+ NEWSLETTER

+ MAY07

MOTHER'S DAY

I'm going back to the monthly theme. This month features Mother's Day. For artwork, I used the crossword puzzle layout to spell out "Mother's Day" and "May 13th, Sat." And, then of course, pretty flowers around it. Again, I went overboard with the amount of time spent on the artwork, but I like being creative. So, I wrote the lyrics and sung a little ditty. And, it's played through Flash (requires Flash Player to view). It's oozing with cheesiness, but enjoy.

CREATIVE:
ORGANIZE CLOTHING

To organize your clothes for the whole week, try this. I think this would work for guys, too.

1. Section off 1' of your clothing rack for clothes you're going to wear for the week.
2. Get 7 large zip lock bags with sliders to close.
3. Mark on them each day of the week.
4. Put thick tape at the corner of the bag near the opening.
5. Use a hole puncher to punch a hole where you just put the tape. This will keep the hole from ripping.
6. Loop the hole through the hanger, and the bag should dangle like a diamond.
7. When accessorizing, put earrings, necklaces, bracelets, scarves, belts, and other pretty items you have in the bag. For guys, it would be ties, watches, and other guy stuff.

STORY: FAIR

continued from last month (read this first if you haven't already)...

It's Saturday afternoon. James, Ashley, and Peter arrive at the fair's ticket booth. Ashley is still upset with James and Peter for getting out of their chore duties in the morning.

TICKET CHASHIER: Sir, how many tickets?

ASHLEY (Shoves James to the side): It'll be one adult and TWO kids.

PETER: Mom, but there's...

ASHLEY: (Points to Peter) One, (Point to James) TWO! I don't think I have mistaken after the stunt you two pulled this morning...getting out of your chores (Squints at James).

PETER: (Tucks on Ashley's shirt) Mom, your right shoelace is untied.

Ashley looks down at her shoelace and ties it. While Ashley wasn't watching, James gives Peter a thumbs for bailing him out. James finishes ordering the tickets, and they enter the fair. A group of fair staff with balloons aim towards Ashley for a photo.

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Ma'am, let's have a family photo. Say cheese...

ASHLEY: NOT...IN...THE...MOOD.

JAMES: (Seeing how mad Ashley is getting, he calms her done) Honey, it's your Mother's Day Gift!! Yeah!! (Gives a surprise hand gesture to the side and a cheesy grin like he done a terrific surprise. Ashley looks closely at the balloons, and they all say "Happy Mother's Day."). You know your man got the hookups, and I arranged all this for you. (Gives another cheesy grin and pulls out his chest.)

ASHLEY: Your cheesy! (Slaps James a couple of times on his right shoulder for getting her upset in the morning).

JAMES: But, your not mad anymore. Are you?

ASHLEY: (Grumpily) NO...BUT, you still got our of your chore duties...

JAMES: Well, sort of not...I gave your looooong list of chores to the cleaning service and the gardener. So, it's all taken cared of. I just want my lovely, lovely wife to enjoy a relaxing day instead of working (Gives the cue for the staff photographer and poses Ashley, Peter, and himself for the photo).

ASHLEY, JAMES, & PETER: Cheese!! (In midst of the photo, Ashley gives James and Peter a big hug.)

 

REVIEW:
JAPANESE RESTAURANTS

Orochon Ramen :|
(Los Angeles, CA)

• Soy Sauce Broth +
  Level of Spiciness #6 :|
  The noodle soup wasn't as good as I thought, but it filled up my tummy. I wasn't hungry till late at night. Although, it's a nice place to hangout and for buddies to have a spicy competition.

• Service :|
  I had to get the waitress's attention to order.
  

Kushi Shabu :D
(Los Angeles, CA)

• Beef Dish :)
  Yum...yum. The meat used for Shabu Shabu was soooo good. It's a bit on the fatty side, but the fat oil rises to the top of the hot pot.

• Service :)
  The owner/manager gave us a dish to try that usually can't be combined with the order.

Ton Ten Ko Japanese Restaurant :|
(Alhambra, CA)

• Sashimi Combo :|
  It was okay. Nothing special.

• Service :|
  Service was average.

REVIEW:
KOREAN RESTAURANTS

Soot Bull Jeep :)
(Los Angeles, CA)

• Rib & Meat Dish :)
  This place has food cooked over charcoal. I like the rib order. It was sweet and tender!!! I would like to have more side dishes, called banchan. I think the restaurant was skimpy with them.

• Service :D
  Service was great because I was trying to figure out if I should loose my composure to eat the remaining two ribs, but the waitress came over and cut the tendons off.

Gaju Soft Tofu Restaurant :)
(Hacienda Heights, CA)

• Tofu Combo :)
  I recommend the seafood tofu because of the strong flavors. Don't expect big pieces of seafood because they are tiny, but flavorful.

• Service :(
  The service sucks as usual, but slightly better than before.

REVIEW: MOVIE

Happy Feet :|
(Animation, Musical)

• Hmmm...it's not what it seems. I was expecting a cartoon comedy like Ice Age. But, the cartoon is like a combination of Stomp and a serious musical play. I was looking forward to laughing a lot, but nope. The plot is okay...more sadness than happy.

RATING

high :D :) :| :( :P low

 

SEEK

• Dinner Theater (Los Angeles County) :: Want to see one
• Fruit Picking Orchard (Los Angeles County) :: Might get a group together to do some fruit picking

Contact me if you have the information that I'm seeking. Thanks.

OFFER

• Sashimi/Sushi :: I makie
• JUN07 Newsletter :: sign up for monthly updates

DEALS

• Dave and Buster's :: Eat & Play for $15.99

EVENTS

• May 12 :: Asian Pacific American Book Festival (Los Angeles, CA)
• May 18-20 :: Strawberry Festival (Pasadena, CA)
• May 27 :: Scottish Festival (Pomona, CA)

TIME SAVER:
RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Usually, I go to restaurants that people recommend, but recently, I've tried Yelp.com for suggestions. The site offers reviews from customers and provides pictures of the restaurant or food. I don't think the reviews are that great because they are so long to read.

What I like about the site is the map feature. Oh my, it's good. Just do a search and all these restaurants show up as arrows on the map with the list of them on the left side. As you scroll down the page, the map follows. If you click on one of the arrows, it's highlighted on the list. It's a quick way to view where the restaurants are and their ratings.

GRAMMAR: VALEDICTION

Usually, I just use "Best" as my email valediction. For some reason, I took a second look at the word, "Best." I know it's valid to use, but then I started to think. What's "Best"? "Best" what? Then, I looked it up on the internet, and I found out it was short for "Best regards."

After this search, using just "Best" in a formal closing didn't work for me anymore because it's a bit empty at the end. But, the traditional valedictions with "Yours" don't really work for me either: "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully". I guess the "Yours" part just really bothers me for a formal ending, like "I'm all yours." To me, it's a bit more emotional and means more. These valedictions work for me better: "Respectfully," "With respect," "Cordially," "Regards," "Kind regards," or "Best regards."

For more readings on valediction, go to:

• Valediction (Wikipedia)
• 'Yours Truly,' the E-Variations (New York Times)