce qui se passe. Bref, je n’ai pas eu réponses à mes questions.

Plus tard, dans la soirée, au lieu de rentrer à la maison, je fais un méga détour pour aller le rejoindre au party. J’essaie de l’appeler, pas de réponse. J’arrive là, on me confirme qu’il a quitté depuis 20 minutes. Je reviens à la maison en beau joual vert en nommant tous les saints de l’église. Je rentre, il est là, tout relax dans le fauteuil du salon.

- “Ça te tentait pas de répondre quand j’appellais?? J’me suis tapé un détour de malade pour aller te rejoindre là-bas!! Pis en plus, j’peux tu savoir pourquoi tu voulais pas que je pose de question sur toi au pendule??”

Ce matin, il m’aime encore quand même.

..som var diabetes Typ-1. Frågetecknen är så många.

Hade lätt tagit sjukdomen istället. Men nu SKA vi göra det bästa av det här. Fast än så länge snurrar världen – fort, fort!

…ens unge åker ambulans till akuten så behövs nog inga ord i skrift för att andra ska förstå.

trust my 4 year-old ‘too smart for his own age’ nephew to ask questions like that out of the blue.

when i was younger and he was just born, i remember secretly whispering to his then-so-small ears, “tell me the secrets of the universe.”

four years later, man oh man, he’s asking and responding to abstract ideas and concepts that genuinely i’m thinking, do all 4 year old kiddos do this?!

this kid is the same one who sees a question mark [?] and doesn’t convey it as what it literally is – a question mark, period – but instead goes, “mystery.”

you see, this particular aunty – well, basically she doesn’t exactly have very smart answers all the time.

“Uhh. It’s cos there are black clouds – it’s about to rain.”

——-

You’re Beautiful ended this week – although for awhile i sort of lost some steam for this series, in general i’ve to give it an applause cos it IS awesome.

i don’t know if this is THE drama of the year for me – hahaha, it’s not like i watch as much of this year’s ones as other Kdrama reviewers – but it’s definitely somewhere up there for me, maybe just below Boys Over Flowers.

which by the way, it was compared a lot with – probably cos of the similarity in the young-ish casts and fresh-appeal storyline – but hey, for me, both are awesome in their own merits so cheers and kudos to both aye

You’re Beautiful, it’s been a most fun experience watching you, commenting about you at Dramabeans, getting crazy about you and well… main hero Hwang Tae-Kyung, i would so totally date you if you’re a real person haha!

(but i’m really hoping for the actor to date the actress, they’ve got such sizzling, totally-apparent chemistry with each other off-screen )

——–

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

- Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

.

i’m not lucky, i’m blessed.

and that makes a world of difference.

——-

today my cousins the US grads paid a visit to the house.

i know they mean well with us – even if at the same time, they tend to gloat a lot about having been/ graduating/ having siblings in the States – but they’ve never really paid any heed to me before this honestly – probably because i’m the youngest and previously my elder siblings do the talking instead -

…until of course, now.

suddenly it’s like we’re totally BFF!

i guess i might just get crazy lonely initially there that it would be great to get connected to some (or any?) familiar faces there but there’s a small part of me that also feels a little phony, because yes in truth, we’re distant (but by blood, very close) cousins.

ahh well, if it is something good better to just take it in, isn’t it?

——–

“You know where they’ll place you if you’re under environmental?”

“I don’t know. Where?”

(smirks)

“You know the oil refinery? Well at the end of the end of it, where the sludge and bacteria and all sorts of wastes are there… that’s where they’ll put you.”

(facial expression showing disgust)

“Really? But that’s my interest, waste management.”

“Where all the bacteria and germs are?”

(shakes head)

.

aishhhhh. this dude is really, really –

MENCABARRRRR KESABARAN.

