bread, pizza, fortune cookies, and volcanoes.

BEHOLD:

My first real loaf of homemade bread. As you can see I am very excited and entertained about how I am documenting this moment in photobooth.

I've always been scared to bake bread, the whole kneading, letting it rise thing was just too daunting, time consuming, and even though it's a basic skill that I think everyone should have (And they probably do possess, but seldom try) it's just way more convenient to buy it. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought (as with everything in life) and I'll probably do it again in like a year or something. The recipe I used is from this book, which I go to for a lot of my eating needs.

Also! First ever attempt at making no-knead pizza dough. You may notice my laziness when it comes to making bread like things, if there is an easy way, I will take that way. Again, I was scared to make this pizza dough because I had read that it's not as easy as it sounds and the thought of attempting something and possibly failing and having no dinner totally scared me off. Even though whenever I read about how people are scared to work with certain ingredients, I think, pusssyyy, but then I am a bigger pussy, and one of my New Years resolutions: not be a pussy. So I made this pizza and it worked out well and I am happy I did. Pays to not be a pussy.

The most asian thing I've ever done. When Josh was here he talked about wanting to make fortune cookies and he was kind of kidding and when I said we should do it for real, he said he only thought of it because it was ridiculous and probably impossible to make. I didn't think it was impossible and I wanted to prove that to him. So this is hahha...the result. They look more like teeth cookies, WISDOM TEETH COOKIES! And I like how very homemade it looks, they make me laugh each time I look at them, and I was kind of laughing to myself while I was making them as well...maybe that's why they look all misshapen. Anyways, the recipe is from Martha Stewart, nothing that woman can't teach you.

A serious photo of the teeth cookies.

Up close! ahahahahah. Oh gosh.

There are actual fortunes inside the cookies (set in Akkurat and typewritten lucky numbers on the back!), ones that were submitted to Josh, and if you have a desire to send in some fortunes, send them to him at: thestrawbooks@gmail.com. My favorite ones are, "Even War Won Tons want peace", "CAUTION: May contain traces of paper", "Help! I am being held prisoner in a Chinese bakery", and "luck is its own reward."

I felt like I've made a lot of weird/novel things in the past few days, or have documented in a weird/novel way, so here is something kinda serious that I've made that's been in my head for a long while. I've always been fascinated by the word "Volcanoes", it stemmed from the Feist song, "Past in Present" when she sings a bit about volcanoes, and I just loved that tension and explosion and I remember just putting the word on photos and it just made the image seem so much more heavier, like it was on the brink of something, like when the weather is threatening to rain but you weren't sure if it will.

Could go either way.

Whew.

vacation from a vacation.

So Josh came into town and this is what it kind of looked like:





Ah god my favorite mac and cheese recipe with kale salad (super good balanced combo!)

Josh and I must have gone to almost every possible used book store in Vancouver (which is my way to pass the time). Here is the stack that I ended up with. A sort of mission was to get all the Murakami books, nearly there, but not completely. I am most excited to read, Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami...the guy who sold me it told me he doesn't like Murakami in general, but this book, this book was fantastic. And also I am really looking forward to the Raymond Chandler books as well (inspiration for Bored to Death!)

I am pretty specific about what I buy in a used book store. Usually if it's a modern classic/classic, I will only buy it based on the cover, because those books are usually a dime a dozen, so might as well pick the best looking one. I loooove first editions. Especially if they are first editions designed by Chip Kidd. Some used book stores sell new books along the used books and you'll never see me buying those new books. I try at all costs to buy that book used, and really if I am too impatient and can't wait, I'd buy it on Amazon.

While in the bookstores the things I was looking for (aside from what you see here) were Shirley Jackson, L.P Hartley's "The Go Between", John Wyndham, and Chuck Klosterman's "Downtown Owl". A topic of conversation in many of the bookstores was the folding of Duthie's, and I just cannot get over the insane rent that the place had to pay, 16 THOUSAND DOLLARS! A! MONTH! What! WHAT! WHHHAAATTT!!! That's insane.

Anyways.
It's funny, Josh came here for a vacation, and I totally felt like I was on vacation as well (even though I've been on vacation since like October), and it felt really good and really nice and yeah if you didn't know it already, vacations rule.

how one is built.

Okay. So confession. Or not really even. I really like the movie Jerry Maguire. Yes it's cheesy and like, man Ellen, you have no taste, but there's something about it that completely kills me, especially one scene, which I wrote out above (you can read all of the key Jerry Maguire quotes here, the one that I wrote out is like the 2nd last one). I just love the characters, Cuba Gooding Jr. and his whole pursuit of "the kwan" and there are some things that are said in the movie that I completely take to heart! AND YOU SHOULD TOO! Or not. Free will!

I also really enjoy a song from the movie as well, "Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen, you don't have to watch the video (in fact I recommend that you don't cause it kills the good movie that is Jerry Maguire), just listen to it. Every time I do it really reminds me of junior high and sitting around and watching movies like this and guiltily/surprisingly (and thus indulgently) really enjoying it and almost saying/thinking, like screw anything that's "cool" this "terrible" movie rules and there's nothing no one can do to change that.

PRINT PRINT

Selling prints of some of my work online: http://printprint.etsy.com!
Coooool!
Thannnks!

In other news, after eating awesome nachos at Foundation and then attending a photo show at Antisocial, watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the second time the other night and it was good! If not even better than the first time around, which makes the movie more awesome. Whenever that movie comes up, almost every person says, "I've heard it's actually good." Like everyone is surprised that something with such an awfully weird and nonsensical name could be more than bearable. And it is actually good! And you should see it if you haven't already. Serious laughing.

ode to the muji 0.3mm gel ink ballpoint hexagonal pen:

I love this pen! And I love it thin (0.3 mm or smaller!)

lol using muji pens.

rudderless:

Been thinking about this word a lot these days.

In other news, 3D seems to be a super big thing right now (especially in my twitter feed!!!). BUT YO! Up in 3D was like whatever (the effects, the movie itself was awesome!) I guess I really need to see Avatar in 3D.

Anywayyyyssss.

Books Read 09:

Books I read in 2009 (in the order seen in the above image):

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
The New Kings of Nonfiction selected by Ira Glass
Shenzhen: A Travelogue by Guy Delisle
Good-bye by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
Where I am Calling From by Raymond Carver
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From my Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
Comfort Me With Apples by Ruth Reichl
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
C by Josh Barsky
The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
French Milk by Lucy Knisley
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
Lamb by Christopher Moore
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Out of all the books, the ones that I enjoyed the most and would tell you to take a gander at if you were in search of something to read: The New Kings of Nonfiction selected by Ira Glass, Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank (especially if you are a girl! One that is in love with romance! And don't worry this isn't a cloyingly cheesy book either), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine (best graphic novel I read this year), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (I recommend reading anything by this author...science fiction at it's best, totally awesome).

And hrm, out of all the books, the ones I would tell you to kind of stay away from (I only say kind of, because we probably have different tastes, and really none of the books I read were terrible, but I just didn't really enjoy these ones): Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell (really hard to get through, the author is slightly boring), French Milk by Lucy Knisley (a kind of blah graphic novel, the drawings are alright, and at times the observations were interesting, but for the most part, passable), ha hrm that's it.

Yeaaaah books!