Sometimes I wonder if I have some sort of mental disability, which I almost certainly don't, but I'm just telling you. I wonder if always thinking you're abnormal is a disorder in and of itself. I wonder if Americans are obsessed with over-diagnosing. Anyway, in the new issue of Wired (for serial, I get so wound up on those things! I love them) there's a term, "patternicity," defined as: n. The tendency to find patterns where there are none. According to a recent study, evolution favors patternicity because it's safer  to detect a face threat than to ignore a real one and become a bogey-man's lunch mean. I mos def have that one! ;)

Last night I went to my Macro Econ class (got a B, barely, on my midterm, booya!) and I have to say that watching Mark knaw on his hand from across the room was so much more intruiging than the Federal Reserve (I know, stone me).

When I got home, my sister and I took turns massaging each other's necks. It's sooo relaxing. My aunt Jen who is a masoose (is that the right word? It sounds more like the cousin of a moose - is the plural of moose meese? hehehe. Sorry, I couldn't refrain - than a person who gives massages) taught us how to do it. You hold your sibling/friend's head in your hands (they're lying on their back, you're sitting at their head) and massage with your fingers. The movement of your hands moves the head from side to side a little and it's one of those things that absolutely forces your eyes into blissful closingness. Ok, I digress.

I ran across this picture randomly and think this lady (Russian model Mollie Gondi) is about the most stunning thing ever. I was just lamenting about long hair vs. short hair issues and seeing this reminded me why I stick with short hair. If I were a man, I'd probably have a crush on her.



So I dunno if you've heard about the lastest defective Chinese product. Apparently during the recent American construction boom (c. 2006, as I've been told), builders needed lots more supplies so they started buying dry wall from China. Well, I guess China makes dry wall with some kind of chemical that smells like rotten eggs so now a whole bunch of really nice houses in Florida and some houses that were built after Katrina are totally useless because they smell terrible and whatever that chemical is is ruining the pipes. But I just can't bring myself to bash China too much. I really love that place.  It's my home in a lot of ways. Another funky story from Asia - watch out for those Fir seeds! O.o

I think Spring is definitely here. I love having fresh flowers around so much! It's been cold and windy here the last few days though. Not my fave. Here are some random photos I've picked up across the web recently that are quite Springy! ^^




 
(lying in a bath of cherries would actually be really uncomfortable, I think, but I hope you're getting the magic vibe)

And last but not least, a new hobbie! I used to have a pretty strong aversion to cooking, but I'm really enjoying it now! My mum has assigned me one meal a week and so far, I've made:

1. Biyriani and Samososas (with a yogurt-coriander dipping sauce)
2. Turkey tortilla wraps and berry smoothies (heavy on the milk, light on the ice)
3. Tang Jiao, which is the Chinese name for wanton soup
4. Fruit Pizza and this cake that had something about summer in the name which had pecans and tangerines in a white cake mix. The frosting what cool whip with vanilla pudding and pineapple juice in it (pics on facebook!). Fruit pizzas are basically giant sugar cookies with this amazing sweet cream cheese frosting. On top of that you make designs with fresh fruit. It's so much fun. Made those for Easter.

All of these things are delicious and really easy to make. I'm just a hair too lazy to go looking for actual recipes right now and type them up here, but I'll tell you basically how to make Biyriani (which is an Indian rice, btw) and Tang Jiao. For Biyriani, if you have a rice cooker, throw in a cinnamon stick, a pinch of saffron threads, some garlic cloves, tumaric, and cardamom and it comes out with such a nice soft flavor on top of the rice. Oh, you must use Thai rice or Jasmine rice or some sort of Asian rice. All other kinds are utterly unnaceptable. Ok, now for Tang Jiao. My version is kind of cheatting because I get the wantons from Trader Joe's. Hehe. You can get pretty much any kind of wanton/dumpling. My favorite so far are the pork and cilantro (?) ones which have thinner skins and are a little smaller (also more exspensive :/ ).  Boil them in a chicken brother and throw in some green onions and a generous handful of cilantro and there you have a very simple, soothing dinner. ^^ (Yah, cooking can be so easy and so pleasant, I love it).

I'm stoked I'm getting visitors here from all over the world (China, you're dissapointing me by blocking Xanga). I may post a screen shot of my visitors map one of these days because I'm so proud of it! Thanks so much for reading everyone!