——–

there’s that great book sale happening in one of the nearby (okay, not so near but whatever) mall and i’d gotten some pretty awesome reads – if anyone goes, buy for yourself books by Curtis Sittenfeld, she’s awesome! – including one i’d found completely randomly:

The Chicken Soup For the Soul series -
Teens Talk: Getting In… To College.

i’m not a chicken soup book fan, to be honest – i’ve read some previously but their inspiring stories always borderline on being somewhat too emotional for me that it usually doesn’t quite hit me in the gut but this one?

this is, is totally, totally awesome.

maybe because i’m at this crossroad, totally, where i’m confused and scared – i keep pondering if i’d made the right decisions, if i’d picked the best school, if i’d made all the right moves…

well this book is telling me -although in a way i genuinely, quite literally cannot afford to fail or have picked the wrong way – that it’s okay, that everything will turn out okay eventually.

they may suck for awhile, there may be fear the size of a mountain, there may be crazy homesickness to face and all other jazz but that infinitely, hey, i might just be able to write a story of my own a la chicken soup-style about my experience(s)!

this is my favorite – i hope it’s okay to retype here, all copyrights to the original author yo, and uhm, the chicken soup series as well! :

Flying Solo
by Renee Adair

I don’t see a light upon this path.
I can’t find the footprints in the snow.
No one holds the door open for me.
No one’s here to tell me where to go.

I’ve got to find my own way in this world.
I can’t depend on anyone but me.
I’ve got to accept the person I am.
I’ve got to know what I want to be.

But I’m afraid that failures will prevail.
And I’m not yet ready for this.
I’m terrified I’ll shoot for the fullest moon,
And for all the stars,

And miss.

So I’ve got to wait till the sky is clear.
Wait till the climb gets steep.
Gather my courage, take a breath, close my eyes…

And leap!

(total copyright respected, don’t copy&paste anywhere okay!)

.

DUDE, TELL ME THIS POEM IS AWESOME AND OH-SO RELATABLE.

i love the third stanza the most – how i too, am so scared that even when/if i were to shoot for the fullest moon and stars …i’ll still miss.

which reminds me -

there’s one month left y’all, one month.

there’s another story in there that talks about how she might be zero- experience in the relationship/boys/dating whatever part, but school is her domain - academics is her forte. yet she was rejected by the Ivys, though of course this turned out to be blessings in disguise.

the zero-experience part and school being my domain, my mojo – well, i can definitely, totally relate to that.

so you know what?

N, YOU BETTER MAKE YOURSELF WORTHY OF THIS.

——–

“Aren’t you scared of leaving?”

“Well… at this point it’s a choice of no choice. It’s going to happen anyway. So I might as well look at it in the most positive light possible. Go with the flow. Take things as they come.”

“Insya-Allah, you’ll be okay. Don’t worry Jane.”

you know something Ayah?

there’s something about you and your words, they hold so much power for me - i’ll believe just about anything you say when you say it that way.

so thank you.

——–

translating is shiznit business okay, no joke.

but i’m very, very, very close to finishing it already.

think of the RM1500 you’re getting paid for it, N.

Welcome to the first ever B&B Eats Column. The concept behind these blogs are very simple- we talk about places love to eat in hopes that you can discover a new favorite place to stuff your face (and yes that blog will be coming!) -Bill Bodkin

Our first delectable destination is one that is near and dear to the hearts of both publishers of this blog- La Familia Pizza in New Brunswick.

La Familia is one of the dozen or so pizzerias that line Easton Avenue, one of the best college streets in all of Jersey. Littered with bars, restaurants and the aforementioned dozen pizza joints, Easton Avenue is always alive the college spirit- whether it be the drunken antics of co-eds on a Friday night or a couple of alumni reminiscing about the days of yore with a slice in one hand, a soda in the other.

“A Taste of the Past” by Bill Bodkin

What sets this little pizzeria that could apart from the others, and trust me I have eaten at every pizzeria in New Brunswick, is quality, plain and simple.

I know that anytime I walk through those doors and sit down at the rickety blue booths that not only will the management still remember me, but I will be served up a piping hot pie that is the perfect blend of sauce, cheese and oil.

Be warned, when you get a pie at La Familia, it’s always hotter than a sauna in Hades, so give it a minute or five to cool off. I know the wait for a delicious pizza can be unbearable, so you can always order up some tasty mozzarella sticks or one of the innumerable menu items they have. (Yes, if you don’t want pizza there are a number of Italian and Fat sandwiches as well as burgers and cheesesteaks you can order, but my question to you is- WHY?)

After you’ve let your pie cool down, dig in. The best part about a slice here is that they are so smooth. The crust is perfect cooked so you don’t get that burnt, crunchy taste nor is it soggier than the Soggy Bottom Boys, so your pizza is literally melting before you like Senator Kelly in the first X-Men movie. The sauce is sweet and the cheese is just out of this world. Describing it makes me want a slice right now!

For myself, as well as my co-publisher, who always order the “corner slice of Sicilian” along with our usual plain pie order, this place has a lot of history. During our days at The Daily Targum at Rutgers we would often head over to La Familia for pizza before deadline to enjoy a great meal before we dove into a huge issue. Even years after we’ve graduated we still go back at least once a year for a slice to remember the good old days.

But don’t take our word for it. Anyone I’ve ever taken to La Familia has fallen in love with it. My uncle, who currently resides in California, actually went up to the owners after finishing his slice and told them after living in New York for 50 years, he never had pizza this good. My dad, another New Yorker, actually walked two plus miles from the New Brunswick courthouse to La Familia while he was on break from jury duty, just for a slice. And for me, most importantly, it’s actually where I took my girlfriend, a Rutgers alumn who never sampled pizza on Easton Avenue, on our first date and she loved it. Aww, that was kinda whimsical.

So do yourself a huge favor, if you’re in New Brunswick or are hankering for a slice of some of the most delicious pizza you’ll ever experience, head over to Easton Avenue and find La Familia.

“Personal Pizza” by Brent Johnson

Eateries are often personal — special to us because of the memories
we forge there and how the food appeals to our specialized taste buds.
And though I’ve chatted up future girlfriends in La Familia’s booths
and planned writing projects with my friends over a large plain there,
none of you probably care.

So let me tell you what my taste buds love at Familia: sicilian pizza.

Their regular slices are great. Sweet-enough sauce, a not-too-thick
layer of cheese, soft-meets-slightly-crunchy crust.

But it’s easy to make the sicilian slice unappealing. Pizza places
often make them too thick, too soft, too saucy. Not Familia. Its
thickness is perfect to bite into without too much trouble. It’s
crunchy and not too doughy.

So my advice: If you’re craving two slices at Familia, make sure one
of the slices is from Sicily. Enjoy.

El film “Morenita. El Escándalo” aborda un temas polémicos: El robo más grande que puede sufrir el país, que es el hurto de la Virgen de Guadalupe, para saldar una deuda con el narco y  la manera en que fué filmada, porque el director Alan Jhonson engañó a las autoridades de la Basílica de Guadalupe diciéndoles que sería un documental emotivo de “La Reina del Tepeyac”.

Jhonson argumentó que si no les mentía, jamás le permitirían filmar su película, así que se la jugó y tuvo acceso las veces que quiso al recinto; aunque la única vez que levantaron sospecha fue cuando en una de las escenas arribaron agentes federales a la Basílica, pero los tranquilizó al explicarles que era parte del documental.

Este filme que se estrenará hoy con 192 copias.

El cartel promocinal la imagen de la Virgen de Guadalupe hecha con cocaína y tiene enrollado un billete de 200 pesos.

MORENITA EL ESCANDALO

 La película MORENITA EL ESCANDALO protagonizada por Ignacio López Tarso y Maya Zapata se ha presentando en diversos festivales internacionales previo a su estreno en México el próximo 13 de Noviembre.

 Entre los festivales en donde se ha presentado son: 

• Sao Paulo International Film Festival (selección oficial)
• Festival Iberoamericano de Huelva, España (Mejor Director)
• AFI Dallas International Film Festival (selección oficial)
• Encuentros de Cine Suramericano de Marsella, Francia (selección oficial)
• Mostra de Cinema Latinoamericano de Lleida, Espa ña (selección oficial)
• Festival Cultural Iberoafroamericano de Colonia, Alemania (Mejor Película y mejor
• Director)
• Tregor International Film Festival, Strasburg, France (Mejor Actor: Ignacio Lopez Tarso)
• Sydney Latin American Film Festival (selección oficial)
• Festival de Artes Audiovisuales de La Plata, Argentina (Mejor Dirección de Arte y Mejor Sonido)
• Orlando Hispanic Film Festival (Premio Especial del Jurado: mejor película y Mejor Reparto)
• Festival de cine caribeño de la isla Margarita, Venezuela (selección oficial)
• Festival Internacional de Cine de Bogotá (selección oficial)
• Los Ángeles Latino Film Festival (selección oficial)
• Festival Internacional de Cine de Tenerife (selección oficial)
• Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de Flandes (selección oficial)
• Festival Internacional de Cine de Viña del Mar (selección oficial)
• Bahamas International Film Festival (selección oficial)

Sinopsis

El robo más grande de los últimos 500 años  jamás pensado en  nuestro país. Una historia emocionante en la que el protagonista se verá ante el umbral de una importante decisión: su vida y la de su familia o la fe de todo un país. Un guión cinematográfico  que toca temas sobre la sociedad, el dinero, y  el poder. En  donde hacer tratos con el diablo se puede pagar muy caro.

http://www.oem.com.mx/laprensa/notas/n1419227.htm
http://www.cineyalgomas.com.mx/…/proximos-estrenos

Cei de la Vodafone continua colaborarea cu Puya, lansand cinci noi reclame, cu ocazia Craciunului. Membrul trupei La Familia apare in noile spoturi, separat, alaturi de Razvan, Ramona Badescu si Smiley:

Hai sa vedem si reclamele :

Happy Thanksgiving y’all!  I’m stuffed to the gills with good food and wine, giddy that I didn’t burn anything, and two winks away from bed.

This morning I felt like a kid in a candy shop just knowing that my fridge was stuffed full of goodies, that frozen cranberries were sitting in my freezer, and that I would be coming home early from work to play happy hostess.  To indulge in the Thanksgiving mood, I also tried to remember good family times at Thanksgiving, but truth be told, all I could remember was the food.  Despite the stress and fuss, Thanksgiving at Chez My House was always a great time, which may be why I have a hard time singling out a specific memory.

The only one I have, oddly enough, has nothing to do with the food.

My father was very talented at many things, but home improvement was not one of these.  Where did you think my slap-dashery and haphazardness came from?  Anyway, one year we had a terrible wind and rain storm a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  It was so wild that it knocked down an entire panel of windows in the sun room at the back of the house.  Did a repairman get called out to fix them?  Nope, Papalicious took care of it himself, the only way he knew how, which was anyhow and sloppily; I know this because I was dragged in to help, given what a good holder of hammer/hander-over of nails/steadier of boards I was.

So on Thanksgiving Day, as the kitchen madness was hitting fever pitch with the turkey’s timer beeping, and the gravy boiling, and the uncles swilling rum, and too many little children underfoot, and a very stressed Mamalicious with daggers for eyes about to commit a capital offence due to stress and chaos, what do you think happens?  Slam crash bang.

Was it the turkey hitting the ground, a child being strangled, a bottle of rum being thrown?

Nope.  It was the sound of THREE (of five) sunroom windows crashing to the floor and breaking to bits.  Seems the quality window-rigging job done by Papalicious was not meant to handle any slight gusts of wind.  At which point anyone with any sense got out of my mother’s tongue-lashing way.

That year’s turkey was the best one yet.

So that is my enduring Thanksgiving memory, peeps.

_________________________________

Even though I was thoroughly tempted to make my favorite-oatmeal-of-all-time-ever (with cranberries), I thought it would be a bit greedy to scarf two servings of hard-to-come by cranberries in a single day.  So back to boring but yummy banana oatmeal:

I will never tire of oatmeal–or of the wacky patterns the sun makes in my kitchen in the mornings.

Soon after breakfast, I also had some unscheduled but very gratefully acknowledged Indian snacks from Debe, a town in the south that is known here in Trinidad for having the best Indian snacks such as doubles (pillowy, crispy fried flatbreads wrapped around spiced chickpea, mango chutney, and pepper sauce), baiganee (eggplant fried in a split pea batter),  and saheena (fritters made of split pea flour and spinach, dipped in pepper sauce).  All of superb tastiness, all shared with the coworkers.

Lunch was a sandwich with homemade red bean hummus, hot sauce, lettuce, tomato and red onion, with cucumbers and brown mustard on the side:

And here are the Thanksgiving eats:

Sweet potatoes with peaches

Chicken masquerading as turkey x 2, gravy, green beans

Green beans with garlic

A plateful of yum

Good times, good friends

Pumpkin pie-spiced flan

Notice anything missing?  I forgot to put out the cranberry sauce–I guess the chicken pretending to be turkey just didn’t fool me.

_______________________________

I would have loved to dress in Thanksgiving-like colors, but the orange and yellow tops were in the laundry basket, so I made do with this:

That is a US $14.99 pencil skirt from Marshalls in PR that has gotten a beating this year; as you can see, it’s not very pencil-like anymore as a result of both skirt wear and booty shrink.

The blouse was the first item I started to sew when I bought a sewing machine here in Trinidad and I am still shocked that it did not make it to the UFO (unfinished object, for the non-sewistas) pile.  I used Burda Young Fashion 7993; funny how they market an old-lady looking blouse as “young fashion,” no?  I cut the fabric much too big, then had to adjust it down to fit, then had to contend with the slippiness of the chiffon, then had to alter the neckline, then had to reset the sleeve, then had to completely redo the sleeve…  And let’s not even go with what a pain it was to make buttonholes on that fabric, which has been filed under “never.again.” Long story short?  As glad as I am that I finished it, I want to like it more than I actually do.  I may have to redeem the pattern and try again with a fabric that doesn’t slip, cutting to my real size.

I also sported zees for the dinner part of the day:

This is  a dress that I made almost a year ago, worn only twice since and just now starting to grow on me.  I loved the fabric but once the dress was made, I felt like I should be wearing a straw hat and answering to Peggy Sue or Annie Mae.  However, nothing recommends a dress to me more than knowing I’ll match my tablecloth.

The tryptophan in the pretend turkey is kicking in…. zzzz.

Puya & Sisu  ne stim din cartiere,nustiu cati dintr voi ascultat Rap sau HipHop,dar eu ascult mult si pot sa spun ca sa schimbat foarte mult din 95.

My sleep has been pretty messed up since last week.  I finally gave in and took a sleeping pill late this morning.  It’s been awhile since I’ve taken something, so it hit me pretty hard.  I’ve been really groggy since I woke up, and my limbs and my head feel disconnected from the rest of my body.  It’s a weird sensation.  It’s also coupled with intense fatigue.  I know I need to sleep more, and I will, because I need to wake up at early o’clock tomorrow anyway, but since tomorrow is going to be a very busy day and will probably only include a perfunctory “Happy Thanksgiving!,” I thought that I’d go ahead and post about all the things I’m thankful for today.

• Alice I initially wrote family, but I feel as if Alice is deserving of her own list.  She’s the newest addition, and I couldn’t be more thankful that she is.  I’m thankful for every moment I get to hear her sweet little voice over the phone.  I’m thankful for every picture.  I’m thankful for what she’s done for my beautiful sister.  I’m thankful for every milestone, every giggle, every coo and every scream.  Mostly, though, I’m thankful for her.
• Family I love them even when I don’t particularly like them. I am most especially thankful for my siblings and, in particular, the closeness which my sister and I have recently developed.  I’ve spent years praying for it, and I’m thankful for every day for the hurdles we’ve crossed and the distance we’ve come.  I am also thankful for my brother-in-law.  He’s also a new member of the family, and I’m looking forward to spending some time with him over Christmas.  He’s a pretty neat guy.  I think I’ll keep him.
• Friends I am grateful for all of my friends, as well as–and, in some ways, especially–those that I have met through my blog.  I still find myself amazed by the friendships that I manage to strike up through my insignificant space in cyberspace.  The love and support from friends help make the trials and ordeals I experience infinitely more tolerable.
• Jessica ‘Nough said.
• Sleep I have learned to cherish what I can get, when I can get it.  I often complain about the little I get, but knowing what it can be like with none at all, I’m thankful even for that small amount.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ll stop complaining anytime in the near future… (kidding!, sort of)
• My thesis being submitted I don’t think this needs any elaboration.
• Having a roof over my head and food in my stomach Living in a city with such a high homeless population really makes you thankful for the small things, especially in this economy.  Things could be so much worse, but at the end of the night, I have everything and more that I absolutely need.
• My faith Sometimes I get distracted by all the little things, but at the end of the day, God is there patiently awaiting me.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout the years, it’s that no matter how many times I turn my back on God, whether it be for five hours, five days, five months or five years, God will always be waiting for me with His arms open.  Always.  That kind of constancy and love are the kind worth waking up in the morning for.

I kept the list short, because you are probably busy preparing for the holiday.  If you feel like sharing what you are thankful for, feel free.  Or, if you already made such a similar list on your blog, please feel free to drop me the link so I can take a look.  (I may have you on my feed reader, but I am majorly behind–WEEKS, actually–so unless you feel like having me comment a week or two from now when I’m finally caught up, posting a link would be good.)